SGA Rewatch: Tabula Rasa

Ooh, we're in for a real treat on today's installment of the Stargate Atlantis Rewatch! We're talking about season four's "Tabula Rasa," which is pretty highly ranked among my favorite episodes of the series. Good stuff. Spoilers for the episode of course, and any that came before. Let's get to it!

What Happened


We open up on a very confused Rodney tied to a desk late at night. He looks around and calls out for help but receives no answer. On his lap is a tablet computer with a sticky note that says, "Press Here," so he does. A video appears on the screen. It is Rodney telling himself that he's sure he is confused but he needs to keep it together. He explains that he tied himself to the desk to make sure he'd see the message. The video tells him there is a knife under his chair that he can use to cut himself free, and then he needs to go and find "this woman." A picture of Teyla appears on the tablet. On the screen, Rodney tells himself that finding her is very important and the lives of several people, including himself, depend on doing so.

Fourteen hours earlier: Rodney stops by the botany lab to say hi to Katie. She has been out of the city for a while as part of an expedition to check out the mainland on their new planet. She shows him a new kind of cactus she discovered on her trip and says she wants to name it after him. He asks if she wants to get lunch and she says she would love to but she actually hasn't been feeling very well and was thinking about heading down to the infirmary. Rodney volunteers to walk her down there. When they arrive, Keller tells Katie she is the fourth person that day to complain of similar symptoms, and the second from the botany department. She points to a member of Katie's team, Doctor Baxter, who was admitted earlier. Keller takes blood samples from Katie, and Rodney as well, to check against the other patients.

As more patients come in with the same symptoms, Keller radios Sam and John in the control room to inform them of the situation and that she has decided to place the infirmary level under quarantine, just in case. She also points out that the majority of the people who have come in were part of the expedition to the mainland and asks Sam to isolate the rest of the people who were on that trip as a precaution. Another doctor comes by as Keller ends the call and informs her that she and he are both testing positive for what the others have. So is Rodney. So far, the most advanced case is just showing mild flu-like symptoms. They hope out loud that things don't get any worse than that.

Present: Rodney is walking through the city, alone, searching for Teyla. He finds a scientist slumped against the wall but when he shakes the man's shoulder, the scientist falls over and it is clear that he is dead. He hears a noise behind him and turns to find Radek approaching, clutching a pipe. Neither man seems to recognize the other. When Radek sees that Rodney is not a soldier, he lowers his guard and offers to let Rodney come hide with him. Rodney asks if he knows what is going on but he responds no, no one he has met does either. Radek says that all he knows is that he has to hide from the soldiers because anyone they find they are taking away. Rodney shows him the picture of Teyla and asks if he has seen her but he says no. Rodney wants to keep looking rather than go hide and Radek tells him that he is crazy before running away.

Ten hours earlier: Rodney goes to Keller to update her on his symptoms. He has started feeling a tingling in his knees. She doesn't seem to think it is anything relevant to the current situation though, since no one else is experiencing that particular symptom and Rodney is, well, Rodney. He heads back to Katie, who has been set up in a hospital bed. A nurse in a HAZMAT suit has just brought her a cup of tea. Rodney asks how she is feeling and she says her headaches are getting worse. She asks Rodney if he can have a nurse bring her some tea, and he points out the cup she just received. She had already forgotten about it.

There is a clangor on the other side of the infirmary. Overcome by dizziness, the nurse has fallen over. Keller notifies Sam and John. The nurse could have already been exposed to the sickness, but if not, then it has breached the HAZMAT protocol, which is bad news. Keller recommends that Sam suspend all gate travel immediately to prevent spreading whatever has infected Atlantis to other worlds. A little while later Rodney is sitting by Katie's bed while she sleeps. She wakes up and seems very confused. She doesn't know where she is or who Rodney is.

Present: Rodney is still searching for Teyla in an apparently abandoned city and he runs across Lorne and a group of marines. He tells them he doesn't want any trouble, but neither does Lorne, apparently. He shoots Rodney with a stunner and his men drag Rodney away, leaving his tablet behind. As they head down the corridor, Lorne takes a bottle of pills out of his pocket and pops some in his mouth.

Eight hours earlier: Keller is updating Sam and John on the situation once more. She has been conducting random blood samples throughout the base and it looks like the whole city has already been exposed to the sickness. That suggests that it has a pretty long incubation period, although once symptoms begin it seems to be only a few hours before memory loss occurs. She sends them some brain scans for Katie and a few others who have started to show signs of memory loss. It seems that the sickness is doing something in the brain that prohibits normal memory functions. She tells them that if they can't find a way to treat the sickness soon, the memory loss could become permanent. She is frantically searching the city's database to find information on the sickness. Sam asks Keller how she is feeling and she admits that her headaches started half an hour ago. Before they end the call, she tells them that based on her research, she suspects she is about to get a new wave of patients very soon and the infirmary is starting to run out of room. John pipes up that they can set up the mess hall to treat the patients, since it is big enough for pretty much everyone. He leaves to get started on that.

Present: Rodney wakes up in the mess hall, which is packed full of very confused people, including Keller herself. No one knows who they are or what is going on. All they know is that the soldiers keep bringing people in. Rodney realizes that he lost his computer but he still knows that he is looking for Teyla. He asks if anyone knows who she is, but no one does.

Earlier: John and Ronon are getting the mess hall converted to a temporary infirmary. Ronon asks why the city's quarantine protocol hasn't engaged yet, but John doesn't have an answer for him. Ronon asks John how he is doing and John says the headaches have started. Teyla approaches and John leaves. Ronon asks Teyla how she is feeling and she admits that she feels fine and hasn't started to show any symptoms at all yet. He says he hasn't either. Teyla suggests he goes to mention it to Keller, maybe she can do something with that information. He goes to see her and she realizes that he and Teyla might have an immunity to the sickness. She take a sample of blood from him to start running tests.

Present: In the mess hall, Rodney is writing something on his arm. Keller asks what he is doing and he says he needs to remember. He can already feel himself starting to forget. He stands up and announces that he needs to escape and asks if anyone has any suggestions for how he can do that. Most of the people gathered think he's crazy and that trying to escape the soldiers is futile. From the back of the crowd someone speaks up that Rodney's right. Sam pushes through and says that escaping is a good idea. She doesn't think the soldiers know any more than they do. She says they need a plan.

Earlier: Since it's become clear that the entire city has already been exposed to the sickness, the quarantine on the infirmary has been lifted. Rodney heads to the control room to help John and Sam with damage control. He suggests that they go ahead and order all non-essential personnel to head to the mess hall, since everyone is going to end up there anyway. John is already on it, he's sent Lorne and a group of marines out to gather everyone up and get them to the mess. Sam gives John and Rodney some stimulants and explains that one of the doctors says that the medicine will help stave off the symptoms of the sickness for a little while longer. John says he'll hand some out to Lorne and the marines as well (explaining the mystery pills we saw earlier). Sam tells them she's also asked Radek to remove the main dialing crystal from the stargate just to make sure that no one dials out in order to prevent spreading the sickness to other planets or to Earth.

Ronon goes to see Keller and to check if she's found anything from his blood sample. She is already starting to show signs of forgetfulness--she doesn't remember taking his sample or their earlier conversation. As they are talking, Katie's friend Doctor Baxter, the most serious case so far, crashes. Keller runs over to try to revive him but she and the other doctors are having a hard time remembering proper procedure. They do all they can but not quickly enough. Doctor Baxter dies on the table.

Present: Lorne and his men head to the mess hall, but when they open the door, everyone inside rushes out at once, pushing through the soldiers and breaking off in multiple directions. The soldiers get over their surprise and start stunning and chasing people down but Sam and Rodney manage to get away in the confusion. They begin to search for Teyla.

Earlier: John and Ronon are leading a group of scientists towards the mess and one of them is complaining that he doesn't want to go there. The memory loss is starting to set in to more people. John takes a wrong turn but Ronon gets him back on track, eyeing him sideways. John tells Sam they are starting to see resistance and informs her that he ordered Lorne and his men to pick up some stunners so they can bring in the people who try to put up a fight. Sam doesn't like the idea of firing on their own people, but she admits they might not have much of a choice, and they can't risk a bunch of amnesiacs wandering through the city. John takes Ronon to the armory to speak to Lorne, saying he has an idea.

Present: Sam and Rodney are wandering through the city, clearly lost and with no clue of how to find Teyla. They come across Radek, who has managed to pick up a stunner since we've seen him last. Rodney recognizes him from their last encounter. He sees that Radek is carrying something else and asks for it, it is his tablet. He turns it on and sees the picture of Teyla. Radek joins them as they continue to look for her, at least now knowing what she looks like.

Earlier: Keller finally managed to find a match for the bacteria that has infected the city. It is not exact, but it closely resembles a disease she found in Carson's records on the Athosians. After realizing that Teyla and Ronon were immune, she stopped looking in the database and checked those records instead. The bacteria closely resembles Kirsan Fever, a sickness that is common in children throughout the Pegasus galaxy (basically the Pegasus chicken pox). Ronon and Teyla both had it as children. Teyla says that Kirsan Fever doesn't affect adults though or cause memory loss, but Rodney quickly realizes the probable explanation for the differences. While the Ancients did visit that planet in the past, it did not have a stargate until the expedition brought Atlantis there. If the Ancients inadvertently brought that bacteria with them during their initial exploration, it would have been isolated from the rest of the galaxy for thousands of years and allowed to mutate into its current form. It is still close enough to the original strain that Teyla and Ronon are immune after their childhood afflictions and to prevent the city from recognizing it as a valid threat deserving of quarantine.

