Interpretations of the 'Teyla's Secret Revealed!' ( Spoilers)

[StarSkimmer]

I find it rather amusing that everyone interpreted that scene differently. You go to the Sheyla thread, and they're celebrating Sheppard's obvious jealousy and angst over Teyla's pregnancy. Go to the Ronon/Teyla thread, and you see them crowing over the obvious love (not friendship!) between the two. Go to the Ronon/Keller thread, and they're nodding wisely over how Ronon and Teyla are just friends.

Me, I got conflicting messages from that scene. One one hand - I have plenty of guy-friends, but I would *never* hold hands with them. (Ronon and Teyla held hands... a declaration of undying love?) On the other, Ronon wasn't visibly upset over Teyla's pregnancy... not the reaction of a man desperately in love. Thus, I get both friendship vibes and "OMG Royla forever!" from that scene.

As for Shep/Teyla - his reaction came across to me as angry that Teyla had risked her life and the lives of her teammates, rather than shocked and jealous. But, that's just how I see it. I'm sure plenty of people have different viewpoints - which you are welcomed (and encouraged) to share & discuss here. While respecting everyone's ship preferences, of course.

Thoughts? Ideas? Imput? What do you think?

[Jumper_One]

my thoughts? Shep and Teyla are friends, Ronon and Teyla are friends, and Shep and Ronon are also friends lol. Shep's the team leader and as such is responsible for her, he was definitely within his rights to take her off the team. Ronon was just comforting Teyla since she obviously didn't expect this kind of reaction. there's nothing more to it imo

[LoveConquers]

I don't know if I want to get into this one too much since as you stated, it's been hashed quite a bit already in various threads and no matter what is posted here, people will interpret it the way they want. That goes for me as well of course.

With that said, I will offer this quote from an interview with Rachel Luttrell in the Jan/Feb 2008 Stargate Magazine as an additional reason beyond personal interpretation for why we think John may have some jealousy. It shows us this was also the intention of the actors. Personal interpretation is important of course too, and I am by no means discounting that, but I believe the factual intention of a written scene is as well.

Needless to say, Sheppard has difficulties accepting Teyla's announcement.
"We were shooting an episode after Teyla told Sheppard she was pregnant and there was an interaction between the two of them," recalls Luttrell.
"Sheppard is being protective of her and doesn't want Teyla to go out on all
these missions now. There's a scene that plays out between the two where
Teyla is essentially demanding to go on a mission, saying, 'I still have all
the cababilities I always had' and they get into a bit of an argument. The
two of us were working out that scene, going back and forth, and Joe
Flanigan finally said 'I figured out what is going on in this scene for
Sheppard. He's jealous!' There is definite jealousy that Teyla is
pregnant, that there was somebody else, and she didn't tell him. Those are
some of the colors we were playing with but it is one of those things that
happens in real life too. You may be attracted to someone yet your
attachment to your culture or your roots sometimes becomes a stronger pull."

[StarSkimmer]

With that said, I will offer this quote from an interview with Rachel Luttrell in the Jan/Feb 2008 Stargate Magazine as an additional reason beyond personal interpretation for why we think John may have some jealousy. It shows us this was also the intention of the actors. Personal interpretation is important of course too, and I am by no means discounting that, but I believe the factual intention of a written scene is as well.

*gasp* Oh noes! Actual evidence?!?!

Needless to say, Sheppard has difficulties accepting Teyla's announcement.
"We were shooting an episode after Teyla told Sheppard she was pregnant and there was an interaction between the two of them," recalls Luttrell.
"Sheppard is being protective of her and doesn't want Teyla to go out on all
these missions now. There's a scene that plays out between the two where
Teyla is essentially demanding to go on a mission, saying, 'I still have all
the cababilities I always had' and they get into a bit of an argument. The
two of us were working out that scene, going back and forth, and Joe
Flanigan finally said 'I figured out what is going on in this scene for
Sheppard. He's jealous!' There is definite jealousy that Teyla is
pregnant, that there was somebody else, and she didn't tell him. Those are
some of the colors we were playing with but it is one of those things that
happens in real life too. You may be attracted to someone yet your
attachment to your culture or your roots sometimes becomes a stronger pull."

