A critical look at 'Critical Mass'

[trinityofone]

I felt kind of out of the loop for parts of this episode, 'cause I don't watch SG-1, and thus spent a lot of those scenes going, "Am I supposed to know who you are?" (Though I do persist in having a BRILLIANT THEORY that that bald(ish) SG-1 gateroom guy is actually Gunther from Friends.) But overall: points for intensity, and for keeping me consistently curious (not just unsure: curious) as to who had planted the bomb. So in that sense, it was a good hour of sci-fi action television.

Character-wise...

Well, there are problems. Some of them are interesting problems: namely, that Elizabeth--and not just Elizabeth, but John too--was willing to resort to torture. Everything Kavanagh said about her, though malicious and pig-headed, was also on some level right, and everyone's treatment of him was simply abominable. It's of course kind of a cheat that Ronon didn't actually get to do anything to him, but I understand why they (the writers, etc.) didn't actually go that far, because if Ronon had tortured a prisoner--and an innocent, one of their own people, no less--Elizabeth would be open to some pretty nasty reprisals, wouldn't she? As it stands, I hope she gave Kavanagh a damn handsome apology, and, I don't know--a kidney? An 'I almost got tortured for a crime I didn't commit and all I got was this lousy t-shirt' novelty tee? What can you possibly do to make up for something like that? It's an important question, and I don't care how morosely Elizabeth fiddles with her watch (what was the significance of that watch? Am I being stupid/forgetful?), it's a question I don't think we're ever going to see satisfactorily addressed.

(Gratuitous Rodney squee the first: I loved how uncomfortable the idea of torture made him, how he was the quiet, almost helplessly dissenting voice there. [Anyone who was still wondering whether or not his remark in 'Condemned' about the electric chair was a joke? I'd say this was a big YES.] Oh Rodney, you are so humane and Canadian! You show those over-hasty Americans!)

Caldwell. Okay, I really like Caldwell, and I hope that my admittedly sketchy knowledge of how the Goa'uld work doesn't make me wrong in hoping that he can be all successfully unimplanted by whatever Hermiod is doing, and also, that he wasn't a Goa'uld for very long. Because I want the Caldwell we saw in, say, 'Aurora,' to be the genuine article. But I'm confused about the timeline here: I know the Daedalus makes frequent trips back and forth, but when was he supposed to have gotten infected and done all that wacky stuff on Earth? What the heck is the Trust?

Okay, so I'm going to just keep talking about each of the characters here, because I'm too lazy to give this any kind of narrative flow. Bullet points, whee!

•Cadman. I may be in the minority here, but I like her. I like her a lot better than, say, Katie Brown, because unlike our trembling flower of a botanist, Cadman doesn't put up with any of Rodney's crap. (Which, IMO, secretly means that she gets him. This is good.) Loyal McKay/Sheppard 'shipper that I am, I have to admit that I do continually keep an eye out for a girl for Rodney, 'cause you know Shep's going to keep hooking up with stock alien women Ancients, and I want Rodney to get laid, dammit. McKay/Cadman could be fun. She tap dances! He plays piano! *insert requisite 'Duet' pun here*

And yeah, I'd feel bad for Carson, but I'm just not seeing sparks there. But Cadman...Cadman gets under Rodney's skin! *insert dirty insertion joke here*

•Teyla. Nothing all that interesting there, which is too bad, 'cause I like Teyla. But I didn't hate the Spontaneous Concert as much as I thought I would during the first few wincing seconds--the song played nicely over the montage, and was reasonably pretty. Pretty cool, though, that along with Wraith-sensing abilities, Teyla's got a built-in microphone in her throat.

Also, I understand why Teyla didn't think she was ready for the ritual. Nothing, no amount of time, could prepare you for that dress.

•Ronon: so wishes he were Jayne. That is all.

•Zelenka continues to be the most adorable person in this galaxy or any other. I loved him all Lost Boys'd up. (Not those Lost Boys, the other ones. The ones that flew, not the ones that were high. Right.) But could he please have an actual storyline soon? I mean, I don't want to get greedy--especially if my greed for more screentime means someone will hurt him: perish the thought! But c'mon: Zelenka! We all want more Zelenka, dammit!