Keller says that while it is great that they've identified the sickness, it will still take months, which they decidedly don't have, to manufacture any type of cure. Teyla says that her people fight the original form of the sickness with a plant quite common in the galaxy. It is very effective and doesn't require much in order to fight the sickness. John offers to take a jumper and go collect some of the plant right away. There is a problem with that plan, however. They disabled the gate and they don't know where Radek put the dialing crystal. They try to radio him but get no answer. John calls Lorne to see if he has rounded Radek up. Lorne says that his men tried to take Radek to the mess but he fought back and managed to give them the slip.

John, Sam, Teyla, Kellar, and Ronon go looking for Radek but have no luck finding him. They are running out of time, however, and Rodney points out that if Radek is running away from Lorne, he probably is already experiencing memory loss and won't even remember where he put the crystal anyway. Ronon asks about the mainland and Teyla points out that the plant is pretty common, it is not unreasonable to hope they can find some there. Ronon accompanies John to go harvest some of the plant while Teyla stays behind with Rodney to work on a way to quickly distribute it to the city's population. As they head out, Ronon realizes that John's memory is starting to go. Rodney is not far behind him--Teyla needs to constantly remind him of what he is working on. He has figured out that he can aerosolize the plant and get it into the city's ventilation system. He just needs to write an override program to prevent the city's air scrubbers from cleaning the plant out of the air.

Present: Sam, Rodney, and Radek arrive at the infirmary in their search for Teyla. It has been pretty well torn apart, but there is no sign of her there. Before they can leave, they hear people approaching and quickly hide. Lorne and a group of soldiers come in and start looking around. They are hunting down more stimulants. They find them and leave, and once they are gone, Sam tells the others she has an idea.

Earlier: John and Ronon arrive at the mainland but John doesn't know what's going on. In the interest of saving time, Ronon shoots John with a stunner and ties him up in the jumper, then heads out to gather up the plant. In the city, Rodney has almost finished the program when he and Teyla hear a noise in the corridor. Teyla tells Rodney to continue his work and goes to investigate. She finds Lorne and his men. They try to take her, having forgotten everything but their orders to take anyone they find to the mess hall. Teyla fights back and manages to run away but Lorne and his men give chase. Lorne manages to stun her and they carry her off. Rodney, realizing something has gone wrong when she doesn't come back, picks up his camera and records the message to himself.

Present: Teyla has been taken to the brig. Lorne comes in to check on her, demanding answers. She's the only person he's met who knows what is going on, so he naturally assumes that she is the one behind the amnesia. She sees him take a pill and realizes that while he and his men are still more lucid than the other citizens, at this point the stimulants are only serving to make the soldiers paranoid and aggressive. As she tries to convince him of this, and that she is a friend, Lorne is stunned from behind. Sam, Rodney, and Radek appear and Teyla is grateful to see them. Sam explains that they followed Lorne to find her. Rodney manages to let her out and she leads them back to the lab.

On the mainland, Ronon returns to the jumper to find that John is gone. He drops off the plants and turns around to go look for John and John steps up from behind the jumper pointing a gun at Ronon. He wants answers and Ronon manages to talk John down and convince him that Ronon is on his side. They head back to the city. Teyla gets Rodney and the others to the lab but Rodney doesn't know what he is supposed to do. Teyla sits him at his computer and tells him that he had said he was almost done. He looks at the computer and presses "Enter" and the program begins to run. In the control room, the marines have picked up John's jumper returning to the city, but it didn't make radio contact so they assume it must be an attack rather than help. They go to confront the invaders and greet John and Ronon at gunpoint as they exit the jumper. Lorne arrives to find the confrontation and Ronon tells him to look in his vest pocket. Lorne does so and finds a picture of John with "this is your commanding officer, do what he says" written in his own handwriting. They acknowledge John as their commander and ask him what his orders are. Still not sure what's going on, John tells them to do whatever Ronon says.

Later on, John wakes up in the infirmary. Ronon and Teyla are there to greet him. They tell him that he has been out for about a day. Some people were hit a lot harder by the sickness than others. Teyla says Lorne would like to talk to John once he is feeling better, in order to apologize for the whole "crazy soldiers" thing. John says he's just glad Lorne still had the picture he gave the man and Ronon tells him that was a good idea. Teyla agrees, stating that many more people would have died had they not been able to convince Lorne and the soldiers to help them get the medicine distributed. Realizing that her words mean that people did die, and noticing the missing member of the team, John asks them where Rodney is. We see Rodney sitting next to Katie Brown's bed, also in the infirmary. Keller comes by and tells him to get some sleep, he hasn't left her side but has been waiting for her to wake up. She was one of the earliest cases to develop the amnesia so there is some concern about her memory loss being permanent. After Keller reassures Rodney that Katie is a fighter, Katie starts to stir and then wakes up. She is confused for a few moments but recognizes Rodney and tells him she is glad to see him. Relief washes over his face as he says he is glad to see her too.

Commentary


Oh man, I love this episode, all of it. Granted, the idea of getting a group of characters in an isolated place and taking away their memories is not a new one (probably my all time favorite episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, funnily enough also titled "Tabula Rasa," uses a very similar plot device). Still, Atlantis managed to do it big--giving the entire city amnesia. I think what I love most about this spin on the story was that it all seemed pretty plausible for the most part. No one acted completely out of character as their memory loss set in, which made it all the more difficult to tell who was losing it and who was just distraught by the circumstances. There were less wacky hijinks than this kind of episode usually inspires, and more thoughtful exploration of how such a scenario might play out, especially when the people falling under the memory loss knew it was coming ahead of time.

I also really like the spin this episode gives on the possible consequences of exposing a new group to an otherwise common, and usually harmless, illness. While it could have easily been the people from Earth bringing some new innocuous disease to devastate the Pegasus galaxy, it stands to reason that the SGC would have strict protocol in place to prevent such an occurrence, especially after more than a decade in operation. But that a mutated strain of a Pegasus disease might so fell the inhabitants of Atlantis is clearly an unanticipated event. I think the writers really hit it out of the park on this one.

I also really enjoy that Ronon and Teyla got to be the heroes in this particular adventure. They got to showcase their competence and rebut the easy to fall into assumption that they are just primitive "natives," good only to fight and serve as guides. This episode really lets them shine and shows how much they both have come to care for the city and its inhabitants, as well as highlighting their own resourcefulness. That it was Ronon (who you'll remember used to date a doctor before Sateda was destroyed) who realized the significance of his and Teyla's apparent immunity really just tickles me pink.

So, mostly a stand-alone episode. There's not really a lot of backstory here, and I think the random newbie viewer could stumble into this and enjoy it quite a bit without any trouble following the events. But because it showcased so much of the cast and let many of them run a little free, it really feels like a classic and integral episode to the series as a whole. Win all around.

Favorite Quotes


"Oh, god. It's happening to me too, isn't it?" (Rodney)
"You have to remain calm." (Teyla)
"Oh, no no no no, you don't understand. My memory was lousy to start with. I mean, people's names, birthdays. I once forgot Mother's Day five years in a row." (Rodney)
"What is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter?" (Teyla)
"Well, that's pi. It's three point one four one five nine two six five etcetera etcetera. It doesn't count--that's easy." (Rodney)
"You are a scientist Rodney. That is what you care about. That is what you will hang onto the longest." (Teyla)
"Right. Right. So...wait a minute. Doesn't that make me a really bad person?" (Rodney)
"It makes you the type of person who is going to save all our lives." (Teyla)

"I know you don't remember anything. You have no idea what's going on. You're confused, maybe even a little scared. I know I would be. But you have to trust me." (Ronon)
"...." (John)
"We're friends. The things we've been through together--I don't care what anyone says, no disease can wipe that away. Not completely." (Ronon)

"Now what?" (Sam)
"Well, now we just have to hope that Colonel Sheppard and Ronon completed their side of the mission." (Teyla)
"Right. Right... "(Rodney)
"Who?" (Sam, Rodney, and Radek)

"That's right, I am your commanding officer. So...you should do what I say." (John)
"Yes, sir. What are your orders?" (Lorne)
"Do what he says." (John)

~*~

That wraps up another week. Join me on Monday when we'll get into some personal drama with "Missing."

SGA Rewatch: The Real World

Well, it's Wednesday, and that means another entry in the Stargate Atlantis Rewatch. Glad to have you with us! Today we'll be talking about season three's "The Real World." There will, of course, be spoilers for the episode and any that came before.

Shall we?

What Happened

Elizabeth wakes up, surprised to find that she is not in Atlantis. She appears to be a patient in some sort of hospital. She goes to open the door to her room and finds it locked. A man shows up and introduces himself as Doctor Fletcher. He explains that she is in a psychiatric hospital outside of Washington, D.C. Elizabeth is troubled by this because she doesn't remember arriving there or leaving Atlantis. She asks Fletcher when she got back to Earth and he gives her a pitying look, answering that she never left.