Oooh... I want to see that scene! Now! Protective!Jealous!Shep! *squees*

Although, I gotta say - if Sheppard gives Teyla trouble because he's jealous (as oppose to getting angry because she risked her life, etc.), then he definitely deserves to get smacked. With all the kirking around he does?!

As for the evidence for Sheyla... oh, well. If I can ignore all the Ronon/Keller moments, and continue to be Shweir even in Elizabeth's absence, I can survive this.

[starfox]

I look at it with emphasis on Sheppard's line "you let me send you out there" (paraphrased). We know he takes his responsibility to his team very seriously. Teyla hiding her condition from him could have resulted in him putting her into a situation likely to heighten the possibility of her miscarriage (which is high in the first trimester to begin with), which in turn would heighten the possibility of the team having to drag her back to Atlantis. She's one of his best fighters and he's just found out that her fighting capacity could be diminished. She could be more easily hurt and get other people hurt. For someone who sees his team as his family and who takes his responsibility for their lives so seriously, that's a big deal.

There's also the fact that Sheppard views Teyla as a friend at the very least. For someone he cares about and sees himself as close to, hiding a secret that big for two months, as well as the fact that she was in a romantic relationship to begin with? That demonstrates a lack of trust, and Sheppard needs his team to trust him, both in order to keep the friendship going, and in order for things to work well in the field.

This wasn't just a lack of opportunity to tell him. It would be different if Teyla had discovered she was pregnant only a week ago and just hadn't had the chance. She actively kept a medical condition secret for two months. Whether you see Sheppard as a friend, a love interest, or a concerned commanding officer, his upset is understandable.

[PG15]

As a neutral (I don't particularly side with any ships), this is what I said about it in my review of the episode:

The best character scene, without a doubt, however, was when Teyla told Shep and Ronon about her pregnency. The scene suddenly rises above the rest of the episode (but not before making that awesome joke. "Don't look at me!" Oh Ronon) and gets a life of its own. Joe Flanigan was just...ridiculously brilliant in that scene, I guess, is the best way to describe it. It was just so well done. I think it was a hard scene to portray, as well. Joe had to mix into the portrayl the right amount of selfless concern for the child and Teyla, with the selfish jealousy that I read he intended to portray, which I saw as well. It must have been confusing to be blindsided like that. I think his decision, while the right one, was based on his jealously, to be honest, and he rationalised it with his concern.

Now, the best twist in the scene, is how the two men handled the news. Shep was new to all of this. He's a military guy, sure, but he's still not as laid back and mellow (yeah, I know) as Ronon is, after all his years of being hunted by the Wraith and putting up with all that crap. What this scene tells me is that Ronon is a lot more emotionally-numb than Sheppard, and that he knows that (as Sunday showed) there was nothing really there between him and Teyla. Shep, on the other hand, being a...well, guy from Earth who had to put up with much less crap and is a lot more emotionally fragile as a result (relatively speaking), probably thought there was always that possibility between him and Teyla. It was a very deep scene that can be interpreted in sooo many ways.

For me, there was definitely shipping fodder for Sheppard and Teyla, while the Ronon and Teyla interaction was purely friendship-based (but oh-so-sweet nonetheless). I might actually think about this further if I had not known that TPTB already decided that, at least for this season, there will be no real shipping.

Platonic!Ronon/Teyla FTW!!

So I got carried away at the end, big deal.

[jenks]

I find it rather amusing that everyone interpreted that scene differently. You go to the Sheyla thread, and they're celebrating Sheppard's obvious jealousy and angst over Teyla's pregnancy. Go to the Ronon/Teyla thread, and you see them crowing over the obvious love (not friendship!) between the two. Go to the Ronon/Keller thread, and they're nodding wisely over how Ronon and Teyla are just friends.

