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

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Poor Ford. He's got the geeks making fun of him.

Wow, that went from funny to intense so quickly. Those poor people.

Heh, I like Peterson coming up against the rearguard as he tried to get away from the group. I have to admit, I like to see Rodney being so take-charge.

Oooh, John's first sparring session with Teyla - that we get to see at least. Hee, she smacked his butt. The fight looks really good, though. Teyla has such fantastic muscle tone. I wonder how much she works out every day...

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

::giggles::
Oh, Rodney. Trying to get Aiden to play Prime/Not Prime? I don't think so. And does Radek's accent sound weird, once again as if David Nykl hasn't used his Czech voice in a while?

Whoa! Now where did that come from? Aiden beat up the geeks in high school? Aiden, I expected better from you. And I still wonder if TPTB were playing with different character traits, trying to see which one would suit Aiden. I honestly didn't think bully would be one of them.

Elizabeth? "Suburbs"? Poor Atlantis with its pockets of less than prime real estate.

"Dark, damp and smells terrible." But, engineering-wise, not bad. I'd love to see Rodney as a home inspector.

Oh, poor Rodney. Can't take a field trip anywhere without losing a couple of the kiddies.

Uh-oh. Both dead. I've got a bad feeling about this.

Cue shocked faces, creepy rising music and a trickle of blood from the lips of one. Okay, credits now.

It's wonderful to see Rodney being calm and analytical about the possibility of widespread infection. Amd getting the point across to the others in the party.

Also lovely to see Radek on the same page.

Hmmm. Insisting impatiently through gritted teeth that "I feel fine, I feel perfectly fine" isn't going to make for a good case.

Oh, man. Teyla and sticks. Um, can I just stop the playback and stare at her ... sticks, that is. ::giggles::

Um, I'd hate to see how many new bruises John has blooming on his body. And here's stern Teyla, scolding John 'cuz he hasn't been doing his homework.

Oh, John. You would have shot the enemy by now. But isn't the whole point of learning to use bantos rods to be able to defend yourself if you're out of ammo? Just a simple question.

Lovely bit of philosophy from Teyla: "It is not for the winning that we practise."

Oh, boy. Bad news for John. A self-regulated quarantine. And no radio. He just flunked the boy scout rule.

Interesting play of light on the floor, the consoles and the curtains as Rodney explores. I can't tell what he's looking at when he says, "This is not good."

Oh, good. Teyla wins the boy scout award. Not that the radio's going to help John that much. Lovely bit of John-accentuated snark: "Well, then, get someone to bring me a hazmat suit."

Awwww. John is feeling frustrated not being able to do anything. Wonder powers deactivated.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

And, back in the room with broken containment vessels (oops), Rodney is telling Liz about something that's a "little troubling". Only a bit.

Uh-oh. It's major go-crazy time in the viral lab. Dumais's dead and Peterson has gone for a wee bit of a jog.

Ah, a walk through ubiquitous Atlantis corridor that I believe is also used when they film John's quarters and other locales.

Now – see – that's why it's not a good idea to hire all these geniuses. Peterson jigged that bulkhead control panel much too easily. Right?

Well, I guess Liz's diplomacy doesn't work on an infected scientist. It's also scary-cool to watch the progress on the life signs display.

Uh ... Bates sure doesn't look too thrilled watching.

Eeeeeee. Rodney's sensing ... something.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch ... er training room.... Hee. Bates in a tug of war between John and Liz. Okay, round 1 goes to John.

Hmmm. Autopsy central reminds me of the plastic shrouds in the makeshift OR when E.T. was dying. [Interesting to see how certain scenes evoke memories.]

Oh, my. Dr. Biro is really chatty when it comes to dead people. And there's that distinctive whine of a bone-cutting saw.

See Teyla comparing John to Liz. And that they's too alike.

And then this ominous silence 'cuz Liz isn't answering John's question.

More of Peterson getting spooked and isn't it weird how he can slide through such narrow openings?

Uh-oh. Rodney just showed he's infected. And the other guy (uh, Hays), too. And Carson's eyes just flick back and forth as if at a tennis match. Another major uh-oh moment when Rodney realizes he's a dead man. Poor baby.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Hmm, do we get an explanation of why Rodney doesn't succumb as quickly to the disease as the other people?

Bad John. Undermining Elizabeth like that is one of the biggest mistakes you've made. I know it's hard to sit an emergency out, but you shouldn't have done that. I love Teyla's observation about how he and Elizabeth have their trait in common of not giving on decisions they've made.

Only, now John's made things worse. So much worse. And Elizabeth dresses him down for it. Good. I've never liked the bit where he defies her so completely.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank goodness. Hai, John. Taking charge like always.

Except not. Can I say oh, fuck. 'Cuz Peterson just managed to get into a transporter. And has just infected a whole bunch of people in the mess. Is this the first time we've seen all the high panel doors slide closed? 'Cuz now it's a real lockdown situation.

And John really did get scolded by Liz.

Ha-ha. Dr. Biro has a morbid sense of humour.

But – oh – it's so painful to see Rodney act so hopeless when Carson's trying to get beyond a flatline situation.

And cue sad music heralding the impending mortality of one M. Rodney McKay. Doesn't look good, peeps.

Aw, Rodney, working out what to tell Jeannie: "Tell her I died saving kids."

And Radek's voice is so gentle in contradiction.

Rodney's face is so expressive and his eyes just shine.

