episode reviews: 4.17-4.20 - Midway to The Last Man

[tielan]

Whew! SGA S4 watched!

Midway

Teyla's interview: I'm always half-amused, half-horrified when the bureaucracy rears its ugly head in Stargate. I mean, theoretically, it should be there - it's expected. I just dislike it. And Teyla would have gone through it with grace and elegance, even if "a pregnant woman" isn't "suitable" to be "part of the fight against the wraith".

On the question of Teyla's returning to the team...I saw Teyla's comment of "he does not expect me to return to the team" to be a kind of "well, I'll show him", even if her look at Sheppard suggested that her return might not make things precisely as they were before. And, from inside the universe (without the knowledge of how the Stargate universe works from the outside), she believes she's going to have a child to bring up. That'll change things certainly. It's not so easily a case of 'go out and save the galaxy' when she's got a son to nurse and care for. So, no, I don't think that Teyla believes she'll be back on the team in precisely the same capacity that she was before.

On the other hand, I don't think she'd up and leave, either.

I love the Sam/Teal'c friendship, it is teh awesomeness of DOOM. *smooches them*

Ah, Teal'c. I love Teal'c. In this ep, he's so "the very young have much to learn" - especially in the commissary. The fight was...wow. Although you can see Sam going, "Oookay. Testosterone poisoning." And she gets in there between them! Love it.

How convenient, two spacesuits. Foreshadowing much?

Suggestion: they vent the midway to atmo: then no-one dangerous gets through. (ETA: Woohoo! I was right!)

"Just under ten minutes before the self-destruct goes off." How convenient. They have just under ten minutes before the episode is due to end!

I LOL'd at John locking himself in the cockpit after the first day. No, he wasn't off having buttsex with Rodney; he had a huge and massive headache that even the presence of his "bestest friend evah" couldn't make go away.

Conclusion: I liked this episode and would watch it again. Teal'c and Ronon kicking ass and taking numbers? Yes, please. I don't have the history of the 'black man fights' that cesperanza referred to about this episode; to me, it was just a couple of guys getting their egos out and measuring it. I suspect that Teal'c knew he had to prove himself to Ronon on a physical/fighter level before Ronon was going to even halfway listen to him - hence the fighting and the keeping up.



Kindred I

Aha! The funeral pyre dream sequence. Alas for dream sequences. :) Not the first time a Teyla-centric ep began with a dream sequence. It's a pity they didn't get to introduce Kanaan earlier in the show, though. *mutter*

Ooh. Lorne's probably thinking, "Oh, shit. My ass is grass and Teyla's team-mates are the lawnmowers."

This ep is packing it in. It's like the Half-Blood Prince of Stargate Atlantis: oh, no time left, must cram it all into a couple of eps!!!

Okay, that is beyond freaky. Michael through Kanaan to Teyla. I see why there's the sudden Teyla/Michael obsession in fandom. Hoo boy. So Teyla thinks she's responding to Kanaan, but Michael's actually the one she's responding to. That is twisted. And I love it!

Michael really is fixated on Teyla. Like ex-boyfriend stalker obsessed. And I love Sheppard's expression when he realises what he's too early for and how Teyla's up there on the ship being fired upon. ACK!

ENDING! OMG! ENDING!

I totally forgot what was going to happen in the last five minutes until we hit the last five minutes and was all, "Ooh! OOH! WOOHOO! CARSON!" See my joy. This is my joy. My job is abject. Observe my abject joy.

I FORGOT WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE LAST FIVE MINUTES!

*does the dance of yes, I am spoiled but I forgot I was!*

Conclusion: Uh. I really liked this one. As in, really liked.



Kindred II

I have this feeling that this episode is going to focus more on Carson than Teyla. *sadface* Not that I don't like Carson, only that I want more TEYLA! *whines*

Better living through Replicator assistance?

I guess it would have been too much to ask for Teyla to rescue herself.