Me, I got conflicting messages from that scene. One one hand - I have plenty of guy-friends, but I would *never* hold hands with them. (Ronon and Teyla held hands... a declaration of undying love?) On the other, Ronon wasn't visibly upset over Teyla's pregnancy... not the reaction of a man desperately in love. Thus, I get both friendship vibes and "OMG Royla forever!" from that scene.

As for Shep/Teyla - his reaction came across to me as angry that Teyla had risked her life and the lives of her teammates, rather than shocked and jealous. But, that's just how I see it. I'm sure plenty of people have different viewpoints - which you are welcomed (and encouraged) to share & discuss here. While respecting everyone's ship preferences, of course.

Thoughts? Ideas? Imput? What do you think?

I think it's safe to say Ronon and Teyla are just friends, especially considering the

Spoiler:

Ronon/Keller ship that's on it's way

Shep is harder to read, but I think he was just pissed off with her for the position she had put him in.

[Killdeer]

Personally, I think the actors' personal interpretations of what's going on are not necessarily canon. Not that there's anything wrong with that of course - I would expect the actors to interpret and try to fill in the blanks of their characters. But it's kind of like when Joe Flanigan called Larrin a "love interest" for Shep and then Joe Mallozzi came along later and said "not exactly" or something along those lines. Or when the writers invented

Spoiler:

a well-to-do background for Shep in Outcast,

and that didn't exactly jive with how JF had been interpreting his character.

I believe that it was in the same article that LC quoted that Rachel mentioned something about Teyla tending to go to Sheppard for comfort and reassurance or something like that. I remember thinking....."ummm, exactly when was this?" Because we've seen Teyla go to Shep for comfort or counsel exactly once in 70 episodes, and that was in

Spoiler:

Doppelganger - 64 episodes in.

So, while that may be Rachel's view of what's going on behind the scenes, it's not canon, because we haven't seen it onscreen, and it may not match up to what the writers come up with down the road. In fact, at this point the writers seem to be leaning toward Ronon as Teyla's confidant, not Sheppard.

I do think Shep was upset and stunned. But I didn't see jealousy here. In fact, as he said to Carter later, he didn't even think about asking about who the father was. And frankly, I've never seen anything onscreen to tell me that Shep holds hidden feelings for Teyla other than as one of his team, his family. You (generic you) can tell me that all day long, but if I don't see it onscreen, I'm going to have an awfully hard time believing it.

Just my opinion.

[garhkal]

One one hand - I have plenty of guy-friends, but I would *never* hold hands with them. (Ronon and Teyla held hands...
Thoughts? Ideas? Imput? What do you think?

I thought that was more of a 'fatherly protection' thing than love.. We see many instances in RL where a parent (father) holds his daughters hands when taking htem to the hospital. Especially when pregnancy is involved..

[Sweetsong]

There's also the fact that Sheppard views Teyla as a friend at the very least. For someone he cares about and sees himself as close to, hiding a secret that big for two months, as well as the fact that she was in a romantic relationship to begin with? That demonstrates a lack of trust, and Sheppard needs his team to trust him, both in order to keep the friendship going, and in order for things to work well in the field.

I am sure Teyla trusts him enough to give him the proper Intel when the need arises. However, on a personal front, she did confide in John during "The Gift" when she began to sense the presence of the wraith, and he turned around and told the shrink about it, Teyla was not pleased. Needless to say perhaps she could not trust him information about her personal life anymore, which does not make her a bad team mate.

There seemed to be something between Shep and Teyla in season 1, but from then on it just became a working relationship, it definietly wasn't a "love just beneath the surface but can not act on it due to responsiblities," situation like it was with Carter and O'neil.
I think Shep is more into Larrin, or one of the other alien babes he's met so far rather than the one on his team.

[starfox]

I am sure Teyla trusts him enough to give him the proper Intel when the need arises. However, on a personal front, she did confide in John during "The Gift" when she began to sense the presence of the wraith, and he turned around and told the shrink about it, Teyla was not pleased. Needless to say perhaps she could not trust him information about her personal life anymore, which does not make her a bad team mate.

