Stargate: Atlantis 5x06 - The Shrine

[butterfly]

Stupid show made me cry. More than once. David is a really fantastic actor and he made me cry. Related to the 'fantastic actor' bit, he was rather painfully accurate there. Plus, any form of 'person has brains and then loses them' pretty much always makes me cry. My great-aunt had Alzheimer's, plus I read Flowers for Algernon at an impressionable age.

On the side of things that are sad in a completely different way, the Keller/McKay romance is not looking healthy, I have to say. Like Katie Brown, she appears to like the 'nice' Rodney McKay better, which is the same as not really liking Rodney at all. And... either the writers on doing this on purpose or they really don't understand writing -- romance needs to be written just like anything else, which is to say that what you want the audience to believe needs to be back up by actions. Rodney told Jennifer that he 'loved' her. But it wasn't her name that he screamed in the middle of the night. It wasn't Jennifer that he ran to for reassurance. It wasn't her name that lasted through everything else. It wasn't her words that convinced him to do something that he couldn't understand the meaning of. All of that was about John. They may be trying to tell us that Rodney loves Jennifer, but everything that they are showing us says that he loves John.

The team-love in this episode made me absolutely gleeful. I adored Ronon's scene with Jeannie. I loved Ronon and Teyla for caring so much about Rodney and wanting to have that one last day with him. Because... he's going to be abrasive and a jerk and they want that back to say good-bye to. Because they really do care about Rodney, not about this random guy who's saved their lives a few times. Again, show rather than tell. These four people absolutely adore each other, just as they are (aw... just like in the VVC Vid "Why Walk When You Can Fly?").

*cuddles team*

Comments

[lamardeuse.livejournal.com]

Agree. At first, esp in Trio, I had hopes for Rodney/Jennifer, because she had some backbone and snarked back at him, and I thought, okay, that's definitely a better relationship than the one he had with Katie. But this season, it's all, "oh, he has this whole other warm fuzzy side where he likes kittens and puppies" and I'm like, oh god, not this again. It's possible that they could turn it back around, but I don't know. In the meantime, I'm perfectly happy to handwave it and go back to making crazy dolphin noises at the GOD SO CANON LOVE between Rodney and John. That's the way you write romance, folks.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I had some hopes for their relationship when she was liking him as Rodney and standing up to him. But she'd rather have him nicer which is... understandable, it is, but he's not going to be nicer. It's not the way he communicates. And his team (especially John, but all three of them) understand that. They wanted to say good-bye to him as himself, assholishness and all (the team-love made me so happy in this episode).

In the meantime, I'm perfectly happy to handwave it and go back to making crazy dolphin noises at the GOD SO CANON LOVE between Rodney and John. That's the way you write romance, folks.

Yes! The way he just instinctively turned to John when he needed reassurance. The way we opened the show on him asking where John had gone and calling for John, even though Jennifer, his love interest, is already there with him! The pier scene! In so many ways, they showed us that the one person that remains in Rodney's mind no matter what is John, and that John cares very deeply about Rodney. And this is always there for them, under the banter. And it makes me want to hug the show and then carefully explain to them what 'show' and 'tell' means and what love story they've actually been telling for the last five years.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

I am a Sheppard/McKay person, but as a realist, I've never been upset when they played up het relationships in the show, especially when done well. (Which is rare, admittedly.) This... not only came out of the blue, but while Rodney may have been depending on Jennifer the whole episode for her medical expertise, he was depending on John for his emotional needs. Which is weird when he claims to love her.

I loved the team in this episode, too. Ronon and Teyla were fab, and I loved how neatly Jeannie slotted in with them.

A great episode, especially appreciated after the badness that was last week and the news of the cancellation this week.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I am a Sheppard/McKay person, but as a realist, I've never been upset when they played up het relationships in the show, especially when done well. (Which is rare, admittedly.) This... not only came out of the blue, but while Rodney may have been depending on Jennifer the whole episode for her medical expertise, he was depending on John for his emotional needs. Which is weird when he claims to love her.

Yes. It didn't fit at all (I kinda want to send them copies of DW with the note: "This is how you do a canonical het romance." Because they are just so bad at it). John was the person that he turned to for reassurance and emotional care.

I loved the team in this episode, too. Ronon and Teyla were fab, and I loved how neatly Jeannie slotted in with them.

Yes. They were so awesome that they made me do flaily hand gestures. Team love!

A great episode, especially appreciated after the badness that was last week and the news of the cancellation this week.

Indeed. *sad sigh of sadness*

[adelate]

I totally agree! I was reading your post and squealing out loud "I KNOW!" at every sentence. Heee. Oh John and Rodney show. ♥

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

They are so much love. They really do have so much chemistry together. I'm glad that the show decided to take advantage of that.

[jedi_of_urth]

I can't get behind John/Rodney ship myself, but this episode was much more about the team and mostly John&Rodney's friendship with the Rodney/Keller romance thrown in. And it was...weird. I *want* to like it but I can't see where either of their feelings come from yet. I kind of bought it last season as something that eventually could happen, but the was they rushed it this year isn't sitting quite right with me.

They never really have figured out how to write canon love interests on these shows.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

I can't get behind John/Rodney ship myself, but this episode was much more about the team and mostly John&Rodney's friendship with the Rodney/Keller romance thrown in. And it was...weird. I *want* to like it but I can't see where either of their feelings come from yet. I kind of bought it last season as something that eventually could happen, but the was they rushed it this year isn't sitting quite right with me.

'Thrown in' is definitely the right phrase. I want to send them a copy of Doctor Who with a note that says, "This would be a canonical het romance done in a believable fashion. Note the way these people actually get to know and care about each other."