Random observations (very much so) as my reborn computer was returned to me Thursday night and – between my semi-blindness and using Linux for the first time – I'm having a tough go of it. Also moving furniture and cleaning. Yuck. [Updated to include apologies for not commenting on Saturday, too, as I was in the middle of a huge cleaning campaign.]
This was a fabulous Teyla episode. It touched on lots of previous episodes in building to a dramatic climax. We get an echo of John acting like a dick and Teyla calls him out on the fact that they never had that conversation. But he has her sit out the checking-out-the-abandoned-Hive mission, only to come asking for her unique help with the Hive ship. Wondering if she can fly a Hive ship is answered very quickly. Oh, yeah. I have to say that pregnancy really did look good on Rachel L, especially on her ... uh ... prominently-displayed bosom. OTOH, whoever was doing the wig styling gave her a very flat-to-the-skull look. [I guess they were all focused on the Wraith guys who all seemed to be having a bad hair day, with the exception of Todd.]
And speaking of Todd, I'm glad John finally named him, even if it was in absentia, lol.
Gee whiz. Evan got to play go on a mission with the big kids premier away team. And then is left babysitting Teyla on the return trip. It was sweet to see him talking to her about her pregnancy and his own nephews. At least someone's relating to her in a more personal manner regarding such an inconvenience. [No, I haven't forgotten about Ronon's sweet reaction when Teyla revealed her condition.] Mind you, I can understand John's discomfort, especially when it's tied in with U.S. Military practice (technically, women are barred from combat but often serve in an auxiliary capacity where there IS combat; once a pregnancy is admitted, the woman in question is transferred to desk duty) and his own background (also never having been a CO before, though these were exceptional circumstances beyond what any CO on Earth would have).
Everything inside that installation was so creepy. The exoskeleton reminded me of a cross between a crab and armadillo (so ... crabadillo?) and the mist along the floor like the asteroid scene from The Empire Strikes Back. Yes, I know it's not the first time we've seen mist inside, but it just struck me that way today. OTOH, those birthing cells were disgusting. And having a fairly mindless but raging creature be fitted with the face mask totally shudder-worthy. And that's before the team had discovered all those thousands of pods.
I was intrigued by the vines pinning the Queen to her throne. It may have looked as if she was being held in restraints, but she was still in control, merely being fed various nutrients, etc., through the vines. OTOH, let me amend that. She's the one who is supplying genetic material to the warrior-making pods. So, it seems as if the balance of a Queen's supremacy over her Hive has been altered and she is now almost a prisoner of the biological system. It seems as if a scarcity of Queens has not made them personally more powerful, but just their usefulness.
It was awfully nice of the team to rescue Todd who was on the verge of becoming a snack for the Queen. Talk about short-sighted ... that she wanted to feed on one of the intelligent scientific Wraith.
But, then, of course our team gets captured, though Todd escapes.
When they come to, they're led to the Queen who's really upset that her snack vanished. Okay, John, it's time for you to get down on your knees. [Seriously, PTB, did you have some unfulfilled fetish that you satisfied by putting John in that position several times, along with that familiar caress of his cheek.] Ah, but not to worry, the force is strong with this one. Oops, wrong fandom again. Luckily, Teyla goes into remote-access mind-meld mode and breaks our guys out. It's a good thing that Queens are known for being temperamental and changing their minds, so this one's odd behaviour wasn't likely to be anything out of the ordinary. And let's not forget the yucky biological production sapping her vitality, so no wonder she'd be up for snacking.
I really liked the way Teyla's scenes were filmed with the Queen as an almost-presence in her mind and at her side (though not when Evan was looking at her). The Queen fights Teyla to regain control and finally figures out that Teyla is getting some help from her unborn child – a boy. Now here is where things get weird again. TPTB have flirted with Wraith mind-control ever since Rising. But it's used to erratically and sporadicly that I – for one – don't know what to think. This Queen was very strong, if she could crush and snuff out a life at a distance, a lot harder than just making someone stand up and walk in a certain direction, right?
