SGA

[scribblinlenore]

Wow. Just wow. You know, sometimes I lose sight of exactly how deadly Sheppard can be. It's easy to get distracted by the hair and the slinky hips and the gay and the prettiness. I've never been convinced that Sheppard has a psychopathic streak for doing what he did in The Storm/The Eye. But this? Comes much closer. I don't know what his limits are. I don't know if he has limits. God, this was such a great episode! Sheppard has never been a more fully realized character for me.

I mean, it's not just what he did, but how he did it, coolly, calculatingly, with such certainty and a tinge of being the hand of judgment, and then afterwards, in that scene where Rodney comes into the lab and discovers what's happened, and the body is still being wheeled out, and Sheppard is so matter-of-fact, unrepentant, remorseless. That's what the report's going to say. Wow, he kind of scares me. *whispers* I kind of like it.

Even in the final scene with Rodney, I don't get the sense that he doesn't want to talk about it because he feels guilty. He seems to believe that this all came to its logical, even morally correct conclusion. The person who caused the harm fixed the harm by making the ultimate sacrifice. He does seem off balance, and so does Rodney, which is only natural considering what's happened, but I don't get guilt from that. My take on John's reluctance to talk is that there's only so much detail he wants to go into, and Rodney's gratitude makes him uncomfortable.

Which makes me wonder how willing Wallace really was. I'm reading into it here, but I'm convinced it wasn't all that voluntary. I can't wait to read the story! I know someone will write it.

And then why this episode is just totally made of win…amidst the darkness is just this beautiful love story. Whether you see it as friendship or slash, the fact that John is willing to go to such lengths for Rodney…just, man. I don't know when a scene in a TV show has affected me as much as that conversation where John refuses to let Rodney sacrifice himself. Joe's acting gets ragged on a lot, but he played the hell out of this. He still has all of Sheppard's discomfort with words, and we get to see his usual restraint so frayed, and he has actual tears in his eyes. And how could he not when Rodney says his name, John, so low and earnest and not pleading, but something more powerful than that. But John can't let Rodney go. I can't and I'm sorry. Oh, my heart!

I adore Rodney throughout this, looking all adorable in his hoodie, and feeling responsible for his sister, and being brave and willing to sacrifice himself. But I think my favorite part is at the end when he comes to thank John, and his face is lit up with amazement, not just that John managed to convince Wallace, but that he would do that for Rodney.

Then, the tag at the end, they go off to the mess hall, still a little off kilter, but trying to get the ground under their feet again with the familiar banter. Awwww!

The Sheppard/McKay stuff nearly overshadowed for me the Rodney and Jeannie stuff, but I do continue to love their relationship, its so very sibling-like, especially with the "I know" and the shrug and the "well, I love you too" in their last scene together. I find Kate Hewlett all the more delightful now that I've seen her play (which was so very, very good, did I mention that before?) and got to meet her. She really is lovely and charming and incredibly talented.

On a shallow note, John in a suit? *faints* Ronon in Earth clothes? *stands up and falls down again*

The only things that would have made this fabulous episode even better for me are if Teyla had also come to help and if John and Madison had had a little bit more of a moment together. I had seen the still photo before the ep, and there's so much of JFlan's dadness in that shot. I really wanted an Uncle John moment in the show.

Still, I <3 this episode so much!!

In conclusion: Yay!!!



I just read this coda by apple_pi If I Could Walk On Water, which is exactly what I think happens next. Yay coda!

Comments

[vickita.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm going along, watching this ep, and I'm okay with it, think Kate H. is just adorable, but it's kind of predictable, actually, to the point where I'm FF-ing through some of the dialogue-less parts, and there are hints at what's brewing with John, but just hints, and then WHAMMO!!! OMG, ***JOHN***!!!! HOLY FUCKING SHIT, JOHN!!!!!!

They kind of caught me off-guard, there.

*g*

*whispers* I kind of like it.

Yeah, me too.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

It totally caught me off guard, too! Wow. I watched that scene over and over, and I just can't stop thinking about it.

[cosmic.livejournal.com]

Wow, he kind of scares me. *whispers* I kind of like it.

Word to the nth degree, on both accounts.

Iiiii ♥ this episode so hard.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Me too! Me too! It's got to be one of my favorite episodes ever. Joe and David really acted the hell out of their scenes together. Wow.

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

See, the thing in The Storm/Eye was him doing his job. As military commander, it was his responsibility to protect that city at all costs. And while some of it was hand-to-hand, the really big stuff was from a distance, you know?

But this was...different. He sat across that table and brought out the scary big guns from his brain, looked that guy in the eye and calmly presented why he should die. And then went home and read his comic books!!

Also, I don't think Jeannie will ever know what Rodney would have done to save her. Rodney's certainly not going to tell her and John is, well, John. That makes me kind of sad.

However, Rodney is now in the same category as Dean Winchester, which is so awesome, I don't even know. I want them to sit down and not-talk about how they are willing to die for their siblings!

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

But this was...different. He sat across that table and brought out the scary big guns from his brain, looked that guy in the eye and calmly presented why he should die. And then went home and read his comic books!!

Oh my God, yes! I've been reading my friends list, and opinion varies on how to read John's affect in that last scene. To me, he's clearly uncomfortable, but I don't see any great guilt, and he's certainly not sorry. Whoa. I would seriously not want him for an enemy!

However, Rodney is now in the same category as Dean Winchester, which is so awesome, I don't even know. I want them to sit down and not-talk about how they are willing to die for their siblings!

Oh my God! That would be the best non-conversation ever!!

[amberlynne.livejournal.com]

To me, he's clearly uncomfortable, but I don't see any great guilt, and he's certainly not sorry. Whoa. I would seriously not want him for an enemy!