•Rodney and John. They actually seemed almost periphery in this episode. But they were easy with each other, and I like that John has apparently taken 'What Would McKay Do?' to heart, right down to the mannerisms. We need more scenes of just them chatting. We need more scenes of just the two of them, period.

Overall, I guess I'm ambivalent. The most interesting issues here will probably be swept under Teyla's mysteriously appearing Persian rug; I can't imagine we'll see the fallout, and that's really what's crucial: not just raising the question, "What makes us different?" but answering it. No supposedly profound fade to black. Deal, people, you have to deal! And I want to see it.

(Oh, and because I apparently let that thread drop, gratuitous Rodney squee the second: just...the arms, the hands, the shoulders, the eyes...what do you want from me? Why isn't this man getting regularly sexed? The women of Atlantis must take hormone suppressants or something.)

Comments

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

That's what got me about the M/S interaction this ep, that they were so easy together (and that they walked so close and sat so close and worked together and Rodney chuckled at John's joke about having a weekend off and my mind went all kinds of dirty places).

Uh. Yeah. Good points. :D

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Clearly I am suffering from a BRAIN DEFICIENCY, as I didn't even think about the weekend line that way! But yes, absolutely--and we need "weekend off" fic, like, now.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

You were *definitely* not the only one who caught the "weekend off" remark.

[dar-jeeling.livejournal.com]

Teyla's got a built-in microphone in her throat.
Ahahahaha.

Also, word.

My, aren't I eloquent today?

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.

*icon bounce*

[aurora]

(Though I do persist in having a BRILLIANT THEORY that that bald SG-1 gateroom guy is actually Gunther from Friends.)
Hee, he could be his scifi twin.

Some of them are interesting problems: namely, that Elizabeth--and not just Elizabeth, but John too--was willing to resort to torture.
I know! John surprised me. I know he's military, but still *evil vibes*. Also, I agree about Rodney. As soon as the idea was on the table, you could see him cringing. And me with him.

I really hope this isn't the last we'll see of Caldwell.

Nothing, no amount of time, could prepare you for that dress.
The costume designer should be shot. Or forced to wear the 'dress'.

Ronon: so wishes he were Jayne.
Eeep, plz explain to the Firefly-challenged under us (aka me) :">

I really want to see fall-out for this ep, dammit.

Oh, one thing I adored though, was the consistency about the kid planet and the one from 'The Defiant One'.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

I really hope this isn't the last we'll see of Caldwell.

Same! Here! I'm, like, surprisingly attached. Especially since Caldwell is my magic crackfic joke-maker: if I need a random character to do something or say something, it's automatically 400% funnier if that character is Caldwell. I neeeeeeed him.

You're right about the continuity from 'Childhood's End' and 'The Defiant One'--that was, indeed, cool. But since I'm still holding out for fall-out from 'Sanctuary,' I'm not holding my breath.

Eeep, plz explain to the Firefly-challenged under us (aka me) :">

In the pilot episode of Firefly, Jayne...oh man, there's no way I can explain this properly; you really have to see it. But basically, he waves a knife around and threatens to torture a spy, and it's hot and hilarious. Mal (the captain) says, of their prisoner: "Just scare him a little," and Jayne's response, super-earnest, is: "Pain is scary." It's great! You need Firefly in your life, man.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Bwah! Pain is scary...

Hee! I just quoted that to aurora_84! *dances around with you, singing 'The Man They Call Jayne'*

the whole Atlantis Idol bit

Best. Description. Ever!

I wonder if they'll ever implant a Goa'uld in a Wraith.

Ooh, interesting thought. I don't know enough about the Goa'uld to know if it would work, but they can live in creatures other than humans, right? Wasn't there a S1 episode of SG-1 that dealt with that?

*sigh* I'm going to have to watch more SG-1 just to get a handle on this--unlike John, I can't just read the mission reports. ;-) I have so much new sympathy for the people who watched Angel without having seen Buffy. ...Um, there were people who did that, right?

[ladyflowdi.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen the ep, but just had to comment (cause I saw a spoilery photo that made me shoot milk out of my nose) -- Zelenka. Rules.

