SGA: The Prodigal

[tielan]

Wow. The show really has tanked during the season. *grimace*

Honestly? This episode had OMG! WOMEN SHOULD LOOK AFTER THE KIDS AND MIND THE HOUSE written all over it to me. Maybe it's just me and my feminazi views but...

The fact that Teyla doesn't actually do anything until right up at the end of the episode is classic example #1 of WOMEN ARE USELESS IN ATLANTIS, and Amelia Whatshername who does kickboxing is classic example #2. Women can kick ass, but should be left behind to mind the children and keep the house while the men solve all the problems of the city. AMIRITE?

Other than that...

Was it just me, or did Michael seem...OOC? Technically, it's not possible for a character in canon to be OOC and I've written Michael with a need for Teyla's approval - albeit tied in more with his Wraithness and the Wraith social structure of following a Queen, but...I don't know. There was something "wrong" about his portrayal. I can't quite put my finger on it. And...well, the fight-above-Atlantis scene was lovely and dramatic, but...somehow lacking. Truthfully, I'd have preferred to see Michael on the verge of winning everything: destroying Atlantis, taking Teyla's son, winning Teyla over to his side...and then having it all crumble in a split-second as the net closes around him. Success is in his grasp! Only...not. And his castles come crashing down.

If this was a fanfic, it would have been written by someone whose definition of 'team' means John and Rodney friendship, who doesn't know what to do with either Teyla or Ronon, and who believes that women are permitted a moment of awesomeness, but certainly not anything more than that. I could name names, but fandom would lynch me.

If this had been my fanfic, I'd have:
1. had Teyla stash her son in the access hatch, take out the hybrid who was coming after her in a kick-ass fight, take his weapon, and sneak back out and fight, while still carrying her son,
2. had Amelia go out with Ronon and the two guys, and help take on the control room before getting knocked out,
3. had John and Rodney show just a little more concern for Teyla, her son, and her sleepless nights,
4. ...written it with a Ronon/Amelia angle.

Did anyone else see the Ronon/Amelia thing? (Is her name Amelia? That's what I thought Teyla said.)

Overall, it wasn't a bad episode. But it could have been so much better.

Thoughts on The Fall Of Stargate Atlantis here.

Comments

[madjm.livejournal.com]

As I said before, I liked this one pretty well. I think we've seen already that having a child has changed Teyla's priorities, and I don't find that unrealistic at all. And I don't really have a problem with it, either, especially given what would happen if Michael got his hands on her kid.

And I felt like Michael was really at the end of his rope. He really wanted Teyla's son, but his desire for revenge on Atlantis was his undoing. I also think that he really wanted Teyla to come with him, almost to be his "family." He's an outcast from the humans and his own kind, and he's always felt like she was the only one who could understand that.

I definitely felt the Ronon/Amelia thing, but I was a little offended by it. Maybe it's just my paranoia, but it seems like it was thrown in there to appease fans (like myself) who don't for a second believe that Keller would pick Rodney over Ronon. So, hey, let's throw someone at Ronon real quick! Still, it was cute.

[tielan]

As I mentioned to chyti and live_brave, we tend to accept that women can only be one thing: Teyla's warrior and diplomat skills were completely non-existent in this episode - the only aspect that got any real play was her status as a mother. So, maybe it's "realistic" to believe that Teyla's concern for her son would override anything else; but I know the fans would never, ever, not in a million years accept that (as an example) John wouldn't just protect his son from Michael but also fight back against whoever was trying to kill him.

Do you see what I'm protesting against? It goes deeper than the lack of use of Teyla by TPTB, and touches on the inability of viewers to see that her behaviour would be unacceptable in a male character yet is considered perfectly understandable in a female character.

I liked Ronon/Keller at the start; I'm not so sure about it now. Maybe Ronon/Amelia is a tossed bone to the disappointed Ronon/Keller shippers, but as bones go, I don't think it's a bad one.

[madjm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I get your point, but it's not real surprising on this show. I guess I'm so used to "John and Rodney save the world" that it was nice to see Teyla save John's ass AND take Michael out for good. I just am choosing to focus on that part. :)

[tielan]

I just am choosing to focus on that part. :)

It sounds like a wise choice - and one that many Teyla fans have made on this episode.