Rewatch: Hot Zone

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

McKay, Zelenka and Ford and a team of scientists are inspecting a section of the city flooded during the storm, but everything appears to be just fine. When they plan to return, two team members are missing. Over the radio they seem to be frightened by something and are found dead. The team suspects a virus and a city-wide quarantine is set in place. Then one of the other team members collapses. A scientist named Peterson is frightened by the prospect and manages to escape, risking infection to the entire city. Sheppard is forced to defy Weir's orders and goes after him with Teyla. Meanwhile the infected team discovers a viral lab. It is soon found out the virus causes hallucinations and certain death by forming an aneurysm. McKay realizes he is one of the next to go.  [Poll #1773125]

Comments

[that-which.livejournal.com]

I always wondered what the producers thought they were doing with highschoolbully!Ford, because he was back in the Siege. I really don't think a rising young career officer who was Raised Right by his grandparents would be that much of a jerk.

I more wondered who the producers thought was going to be attracted to that behavior. People who got beaten up in high school? Because I'm guessing a significant percentage of the audience for a SyFy show either got messed with in the course of their life for geekiness or (hello, John Sheppard?) pretended not to be a geek so they wouldn't.

The Ford character was handled very, very badly. JMO.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

First of all, I have to say how thrilled I am that twinsarein got this simultaneous (or close to it) rewatch happening. After all, when SGA began, we were all dazzled by the shiny (the city! the ATA gene! yadda-yadda!) and probably didn't put much critical thought into each episode. [I think TPTB liked it that way. But, as the seasons progressed, we started picking through more plot holes, inconsistencies and poor character development. Hello, John Sheppard. Do you EVEN have a back story?]

So, yeah, it came as a HUGE shock to hear Aiden talking that way and actually admitting it. Is this perhaps the first time TPTB included a racist allusion that Aiden may have been a thug in da 'hood when he was younger which - as you noted - does not match the backstory that his loving grandparents raised him. But, then, as we've seen, the roles of Teyla and Ronon (actors of colour) were underused in the later seasons. I'm also thinking of the ridiculous intent showing Ronon as a barbarian (read: angry black man) in Jen's eyes, thereby making her choose Rodney instead as a bf.

And, yeah, all of the geeks in the audience would not be thrilled to know that a former bully is now 2IC. But, if you've been reading the comments from previous episodes, I've mentioned more than once that Aiden's role is unfocused. It's as if TPTB just decided to allow each week's script writer the freedom to go wild and interpret characters in ridiculous ways. ::sighs::

Anyway, thanks for jumping into the discussion. It's fun to talk about the show.