SGA Rewatch: This Mortal Coil

Hello. Well, it's another Wednesday folks, which means another installment of the Stargate Atlantis rewatch. Today's episode is season four's "This Mortal Coil." Spoilers for the episode and any that came before, as always.

What Happened


Rodney and Radek are running a diagnostic on the gate, which hasn't been working for about a week. John comes by to check on their progress but there really isn't much to report at the moment. Just then, an unidentified object crashes into the city. It was moving too fast to be picked up by the city's sensors, apparently. John and the scientists go check it out and find a probe or drone of some sort. It doesn't appear to be of wraith origin, and Rodney and Radek take it to Rodney's lab to figure out what it is and where it came from. As John leaves the crash site, Major Lorne catches up with him and asks who is going to finish the gate diagnostic if both scientists are working on the probe. John says the gate can wait and Lorne uncharacteristically questions the decision but backs off when John tells him to.

In the lab Rodney and Radek have found the device's data core. It is damaged, and encrypted, but Rodney starts a program to retrieve and decrypt it. Radek tells him he should go back to working on the gate while the program runs but Rodney is intrigued by the mystery of the device and wants to keep working on it. Just as the decryption seems to be working, the program crashes and all of the data on the core and on their computers is lost. Before it crashed, however, Rodney tells Radek he saw enough to realize that it is nanite code. The probe was from the replicators. Rodney goes to find John, with Radek following behind, to warn him that the replicators have found them. Radek isn't so sure, saying that he didn't see anything that looked like nanite code. While they are arguing about it there is the sound of an explosion and Lorne radios John to tell him that he is needed in Rodney's lab. They run down to check it out and find that the probe has exploded, apparently from a self-destruct mechanism.

Rodney catches up to John alone after this and tells him that something doesn't feel right to him. He feels like something was actively working to keep him from learning more about the probe. John thinks he's just being paranoid but at Rodney's request promises to keep an eye open for anything strange. Later, while sparring with Ronon, John shares Rodney's theory. Ronon doesn't share John's skepticism. In fact, he tells John that he has felt that everyone in the city has been acting strangely for a little while now, and that Teyla has noticed it as well. John is still not convinced but Ronon persists. As they spar, Ronon manages to get a hit in to John's forehead, giving him a nasty cut that he thinks will need stitches.

John heads down to the infirmary to have Keller patch him up. When she goes to look at the cut she tells him it's nothing. He doesn't need stitches, or even a band-aid, there's nothing there. She hands John a mirror and he wipes away the blood, seeing that there is no cut underneath. He is extremely disturbed by this but Keller suggests that maybe it was Ronon's blood. John isn't so sure. He asks Keller to do a body scan on him, worried that he might have been infected with nanites when he came into contact with the probe. Keller obviously thinks that it is a waste of time but she complies and then tells him the scan is clean, though she doesn't show him the screen. John's mind next wanders to the last time he had unusual healing powers--when he was infected with the wraith retrovirus--and he asks Keller to run a blood test just in case he has been exposed again. She is clearly dubious about such a scenario but complies to his request and draws some blood before he leaves.

Later that night we see Lorne and Keller meeting up in a secluded corner. Lorne tells her he thought the problem had been dealt with, especially after he destroyed the probe. Keller tells Lorne that "they" are getting suspicious, but they aren't yet close to discovering the truth. They do bear watching, though.

The next day Keller finds John and shows him the results of his blood test: all clean. She is puzzled when John is less than pleased by this news. He tells her this leaves them without an explanation for his "magical head wound." Keller insists that he is ignoring the obvious explanation: John was never actually cut. John doesn't buy it though. He asked Ronon and the other man was never bleeding. Ronon also saw John's wound and thought it needed stitches. Keller plasters a strained grin on her face and tells John that she will run a new blood test if he'd like.

That evening Rodney enters a lab and finds the rest of his team waiting for him, their faces grim. He asks what's going on and John grabs his hand, pulls out a knife, and slices it open. Rodney starts to freak out but then John hands him a towel and when he wipes the blood from his hand, there is no cut. Teyla assures Rodney that all three of them performed the same test on themselves. Something is definitely hinky. John explains about his cut from the night before and Rodney realizes he thinks that Keller lied to him. Rodney accesses the infirmary's database from the lab and they are surprised to find no record of either John's blood test or body scan. Teyla remarks that they need to go conduct their own tests to find out what is really going on.

John and Teyla head to the infirmary, intending to sneak in and use the body scanner. Rodney and Ronon remain in the lab so that Rodney can use the city's life signs sensors to help them avoid running into anyone. Rodney is having trouble with the scanner though--it doesn't seem to be on a live feed, but rather on a loop. He fiddles a little and finally gets it fixed, but that only increases his confusion. The live feed is showing only four life signs in the entire city: those of the team. John is clearly unsettled by this but it also makes him even more determined to press on. He and Teyla continue to the infirmary.

Lorne and Radek find Keller standing on a balcony looking out at the ocean. Lorne tells Keller that they have a problem.

Rodney keeps checking the city's sensors and does find a fifth life sign. Ronon decides they should go check it out.

In the infirmary, Teyla scans John and the screen shows that he is crawling with nanites.

Rodney and Ronon use a life signs detector to track the fifth signal and it leads them to a hidden room. They get the door open and find that its occupant is Elizabeth, asleep on a table of some kind. They run to her side and get her woken up. Rodney asks how she got there and she answers that she has no idea. From behind them Keller pops up that she can tell them the answer to that question. Elizabeth is in that room because she was created there...they all were.