Plothole #1: If she can deceive and control Wraith Queens, why can't she do the same with the males? I mean, it's just Michael and the hybrids. I don't know who wrote this one, but I bet it wasn't Alan McCullough.

Conclusion: Lovely for Carson, but too much Teyla-as-victim. They're big on women as victims, aren't they?



The Last Man

"Count yourself lucky, young man!" *snerks*

I love how the city lights up ahead of John and dims behind him.

Shouldn't he have serious sunburn from the increased radiation and heat of the desert outside the city?

OMG: ROCKS FALL, EVERYBODY DIES!

Conclusion: Excellent ep. I'm a sucker for AUs and this one was pretty damned awesome.

For those who are annoyed at how the AUs worked out in the sand-blasted timeline, the key aspect is that they're here to change the future.

Save the Athosian; save the galaxy!

So, this was a much more enjoyable quartet to watch for me. Other than the women-as-victims angle (of which we already knew TPTB are overly fond), and not enough Teyla (again, something that couldn't be helped this season) they were good.

My order of preference: Kindred I, Midway, The Last Man, then Kindred II. Kindred II might have scored higher if they'd follow the other path opened in Kindred I. Still, all four are waaaaaay above and beyond Miller's Crossing, The Seer, Trio, and even Outcast (which is the top of that last set).

Having seen most of this season, my current top four for this season are: Spoils Of War, Kindred I, Midway, and The Last Man. That may change as they fade into the background of my memory, but for the moment, that's how it stands.

Oddly, in spite of the overall lack of Teyla, I still like S4 overall better than I did S3. S3 had far too much formulaic stuff; S4 had some formulaic stuff, but they seem to be working at breaking the mould...at least a little. I doubt they'll ever break it completely, but S4 - and the last four eps in particular - had a much better feel to them than a lot of the other eps in the season.

And now it's lunchtime and I have four ficathons to write.

Comments

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I am writing a Teyla fic right now that involves me inventing a lot of stuff and among this is a deal that Athosian parents make as to who will raise the child. So Tagan totally raised Teyla and Kanaan was supposed to raise Teyla's son depending on how it works. There's an elaborate fostering system involved. I am still working on the details.

[tielan]

It does look like the Athosians have a one-parent system, although that might just be because of Wraith depredations.

I admit, I was wondering where Jinto is among the Athosians and hoping he wasn't dead.

[rhianona]

you are so much better than me... I still haven't seen past Tabula Rasa.

[tielan]

My recs? Watch Missing, The Seer, Be All My Sins Remembered, Spoils Of War, The Kindreds, and Last Man.

Those are the ones that involve the main storyline and Teyla.

Midway and Outcast are good, though.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

I LOL'd at John locking himself in the cockpit after the first day. No, he wasn't off having buttsex with Rodney; he had a huge and massive headache that even the presence of his "bestest friend evah" couldn't make go away.

Ha ha. It's amazing how no one pointed that out. Though I'm sure there are fics out there where Sheppard lets him in.

I really, really did not like "The Last Man" so I find it very interesting that you did. Just in that usually we tend to be close opinion wise.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I found it a massive let down after Kindreds. Also, I am not a huge fan of "and then they all died" episodes.

[tielan]

Though I'm sure there are fics out there where Sheppard lets him in.

Oh, absolutely, without a doubt. And I don't imagine too many people pointed it out because most people don't want John to have locked Rodney out.

I have a soft spot for AUs. As in, a really soft spot. I love the possibilities and probabilities, and the whole "things go from bad to worse" was fascinating. There was a slightly annoying element of "this is our flashback episode, only we're going to flash-forward instead" but, on the whole, it worked for me.

In a paradoxical situation, I think that old, grumpy Rodney annoyed me less than the usual Rodney we see. I liked this Rodney, worn down by age and made weary by time; he had much less of the smug arrogance that usually aggravates me - full kudos to DH for an awesome performance.

