A critical look at 'Critical Mass'
Dec. 6th, 2005 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityofoneI 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 withstock 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.)
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
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.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-07 04:01 am (UTC)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.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-12-07 05:04 pm (UTC)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.