Stargate Atlantis #411 - BE ALL MY SINS REMEMBER'D - Spoiler review

[wraithfodder]

 My spoiler-ridden review of Stargate Atlantis' "Be All My Sins Remember'd" episode is under the cut.

Alas, too late right now to stay up another hour, so shall watch Joe Flanigan's "FBI Guy" episode of WOMEN's MURDER CLUB tomorrow :)

BE ALL MY SINS REMEMBER’D

Episode #411 of Stargate Atlantis

 

Just some overall comments… I’d give it a B to B+. I have yet to see an episode where I scream “OHMYGAWD, THAT WAS GREAT!” I know a lot of folk have posted elsewhere that this was the best episode since Cheese Whiz, but, eh, not for me, not quite yet.

 

First, since it’s the biggest thing making people squee about this being the best episode since Cheese Whiz hit the grocery shelves - great SPX and space battle stuff. The fanboys will be in ecstasy ;) If TPTB are smart, they’ll submit this episode to the Geminis under the special effects category.

 

Rodney made a toaster! When that block first formed, I thought, gee, it looks like a toaster. Made me think of Ghostbusters and the slime-possessed dancing toaster.

 

FRAN was marvelous. A friend joked, “Rodney created a Fembot!” Bwahahhaah! And perhaps he’s finally over his infatuation with Carter; he like brunettes now ;) And I was sorry to see Fran go, but hey, she had no problem with it. Talk about job satisfaction J And he maybe felt a little emotional about sending his pretty toaster off to death. Aw…..

 

Ronon was sooo right about the puddle jumper and wraith meet-up. Bad idea, etc. But they were lucky it worked out. Did like the Wraith going “we had to stun him several times.” I always thought one stun would take down Ronon? Hmm….

 

Larrin…. Eh, still so-so on her. She still dresses to show off her, er, assets (which is effective against the male of the species) and I think her presentation (acting, whatever) is adequate. I can only assume she’s into bondage, what with her tying up Sheppard like that (but hey, he seems to like if he wants to keep in contact with her – oh, the fanfic that could come out of that!) ;) And if Sheppard had just slouched, he could have slithered out of that chair so easily…. ;)  But Larrin, if she doesn’t come back, no problem.

 

Liked that the Wraith honored their end of the deal, but now, I would expect we’re back to being the main course at the meal, and judging by next week’s spoilers, brunch, at least. It will be interesting if we’ll see the “Common ground” wraith again and if it will come down to kill or be killed between him and Shep. I wouldn’t mind seeing that only because when Shep and Kolya finally had that showdown, it was rather anti-climatic.

 

Teyla’s pregnancy. Ah, FINALLY addressed (and notice that Ronon is the one who really seemed to notice she was ‘off’). I could understand Sheppard’s reaction – he’s from the US military, where you do not send pregnant females into harm’s way, which is what he considers going through the gate to be. I didn’t see any jealousy over who the dad was, but I did see him feeling hurt (and also angry) by her not confiding this information to him. But I wish the writers had addressed it more (maybe next week?) as it seems to just have been washed away after that scene (such as her comment that she tried to tell him but that must have been in between episodes). I loved how Ronon reacted – he’s from the neighborhood so he knows safety is all relative in the Pegasus Galaxy. And “Ronon, it’s a good name, boy or girl.” HA!  And I guess Rodney will find out about this all off-screen (sigh) or will Sheppard have told him at dinner?? “Oh by the way, Teyla’s knocked up and I took her off duty.’ And will Sheppard feel a bit guilty about biting her head off and not even saying ‘congratulations’?? Where’s the fanfic? I don’t know if the show will give us this next week, cuz if they don’t, the opportunity will have passed. Oh, and watch Ronon’s face when Sheppard relieves her of active duty. It’s like “is he joking?”

 

Anyway, I think this was one of the best scenes in the episode due to the emotional impact. And it shows in some respects that Sheppard is a bit disconnected from what his team does off-duty, but that Ronon is more observant. Hmm....

 

Sheppard putting himself between the wraith and Larrin’s trigger-happy people.

 

Loved the Rodney and Zelenka scenes, and Zelenka’s reaction to Rodney’s ‘compromise’. Ha!