As John and Teyla stare at his scan, trying to come up with explanations, Lorne arrives in the infirmary, accompanied by several soldiers. He tells John and Teyla they need to come with him, but John refuses to comply, aiming his gun at Lorne and telling him to stand down. Lorne calmly replies that the gun won't hurt him and tells John to go ahead and shoot. John does, aiming for Lorne's leg, and is quite surprised when it morphs and then heals, Terminator 2 style.

In the hidden room, Keller explains to Rodney, Ronon, and Elizabeth that she and Lorne and the others in the city are all replicators. Rodney says it is not possible that the replicators could have replaced everyone in the city without them noticing and Keller says that they are not on the real Atlantis. This city is only a copy, made for their experiment.

In the infirmary, Lorne is also explaining the situation to John and Teyla. He tells them that the team (and Elizabeth) are not replicators. They are completely organic beings, manufactured from the inside out by nanites. Some nanites remain in each of them to effect repairs as necessary (hence the magical healing abilities). John still isn't buying it, but Lorne explains that the team's memories all came from when they were mind-probed while in replicator captivity a year ago.

Rodney calls Keller on this fact, pointing out that a year ago Carson was their head of medicine and Keller hadn't even arrived in the city. Replicator Keller (R!Keller) agrees, but adds that the team's memories were updated after the most recent capture of one of their expedition: Elizabeth Weir. So everything they know is everything that happened until Elizabeth was left behind on Asuras.

The team and Elizabeth are put into the city's brig. Elizabeth still isn't quite sure she believes the replicators' story. She asks John for his knife and performs the test on herself, cutting her palm open and watching as it heals shut instantly. Everyone is still a little unsure of whether or not to completely believe R!Keller's story, but Rodney says it actually makes a lot of sense. It explains a lot of the weirdness they have been noticing over the past week.

Elizabeth asks to speak with R!Keller. She learns that the real Elizabeth is dead, was killed shortly after her capture on Asuras, by Oberoth's orders. R!Keller's group are rebels among the replicators, not following Oberoth's drive for revenge. They want to study the humanity of their organic creations, hoping it will be the key to learning how to ascend. Elizabeth realizes that they are part of Niam's group and R!Keller confirms this. She explains that while most of her like-minded fellows were reprogrammed after Niam's escape, she and some others managed to stay hidden within the collective. Elizabeth wonders aloud why R!Keller would bother to share all of this information with her and R!Keller says it is because she has an open mind. She adds that they also need to gauge the reactions of the team so that they will no how to do it better next time.

Elizabeth returns to the team and informs them that R!Keller and the others plan to wipe their memories and start over on a new planet. That probe really was from the replicators, from Oberoth's group. They had been looking for the defectors and finally found them. The rebels plan to move the city and then give their experiment another try.

R!Keller comes to visit them and Elizabeth tries to convince her to let them go. R!Keller says it is too late for that, the other replicators have arrived. From above they can hear the sounds of the city being bombarded and we see a replicator ship moving in to attack. Rodney tells her to raise the shield but she explains that is just not possible. They couldn't take too many ZPMs from Asuras without attracting attention and creating the team and Elizabeth used up most of their power. Elizabeth redoubles her argument to be set free, pointing out that if they all die during the attack the experiment was a complete failure. R!Keller is clearly torn and Elizabeth presses the advantage, telling her that if they are let free, they will be able to fight back against Oberoth and his injustices. R!Keller relents and leads them to the jumper bay. In the control room she stops to give them the core drive of a replicator ship. She explains that they can use it to track all of the replicator warships in the galaxy in real time. Elizabeth asks her to come with them but she declines, saying she would only be a liability and that Oberoth would find them by tracking her. They say goodbye and take a jumper, escaping the city. From the cloaked jumper they watch as the city is destroyed by the replicator warship (fulfilling Davos' vision from a few episodes ago).

Without a working stargate on the planet, John decides that their best course of action is to stay cloaked and hitch a ride into hyperspace with the replicator ship when it leaves. While they wait out the hyperspace journey, John and Elizabeth discuss their next course of action. John thinks they need to get back to Atlantis, they definitely need to pass on the the core drive to their counterparts. Elizabeth isn't so sure they will be a welcome sight, however. Still, they are not sure what else they should do. Their resolve to make contact with Atlantis is strengthened when they arrive at the replicator homeworld and find that the replicators have been quite busy replacing their destroyed shipyard--and then some. They sneak down in the jumper and steal a ship with hyperdrive and then head for a friendly planet with a gate.

In real Atlantis, Rodney is telling John about the gate diagnostic he is about to run when the gate activates. One of their offworld teams is checking in and reports to John that there is someone who wants to speak to him. John looks at the screen in amazement as duplicate Elizabeth (D!Elizabeth) steps into view. He and Rodney are overjoyed at first, greeting her warmly and asking how she escaped from the replicators and how she has been. D!Elizabeth shakes her head and explains that she is not the real Elizabeth and gives them a brief explanation of who she actually is. She hints at the others as well and then tells John that they do need to meet. She has important information for him.

The team gates to the planet and meets up with their duplicates. Awkward is an understatement (the two Ronons quite clearly do not like each other at all). D!Rodney hands over the core drive and they explain what it is. The two Rodneys start geeking out about it and about getting to work together. D!John says they'll probably need to do it on the planet since he and the others are a security risk for Atlantis and John agrees, surprised at the candor. Rodney runs back to Atlantis to get the equipment they will need to get the drive working. While he does that John looks at his duplicate and tells him that they had another reason for agreeing to come. He asks if they have any news of where the real Elizabeth might be, and if they are willing to help them rescue her. D!John and D!Elizabeth exchange a sad look and tell John that Elizabeth is dead.