Also, is it just me, or are David Hewlett and Paul McGillion getting... buffer? I kind of noticed it in Epiphany, the scene where they're getting all their supplies back on Atlantis. The arms, the chest. Am I dreaming, or am I seeing some nice definition?

Oh yeah. Shallow post. Bwaahah. :)

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

ZELENKA IS MY KING.

Dunno about the buffer thing, to be honest. At this point, I'm so blindly in love with Rodney, I can't even really separate out the why. And with Beckett, I'm kind of like, "Nice accent, but OMG RODNEY."

I totally fail at being a lascivious woman. I think a remedial viewing is in order. ;-)

[coreopsis.livejournal.com]

We all want more Zelenka, dammit!
Yes. Yes, we do.

We need more scenes of just them chatting. We need more scenes of just the two of them, period.
Yes. Yes, we do.

That's pretty much all I've got. *g*

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, I just left almost an identical comment on your journal.

WE ARE TWINS IN USELESSNESS! WHEE!

[caseymae.livejournal.com]

...At first I thought you were talking about the monthy bike phenomenon in select cities around the country. I quickly realized my error.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

The what? *is ignorant of RL, but damn does she know her SF*

[wychwood]

I'm sorry, you didn't enjoy it, because I thought it was FUCKING AWESOME.

(also, sorry, I don't usually swear, but I'm totally going round LJ going FUCKING AWESOME on every comment I see at the moment. This is how awesome it was.)

Also, way to go on the secondary characters. Zelenka, Kavanagh, Cadman, Charin... And the montage! And Caldwell! OMFG! I seriously have, like, almost no criticisms of this episode.

The Weir-torture thing - Yes, I agree. I was sitting here going "No! No! Don't do it, Elizabeth!" But at the same time, I can see why she made that decision. He behaved very suspiciously, and she had, what, ten minutes until the city exploded? It was a bad call, but an understandable one. And she does come back to it afterwards. I would like to see more come-back on that, but they handled it much better than I thought they would when the issue first came up.

Yes, Kavanagh had a point in his comments. But he was seriously unpleasant. And in the situation, he had to know that he was making it worse for himself. Also, Weir doesn't resort to force until the last minute. Ronon... I kind of expect that sort of reaction from him. And John is too quick to advocate the quick-and-dirty solution, he's done it before. Advocating stealing the ZPM from the childrens' planet, for one - he does tend towards expediency. But I don't think I'd agree that the treatment of Kavanagh was "abominable". Wrong, yes. And eeeee for Rodney as the voice of reason and not-torturing-people!

And wow. Caldwell.

Just.

*twitches with adrenaline overdose*

[wychwood]

PS - from what I understand:

The Trust is the successor to something called the NID, which employed Q John de Lancie at some stage *g* They're a secret organisation who also know about the Stargate Program etc, and want to use it for their own ends, mostly seeking power etc. They infiltrated government and such, and SG-1 had to fight them. Clearly they've been infiltrated themselves by the Goa'uld.

Re: well

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

No, Teyla was lovely. It just seemed like a stock kind of storyline, not to mention one that left me going, And the point is...?

He's sweet, that SG-1 scientist whose name I can never remember.

Yeah, I had no idea who he was, but he rocked! Especially since I had a similar "nobody gets my references" experience today...

[soupytwist.livejournal.com]

Yesyesyes. Exactly. Thankyou for putting my issues about this much better than I managed to in my rambling about this episode. Just.. that's a huge thing they've pulled out of the bag, there, and they're going to just put it back and pretend like nothing happened, and just, you were sanctioning torture. Gah!

I hope somebody puts up an explanation of the SG-1 side of it for those of us who either haven't seen it ever or gave up trying to handle the 9 seasons worth of stuff to get through or whatever. Cause, um, what? (Caldwell is COOL, dammit!)

Total ditto the Rodney squee. How does he have only Miko as a fangirl? He'd so have RPS-writing fanclubs... if, er, Atlantis was run by me. So he's probably quite glad it isn't. (Though I maintain I'd be better than Weir.) And I like Rodney/Cadman so much more than Rodney/Katie Brown - I like Cadman/Beckett more, but the banter and the getting it rather than being a simpering doe-eyed possessor of breasts makes all the difference.

