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I have mixed feelings about this episode.
On one hand, it's a pretty good 'team' episode - or about as team-y as it gets these days. Lots of John, lots of Rodney, and a bit of everyone else.
On the whole, it was good. Lots of action, lots of drama, lots of ohnoes moments. Bringing Atlantis back to Earth was a neat idea; guest starring half the Earth military guest stars was also kinda cool.
Overall, one of the better episodes, but...it felt too brief and squished to be a "final episode" for the series. It needed to be part of a broader arc, the way the ending for SG1 S8 was - building up to something big.
I liked it. I have issues with it, of course, but it's rewatchable.
I expect a lot of people will go "awww" at Woolsey's talk to Teyla and Ronon, but miss what the talk actually highlights, quite obviously. Within the show and outside of it, people talk a lot about being a team, but very few people write Teyla and Ronon as though they're valuable for their skills. This tends to happen a lot with Teyla more than Ronon - because Ronon's big and growly and useful for carrying things and scaring the locals. Teyla is...well, background to most people. She doesn't have a 'niche' and so she's not allowed to do anything that might intrude on someone else's 'niche' - never mind that she's capable in all the fields as needed. She can give orders to military personnel, she can be technologically capable, she can intimidate (hell, she did intimidating while she was pregnant), she can be the peacekeeper.
They're valuable for who they are - Teyla and Ronon...but they're never given a chance to be valuable.
Do you get what I'm saying?
In "Enemy At The Gate" I'm a little confused why they didn't use Teyla in the scenes with Todd. Didn't she broker the Wraith Alliance? So shouldn't she be doing some talking with Todd as the rep from Atlantis? They really did shaft Rachel Luttrell this season. And, yes, I'm bitter that Joe Mallozzi and just about everyone else doesn't really care that they did - that this is considered acceptable by the writers and the fandom.
As a John/Teyla fan...Rachel took a very broad interpretation of "together at the end of the show". They're standing together, anyway. And it's pretty clear that Rodney has Keller, and Ronon has Amelia, so... Yes, very much stretching it.
I've had people tell me my shippy expectations were too high for Stargate. I'm very aware of that. But, hey, with the opening scene of this season, tell me that I was wrong to hope. Think about your own OTP having a glass of wine by candlelight or having the moment John and Teyla did in Rising, and tell me that I was 100% wrong and stupid to even hope that there'd be a John/Teyla ending to this show.
Final Words
As an episode of Stargate, it was fine.
As a season ender, it was pretty good.
As a series ender...it felt like it needed more time to really draw out the tension. It feels like they didn't plan for that to be the final episode.
Like I said. Mixed feelings. Maybe someday I'll come back and watch it with greater pleasure. Maybe not.
It could have been worse, but then...it could have been better, too.
And that's my thoughts on the matter.
On one hand, it's a pretty good 'team' episode - or about as team-y as it gets these days. Lots of John, lots of Rodney, and a bit of everyone else.
On the whole, it was good. Lots of action, lots of drama, lots of ohnoes moments. Bringing Atlantis back to Earth was a neat idea; guest starring half the Earth military guest stars was also kinda cool.
Overall, one of the better episodes, but...it felt too brief and squished to be a "final episode" for the series. It needed to be part of a broader arc, the way the ending for SG1 S8 was - building up to something big.
I liked it. I have issues with it, of course, but it's rewatchable.
I expect a lot of people will go "awww" at Woolsey's talk to Teyla and Ronon, but miss what the talk actually highlights, quite obviously. Within the show and outside of it, people talk a lot about being a team, but very few people write Teyla and Ronon as though they're valuable for their skills. This tends to happen a lot with Teyla more than Ronon - because Ronon's big and growly and useful for carrying things and scaring the locals. Teyla is...well, background to most people. She doesn't have a 'niche' and so she's not allowed to do anything that might intrude on someone else's 'niche' - never mind that she's capable in all the fields as needed. She can give orders to military personnel, she can be technologically capable, she can intimidate (hell, she did intimidating while she was pregnant), she can be the peacekeeper.
They're valuable for who they are - Teyla and Ronon...but they're never given a chance to be valuable.
Do you get what I'm saying?
In "Enemy At The Gate" I'm a little confused why they didn't use Teyla in the scenes with Todd. Didn't she broker the Wraith Alliance? So shouldn't she be doing some talking with Todd as the rep from Atlantis? They really did shaft Rachel Luttrell this season. And, yes, I'm bitter that Joe Mallozzi and just about everyone else doesn't really care that they did - that this is considered acceptable by the writers and the fandom.
As a John/Teyla fan...Rachel took a very broad interpretation of "together at the end of the show". They're standing together, anyway. And it's pretty clear that Rodney has Keller, and Ronon has Amelia, so... Yes, very much stretching it.
I've had people tell me my shippy expectations were too high for Stargate. I'm very aware of that. But, hey, with the opening scene of this season, tell me that I was wrong to hope. Think about your own OTP having a glass of wine by candlelight or having the moment John and Teyla did in Rising, and tell me that I was 100% wrong and stupid to even hope that there'd be a John/Teyla ending to this show.
Final Words
As an episode of Stargate, it was fine.
As a season ender, it was pretty good.
As a series ender...it felt like it needed more time to really draw out the tension. It feels like they didn't plan for that to be the final episode.
Like I said. Mixed feelings. Maybe someday I'll come back and watch it with greater pleasure. Maybe not.
It could have been worse, but then...it could have been better, too.
And that's my thoughts on the matter.