FAN REVIEWS: 'Broken Ties'

[GateWorld]

ATLANTIS SEASON FIVE BROKEN TIES EPISODE NUMBER - 503 Ronon once again comes face-to-face with Tyre, one of his people who became a Wraith worshiper -- but who now claims he has broken free of their influence. VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE > SPOILERS! PHOTOS! AND MORE!

---

GATEWORLD FAN REVIEWS

Calling All Writers! Tell the world what you think of the newest episodes of Stargate Atlantis! Rather than publishing a single review at GateWorld, we're letting you offer your thoughtful and well-reasoned evaluation of episodes. Some of our favorite reviews will be highlighted on GateWorld.net, exposing your writing to tens of thousands of readers! But we do have some guidelines, so please read carefully before submitting your review.

This thread does not function like normal threads at GateWorld! Read this post carefully.

Fan Review threads are not for conversation, even if it is discussing a member's review. For that, please use the official GateWorld episode discussion threads in this folder, or start a new thread. All posts to this thread that are conversational will be immediately deleted.

Fan Review threads are strictly reserved for formal reviews, which are deemed by the moderators to meet the following four guidelines:

(1) LENGTH. Your review must be a minimum of 400 words and a maximum of 1,000 words.

(2) FORMALITY. Your review should be in a formal prose style (not informal and conversational, as regular forum posts are), following the Introduction - Body - Conclusion form. (The best reviews will include a single, encapsulated statement evaluating the overall episode that is stated in the introduction, defended in the body, and restated in the conclusion.)

(3) EDITORIALIZING. This piece is about your opinion of this specific episode. Do not summarize scenes or plot points, and generally avoid objective analysis of developments in story arcs, characters, etc. Assume that your readers have seen the episode you are discussing. Your review should give your opinion of various aspects of the episode (see below), not simply inform.

Beyond this, your ultimate goal is to challenge readers to think about the episode in a way they may not have when they first saw it. Avoid phrases like "I liked" and "I didn't like." Don't merely state what you thought -- defend it with examples.

Aspects of the episode that you might want to include in your review are (you do not need to cover every item on this list!):


Story
Character use
Dialogue
Writing
Acting
Directing
Guest casting
Music / score
Visual effects
Editing
Costumes & makeup
Overall production value
Contribution to story arcs / overall series

(4) FAIRNESS. Very few episodes that you dislike are without a few saving graces, just as very few episodes that you love are completely without flaw. Avoid unqualified gushing on the one hand, or unbalanced negativism on the other. Personal attacks on the show's cast or crew are strictly forbidden.

By posting a reply to this thread, you are submitting a Fan Review for publication here on the forum! (Questions or concerns can be directed to the moderators via Private Message or the "Ask the Moderators" thread; do not post them here.) All reviews that are deemed to sufficiently meet the guidelines above will be approved and published in this thread, regardless of the author or the opinions contained. Reviews will not be edited for content. If your review is not approved within 48 hours, please consider rewriting it (and perhaps having someone beta read it for you) and submitting it again.

By submitting a review, you agree and grant permission for it to remain published here (nonexclusively). You also grant GateWorld nonexclusive rights to edit your review and republish it elsewhere on the site, with your byline intact (as provided in the body of your review, or if none, your GateWorld Forum username at the time of republishing). GateWorld's editors reserve the right to revise these guidelines in the future.

Thanks!

All reviews are the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of GateWorld.net and its owner.

[entil2001]

If it’s a character-based episode early in a season of “Stargate Atlantis”, then it’s a good guess that it’s a Ronon-centric episode. Looking back on the past few seasons, this is practically a matter of inevitability. I recall a similar thing happening to the character of B’Elanna on “Star Trek: Voyager”. The writers would incrementally advance her personal character arc in an early episode of every season, and once that was out of the way, she basically fulfilled her function within the ensemble without much variation.

Ronon fills a very comfortable niche on Team Atlantis, playing the requisite tough with consummate warrior skill and a gruff good nature. He’s essentially the Teal’c of the series, and as such, episodes devoted to Ronon inevitably pertain to others of his kind. The Satedans have never been my favorites (and that includes the infamous episode “Sateda” itself), so I was wary, to say the least.

Fortunately, the writers took a slightly different approach with the Ronon-centric episode this season. Normally, when a main character is subjected to the kind of experience seen in this episode, the character manages to resist against all odds, demonstrating his endlessly heroic nature. So it was a bit rewarding to see Ronon, perhaps the strongest member of the team, succumb to the Wraith brainwashing.

The brainwashing itself helped to explain why some humans would choose to align with the Wraith in the first place. It may have been alluded to in the past, but I certainly don’t remember anything about the addictive qualities of Wraith life restoration. I don’t think it applies to every Wraith worshipper, since simple self-interest is enough of an explanation and this seemed to be more of an experimental approach, but it does flesh out a grey area.