Well, I certainly don't think he was all "la la la, comics are great, no worries". It seemed almost like a metaphor or maybe just a reminder that this is John and while he can be quite deadly, he's also got this other side to him that makes you want to feed him soup and tell him stories. And comic books always represent to me that sort of innocence we have as children, that the world is black and white. Good guys do this, bad guys do that, you know?

I don't think he's actually psychotic or anything, just willing to go to places other people aren't. I think he was most uncomfortable with the fact that Rodney ended up in a place where he thought he needed to give up his life. John doesn't like it when other people are forced into situations like that because he feels like that's his job to protect them from those things. That's just part of who he is and, really, part of being a soldier. They exists to do the things we can't or won't do.

He's also really really pretty. *sigh*

[suzvoy.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

SERIOUSLY!

[perclexed.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just wow. You know, sometimes I lose sight of exactly how deadly Sheppard can be.

He and O'Neill are exactly alike in this respect. That veneer of goofy flyboy "no, I really am this d-u-m dumb I swear!" falls away like so much tissue paper when it counts.

It's very easy to underestimate both of them.

And WORD to everything else in this post. Ooo la la!

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

So true about Jack and John, and I find it so hot when John lets the truth about himself show through, how competent and just fierce he can be. Mmmm.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

He still has all of Sheppard's discomfort with words, and we get to see his usual restraint so frayed, and he has actual tears in his eyes. And how could he not when Rodney says his name, John, so low and earnest and not pleading, but something more powerful than that. But John can't let Rodney go. I can't and I'm sorry. Oh, my heart!

omg, yes. (Seriously, I am way overusing that acronym today, because I just can't help it.)

YES.

I love them both so much right now.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

I draw sparkly hearts all around them! And this episode. I loved it so!

[newkidfan.livejournal.com]

I second all of what you wrote. I was gaping at the screen when I saw how John manipulated Wallace, because no matter what John says, he did talk Wallace into killing himself. He didn't just present the facts, he knew what he was doing.

I also adored all the McKay/Sheppard moments. John loves Rodney so much, and it makes me very happy. I wished Teyla could have been there too though.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

...because no matter what John says, he did talk Wallace into killing himself. He didn't just present the facts, he knew what he was doing.

Seriously. And the fact that he tries to rationalize it that way to Rodney underscores it all the more that he knows what he did. Even if he's not particularly sorry about it. And Rodney's not judging him for it. They're both a little scary. You know, in that way that just makes me love them. *hearts*

[ahab99.livejournal.com]

I think it's a little mix of both - like, I think he has a small amount of guilt or discomfort or something that I can't quite place, but it is also a large part of him being able to get that job done when it needs to be done. He would be awfully scary to have as an enemy! It's definitely not something he talks about, though, whether it's done for Rodney or for the greater good of the group.

And yay for more episode tags! Thanks for the link!

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Yes, he is off kilter in that last scene, but I contrast it with how obviously guilty he felt over Sumner, which was an act of mercy, and he seems much more okay with this, even though it was cold and calculating and Wallace was a civilian.

He would be awfully scary to have as an enemy!

Oh my God, yes!

[ahab99.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess it's not guilt per se. It may even just be that this sort of act makes his attachment to people and places pretty evident, and he's never comfortable with that.

I spend so much time being utterly confused by the Flan's facial expressions that I'm totally off-kilter when he actually acts a scene in a relatively straight-forward way! ;)

[anitac588.livejournal.com]

I kind of replayed the last third of the eppy a lot.
Yep.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

Me too. A LOT. Wow. That was an episode.

[krisdia.livejournal.com]

I mean, it's not just what he did, but how he did it,
Yes! So cool, collected, ruthless.

Which makes me wonder how willing Wallace really was. I'm reading into it here, but I'm convinced it wasn't all that voluntary.
Yes, me too. First I started to wonder if John gave Wallace something to knock him out first, so it wouldn't actually hurt, then I was contemplating how I was pretty sure Wallace saying no wouldn't have stopped John... you do get the sense that he thinks he just did what he had to and that it wasn't all that wrong.

And yes, it IS just such a love story between them. And I think I have to return to my helpless flailing now *g*

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

you do get the sense that he thinks he just did what he had to and that it wasn't all that wrong.

Yes, absolutely, and when you consider that he talked an emotionally distraught civilian into sacrificing himself, and then fed him to a Wraith, and doesn't think that's wrong...oh, John! Whatever he had to do to save Rodney. *flails with you*

[barely-bean.livejournal.com]

OH GOD Lenore, the scene! I just was all, omg he is Lex. He'll do whatever it takes to keep his Rodney alive. And it gave me chills and I liked it. HOLY CRAP.

[scribblinlenore.livejournal.com]

And it gave me chills and I liked it.

Seriously! That's exactly how I felt. And it just KEPT giving me chills. And I kept liking it. Oh, John! Oh, boys!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Definitely yay!

Can you imagine if we'd been allowed to see the scene where the Wraith is feeding and John is standing there with his arms crossed, watching? And all these little shifts in his expression communicate some combination of coldness, guilt, righteousness, sympathy...?

I think that Wallace did volunteer after John "presented the situation," but I totally agree that if he hadn't, John would've made him do it anyway. And I love that.

And I also would have loved a few more seconds of John playing uncle to Madison!

[eliyes.livejournal.com]

"I would do anything for any one of you."

He said it and he meant it.

And may I say that nobody had ever tell Jeannie that Wallace died to save her, because she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

Also, how is McShep fandom not exploding over how this is (afaik) the first time Rodney has ever ever called him John?

Duh, acronyms work better if they aren't typoed. *facepalm*