The Rodneys get to work on the drive and the groups split up. John takes a walk with D!Elizabeth while Ronon and Teyla and D!Ronon and D!Teyla break off to patrol the area, each Ronon lamenting the situation with his respective Teyla trying to calm him down and (in D!Ronon's case) get him to accept his new situation. Everyone is very clearly unsettled by the whole thing. Even though the duplicates clearly don't like the idea that they are copies and that they can't just go on resuming the lives that their memories tell them are theirs they all seem to accept the fact that they can't go to Atlantis. Given their replicator origins, they are a threat, willingly or no, organic or no.

Their ruminations are interrupted by a distant rumbling sound and they look up to find that a replicator ship has arrived at the planet. D!Elizabeth realizes it must have found them by tracking the ship they stole. Everyone regroups at the tent. John orders they fall back to the gate but his men there radio that it is a no go, the replicators have a ship positioned to take out anyone who goes through. The next plan is to fall back to the jumper. D!Elizabeth tells John that if any of them are going to survive this, they will need a diversion.

At the gate, the jumper flies by and uncloaks. The replicator gives chase and as soon as it is gone, the gate activates (presumably dialed by the jumper). The replicators manage to shoot down the jumper and go in on foot to check it out. They see the bodies of the team sprawled in the wreckage, but as they get closer, D!John sits up and his wounds heal. He smirks at the replicator that he fooled them. The replicator brings up his gun and fires. In Atlantis, John leads his team and the other offworld team through the gate and then orders control to shut it down, saying that no one else is coming. The duplicates sacrificed themselves so that everyone else could get away.

Later, Rodney throws himself into working on the core drive. Radek tries to get him to take a break but Rodney says he'd rather keep busy. He is trying not to think about the fact that they now know for a certainty that Elizabeth is dead. It is Carson all over again, he tells Radek, and he's just not ready to deal with it yet. A little while later John comes by and tries to get Rodney to call it a night but he still won't be dissuaded. John seems to understand though. He tells Rodney that he has been packing up Elizabeth's personal belongings and just shipped them back to Earth. He knows he should have done it months ago, but he kept hoping they would get her back. Now, he knows they won't. They commiserate for a moment and then John turns to leave, telling Rodney to let him know when the tracking device is up and running. Before he gets out of the room, Rodney calls him back. The device is online. They fire it up and slowly and the computer beeps as dots start lighting up on the screen, showing them the location of the replicator ships. They watch in dismay as the dots keep appearing. The screen fades to black, and the episode closes with the sound of several more beeps in rapid succession, followed by a very unhappy "Oh crap" from Rodney.

Commentary


So. Wow. This is a really interesting episode. I actually really like how they did the mystery bit at the start, and having the team figure out something was up and going ahead and doing something about it. I also think that Jewel Staite and Kavan Smith did a really good job as portraying Keller and Lorne just a little bit off from their normal characters. It was noticeable, but not distracting. I definitely did not figure out what was going on before the reveal the first time I saw this, though, like Rodney, I knew that something was up.

Also, how bizarro is it that Lorne's worst nightmare was that John is a replicator, and then the replicators running the experiment decided to use Lorne as one of their avatars? That...amused me.

But the three big pieces of news we get in this episode:

1. Elizabeth is actually really dead. Bummer. Still, it is good for John to learn this so he can move on (and everyone else in the city, I suppose).
2. There is dissension in the ranks among the replicators. The faction that doesn't want revenge on the humans (or to kill the wraith), but instead wants to follow in their creators' footsteps and ascend is still alive and kicking. They are also more willing to work with humans (even though they are not the most ethical of people, they are still better than Oberoth's crew).
3. The replicators have a ton of warships. Way more than we had anticipated. This is very important if our heroes want to shut off their wraith attack code, since it presumably means they will return to trying to destroy Atlantis. At least they know what they are up against now, and have a way to track the ships. It's a start.

I am not so sure how I feel about the duplicates so willingly sacrificing themselves for the originals, but in a way I understand. This isn't the first series (or even the first Stargate series) to tackle the topic of self when it comes to clones/duplicates, but I do like the down to earth way that everyone handled the matter in this episode. Yes, it was creepy as hell--for all parties involved--but everyone was respectful of everyone else's rights. That the duplicates were so willing to accept that the fact that they were not in actuality human and work within the limitations they had says a lot about the character of all individuals concerned, I think. No one fought about it, it wasn't all dragged out and preachy. It was simply another weird situation and everyone did their best to deal with the mess once they found themselves thrown into the middle of it.

I do have to say, there is a small part of me that is still vaguely annoyed that the replicators are such a huge part of the show this season. SG-1 featured replicators more than enough, in my opinion, and I would have much preferred to see the show writers visit a new type of foe than to rehash an old storyline. Still, as always, they managed to keep it separate from what came before and to give it a very Pegasus-spin. It isn't exactly the same old replicator story. I guess what I am saying is that if we are going to be saddled with the replicators as an official big bad of yet another series, at least they did a good job of making it unique to Atlantis. 

Favorite Quotes

"What the...? What happened?!" (Rodney)

"Well, either your sandwich exploded or that mystery drone had a built-in self-destruct protocol." (John)

"We're genetically predisposed to being...stubborn. Really pesky." (John)

"Outputted? Is that even a word?" (John)

"Of course it is!" (Rodney)

"We can't both be wrong." (D!Rodney)

~*~

Et viola! Just like that, we are halfway through the season. For once, the writers saw fit not to end the tenth episode with a crazy cliffhanger. Although I suppose the sudden influx of replicator ships was meant to be one of a sort. Oh well. As it happens, we will be taking a break next week anyway, since I will be out of town. We'll resume on Monday April 2 with the next episode, "Be All My Sins Remembered." See you then!

