sga_squee | Rewatch: Submersion

helenkacan.livejournal.com posting in

The team locates a mobile geothermal drilling platform that may have the potential of providing them an unlimited power supply. Before going too far ahead, Dr. Weir wants to learn why the Ancients abandoned the project. On arrival, Teyla immediately begins to sense a Wraith presence on the platform. Her attempt to contact the Wraith doesn't quite go as planned however, and she is soon under a Wraith Queen's control. Weir and the team soon learn that the Wraith Queen has been waiting for millenia for a means to escape the ocean's depths and return to her people....and will stop at nothing to accomplish that. Written by garykmcd from IMDb

[Poll #1852289]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the above is okay, because it's been years since I've posted a poll. I'm posting on behalf of

twinsarein who's been experiencing intermittent internet problems. Ouch!

Current Mood: excited
Current Location: A room with a view, Villa by the Lake
Current Music: SGA main theme on the brain.

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From:

helenkacan.livejournal.com

I watched this twice, including the audio commentary by Brenton Spencer (one of the two D.Ps on SGA) who directed and Mark Savela, Visual Effects Supervisor.

Okay, this time I really mean it. I'm not going to dissect the episode word-by-word. Mainly just my immediate reactions and a few tidbits from the audio commentary.

I felt I was watching a sleeping lizard monster wake when that eye opened. Creeeeepy.

Usually Elizabeth is saddled with the role of "Mom" on the show, but this time John got to be "Dad", trying to keep the unruly kids from ~~driving him crazy~~ killing each other. Hey, Teyla knows how to call Shotgun.

I thought it was cool to see the way they repurposed the standard Atlantis sets (though apparently they built endless corridors for this epi) with minor but deliberate changes, like the cute compact consoles in the control room.

::giggles:: They called this their "haunted house episode". Effective suspenseful music when Teyla mentions she's sensing a Wraith presence.

Okay, so did anybody get a weird sense when Teyla attempted the mind meld and immediately had the Queen knowing exactly who the others were? That's sort of like accessing very specific memories in a person's mind. Also, knowing there was a need for subterfuge which – let's face it – most Wraith are too arrogant to do. Subtle they're not.

Ouch. Now that's a knock-down that Ronon will remember for a very long time. Get the ice packs ready back home.

When John's trying to reach Teyla and Ronon, well Ronon's not too ready to report his position, considering it's passed out on the floor.

Uh ... the Queen emerging from the pool was a sorta kinda creepy reminder of The Creature From the Black Lagoon, Wraith style.

From:

helenkacan.livejournal.com

[Boy, do I feel dorky. Yes, I rewatched twice yesterday and then realized, while posting, that I 'd missed writing ANYTHING for most of the middle section of the epi. So I'm rewatching that right now. ::sighs::]

Okay, this is cool. We hear about actors who do their own stunts and I'm always impressed with underwater ones, 'cuz I can't swim. That's why what RDA did in the blocked 'jumper bay was so amazing (The Return, Part II). So, in this one, the talking heads inform us that Andee Frizzell (who plays SO many Wraith Queens quite scarily) held her breath underwater for about 25 seconds, even though she CAN'T SWIM!!! She was unable to repeat that later because, at the end of the day, her makeup was getting worn off. But, still ... wow!

Poor Ronon. He has to admit to both of his bosses that Teyla beat him up. And now she's activating forcefields all through the underwater station. Hmm. I wonder if any residual memories are what made her so technically competent in later seasons. Although, at the moment, it sounded silly for Rodney to be wondering why she was doing any of this.

Interesting to see Teyla snap out of her connection, just in time to feel there's someone behind her and, as she whirls around, a big sigh of relief because it's our guys. But we're not used to seeing Teyla so helpless, so not knowing what's going on.

Poor Rodney has nothing but bad news for Elizabeth. And, according to John, Teyla has no memory of what's happened in the last hour. Except that she does at least remember the initial contact, with the most powerful mind she's ever encountered. That can't be good. No, it gets worse. Teyla believes it's a Queen.

Eeeeeee. John's "I hate Queens" was an ad-lib by Joe F. (which he does add, as the talking heads mentioned, "from time to time"). Yay! It's perfect here.

Well, now that they know there's a problem, they can go take care of it, especially Ronon. But Mom puts her foot down, preventing Teyla from going after the Queen. The talking heads admit they're not holding up their part in the audio commentary, because they're just enjoying watching the episode, especially Rachel L's acting as Teyla.

Now we're at the tragi-comic relief by the ~~redshirts~~ uh ... scientists. Stick in a Trek reference. Now this is cute, finding out that there really is a Grayson which makes Graydon wonder if Rodney did make a mistake hiring him. That was a good bit of writing. At least for once, Rodney's inability to remember names has a reason.

Aww. Unexpected puddles of water on the floor of the aptly-named puddlejumper. And then Graydon's a goner.

It seems odd to see Radek wondering what a Wraith would want with an underwater drilling platform. Radek? Who cares why. It's never good news.

Hee! Dr. Coleson must rate as professionally competent (at least), because Rodney's got her name right.

From:

helenkacan.livejournal.com

The epi was short by about three minutes, so TPTB added the bit where Teyla's trying to convince Liz that she can help. I thought it was cool to see Liz acknowledge that - without Teyla - they wouldn't even be aware of what they're up against when Teyla's blaming herself. Once Teyla's accepts Liz's reluctance to let her be involved, it's interesting to see Teyla's eyes moving, as if she's trying to see if the presence is anywhere near her. We also get an echo from the past, especially Rising, of a Wraith phantom in the corridors.