Ronon: so wishes he were Jayne

AHAHAHA SO TRUE.

And there can never be too much Zelenka squee. If anybody's deserving of a sainthood while still alive, it's him. Dude. Sweetest person in two galaxies... and yet still cutely grumpy. Hee. Yay.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

that's a huge thing they've pulled out of the bag, there, and they're going to just put it back and pretend like nothing happened

Yeah! And it's not that I mind that they pulled it out--in fact, I actually think it's kind of cool: I mean, let's go dark, baby--but that I really do fear that they're going to be all, "See? She was mildly guilty! All better!" And we'll never hear about it again.

But hey: maybe they'll prove me wrong. There was some interesting follow-up on the Iratus bug with 'Conversion.' (But still nothing on 'Sanctuary'--grr!)

I hope somebody puts up an explanation of the SG-1 side of it for those of us who either haven't seen it

wychwood explains a little bit about the Trust above. I really need to catch up, though--I hate the feeling that I'm missing something. Especially when I write fic, 'cause there's always a chance that I'll contradict something that's already been established. Just--not on my show.

I want more Miko, like, yesterday. Or just somebody: give Rodney some LOVE!

but the banter and the getting it rather than being a simpering doe-eyed possessor of breasts makes all the difference

Hells, yes. With Katie, I was just like, "Oh no, you're all wrong for Rodney; he needs some one with some balls, dammit!" Okay, maybe not balls... Okay, balls. *eg*

Sweetest person in two galaxies... and yet still cutely grumpy. Hee. Yay.

Cutely grumpy and speaking CZECH! Seriously: So. Much. Love.

(Oh, and I still want to talk to you more about the characters' sexualities and stuff! Why do I have so much to do? I just want to comment on LJ, gosh darn it.)

[some-stars.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything! ...I have more, but I just made myself actually physically tired ranting/squeeing on my lj, which is SO SAD OH GOD MY LIFE, so um. yes. I agree with everything! Especially Rodney being EXTRA HOT this episode. GOD. FWOOSH.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

No, I hear you: the ranting, it can be exhausting. Instead we should concentrate on the EXTRA SOOPER HOTNESS of Rodney. Because there is only good there. Very, distractingly good.

I loved how in control he was. Calm, and yet panicky-woobiey BOTH. Oh, and MORAL! Not many people can pull of hot and moral, but Rodney? DOES.

Mmmmsiiiiigh.

[grey-bard.livejournal.com]

While, yes, torture squicky and bad, I'm not surprised they went there. They've already done the "Geneva Convention? What Geneva Convention?" thing, not to mention atomic bombs and biological weapons. This ain't Dr. Jackson's SGC, that's for sure!

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

It's not that they went there that bothers me--I actually liked that they went there, 'cause I like it dark, I really do. What bugs me is the distinct impression that they're not going to follow up on it--that Elizabeth's little *watchchain* *angst* is going to be it. Uh-uh. I demand repercussions!

And hey, maybe we'll get 'em. In which case...mea culpa.

[tikiaceae.livejournal.com]

I found myself agreeing to what Kavanagh was saying to Weir about her being too emotionally involved to make a good leader. In the last week's episode, what possible sane reason did she have for following Sheppard into the doorway? She's interested in the guy (totally one sided obviously!) so she leaves Atlantis in the hands of... Lorne? Zelenka? and goes off?

Also, IMO, she did let her dislike for Kavanagh cloud her judgement. She can't see Zelenka betraying them but can see Kavanagh doing the same in a heartbeat? WTF?

Other than that, I really enjoyed the ep, especially the whole McKay/Sheppard bits. I even liked Teyla's singing... who knew.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agreed with Kavanagh more than made me comfortable, actually, because a lot of his criticisms--too emotional, etc.--sounded like classic critiques of a woman in charge. And I want to be like, "Fuck no, you misogynist creep!" Except, when it comes to Weir, those things are true.

Uh, writers--what exactly are you trying to say there?

I did like the McKay/Sheppard stuff; I just wish there had been, like, 1000% MORE of it. *eg*

[iamtheenemy.livejournal.com]

•Ronon: so wishes he were Jayne. That is all.