SGA Rewatch: Runner

Ah, another Monday, another Stargate Atlantis Rewatch post. Today I'm gonna discuss season two's "Runner." For my money, this is the episode that really kicks off the second season.

Spoilers, of course, lie ahead for those who have not seen the episode. Onward!

What Happened


Things kick off with Sheppard's newly installed second-in-command, Major Lorne (Major Lorne!!) following an extremely enthusiastic Dr. Parrish (botanist) through the woods at night. Parrish is waxing poetically about the fascinating flora on the planet, which apparently has an extremely ionized radioactive atmosphere during the day. It's really super close to the sun or something. The radiation means that animal life is not sustainable on the planet. Plant life should be out of the question too, but somehow it seems to thrive instead. Lorne, meanwhile, is questioning his life choices and wondering why he accepted the assignment in Pegasus. While examining a particularly interesting species, Parrish stumbles over the body of a dead wraith. Lorne radios back to the men at the gate, and learning that there has been no wraith activity, he marks the area and immediately hauls Parrish back to Atlantis. Overhead, Commando!Ford watches all of this silently from a perch in a tree.

Lorne reports the situation to Sheppard and Elizabeth on Atlantis and Beckett stops by to let them know that while he hasn't finished his autopsy of the wraith, he did find that its enzyme sac had been removed after it was killed. This immediately brings them all to the conclusion that Ford likely killed the wraith and the hope that he might still be on the planet, since the wraith was quite freshly dead. Sheppard, Teyla, and Rodney prepare to return to the planet with Lorne in a jumper to see if they can find their wayward friend. On the way out of Elizabeth's office, Caldwell pulls Sheppard aside and reminds him that Ford, with his knowledge of the city, is a threat to their security if he can't be recaptured. He advises that Sheppard needs to be prepared to kill Ford if he can't be brought back in. Sheppard doesn't want to hear it, but he knows it is probably true. Still, he is not willing to give up on Ford quite yet.

Back on the planet, Lorne's men are left to guard the gate and the jumper while Sheppard, Teyla, Rodney, and Lorne split up to search for Ford. They can't use the life signs detectors because the radiation absorbed by the plants during the day messes up the sensors at night. All of the foliage also prevents them from doing any kind of aerial search in the jumper. Sheppard and Teyla, looking at the site where the wraith was found, wonder what a lone wraith was doing on the planet on foot in the first place. As they search, each team thinks they've got Ford's trail and hear someone in the woods, giving pursuit. Lorne radios Sheppard just as Teyla is hit by a beam of red energy, falling to the ground. Sheppard tells Lorne he will have get back to him and goes to check on Teyla, only to be shot by the energy beam himself.

Sheppard and Teyla wake up in a cave, tied together back to back with their hands bound. A big wild looking dude, not Ford, is going through their stuff. Seeing they are awake, he comes over to them, and Sheppard starts talking, introducing himself, giving his rank and name, then Teyla introduces herself. The big man introduces himself as Specialist Ronon Dex. Sheppard asks if Ronon is military as well and Ronon replies that he used to be, but that was a long time ago. Now, he's just deciding whether or not to kill them and the rest of their friends. Sheppard quickly starts trying to negotiate their release, he and Teyla explaining that they mean Ronon no harm and are just there looking for their friend. Ronon flashes back to being chased by a wraith and encountering Ford on the planet. He tells them he saw their friend, that Ford killed the wraith that was hunting him.

Meanwhile, Lorne and Rodney, having lost their quarry as well as contact with Sheppard, have reported back to the jumper, radioing in to Atlantis for reinforcements to search for the missing team members. Rodney also has Elizabeth send through all of the city's radiation suits, since the sun has come up, but he is the only one who actually wears one (the other scientists have said that limited exposure to the planet's radiation will not be that harmful). He and Lorne are back out on the search and of course Rodney is slowed down by the cumbersome suit. While Lorne is distracted trying to cajole Rodney into keeping up, and realizing how much better he had it with Parrish, he is shot by a wraith stunner. Rodney immediately panics and tries to radio for help, pulling out his gun and waving it wildly about when Ford steps out from cover, easily disarming Rodney and taking away his radio.

He leaves Lorne where he fell and tells Rodney (at gunpoint when the scientist balks) to come with him. He tells Rodney that he is "better than fine" and loves his new "superpowers." He says he just needs to prove it to Rodney and everyone else so that he can go back. Rodney tells him he can come back any time, but he knows they'll try to "fix" him if he does. So first he's going to save Sheppard and Teyla to prove that he is better how he is, and then they'll let him stay like that and come home. Ford has clearly gone 'round the bend a bit by this point. Drugs are bad kids, mmmkay?

In the cave, Sheppard and Teyla manage to get free of their bonds and recover their weapons, getting the drop on Ronon. They have a standoff, Ronon says he just needs to get through the gate and go somewhere else. The wraith are coming for him. Something clicks with Teyla and she realizes out loud that he is a "runner." Sheppard is, of course, confused, and Ronon tells them about being captured by wraith who started to feed on him and then changed their minds. Instead they planted a tracking device of sorts in his back and set him free so they could hunt him for sport. He tells them that he decided to hunt the wraith right back.