Luckily, John guns down the Queen before she can regain that control. And Teyla is free of the influence. Okay, time for the next crisis when Todd decides to pop by in a Dart to say the team was captured but he got away. And there's a Hive on its way to destroy this one. I found it odd (again) to see that a Wraith who would wait for unbearably tense and potentially fatal seconds (minutes) until the Darts had returned to the Hive with their stolen cargo from Asuras is also the one who is recommending that this Hive leave immediately, stranding John, Rodney and Ronon. But, then, he IS a complicated character.
Luckily, iron-willed Teyla (backed up by Evan) refuses, even though the other Hive appears earlier than expected and opens fire. Luckily (what, again?), they are contacted by our guys (yay) making their way back in a 'jumper. When John hears of the second Hive problem he decides to do a bit of damage himself, asking that Teyla change course settings to the planet below. And we see her pinpoint accuracy in navigation as the Hive plows into the facility, blowing up the crabadillo with its multiple chambers of horrors for good. Of course, all our personnel are on the 'jumper with the not-too-surprising absence of Todd.
We get a very emotional bookend scene between Teyla and John at the end where SHE takes herself off the mission roster because the risk is too great that she could lose her son.
I'm still mulling over the various thoughts running through Teyla's head ever since her pregnancy was confirmed by Jennifer. At that point, I still think her pregnancy was still theoretical, while the disappearance of her people was of utmost importance in her mind and heart. At that point, I believe she would have sacrificed both herself and the fetus if it would only bring her people back. Hey, John, you know what self-sacrifice is all about. As does Ronon (when he asks to be chosen to be fed on in Rodney's place). Oh, team, how I love every one of you!
Somewhere along the way, the fetus is transformed into possibly being the last Athosian ever born. Whoa! That's quite a burden to be placed on a kid. And, finally, it's only when his continued existence is threatened by mystical outside forces does everything become real for Teyla. She has to save her child. Why? Because, right now, she IS the last Athosian and she has to do everything in her power to save him, too. In any case, even though John believed it was his prerogative to ... remove Teyla from missions, I'm glad that Teyla got to make that decision for herself. I also have no reason to doubt that, if the writers had continued to keep her active while disobeying John's decision – she probably would have formed some underground network of people hunting Wraith to find their loved ones.
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timeasmymeasure
Comment 1
Date: 2012-10-14 10:07 pm (UTC)This was a fabulous Teyla episode. It touched on lots of previous episodes in building to a dramatic climax. We get an echo of John acting like a dick and Teyla calls him out on the fact that they never had that conversation. But he has her sit out the checking-out-the-abandoned-Hive mission, only to come asking for her unique help with the Hive ship. Wondering if she can fly a Hive ship is answered very quickly. Oh, yeah. I have to say that pregnancy really did look good on Rachel L, especially on her ... uh ... prominently-displayed bosom. OTOH, whoever was doing the wig styling gave her a very flat-to-the-skull look. [I guess they were all focused on the Wraith guys who all seemed to be having a bad hair day, with the exception of Todd.]
Comment 2
Date: 2012-10-14 10:12 pm (UTC)Gee whiz. Evan got to
playgo on a mission with thebig kidspremier away team. And then is left babysitting Teyla on the return trip. It was sweet to see him talking to her about her pregnancy and his own nephews. At least someone's relating to her in a more personal manner regarding such an inconvenience. [No, I haven't forgotten about Ronon's sweet reaction when Teyla revealed her condition.] Mind you, I can understand John's discomfort, especially when it's tied in with U.S. Military practice (technically, women are barred from combat but often serve in an auxiliary capacity where there IS combat; once a pregnancy is admitted, the woman in question is transferred to desk duty) and his own background (also never having been a CO before, though these were exceptional circumstances beyond what any CO on Earth would have).Everything inside that installation was so creepy. The exoskeleton reminded me of a cross between a crab and armadillo (so ... crabadillo?) and the mist along the floor like the asteroid scene from The Empire Strikes Back. Yes, I know it's not the first time we've seen mist inside, but it just struck me that way today. OTOH, those birthing cells were disgusting. And having a fairly mindless but raging creature be fitted with the face mask totally shudder-worthy. And that's before the team had discovered all those thousands of pods.