 

It seems, at least to me, that the team dynamic has changed because of Carter being in command. Sheppard is almost in a sorta ‘boy’s club’ (aka military) where he, carter, Ellis, Caldwell are all on the same scorecard, and Rodney is back to being on the outside (at times). I’m wondering if we’re going to see Sheppard have any conflict with the military anymore, or will he just be gung-ho to follow orders and blow things up (despite Rodney going “hello, you’re not looking at the long-term here!”)

 

Oh Godzilla. I love the lizard. Love the reference to Godzilla sized replicator. I just envisioned a Godzilla built out of Legos….

 

Quibbles…

 

The military attitude of once again going in and blowing up the replicator homeworld (guess they forgot what happened the last time.) I was happy, though, to see that science won out (even if at the last minute) because otherwise, it’s like tossing rocks at a hornet’s nest. You kill a few and get stung badly. And there’s this new handy-dandy Asgard beam thing. Gah, wish I could keep pulling neato-cool stuff like this out of my hat to save my ass ;)

 

Carter. Okay, still dislike her outfits (so she changes into her Barbarella black leather outfit everytime she goes out on a ship where all she does is sit? Where is the logic in that?) and will probably never like her uniform (regular one) as well, it’s not flattering. However, at one point, during the Rodney lecture scene, her voice just sounded off, like she’d just gotten off crying or something. It was just weird or maybe that’s just the way Tapping is going to play her from now on. I don’t ever recall hearing that particular tone when she was on SG-1. And…. Just a gripe, the planet is about to go KABOOM and Carter says “we should tell the fleet to jump to the rendezvous point.” “Should??” I think it’s the writers just making her polite, or something, but  ‘should’ leaves you with an option of’ well, I guess I should but I don’t have to.’  However, I liked that she spoke up for Rodney after Ellis reamed him out but (oh, sorry sorry) Weir would have done it so much better.

 

It was GREAT to see RepliWeir at the end but I was rather surprised to see Torri’s name in the end credits, not front, as they’d done with Tapping when she had her 10 second guest spot on “Letters from Pegasus.” It will be interesting to see if the writers actually follow up and bring RepliWeir back. I’m not holding my breath though. Is this the end of her supposed four episodes in season 4? Even two seconds counts as appearance and I don’t know if we’ll see her again. Sigh.

Oh, did you notice that WEir is wearing Carter's outfit? I mean, heck, the vertical stripes on the shoulder at the same bu tin black leather. Same tailor? or a veiled statement that Weir is now the new dark influence??

 

Not a quibble: To see Weir as an adversary – not necessarily an enemy – who KNOWS so much about Sheppard and Rodney that she could use that knowledge against them. If she was a bad RepliWeir (and I’m assuming she is a RepliWeir as I’m not certain how the human one could escape), this could make for great drama. I hope the writers go with it and don’t miss out on this great opportunity.

 

Okay, a bigger quibble really. When Weir was around, I recall (someone can correct me if I’m wrong) but Atlantis was always referred to as a city. Carter refers to it as a ‘base,’ which to me, means it’s under military rule. Again, I want to see that addressed in the series. We get some conflict (mostly with Rodney) but it would be interesting to see if they can get perhaps some other scientists involved. I’d like to see some stuff like “38 Minutes” where you get a bunch of people working together, but not necessarily agreeing.

 

 

Things I detested:

 

The damn ads for Ghost Hunters they laid in the bottom left corner (gee, that sure obscured Teyla's belly!), and the purple banners as well. Are the DVDs out yet??

 

Otherwise, that was it.

 

Oh, and the much-hyped (on gaming sites) Stargate Worlds ad was, um, er, really short. But the Loch Ness ads were fun J

 

 

Comments

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

Yep. Base v. City. That says it all to me.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I also enjoyed the odd type of banter between the Wraith and Rodney it was kind of cool as if the Wraith could tell when McKay was getting an idea. The scenes with Zelenka were cool as well.

I adored the ending, love the con't them of the team eating together all the time..or at least Rodney and Shep seem to be spending more time together...its nice to see the friendship.

As much as I'm on the fence about Larrin..I'd like to see her when she's not being pretentious...and the more I see her interacting with Sheppard..the more it seems he's enthralled with her because of her attitude towards him. I think most women fall for John's charm, the fact that she doesn't or pretends not to intrigued him...which still amazes me considering how she's treated him.