Meanwhile, Ford is explaining to Rodney about "the guy" that has Sheppard and Teyla. He tells Rodney he was on a wraith-controlled planet trying to get some more enzyme when he saw one armed to the teeth go through the gate alone. He figured one wraith would be easier to take down than a whole gaggle of them and so he followed. The wraith must have been hunting Sheppard's captor, because when Ford caught up to him he was chasing that guy.

Sheppard, trying to bargain with Ronon, promises to call his men off and let him pass through the gate if he will give back their radios. Ronon doesn't trust either of them, says Sheppard can order his men to stand down in person, since he will be coming along to the gate as a hostage. Sheppard, realizing how skittish Ronon is, worries that someone is going to get hurt in this scenario. Grasping at straws, he tells Ronon that they can help him remove the tracking device. Ronon hesitates but then makes the deal, promising that if Sheppard can get the device removed, he will bring back Sheppard's friend.

Ronon lets Sheppard go back to the jumper to send for Carson, keeping Teyla as security. Carson is, of course, once more annoyed that his services have been volunteered without his knowledge. This time to do surgery in the middle of the woods on a hostile stranger with a crazy Ford presumed still out there and wraith due in at any moment. Still, he packs up his gear and heads out, determined to do what he can.

Rodney and Ford are still wandering the woods looking for Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon. Rodney calls Ford out on being lost and Ford kind of cracks, alternating between threatening Rodney and trying to convince him he is just fine. Rodney somehow manages to almost talk Ford down, tells him to just come back with him to the jumper and everything will be fine. He is sure Carson can figure out a way to make Ford feel better without getting rid of his new "superpowers." Ford is very tempted, but says first he has to prove himself and save Sheppard and Teyla. He tells Rodney to head back to the jumper and then heads back into the woods. Exasperated, Rodney follows him.

Waiting for Carson, Teyla talks to Ronon, convincing him that it is not necessary to keep his gun on her. She asks him about being a runner. She had heard of them all her life but had believed the stories to be just that, tales. Ronon tells her that he has been a runner for seven years, alone all that time, not by choice but because he can't risk staying in one place too long. One time, he did, and it brought the wraith down on the village where he was staying, the wraith wiped it out completely. So he stays by himself and he keeps moving.

When Carson arrives at the cave (Sheppard stays out of sight up on a ridge, with a sniper rifle aimed at Ronon, just in case), Ronon isn't quite sure what to make of him. He keeps his gun pointed at Teyla during the whole procedure and refuses to allow Carson to administer any anesthesia or to lie down for the procedure. Carson grumbles but carries on, using a scanner to locate the device. Ronon's back is covered with scars from previous attempts to remove it (one his own, the rest "doctors" he encountered on various worlds). Carson is more affronted by the botched surgery attempts than Ronon himself. Carson manages to pull out the device and as soon as he does, Ronon passes out, leaving Carson and Teyla staring at each other in bewilderment.

In the woods, Rodney and Ford run into two soldiers from Atlantis. Rodney is relieved and goes to greet them but Ford stuns them with his wraith gun, claiming they can't be trusted. Rodney gets really mad and calls Ford on his crazy, pulling out the gun that Ford had given him during a friendlier moment and telling Ford that he is coming with Rodney back to the gate. Ford refuses and they exchange angry words, Rodney's gun accidentally going off and hitting Ford in the soldier. Ford looks at Rodney in astonishment and, realizing his error, Rodney turns tail and runs for his life, Ford shooting after him and Rodney shooting his gun in the air, hoping to attract the attention of allies.

Hearing the gunfire from Ronon's cave, Teyla and Sheppard duck back inside to gather their weapons and find that Ronon has disappeared. Sheppard tells Teyla to get Carson back to the gate and goes to investigate the shots. Just as this is going on, the gate fires up and a wraith dart comes through. Major Lorne manages to get the jumper cloaked in time and alerts Sheppard to the situation.

Running from Ford, Rodney gets caught up in a snare. Ford comes upon him hanging upside down and panicking. Rodney tries to talk some sense into Ford again but Ford replies no, he's still going to have to kill Rodney. Just as he is about to take his shot, Ronon barrels into him and the two begin brawling. Sheppard manages to find the group as Ronon disarms Ford. When Ford reaches for his gun Sheppard stops him and Ford takes off, refusing to go back with them. Sheppard goes after him, leaving Ronon to cut Rodney down from the snare. Sheppard tries to convince Ford one more time to come back, even going so far as to shoot him in the leg to stop him from running away, but it doesn't even slow Ford down. The wraith dart zooms overhead, culling beam out, and Ford jumps into the beam to escape, shouting "I'll show you!" at Sheppard in parting.

Back on Atlantis Sheppard makes his report. They are all worried about Ford but unsure of what they can do for him at this point. Caldwell is, of course, pissed at Sheppard for letting Ford get away alive, convinced that he will give away the fact that Atlantis is still very much around.

Sheppard goes to speak with Ronon, who came back with them. He asked them to contact his home world, Sateda, thinking to go back now that the tracking device has been removed. Sheppard ushers Ronon to the gate room where they show him an image from the MALP they sent to Sateda. It has been completely wiped out by the wraith, no survivors, and it looks like the damage was done quite some time ago. Ronon stalks off in despair.

Commentary


Major Lorne! Yay! I love his snarks with Rodney, it's wonderful. I adore Kavan Smith, largely because of his role as Major Lorne, so it is nice to finally have him in the city, calmly dealing with all of the crazy the Pegasus galaxy likes to throw at him.