Not buying this, Elizabeth asks what she is doing in a mental hospital. Fletcher explains that she collapsed and apparently suffered a mental breakdown in the middle of treaty negotiations in North Africa. She frowns, remembering those negotiations and tells him she completed them successfully over two years ago. He shakes his head and answers that her collapse (and the negotiations) happened only three days ago. Elizabeth refuses to believe that any of this is real. She says that the last thing she remembers is sitting in her office in Atlantis going over a mission report. Fletcher asks her questions that reveal he doesn't know about Atlantis and she belatedly asks his security clearance. He asks if she wants to speak with anyone about the treaty and she responds yes, there is someone she needs to speak to right away.

She waits in an open room and looks up eagerly at the arrival of her requested party, General O'Neill. He is pleasant enough, but clearly confused when she starts going off about Atlantis and stargates and such. She had been hoping that he could help straighten the whole mess out and tell her how she ended up back on Earth, as well as get her back to Atlantis. She quickly realizes that he has no idea what she is talking about. She continues trying to convince him for a few minutes, but then his head does a weird glitchy thing, seeming to blur very quickly into another face. Taken aback, she sends O'Neill away. She gazes around the room, a recreation area of some sort, and makes an attempt to escape. Her attempt fails, however, and the orderlies sedate her and toss her back in her room.

In a session with Fletcher she continues to try to figure out what is going on. She knows two years have passed since those negotiations, but Fletcher insists that her mind just made it all up to cope with the stress and depression she had been dealing with. She retorts that she has negotiated many treaties and stressful as they might have been, none of them was ever bad enough to cause her emotional distress on that level. Fletcher then explains that the treaty negotiations were only the final straw, the trigger of her breakdown. The actual cause happened three weeks earlier. She and Simon had been in a car accident. She suffered only minor injuries but he was killed. Her colleagues had noticed she had been acting odd and depressed ever since (um, understandably). She doesn't remember anything about an accident, or Simon dying. Fletcher tries to convince her, explaining that the mind can repress such trauma. As he is doing so, she notices a blurry figure in the window behind him, but it is only there for a second before disappearing. 

Her mother comes to see her in the hospital. While Elizabeth is glad to see her mother, it is still not enough to convince her of the reality of the situation. Her mother urges her to accept it as truth. She suggests that Elizabeth just needs to give it some time for things to begin to feel normal again, considering how much she has been through. Elizabeth still has a very hard time believing she could have just imagined two entire years of her life like that, especially in only the course of a few days. That night when she has trouble sleeping, she looks up and sees the blurry figure again. This time, it is inside her room, standing behind a thick plastic curtain of some sort. She freaks out and when she tells Fletcher about it he increases her medication.

Trying to make sense of her current situation, Elizabeth looks up the reports on Simon's accident. A nurse brings by her medication and she pretends to take them, but ends up spitting the pills back out into the toilet. She goes to a group therapy session where a little old lady talks about the aliens that are waiting in the garden to suck out her blood. For a few moments into the story Elizabeth has hope that maybe this woman is privy to the stargates and such but she quickly realizes that is not the case. Fletcher tries to get her to share about Atlantis but she declines. When she goes to bed next, she sees weird movement underneath her blanket, but when she pulls it back, there is nothing there. She then turns and sees the shadowy figure at the door again, this time banging on it and rattling the handle, trying to get in.

This most recent hallucination scared her enough that she decides to start taking her medication. After a while, Doctor Fletcher decides that she has progressed quite a bit and she is ready to be released from the hospital. She returns to her old apartment and dog and resumes her life. She decides to go back to teaching in the fall. O'Neill stops by to visit her and asks her to consider coming back to the U.N. to serve as a negotiator once more. After some thought she agrees.

After all of this Elizabeth has no problem falling asleep. The camera zooms in on her face and when it pulls back again, we see that she is in the infirmary in Atlantis, in some sort of biohazard containment unit, surrounded by thick plastic curtains. A concerned John stands on the other side watching over her. He asks Carson how Elizabeth is doing and the doctor laments that she is getting worse. He says that "they" have spread from her brain into the rest of her body. We learn in short order that when Niam attacked her in the puddle jumper at the end of the last episode, he managed to infect her with nanites. The nanites are taking over her body, replicating and spreading through it, trying to make her into an organism that they (or the replicators) can control. 

There is a suggestion to use an EMP to kill the nanites but Carson is afraid that might kill Elizabeth, as they have bonded to her cells and neurons. He is at a loss for what to do to save her. As they talk about the situation, John wonders if Elizabeth is aware of what is happening to her, or if she can hear them. Carson says it is likely. It is a known phenomenon with coma patients, and Elizabeth's brain readings actually show that she is conscious. Not just dreaming, but actually going through what appears to be normal waking cognitive functions. He recommends they talk to her, let her know that they are there for her. Carson is then struck by a sudden idea and runs off to to go look into it.

Back in her illusion, Elizabeth has been diving back into negotiations. She has felt very tired but otherwise fine. Getting ready for bed one night, she goes to take her medicine and when she looks in the mirror she has no face. It is just a blur. Outside the illusion we see John standing outside her quarantine area talking to her, promising that they are working on a solution and urging her to fight the nanites. Elizabeth doesn't hear these words but she does throw her medication down the toilet again, worried that it is causing the hallucinations again. She goes to see Fletcher and he thinks maybe he dialed her medication back too far the last time he decreased it. In bed again, she hears someone saying her name and looks up to see the shadowy figure (John) standing in the doorway of her bedroom. He turns and walks off and she follows him. She opens up a door in her apartment and behind it is the glowing event horizon of a stargate. She looks about to step through it when all of a sudden orderlies appear out of nowhere and pull her back. She is sedated again and when she wakes up she is once more in the hospital.

In Atlantis, Carson explains his idea to save Elizabeth. The nanites were originally designed to fight the wraith, and so he proposes injecting a small amount of wraith tissue into Elizabeth's body. The idea is that the nanites will follow their original programming and uncouple from Elizabeth's cells to attack the tissue. That should buy them enough time to hit her body with an EMP and kill all of the nanites without harming Elizabeth.

In the hospital Elizabeth is laying out a deck of cards for a game of Solitaire. As she turns over her cards, however, they are not the traditional suits but rather gate symbols. Eight of them, the dialing sequence to reach Atlantis from Earth. She tells Fletcher and O'Neill about this, saying she has started seeing those symbols everywhere. She believes that something or someone is trying to communicate with her that Atlantis is real and she needs to get back there. They are nonplussed about this revelation, asking if that means she believes that they are the fantasy. She says yes, she does. She wants to go to Cheyenne Mountain and see if the stargate is there. The men clearly think she has lost it and try to force more medicine on her. She is strapped down to a table and Fletcher starts doing electroshock therapy.

Carson enacts his idea and at first it seems to have worked. It becomes evident pretty quickly, unfortunately, that the EMP didn't kill all of the nanites. Several in her brain survived because they had already begun using organic matter to replicate, rendering them immune to the EMP. They start replicating again, super fast, and quickly spread through her body. Carson says it looks like they are trying to get in a position where they can execute a "kill" command and deny oxygen to Elizabeth's brain, rendering her brain dead. They realize the nanites want to replace her consciousness with one of their own. From what they can see, it seems like maybe they are trying to force her consciousness to give up. It has come down to a battle of wills between Elizabeth and the nanites.

John stands outside the curtain, urging her to fight. He seems to get through because in her illusion she finds the strength to break her restraints and get free. She runs through the hospital, trying to avoid the orderlies and doctors. She turns a corner and sees an open elevator, the inside of which matches the elevators in Cheyenne Mountain. She runs into the elevator and chooses the floor for the SGC. She looks around in wonder as she arrives back in the familiar setting. O'Neill is there suddenly and he is trying to convince her that everything will be alright now and she just needs to come with him. From the other end of the hallway, she hears John and sees his shadowy figure walking off in the other direction. She turns and follows John.

Things look grim in Atlantis and John decides to break through the quarantine. He grabs Elizabeth hand and continues to urge her to fight. In the illusion Elizabeth can suddenly see him clearly. She has been cut off by soldiers and O'Neill is trying to convince her to just give up. John tells her she knows what she needs to do, and which way to go and she needs to run and fight back. She runs again, making it to the control room, and dials the gate for Atlantis. As she heads up the ramp to go through, O'Neill appears once more. When he can't convince her, he turns into Fletcher, and then into Niam, telling her that she might as well give up, there's nothing she can do. She doesn't believe him, and walks right through him and the gate. When she wakes up once more, she is in the Atlantis infirmary and the team is as glad to see her returned to consciousness as she is to be back at home.

John finds her later in the gate room, where she is avoiding going back to sleep. We learn that he was quarantined briefly after breaking through hers but the nanites were apparently so focused on converting Elizabeth that they didn't bother infecting him. They talk for a few moments and reflect that the Asurans are an even greater threat than they had thought. But for the moment they are just glad that the ordeal is over.

Commentary

I remember when I saw the first preview for this episode I was really kind of annoyed. It sounded like a pretty blatant ripoff of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Normal Again." The annoyance faded pretty quickly as I watched the episode for the first time, however. While the basic concept is pretty much the same, Stargate Atlantis went its own route with the story and I think the writers did a pretty impressive job with this episode. It's one of those situations that remind you that even when there aren't new stories, it's the execution of those stories that really matters. Sometimes one premise can lead to oodles of amazing (and vastly different) ideas.