Yay for self-reflection: "Okay, I should be dead now."

Oh, Carson's in on the humour thing, too: "Then, yes, you should be dead."

So, have we all figured out WHY Rodney's not dead?

Whew. Rodney's relieved laughter.

It's cool to realize that the only reason John and Teyla are having no problem accessing locked-down areas is because they're wearing hazmat suits ... and not simply because Atlantis loves him best, lol.

Eeeeeek. We've just seen the nanovirus particles on the screen. Deadly little buggers.

Liz isn't too thrilled about being "infected with microscopic machines". Remember this for future reference.

Wraith? Rodney: "Why would the Wraith even create the equivalent of WMD?"

And Rodney concedes the point to Liz that who built the virus is the least of their concerns.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Poor Rodney, so convinced he's going to die. I feel for his fear and pain, and he plays the scene well. And...he survives.

Oh Rodney, you might not care why, but you've just become a guinea pig.

A billionth of a millimeter. Wow! How do you make something that small. Cool. And I got an answer to my question about Rodney resisting the infection.

And, Elizabeth refocuses the scientists that go off on a tangent.

Electromagnetic pulse, and then all the computers are shown getting closed. I have to admit -that gave me a laugh. But, oops it didn't work. Damn. It sounded like such a great idea, too.

Oh, god! All those people in the cafeteria. Plus, Teyla is now exposed.

EMPs have to work. How could a computer resist something like that, as long as it's strong enough. Only, how can the bigger computers survive it?

I like how this show uses real time. John's ten count was an actual ten count. The 30 seconds to detonation was an actual 30 seconds. I remember some shows where times seems strangely dilated.

John, don't you know you're supposed to shield your eyes from an atomic blast. No peaking.

Hee, I loved McKay's and Zalenka's missed hand shake/hand slap. Funny moment.

Ooo, apology time? Except Elizabeth is having to lead him to it. Shame on you John.

Double Oooo, this is our first hint of the replicator's, isn't it? I'd forgotten all about that. Although, I don't think we meet them for a while, yet.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Autopsy central reminds me of the plastic shrouds in the makeshift OR when E.T. was dying. Ha, you're right! Even down to people being in hazmat suits, although the color was different.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

It's cool to realize that the only reason John and Teyla are having no problem accessing locked-down areas is because they're wearing hazmat suits ... and not simply because Atlantis loves him best, lol. Stuff like this confused me so much when I first started watching. I'd read a few fanfics before I got interested in the show, and so many of them seem to indicate a link between John and the city - that it did 'love him best.' I kept waiting for the show to have scenes like that, but they never happened. Maybe confused is the wrong word, more that I was disappointed that it wasn't the case. I'm not sure why the fics have such a preponderance of something that isn't the case. The only proof I can think of, that shows John being a cut above the others is in the Pilot, when the chair reacted so much more strongly to him than Carson. Ah well.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Oh, Teyla. You and your powers of calm persuasion. One hopes.

Yay, I guessed right. It's because Rodney had the ATA gene.

Aiden's getting restless and Radek's accent is wonky. His inflections actually make him sound almost like Rodney.

Um ... who put the CAUTION sign in ENGLISH up?

And Rodney's ready to pull a miracle out of ... well you know where. ::giggles::

Intriguing seeing John in the hazmat helmet doing his stuff. And then ... silence. Well, until Rodney opens his mouth.

Uh-oh, mass panic in the mess hall. Now Teyla's in big trouble.

And it's the John and Rodney discussion hour. "Trial and error" Rodney? You have the time for that?

And there's independent-minded John running off, with an idea in his head. He's so smart. Thank goodness both he and Rodney were able to convince Liz that it's the only solution.

Hee. John thanks Rodney for his good advice, 'cuz he would have never thought of it by himself. /snark!

Cool effect switching through different people's faces during the final countdown.

Ack. The wait to see if John's okay. And he is.

And then the city lets go of its control. Yay. Doors open and stuff. Hugs all around (which they're doing).

Hee! Bosslady tells John he was a clever boy. And then tells him he can't go overriding her command just 'cuz. Lovely bit of discomfort on John's face. But, seriously, if Sumner were still alive – they'd have been dead twenty times over from having to observe proper military protocol and I can predict Liz would have had a much tougher fight with him over who has priority over what kinds of situations. So I consider her disapproval of John's actions to be mild in comparison. Besides, this isn't any NORMAL base in our galaxy. And sometimes one has to use intuition and ingenuity. Like John does.

And then in comes Rodney (with Carson) with some very disquieting news about the creators of the nanovirus. "Whoever they were, let's just hope they're still not around." And we see four worried faces.

Final bitching point. Why can't TPTB give incidental cast members FIRST and LAST names. The credits just show last names. It's so dismissive. Historical rant: In the olden days (last century), the credits for women in movies gave their first names only; only men got first and last names as a sign of respect.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

But I don't think it's just fanfic that makes a big thing of John's superior ATA gene and connection to the city (like Atlantis responding to him and lighting up as he ascended the stairs in Rising).

Well, that's the way I see it.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

This gets my glaring eye icon.

I agree. I thought it was very stupid of everyone not to shield their eyes from the blast. Like ... duuuuh.

[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.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

A billionth of a millimeter. Wow! How do you make something that small.

So, shoot me but I couldn't resist answering your question.

WITH VERY TEENSY, TINY TWEEZERS.
::giggles and scampers away::