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03x07 - Common Ground
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yuletide this year. Still not sure if I'm quite clear on the rules or who can write for it and who can't. But in the past, it's been a delightful source of fics in rare fandoms that I enjoy, and I'd really like to participate. I'm awfully tempted to request one of my own original works, too, just to see if anybody might actually WRITE it. (I have, to date, received two fanfics of my original series, which just turns me into a quivering puddle of happy authorial jello.)
In other news, Common Ground reactions!
Another episode that rated quite high on the squee-o-meter. I think this season is just completely spoiling me! This one didn't quite turn me into the puddle of goo that "Progeny" and "Sateda" did, but it still had enough wonderful moments to make me a happy, happy fangirl.
I did see the ending coming a mile away, along with the blatant "Enemy Mine" elements of the plot. Still fun to see, though. Words cannot describe how much love I have for Sheppard's insistence that his friends will come for him. (And, continuing last season's trend, he only ever expresses that sentiment when no one is around to hear it.) And his snarkiness in the face of death, and never-say-die attitude .... And OMG, Rodney! Rodney, Rodney! SQUEE! "What have you done to him?" -- and his "seriously pissed off" body language in the conference room with Leydon just afterwards -- and trying to give a Sheppard-esque pep talk (and doing a very good job!), then still being his usual utterly incompetent self with weapons ... and FLYING THE PUDDLEJUMPER (competently!) -- between "Sateda" and now this episode, I think it's pretty much established that Rodney's become a darn good pilot -- and "He looks even younger than he was before!" to Sheppard ... and the little squeak at the end ... Oh yes, my Rodney fangirliness is back in full swing, all right!
And I believe we finally had an episode in which nobody double-crossed anybody! How unusual for them, LOL. (Unless you count Leydon double-crossing Kolya, but that happened last season.) And, you know, I *really* like Leydon. Liked him in Coup D'Etat, like him even more now. He really is a much better leader of the Genii than either Cowen or Kolya would be.
My one big question at the end, though, is: What about the Wraith enzyme? Don't they inject it when they feed? Did the Wraith "gift of life" fix that aspect of it, or does he have to deal with enzyme withdrawal now?
Oh, and a random side note -- I liked that it was night on the planet where they gated with the Wraith, but day where they came from. Almost invariably this show seems to sync up the day-night cycles of the different planets where they go, and really, what is up with that? Shouldn't they be about equally likely to encounter night as day on the planets where they go? Or did the Ancients actually take that into account when they placed the gates and make sure they were all in approximately the same "time zone" on their respective worlds?
Yet another side note, and while I hate to derail the overal positive of the rest of this post, I just have to ask ... WHAT is up with the Carson hate in the fandom? The first time I ran across a Carson-bashing comment in somebody's LJ, I just thought, oh, whatever, everybody has their least favorite character and it's not like, say, Weir or Teyla don't get bashed a lot too. But it's gone from being kind of a minority opinion to something I see everywhere. It seemed like every other episode reaction for "Common Ground" degenerates into Carson-bashing at some point -- and it's not like "I disagree with his actions in this episode" or "I wish they'd take his character in a different direction" ... it's character hate of the "kill him off already" variety, which I just don't get. Especially not for Beckett. WHY?
yuletide this year. Still not sure if I'm quite clear on the rules or who can write for it and who can't. But in the past, it's been a delightful source of fics in rare fandoms that I enjoy, and I'd really like to participate. I'm awfully tempted to request one of my own original works, too, just to see if anybody might actually WRITE it. (I have, to date, received two fanfics of my original series, which just turns me into a quivering puddle of happy authorial jello.)In other news, Common Ground reactions!
Another episode that rated quite high on the squee-o-meter. I think this season is just completely spoiling me! This one didn't quite turn me into the puddle of goo that "Progeny" and "Sateda" did, but it still had enough wonderful moments to make me a happy, happy fangirl.
