My squee just got meta - I blame Doppelganger.

[vida-boheme.livejournal.com]

Doppelganger has been on UK TV twice this week (not that I haven't seen it a lot before!) and watching it again reminded me of my squee about the way the characters are dressed in the shared nightmare sequence, and what we are meant to take from it. I thought others might find it an interesting conversation starter...

From the very first time I saw Doppelganger, I found the POVs in the final nightmares very interesting. I'll be honest, at first just the idea that John's nightmare was being unable to save Rodney was squee-worthy enough, but re watching the episode left me even more intrigued about the canon that was being established with the characters' visual images of each other in the Nightmare World.

For example, the nightmare begins in Rodney's thoughts - so we have to assume that we are initially being given Rodney's view and that the images in that nightmare reflect the way Rodney 'sees' both himself and John. As we cut to the Nightmare POV, Rodney isn't wearing the outfit he was wearing while awake, in fact this is an outfit we've never seen before or since. Shoulders aside (because it's simply not possible to make DH's shoulders look anything BUT amazing) Rodney is wearing the most unflattering outfit imaginable - it seems to be some sort of PJ's or thermal underwear. On top of the ugly outfit, Rodney is soaked to the skin with his face screwed up against the rain and his hair looking flat and sparse under the beating rain.

So, Rodney's nightmare view of himself  is one that is physically weak and unattractive, stuck in a situation where brain power means nothing. That didn't surprise me too much, but look how 'Rodney's subconscious manifests John... Rodney's mind  'sees'  Evil Entity Sheppard as Über-military, a version of John who thinks Rodney is weak, and tells him he will fail and die. In complete contrast, his subconscious sees Real John - his Sheppard - looking softer and younger than Evil!Shep, wearing his touchy-feely clothes, not a uniform, and whose body language and voice are gentle and protective. (The way he says "Don't be afraid" just breaks me...)

When we switch to the nightmare from John's POV, it begins with him believing he has failed to save Rodney. He's broken by this, walking through the corridor in shock and completely uncomforted - in fact people seek him out to tell him that he has failed and that it is all his fault. What's heartbreaking (in addition to his obvious pain at losing Rodney) is knowing that John has been here - has actually failed to save a comrade and paid the penalty to his reputation in the eyes of his peers. Then his Evil Entity doppelganger appears and it's clear that nothing scares John more than the idea that he will be to blame for the death of people he cares about, and the prospect that his own dark side might be to blame...

Now think about the way Rodney appears in John's nightmare.  First off, he isn't even wearing the last thing that John would have seen him in before they went to sleep, or the ugly outfit John saw Rodney in during the start of the nightmare - why is that? There isn't more thn one Rodney, so the way Rodney appears must have some significance to John. The Rodney that comes down the stairs is heroic, sure of himself, and wearing his sleekest outfit, His hair is styled, his skin practically glows and he looks good. This nightmare is John's POV and we are presented with the fact that this is how John sees Rodney - not weak, panicking or scared, but determined and in control and willing to do whatever it takes. What's more, Rodney doesn't save John alone - the real strength is the two of them working together.

Now, I can't be the first person to wonder what the thought process was behind these choices. Did they come from the writer, the director, the costume mistress, the actors, or each building on the others' ideas? And even more interesting than who, is the question why? While it would be possible to write off the costumes in John's case as simple continuity, and a way to differentiate between Evil Entity Sheppard and Real Sheppard, that doesn't explain the changes in Rodney's outfits. There's an obvious significance to the contrasting way in which they perceive each other in their nightmares/subconscious and it obviously speaks to their trust in each other (at the very least) and possibly more...

Intriguing, no? It certainly makes me squee. 

Comments

[emrinalexander.livejournal.com]

I watched this again after reading your analysis. It's amazing the ways the characters themselves (and/or the actors) seemed to take over in the episodes and go way beyond whatever the director and writers of an episode were doing. The absolutely bereft expression on John's face in his dream when he believes Rodney is dead is heart-rending. And then there's the fact that Rodney being dead is John Sheppard's worst possible nightmare. I wonder if the writers every realized how much that was saying to the audience?

Another example that comes to mind, is how no matter how hard the writers tried to pair Rodney off with Keller, it never quite becomes believable. Even at the end of the final episode, when supposedly everyone (except Sheppard - and doesn't that tell us something too) is paired off, Rodney's body language with Keller is very uneasy and gives me, anyway, the feeling he'd rather be with somebody else.

[vida-boheme.livejournal.com]

God yes! The cringeworthy body language on the balcony...least convincing romance ever.

[hilde.livejournal.com]

Shudders....it was painful to watch, just painful...

[hilde.livejournal.com]

The absolutely bereft expression on John's face in his dream when he believes Rodney is dead is heart-rending. And then there's the fact that Rodney being dead is John Sheppard's worst possible nightmare. I wonder if the writers every realized how much that was saying to the audience?

THIS! Yes, it's so revealing!