I KNOW! I had total flashbacks to the pilot, big damn knife and all. And you know that Ronon had the same disappointed reaction when Kavanagh fainted that Jayne got when the fed gave up his information.

Also, word to confusion about Rodney's lack of sex. Do these women not SEE his arms in those blue shirts of his? Seriously.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Now I'm trying to imagine Jayne and Ronon in conversation. It's...not working. So normally I'd be like, "They should just throw off all their clothes and have sex!" Except I find that strangely unappealing. There must be something wrong with me today.

Also, word to confusion about Rodney's lack of sex. Do these women not SEE his arms in those blue shirts of his? Seriously.

SERIOUSLY. They have to let him hook up with someone eventually. Of course, I'm beginning to sense that the Stargate 'verse is oddly skewed: I mean, this is a universe where Sheppard has only gotten laid twice in two years, and one time was glowy and non-corporeal, and the other was...icky. The Buffyverse spoiled me, man--you couldn't get those characters off each other.

[desdema.livejournal.com]

As it stands, I hope she gave Kavanagh a damn handsome apology, and, I don't know--a kidney? An 'I almost got tortured for a crime I didn't commit and all I got was this lousy t-shirt' novelty tee?

but see, "almost" is the key word there. if everyone involved in making the decision claims after the fact that they just sent ronon in to scare kavanagh (vs. actually approving the use of torture) then there's no way for kavanagh to prove differently. and i certainly don't think anyone is going to willingly admit to *kavanagh of all people* that they were going to torture him.

i do wonder if caldwell might hold this over their heads in the future, though. as much as the goa'uld was doing his best to act as caldwell would have, i'm not sure that the decision to torture kavanagh is something caldwell would have actually gone for. as far as the goa'uld was concerned he just had to distract them for half an hour more until the damage was done, so at that point he may have cared less about acting exactly as caldwell would have. for all i know caldwell would have made the same call elizabeth did - i just think it could seriously skew their power struggle if it turns out he thinks she was completely out of line.

I hope that my admittedly sketchy knowledge of how the Goa'uld work doesn't make me wrong in hoping that he can be all successfully unimplanted by whatever Hermiod is doing

i suspect hermiod will be able to de-goa'uld him. the asgard *do* have the technology to remove a goa'uld from a host and are of course just damn smart in general, so i'm betting hermiod will be able to rig something up.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

No, I understand the importance of 'almost,' in that otherwise, Elizabeth would be in some seriously deep shit. But 'almost' doesn't excuse her (or John) on a moral level, and that's really what I'm interested in here: morals, not ethics.

I don't think Caldwell's going to be in a position to hold anything over anyone. Maybe it's just me, but I'd find going back to work the first week after being infected by a Goa'uld to be very embarrassing.

I hope you're right about Hermiod's mad de-Goa'ulding skillz, and that lots of tense, awkward conversations between Weir and Caldwell are coming our way. Because apparently I'm a bit of a Weir/Caldwell 'shipper. Huh.

[djinanna.livejournal.com]

The Trust ... er, the explanation needs to start with the NID.

The NID are a super-secret "if you've heard of us, we have to kill you" intelligence agency that (may actually be real but no longer so secret but that's besides the point) runs Area 52 (SGC being Area 51 - or maybe it's the other way around, my memory and numbers are not mixy things, but it's whichever one is supposed to be out there hiding the Roswell alien stuff).

The NID had its regularly scheduled covert agenda, but there was also a small but hyperactive secret group *inside* the NID who believed in doing *anything* to defend Earth against "the alien threat" - meaning *any* and *all* aliens, not just the hostile ones. They wanted to take Teal'c and vivisect him, for example, back when the show first started. And they, along with their government shill then-Senator (and later Vice President) Kinsey, kept pushing for alient tech weapons to be found, and to take over SGC because Hammond & company had "screwed up priorities".

Eventually, the subgroup of NID turned into the Trust. They were using the second Stargate in Area 51 (52? the not-SGC but Roswell spot) to go on missions to steal alien tech from unsuspecting planets. Eventually, SG-1 & company busted them. Some of them. Then the Trust turned up with even more alien tech, including a spaceship with Asgard beaming tech and other stuff. The Trust was all set to commit collateral-damage genocide on Teal'c's people, the Jaffa, in order to wipe out the Gou...however that's spelled.