Also, Ronon, yay! Jason Momoa actually initially auditioned for the role of Ford, but didn't get it because he didn't want to cut off his dreads. So when the showrunners decided they needed to bring in a new character, someone wilder and more of a challenge to Sheppard than the happy-go-lucky puppy dog Ford, they came up with Ronon, which Momoa was perfect for. I can't even imagine how things would have worked out if he had entered in as Ford in the first place. I wonder where the story would have gone?

Also, clearly, Ford is no longer happy-go-lucky, poor guy. He is determined that he is "better" in crazy doped up mode, and he is apparently a little obsessed with showing Sheppard that this is the case. It, well, it can't really end well, can it?

Largely this episode serves as an exit for Ford (though not the final chapter in his story quite yet) and an entrance for Ronon. We also get some further establishment of the power struggle between Caldwell and the senior staff--this time with Sheppard. He's got to find his place in Pegasus, and it's not going to be easy for him. Plus, we got some nifty expansion on the mythology of the wraith. Runners, what a horrible concept. Seriously, the argument can be made that okay, the wraith eat people and that's just their biology, that doesn't make them evil, necessarily. But their actions? Those actions just keep proving the evil is as evil does rule day in and day out, folks.

Favorite Quotes


"Major, you've got McKay." (Sheppard)
"Oh, lucky me." (Lorne)

"I've been keeping a running tally of my lifetime exposure to radiation: X-rays, cell phones, plane rides, that whole unfortunate Genii nuclear reactor thing. My god, last week we flew dangerously close to the corona of a sun! As it is I may have to forego reproducing!" (Rodney)
"Yeah, that's funny. I was just thinking that might be wise." (Lorne)

"For what it's worth, I'd never send you in there if I thought the guy was gonna hurt you." (Sheppard)
"Is that opinion based on some sort of evidence, or is it just a gut feeling that this gentleman isn't dangerous?" (Carson)
"I didn't say he wasn't dangerous. He could probably kill you in the blink of an eye. I don't think he will." (Sheppard)
"Well thank you, I feel much better now!" (Carson)

"You can't kill an unarmed upside down man!" (Rodney)

There we have it, another rewatch complete. Come back Wednesday to tackle one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, "Duet," won't you?

Strange Convergences

I know I said last week that on Friday my friend and I were going to go out and see The King's Speech, but unfortunately it didn't pan out. The show was sold out when we arrived, because apparently I failed to take in how ridiculously hopping the 7th Street Movie Tavern would be last Friday. Sigh. So we were bummed we couldn't see the movie, and there didn't seem to be anything else playing soon that looked interesting to us, so we decided to just grab dinner instead. It would give us the chance to chat anyway, rather than just sitting next to each other in silence. We picked a restaurant, went in, and were told it would be an hour's wait. Sigh. Nope, not so much.

While I had been driving around looking for a place to park (the garage was, like the theater, packed), I had noticed that I ended up close to a restaurant called Dos Gringos. Now, I have driven past this restaurant often in the twelve years I've been in Fort Worth, and I have mocked its name relentlessly in that time, but I have never actually eaten there. But, it was off the main stretch, away from the throng of hipsters who were thwarting our evening out, and the price point seemed to fit what we were looking at, so we figured what the heck and gave it a try. Okay, the food, it was not spectacular, and the service was a weensy bit lacking, but it wasn't terrible, and my friend and I had a mostly enjoyable meal and some good conversation, so the evening was not a total loss. We had fun, it was good. But I gotta say, the place was weird. My friend commented on how it just had a lot of pieces that didn't seem to fit together correctly, as if someone had dumped the pieces of two different puzzles in one box and mixed them up. The primary example of this was the live band in the bar. I'll be honest with you, I didn't even realize the band was live until about halfway through dinner, I really just thought they had a classic light rock station on. What's that, you say? Classic light rock in a Mexican restaurant? (Well, Tex-Mex.) Not Tejano? Not Country? Nope. Strange. Even the list of songs they played was a strange mix--ranging from Neil Diamond to Tom Petty's "Last Dance With Mary Jane." Also, their bathrooms were freezing.

Oh well, at least now I have a valid reason to mock the place, right? Also, my friend and I had a good time, which was the important thing.

I have to say, I was a little bummed I wasn't gonna get to get my Colin Firth on though. So I was super excited on Saturday when I discovered that Syfy's cheesy movie of the week was one I hadn't seen starring Kavan Smith. Yay! This week's monster flick, Iron Invader, was actually pretty darn amusing to me, I have to say. It had a super silly plot about alien bacteria that feeds off of metal taking over a big statue made out of scrap and wandering around a small town in Idaho, killing people by sucking all of the metal out of their blood. The effects were spectacularly low-budget (I am pretty sure the "bacteria" was just neon green paint with iron fillings mixed in that were manipulated with a magnet). But it was the casting, man, the casting is what really got me.

Here is the conversation I imagine the casting people had when putting together this movie:

"Hey, who is our lead for this one?"

"Kavan Smith."

"Oh, hey, yeah. He's cool. I loved him in Stargate Atlantis, and isn't he on Eureka now, too? Oh, and he had a brief appearance in Battlestar Galactica....dang, I think he's been in just about all of our big franchises, hasn't he?"

"Huh. I guess he has. Hey, you know what would be funny?"

"What's that?"

"Let's cast a bunch of people from all of the other Syfy shows he's been in!"

"Yeah, right on!"

So....this resulted in the cast being rounded out with:

Nicole de Boer, who appeared in the Stargate Atlantis episode "Whispers."

(Interesting fun side fact number one: She was also in the movie Cube with another SGA alum, David Hewlett.)

Donnelly Rhodes, who you may know better as Doc Cottle from Battlestar Galactica.

