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

[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.

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

I can actually see it both ways, and at the same time, too--which, believe me, is interesting. *g*

Basically, it breaks down like this:

1. I really love John.
2. I really, really love Rodney.
3. I really, really, really would love to see them end up together.
4. For various reasons, the most basic one being that the world is stupid (and doesn't comply with my every wish, *sob sob*), number 3 is never going to happen. It just isn't. Feck.
5. Because John is the hero, probably, at some point, he is going to hook up with some chick. Probably Elizabeth (yick--more the pairing than her, although I do have issues, but seriously yick). This is going to make me really sad and possibly nauseated, re: 3.
6. Also, though, it's going to make me sad 'cause of No. 2: my intense Rodney love. Because if Rodney and John can't be together, and John's with a space bimbo/someone else he has no chemistry with, I at least want Rodney to have someone. And better someone halfway cool like Cadman than (yetch) Katie Brown.
7. No matter what, I will keep reading (and writing) McKay/Sheppard fic until my eyeballs bleed. The fic is where the bulk of my interest lies anyway. But because the canon is out there and I've got to react to it, I'd rather see Rodney canonically happy with a woman than alone and unhappy with no one at all. Because No. 2 is really number one with me: I really, really love Rodney.

Does that answer your question? Or have I just further convinced you of my insanity?

[kalikahuntress.livejournal.com]

Actually in SG-1, no one permanently paired up with anybody so im expecting the same from Atlantis, I watched Sg-1 for 9 years and there wasn't any blatant canon ship except for a few failed attempts to make Sam/Jack work. And the SGA writers and Brad Wright, from a couple comments I read anyway, don't seem that fond of ship. Also, many fans who watched Sg-1 first don't trust the writers with ship and there were some scary fandom wars bcse of Sam/Jack so the writers are trying to avoid the same thing happening on Atlantis. Seeing as this is Stargate-verse, i doubt we will get a canon pairing btwn the main cast members.
Also, DH said the beauty of Stargate verse is that they don't have to the ship angle until way, way later in the show if they have to. Oh and JF himself said Shep won't get paired with anyone soon, if at all, the writers are just playing with the pairings right now. I feel reasonably assured canon ship won't be an issue unless we get to season 7:)

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

That is a relief to hear. *g* So yeah, I wouldn't mind if it remained the show with the gen-est canon ever, forever.

Still, the above continues to apply to flirting: I want McKay getting to flirt as much--or, okay, a third as much--as Shep, so they can tease each other about it in bed later. And 'cause it'd be cute, okay? I admitted right off the bat that I was shallow... ;-)

[iamtheenemy.livejournal.com]

7. No matter what, I will keep reading (and writing) McKay/Sheppard fic until my eyeballs bleed. The fic is where the bulk of my interest lies anyway.

I agree with this. And if John or Rodney get together with someone else on the show, that just gives fic writers more fodder for angst and character development, which is always a good thing. Plus, there's the added bonus of us maybe seeing some Joe or David skin.

[iamtheenemy.livejournal.com]

Mmm...I agree about Buffyverse. I can specifically recall two episodes off of the top of my head where I was like, "Just. Stop. Having. SEX!" (Where The Wild Things Are, Touched) That's without even getting into all the vaguely creepy Spike/Buffy sex.

Then again, my other fandom is CSI where there's TONS of sex, just not between any of the main characters. And one or both of the people participating in it invariably end up dead. I think I just need a happy, realistic medium.