...okay, so, this might get a bit long, apologies in advance :-p.
On your points of why the show oh so loses at writing believable romance, I agree COMPLETELY! All five of your points are spot on! (Including the age thing, which is funny, cause I actually often go for age differences, it's actually kinda a kink. But it disturbs/disappoints me when it's never MENTIONED. One of the things that can be fun/interesting about a big age gap is the adversity that goes with it, proving that your relationship, your bond, transcends your generation gap and the doubts others cast upon it. Except here, no doubts, not even a single raised eye-brow that she's possibly young enough to be his daughter...)
The problem I keep having is I don't see how the relationship *ever* could work. You mention at one point the lack of seeing them just enjoying each other's company previous to "The Shrine". I still find such scenes lacking, up to and including this ep. Keller, nor Rodney for that matter, ever come across like they're really having *fun* with each other. She had to remind him he was sitting with a "beautiful woman." Because the love and lust and UST is such that she has to POINT THIS OUT! Oh show. She spends the entire ep nagging him, asking him to change his conversation, change his personality and pointing out that she's coming only because she's (I guess) interested in him. Past that she keeps stating how much she finds the subject deathly dull. Physics, y'know, Rodney's greatest passion, holds not a single lick of interest for her. And he finds her field equally deplorable, as so much past evidence would suggest. Not that they have to share all their interests. But they have to have *something* in common. And when they're two people who live their careers, having respect/interest in those fields I think does start to really come into play. Heck, they don't even enjoy the same food in this. (poor Rodney and his strawberry phobia *smishes him*)
She doesn't even know him well enough to trust him when he stands up and says this is a BAD PLAN. Instead she just seems to want him to stop embarrassing her. This is *Rodney*, yes, he has an ego, but also, he has that tone he gets when it's all going to hell, when he says we really shouldn't do it and that's when you know you'd better listen cause otherwise the UNIVERSE could be destroyed (or maybe you'll get lucky and it's just the city blowing up...) He's in charge of science on Atlantis, he's saved the day oh so many times. She *knows* this, but still doesn't back him up there.
You mention it coming across like a crush. And that's exactly how it plays to me. Like a high school crush, where they view each other from afar, go "oh, pretty," and when they hook up, realize there's absolutely no substance to their relationship and move on. Except they're not in HS and they've known each other quite some time but aren't moving on, just stumbling awkwardly forward.
*ack* Oh god, sorry for the rant! It's just....the relationship seems so high school from start to finish and the fact they're putting so much screen time into it when there's so little of the show left just frustrates me. *sigh* Ah well...*goes back to huggling my shiny new NCIS. While the fandom's not so large, at least the show is happy-making, and just seems to be getting better...* Oh SGA, as you say, why must we fight? Ah well, there's always all the wondrous, glorious (often better written than canon :-p) fic! ^_-
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On your points of why the show oh so loses at writing believable romance, I agree COMPLETELY! All five of your points are spot on! (Including the age thing, which is funny, cause I actually often go for age differences, it's actually kinda a kink. But it disturbs/disappoints me when it's never MENTIONED. One of the things that can be fun/interesting about a big age gap is the adversity that goes with it, proving that your relationship, your bond, transcends your generation gap and the doubts others cast upon it. Except here, no doubts, not even a single raised eye-brow that she's possibly young enough to be his daughter...)
The problem I keep having is I don't see how the relationship *ever* could work. You mention at one point the lack of seeing them just enjoying each other's company previous to "The Shrine". I still find such scenes lacking, up to and including this ep. Keller, nor Rodney for that matter, ever come across like they're really having *fun* with each other. She had to remind him he was sitting with a "beautiful woman." Because the love and lust and UST is such that she has to POINT THIS OUT! Oh show. She spends the entire ep nagging him, asking him to change his conversation, change his personality and pointing out that she's coming only because she's (I guess) interested in him. Past that she keeps stating how much she finds the subject deathly dull. Physics, y'know, Rodney's greatest passion, holds not a single lick of interest for her. And he finds her field equally deplorable, as so much past evidence would suggest. Not that they have to share all their interests. But they have to have *something* in common. And when they're two people who live their careers, having respect/interest in those fields I think does start to really come into play. Heck, they don't even enjoy the same food in this. (poor Rodney and his strawberry phobia *smishes him*)
She doesn't even know him well enough to trust him when he stands up and says this is a BAD PLAN. Instead she just seems to want him to stop embarrassing her. This is *Rodney*, yes, he has an ego, but also, he has that tone he gets when it's all going to hell, when he says we really shouldn't do it and that's when you know you'd better listen cause otherwise the UNIVERSE could be destroyed (or maybe you'll get lucky and it's just the city blowing up...) He's in charge of science on Atlantis, he's saved the day oh so many times. She *knows* this, but still doesn't back him up there.
You mention it coming across like a crush. And that's exactly how it plays to me. Like a high school crush, where they view each other from afar, go "oh, pretty," and when they hook up, realize there's absolutely no substance to their relationship and move on. Except they're not in HS and they've known each other quite some time but aren't moving on, just stumbling awkwardly forward.
*ack* Oh god, sorry for the rant! It's just....the relationship seems so high school from start to finish and the fact they're putting so much screen time into it when there's so little of the show left just frustrates me. *sigh* Ah well...*goes back to huggling my shiny new NCIS. While the fandom's not so large, at least the show is happy-making, and just seems to be getting better...* Oh SGA, as you say, why must we fight? Ah well, there's always all the wondrous, glorious (often better written than canon :-p) fic! ^_-