I liked Spoils, I really did - because no matter what the eventual outcome is, seeing Teyla unsure about her own decisions seems like a pretty rare thing. And seeing her question herself, and her decision, and her place on the team so openly.. (I mean, there were the hints that she questioned her choice to leave the Athosians to join the Atlantis expedition, but they never bothered to really sit down and show us, and that was in season 1. Three years ago.) Because she also comes off (to me) as the most level headed character that Stargate has seen (either series - Teal'c gets excluded for the single minded Jaffa revenge bloody mindedness). And imho TPTB seem to write best when they're forced out of their default mode for each character - taking Rodney away from the science (Tao of Rodney), John away from the light-hearted wiseass (The Storm/The Eye), Ronan.. (actually, Ronan in the foreground at all is pretty good. Sateda was awesome). And Teyla with torn loyalties - between Atlantis, and her son, and her people.
As for keeping her pregnant secret, I'm in the camp that yes, the sensible thing to do would have been to tell John. Because... it's relevant. Because she could've ended up unconscious and miscarrying on an alien planet after being shot and fed on by the Wraith, and at that point it would be good for her team to know. Doesn't mean that she didn't have reasons not to. Doesn't mean that she can't have complex and contradictory reasons not to, and everything turning out alright doesn't make it the "right" choice. Or the "wrong". Shades of grey. And John's decision couldn't have been anything else. Because... you're not going to find the show where the heavily-pregnant woman goes out and gets shot at. Which leaves three people who could make the decision to take her off the team temporarily, because someone has to. I just.. Teyla's been physically capable as long as she's been around. Adjusting to the having to sit back, when her people are missing, that's tough. And she fought it a little. Because she's a protector and not being able to protect her people is difficult. Especially when she's all they've got. And yes, John is male, but he's also effectively her CO. It's his team. Given that I don't think a female team leader could have/would have made a different choice...
Bah. There's probably a way to explain what I'm thinking and actually make sense...
no subject
I liked Spoils, I really did - because no matter what the eventual outcome is, seeing Teyla unsure about her own decisions seems like a pretty rare thing. And seeing her question herself, and her decision, and her place on the team so openly.. (I mean, there were the hints that she questioned her choice to leave the Athosians to join the Atlantis expedition, but they never bothered to really sit down and show us, and that was in season 1. Three years ago.) Because she also comes off (to me) as the most level headed character that Stargate has seen (either series - Teal'c gets excluded for the single minded Jaffa revenge bloody mindedness). And imho TPTB seem to write best when they're forced out of their default mode for each character - taking Rodney away from the science (Tao of Rodney), John away from the light-hearted wiseass (The Storm/The Eye), Ronan.. (actually, Ronan in the foreground at all is pretty good. Sateda was awesome). And Teyla with torn loyalties - between Atlantis, and her son, and her people.
As for keeping her pregnant secret, I'm in the camp that yes, the sensible thing to do would have been to tell John. Because... it's relevant. Because she could've ended up unconscious and miscarrying on an alien planet after being shot and fed on by the Wraith, and at that point it would be good for her team to know. Doesn't mean that she didn't have reasons not to. Doesn't mean that she can't have complex and contradictory reasons not to, and everything turning out alright doesn't make it the "right" choice. Or the "wrong". Shades of grey. And John's decision couldn't have been anything else. Because... you're not going to find the show where the heavily-pregnant woman goes out and gets shot at. Which leaves three people who could make the decision to take her off the team temporarily, because someone has to. I just.. Teyla's been physically capable as long as she's been around. Adjusting to the having to sit back, when her people are missing, that's tough. And she fought it a little. Because she's a protector and not being able to protect her people is difficult. Especially when she's all they've got. And yes, John is male, but he's also effectively her CO. It's his team. Given that I don't think a female team leader could have/would have made a different choice...
Bah. There's probably a way to explain what I'm thinking and actually make sense...