Paul McGillion, who you may know better as Doctor Carson Beckett from Stargate Atlantis (and who in this film for some strange reason had a southern accent, even though he was playing a small town sheriff in Idaho).

(Interesting fun side fact number two: Donnelly Rhodes was also a series regular on Canadian series Da Vinci's Inquest--which is, as far as I can gather, the equivalent of Law & Order in the Canadian acting community--and Paul McGillion made a guest appearance on that series back in the day.)

Chris Gauthier, who you may know better as Vincent from Eureka.

(Interesting fun side fact number three: Paul McGillion and Christ Gauthier and Kavan Smith have all made guest appearances on Syfy's Sanctuary.)

I know people joke about Syfy owning the actors that appear in their original series and "forcing" them to do these silly made-for-television movies, but dude. My head was seriously about to explode going over how connected all of these actors were. It was crazy. In the most awesome way possible.

I think that, along with The Room at the End of the Hall (or The Nightmare at the End of the Hall, depending on which country you are in), Iron Invader will be one of those television movies that I regularly record whenever it comes on. You gotta love those guilty pleasure movies, eh?

Speculating on My DVR Leftovers

So I have been clearing out my DVR of late, and yesterday I finally watched Syfy's Red:  Werewolf Hunter again.  Well, that's not entirely true.  I watched parts of it (mostly the parts with Kavan Smith and the fight scenes) while fast forwarding through the boring or overly dedicated to kind of crappy CGI werewolf transformation parts.  Um, suffice to say, this thing did not hold up well to a second viewing, you guys.  It still had a kind of fun feel, but I no longer want to add it to my permanent collection.

I'll admit, when it first aired, I was so super jazzed about a movie including Kavan Smith, Felicia Day, and werewolves, that I probably gave it a much wider benefit of the doubt than I normally would have.  I mean, I thought the ending was terrible on the first watch through, and that didn't change the second time around.  I still don't know what the hell the grandmother was thinking.  I understand that the writers needed the wolfy Nathan to get free in order to further the plot, but they didn't even try to have the events leading up to the escape make sense.   The grandmother's actions felt completely out of character for her.  They tried to give some half-assed explanation about her husband having gone through a similar situation that ended badly, but it still didn't ring true.  I could totally buy her deciding to kill Nathan in order to spare Virginia the pain she went through, but the way she went about it was just incredibly lame, and didn't at all live up to my expectations of her as a former badass werewolf hunter and the revered and respected head of this family of hunters.  I was literally screaming, "Oh come on!" at the screen when she was trying to shoot him with a silver-loaded shotgun from three feet away and kept missing, repeatedly.  While he was in a cage.  What the heck is up with that?  Again, this is a woman who spent her entire life hunting these things down and from everything that has been said up to this point, she was pretty damn good at it.  Does not compute.

And the movie was completely full of these kind of weird little out of character moments and actions that were the writers simply trying to further the plot.  The other one that kind of irked me the first time around and really got to me the second was that everyone was throwing a fit about Virginia deciding to get married, because other people don't understand their way and they must remain apart.  Um, how the heck has your family line survived for all of these generations to fight the werewolves if they haven't been bringing in new blood so they could procreate?  I mean, Virginia is the last female in a line of what is vaguely shown to be a strongly matriarchal family.  It makes total sense that she would want to go find someone to help her make babies so that her legacy can continue.  It also seems to make sense that she would choose someone she cares about and can put up with so that he can be staying home taking care of the kids while she's out hunting.  But whatever.

I frequently DVR the cheesy Syfy original movies.  If they've got a Stargate actor, dragons, or something archaeological going on, I'm probably gonna give it a try.  At least half the time, I"ll watch the first 30 minutes and then just delete the whole thing and move on with my life.  I can't say any of the ones I watch in full are ever good, but they are at least entertaining enough for me to watch through once.  I don't think there's ever been a Syfy original movie that I've purposely set out to watch twice until now.

But here's the funny thing:  I end up watching a lot of Lifetime movies because they often feature Stargate actors as well (there are a lot of cheesy movies being made in the Vancouver area, folks, what can I say).  But time after time, I always end up engaged enough in the stupid Lifetime movies to watch all of the way through, and there are a few now that I have purposely watched more than once.  Case in point, in addition to having Red:  Werewolf Hunter hanging out in my DVR, I also had The Room at the End of the Hall  (alternately called The Nightmare at the End of the Hall) in my DVR as well, awaiting a second watch (yes, this one also featured Kavan Smith.  There was an abundance of cheesy cable movies featuring Kavan Smith in October, it seems. I am not ocmplaining).  I watched that Sunday evening fully intending to put it on in the background while I was reading a book, and to just pay attention to the bits featuring Kavan Smith.  Except I totally got sucked into the story, even though I had already seen this movie before.

It really disturbs me that I tend to enjoy the cheesy Lifetime movies so much more than the cheesy Syfy movies.  I don't know what that says about my psyche, at all.  I think part of it is that my expectations for the Lifetime movies are pretty low, whereas I always (okay, usually) have high hopes for the Syfy films.  But I also think it is because at this point, whoever makes these movies that Syfy snaps up for their Saturday night time slots has realized that the movies are gonna get bought and aired at least once, so they are just churning them out.  Okay, yes, I am sure Lifetime is just churning them out as well, but theirs are so often "based on a true story" or adaptations of Danielle Steele novels that this seems to require them to go for a slightly higher quality of production than the Syfy flicks. 

So, there you have it, one of my dirty little secrets.    So help me God, I actually enjoy cheesy Lifetime movies (so long as they feature one or more of my preferred Stargate alumni, at least), and while I try, I just can't get behind the cheesy Syfy films.  Go figure.

