Stargate Atlantis 4x01 Adrift--Spoilers
Sep. 29th, 2007 09:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmarleyLoved it. It was awesome from beginning to end. It honestly had everything, all the way from explosions and action to lovely character moments.
I admit, I'm always nervous when a new season starts. This is possibly residual trauma from the second season of Voyager. And it's not even as if the first episode is necessarily an indication of how the rest of the season will go (though that was, sadly, true in the aforementioned Voyager incident). And yet, it's always good when the first episode doesn't suck.
One of the best things about this episode was John and Rodney. I loved that they worked together, had a serious blow-up, and got past it. The look on John's face when Rodney apologized was awesome. He was surprised, but you could tell that he knew what a big deal that was because he made himself get past his own anger and accept it. And that was that. They did get over it, they moved past it, and I loved that. Also, Rodney called him John!
As a corollary, I thought it was interesting that John turned out to maybe know Elizabeth a little better than Rodney after all. Rodney, Keller and Teyla seemed to feel that saving Elizabeth was the most important thing, but John--and Zelenka, actually--knew that Elizabeth wouldn't want to live at that price. But Rodney also said that Elizabeth would have done it for John, and I'm not sure he's wrong about that. It was a really nice piece of storytelling, because no one was clearly in the wrong, and they were all acting according to their own natures, based on what they thought was the right thing to do.
The scene where John is prepared to neutralize the nanites was so well done. Rodney wasn't going to budge, and John realized pretty quickly that he couldn't make him. I think that John's reactions up to that point, especially when he learned how badly hurt Elizabeth was, showed that cares for her a great deal, and I don't think it was just concerns over the security of the city that motivated him. He knew that Elizabeth wouldn't want to live that way, and he knew that if he wanted it done he wouldn't be getting any help from Rodney. I like that he didn't even bother trying to force Rodney into it, he just backed off and arranged to do it without him.
I would like to pause now and take a moment to discuss the complete and utter awesomeness of Radek Zelenka. If he's not careful, he's going to turn into a daredevil one day. ;) I thought it was neat that he didn't even try very hard to get out of the space walk, because he knew that he was the only one who could do it. And he went from being reluctant to do it to finishing the job with a big hole in his leg--not to mention his space suit. I also really like the way that he does, in fact, trust Sheppard to keep him safe. It's also cool that Sheppard, in his turn, seems to have figured out how to deal with Zelenka. He explains everything he's going to do, but pretty much waits until he's doing it, and doesn't give Radek the chance to think too much or talk his way out of it.
Puddlejumpers + asteroids + Rodney getting zero on the game Asteroids = AWESOME!!! Also, the fact that every time Rodney thought he was going to catch a break, something else happened. Very funny. :)
Ronon's scene with Elizabeth was one of the best things in the show. Ever. I thought about six separate times that he was going to kiss her cheek, and I think Ronon did, too, but in the end he just said "Thanks, Dr. Weir." Wonderful. The fact that they left in those little character moments made me love this episode all the more.
Two little things that bugged me. Dr. Keller wasn't part of the opening credits, but Sam was. My impression has been that Keller would be regular, so I was very surprised that she was missing. Not that big a deal, really, but I was kind of surprised. Also, I would like it very much if someone would feed Sam a few doughnuts. I wish I could say more about Sam, but she really wasn't in the episode that much.
Speaking of Keller, though, I really like her. She was very cool and professional, but still managed to feel kind and sympathetic. I liked the contrast between her demeanor during the crisis and her uncertainty and desperation to get out of her job that we saw in "First Strike." I think my favorite scene was when she was telling John about how badly Elizabeth was hurt. She was very clinical and no-nonsense, but at the same time managed to not to be heartless. I was never once tempted to compare her to Carson, to think, "Well, Carson would have done *this*" or think "She's just a copy of Carson." She's very much her own character already, and I like what I've seen of her so far.
Once again, I think it's terrific that Teyla is more or less next in the chain of command after John. I loved it when Elizabeth handed things over to her on the spot when she was recalled to Earth, and that Teyla had also apparently been left in charge while the senoir staff was away. And the thing I like the most about that? They never explained it, nor justified it, nor even mentioned it. It's taken as a given that Teyla is the most qualified to take over when Elizabeth or John can't be there, and I love that.
So, in short, it was all good. :)
I admit, I'm always nervous when a new season starts. This is possibly residual trauma from the second season of Voyager. And it's not even as if the first episode is necessarily an indication of how the rest of the season will go (though that was, sadly, true in the aforementioned Voyager incident). And yet, it's always good when the first episode doesn't suck.