The NID/Trust have been a running subplot from early on. Though the Trust was a later development.

Now ... when we first met Rodney, he was working for the NID over in Area 51 (or is it 52). He was the #1 *theoretical* authority on Stargates, because he was over in New Mexico with a 'gate that wasn't (supposed to be) in use, while Sam was the #1 practical authority as she'd been actually doing stuff with working 'gates.

The John de Lancie character (Col Frank Simmons) was an NID guy who came to SGC with McKay, trying to promote the NID's "let's take over SGC" agenda while McKay worked with Sam doing whatever they were doing in 48 Hours -- trying to save Teal'c? -- and continued to be a pest for a while in other contexts.

Anyway, recently on SG-1 (last season? the season before?), we found out that the Trust had been infiltrated by Gou...however you spell it. They kidnapped Daniel (not for the first time) and put a "snake" in Kinsey and were infiltrated important government officials world-wide (Russia in particular was the focus of an episode about this). And then they fled into space on their ship, except they keep coming back to cause more trouble.

Um ... there's probably lots of stuff I'm forgetting. But SG-1 tends to contradict itself more often than Joss'verse vampire lore, so *shrug* that's the important bits. I think.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Ouch, I am so out of the loop. But thank you, that helps a lot!

*will continue to scrupulously avoid touching this in fic*

[regann]

(here from sga_newsletter)

Thanks for the critical review! I really want to see this ep, mostly because I've been crushing on Caldwell since day 1. Yes, sirree.

Okay, so the Trust:
Once upon time in SG-1 land, there was this vaguely CIAish gov't group called the NID who ran the Research/Development side of Stargate out of Area 51. ("Touchstone") (Rodney worked under these folks, although not for them.) Basically, they were BAD. Their first leader, Col. Maybourne, tried to dissect Teal'c for fun ("Bane") and was eventually found guilty of using an extra Stargate to steal stuff from our aliens allies. ("Shades of Gray")

Then Col. Simmons (John de Lancie, aka Q, aka Uncle Sid) was in charge and he was even more BAD. He got mixed up with this rich guy who implanted himself with a goa'uld in order to cure himself from a bad disease. So, NID still is BAD.

Finally, the NID sort of lost its teeth and this thing called the Trust was born -- this is a group of rich, powerful men in America who wanted to use alien tech and other Stargate finds for their own gain and had no problem using really BAD tactics in order to stop what it considered threats to Earth.

In S8 of SG-1, they were using committing mass murder by sending goa'uld poisions to goa'uld occupied planets, killing mostly Jaffa (good and bad) in the process. ("Endgame") Later in S8, we found out that the whole group had been tricked into a meeting and Goa'ulded. So the bad Trust became bad Goa'uld pretending to be rich and powerful Americans. Go figure. They were trying to do things like assassinate important people here on Earth, including the SGC's Russian allies. ("Full Alert")

Which begs the question: why weren't the guys at the SGC still testing for Goa'ulds when the Trust was still a major and recent oopsie??

Anyway, I hoped that helped and it wasn't too long. ^^

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the critical review!

Heh, see this amuses me, because anyone coming from my journal instead of an outside source would see that my cut tag was "And by 'critical,' I mean, 'bitchy and shallow.'" But I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway!

I've been crushing on Caldwell since day 1. Yes, sirree.

*g* I'm not exactly crushing, but...SKINNER! There's years of love there, man. Hermiod needs to fix him up real good, 'cause I want him back.

Thanks for the explanation of the Trust. I really need a remedial course in SG-1 canon. If only the DVDs weren't so expensive. And, er, that I had the time to watch nine seasons of television. (Actually, I think I'd be able to rearrange some things to make that happen...) Anyway, your crash course really helped, so danke!

[mcalex22.livejournal.com]

As much as I loved this episode (for all the above reasons and squee-worthy moments), I did have some issues which were also raised by you.

I don't watch SG1 either and had no idea who these trust people were (until now).