Otherwise, I found the story to be rather predictable. I was basically waiting for Tyre to rescue the team after his supposed betrayal, and Tyre’s sacrifice was completely telegraphed. Considering how much of the episode’s power hinged on Tyre’s redemptive arc, it was a bit disappointing for the story to be so “cookie cutter”. If Ronon’s part of the story could take a daring turn, why should Tyre’s part of the story fall into predictability?

Speaking of which, this episode was also devoted to exploration of Teyla’s position on Team Atlantis. I’ve been concerned since the moment the pregnancy was written into the series, and especially since the baby was saved. Pregnancy seems to be the easy road for drama when it comes to female characters in the genre, but “baby plots” slip into annoying cliché all too often for my taste. For better or worse, Teyla is not one of the headliner characters, so the impact is lessened.

Even so, if Teyla’s character development this season is largely devoted to the struggles of motherhood, I’ll be disappointed. I would like to think that the character deserves better than the never-inventive “working mother” plot thread, mixed with the “aren’t babies cute?” scenes. We had one such scene with Woolsey in this episode, and I think it was quite enough. Unfortunately, the writers seem to have no intentions of sidelining the baby, so it remains to be seen how it will be handled. (I’m waiting, of course, for the inevitable kidnapping episode.)


John Keegan
Reprinted with permission
Original source: c. Critical Myth, 2008
All rights reserved
Link: http://www.criticalmyth.com

[EdenSG]

“Broken Ties” was an intense episode that had a lot of good character and team moments. The focus of the story was not on the action but rather on friendship, loyalty and betrayal; and this was portrayed very well on different levels through several concurrent story lines.

The main premise was Ronon being kidnapped by his old friend Tyre, now a Wraith worshipper, with the goal to present Ronon to the Wraith as a bribe to return to their good graces. Jason Momoa as Ronan and Mark Dacascos as Tyre both did a great job in the scene where the two of them are talking in the warehouse just before the Wraith’s arrival. It was an emotional and intense scene between two former, loyal friends now facing the ultimate betrayal.

The scene when Tyre gave Ronon to the Wraith and then being so desperate to please the Wraith was a bit unsettling. Then watching the Wraith feed off Ronon to the point of near death and then return life just to do it again were quite brutal and tense. Having the scenes of Ronon’s transformation into an addicted Wraith worshipper cut back and forth with those of Tyre’s withdrawal emphasized the pain and anguish each was going through. In the end Tyre redeems himself by helping with the mission to rescue Ronon and then performs the ultimate act of friendship by sacrificing himself to allow Ronon and the others to successfully escape.

The friendship and loyalty between SGA team members is illustrated in several scenes and was a strong undercurrent through the entire episode. We see this friendship in the very beginning of the episode with the friendly banter and discussion of personal matters between Teyla and Ronon; we see friendship and loyalty in Sheppard’s resolve and steadfast belief that they would find and rescue Ronon, we see Teyla torn between her loyalty to and desire to help find Ronon as she struggles to make the decision of whether or not to return to active duty and we see the teams friendship and loyalty to Ronon as they never leave him alone through his withdrawal.

One of the B stories that was well played was between Teyla and Sheppard and her indecision on whether or not to return to active duty. This story also drove the themes of friendship, loyalty and perhaps even betrayal. One might see a sense of betrayal on Sheppard’s part with Teyla’s indecision to return. Not sure if the writers meant to invoke a feeling of betrayal or just tension between the two, if they had it certainly would have been interesting to see this played up a little more. One thing that was lacking in the episode was the resolution of this tension between the two of them. After seeing Teyla struggle with this decision over several episodes, Sheppard’s assumption she will return to the team then the exchange in this episode where Sheppard stressed the need for a decision from her, the scene where she told him she was returning was not played on screen. This was an unfortunate choice as again this has been an ongoing issue between the two of them over several episodes and needed to be addressed on screen.

The writers also touched on the theme of betrayal between Ronon and Sheppard when we see a brainwashed Ronon help the Wraith to capture the team and then strike Sheppard. Loyalty is played out with Sheppard’s commitment not only to rescue Ronon but to be their for him through the withdrawal process. The end scene with a silent Sheppard handing Ronon the sword was a great example of a scene that said a great deal, without either actor uttering a word. Well done by the writers and actors.

The scenes with Woolsey adjusting to life on Atlantis as well as being leader were refreshingly different from what one might expect, but in actuality very much in SG tradition. There was some humor, in the scene where the doors would not open and when Teyla handed him the baby. Some poignant scenes such as when Teyla was explaining to him her indecision about returning and he in turn shared a bit of his personal life about his divorce and losing his beloved dog. It is always satisfying as a viewer when writers - and an actor - can stretch a character like this in a single episode. Robert Picardo did a great job.

The writers pulled off a bit of a surprise with how they have handled the baby and Kanaan story. Instead of the cliché scifi treatment we have a happy family.

The musical score was wonderful, especially the last piece at the end during the montage scenes. Joel Goldsmith is a treasure.

While “Broken Ties” did have a plot was a bit predictable, as one would be fairly confident that Ronon would survive and recover, this was not a story that emphasized action or even one character. This episode was more of a team episode. It was about friendship, loyalty and betrayal presented on different levels that intertwined and played off of each other, and this is what made the episode good.