I did see the ending coming a mile away, along with the blatant "Enemy Mine" elements of the plot. Still fun to see, though. Words cannot describe how much love I have for Sheppard's insistence that his friends will come for him. (And, continuing last season's trend, he only ever expresses that sentiment when no one is around to hear it.) And his snarkiness in the face of death, and never-say-die attitude .... And OMG, Rodney! Rodney, Rodney! SQUEE! "What have you done to him?" -- and his "seriously pissed off" body language in the conference room with Leydon just afterwards -- and trying to give a Sheppard-esque pep talk (and doing a very good job!), then still being his usual utterly incompetent self with weapons ... and FLYING THE PUDDLEJUMPER (competently!) -- between "Sateda" and now this episode, I think it's pretty much established that Rodney's become a darn good pilot -- and "He looks even younger than he was before!" to Sheppard ... and the little squeak at the end ... Oh yes, my Rodney fangirliness is back in full swing, all right!
And I believe we finally had an episode in which nobody double-crossed anybody! How unusual for them, LOL. (Unless you count Leydon double-crossing Kolya, but that happened last season.) And, you know, I *really* like Leydon. Liked him in Coup D'Etat, like him even more now. He really is a much better leader of the Genii than either Cowen or Kolya would be.
My one big question at the end, though, is: What about the Wraith enzyme? Don't they inject it when they feed? Did the Wraith "gift of life" fix that aspect of it, or does he have to deal with enzyme withdrawal now?
Oh, and a random side note -- I liked that it was night on the planet where they gated with the Wraith, but day where they came from. Almost invariably this show seems to sync up the day-night cycles of the different planets where they go, and really, what is up with that? Shouldn't they be about equally likely to encounter night as day on the planets where they go? Or did the Ancients actually take that into account when they placed the gates and make sure they were all in approximately the same "time zone" on their respective worlds?
Yet another side note, and while I hate to derail the overal positive of the rest of this post, I just have to ask ... WHAT is up with the Carson hate in the fandom? The first time I ran across a Carson-bashing comment in somebody's LJ, I just thought, oh, whatever, everybody has their least favorite character and it's not like, say, Weir or Teyla don't get bashed a lot too. But it's gone from being kind of a minority opinion to something I see everywhere. It seemed like every other episode reaction for "Common Ground" degenerates into Carson-bashing at some point -- and it's not like "I disagree with his actions in this episode" or "I wish they'd take his character in a different direction" ... it's character hate of the "kill him off already" variety, which I just don't get. Especially not for Beckett. WHY?
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It really doesn't bother me at all to run across a teeny bit of character bashing, because I know that different people have different favorite characters. But it does bother me when I start seeing a lot of it. I just don't get it.
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Now, if the writers totally reverse course and turn him back into Season 1 Carson, who's afraid of his shadow offworld, THAT would annoy me, because it would mean that they really are waffling around on his character. At this point, I see it as something more akin to Daniel on SG-1, where he started out a total non-combatant and developed the ability to handle himself in a battle situation over time.
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And OMG, Rodney killed a mouse! :D
Re-Carson, I don't mind him, but I am growing annoyed at this new tendency of sending him on search and rescue missions. It doesn't seem like him--remember in season 1, during the Genii attack, how many times he protested he was a doctor, not a soldier/pilot? Seeing him follow a bunch of Marines on hostile territory seems weird, and totally out of character. The only time we saw Janet out of the SGC, she died...
Still, I don't want him dead--I just want him back in his labs, where he belongs.
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If they role back the clock and have Carson start jumping at his shadow again, that would REALLY annoy me, because it would mean that it isn't part of his character's development but just inconsistent writing. But at this point, it seems like Carson is, by necessity, turning into more of a fighter and developing the ability to handle himself offworld. Just as Rodney's gone from a guy who can't fly in a straight line to someone who can handle a puddlejumper in a combat situation (and I really hope they don't roll the clock back on that, too ... but so far, it seems like they're pretty good about keeping the character development consistent and on track).
