Atlantis 2.08 - "Conversion"

[tielan]

Spoilers beneath the cut.

Atlantis 2.08 - 'Conversion'

I'm not going to do a blow-by-blow description of every scene, instead, I'm going to comment on the themes and interactions that interested me.

On the whole, I found that the plot of the episode was very secondary to the interactions between the characters, the groups in which people fell, their reactions to John's situation. Carson's medbabble was a bit offputting, I think they might be leaning on that a bit heavily lately.

A very Sheppard-focused episode with some good acting from Joe Flanigan. The man can act when he puts his mind to it, and for once I didn't feel as though JF was simply skating over the surface. On the whole, I was looking forward to seeing Shep run around beating everyone up. I would have liked more 'Shep beating on everyone' but there was sufficient for my enjoyment.

I always love the scenes where he and Teyla spar, they're very raw and elemental, whether or not you see anything between them. For the most part, the kiss worked for me. Yes, it was 'weird' - Teyla's expression showed that she wasn't expecting it, and John looked like he wasn't completely expecting it himself. So, yes, weirdness. However, he was very intense before the kiss, even if he did back off afterwards.

From someone who likes the John/Teyla dynamic, I'd have to say that both seemed quite astonished by the kiss. (That doesn't mean it can't happen, it just means that it hasn't yet happened or that they haven't yet looked at that as an option in their friendship.) I find it interesting that it's John who's made the first overt move - although no surprises that they hit the 'reset' button at the end.

I really enjoy the dynamics between Sheppard and Ronan - they're both very alpha-male in their different ways, and the conflict and competition between them is always entertaining. I get the feeling that Sheppard is starting to feel a little, hm, inferior beside Ronan - at least from the interaction between the two.

"I don't act like a jerk when you beat me."

"Yes, you do."

To say nothing of Sheppard's later comment: "Did Ronan shoot me?" Men. Too classic!

The dynamics between Ronan and Teyla work as romance - they also work very functionally on a level of trust that comes from both being very good warriors.

Personally, I find that what works in the Teyla-Ronan dynamic also goes for Sheppard-Weir. While there is the potential for romance, I rather prefer the balance of two people who have learned to work with each other, trust and protect each other to a degree that could work either as romance or as pure platonic friendship. My instincts incline to friendship at this point in time since I honestly see Weir as genuinely attached to Simon and still having to get over the regret and pain of that break-up.

And no, even the dynamics in this episode haven't quite convinced me that Sheppard and Weir are lovers. Could they be? Possibly. I think there would be problems regarding proper behaviours within the command structure of Atlantis if they got involved.

Speaking of which, I had a little moment of squee! for a Liz/Ronan interaction that gels nicely with a plot possibility I have going...

*coughs*

Liz seems to have this magnet effect on military guys, incidentally. First Everett, now Caldwell. You could count Sheppard in there, too, if you want. (I don't.) On the whole, I think I'd like Liz better if she wasn't quite so prickly about everything except Sheppard - it's just a little too 'one way connection' for my liking. There are a lot of other people on Atlantis, quite a few of whom are not John Sheppard. Much as I like the character of John Sheppard, I could do with more Others and less Sheppard.

Dear PTB,

Please give Elizabeth some range - have her interact with Teyla, Ronan, and Lorne a bit more - she doesn't only have to be concerned about Sheppard. You have this wonderful, tough, ballsy negotiator and you're not using her to her full potential.

My preference would be for an ep where Liz and Teyla have to negotiate, use diplomacy, and generally kick asses to get out of the situation, while the men are essentially ineffectual. And then the girls can come out with some 'what, you wanted us to play damsels in distress?' comment that floors the guys...

Please? With whipped cream and a cherry on top?

love,
Tielan

On the whole, I enjoyed the episode, although a little less Weir-being-concerned-about-Sheppard would have put the point across more effectively. I felt a bit browbeaten by the Sheppard/Weir dynamics - they could have slipped in more McKay, Teyla, or Ronan moments. Of course, when it comes around to Sheppard/McKay episodes, I feel a bit browbeaten by the Sheppard/McKay moments, too.

So, a lot of very enjoyable moments in my viewing, and a plot point that may or may not be picked up later.

Can we have a non-Sheppard, non-McKay episode now? Please?

--

And now, to quote Daniel: "That's just how I feel about it...what do you think?"