Anything in particular that bothered you about it?

[renisanz.livejournal.com]

"Okay, that is beyond freaky. Michael through Kanaan to Teyla. I see why there's the sudden Teyla/Michael obsession in fandom. Hoo boy. So Teyla thinks she's responding to Kanaan, but Michael's actually the one she's responding to. That is twisted."

I totally thought the same thing. The obsessed ex-boyfriend thing, too. Michael is so in love with Teyla in his own sick way. Did you catch how hurt he looked when she called him insane?

[tielan]

I don't know that I'd use the word 'in love' but obsessed? Yes. Definitely yes.

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

Actually, McCullough wrote KII; Mallozzi and Mullie wrote KI.

I'm probably a fandom outlier, because while I think Mallozzi is an asshole, I actually tend to like the episodes he writes much more than most of the Martin Gero eps.

[tielan]

Heh. The ironic thing? I'm kind of the opposite.

I respect Mallozzi for getting down and dirty with fandom and giving as good as he gets (and, honestly, I don't think all the assholishness is on his side); but I don't always like his episodes.

But, yeah, this time I really liked KI. I think that KII bugged me more for helpless!Teyla than anything else. She needed to do something - make an attempt that got her halfway out before Michael recaptured her. Something.

Martin Gero... *wiggles hand in air* Hit-and-miss with him. Particularly of late, where Rodney just grates on me.

Up until KII, I liked all McCullough's eps, though.

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

Plothole #1: If she can deceive and control Wraith Queens, why can't she do the same with the males? I mean, it's just Michael and the hybrids. I don't know who wrote this one, but I bet it wasn't Alan McCullough

In a way I wish they hadn't enhanced Teyla's abilities quite so much via the papoose for precisely this reason—it makes her becoming a damsel in distress for Michael that much more aggravating. Well, that and the fact that Wraith queens have been shown to be so much more psychically powerful than the average Wraith that even assuming Teyla's baby won the hivemind telepathy lottery by dint of having two gifted parents, it still seems unlikely she could overcome one. In "Submerged" they had to shoot and sedate the queen to prevent her from possessing Teyla, whereas males other than Michael have never been able to even initiate contact.

Perhaps I should just chalk up her performance in Spoils of War to the queen being stunned by the combined hotness of Teyla and Lorne in the same room?
WRAITH QUEEN: "ARRRGHH! The Pretty—it burrrrns!"

[tielan]

that even assuming Teyla's baby won the hivemind telepathy lottery by dint of having two gifted parents, it still seems unlikely she could overcome one.

I guess, I don't have a problem with there being 'unexpected genetics' in the matter of Teyla and her child - at least not genetically. However, yeah, it tends to grate when they make the characters and their abilities subservient to the plot.

I really, really hope that Teyla gets to do some saving (of herself and others) in Season Five. They did better in S4 than previous seasons, but they could do still better, IMO.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I am writing a Teyla fic right now that involves me inventing a lot of stuff and among this is a deal that Athosian parents make as to who will raise the child. So Tagan totally raised Teyla and Kanaan was supposed to raise Teyla's son depending on how it works. There's an elaborate fostering system involved. I am still working on the details.

[tielan]

It does look like the Athosians have a one-parent system, although that might just be because of Wraith depredations.

I admit, I was wondering where Jinto is among the Athosians and hoping he wasn't dead.

[rhianona]

you are so much better than me... I still haven't seen past Tabula Rasa.

[tielan]

My recs? Watch Missing, The Seer, Be All My Sins Remembered, Spoils Of War, The Kindreds, and Last Man.

Those are the ones that involve the main storyline and Teyla.

Midway and Outcast are good, though.

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

I LOL'd at John locking himself in the cockpit after the first day. No, he wasn't off having buttsex with Rodney; he had a huge and massive headache that even the presence of his "bestest friend evah" couldn't make go away.