[faekitty71.livejournal.com]

I really like this episode it was back to classic Atlantis with action/adventure, humor and bits of character development. There were many scenes where I laughed out loud. My favorite being when Sheppard jumps in *front* of the Wraith and Ronon jumps *away* from him. I also loved the "colonel" scene. It was right out of MASH. I also loved the scene where Carter bit off Ellis' head.

I think they probably put Torri's name at the end credits so that fans would be shocked at the end. They did the same thing on Angel with the character Lindsey McDonald.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU! I knew that colonel colonel stuff was familiar. M*A*S*H!!

Yeah, I guess they didn't want fans waiting for Weir to show up. I was surprised, but not shocked. I'll be shocked if they bring her back in a meaty episode and don't bump her off ;)

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I'm again surprised at people's reaction to Sam's voice and uniform. Amanda Tapping had a baby; she has a small child. Yes, costuming should acknowledge this! The new uniform makes it all too obvious that this isn't the Sam of a few seasons ago. But the whole experience may well have affected her voice. When I was pregnant, I could not sing; I had no breath control, even before the baby was big enough to have an impact on my diaphragm. I think I'm back to normal, but mothers do tend naturally to use the upper registers of their voice with babies and small children (men do too, actually, but not quite as much). Child-bearing has permanent effects! I'm glad Amanda can have a small child and still act, and if it's changed the way she looks and sounds, well, that's life.

I'm still not sure if this Weir is a bad guy or not. I love the fact that they withheld Torri's credit to the end! I don't want to know from the opening credits about a surprise appearance at the end of the episode!

I loved Ronon's reaction to the news, as well as John's flipping out; Sheppard is protective at the best of times, and to hear that she has known she was pregnant for two months and never told him? Yeah, he's going to feel guilty (I think there's already a twinge of it when he realizes he never asked who the father is). I do wish we'd seen Rodney getting the news.

Off to write my own review.... It was great to read yours!

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I've got no problem with Carter's figure; heck, it's nice NOT to see a stick-thin actress - have far too many of those on network TV nowadays. I just dislike the uniform (on her, on Keller, and lesser on the guys, but I'd rather Rodney and Radek back in their old uniforms). Flare sleeves and all those color coding bars are just so, yech, 60s/70s scif and the black leather Barbarella BArbie outfit (as I call it) just is well, it makes no sense ;) As for her voice, I didn't notice that particular quality when she was on SG1 (and this was after she had her baby who is now, um, geez, a year or two old or....I don't track that stuff too well). I'll just keep watching to see if anything changes.

I just hope they bring WEir back in a good episode (and don't kill her (or repliWeir) off).

I'd love to have seen Rodney's reaction to the news about Teyla. I could see him being rather protective or just plain scared ;)

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Apparently the actors find the new uniforms more comfortable, but I think costuming has made a mistake: they don't look military, and they don't make anyone look good.

And I keep thinking with his hair sticking up and in leather, Rodney has really been replaced by AU Rod, from "McKay and Mrs. Miller"!

I think I'm pretty sensitive to voices, and I watched "Shadow Play" just a couple of days before BAMSR; I didn't notice anything truly different in Sam's voice last night. She may be relying on the higher ranges a little more than normal, but I can't say I really noticed. Several people have complained about it, though, in various reviews I've read and comments thereon, so I think I must have missed something!

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking more and more of marionettes when I see those costumes ;) Too much Thunderbirds as a kid, I suppose...

Yeah, I noticed the puffy hair too. Is that REALLY Rodney or has Rod stuck him in stasis and is now enjoying himself?

The thing with AT's voice hasn't been every episode though, but just select scenes.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

Tapping's voice has a range? Seriously, she sounds, if not monotone, close to it, for me, a lot of the time - and it doesn't matter which incarnation of Carter she plays.

I really really hope they bring Tori back in some semiregular capacity, seeing as how bringing Tapping in didn't cause the ratings to jump high like they thought they would. I prefer Tori Higgins, even if her character relies on situational ethics too much, and makes lousy decisions.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Inflection perhaps? But no, Amanda doesn't have quite a bit range, most people don't, but I'd like to see Carter's confidence come through more in her voice and it doesn't.

I'd like to see Weir come back too, even in a limited capacity. The writers have set up an interesting situation with Weir (or RepliWeir) which I HOPE they follow through on.