Comments

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Liz and Teyla have to negotiate, use diplomacy, and generally kick asses to get out of the situation, while the men are essentially ineffectual. And then the girls can come out with some 'what, you wanted us to play damsels in distress?' comment that floors the guys...

FIC!

[krazykitkat.livejournal.com]

My preference would be for an ep where Liz and Teyla have to negotiate, use diplomacy, and generally kick asses to get out of the situation, while the men are essentially ineffectual. And then the girls can come out with some 'what, you wanted us to play damsels in distress?' comment that floors the guys...

Oh, yes!

And the kiss was decidedly non-romantic. I took it to mean that John's growing wraith tendencies had picked up on Teyla's wraith genes (and that is terrible wording).

I hope he also apologised to Liz for slamming her against the wall.

[tielan]

I took it to mean that John's growing wraith tendencies had picked up on Teyla's wraith genes (and that is terrible wording).

Hm. See, I'd disagree with that. The episode made it reasonably clear that it was more about the bugs than the Wraith.

I'd go with a 'John trying things that he wouldn't normally do' - including kissing Teyla and strangling Liz. And that it opened up options that they neither of them expected. I don't take that to mean they were unwelcome, per se. Just not something they thought might ever happen between them.

[pixiesio.livejournal.com]

First thing coming to mind when I read this: Ditto. <g>

I did find it strange at the lack of certain characters *coughrodneycough* ;), but I suppose they intended this to be Shep-centric, so much more focus on him. Although it would have been interesting to see how bug!Shep would have interacted more with others, and yes, by that I mean McKay. *giggle*

As for this comment:

I'd go with a 'John trying things that he wouldn't normally do' - including kissing Teyla and strangling Liz. And that it opened up options that they neither of them expected. I don't take that to mean they were unwelcome, per se. Just not something they thought might ever happen between them.

Well, I'd say the latter, the strangling of Liz, was more him losing control than "trying things he wouldn't normally do". At that point he had stop taking the drug that kept him lucid, IIRC, and was barely cognizant of what he was doing, at least until the last minute when he did stop. It would be pretty damn scary if he had literally thought of throttling Liz at some point and wanted to see what it would be like now that it was a good possibility he could die. *thinks* Hmm, ya know, I think I could just be disproving my own thoughts here and maybe he was "experimenting", 'cause I'm sure there's times that both he and Liz have wanted to, figuratively, "throttle some sense" into the the other. But I do agree with krazykitkat *waves*, I hope to hell he apologized to her too. A kiss is nothing in comparison to nearly choking the life outta someone.

Anyhoo, Liz should have known better than to go in alone. When the security guy closed the door, I was yelling at the screen: "You fool! Never close the door, keep watch to make sure the dangerous dude doesn't hurt her!" But I guess that would have lessened the dwama or something. *shrug*

I liked seeing that Teyla appears to be teaching others on Atlantis how to defend themselves. I think it was you who had that self-defense class stuff in one of your fics, wasn't it? If not, I really like that idea. She's perfect to do that, especially for the women. I know I personally would feel more comfortable having a woman teach me proper self-defense, and I think she has a good trust level with most everyone on Atlantis by now. I'm sure the military personnel would have a decent amount of training (you would hope, although it couldn't hurt if they had a little extra seeing as Teyla can totally whup Shep's butt ;), but the civilian personnel of Atlantis, they totally need the training. Just look at how Rodney, other than knowing how to fire a weapon, is utterly ineffectual in any kind of hand-to-hand. I don't know, maybe some of the others might be better, but that should have been one of their top things to get done once they had the Wraith at bay. The more people trained and capable of putting up a good fight, the better their chances, IMO, of surviving.

Okay, I think I've babbled enough. ;)

[tielan]

Well, I'd say the latter, the strangling of Liz, was more him losing control

Sorry! Didn't mean to imply that he'd want to strangle Liz usually! Bad phrasing there.

It does fit in the 'losing control' category, though - both the strangling and the kissage. Behaviour that doesn't gel with his usual patterns - both things Shep wouldn't normally do.

And, although it's not shown, one presumes he did apologise to Liz: they just chose not to focus on it. I'm sure someone somewhere will be outraged that the apology to Liz wasn't shown, though.

[pixiesio.livejournal.com]

And, although it's not shown, one presumes he did apologise to Liz: they just chose not to focus on it. I'm sure someone somewhere will be outraged that the apology to Liz wasn't shown, though.

LOL! I'm sure they will be. And there will be letters about it. ;)