Oh, that was such a mean thing to do, showing John and Ronon searching, hearing footsteps, and then a really bad surprise (guess who?) showing up behind Dickinson who promptly gets repelled by a forcefield when he tries to get away.

Aww. I love seeing Radek when he gets flustered as he's working on something ... uncooperative.

At least now John knows, via Teyla's feeling, that the Wraith IS on board the station.

Then John gets the plea for help from Dickinson. As he approaches the 'jumper, the music gets more scary. Be careful, John. Oh, okay, situation normal. Graydon's in the pilot's chair. Oops, so not okay when John gives the chair a twirl.

Poor John. All these Queens get him down on his knees so easily. He's ... helpless. Honest. I'd forgotten this part until the rewatch, because I was wondering why his face went all slack and he was like a puppet with loosened strings, also not being able to remember words.

Uh, Ronon. Couldn't you have come a little closer before you shot? Then it's possible you wouldn't have missed.

Wow! I still remember the first time I saw the front window of the 'jumper blasted and all of that water rushing forward. It was quite realistic on the larger TV screen, especially as the wave of water knocked the Queen out. For the SFX, they released 1500 gallons of water (well, they said "at least a ton") slamming into the bodies of stunt people and then morphed our stars' faces onto the stunt doubles until it was safe to switch people.

::giggles:: Ronon's such a kid, poking at the forcefield holding all that water back.

I always thought it was really convenient for the Queen to be so weakened, considering that she'd just fed – on two people. Unless we're meant to believe that the force of the water overwhelmed her after she'd withstood the pressure of an entire ocean. ::shakes head in disbelief::

Aha! Nice to see the shoe on the other foot, or the Queen restrained and helpless.

Whoa! Nobody get on Ronon's bad side; but OTOH he sure has split-second reaction times when he pins the Queen back onto the slab. Still, pumped full of sedatives or not, she utters standard arrogant Wraith words, aka "You are all about to die". Yeah, yeah. We're so scared - NOT.

From:

helenkacan.livejournal.com

Aww. Rodney's feeling responsible for sending those two guys off. And saying he should have listened to Teyla. Wow, Rodney. You are growing as a person. Well, with the right writers anyway.

Okay, time to gather the gang all together. I'm giggling at Radek's extra "very" which Rodney finds ... excessive. In any case they figure out she swam over from the Cruiser. Which she could do because she's not human.

Oh, John. You're hilarious with your comment that the Queen uttered her prophecy with a "lot of confidence".

So ... once Teyla reestablishes contact with the Wraith Queen's mind, I think I just solved my own previous confusion. Because Teyla's able to immediately access the thousands of years' old flashback memory of how the Queen got stuck at the bottom of the ocean. I still think it's an impressive technique of capturing specific memories.

"You are all about to die." No kidding, John. That certainly doesn't sound like our Teyla.

And, when we learn about the self-destruct, we get the pounding drums of ... DOOM in the soundtrack.

As if that weren't enough, Rodney has to give them the extra special bad news where we learn all about wafer-thin crusts and geothermal energy. Or stuff that can go BOOM on a planetary scale.

But, yay, Rodney has an idea. Only thing is, he thinks John's going to take a space ... uh ... ocean walk all by his lonesome. Not so fast, buddy. ::giggles:: Woo – those are actual exo-suits made in North Vancouver that are supposed to be able to withstand depths of up to 2,000 feet. Ahhh, interesting. The divers don't need to be decompressed. The suits were slightly modified for use above water, as the actors walked in front of a blue screen and SFX were then added. Hmm. Because the suits aren't meant to be used above water, the actors had to be hooked up with wires to a gantry.

Yuck for the Wraith cruiser. It really does look like lungs inside. And there's John with his "decorating" quip. And why does he say "tick tick" instead of "tick tock" to Rodney?

Eeeek. The Queen playing chicken with Teyla.

And back on the no-pressure-cooker cruiser, our boys are yapping back and forth.

Okay, this is where my fake-fake-fake spidey sense started to really blare. Because it didn't make sense for Teyla to send Ronon off to the control room, especially as he didn't get the message on his radio. Also, how sudden the request was. I didn't notice these things when the episode first aired, only now. Just really sticking out. It's no wonder I was screaming at the screen when Teyla began to unfasten the restraints. Memories of Teyla being left alone with Michael were uppermost in my mind.

But this was so astonishing, to see the actual power that Teyla did have: to pretend to unsuccessfully hide a memory that she wanted the Queen to actually see. And there's our second echo of planting fake information (that was used for the same purpose against the Asurans in poor unsuspecting Richard Woolsey's brain). The talking heads are discussing this, whether this conversation actually existed or whether it was a false memory that Teyla was creating. The conclusion is that is was a false memory that just makes me more in awe of Teyla's powers. OTOH, Teyla's damn lucky that the Queen just left her after she fainted without killing her. Perhaps she could focus only on getting back to her Cruiser as quickly as possible.

Yaaaaaaaaaay for BAMF Rodney who shot her but real good. Uh, guys. Are you really, really, REALLY sure she's dead? I still think they should have cut off her head. What? I'm a nice person. I just believe in being thorough.

Anyway, while Rodney's eager to play around with the platform (I'm sure that Radek would, too), Ronon, Teyla and John think it's nap-time! ::giggles:: Hey, Dad, did the kids finally wear you out? And that's the end of the "haunted house" episode!