I was intrigued by the vines pinning the Queen to her throne. It may have looked as if she was being held in restraints, but she was still in control, merely being fed various nutrients, etc., through the vines. OTOH, let me amend that. She's the one who is supplying genetic material to the warrior-making pods. So, it seems as if the balance of a Queen's supremacy over her Hive has been altered and she is now almost a prisoner of the biological system. It seems as if a scarcity of Queens has not made them personally more powerful, but just their usefulness.
It was awfully nice of the team to rescue Todd who was on the verge of becoming a snack for the Queen. Talk about short-sighted ... that she wanted to feed on one of the intelligent scientific Wraith.
But, then, of course our team gets captured, though Todd escapes.
Comment 3
Date: 2012-10-14 10:18 pm (UTC)I really liked the way Teyla's scenes were filmed with the Queen as an almost-presence in her mind and at her side (though not when Evan was looking at her). The Queen fights Teyla to regain control and finally figures out that Teyla is getting some help from her unborn child – a boy. Now here is where things get weird again. TPTB have flirted with Wraith mind-control ever since Rising. But it's used to erratically and sporadicly that I – for one – don't know what to think. This Queen was very strong, if she could crush and snuff out a life at a distance, a lot harder than just making someone stand up and walk in a certain direction, right?
Luckily, John guns down the Queen before she can regain that control. And Teyla is free of the influence. Okay, time for the next crisis when Todd decides to pop by in a Dart to say the team was captured but he got away. And there's a Hive on its way to destroy this one. I found it odd (again) to see that a Wraith who would wait for unbearably tense and potentially fatal seconds (minutes) until the Darts had returned to the Hive with their stolen cargo from Asuras is also the one who is recommending that this Hive leave immediately, stranding John, Rodney and Ronon. But, then, he IS a complicated character.
Luckily, iron-willed Teyla (backed up by Evan) refuses, even though the other Hive appears earlier than expected and opens fire. Luckily (what, again?), they are contacted by our guys (yay) making their way back in a 'jumper. When John hears of the second Hive problem he decides to do a bit of damage himself, asking that Teyla change course settings to the planet below. And we see her pinpoint accuracy in navigation as the Hive plows into the facility, blowing up the crabadillo with its multiple chambers of horrors for good. Of course, all our personnel are on the 'jumper with the not-too-surprising absence of Todd.
We get a very emotional bookend scene between Teyla and John at the end where SHE takes herself off the mission roster because the risk is too great that she could lose her son.
I'm still mulling over the various thoughts running through Teyla's head ever since her pregnancy was confirmed by Jennifer. At that point, I still think her pregnancy was still theoretical, while the disappearance of her people was of utmost importance in her mind and heart. At that point, I believe she would have sacrificed both herself and the fetus if it would only bring her people back. Hey, John, you know what self-sacrifice is all about. As does Ronon (when he asks to be chosen to be fed on in Rodney's place). Oh, team, how I love every one of you!
Somewhere along the way, the fetus is transformed into possibly being the last Athosian ever born. Whoa! That's quite a burden to be placed on a kid. And, finally, it's only when his continued existence is threatened by mystical outside forces does everything become real for Teyla. She has to save her child. Why? Because, right now, she IS the last Athosian and she has to do everything in her power to save him, too. In any case, even though John believed it was his prerogative to ... remove Teyla from missions, I'm glad that Teyla got to make that decision for herself. I also have no reason to doubt that, if the writers had continued to keep her active while disobeying John's decision – she probably would have formed some underground network of people hunting Wraith to find their loved ones.