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wraithfodderAnd below the cut you’ll find my spoiler-ridden review/commentary on Stargate Atlantis episode #413: “Quarantine.”
Stargate Atlantis
QUARANTINE
A ‘bottle show’ is an episode staged entirely on the existing sets. No running off to the verdant woods of Vancouver (that’s next week), or watching a gazillion spaceships immolate noisily in the vacuum of space. Nope, the budget has been spent elsewhere on episodes with lots of explosions ;) so… the gang gets to stay home and get into trouble. And this is REALLY a bottle show. Heck, even the radios don’t work so that’s less people to pay for speaking lines! ;)
Atlantis faced with another quarantine situation (to fresh your memory, they had nasty little nanowhatevers running around imploding brains in season one’s “Hot Zone,” and then, gee, just a few episodes back in “Tabula Rasa,” the Pegasus Galaxy version of chicken pox or mumps (childhood illness) nearly caused disaster for the base. However, in that episode, the city didn’t lock down as hey, it was a harmless virus (well, not to Earth folk).
Anyway, just knock it down to pros and cons as they switched back and forth so much I’ll get seasick trying to do a review of each scene ;)
PROS
- Sheppard and McKay playing computer golf. And Sheppard, of course, winning.
- Sheppard’s facial expressions when Rodney mentions marriage. Like “good god, Rodney, marrying Katie??” (There will be tons of McShep fanfic out of this scene I’m sure)
- Is Ronon intentionally damaging himself so he can see Keller? Hmm…
- Everybody trying to pry doors open. It was just fun to watch the various methods to open the door, although why didn’t Rodney open the panel thing and try to hotwire it.
- Teyla being smart enough to access the computer to find the ‘category 5’ contagion.
- Sheppard worrying about Teyla and ‘women always go into labor in the movies in situations like this.’ Snort.
- Radek’s pigeon desktop on the tablet.
- The talk between Sheppard and Teyla about her pregnancy and that she was uncertain about returning to duty, but he reassured her (and we got more background on a college chum). I get the feeling he joined the ROTC while in college.
- Okay, I do like the Ronon and Keller dynamic (aka potential ‘ship’).
- Hm, Rodney had bad luck in college, crashing his bike in a pothole ;)
- Sheppard knowing Rodney’s password, and the description of the password (“never underestimate the size of that man’s ego”) and 42 – from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
- The elevator scene with Radek taking off his jacket, then Carter with her cleavage practically smack in his face.
- Katie describing the plant (Rodneyanniswhatever) and It “just gets bigger and bigger…” and yes, a double entendre if ever there was one, so Rodney chokes on that ;)
- Ah, the baby kicks! And Shepaprd is like “argh, no, she’s going to blow!” ;) I wonder what her reaction was about. Nausea? Hormones? Tired?
- Sheppard climbing the tower like Batman. The man does watch too many movies…
- …and is polluting Ronon’s mind with JAWS and Sheriff Brody’s tactic to kill the shark. But I like that we get to see Ronon smile and not be too morose. He’s coming out of his shell after so many years on the run
- Sheppard breaking in (think he used a planter) to the control room.
- Carter asking about the pigeon (“They’re not for eating,” says Zelenka) and he misses her point.
- The fact that Lorne walks around with C4 in his tac vest. Hmm…
- Radek doing his Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea imitation. Come on,t hey were ALWAYS crawling their airducts on that submarine. Anyway, neat that he could save the day, although geez, the plunge through the vent should have left him with some bruises, if not breaks. Oh yes, his Czech swearing ;)
- Keller backstory, which at least explains why she’s a doctor so young. Although I keep wondering what her specialty is?
- Ah, Ronon and Keller about to kiss when the power goes off, then on, then the door opens and darn.
- Sheppard comparing Zelenka to a hamster in the air ducts ;)
- Ronon removing his feet off the chair so Keller can sit and the looks we see from Sheppard and Teyla. They sooo know that Ronon has the hots for Keller.
CONS, very few, really
- Well, the lockdown plot seems sorta familiar, cuz not long ago we had the ‘virus’ sweeping through the city (Tabula Rasa). Maybe if this had been set a little further into the season.
