sgareview - sateda - anti-squee, s3e4

This does not invalidate my earlier *squee*. I just wanted to separate them out so the happy squee could be all happy on its own. Cause totally loved the ep. Okay, I'm so not justifying myself here. This is Anti-Squee. Or, things that got on my nerves.



Just my short list, to get it out of my system:

1.) Okay, Ronon-Sue got on my nerves. Everyone *everyone* suddenly wants to love and nurture adn rescue him. *Everyone*. Everyone states how much they love and want to have his babies. *Everyone*. Everyone is hellbent on bringing him home. *Everyone*. Even people, perhaps (read: Carson), who do not interact with him. Um. Ever. Even people who don't mention him. Ever. It was weird.

2.) I undestand DH is comedy gold. And I even get the humor that had me on the floor giggling when he got shot in the ass. And I am all for Sheppard touching McKay all he can. For any reason. That does not invalidate my instant, God, not *again* of cheap humor. Followed up with morphine drugging. Yes, it is funny. And it *worked*. But this should not be all the character *is* if you want him to be well-rounded or you know, anywhere near as breathtaking as he was in Trinity and to a lesser extent, Grace Under Pressure.

3.) I just want to make this clear.

Carson. In the jumper. To save Ronon.

Carson and Rodney, arguing over who loves Ronon more. No, seriously. That was freaking *surreal*. That was beyond surreal. That made no *sense*. See one, Ronon-Sue.

Seriously. Can anyone count on more than one hand the number of interactions they've had outside of *simply sitting in the same room*?

Carson and Rodney *fighting over a gun* to see who gets to go down and Save Ronon. What the *fuck* was that? Can Carson even *shoot*? Especially *that gun*? And why, why, why in the name of God are they *doing that*? Funny, yes. Completely OOC, also. See one, Ronon-Sue.

You know, what bothered me about it was that Carson and Rodney *are friends*. So it felt like they were making light/denigrating that relationship in the pursuit of The Wonder of Ronon and How Everyone Loves Him. Seriously, that wasn't necessary. Just no.

4.) The entire "I will kill you if you kill the guy I want to kill" annoyed me so much I kinda wanted to shoot Ronon. Mostly because he goes backward immediately when Evil Guy is shot by the drone and is *totally okay* with it. And it wouldn't have been a problem if he'd spent any of that episode in *other* than manly intense PTSD angst manpain. It was *funny*. Or should have been if it'd been consistent with *anything else* he'd done in that ep.

The thing is--I loved this ep. It had *character*. I mean, all over the place. It had backstory for Ronon. It had Sateda. It had *John talking about his feelings*. Which just about made me fall over dead. It was *interesting*. It was funny. And despite that, it just itches at me that I cannot figure out what on earth was going on in there.

Okay, I feel better.

Comments

[enname.livejournal.com]

*grits teeth*

......and I spent most of the episode going, 'Carson?'. Huh? What? Why is he all of a sudden part of the main team? Yes he is obviously meant to be there for his removal of tracker capabilities, but it still makes no sense. He goes off world on his own and then goes off world in a mission? Has the team expanded to five all of a sudden?

Either fandom has been picking up the wrong team dynamics all this time, or something went really wrong in their definition after two seasons. Make up your mind people, do you mean family as in team, or family as in all of Atlantis? In which case figure out who goes where... and gah.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

Carson's involvement didn't make sense. He was just stuffed in anywhere there was space and it *made no sense*. God. I literally had to stop for a second when John metnioned him, becuase I was like--wait. *Carson*? WHY?

[enname.livejournal.com]

I did precisely the same and then kept on doing it, because the sense did not come forth and prosper. In fact it got more and more non-sensical as the ep went on and we began to get super!Carson, hero of the universe. Even in the last scene you could see the main team squabbling together like usual... and then there was Carson. Making me just *blink* because ... woah that didn't work.

[seperis.livejournal.com]

There! That is what I was trying to put my finger on. This was a *team thing*. Or it should have been. Their bond, their thing, with Atlantis supporting them. Carson in it threw the entire thing off.

God, no *wonder* I was weirded out by the dynamics.

[enname.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

Compare the beginning and the ending of the episode. You have Ronon, Rodney, John and Teyla going offworld. Rodney getting shot and the team retreating to cover him and John. Then the rest of the team get stuck, and you get Rodney on the floor looking all alone.

Final scene? John, Teyla, Ronon and Rodney all reunite in the jumper with Rodney. Closing the gap that was created by losing Ronon and Rodney getting shot.

Except now there is also Carson being all teamy, which does not match the beginning at all, or the symmetry. If they were trying to echo Runner (with his presence) they missed the point that he was extraneous to the team, but Atlantis's representative. Here? He is trying to meld with the team.

Eep. Sorry. Ranted.

[lydiabell.livejournal.com]

I was really surprised when John mentioned Carson in his speech to Teyla. Have we ever had a scene where the two of them seemed like anything more than reasonably collegial co-workers? I can't stand Carson, so I suppose I might have blocked such a scene out. Anyway, it just seemed like he was mentioned because he's in the main credits, rather than because they have any kind of bond.

[keewick.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I didn't understand why Carson was mentioned and before an "even Rodney" at that. Because from that alone one would gather that Carson was, like the others, a given while John was the least close to Rodney and yeah, that isn't what I've been seeing on my TV.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

John has had at least two extended, intensive stays under Carson's care (during "Conversion" and after "38 Minutes") and he would see him regularly, after every mission and adventure. Bonding deeply with one's doctor under such circumstances is really very common, and it doesn't surprise me that John would count Carson as family any more than it would surprise me for Jack or Daniel to have said the same thing about Janet. "Conversion" alone could have done it, all things considered.

I think, sometimes, and this isn't directed at you in particular, I swear, but is just coming from a frustration with this fandom, that people forget that just because you (again, generic "you") don't like a character doesn't mean the other characters agree.

[lydiabell.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't doubt that the other characters like him. :) It's just that I don't think we've seen the kind of on-screen bonding between John and Carson that we've seen between him and everyone else he mentioned, so it was jarring. I see your point about the possiblity of off-screen bonding, though.

[amireal.livejournal.com]

Well the thing is, they needed SOME way to negate the tracker, now they might've been able to have Rodney come up with something, but more than likely the first choice is to just take it out.

Imagine how much MORE jarring it would have been to have some random extra there as a doctor. So for that specific bit, I understand.

[enname.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree. They needed Carson there for the tracker, much like they did in Runner. It is just that all of a sudden he is one of the team rather than there in a medical capacity. So the whole team unification thing, plus Atlantis family support and Doctor is all smooshed into one and feels odd. Not that he isn't part of the Atlantis family. Plus the whole Ronon-sue thing. Just sad oddly together compared to the opening scenes.