Rodney's still jumping at shadows (and mice!) but then ... that's Rodney. He's changed a lot in other ways, but will probably always be useless with a gun. And yet ... think about how terrified he was in combat situations in the early Season 1 episodes, compared to how he's been handling himself in the field lately. The characters have all grown an awful lot.
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I have the feeling that Carson went awfully fast from doctor-who-doesn't-want-to-handle-guns, to accompagnying marines off world. Of course, he had to take harder decisions than most of the other characters, and sacrifice more of his principles--John and Elizabeth took the decisions too, but he's the one who had to implement them.
I just wish we had been given more time to see the transition--but maybe we were, and I just didn't see it, since I watched all of season 2 in about three days. :-/
I guess it'll be interesting to see how things go from here--all the characters get creepy sometimes--John when he killed that Wraith, Ronon most times, and yes, Carson these days... But I do agree that the bashing is a little extreme.
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I am pretty much with you on the idea that they have now estiblished that McKay is at least a decent pilot. How long that will last, I don't know...I suppose it depends on the writers.
I am most so sure about Ladon as a leader...I think we are going to have wait and see about that. I still don't trust the man - as he has his own agenda and we are still not sure what that is. I still haven't forgetten that he was willing to let Sheppard, Rodney, Lorne and the others die along with Cowen and only changed his mind when he realized Atlantis could help him save his sister. He can be just a ruthless as Cowen or Kolya.
As for the "Carson Hate".. I tend to think that part of the "kill him off already" type hate is not so much about Carson as it is there character that those people don't think is getting enough screen time and if Carson was not there then that character would get the screen time. Or some want a Janet Frasier clone. Now I loved Janet. I thought she was a great character. But one of the things I love about Carson is that he NOT Janet. He should not be. To make him so would be a slap in the face both his character and to Janet.
I can understand why Carson would be on the mission, even if I don't quite get why he was one of the ones out there with a gun... Remember, they knew that Sheppard had been subjected to a number of repeated feedings. I can see why Carson would have wanted to be on the jumper. Going out with Ronon, Teyla and the marines that I didn't get. And I did not have a problem with Carson being there in Sateda - and in fact I think that was the best way to handle it. They needed Carson (or someone with medical training) to remove the tracking device but Carson and Rodney stayed in the jumper. Personally I think that in the "real world" that would be the best way to handle it. But this isn't the "real world"... this is TV. TV has is own sets rules when it comes to "character jobs" and that includes making sure the regular characters have an active role even when it not always realistic. Personally I love Carson. I think he is great character, even though some of the choices he has made and his reasons for said choices disturb me on a number of levels. But I still enjoy the character because he gets me to think.
And as for being mean to Rodney? Please...Rodney gives just as good as gets with Carson. They rib each other. It defines their relationship as much as the snark defines the Sheppard-McKay relationship.
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I think that's actually a lot of what I like about him. He's not a nice guy; we *know* that. He was Cowen's right-hand man, and he took over his country by force. He's a guy who does what he has to do to get what he wants. I think we can reasonably assume in Common Ground that his "interrogation" of the prisoners to obtain the gate address of Kolya's planet was pretty brutal and probably lethal.
But he's also a rational guy who is, apparently, committed to making the alliance between the Genii and the Atlanteans work. Yes, there is a lot of self-interest there as well, because Atlantis has them seriously outgunned. Considering what we've seen of the conformist and hierarchical Genii mindset, which advocates glory at all costs -- the scientist in Coup who were perfectly willing to die for the cause, for example -- it says a lot about Ladon that he is willing to forego the "victory at all costs" mentality in his dealings with Atlantis, from putting himself into their hands to sharing his military intelligence and allowing them first crack at Kolya's bunch. Unlike Cowen, he wasn't willing to leave their people on Atlantis to die in Coup d'Etat. Ladon *can* think outside the box.
I liked his interaction with Weir in this episode, because let's face it, she's far from a saint herself. Her statement that she'd turn him over to Kolya if she could, followed by his equally honest admission that he'd probably have turned her over if their roles were reversed -- it just had a nice feeling of interaction between equals.
