SGA: The Shrine
Aug. 27th, 2008 03:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tenayaFor the most part, a fantastic episode. Under that cut is praise for the good stuff and rant about Keller. Yes, another one.
The good:
David Hewlett. He is a very skilled actor and for once, he had a script that was a challenge to him. Why the writers don't give these talented guys a meal to tuck into each season instead of making them find scrapes of scenes to work with, I'll never know. Such a waste of resources....
All the other actors. All of them, save one, did a fantastic job. It was riveting watching Shepard, Ronon, Teyla and Jeanie interacting with Rodney, dealing with horror and grief as they tried to comfort and communicate with him. Rodney calling for John, running to his room--John is the one that makes him feel safe, the one he wants to be near. And I love the whole Ronon/McKay dynamic and seeing Ronon so visibly upset and needing to do something was very cool. I loved that Teyla was right on the same page about getting Rodney to the shrine with or without permission.
That scene of the team balanced on the nearly submerged Stargate. Yep, it's pretty much only Wright that can remember the Stargate and do something cool with it (see also Continuum.) He knows how to make the setting an important part of the plot; so many times it doesn't really matter what the setting is. It was a thrill to see
the Stargate and to see it more than just a plot device to change the location of the action.
The pier scene was brilliant. :) And again, great use of the environment.
Jeanie. :)
Ronon shooting the parasite.
The bad:
God I hate ship in the Stargate Universe because they always do it so damn badly! And Keller as a doctor is a complete train wreck, a total nightmare. She says she wants to keep Rodney on Atlantis because she's still trying to find a cure, yet what do we see her doing when Jeanie comes to find out details? She's rewatching the bit of film where Rodney declares his love for her. Oh yeah. Working yourself to nubbin' there, aren't you? If fact, all we see her doing is filming Rodney and being his caretaker. And when John forces her to do the surgery, *he* has to find tools that she can use; she just wants to be whiny and blame people. She seems like someone that partied through med school and only has the vaguest idea of what someone who is competent would do. And she's incredibly stupid as a doctor to not notice the change; no she was too busy flirting. A good clinician pays attention to anything that strikes them as odd, particularly since Rodney was already in the infirmary with an unknown aliment. No, she is completely oblivious and useless.
Oh! Let's not forget her telling someone who is impaired and can't understand how dangerous the trip would be. Rodney has two modes right then--happy or frightened. I felt like bitchslapping her at that moment because she was using him to make a point to the team; what she did was cruel and selfish.
When she denies the team permission to take him to the shrine, she looks happy to have Rodney--just as he is--under her control. I got Misery vibs off her. She was really creepy there.
Two things about the ship stuck out like a sore thumb. First, Rodney's declaration of love. Aside from Keller asking him out once for a drink, we have not seen them have any significant interactions. McKay got a close up of concern when Keller was mentioned during that ep where she was turning into a Wraith ship an that's it. No little scenes of them taking a shine to each other, and no real feeling of him needing her in this ep. When he's scared, he calls for John. He seems like he was a crush and wants to please her when he's somewhat gone and just very pleasant. I sure the hell don't call that love.
The second thing was that Keller and McKay most be soulmates because she predicted that Rodney would feel it was torture to be allowed one more day of cognizant interactions with his friends. She knows Rodney better than his teammates? Really? Right. And all these people with these incredible life experiences--Ronon, Teyla, John, Woolsey and Jeanie, not to mentioned probably most of the viewers-- all thought that the Shrine was the thing to do. If a person only has a few days left of existing as little better than an infant before they die, isn't one day of living as who you are and a quick death preferable?
And I have to tell you as someone who has 30 years of working in a hospital and watching and caring for dying people, the only ones that want to prolong that state of near death are the ones that have something to benefit from it. Family arguments, Social Security checks that will stop when Mom or Dad dies--these are the selfish things that make that one person say, "Keep going. Do not let my parent die with dignity cause I'm getting something out of this."
And the bottom line is if Keller would have had her way, McKay would be dead and she'd be feeling smug because the genius loved her and she has a tape that proves it. That would be probably just as good for someone like her.
And that begs the question of why is it that Keller is so horribly written by a bunch of writers that think she's a great character? Oh wait, didn't they do the same thing to Carter? The more they thought she was fantastic, the more they destroyed her character.
And that makes me realize that if SGA had a season 6, we'd only get more of what I hate in it and less of the good stuff. It's sad, but true.
The good:
David Hewlett. He is a very skilled actor and for once, he had a script that was a challenge to him. Why the writers don't give these talented guys a meal to tuck into each season instead of making them find scrapes of scenes to work with, I'll never know. Such a waste of resources....
All the other actors. All of them, save one, did a fantastic job. It was riveting watching Shepard, Ronon, Teyla and Jeanie interacting with Rodney, dealing with horror and grief as they tried to comfort and communicate with him. Rodney calling for John, running to his room--John is the one that makes him feel safe, the one he wants to be near. And I love the whole Ronon/McKay dynamic and seeing Ronon so visibly upset and needing to do something was very cool. I loved that Teyla was right on the same page about getting Rodney to the shrine with or without permission.
That scene of the team balanced on the nearly submerged Stargate. Yep, it's pretty much only Wright that can remember the Stargate and do something cool with it (see also Continuum.) He knows how to make the setting an important part of the plot; so many times it doesn't really matter what the setting is. It was a thrill to see
the Stargate and to see it more than just a plot device to change the location of the action.
The pier scene was brilliant. :) And again, great use of the environment.
Jeanie. :)
Ronon shooting the parasite.
