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The Tracker, intial reaction
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 woodslooking 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 (♥).
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
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 (♥).
no subject
I don't know... I do think that Keller has a broad and recongizable character structure, because I do recognize her from episode to episode. As the "show healer", her patients always come first. She's also not quite comfortable in her skin, which comes off as being unsure in her abilities or whininess at times.
I think what really makes her character more than a cardboard cutout are her quirks, which some writers just don't seem to be able to grasp. I notice that I like it when those like Binder and Gero bring out her sense of humor, her bravery in the face of danger, and even the unsureness in actions like her flinching (although that could come from Jewel). As for "The Seed"... yeah, sorry, she was pretty bland in that, no argument here. The first thing that comes to mind from that episode are stabby tentacles, not "Keller kicks ass."
However, I do think she has less quirks than Team Sheppard, although whether that's due to the fact that in Stargate the doctor roles are typically supporting, or a reluctance on their part to take a chance with her character.
I think the problem this season is they feel they need to use her since they've promoted her to the main cast. It was the same problem they had when trying to integrate Carson into more episodes. The design of the show just doesn't present them much opportunity to be more than doctors , so a lot of time their presence in episodes feels a little unnecessary?