I think the Atlanteans are right to not trust Ladon, and that giving him their full trust would be a mistake. However, I also think that he's a character with a lot of depth and complexity, and I hope we see more of him. He's interesting precisely because you don't know what he's going to do next. He'll pretty clearly act in the best interests of his people and/or himself, but what form those actions will take remains a question, and makes him interesting to watch.
Going out with Ronon, Teyla and the marines that I didn't get.
Same deal as the other, I thought -- they needed someone medical along because they knew Sheppard would be hurt and didn't know how bad it would be. And he didn't have a machinegun like the others -- when Rodney shot the mouse (eehee, I loved that...) Carson showed up with a .9mm. Ditto when they were in the woods looking for Sheppard; he was carrying a pistol when the rest of them had machineguns. We already know he carries a .9mm offworld because he used it on Ellia in Instinct -- and let's face it, how much sense does it make to send him offworld WITHOUT any sort of protection? None!
Continued in the next post because I have a habit of exceeding LJ's character limit...
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Interesting point. And I do agree with most of what you are saying. I am still wondering how effective a leader he is going to be in the long run. But then if he were an effective leader that wouldn't make for a very interesting story would it? I guess I want things to be a bit messy because I like messy. And I also want to see more of the struggles between Ladon and Kolya because I think that very interesting.
Now the question is how important is the alliance with Atlantis to Ladon? What will it take for them to break it? Because I think at some point it will be broken...because as you pointed out Ladon is out to protect himself and his people. And if he thought sacrificing Atlantis and her people would insure that, I am sure he would do it. (as would Koyla)
I confess that part of the reason I am musing about this is an idea I have for a story where Sheppard has to work with Kolya and can't kill him on sight... And given what we know about both characters I think that part of that would be Ladon betraying Atlantis...(and maybe thinking that in doing so he is acting the best interest of the Genii.
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TV has is own sets rules when it comes to "character jobs" and that includes making sure the regular characters have an active role even when it not always realistic.
There's that, too. In real life, it *doesn't* make sense that Rodney, for example, would know so much about so many different disciplines, no matter how smart he is. Just like it doesn't make sense that they would have allowed Ronon to be in charge on the "rescue Sheppard" mission in this episode, as he appears to be, or allowed Weir to leave Teyla in charge as she did in No Man's Land, or sent Sheppard and McKay to negotiate with the Genii in Coup. In fact, putting their head scientist on an offworld team doesn't make sense any way you look at it. But this is TV. You can't follow a cast of thousands with a TV camera; you have to let your main characters fill the important roles, even when it would make a little more sense in real life to put someone else in one of those roles. In strict realism, just about every episode would be "the one where everyone sits around while the important stuff happens offworld to other people". But how much fun is that?
And as for being mean to Rodney? Please...Rodney gives just as good as gets with Carson. They rib each other. It defines their relationship as much as the snark defines the Sheppard-McKay relationship.
EXACTLY! Complaining about snark in the Carson-Rodney relationship makes no sense. It makes me wonder why someone who has trouble with bickering characters would even watch this show, since it's such a defining feature of how most of them interact.
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I am not sure if I should say this, but I think that part of it is that there are some Rodney fans who...indentify a bit too closely with Rodney. They don't like to see Rodney insulted or teased because they feel it is somehow an attack against them. It is something I see time and time again. The people who have a problem often say they wouldn't want their friends to treat them like that...
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Paul McGillion has talked about Carson evolving out of his "Cowardly Lion" persona, so I think some of the Gung ho! this season is at Paul's behest. But you're absolutely right about it fitting in with his character growth--not to mention we've got the whole Michael-playing-in-his-brain thing still from "Misbegotten." I'm really, really hoping TPTB are smart enough to use that to good effect later in the season.
So far this season has made up in spades for last season's "bleh", at least in my eyes. I really, really hope they can continue the trend.