[Rachel500]

Stargate occasionally tackles material which is dark and disturbing in nature, and Broken Ties is the latest attempt focusing on our favourite Satedan. Unfortunately, Ronon’s trauma suffers from being squished into the hour long format and a distracting subplot as Teyla questions her return to Team Atlantis. The result is that while the whole is an accomplished piece of work, the main story never quite gets told to the depth or extent that the material justifies despite great acting and direction.

It has become a tradition since Ronon’s arrival that there will be a story focusing on everyone’s favourite Satedan within the first few episodes within a new season. With successes such as Runner, Sateda and Reunion, Broken Ties had quite a tradition to uphold; angst, drama and revelations about Ronon’s past were expected. Certainly, Broken Ties delivers on angst and drama while not really adding anything new in terms of Ronon’s past.

The material is dark and disturbing, touching on torture, addiction, withdrawal, broken loyalties and friendships. It is presented seriously; Tyre’s decline, his addicted personality leading him to betraying Ronon in order to get his fix, his withdrawal, his sacrifice to rescue Ronon, the brutal fight between the two during the rescue, Ronon’s agony during the initial torture, his decline, his withdrawl…all of these elements are told with serious straightness in dialogue and acted tremendously well by Mark Dacascos and Jason Momoa. The direction, photography and lighting in these segments is just superb; the dark, claustrophobic nature of the torture and addiction scenes; harsh and uncompromising light in the infirmary withdrawal scenes. Ronon’s withdrawal scenes are particularly very well done and gut-wrenching when Ronon cries out for them to kill him (although I was almost distracted by the wig).

It’s also great to see his team to battle their own discomfort at seeing him to support him through it (loved him waking up to McKay babbling on beside him) – superb acting by all the cast. Indeed, friendship and loyalty are the underlying themes; between Ronon and his team, Ronon and Tyre. It’s a well woven thread; Tyre betrays Ronon; Ronon betrays his team; a restored Tyre sacrifices himself to save Ronon and the team help him through his withdrawal, re-establishing their bond with him. Through Ronon’s experience the audience is shown Tyre’s own journey and Tyre’s redemption. The early scene with Ronon and Tyre in the abandoned building where Ronon realises what his friend has come to; as Tyre acts like any addict with screwed up thinking; it's so powerful. Yet the friendship moments between Ronon and Teyla (at the beginning), Ronon and Sheppard (in the infirmary) and Ronon and McKay (as before) just nicely underscore their friendship with him. This entire piece is played wonderfully and it would have been good to see more of it.

For me, the main problem with Broken Ties is that it’s such a huge topic to cover in an hour, that there is only so much that can be shown and additionally, the subplot almost overpowers this main plot. Clearly, the main plot had to be distilled because of the hour long format but crucially there is no evident timeline for these events beyond a mention that it may be days before Tyre is lucid…did it take days and therefore that’s why Ronon succumbs? Because it feels like it happens very quickly (within a day) casting doubt on the believability of Ronon succumbing and recovering so fast. Equally, while the audience catches glimpses of Ronon being tortured, his entire experience of being taken to the edge and returned to life is really not shown – only some superb effects as an older Ronon morphs back to his youthful self. Whether this was a direction cut or a network cut, the main plot ends up feeling like it is told with a broad brush rather than fine detail, and as a result, it loses impact.

Unfortunately, the subplot does not help. The return to Teyla’s motherhood making her question her choices is a bit startling given Quarantine seemed to provide a justification for Teyla’s return. In fact I was as startled as Sheppard was that there seemed to be a question over her return (and again Sheppard’s reaction to Teyla seems more mission commander than friend just as in the initial episodes surrounding Teyla’s pregnancy). It’s not that I don’t appreciate the attempt to show the characters as rounded individuals (the montage at the end to the classical music is well done), as characters rather than caricatures, but too much time was given over even if Rachel Luttrell does a marvellous job at displaying Teyla’s uncertainty. Here the subplot is told in fine detail rather than a broad brush and the result is that it comes close to overwhelming the main plot.

What is a joy within the subplot – and what Stargate does so well – is the gentle humour that is woven throughout in regards to Woolsey; from his inability to leave the conference room, his comment over his ex-wife getting custody of the dog, his reaction to the baby, taking the wrong direction, his wearing a suit in downtime – it’s all very nicely played by Robert Picardo – and it does continue to bring Woolsey to life as a person. While I think it was too soon to have him consoling Teyla over Ronon or for Teyla to be confiding her uncertainties (and certainly too soon to have Woolsey sympathetic), the ongoing hint of pull and push with him and Sheppard is good. The scene in the conference room where Woolsey brings Sheppard up short like a father with an over-eager child was very well done.

Overall, this is a very good episode which delivered on several fronts. The imbalance between the main and subplot mean that it never quite achieves the impact of Sateda or Common Ground, but there is a compelling story buried in the episode, one that is told with gravitas and drama, and which despite the imbalance leaves a lasting impression regardless of its broad brush strokes.