[iamrighthere.livejournal.com]

It will be interesting to see if the writers actually follow up and bring RepliWeir back. I’m not holding my breath though.

This surprise turn of events has tremendous potential. First, WeirPlicator (heh) is so knowledgeable about Atlantis and the people there that she (it) could be as threatening as the Wraith. We don't know what her plans are, but the dun-dun-dun as the scene faded certainly pointed at big, bad news ahead for the Lanteans and the galaxy as a whole.

Second, and this is just a personal thing, I never liked the Weir character all that much or Torri as an actor. The character blah has much to do with how the writers failed to fully grow Elizabeth, just as they gave up on Ford. Torri did appeal to me in "The Long Goodbye," in which she got to run around beating up and shooting people. Her line deliveries were sometimes overblown in that episode, as well, but since Torri was portraying an overblown character, I let it go (mostly). So now we have WeirPlicator, in her black leather, with her evil intent. This might be a good way to deal with Weir's demise, to keep Torri involved in the show, and, maybe, appeal to the Weir-loving types all at the same time. I think Torri does bad-guy better than she does good-guy, so I'm actually excited to see whether she appears in Season 5 as an interesting adversary.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I can't see Weir returning to the fold; too many problems (the IOA would consider her a risk, etc.) but as an adversary, with all she knows? Definitely!

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Hooray for excessive amounts of spoilers!

I'm not looking forward to the potential fic that'll come from John's reaction to Teyla finally telling him. People see what they want to see,and what many will see is "meany John yelling at poor Teyla" and try to expound on that, rather than really delving deep and bringing all the issues to light. *Cringes at the thought of what the shippers must be writing right now*.

However, it'll still make for interesting fic if done right.

Weir as the bad-guy - always interesting when a former good-guy goes bad.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I am curious to see what fanfic is will come out of it, I'm thinking of writing something myself, if I can get around to it!

Weir would make a great foe for Shep and company.

Speaking of fanfic...

[(Anonymous)]

I wouldn't be surprise if a barrage of FRAN/McKay ship was written. FRAN's attractiveness and appeal as a character, McKay naming her, and the concern he comes to feel for her at the end would all be things some fans would latch onto.

Heck, ships have been launched with far less to work with.

Re: Speaking of fanfic...

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Heh, McKay and his fembot ;)

Re: Speaking of fanfic...

[permnentregress.livejournal.com]

Hey, Mr. Universe had a lovebot. McKay and his fembot could totally work. :D

[ladyniko.livejournal.com]

Okay, I loved the scene with Teyla telling Ronon & John, but damn it - when the hell was she supposed to have told the guys? Because, that was never addressed on-screen prior to this week's ep. She wasn't in Miller's Crossing & in The Seer, she was still like, "I'm not gonna tell them yet..." I don't remember anything being said in TMC, but I was like dealing w/ laundry last night at the time. Bah! Easy out on the writer's part - trying to shove all the guilt off on Shep.

Yeah, Teyla being sick - huge clue to the guys - Teyla's never sick - she's almost healthier than the guys in many respects. :-p

Ronon's reaction was good - I like the fact that he took Teyla by the hand to walk her to the infirmary afterwards and the gentle teasing for a name.

I got to talking with a friend on John's reaction - he's pissed and I think he's got a right to be - there are just too many things that can go wrong when you're pregnant and when you add in the type of trouble our guys tend to get into... oh hell yeah is he gonna pull her off the team.

I want to see/read Rodney's reaction to this news. Because yeah, that needs to be addressed! (Much room for ficcage here!)

AM: I agree with you totally on the costuming of AT - why stick her in something that only shows to highlight that yes, she's not got a perfect abdomen - she hasn't for like 5 years now. (Even before she had Olivia, she was in great shape elsewhere except for like her waistline - that was the one spot she really carried any weight.) Bad costuming. I only hope that Rachel doesn't get stuck in something as bad next year. (But then, Teyla's usually done like a blend of the Atlantis uniform & her own clothing, so there's hope for Rachel yet! :-p)

Carter's stomping of Ellis - it so needed to be done, since Ellis was like a big dog trying to stake out new territory and looking for the weakest member to quite literally piss on. (very verbally in this case!) So, Sam very much needed to set the boundries, because she's the alpha dog, as it were, in Atlantis.