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I'm glad it's not just me who was all WTF?? over the Carson-bashing. Character bashing makes me uncomfortable in general, even if it's a character I don't really like. Affectionate mocking is one thing, but there's a line between that and actual bashing. Not that I haven't succumbed to temptation to criticize characters I don't like (I'm especially guilty of that with "Lost", where some of the characters do truly drive me around the bend) but I do hope that it's not ... well, hurtful. Because it *is* hurtful to run across really harsh bashing of characters you like.
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As regarding the Carson hate, I have to admit to being royally pissed at him for what he said to Rodney after he'd just given his address to the Marines. It didn't feel lke their normal snark, and whilst I agree that Carson certainly would have reacted to Rodney doing that, I think the manner in which he did was a bad decision by the writers. I would have preferred to see something along these lines.
MCKAY:....stay sharp and stay alive.
[FOR A FEW SECONDS BECKETT SILENTLY STARES AT MCKAY SLACK-JAWED, AN INCREDULOUS EXPRESSION ON HIS FACE]
BECKETT: What...?
MCKAY: Oh THAT?! Just things Sheppard would say, so I thought I would erm..
TEYLA: Well said Rodney.
Yes, I know it's not that different, but there's a slightly different nuance shift, from scornful 'You're spouting a load of crap Rodney!' (which is what I thought Beckett meant) to agog 'where the hell did that come from?' or 'I have no idea what you just said'. Of course, I'm biased in not liking that Carson said that, because I was on a Rodney-love high, but if say an injured Lorne (or else he'd be going) had walked in at that point, overheard and said Beckett's line I would have less of a problem. Why? Because he's MILITARY and IMHO has more of a right to pull up Rodney if he's BS-ing. I was however very pleased that Teyla 'corrected' Beckett's slight and praised him.
But I don't hate Carson! In fact that was the first time I've ever been pissed at him, because I sympathise that he's had to go through so much with the moral dilemmas etc. In fact I was equally pissed at Rodney for interrupting Carson in 'The Real World'. Rodney is rude and annoying. This doesn't diminish the fact that I love the geek, it merely states that despite my affection, he does not get carte blanche to say whatever he likes whilst I smile at him fondly. Carson is not that rude, and he's definitely more sensitive, so I think the writers misjudged that line.
Many of those who got upset at Carson coming along on missions are not appreciating that it makes sense to send your best Physician to treat your ranking officer (or to repeat surgey he's done on a certain Satedan) rather than letting them potentially die whilst a field medic does 'their best which isn't quite good enough'. Many also follow on by saying that it's fine to send Rodney because Rodney's a soldier (that's a quote I've seen that was then hailed by a number as being accurate). HELLO?! Have they been watching the same series as I have? Sure he's improved, but I doubt he'll ever be as good as Daniel (who's the closest comparison) because of the way he reacts to danger. Getting a P90 does not mean that you are regarded as a soldier - it means that you have been trained and have a sufficient level of competency. And no, (as Carson points out in 'Sateda') he's not a great shot, as the on-screen evidence is him missing the Genii in 'Coup d'Etat' and then getting excited that he only *just* missed him! GRR! (Sorry - venting!)
Regarding the day and night thing - well, when they start off on pre-planned, non-rescue missions they use the MALP to figure out the time of day and time their arrival so they're not wandering around at night trying to make first contact. We don't always see the windows in Atlantis, so it could be night when they depart/return. Of course the other logistical reason why we don't see more night time missions is that they're very difficult and very expensive to shoot. Plus as a viewer - it makes gazing at the boys easier when they're nicely lit by bright sunlight!
Regarding the enzyme - Ford etc got addicted because they were being pumped with it AND NOT BEING FED UPON. John was being fed upon, and needed the enzyme to keep him alive through it - therefore there was no excess in his system to turn him into SuperJohn. Ford's 'feeding' was interrupted, but the flow of enzyme wasn't - hence SuperFord. So, no withdrawal.
Shutting up. You can gag/kill me now.