Upon this viewing I can say that it has held up quite well over time, too. I had initially also been kind of annoyed at the "reveal" that Elizabeth was infected with nanites coming so early in the episode, but after watching it this time, the annoyance is gone. The switching back and forth between Elizabeth's mind and reality is actually masterfully executed. It serves to emphasize how much what is going on in the "real world" is affecting Elizabeth's consciousnesses as she is trapped inside her own mind. This episode also serves to show, quite well, just how little regard the Asurans hold for human beings both as a race and as individuals. It manages to up their threat level without any mustache-twirling, and it makes "The Real World" tie into the rest of the season extremely smoothly.

This episode also benefited greatly by the appearance of Alan Ruck as Doctor Fletcher, in my opinion. I really wanted to like him, considering that Cameron was my favorite character in Ferris Beueller's Day Off, but damned if he didn't do an amazing job at affable insidiousness. He hit that perfect note of someone who isn't what he says he is--which could have applied whichever world was the "real" one--as a replicator pawn or as a shady doctor.

Also of note for me in this episode, Ponytail!Elizabeth is super cute. Seriously. I totally get why they don't let her wear her hair like that when she's in Atlantis--she looked so vulnerable. I just wanted to hug her. It worked really well for what her character was going through here. It's kind of amazing what such a simple change can do for how you perceive a character. It also serves to emphasize how rigid and set in her ways Elizabeth normally is, I think. Looking ahead to something that happens later in the season, and realizing that the nanites largely concocted this scenario from information they gleaned from Elizabeth's mind, I find her supposed depression after Simon's death and collapse during the negotiations pretty interesting. We will revisit this down the road.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the awesome crocheted blanket featured in this episode. It can be seen in the recreation room in the hospital. I have the tendency to get really excited when I notice an obviously handmade crocheted (and sometimes knit) item in shows or movies I am watching. I guess it reiterates to me that these crafts are just everywhere, and it usually serves to make a show more relevant to my interests, silly as that might seem. Often, I am so impressed by the item that my focus gets shifted from the action to trying to figure out how I would construct such an item of my own. (I know my mother does this too, she and my daughter both have hats that prove it.) I wish that things like that would have been the props that went up for auction when the show had closed down production. I totally would have tried to win the crocheted blanket from Stargate Atlantis. Of course, I suspect that particular item is probably one that ended up going home with someone involved in the show after the episode wrapped, if it wasn't already the personal blanket of someone on the crew to begin with. Still, yay, crochet and Stargate Atlantis! Two of my favorite things in one place. That's always a nice surprise.

Favorite Quotes

"So you're saying when Simon died, my mind shut down and went to another galaxy?" (Elizabeth)

"That non-proliferation treaty...you kind of left us hanging mid-sentence there. Sure be nice to hear the punchline someday." (O'Neill)

"Well, maybe you've got to work yourself back into playing shape--spend a little time doing some short shifts before you jump up to the first line." (O'Neill)

"I'm sorry, I don't know a thing about football." (Elizabeth)

".... Nor hockey, apparently." (O'Neill)

"Now, just to be sure we're on the same page. We're against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, right?" (O'Neill)

"Well, it's that look. That's the same look I get when I have a brilliant idea." (Rodney)

"How would you know how you looked?" (John)

"Cause it's happened more than once in front of a mirror, okay?" (Rodney)

"You know, I don't mind being fantasized about occasionally, but c'mon. We're right here." (O'Neill)

"Uh, reality check. There are microscopic robots in her brain. How does she fight that?" (Rodney)

~*~*~

That about wraps it up for today. See you back here in the new year. We'll start up again Monday January 2 with "Common Ground." Be sure to stop by, that one's a doozy! 

Concept v. Sustainability

You know, I think I would be the last person to claim that I am losing my obsession passion for television these days, but there does seem to be a definite drop off. The new fall season is in full swing and right now I am only actually watching two new series (two more that I will try premiere later this month though). That's kind of a record low for me. It's...weird.

At the moment I don't hold high hopes for either of the two I am currently watching (Terra Nova and Ringer) getting picked up for a second season. In the case of Terra Nova, I think that's a shame, because I feel like the show has a lot of potential and I am quite honestly enjoying the hell out of it right now. I am just pretty certain that the ratings have no shot at justifying another season of a show with this kind of budget. I'll just have to enjoy my dinosaurs on television while they last and hope that BBC America decides to air the next season of Primeval sometime soon. Ringer, on the other hand? Well, that's a different story.

Here's the show's premise in a nutshell: Twin sisters Bridget and Siobhan have been estranged for several years, and they live very different lives. Bridget is a recovering drug addict/former stripper about to testify against a mob boss in his murder trial and then (presumably) go into witness protection. Siobhan is a New York socialite with a wealthy husband and an artistic boyfriend (who happens to be married to her best friend). The night before she is supposed to testify, Bridget freaks out and runs away from police protection and reunites with her sister Siobhan. The two seem to be making up, hanging out at Siobhan's summer beach house and riding around in Siobhan's fancy speed boat. Then Bridget falls asleep on the boat, and when she wakes up Siobhan is gone, leaving behind an empty pill bottle and her wedding ring. Assuming her sister killed herself, Bridget then makes the snap decision to assume Siobhan's identity in the wake of her sister's conveniently timed suicide, and returns to New York to begin living her sister's life, all the while trying to hide out from the FBI agent and mob boss looking for her. She quickly learns that Siobhan's life is not as idyllic as she had believed it to be (shocker, that).

Okay, let's stop for a moment and acknowledge what this show is: It is a nighttime soap opera. Seriously. It's just got a higher budget and slightly glitzier production values than what you find on during the day. Normally, a show like this wouldn't even enter into candidates for my viewing time. The only reason it is on my radar at all is that Sarah Michelle Gellar (you know, Buffy) is the star of the show, so I have been hearing about it for months. I still wasn't all that interested. I mean, I don't actually really like Sarah Michelle Gellar that much to be honest (as an actor, that is, I am sure she is a lovely human being). She was never my favorite thing about Buffy. But early reviews of the pilot said it actually was a pretty entertaining hour of television and that there was real possibility there. Also, I found out that Ioan Gruffudd plays one of the main characters. Sure, sure, most people know him as Mr. Fantastic from The Fantastic Four. Whatever. He's Horatio Hornblower (from the series of television movies adapted from C.S. Forester's novels), and I will always love him for that. So, his presence got my interest up. Add that to the fact that it airs at a day and time when I'm not watching anything else, and I figured I could give it a try.

It's...okay. My husband was around this week when I was watching it, and I caught him giving me a sideways look of "Are you really watching this?" on more than one occasion. At this point, I feel like Ringer is a train that is destined to derail, I just don't know when or how, but I am kind of curious to find out. So I keep watching. I will give it the season, at least (unless it just goes way too far down the rabbit hole for me to follow). But unless there's a huge game changer, I don't see me watching past that point. Heck, I really don't understand how there could even be a second season.

Ringer is the perfect example of a phenomenon that I have been noticing in television a lot more often these days. Have you noticed how many shows have come and gone recently because as interesting as their concept was, it just wasn't sustainable for more than a season's worth of stories? It's getting a little bit ridiculous. It's like everyone gets excited by the pitch about how cool and original and all kinds of other excited adjectives the concept is, but no one stops to actually sit down and think about how much of a story there is to actually play out.

Because at some point? Bridget won't be able to pretend she's Siobhan anymore. The FBI agent will connect the dots, her "husband" will notice that missing scar, her snotty "stepdaughter" will overhear a frantic phone call, her jilted ex-"lover" will...oh wait, we've already gotten to that one, haven't we? You get the picture. Either way, the concept can't be sustained, and at some point the charade is over. Sometimes, that is okay, because sometimes it is in the aftermath of that revelation where the true story really lies. But way too often, nobody stops to figure out what happens next before they start making these shows. The stakes are so freaking high for Bridget's identity being discovered that sure, maybe she'll go down in a blazing ball of glorious flame, but once she's down, there's no getting back up. There's no story left, at any rate. So maybe the solution is to keep her secret, well, a secret? But no. Because once that goes on long enough, it also stops being interesting. How many near misses can she have? How many times can she talk her way out of an awkward situation? You see where I am going with this.

I mean, don't get me wrong, if they decide to blow the whistle on Bridget halfway through the season and actually turn the story's direction ninety degrees into a whole new direction and somehow manage to pull it off? Well, damn, I will give them a medal for genius storytelling. But right now I just don't see it. Right now it seems like this is just yet another high-concept show that would have made a perfect movie, but that really was never intended to be a long-form story.

It's like the people making television these days don't even grasp the concept that television is, in fact, long-form. Yeah, everything should have an endgame, but the best series actually take their time to get there, in a way that lets the viewers invest themselves in the story and the characters, and makes us actually care about what happens. Why do those shows seem to have become an endangered species?

Also, who the heck has twin daughters and names one Bridget and one Siobhan? I mean, really, who?

Looking Forward To The Long Weekend

Hey, Monday is a holiday, isn't it? Huzzah! And wow, is it July already? Man, this year is flying by so quickly. I haven't done so much of what I wanted to do! But...I have done plenty still, so I think I am okay with that.