Sheppard's comment about liking Ellis - WTF? I didn't think he'd like such an uptight character. At least Caldwell has mellowed out a bit towards Sheppard, but Ellis? Why? Is it because his first contact with the Atlantis team was to blow up the replicator homeworld and that appealed to John's unknown inner pyromaniac? Bah! :-p

I miss Liz.... I really do. :( She would have stopped Ellis long before he got started on Rodney.

Radek - heee! I love him. He is such a perfect foil to Rodney. :)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

"Sheppard's comment about liking Ellis - WTF?"

It's because when Ellis arrived in First Strike, he commented on Sheppard doing a good job, didn't get all up in his face and - basically - was all around nice to John. After taking major crap (like from Col. Everett) and minor crap from higher-ranking officers, of course Sheppard would find favor with the guy who praised him rather than put him down.

[ladyniko.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhh! That makes sense. Brain non-functioning here. :)

BTW - great job on new fic. :)

[permnentregress.livejournal.com]

s this the end of her supposed four episodes in season 4? Even two seconds counts as appearance and I don’t know if we’ll see her again. Sigh.

Probably. :( I really like Weir and I'm very sad to see her go. Torri did say, I think, that she had four appearances this season and that two of them shouldn't really count. She said one was the first one, where she basically slept the whole time, so I'm betting this was the second one. *cry!* I do think we'll see her again though, next season. That was left way too obviously open at the end. It was blatantly an opening for a story arc, however long or short it might be. This is a loose end you can NOT leave dangling indefinitely. So I'm hopeful. :)

I do love Sam, but I really think Weir is still the right person to head Atlantis. Ah well. What's happened has happened. We can only wait to see how it unfolds.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Yup, we can only wait and see and hope the writers do well with Weir.

Taylas child

[(Anonymous)]

I never really catched the name on the father of Taylas child, I really loved Ronons reaction when she told them :D

Re: Taylas child

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

THe name of the father of Teyla's unborn baby is Kanan.

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, what an episode!!!
Loved the sight of the combined fleet heading for the Replicator home planet!

Some of my fav. moments:
- Rodney and Zalenka standing side by side complaining "Shouldn't have given her speech" (Fran)- Zalenka's Face when he agrees ><
- Carter standing up for McKay of course!
- Fran saying "Hello" to her fellow Replicators
(so innocently and I do believe with some pleasant anticipation) Seen their dumbstruck faces? They never saw it coming *grin*
- Sheppard/Wraith interaction in the puddlejumper. Sheppard saving the Wraith fom being shot... but how eagerly Ronon jumped out of the way in this same scene to clear the firing line was funnier (even if I didn't like that behavior)

- The McKay/Wraith interaction was amusing too, but not as good as in "Miller's Crossing".
- Sheppard did confuse me a bit in relation to McKay. I didn't know how to interpret his "Rodney, go on" during the briefing. Was it just to get him focused again or did he also want to look good in front of the other Colonels. (It annoys me when he does that, in "Hot Zone" or "First strike" for example. Like he's just jumping at a chance to kiss the feet of a high ranking military officer. Surprising - given his Air Force history)
I just would have wished for a wee bit more of support from him for McKay. Of all the people who were in the room, he is the one knowing best that the lectures of Rodney are usually worth the while...
But luckily there was that beautiful end scene and he is forgiven ^-^ When he returned and talked to Rodney about the Wraith not showing up and all being back to normal... I liked that scene, the familiarity. I really did.

Oh, but I see proplems rising. Last time we saw our ol' buddy, the Wraith, he was on one of the Hive ships during the battle. Since the Hives didn't meet at the rendezvous point we can assume he's still there. Finally united with his fellow vampires. And he took with him who-knows-what information about Atlantis AND SGC. An upcoming episode like "Midway" doesn't really surprise me anymore.

Although I hope that this Wraith won't betray Atlantis at the very first opportunity, I fear for the worst. Too bad he can't be the "Commander Worf" of SGA, haha. He'd be an asset to the Science Dept. (Sorry, but Field trips are out of question. Would render all future diplomatic efforts with various native residents to the impossible)

Oookay, and now I stop writing because I'm starting to write absurd crap and getting all crazy ideas.. ^^;