The Tracker, intial reaction

[greyias]

Okay, I actually went into this episode expecting to come away disliking it. Simply put, spoilers are evil and can taint my views on something that I have no idea if it's going to happen.

The main thing that I was expecting, and thank god it did not happen (or at the very least was low key), was love triangles. It is possibly one of my biggest pet peeves in television, and fiction in general. Especially love triangles between friends. Perhaps it's my own past experiences tainting things, but usually it happens between three very good people, the two "made-for-each-other" end up together, and a third party gets really hurt, and the two people I'm supposed to like and be happy for I usually want to slap the living daylights out of. It's ruined several shows for me, and I was really scared it was going to harsh majorly on my SGA squee.

Thankfully, it hasn't happened (at least yet).

Happily, for me, this episode wasn't about Ronon and Rodney fighting for Keller's affections as they fight Wraith and Runners, but hey, about Keller being kidnapped, being a medical doctor with ethics and savvy, and kicking a little ass. It also had a B-plot with Rodney and Ronon running around the woods looking hot, and, of course, Rodney being the biggest damsel-in-distress in the episode (which is so how it should be. Yay show! \o/ )  Love Rodney's girly "Hello Wraith! Easy prey found here!" scream, still looking away and firing wildly with his pistol, and for the most part not being an action hero, even when he is. I really did enjoy his and Ronon's B-plot (and the fact that it was the B-plot?), because we just don't see much of a shake-up outside of the John + Teammate pair up, and it was nice to see an offworld adventure that defied the norm. It wasn't the Ronon/Teyla buddy adventure I was hoping against hope for on the Improbable Wish List, but it was still great fun. (With swinging logs! And Runner-built bear traps! ♥!).

And I really liked Keller in this. Even if she was "kidnapped in the woods", she didn't play the damsel-in-distress (once again, oh, Rodney) she rescued herself, and had that same attitude and presence onscreen that made me really enjoy her part in "Trio". Of course, now I have really confused myself, because my reaction to her parts in season five has been all over the place. Serisouly, I have no clue, maybe some serious viewer issues going on or something. I enjoyed her in "Search and Rescue", was kind of blah about the poor girl in "The Seed", have extremely mixed reactions on her for "The Shrine", kind of wanted her to be quiet last week, and this week I'm wanting her autograph. So seriously, what is wrong with me? I'd like to blame it on the writing, but I honestly don't think that's it.

(There's more I've written that's now going to go into a follow-up meta post, because it has nothing to do with this episode.) (ETA: On second thought, it became a bit ranty, so it's going on the private filter now :)

So, in summary: Kick-ass Keller (plz stay, i♥u), Rodney screams like a little girl (♥), and his aim with a gun drastically improves when he's trying to save someone else (♥), Ronon=Survival Instructor (♥), Hot Runner Ver. 2.0 is hot and fun (♥), little girl wants Rodney ejected from the infirmary (♥).

Comments

[greyias.livejournal.com]

I think Rodney frequently reverts to earlier stages of character development, not just for plot reasons, but because the writers think it will get them a cheap laugh.

The cheap laughs don't really bother me most of the time, because I can see it as part of Rodney's core character. He's capable of change, and he does change, but he thinks. A lot. Maybe all of the time, which can lead to him not thinking about the task at hand -- and missing social cues, so he winds up putting his foot into his mouth, realizing that he shouldn't be talking, should not be screaming at the top of his lungs and attract an entire troupe of Hunter Wraiths.



I'm more disgruntled when they do it for the sake of plot, and it's a major regression for no other point than they feel like they can because they're writers. For me, "Trinity" is a huge case of this. I honestly thought I saw a lot of character growth in season one, to the point where he wouldn't be making stupid jokes about John being his coffee maid, and would never intentionally and consciously use their friendship to meet his own agenda. Subconsciously, yeah, totally. But not deliberately and calculated.

And I think it annoys me more because when it's on screen, it's canon, and for me that's set in stone. Unless I can find a way to connect the character points in my mind, there seems to be no explanation for it. Which is probably why I write fanfic *g*

They may not get each other, but they do care for each other.

They really do care for each other, and darn it, Jason Momoa, they like each other. It was very, very apparent in "The Shrine".

given how close Rodney was to dying not all that long ago.

I'd agree with him on this, but they've been pretty cavalier with timelines as of late. For us it's been maybe four weeks since "The Shrine", for the characters? Who knows. Almost the entirety of season three was supposed to take place in six months. Keller's time on Atlantis changes per episode. Somehow, six months have passed between "The Seed" and "Whispers". I'm starting to think that Atlantis is stuck in a time vortex. That, or the writer's don't use a Show Bible to keep things realistic and toss out numbers willy nilly to drive people like me crazy.

[wildcat88.livejournal.com]

They really do care for each other, and darn it, Jason Momoa, they like each other.

I don't know that I read the entire interview, but I remember hearing that he didn't think Ronon and McKay were friends. I kinda took that as friends that hang out. Those two have nothing in common. That doesn't prevent Ronon from feeling that brotherly teammate bond - caring about McKay. I don't think Ronon and McKay hang out much. Beckett and McKay had/have so much in common as do John and Ronon (or Teyla and Ronon). I'm not sure Ronon would consider McKay his friend (like Sheppard and Teyla are). But I think he cares about McKay.

I did notice in The Shrine he wants to help McKay because he "owes" him. A sense of obligation because Rodney has saved his life in the past or because they are teammates or because he considers himself Rodney's protector?

[greyias.livejournal.com]

I was very prepared to agree with you in that I just misread what Jason was saying... then out of curiosity I looked up the interview, and yeah... it gave me the same impression the second time around. I could be way off base, but I kind of feel that the interview is really more strictly Jason's POV... rather than Jason's intrepretation of Ronon's POV? That... or I really don't agree with Jason's interpretation of Ronon's POV.

I did notice in The Shrine he wants to help McKay because he "owes" him. A sense of obligation because Rodney has saved his life in the past or because they are teammates or because he considers himself Rodney's protector?

I still haven't quite figured out what he meant by that, to be honest *g* I'm leaning towards more of the intense brotherhood/teammate bond though than any sense of obligation. The way he smiles at Rodney in the infirmary when he says Ronon's name is so very fond.