Just a quick post for you folks today and then I will let you be on your way to enjoy celebrating America's independence however you see fit (though, please, for all of our sakes, do try to refrain from any stupidly dangerous or illegal methods of celebration).

First, a quick reminder: My Stargate Atlantis rewatch kicks off next week you guys! Yay! Tune in Wednesday for my post about the pilot episode "Rising." I am given to understand the the entire series is available on Netflix if you don't have the DVDs and would like to watch along with me. I do hope you'll watch along! SGA posts will be twice a week, on Monday and Wednesday, and I will try to let you know in advance if there won't be a post for some reason.

This leads me into my next bit of news for you, regarding the blog in general. Starting next week, I am going to try something new. Each day of the week will be reserved for a specific kind of post. I know there are a few of you only reading for, say, my posts about yarn crafting. Well, now my main topics will each have their own dedicated day of the week, so you will know when to check for posts about what interests you. I am hoping that this will help streamline my writing for the blog a bit too, as I have found myself often flailing to settle upon topics for each post.

Here's what the new schedule will look like:

Monday: Stargate Atlantis Rewatch
(Please note there will not be a post this coming Monday because I will be enjoying my husband's day off due to the holiday. Depending on how the Stargate Atlantis rewatch goes, we will likely move on to the other Stargate series, and possibly other shows beyond that, like, say, Farscape or Buffy.)

Tuesday: Fun With Fibercrafts!
(This will be the day I feature finished objects, works in progress, projects I'd like to take on, or just talk about some aspect of knitting or crocheting I have on my mind.)

Wednesday: Stargate Atlantis Rewatch

Thursday: Writer's Podium
(Hopefully, hopefully, this will be the day that I can post excerpts of what I am currently working on. I have a new story I would like to start and I think that setting a goal to get a few page or even a chapter out a week to post here will keep me in line writing-wise. On the weeks where I haven't been so productive, I will have posts about writing in general, or what I am working on without it actually being the content. I do have a writing date today, so my fingers are crossed that I will have something fun for you next week!)

Friday: Mystery Bag!
(This will be the whatever post of the week. Here I will talk about my life in general (though I can't pretend that might not slip into other posts as well), parenthood, the video games I am playing or books I am reading, or just whatever is on my mind.)

It is possible that if something comes up about which I am just compelled to write, well, you might see some days with bonus posts. They will be labeled as such though, so never fear.

I am really kind of excited about this change up of "format" for the blog. I hope that you are too. It's all just a grand experiment, but my fingers are crossed that it works out well, for you and for me.

On that note, I will say farewell. Have a spectacular weekend dear readers! Have fun and be safe, and above all, enjoy yourselves, whatever you may do. See you back here next week.

The Adventures of Mathman and Dragongirl Continue!

In addition to all of the wonderful artists and art to see at Emerald City Comic Con there were, of course, many panels featuring various actors, writers, artists, and geeks. My husband and I attended five panels over the weekend, one on Friday and four on Saturday. All of them were quite enjoyable, I have to say. There were several more we would like to have seen, certainly, but we tried to limit ourselves to the ones that really called to us (okay, to me), so that we could still have plenty of time for all of the other wonderful things we wanted to do!

The first panel we attended, Friday afternoon, was the Wil Wheaton Awesome Hour. As you might guess, this panel featured none other than geek superstar Wil Wheaton. He read a few excerpts from his own works and then the floor was opened up to audience questions. In person I found Wil Wheaton to be just as human and as humorous as he comes across in his blog, which is just a joy to read. As much as I love to read his thoughts on writing and gaming and his updates on whatever projects he happens to be working on, my favorite posts are always the little "slice of life" entries he puts up from time to time. He is a real person, and he is extremely adept at capturing those moments that we all have in our lives that make them worth living, and putting them down on the written (or typed) page to share with others. You can imagine that I was pleased as punch that his first reading was one of those "slice of life" stories. This one about a moment of bonding he and his son had over his comic book collection. I did manage to get it on video, but it is of truly poor quality, very long (around eight minutes), the audio starts to get choppy at the end, AND Blogger doesn't want to upload it. So. No Wil Wheaton video for you. Ha, ha, I kid. Luckily for you, there were many other people there, some of them much better at capturing video. These are a little long, but of good quality, and the two stories he told us, enjoy.

I also was pretty excited that he announced that he was able to tell us the return date for the rest of this season of Eureka, though I have already forgotten what it was, sigh. But I remember that it was quite soon, so yay! 

Saturday was our marathon day of panels. We attended four in a row. I was a bit concerned that we wouldn't be able to get in for the first one, or get good seats, or that they would kick us out between panels. I was worried that I would be stuck in that seat for four plus hours and not even be able to get up and run to the restroom. It turns out my fears were pretty much groundless, yay! This year ECCC rented out the super mega huge panel hall, capable of holding up to 3,000 people. I only saw one panel line for that room the entire time we were there, and it was for the panel after the last one we attended. (Though I think there were lines for the last few we saw, but we were already camped out). They didn't clear out the room in between panels, and there were restrooms in the back of the hall itself. My husband and I did screw ourselves over a little bit after the first panel though--we got there about forty-five minutes early and were able to snag seats in the sixth row, but after the panel, it looked as if people in front of us were getting up to leave so we thought we'd hop up and get some closer seats. Except what really happened was that everyone in row two and back was standing up milling around trying to do the exact same thing...we thought we had seats up closer and while my hubby went to secure them, I told someone else they could have our seats. But, someone beat us to the closer seats, so we actually ended up moving back a bit further after the second panel. Not too far, thankfully, we were still in the front section of seats. But, valuable lesson learned for future conventions.

Anyway, on to the panels. First up was The Guild, featuring Wil Wheaton (again), Amy Okuda, and FELICIA DAY! It was a lot of fun, let me tell you. The format for the panels was that ECCC brought in a local celebrity personality to host each panel, talking with the actors for a little bit about the show and each actor before opening up the floor to audience questions. Felicia promised that season five of The Guild is in the works and does feature a convention, but would say no more because, as she pointed out, she hasn't actually written it yet.

She and Wil talked about gaming a bit, Amy talked about gadgets (she doesn't game much in real life, but LOVES tech and gadgets). Fans asked about how they have managed to embrace their geek pride and how they deal with people who still give them crap, or how they would suggest others tackle that issue. Wil and Felicia drew naughty doodles (and gave one of them to the first question-asker). Someone asked the group in general (but Felicia specifically) about their thoughts on fan art and fan fiction. Felicia professed her love for fan art but stated she hasn't seen any of the fan fiction, and that she isn't likely to seek it out since as the writer for legal reasons it is better for her not to have seen it. Wil was in full support of this, admonishing that once seen it CANNOT BE UNSEEN. I think he has found a few stories about Wesley Crusher...

Wil Wheaton, Felicia Day, Amy Okuda, and the moderator.

Wil doodles something naughty on the table...

The next panel was the Fringe panel, featuring John Noble and Jasika Nicole. They were absolutely adorable! I had completely forgotten that Noble is a Brit, don't ask me how. His accent made me all giddy, and I just wanted to hug Jasika. They talked about all sorts of different things on the show, as well as Noble's work in The Lord of the Rings movies and Jasika's musical background. One of the fans told them that he and his friends all have a viewing party and then eat or drink whatever Walter eats and drinks on the show each week (even things like his cough syrup cocktail). I feel this is ill-advised (Noble very graciously did not call the guy a kook), but to each their own, I guess. He tried to suggest though, that Walter not eat so many Red Vines, as they were getting sick of them. But there is so much fail in that suggestion for so many reasons that I'm just gonna leave it at that. Though man, did that panel ever leave me craving Red Vines...

According to Noble, he feels that the show could just go on forever. Wouldn't that be awesome? It is clear that he loves playing this part, and Jasika also seems to really enjoy Astrid. She hinted that there is a really cool Astrid episode coming up later this season and that she hopes her character(s) gets some more front and center screen time as the series continues. One thing about the series that they weren't too enthusiastic about, however, are their scenes with Gene the cow. Apparently working with a live cow on set is not a picnic. Though let's be honest, that probably shouldn't be a surprise. I managed to capture a little bit of the panel on video, this one is much shorter than the Wil Wheaton clip (only about two minutes), and just a little sampling (of much poorer quality, but what can you do).

After Fringe came Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner (of Star Trek The Next Generation). I am not a huge Star Trek fan, just for lack of exposure more than anything else. I have been slowly getting into it, and my husband of course grew up watching The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. This was the panel that he was really excited to see, and kind of my carrot  for him sitting through the first two panels with me (he doesn't watch The Guild or Fringe, not because he doesn't like them, just because he has never had the time to get into them). I quite honestly expected most of this panel to go over my head, being full of Star Trek references I did not get. I was pleasantly surprised, however, that it instead was funny as hell. As my husband said, these guys have been doing this for so long that they just came out there and started making stuff up.

Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and moderator.

Goofing around.

