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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?
no subject
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.
no subject
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...
no subject
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.
no subject
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.
no subject
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...