Also, upon further reflection, the werewolves in that movie just totally sucked, you guys.

That is all.

Austin Bound!

That's right, kids and kiddos, in just a few short hours my husband and I are heading down to Austin, TX for a long weekend, and I am super stoked.

This is my first time to be away from Baby Girl overnight, ever.  So, in addition to being stoked, I am a teensy bit nervous as well.  But mostly the first one.  My super wonderful and spectacular mother-in-law not only agreed to watch her namesake while we're out of town, but she's also staying at our house with Baby Girl so her world isn't completely turned upside down by Mommy and Daddy disappearing for a few days.  This has the added bonus of solving the "who will take care of the kitties while we're gone?" conundrum as well.  Double score.  Have I mentioned that I love my mother-in-law oodles and lots?

I may have mentioned before that in addition to his really cool day job, my husband is also a gigging musician by night.  This is actually the reason we're going to Austin.  Occasionally he sits in on bass for the band The Frontier Brothers.  They are, to say the least, an interesting group.  Let's just say that Austin is the perfect place for them.  No, seriously, they're really good, I'm just still scarred by the first time I saw them, when the drummer played in a flesh-tone one piece skin-tight body suit.  That kind of thing sticks with you.  They are really nice guys though, and they asked if my husband could come down and play with them on Thursday and Saturday.  So instead of driving down to Austin Thursday afternoon, driving back Friday, then driving down there again on Saturday, he decided he would just stay for the weekend.  And then we got the idea to make it a couple's getaway. 

Since he was already going to be down there, he also got asked to play with Calhoun tonight, another band that he sits in with occasionally, who is playing the same gig with The Frontier Brothers.  This is super awesome news for me, because while I get a kick out of The Frontier Brothers, I love Calhoun.  I haven't gotten to go to one of my husband's gigs in a while, and this weekend I get to seem him play two.  I am really looking forward to it, provided I can stay awake for the shows, that is. 

In a happy coincidence, this happened on the weekend that the new Harry Potter movie comes out, and he has Friday night off!  So, while we're down there, we're also going to go see that.  We've already got our tickets.  Y'all, I haven't been to a movie with my husband since before my daughter was born.  Of the four whole movies I've seen in the theater since she came along, two were by myself and two were with a friend of mine.  So this is a pretty big deal.

Also on the plate while we're down there, besides a lot of relaxing and enjoying each other's company, and possibly going shopping for clothes (because that is for some reason how we roll), I am also planning to do two things:

1. Get a buttload of writing done.
2. Read most, if not all, of Towers of Midnight.

I am going to miss my daughter like crazy, and I have no doubt that I will be fighting the urge to call and check in on her a whole freaking lot.  But this is going to be pretty awesome.

In writing news, I think I finally figured out the actual sequence of events leading to the end of this story, which is awesome, since I've broken 30,000 words and that means it's time to start moving them toward the finish.  I had a vague outline, but now I actually know specific details, and that's super nice.  You guys, I just might be able to do this.  I am already thinking about next year's NaNoWriMo project.  It's gonna involve space ships.  I am debating, once November is over and I get into the actual editing/revising process (probably after the start of the year, which is disturbingly close), on whether or not to share my story on this blog.  Like maybe once a week I'll post a chapter.  I dunno, I am still kicking it around, but that might be coming your way.

Hey, did anyone watch Human Target last night?  I am so glad that it is back!  That was my favorite new show of last season.  Funnily enough, it was another of those shows that I totally wasn't going to watch at all.  The preview promos showed a lot of Tricia Helfer in the first episode, which tempted me, I'll admit, but it wasn't until I found out that David Nykl (Zelenka!) would be guesting in the first season that I decided to give it a try.  And I am so glad that I did, because not only did it blow me away and suck me in right off the bat, but the slew of guest casting that this show had in its first season was absolutely phenomenal.  I mean, imagine my surprise one Wednesday night earlier this year, when the preview for the next week's Human Target showed up, and Kavan Smith was featured all front and center!  Sure, he turned out to be the bad guy, and then, well, dead.  But still.  You know how I feel about any show that involves Kavan Smith.  And that was only the tip of the awesome casting iceberg.

I am pretty sure I should never be allowed to go to Vancouver.  I don't think I would want to leave, which is a shame, since I would probably be forcibly evicted for stalking half of the actors working there. 

Last night's episode kicked off season two extremely well, I have to say.  Plus, the stunt casting is already underway with not one, but two awesome actors.  First, there was the addition of Indira Varma to the show as a new member of the team.  I first noticed her in the short-lived 3 Lbs. but after that she started popping up in pretty much every show I watch.  It's crazy.  But a good kind of crazy, since I totally adore her.  I knew that she had been added to the show, but I did not know that Tahmoh Penikett was also guesting in the first episode of the season!  I was so happy when he walked into the room!  Of course, (spoilers!  highlight the block text to read!) I knew right away that his character was either the bad guy or was going to get killed before the end of the episode.  He was a good guy, but also a little stupid, so that meant he got killed.  Sigh.  I was kind of thinking, well, at least he wasn't the bad guy, after all, but, maybe if he had been, he could have been set up as the season's big bad.  I would have been totally down with that.  Oh well. At any rate, the new season status quo has been established and I am super geared up for more!  Also, can I just say that I love Guerrero?  He is awesome.  Yay for the return of good television!

Word Count Update: 33,455 out of 50,000

Oh, and don't forget to check out the new episode of Riese out today!  Click here to watch.