While I'm a big McKay-Sheppard shipper, I'd also like to see Rodney get lucky with a girl, damnit, if only to make John jealous. But I like the ease that they have with each other and how they do have similar mannerisms sometimes... it's nice to see the two together (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a shipper but I do see that friendship too). Plus Rodney does seem more comfortable with John than anyone else on Atlantis, except maybe Carson.

My biggest criticism would be Elizabeth, or rather the way she's been written. I love Elizabeth in Season 1 but in S2, I have sometimes felt like she didn't make any sense. Maybe it's her animosity towards Caldwell (and I do actually like him), or her constant favourtism of John over anyone else... I don't know if it's me seeing things...

I love Cadman too and I really liked the fact that she got under Rodney's skin and John sensed that! Rodney's comment about him constantly bringing the Duet bit up, makes me think they've had many conversations about it...

Teyla... I really like this character too but once again, I sometimes feel like TPTB build it all up then do nothing fantastic with her.

Anyway, it's always nice to read a critical viewpoint (and all the comments that follow!).


Thanks,
Alex

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

it's nice to see the two together (and I'm not just saying that because I'm a shipper but I do see that friendship too

Yes, absolutely: it's nice just to see that Rodney has friends. Possibly I project too many of my own issues onto him, but sometimes I just want to run around behind him waving a flag and screaming into a megaphone, "PEOPLE! APPRECIATE THIS MAN!!!"

As for Elizabeth...I think "whaaa?" is my major reaction. I don't get what they're trying to say about her character, and I'm not sure they really do, either. Which sucks because she should be cool--Torri seems cool, strong female leaders are cool--but instead she's muddled at best, and at worst, irresponsible and annoying. And now condoning torture. Whee.

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed my blatherings. *g*

[saturnalia.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if we'll ever find out exactly when Caldwell was infected, but I for one would really like to know. See, I keep thinking about the way he behaved in 'Trinity', and I can't help wondering if maybe he was a Goa'uld even then. Just look at some of his lines...

WEIR: The Ancients could not do this. And that's what it keeps coming back to for me.
CALDWELL: Isn't it possible that you have placed the Ancients on such a high pedestal that you can't even consider the possibility that they may be wrong?
WEIR: Why are we mincing words, Colonel? You want the weapon.
CALDWELL: Yes! I do! A weapon that could effectively eliminate the Wraith threat is very attractive to me, and to the people that I work for. I'm not hiding that fact.

I can't say I ever watched much of SG-1, so I'm hardly an expert on the Goa'uld, but that little bit does seem to fit in with what I've seen of them so far. Arrogant enough to happily diss the Ancients, plus fairly desperate to get his hands on a weapon that would mean that, well, they could avoid whole bomb scenario in 'Critical Mass' altogether and just skip straight ahead to defeating the Wraith. And if he was a Goa'uld at that point... well, it puts a different slant on some things, doesn't it?

Like I said, we might not get confirmation one way or another. But it's still kind of cool to wonder.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

CALDWELL: Yes! I do! A weapon that could effectively eliminate the Wraith threat is very attractive to me, and to the people that I work for. I'm not hiding that fact

Whoa, that line is positively chilling in retrospect. Still, I really liked who he was up until this episode, and on a gut emotional level, I want that to be "real," you know? But you're right: if he was a Goa'uld all this time, from a story point of view, that puts a very interesting slant on things. I doubt the show'll do much with it ('cause there's a lot to deal with there, and he's not a regular) but I really hope that a fic writer who knows more about SG-1 will make something out of this.

[the-green-sheep.livejournal.com]

(Though I do persist in having a BRILLIANT THEORY that that bald(ish) SG-1 gateroom guy is actually Gunther from Friends.)

OMG THANK YOU. Heeeeeeee.

Also, I understand why Teyla didn't think she was ready for the ritual. Nothing, no amount of time, could prepare you for that dress.

Heh.

Rodney and John. They actually seemed almost periphery in this episode. But they were easy with each other, and I like that John has apparently taken 'What Would McKay Do?' to heart, right down to the mannerisms. We need more scenes of just them chatting. We need more scenes of just the two of them, period.

Massive love on them. Massive. I want to see the McKay & Sheppard show that JF seems to have in his head.