- I griped about this already in my ‘rewrite’ of this episode (). The window broke ALL too easily. I mean, geesh, you’d think if they could build a flying city they could get some shatterproof glass for the outside or else they’ll have birds busting windows. One on the control room broke easily too.
- I must admit the Rodney-Katie scenes didn’t do much for me as it seems Rodney just regressed to, I don’t know what. I mean, he was really depressed. Was it the lack of computer equipment? Withdrawal? He can’t save the day so they’re all doomed? Ah, see below.
AND WHATEVER
Teyla’s outfit was, um, it’s just a quibble, but geez, only last week she was three months along and not too noticeable and now she’s pretty obvious. So, I suspect a lot of time has passed.
ARGH! Teyla steps out on the ledge. I think most fans went NOOOOOOOOOOOO! And PHEW when she went back in.
On the Rodney-Katie proposal thing. I think, that before Rodney went into his despair despair we’re all going to die Marvin the depressed robot from Hitchhiker’s Galaxy to the Guide routine, she would have said yes, but afterwards… the thing is they’ve been dating how long now? And they act like it’s been just a few weeks. When Katie said bye, I thought, wow, well, that’s over. While it’s interesting to see Rodney actually self-analyze himself. In some respects, I think this was a foregone conclusion because if they get married, she’s toast, she’s dead. It’s the Bonanza syndrome. The wife never survives but dies in a) fire, b) taking a bullet meant for hubby, or c) brain tumor. In Katie’s situation, eh, a plant will eat her. (“Feed Me, Seymour!!”) I do like Katie, and wouldn’t mind seeing her and Rodney together, but at least he’s getting out of his own little shell and seeing someone, which means he’s putting someone else before his ego, a bit step for McKay.
Overall, the show seemed a little slow to start, and I wish SciFi would stop spilling plot points in their ads (I was just waiting for the “malfunction” line). I didn’t get quite the sense of urgency as I did in other episodes, but the character bits made up for that. Even Sheppard didn’t show much fear in his scaling the tower. I mean, a healthy dose of “crap, this might KILL me” would have been nice, but it seemed more a hindrance, like the elevator’s out and he has to use the stairs… But then Rodney panicked enough for most of the city.
The end in a way was sorta odd. Virtually everybody is in the mess while Rodney is seeing Katie, and well, do any of them know if the proposal worked or not? So does this mean later on, Sheppard’s gonna give McKay a beer to drown his sorrows instead? (fanfic! Fanfic!)
And hmm, think that’s it.
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Date: 2008-01-20 02:10 am (UTC)I loved much of the character interaction, and having a whole episode that's almost all about character interactions? Oh, I went to my happy place! Except then I was sad about Rodney and Katie, but sad in the right way; I really wanted it to end differently, and I thought long and hard about how, but they have the right ending for that, all the way. That's good writing.
I want more! (And yes, there are definitely epilogues to write!)
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Date: 2008-01-21 09:57 pm (UTC)I'm really hoping they have a scene with Rodney and Teyla about the baby, as everytime there's discussion of the baby, Rodney is nowhere around.
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Date: 2008-01-20 03:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-21 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 10:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-21 09:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 11:21 am (UTC)The elevator scene with Radek taking off his jacket, then Carter with her cleavage practically smack in his face.
Oh I know! Poor Radek. Although I do wonder about some of the looks she gave me. :p
Katie describing the plant (Rodneyanniswhatever) and It “just gets bigger and bigger…” and yes, a double entendre if ever there was one, so Rodney chokes on that ;)
OMG. That scene was SO funny. And the happy, dreamy look on her face as she described Rodney's, um, piece, growing bigger and bigger. The look of sheer delight on her face is what did it for me.
…and is polluting Ronon’s mind with JAWS and Sheriff Brody’s tactic to kill the shark.
And the MAN!SQUEE sort of look on his face when he said that. LOL.
The fact that Lorne walks around with C4 in his tac vest. Hmm…
And Sheppard being a bit frustrated that Lorne only had one. "What do you want me to do, walk around the city with 8 blocks of C4 on me?"