I have to admit, there were a few things that my husband had to explain to me, but for the most part I laughed my ass off the whole time these guys were on stage. Also, they talked about Wil Wheaton a surprisingly lot. That amused me. I felt a little bad for the fan who asked Spiner to sing the "Lifeforms" song that Data had performed in one of the movies, because he couldn't remember it at all. But, as he rightly pointed out, probably everyone in the audience knew it better than he did, because he had only seen the movie once or twice and once he had recorded the scene hadn't really thought about it any more. I found it an interesting commentary on the fan/actor relationship, actually. As fans, we will read or watch something over and over, possibly memorizing part (if not all) of it during the course of events. Certain lines or scenes will stick with us forever, speaking to us on a direct level, and it is a common assumption that something that so profoundly influenced our own world must of course have done the same for the writer or actor who brought that to us. But really, no, it was just a job for them. There may be certain bits they enjoyed more than others, but it is very rare for the actor or writer to get anywhere near as deeply immersed in these universes they create as we the fans do.

Anyhoo, it was a lovely panel nonetheless. It was like swimming in a rainbow with thousands of beautiful naked babies, really.

And finally, we come to one of the big ones for me. It is a toss-up to say which panel I was more excited for, The Guild, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Guild probably won out, but just because Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton are right now two of my personal heroes. But still, Buffy! With Nicholas Brendon AND James Marsters? I mean, come on, how awesome is that? Clare Kramer was there as well, and even though she was only in one season, the guys treated her like one of the family, and it didn't seem like she was too left out of the panel.

This was a fun one, to be sure. I love that Nicholas Brendon is looking so deliciously geeky as he ages. To the girls who were sitting next to us Friday night during the Wil Wheaton panel griping about the fact that Nicholas Brendon now has grey hair even though he's about ten years younger than James Marsters (who dyes his hair and works out religiously because he likes to play ACTION roles), well, all I have to say to them is phttbt.  I like me a geeky looking man who can accept that part of life is growing older (and wiser), and who is okay with a little bit of grey. This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows my husband.

Anyhoo, the panel was a lot of fun. In contrast to Wil Wheaton, Brendon and Marsters openly embraced the glut of fan fiction out there for Buffy, even the stuff that pairs up their own characters romantically. Brendon honestly seemed a bit more perturbed about the turn that the comic books have taken in pairing (SPOILER) Xander and Dawn together than about the existence of Spike/Xander slash fic. Marsters, on the other hand, who had just said he actually hasn't been following the comic books and didn't know what was going on, was quite surprised to learn about that particular turn of events. I actually managed to catch that question on video. It was awesome. Even with the camera shaking (because I was laughing so damn hard) you can still see Marters' reaction in this one. I think most of the fans were on the same page, man. Seriously.

True story: Yesterday morning in the airport we were browsing the magazine stand and we saw the Michelle Trachtenberg Maxim issue. I think the store clerk thought I was a little bit nuts because I was giggling so much at it. You know what, it was a bit racy, Marsters, I agree.

In another moment of musical letdown, someone asked Marsters if he would sing a little bit of one of his songs from the musical episode of Buffy (which there had been a screening of the night before). He was game, but couldn't actually remember the words. After a valiant effort he exclaimed that he didn't do covers and that was that. Still, props to him for trying. He also was asked if we'll see him on Torchwood any more, and while he said he hasn't been asked back, he did declare that he would say yes in an instant if he was. This made me very happy.

The Buffy panel actually got cut a bit short--ending right on time even though it started late due to other panels running over. The last panel of the day was Shatner and he apparently had to start exactly right on time. Hubby and I debated staying for that panel, but neither of us was really gung-ho about it and we had had enough of sitting around by that point, so we decided to head out and stretch our legs by walking the floor a little.

All in all, I really enjoyed the panels, and I am so glad we got to see as many as we did. It was good times.

I will have more convention review goodness for you tomorrow, but for now I am gonna scoot. I've got to take my daughter to her Little Gym class and then go pick up a certain video game that comes out today...and sadly, we don't live far enough into the future yet that the laundry is gonna do itself. Which is a bummer really. Can someone get on making that happen soon? Free cookies for anyone that does!

Alrighty then. Ciao!

Imaginary Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day my dear readers! I hope that whatever your relationship status you truly do have a wonderful day. Remember, there are many different kinds of love out there, so if you don't have a special romantic valentine to share your day with, there's no need to be all grumpy and anti-love. Declare yourself your valentine and treat yourself to a fantastic evening of your favorite things. Or make a good friend your valentine and go out and have a good time together.

I have to say I am lucky enough to have found the love of my life and we have a nice low-key celebration planned for the evening. We're going to dinner with our daughter at one of our favorite restaurants and just plan to enjoy one another's company. I am very much looking forward to it.

I read an interesting Valentine's Day-inspired article on GeekMom yesterday. Geek Mom Delphine asserts her belief in every reader's right to fall in love with the characters in the books we read. I really couldn't agree with her more. I think a character so well written you can fall in love with him (or her) is the sign that a writer is doing something very, very right.  After reading this post, I was inspired to come up with my own list of fictional valentines to share with you guys.

Harry Dresden
(The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher)

Harry is all kinds of awesome. He has his flaws, certainly, but he is a loyal friend and fiercely protective. He does what he believes is right and he always stands up to bullies, no matter the odds against him. He has a pretty solid sense of humor as well--freely joking about the time that one bad guy kidnapped him and tried to sell him on Ebay. Also, he's a wizard. And when he needed a way to stop necromancers, his weapon of choice was a reincarnated T-Rex. I mean, come on, how cool is that? Sadly though, it could never work out between us. My love of computers and gaming would not mix well with his effect on electronics I fear.

Araris Valarian
(Codex Alera by Jim Butcher)

Well, clearly JB is quite a talented writer. Araris is a very interesting character indeed to me, and he is a romantic, which wins him points. Araris was the most well-known swordsman in Alera, and singulare (body guard and friend) to the princeps Septimus before his death. When Septimus was killed in battle, leaving behind an unacknowledged wife and newborn son, Araris allowed himself to be disfigured with the coward's brand and presumed dead so that he could go into hiding with his friend's widow and son and keep them safe from the princeps' enemies. It's not his fault he fell in love with her, but he was a total gentleman about it, which makes their eventual romance all the more sweet.

Ostvel
(The Dragon Prince and The Dragon Star by Melanie Rawn)

Ostvel stuck me as an interesting character throughout the entire span of both of Rawn's trilogies. Not a Sunrunner, but living among them, and married to not one, but two, over the course of the narrative (his first wife died due to illness), he carried with him a perspective on the group that not many others in the series possessed. He was forever surrounded by people of power (Sunrunners and nobility), but he always remained a very straightforward and simple man, even when Rohan gave him is own princedom to run. The guy was just plain cool. If he was real, he would be the first friend I would turn to in any sort of crisis, no matter how big or small, and I would never hesitate to confide in him. Plus, he just seems like a pretty fun guy to hang out with.  

Bardan Jusik
(Star Wars Republic Commando by Karen Traviss)

Oh man, Bardan. I think I've told you before he's probably now my favorite Jedi of all time. Mostly because he had the guts to look at the Jedi Order and see it for what it was--neither good nor bad, just stagnant, and willing to let itself be used and compromise its morals because it thought doing so would serve the greater good. The man has a conscience, which, dagnabbit is just sexy. Also, he didn't stop being a user of the Force just because he walked away from the order, and he was constantly looking within himself to keep himself from being tempted by the dark side, while still allowing himself to have the kind of life that most Jedi deny themselves. It's hard not to love a man who is willing to give up the only way of life he's ever known for his family. Not for some half-baked romance, mind you, but for his actual family.

Lord John Grey
(The Outlander and Lord John Grey by Diana Gabaldan)

Okay, this maybe is a bit of a stretch, since he definitely plays for the other team. But John Grey is an absolutely fascinating character. He falls in love with a man who clearly prefers women, in a time when homosexuality is definitely something that needs to be kept hidden. Instead of pining about his unrequited love, he gets on with his life, while remaining a silent pillar of support for the man who has captured his heart. He is a true gentleman, in every sense of the word, and it's hard not to love him a little bit.

So there's my top five literary valentines for you. Delphine actually threw in one in her blog that was from a movie, Obi Wan Kenobi as portrayed by Ewan MacGregor in The Revenge of the Sith and I have to say I am totally in agreement with her on that. That particular role made me fall in love with MacGregor as an actor and with Obi Wan as a character. It is not easy to make a stuffed shirt like Obi Wan sexy, but MacGregor somehow managed to pull it off, and whatever lingering reticence I might have been having about being a Star Wars fangirl was completely quashed when I realized that while watching The Revenge of the Sith for the first time.

Other honorable mentions include:
Oz the werewolf from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (he is just cool in every sense of the word).
Charlie Weasley from Harry Potter (a British ginger who loves dragons? I mean, come on).
Alistair from Dragon Age: Origins (a cute, super sweet, slightly naive, prince in disguise with a wonderful sense of humor and all kinds of loyalty and courage to boot? Um, heck yeah.)

So, who are your imaginary valentines?

Real Life Crossovers!