Ha ha. It's amazing how no one pointed that out. Though I'm sure there are fics out there where Sheppard lets him in.

I really, really did not like "The Last Man" so I find it very interesting that you did. Just in that usually we tend to be close opinion wise.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I found it a massive let down after Kindreds. Also, I am not a huge fan of "and then they all died" episodes.

[tielan]

Though I'm sure there are fics out there where Sheppard lets him in.

Oh, absolutely, without a doubt. And I don't imagine too many people pointed it out because most people don't want John to have locked Rodney out.

I have a soft spot for AUs. As in, a really soft spot. I love the possibilities and probabilities, and the whole "things go from bad to worse" was fascinating. There was a slightly annoying element of "this is our flashback episode, only we're going to flash-forward instead" but, on the whole, it worked for me.

In a paradoxical situation, I think that old, grumpy Rodney annoyed me less than the usual Rodney we see. I liked this Rodney, worn down by age and made weary by time; he had much less of the smug arrogance that usually aggravates me - full kudos to DH for an awesome performance.

Anything in particular that bothered you about it?

[renisanz.livejournal.com]

"Okay, that is beyond freaky. Michael through Kanaan to Teyla. I see why there's the sudden Teyla/Michael obsession in fandom. Hoo boy. So Teyla thinks she's responding to Kanaan, but Michael's actually the one she's responding to. That is twisted."

I totally thought the same thing. The obsessed ex-boyfriend thing, too. Michael is so in love with Teyla in his own sick way. Did you catch how hurt he looked when she called him insane?

[tielan]

I don't know that I'd use the word 'in love' but obsessed? Yes. Definitely yes.

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

Actually, McCullough wrote KII; Mallozzi and Mullie wrote KI.

I'm probably a fandom outlier, because while I think Mallozzi is an asshole, I actually tend to like the episodes he writes much more than most of the Martin Gero eps.

[tielan]

Heh. The ironic thing? I'm kind of the opposite.

I respect Mallozzi for getting down and dirty with fandom and giving as good as he gets (and, honestly, I don't think all the assholishness is on his side); but I don't always like his episodes.

But, yeah, this time I really liked KI. I think that KII bugged me more for helpless!Teyla than anything else. She needed to do something - make an attempt that got her halfway out before Michael recaptured her. Something.

Martin Gero... *wiggles hand in air* Hit-and-miss with him. Particularly of late, where Rodney just grates on me.

Up until KII, I liked all McCullough's eps, though.

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

Plothole #1: If she can deceive and control Wraith Queens, why can't she do the same with the males? I mean, it's just Michael and the hybrids. I don't know who wrote this one, but I bet it wasn't Alan McCullough

In a way I wish they hadn't enhanced Teyla's abilities quite so much via the papoose for precisely this reason—it makes her becoming a damsel in distress for Michael that much more aggravating. Well, that and the fact that Wraith queens have been shown to be so much more psychically powerful than the average Wraith that even assuming Teyla's baby won the hivemind telepathy lottery by dint of having two gifted parents, it still seems unlikely she could overcome one. In "Submerged" they had to shoot and sedate the queen to prevent her from possessing Teyla, whereas males other than Michael have never been able to even initiate contact.

Perhaps I should just chalk up her performance in Spoils of War to the queen being stunned by the combined hotness of Teyla and Lorne in the same room?
WRAITH QUEEN: "ARRRGHH! The Pretty—it burrrrns!"

[tielan]

that even assuming Teyla's baby won the hivemind telepathy lottery by dint of having two gifted parents, it still seems unlikely she could overcome one.

I guess, I don't have a problem with there being 'unexpected genetics' in the matter of Teyla and her child - at least not genetically. However, yeah, it tends to grate when they make the characters and their abilities subservient to the plot.

I really, really hope that Teyla gets to do some saving (of herself and others) in Season Five. They did better in S4 than previous seasons, but they could do still better, IMO.