"YES" :p
ARGH! Teyla steps out on the ledge. I think most fans went NOOOOOOOOOOOO! And PHEW when she went back in.
Oh yes. My dad and I both went, at the same time: "oh HELL no!" when she stepped out onto the ledge. Come on, how dumb do you have to be! And maybe it's just me, but it seemed to me that her lady lumps are much bigger than they were before.
Not much going on in this episode, story wise, but I loved all the little character bits. Sort of reminds me of Sunday, now that I think about it.
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Date: 2008-01-20 09:11 pm (UTC)No, you aren't the only one. I'd say that the pregnancy hormone fairy paid a visit, putting it mildly.... ;)
The whole thing w/ her climbing out on the ledge - oh yeah - I was like, "WTH? You're how many months gone and you think you can scale that tower w/o gear? Uhm, no." :-p
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Date: 2008-01-21 12:34 pm (UTC)Well, that's pregnancy for ya.
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Date: 2008-01-21 09:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 09:11 pm (UTC)That Lorne was wearing a tac vest and was in the gate room when the city locked down made me think he was either about to leave for a mission or had just returned from one, and that was why he had the C4 on him. I don't think he carries it around all day, every day.
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Date: 2008-01-21 10:00 pm (UTC)Teyla on the ledge
Date: 2008-01-21 04:46 am (UTC)Also, when the baby kicked and John walked toward Teyla instead of away and actually reached out for her to take his hand and put it on her baby bump it showed some amazing emotional growth on his part.
Re: Teyla on the ledge
Date: 2008-01-21 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-21 01:13 pm (UTC)A ‘bottle show’ is an episode staged entirely on the existing sets.
Another money-saver is the dreaded "clip show," so we probably got the better choice here.
Obviously the writers have to come up with stuff to move the story arcs along. They wanted Ronon and Keller to get together in some fashion, so this was a clever way to do it. I felt the episode was interesting in a "Sunday" sort of way, using the story to highlight relationships between the characters and touching on threads that they felt needed attention--without having to kill off anyone, this time.
Carter asking about the pigeon (“They’re not for eating,” says Zelenka) and he misses her point.
Hee! Ronon and Keller's interaction aside, I felt that the Carter/Zelenka pairing was the most interesting. He totally doesn't 'get' her. In the past, Radek's been hanging with Elizabeth, with whom he seemed to be smitten. With Carter, he seems suprised that she is as smart as she is and capable to applying it. He wants to solve the problem, to show her his genius because he is 1) a genius and 2) a man. Their scenes also show his faults as a scientist--he's a literalist and doesn't go outside the box in his problem solving. They are hungry, so Carter's "We could sure use a pidgeon, now" or whatever is taken as "They're not for eating." I thought that was a very enlightening exchange.
On the Rodney-Katie proposal thing.
Well, I'm glad that's over! Honestly, if Jeannie weren't pressuring Rodney via e-mail from Earth, he would have never thought to pop the question--hence the 1/8-carat diamond! Maybe in a year or two or three, once Katie really gets to know him (i.e. sleeps with him and figures out how to handle his gloom-and-doom outlook), but not right now, when they obviously are clueless about each other. Jeesh! Frankly, if I were stuck with my lover in a garden paradise (such as it is), with maybe only hours to live, I'd rip off my clothes and... Which only shows how poorly Rodney and Katie used their time.
Which brings me to Ronon and Keller.
Is Ronon intentionally damaging himself so he can see Keller? Hmm…
Oh, definitely! Now those two know how to use their time! Now, what I want to see in the future is Ronon teaching his lady friend how to protect herself.
It would be awesome if Keller picked up some self-preservation skills from her boyfriend. Yes, yes, she's a healer and whatnot, but how much good is that if she can't stay alive long enough to actually heal anyone? Besides, it would be a great way for them to get to know each other better and get some exercise. After all, there aren't any dance clubs in Atlantis and I suspect the food is lousy at local restaurants. Ronon's nature is to be a protector. His initial impression that Keller is "weak" wasn't off the mark at all. It's probably one reason he was attracted to her in the first place.
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Date: 2008-01-21 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-22 03:10 am (UTC)