SGA 510: First Contact

[bluflamingo]

The Queen was strange and bizarre, and I'm glad it seems like it's going somewhere rather than being a random one off. But seriously - how would Wraithifying surgery even work, for one, and, okay, I know Teyla's super-cool, but even she couldn't gain control of an entire hive alliance in an afternoon, for two. Couldn't they have said it would wear off in a day or two and hence she had to leave urgently? That just made no sense.





Tracker - I admit it, I only got as far as Rodney, Ronon and Keller in the gate room before I gave up. I've got zero interest in an episode based on the two of them fighting for her affections, everyone's comments on the final scene between Rodney and Ronon squicked me completely, and also, I'm just not interested enough in the three of them to watch an entire episode about them without Teyla and/or John. The opening scene with John and Rodney was worth downloading though - poor John, left behind while Rodney goes off with Keller, and Rodney so knows that he's hurting John's feelings there, without having the slightest idea what's going on in John's head or why John's being so weird.

Also - Rodney and Keller creeps me out a little, I think because of the age gap. Not that there's anything wrong with having a partner a lot older or younger than you, but somehow it just seems wrong here. Plus - seriously, this show has John, Ronon and Lorne, who are all good-looking, intelligent and fairly charming when they want to be - how have Rodney and Carson managed to both get two Atlantis women lusting after them while no-one wants the other three at all? Personally, I'd rather everyone stayed single and we didn't have to have dumb romantic sub-plots, since one of the (many) things that bug me on tv and in movies is the fact that *everyone* has to be partnered up, and you just can't be happy and successful without it, regardless of what the actual plot of the movie is about. But that's just me - if they must have romantic sub-plots, could they not pair up someone else for a change? What about Zelenka? Or a bit of Teyla and Kanaan, who seems to have vanished into the ether?





First Contact

1. I don't know what it is, but both Rodney and Daniel, both of whom have a tendency to annoy me, are somehow actually pretty likeable when they're together. It's like they halve each other's irritatingness, rather than doubling it. Weird.

2. Also, we should totally keep Daniel around just so he can keep derailing the Rodney/Keller romance. Ronon's response to Wraith on the Daedalus being to find Keller a gun, however, fills me with glee - yeah, he wants to go and protect her, but when it comes down to it, he totally believes she can protect herself as long as she's armed.

3. What's with the swooping between towers to the accompaniment of epic music this week? They're looking for, okay, magically sonic resonant, sconces, not the secrets to the creation of life, the universe and zpms.

4. On the subject of sconces, also, how convenient is it that they (a) brought exactly the right shaped cut out foam with them when they came on what could have been a suicide mission to another galaxy and (b) put them back in exactly the right order that the chime thing would work? Also, tell me I wasn't the only one who just knew the whole 'leave it open permanently' thing would backfire on them in some unspecified way.

5. Daniel, sweetheart, as nice as it is that you continue to believe everyone can be talked round, have 12 years in SG1 not taught you that that pretty much never works? Which I say with additional conviction as I'm currently rewatching season 9, where that fails pretty much every time that try it. And Rodney's so missing John and the team, who would have a much more exciting and danger filled response to 'so what do we do?'

6. What's up with treating John like he doesn't have two braincells to rub together this week? It's kind of amusing, played against the fact that he figured out the subspace thing right along with Rodney and then figured out how to stop them blowing up the planet ahead of Zelenka, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't intentional by the writers. Okay, fine, he's not a genius like Rodney and Zelenka, but they've been working with him for four years at this point, they've seen evidence that he's smart enough to get most of what they're talking about. And Rodney's crack about could have been MENSA is kind of cruel, especially when he's making it with Daniel, who, seriously, is not going to be cracking any mathematical codes. Ancient riddles, maybe, but not mathematical codes. I dunno, it just comes across as really childish and kind of designed to be hurtful/exclusionary, for no real reason. Mention the lemon thing and die.

7. On the subject of which - Daniel couldn't have brought someone else from the team with him? Like, say, Cameron Mitchell? I don't know why, but they've come up with reasons for stupider things in the past. Also, why isn't Daniel in uniform?

8. Teyla's spatial awareness is amazing - new, previously hidden lab many floors below, but she knows instantly that it's below where they're standing. I'm officially impressed (my spatial awareness is crap, which probably helps with the impressedness, but still).

9. Why on Earth, in your diary, would you mention precisely which corridor you saw your boss disappear down? Didn't the Ancients have better things to do? Also, the bit about his lovers and his assistants makes Janus sound a little creepy, I don't know why.

10. Why is Todd have existential angst about the retro-virus *now*? If it bothers him, surely he could have just not contacted them. I think he just wanted an excuse to see John.

11. Atlantis, city of readers. I love Chuck with his feet on the console and his book - he reminds me of being an evening receptionist, which was a great time to get seminar reading done. And John dozing off and being freaked out by the sudden voice was cute (though why no radio?) Also, did he stay up all night, since it was nearly dawn? Or was up and hadn't gone on duty yet? Why can't things make *sense*?

12. John as competent commander - more of this please! And also Amelia, yay! Who seems to be senior to Chuck, if she's saying to get Sheppard. Hi Michelle the nurse, and Marine with glasses - I like this new tendency for background people to be the same week on week, though I'm starting to miss Lorne; when did he last show up, Ghost in the Machine?

13. Rodney, when a stressed out sounding guy tells you to get out, a little more leaping up wouldn't hurt. Okay, in this case it wouldn't have helped, but still, as a general rule, panic = speed is a pretty good life philosophy.

14. John, you blew up bits of Atlantis. Twice. Is this like the command equivalent of doing the washing up badly so that you won't get asked to do it again?!

15. If Janus had all those locks and everything on his lab in Atlantis, why not on the lab on mystery snow planet? That seems a little optimistic. Particularly considering the device, which he only turned off, messes with the stargate system, which, you know, kind of serious. Also, totally going to lead to John and Rodney fighting over which of them is *really* resonsible for nearly blowing up the gate room.

16. Daniel apparently works on understanding people by squinting at doors. I don't know why, but this really amuses me.

17. Oops - so much for the Wraith alliance. Not that that wasn't fairly predictable, but still. Todd's unconsciousness... thing... was neat though.

18. Meep! John! Radek! I mean, obviously John's going to make it, being one of the leads but... they wouldn't kill off Radek, right? Right? I hate cliffhangers!

Comments

[10pmpacifictime.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched "Whispers" or anything after it. Bottom line, is it worth continuing with the show?

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Whispers - meh, 'twas okay, though kind of one off-ish in that annoyingly random way that SGA sometimes does things.

The Queen - pretty cool idea, weird execution, possibly because it's mostly setup for what's coming now.

Tracker - can't comment, didn't watch it

First Contact - 'twas good, scifi instead of love triangle. Lotsof everyone being competent, which is always good.

I dunno, I'd keep going (obviously, since I am) but it depends on what you're looking for in your episodes or why you stopped watching.

[lenyia.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one, who couldn't finish Tracker...

I agree with you (mostly) on First Contact, especially the point one.

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one, who couldn't finish Tracker...

Yeah - the whole plotline just creeps me out. Though I was probably put off even more by reading a lot of negative episode reviews first.