One of the best things about this episode was John and Rodney. I loved that they worked together, had a serious blow-up, and got past it. The look on John's face when Rodney apologized was awesome. He was surprised, but you could tell that he knew what a big deal that was because he made himself get past his own anger and accept it. And that was that. They did get over it, they moved past it, and I loved that. Also, Rodney called him John!
As a corollary, I thought it was interesting that John turned out to maybe know Elizabeth a little better than Rodney after all. Rodney, Keller and Teyla seemed to feel that saving Elizabeth was the most important thing, but John--and Zelenka, actually--knew that Elizabeth wouldn't want to live at that price. But Rodney also said that Elizabeth would have done it for John, and I'm not sure he's wrong about that. It was a really nice piece of storytelling, because no one was clearly in the wrong, and they were all acting according to their own natures, based on what they thought was the right thing to do.
The scene where John is prepared to neutralize the nanites was so well done. Rodney wasn't going to budge, and John realized pretty quickly that he couldn't make him. I think that John's reactions up to that point, especially when he learned how badly hurt Elizabeth was, showed that cares for her a great deal, and I don't think it was just concerns over the security of the city that motivated him. He knew that Elizabeth wouldn't want to live that way, and he knew that if he wanted it done he wouldn't be getting any help from Rodney. I like that he didn't even bother trying to force Rodney into it, he just backed off and arranged to do it without him.
I would like to pause now and take a moment to discuss the complete and utter awesomeness of Radek Zelenka. If he's not careful, he's going to turn into a daredevil one day. ;) I thought it was neat that he didn't even try very hard to get out of the space walk, because he knew that he was the only one who could do it. And he went from being reluctant to do it to finishing the job with a big hole in his leg--not to mention his space suit. I also really like the way that he does, in fact, trust Sheppard to keep him safe. It's also cool that Sheppard, in his turn, seems to have figured out how to deal with Zelenka. He explains everything he's going to do, but pretty much waits until he's doing it, and doesn't give Radek the chance to think too much or talk his way out of it.
Puddlejumpers + asteroids + Rodney getting zero on the game Asteroids = AWESOME!!! Also, the fact that every time Rodney thought he was going to catch a break, something else happened. Very funny. :)
Ronon's scene with Elizabeth was one of the best things in the show. Ever. I thought about six separate times that he was going to kiss her cheek, and I think Ronon did, too, but in the end he just said "Thanks, Dr. Weir." Wonderful. The fact that they left in those little character moments made me love this episode all the more.
Two little things that bugged me. Dr. Keller wasn't part of the opening credits, but Sam was. My impression has been that Keller would be regular, so I was very surprised that she was missing. Not that big a deal, really, but I was kind of surprised. Also, I would like it very much if someone would feed Sam a few doughnuts. I wish I could say more about Sam, but she really wasn't in the episode that much.
Speaking of Keller, though, I really like her. She was very cool and professional, but still managed to feel kind and sympathetic. I liked the contrast between her demeanor during the crisis and her uncertainty and desperation to get out of her job that we saw in "First Strike." I think my favorite scene was when she was telling John about how badly Elizabeth was hurt. She was very clinical and no-nonsense, but at the same time managed to not to be heartless. I was never once tempted to compare her to Carson, to think, "Well, Carson would have done *this*" or think "She's just a copy of Carson." She's very much her own character already, and I like what I've seen of her so far.
Once again, I think it's terrific that Teyla is more or less next in the chain of command after John. I loved it when Elizabeth handed things over to her on the spot when she was recalled to Earth, and that Teyla had also apparently been left in charge while the senoir staff was away. And the thing I like the most about that? They never explained it, nor justified it, nor even mentioned it. It's taken as a given that Teyla is the most qualified to take over when Elizabeth or John can't be there, and I love that.
So, in short, it was all good. :)
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Date: 2007-09-29 05:11 pm (UTC)Amen! Radek was ten thousand kinds of awesome in this ep. I think you're right that Sheppard's finally figured out how to deal, and the trust Zelenka hands over is really pretty amazing. I want to pick him up and carry him off to my lair and do naughty things to Zelenka. Then he can engineer ways to make them better and we can do 'em all over again. *G*
I too liked the contrast between Keller before and Crisis!Keller. I can still hear Kaylee in that drawl though, and I kept expecting her to whip a strawberry out of her scrubs.
And I <3 Teyla. *happysigh*
I can't find my puddlejumper icon on my drive, dammit. So this one will have to do. *G*