I have mentioned before my love of fan fiction, and I think I have also said that one of my favorite aspects of fan fiction is the possibility for crossovers--when characters from one show or franchise appear on a totally different show or franchise.  It's fun stuff.  Every once in a while we'll get those on actual television shows, but usually within shared universes (the various Stargate franchises, Buffy and Angel, Torchwood and Doctor Who and The Sarah Jane adventures).  In fan fiction though, you can have The Sentinel and Stargate, Firefly and Star Wars, Harry Potter and Star Wars.  I once read a massively epic fan fic that retold the entire original trilogy as if Harry, Hermione, and Ron had somehow gotten sucked into the Star Wars universe just as the story was getting going.  It was pretty freaking spectacular. 

Anyhoo, I like to think of "real life crossovers" as events where I can take two completely different aspects of my life and mix them up with each other.  I am talking, of course, about genre-inspired crochet and knitting projects!  I have quite a few in the pipeline for this year, so I thought I would tell you what's coming up!

First up, after I finish my current crochet project, is, of course, the Doctor Who scarf.  Even if you are not too familiar with Doctor Who, you probably know about this scarf, as it is rather legendary.  Fourth Doctor Tom Baker's costume included a ridiculously long scarf made up of many colors (and different kinds of yarn, I think).  There are many stories about how this scarf came into being, and there were several different versions of it over the course of his time as the Doctor.  There are many websites devoted to recreating this scarf.  It is a nerd knitter's badge of honor to make this scarf.  Many Whovians (fans of Doctor Who) teach themselves to knit specifically to make this scarf.  Many then fall in love with the craft and continue to knit ever more while some, regrettably, do not.  The pattern I would like to make is based (color scheme and length) on the original scarf, that appeared in two episodes. 

You can check out the pattern for the one I am going to be making here:  WittyLittleKnitter's Season 12 Doctor Who Scarf

The yarn for this scarf actually came yesterday, and I was so excited!  Well, most of it did.  The box was full to the gills and was actually one skein short.  But I mailed the site and they responded that they would get the missing skein out to me right away.  I am not overly stressed about this, because I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever packed the box just chose one a bit too small and accidentally left the last skein out without realizing it because the thing was so darn full.  I would probably be more annoyed if I wanted to start the project immediately, but I am working on something else right now, so all is well.

The other Doctor Who project I would like to do this year is also by WittyLittleKnitter (her handle is actually a Doctor Who reference).  She whipped up a lovely lovely pair of TARDIS socks.  The TARDIS is the Doctor's time-traveling space ship (it stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space).  One of the reasons I wanted to teach myself to knit was so I could make the Doctor Who scarf, I'll admit it.  But the other was so that I could make socks.  So this works out perfectly.

You can see them here:  TARDIS socks

I will probably wait until later in the year (once I've got some other knitted socks worked up) before I try this pattern, but it is definitely in the queue.

Doctor Who is of course not the only genre I will be knitting (or crocheting) in.  After the scarf is made, my next genre project is to crochet some (several) amigurumi Super Mario Brothers mushrooms.  I can think of several children (and grown-ups) that need these, and they seem like they will be a quick and simple little project.  If I get ambitious, I may attempt to modify the pattern to make a giant one as well.

WolfDreamer's Mario Brothers Mushrooms

Then I will jump back to my Browncoat roots to make Jayne Cobb's hat from the episode of Firefly titled "The Message."  This hat, that appeared on screen only briefly, has come to be just as big a nerd badge of honor as the Doctor Who scarf, actually.  My goal is to get this done before June, when Browncoats the world over celebrate Joss Whedon's birthday with charity screenings of the movie Serenity, because I will totally wear it to that.

The Jayne Cobb Hat

Of course, what kind of Star Wars fangirl would I be if I didn't make some amigurumi for that fandom?  Etsy seller Lucyravenscar has patterns available for many different characters, and I purchased this set of ten.

Star Wars Mini Amigurumi

I am most keen to make R2D2, a stormtrooper, Yoda, and an Ewok.  Once I get the stormtrooper pattern down, I may play with it a little to make my own little stuffed Omega Squad from Republic Commandos.  Just because.

My last genre project will probably definitely not get done this year, but I do think I want to start trying to plan it.  I had toyed with making this in crochet, but it just didn't seem feasible--but I think knitting might make it possible.  What I want to make is a blanket that has on it an accurate depiction of a Pegasus Galaxy stargate (from Stargate Atlantis).  There are different versions of the gate for each series (explained as basically different generations of the same tech, like the different generations of iPods), and I am, of course, partial to the version from Atlantis.

Here's a shot of the gate activating:  Stargate Atlantis Gate Dialing

The thing that makes it so complicated is the glyphs around the inner wheel of the gate.  There are 39 or 36 symbols, and you dial a combination of six plus your "point of origin" symbol to make a connection to another gate.  Each symbol is a representation of a constellation.  That is going to take a lot of planning, and graph paper.  But the color-work possibilities on knitting might just allow for this.  Also, I would probably want to make it with the "puddle" or vortex in the middle that you get with an active gate, and that will be tricky.  I am going to need to find the right variegated yarn or the right combination of two colors worked at the same time to pull that one off.  But I think it can be done.  If I can make that, well, I will consider myself queen of the knitting nerds--at least in my corner of the world.

Heck, I didn't think I would be able to get my Yoshi blanket done in nearly as much time or awesomeness as I did, and look how that turned out:

Yoshi Blanket by Cori 2010 (crochet)

Baby Girl approves.

It is amazing what a determined nerd/yarn-crafter can do when she puts her mind to something, isn't it?

Have a great weekend folks.  Don't forget, new Gronk! Today's guest strip features nap-time teamwork! 

Amendment

So yesterday I read a a really interesting article about fan fiction, from the perspective of someone who writes it, and has written it for quite some time.  It was up on Pink Raygun (which is a fabulous site for fans of genre) and looks to be the beginning entry in a series on the topic.  After reading the first article I am definitely looking forward to more.   This is partly due to the fact that it was well written and about a topic that I have some personal experience with.  But my anticipation is largely due to the fact that this article once more got me thinking something I have been thinking for quite some time.

I need to start writing fan fiction again.

Some of you might be nodding your heads in understanding with this, others might be wondering if I have completely lost my marbles.  Fan fiction, in my experience, is something that people either understand or don't.  Most of the people in my life don't get it.  I am at peace with that.  As far as I know, nobody I love enough to really care about their opinion on the matter has judged me for my involvement in the activity.  My husband, in fact, has always been quite supportive of my writing fan fiction.  He has had some minimal exposure to fan fiction in the past, but mostly, he understands the two things that are most important to me about it:  It is an incredible way to practice and improve upon my writing, while sharing it with a group of peers who will give me feedback; and it is a way to delve deeper into a community of people who love something that I also love, as deeply (or more so) as I do.

My drug of choice was Stargate Atlantis.  It was my gateway into fan fiction and I never really strayed far from the fold.  That is, honestly, the only fandom I have ever been so involved with that I wanted to write more stories for it, and read what other people had to say as well.  It was a way of getting more SGA during the breaks between seasons, or, increasingly, the ridiculously long hiatus between season halves.  Sure, I have toyed with writing a few crossover stories involving the characters from Buffy or Bones (I love crossovers), but they would have been set largely in Atlantis.

Once I stumbled across the SGA fan fiction, I was, quite simply, hooked.  Finding the archive site Wraithbait was a revelation of sorts for me.  You see, hardly anyone I know watched SGA.  My husband, if home, would watch the occasional episode with me (and we are currently watching the whole series together), but he isn't that big at sitting down and watching serialized television, so I couldn't have the kind of in-depth speculative conversations with him about the series that I wanted to have (though he is kind and patient enough to have listened to me ramble on about the topic ad nauseam on more than one occasion, to be sure).  Fan fiction gave me that outlet, though, and I will always love it for that.

I'll admit, when I say I was hooked, I mean, I was spending hours a day poring over every new story added to the site, and would get antsy whenever there wasn't anything new to read available.  Then a series of stuff happened that caused me to get so far behind that there was no way to get caught up again, especially when some other stuff happened that cut significantly into my reading time.  So it has been a few years since I have spent much time on Wraithbait, or since I have written my own story.  I have a few started stories or story ideas hanging out in my writing folder though, and I think the time has finally come to get back to them.

I don't know that I will ever get back into fan fiction with the same fervor of that original experience.  That's probably okay.  But I have realized that I do miss that community, and I would like to go back, even if it is only for a brief visit once or twice a year.

One of my goals for this brand new year is to work on my writing, and today I would like to make an amendment to it.  I would like to dust off and finish one or two of those fan fiction stories that are waiting oh so patiently on my hard drive.  I may or may not upload them to Wraithbait.  I definitely think that my November novel may be a fan fiction story this year, if one of my ideas seems like it might lend itself to the length (you'd be amazed at some of the novel-length fan fiction stories I have come across over the years).  It seems like a perfect fit, to me.  I will be able to dive right into the characters and setting without the need to worry about world-building and without getting too bogged down in descriptive text.  This will leave my non-November writing time free to focus on the world-building, character development, research, and story plotting that I would like to devote to my original story.  The more I think about it, the more I like this idea.

I love this feeling, when my brain is all afire with new inspiration and ideas are just racing around like particles in the LHC.  This year I will not fear the blank page.  I will instead look upon it as the on-ramp to the highway that will lead me directly to becoming the writer I want to be.

Stargate Wednesday: Cloverdale (2.5)

Warning!  

Spoilers for the Stargate Universe episode Cloverdale below! 

