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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
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.