The bad:
God I hate ship in the Stargate Universe because they always do it so damn badly! And Keller as a doctor is a complete train wreck, a total nightmare. She says she wants to keep Rodney on Atlantis because she's still trying to find a cure, yet what do we see her doing when Jeanie comes to find out details? She's rewatching the bit of film where Rodney declares his love for her. Oh yeah. Working yourself to nubbin' there, aren't you? If fact, all we see her doing is filming Rodney and being his caretaker. And when John forces her to do the surgery, *he* has to find tools that she can use; she just wants to be whiny and blame people. She seems like someone that partied through med school and only has the vaguest idea of what someone who is competent would do. And she's incredibly stupid as a doctor to not notice the change; no she was too busy flirting. A good clinician pays attention to anything that strikes them as odd, particularly since Rodney was already in the infirmary with an unknown aliment. No, she is completely oblivious and useless.
Oh! Let's not forget her telling someone who is impaired and can't understand how dangerous the trip would be. Rodney has two modes right then--happy or frightened. I felt like bitchslapping her at that moment because she was using him to make a point to the team; what she did was cruel and selfish.
When she denies the team permission to take him to the shrine, she looks happy to have Rodney--just as he is--under her control. I got Misery vibs off her. She was really creepy there.
Two things about the ship stuck out like a sore thumb. First, Rodney's declaration of love. Aside from Keller asking him out once for a drink, we have not seen them have any significant interactions. McKay got a close up of concern when Keller was mentioned during that ep where she was turning into a Wraith ship an that's it. No little scenes of them taking a shine to each other, and no real feeling of him needing her in this ep. When he's scared, he calls for John. He seems like he was a crush and wants to please her when he's somewhat gone and just very pleasant. I sure the hell don't call that love.
The second thing was that Keller and McKay most be soulmates because she predicted that Rodney would feel it was torture to be allowed one more day of cognizant interactions with his friends. She knows Rodney better than his teammates? Really? Right. And all these people with these incredible life experiences--Ronon, Teyla, John, Woolsey and Jeanie, not to mentioned probably most of the viewers-- all thought that the Shrine was the thing to do. If a person only has a few days left of existing as little better than an infant before they die, isn't one day of living as who you are and a quick death preferable?
And I have to tell you as someone who has 30 years of working in a hospital and watching and caring for dying people, the only ones that want to prolong that state of near death are the ones that have something to benefit from it. Family arguments, Social Security checks that will stop when Mom or Dad dies--these are the selfish things that make that one person say, "Keep going. Do not let my parent die with dignity cause I'm getting something out of this."
And the bottom line is if Keller would have had her way, McKay would be dead and she'd be feeling smug because the genius loved her and she has a tape that proves it. That would be probably just as good for someone like her.
And that begs the question of why is it that Keller is so horribly written by a bunch of writers that think she's a great character? Oh wait, didn't they do the same thing to Carter? The more they thought she was fantastic, the more they destroyed her character.
And that makes me realize that if SGA had a season 6, we'd only get more of what I hate in it and less of the good stuff. It's sad, but true.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-27 02:51 pm (UTC)Actually, I think we were meant to think this momentarily, but Rodney was shown repeatedly at the shrine doing his "momentary freakout" thing while he absorbed info, and then settling down as he assimilated it. (I mean, really, who would take that news well?) She might have gotten a temporary sense of victory, but really he was on the wavelength with his team. (Of course.)
And, god, thank you, yes. She was way too emotionally involved to be making proper medical decisions.
I take this ep as a demonstration of show vs. tell. They showed us 47 minutes of Rodney and John loving each other, and they gave us 10 seconds of tell otherwise. Sorry, guys, I know which I believe.
And that begs the question of why is it that Keller is so horribly written by a bunch of writers that think she's a great character? Oh wait, didn't they do the same thing to Carter? The more they thought she was fantastic, the more they destroyed her character.
TPTB in a nutshell. I really don't trust them to be able to pull off what they say they want to do in SGU.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-28 12:11 am (UTC)I take this ep as a demonstration of show vs. tell. They showed us 47 minutes of Rodney and John loving each other, and they gave us 10 seconds of tell otherwise. Sorry, guys, I know which I believe.
Very true. And that is always the problem with Bridge. All they ever do is tell us how wonderful these women are, and tell us about their deep love and they never show us except in the most painful, awkward way.
If they want ship in SGU, they need to put it in now, make it organic and NOT have fraternization rules in the way. And they need to hire either a woman writer (hell will freeze over first) or some guy who has written romance to at least help them set it up. They are idiots.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-27 07:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-28 12:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-28 12:13 am (UTC)I also think in the case of Keller not looking too worried, technically we don't know how she feels for Rodney (beyond friend/co-worker) he's the one that said he loved her.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-28 01:48 am (UTC)Not only does Jewel Staite play Keller with a totally whiny voice, everything she says sounds so unbelievable. There is NO WAY I would trust this woman with my big toe, let alone my life. You hit the nail on the head of the many things I didn't like about her in this episode.
One of my lj friends said the motivation for the "I love you" was that they just spent 41 minutes showing all this love and feeling (brotherly or slash, whichever way you want to read it) between two male characters and went, oops we can't look like they're gay. So let's stick this scene in here so the homophobes will know Sheppard and McKay are not gay. Pfft! Exactly what they used to do with Jack, Daniel, and Sam--and about as believable. So tell me, who are the real homophobes here? We KNOW Cooper is from his comments on one of the DVDs.
How Brad Wright can sometimes write such wonderful caring between the characters and then be such an idiot otherwise, I really do not understand.