This week's installment of Stargate Universe was another entry along the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's sixth season episode "Normal Again" and Stargate Atlantis' third season episode "The Real World."  You know the formula:  one of our heroes is somehow infected by a demon/alien organism and as the organism begins to spread through their system, they find themselves in another existence, one in which their fantastical life is the dream and they are just your normal every day Joe.  "Cloverdale" was nice entry into this category, and it deviated from the formula just enough to be able to stand apart from those that came before and be remembered as its own thing.

The episode opens with Lieutenant Scott and Sergeant Greer on a bus on Earth.  We know right away that something is not quite right because Scott is suddenly talking in a weird accent (I couldn't tell if he was trying to be from the northern midwest of the U.S. or from Canada).  The bus stops and we learn that they've arrived at their destination, a town called Cloverdale.  Colonel Young and Eli are waiting for them across the street, and as Scott runs over to greet them, he is hit by a car.  We are then given a quick flash of Scott in his usual uniform falling over and clutching his arm,which is looking seriously messed up.  Apparently, while off world, he's been infected by some sort of alien, and T.J. can't figure out how to stop the infection from getting worse.  Also, everyone has spiffy new camo jackets, even the civilians.  That's kind of random, but I'm just going to assume several crates of uniforms got tossed through the gate on the initial trip to Destiny and leave it at that.  Cue the title screen.

Returning from commercial break, we find ourselves once more in Cloverdale and we learn that in this little fantasy world, Young is Scott's dad (and he has the same bizarre accent, though thankfully, no one else in the episode had this problem).  Eli is Chloe's brother, and Scott and Greer are back in town so that Scott and Chloe, high school sweethearts, can get married.  Scott has survived being run over (by Brody, no less).  It's just a flesh wound, really, and he and his family head home.  We continue to follow Scott through the day before his wedding--he and Chloe go to a movie at the theater where they had one of their first dates.  The movie turns out to be a representation of what really happened to Scott on the planet where he's actually been infected.  He has a brief freak-out and they leave the theater early, where we find out that the whole plan behind them going to the movie was so that Chloe could deliver him to his surprise bachelor party.

I would like to take a moment to point out that this was the clumsiest execution of a surprise party EVER.  But I did like that Brody was the bartender (he runs the still aboard Destiny), and his line about the bar actually being packed, everyone was just hiding was actually pretty amusing.  I think that with Riley's death, I may now appoint Brody my new favorite non-main character (if you're wondering, my favorite main character is of course Eli, with Greer in a close second).

There's a weird little bit where Scott gets really drunk and hits on James, who is a waitress at Brody's bar, and in this little fantasy is his ex-girlfriend.  I wonder about the relationship timing a bit, since Chloe is supposed to be his high school sweetheart and all, but whatever.  Apparently he is only joking when he hits on her but she takes him seriously, which leads to an awkward moment that was really well played by Julia Benson.  Hey writers, can we get James an awesome guy sometime soon?  She kinda deserves one.  I was rooting for her and Eli to hook up, but apparently he's got Ginny the Lucian Alliance Science Girl aimed his way this season.  Sigh.  I haven't been on Area 52 in a few years, maybe there's some James/Eli fanfic running around...

Sorry, sorry, back to the story.  While Scott is dallying in his little fantasy world trying to decide if he actually wants to marry Chloe or not, T.J. and the offworld team are working frantically to save his life.  They only have three hours before Destiny jumps, and they can't take Scott back on board the ship until he's cured, in case whatever he has is contagious.  T.J. and Rush (and let's just take it as read that Rush does several things that make me like him even less, yet again) try everything they can think of to counteract the infection, to no avail.  There is even a halfhearted attempt to convince us that they might actually amputate Scott's arm, but we know that isn't going to happen.  It's never a real concern, even when they cut to a commercial right as they are about to make the first incision.  We come back to find out that, oh darn, it's already in his bloodstream, cutting his arm off isn't going to make any difference, no point.

Young grumbles that he doesn't want everyone making a mad dash for the gate at the last minute again, and orders everyone but T.J. and a defensive group (the alien who infected Scott has decided to attack them at the gate) to return to Destiny immediately.  Of course, everyone gets distracted trying to make sure they don't have any alien goo on them before they go back, and there ends up being yet another last minute mad dash through the gate.  I appreciate the writers trying to hang a lantern on the fact that it is always down to a wire, I really do, but I honestly would have been less irritated at the cliche if they hadn't drawn my attention to it.  So, you know, fail there.  Sorry guys.  Nice try though.

While Chloe is being all pouty that she isn't going to be allowed to stay with Scott on the planet, T.J. notices that she's got some alien goo on her shirt and freaks out, but it looks like it missed Chloe's skin so she wasn't infected.  Funnily enough, earlier in the episode, I thought it looked like the Chloe stand-in in the "movie" from Scott's fantasy got hit by the goo too, and in the same spot.  But I had forgotten about it by the time T.J. finds the goo on Chloe.  That actually was a very clever little bit of writing.  Bravo guys.  I forgive you for the lantern hanging.  Wonder Girl, of course, realizes that the goo must have touched her skin, but she is clearly not suffering any ill effects.  You'll remember that everyone but Rush thinks she was cured by the neural interface chair last week, but we know that she still has her weird alien powers.  She puts two and two together and realizes that whatever the blueberry aliens did to her, it made her immune to this alien.  So she wanders off to the edge of the perimeter to get stung and test her theory (and also so that, if she's wrong, at least they will let her stay behind with Scott).

Of course T.J. and Rush find out she got herself stung, and they realize she is immune and she talks T.J. into giving Scott an infusion of her blood to clear up his infection so they can all go home.  We're down to that last minute we were talking about earlier, and the alien is pretty much right up in their faces trying to eat them all.  Greer realizes that the alien really doesn't like the kawoosh when the stargate opens, so he sends everyone back and stays with Chloe and Scott, and they all lay on the ramp out of range of the puddle, just dialing the gate over and over until Scott wakes up and they run back onto the ship just as she jumps.  Of course, now everyone knows that Chloe is still all aliened up.  Young meets them at the gate and tells them they are headed for quarantine, since now that Chole's blood is in Scott, he's probably aliened up too, and that's the end of that.

Miraculously, though he was still a jerk and he was far too eager to cut off Scott's arm, Rush wasn't actually the cause of the problems in this episode.  In fact, he didn't actually mess anything up for anyone, really.  I predict this means he will be double the jackass next week.

"Cloverdale" gave us some really fascinating insight into Scott's character.  We learned in season one that his parents died in a car crash when he was a kid and he was then raised by a priest, who drank himself to death when Scott was only sixteen.  So, he didn't have the typical suburban childhood that his fantasy self clearly had.  He got his real life high school sweetheart pregnant and spent a good eight or ten years thinking she had gotten an abortion.  No wedding bells for him, no family, no loving dad.  But in his fantasy world, he's got the idealized romance and the happy little family, for the most part.  The whole town seems to be pulling for him--heck, his pharmacist (Volker) was part of the plot to get him to his bachelor party.

It seems perfectly obvious that Young would fall into the role of father for Scott in his subconscious retreat.  Eli's role as Chloe's brother (which I am sure the real Eli would be less than thrilled about) also makes sense when you think about it.  Scott clearly likes Eli, but often feels like he's got to look out for him, like a kid brother, but Eli's concern for Chloe is so strong and evident (even though he seems to have moved mostly past the romantic feelings for her) that the more I think about it, the more I like him as her brother rather than Scott's.  Greer as his best man says a lot about his respect for the sergeant, and we even get Lou Diamond Phillips back for an episode!  He appears as another father figure and the town sheriff.  I found that really interesting, that Scott thinks of Telford as "the law."  The really glaring inconsistency here was Rush as the Justice of the Peace.  Seriously?  What, now?  I can't figure out what that says about how Scott feels about Rush at all.  I honestly would have thought that he would have put Wray in that place.  Maybe it's just my own feelings about Rush casting doubt on that decision though.  I don't know, it just seemed jarring in an otherwise perfectly cast fantasy.

While this episode was clearly designed to stand on its own, it does have some potentially huge future consequences.  I really hope Scott does start showing the effects of getting an infusion of Chloe's alien-morphed blood.  At the very least, he was the XO on board and now he is essentially out of commission until they can determine exactly what the blueberry aliens did to Chloe.  I hope they actually let this play out and don't just get it all cleaned up neatly by the end of the next episode.  SGU is usually pretty good about not wrapping things up in a neat little bow, but every once in a while *cough*"Lost"*cough* they do try to slip one by us.  I keep hearing that next week starts off a big multi-episode story arc though, so hopefully this won't be one of those times.

Hands down my favorite thing about this episode though?  Greer got to bust out his flame thrower again!  That boy loves his flame thrower.

Season one episode "Water"

Also, on a random note, one of the funny little side effects of watching SGU right after Glee on Tuesday nights is that I keep thinking that they need to find Cory Montieth a role on SGU.  He's already appeared in Stargate Atlantis and in Stargate SG-1.

Stargate Atlantis season one episode "The Storm"

Stargate SG-1 season ten episode "200"

I mean, he kind of looks like Scott a little bit.  He'd make a perfect long lost relative or, and I think this one is even better, a future Matt Jr. in some random time travel episode.  Who's with me on this?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Beuller?  Anyone?