There seemed to be something between Shep and Teyla in season 1, but from then on it just became a working relationship, it definietly wasn't a "love just beneath the surface but can not act on it due to responsiblities," situation like it was with Carter and O'neil.
I think Shep is more into Larrin, or one of the other alien babes he's met so far rather than the one on his team.

Oh, don't mistake me, I was not interpreting this from a John/Teyla p.o.v. I don't ship Sheppard with anyone in canon, and I especially dislike John/Teyla. I'm just saying that John was po'ed that she didn't tell him something that altered the field situation, and hurt (whether rationally or irrationally) that Teyla didn't share this major detail of her life with him, even though they're supposed to be friends. Logic doesn't seem to matter to people so much when their feelings are hurt.

[wise one]

i would do what sheppard had done

if my girlfriend or wife was 3 months pregant and was gallabanding around afganistan shooting bad guys i would be pissed

earth probaly has different views on pregnauncy and the laws on life or something so sheppard was right to shout at her

[LoveConquers]

Personally, I think the actors' personal interpretations of what's going on are not necessarily canon. Not that there's anything wrong with that of course - I would expect the actors to interpret and try to fill in the blanks of their characters. But it's kind of like when Joe Flanigan called Larrin a "love interest" for Shep and then Joe Mallozzi came along later and said "not exactly" or something along those lines. Or when the writers invented

Spoiler:

a well-to-do background for Shep in Outcast,

and that didn't exactly jive with how JF had been interpreting his character.

I believe that it was in the same article that LC quoted that Rachel mentioned something about Teyla tending to go to Sheppard for comfort and reassurance or something like that. I remember thinking....."ummm, exactly when was this?" Because we've seen Teyla go to Shep for comfort or counsel exactly once in 70 episodes, and that was in

Spoiler:

Doppelganger - 64 episodes in.

So, while that may be Rachel's view of what's going on behind the scenes, it's not canon, because we haven't seen it onscreen, and it may not match up to what the writers come up with down the road. In fact, at this point the writers seem to be leaning toward Ronon as Teyla's confidant, not Sheppard.

I do think Shep was upset and stunned. But I didn't see jealousy here. In fact, as he said to Carter later, he didn't even think about asking about who the father was. And frankly, I've never seen anything onscreen to tell me that Shep holds hidden feelings for Teyla other than as one of his team, his family. You (generic you) can tell me that all day long, but if I don't see it onscreen, I'm going to have an awfully hard time believing it.

Just my opinion.

Oh I agree, Kildeer. I wouldn't consider that article to be canon either, which is why I specifically did not use that word, but rather use it as support. I think it adds weight that the actors involved in production see the same thing that I see. For me, what is canon is obviously what happens on screen and also for me what the writer's write and intend to be seen on screen. The fine line is that inevitably even what is on screen when subtle is open to personal interpretation. I do put weight in what the actors say, but put a whole lot more weight in what the writers/producers say, and of course, the most weight in what is said on screen. (If that makes any sense at all, LOL!)
As an example, I don't consider this article canon, but I think it's pretty great support. But I do consider John being Teyla's crush canon because though vague, it happened on screen and was stated by Martin Gero to be the intention by the way it was written and filmed (classic storytelling parallels). The fine line I mentioned is that even with Gero confirming it was John, because it was vague on screen, personal interpretation allows people to believe what they want (and conveniently ignore Gero, IMO, LOL!) So it's all a fine line. Sorry for the ramble.

And to be clear, I even wrote in the J/T thread that I didn't really see jealousy in BAMSR either. The scene in the article hasn't happened yet. But I thought it applied to BAMSR as well as it shows their direction and intent with John's reaction to it all.

And you know as well as I do that we'll never get outright romance or outright declaration on screen, unless perhaps at series end, so conversations like this can and will most likely continue indefinitely and never really get anywhere because ultimately people will see what they want to see. It's left subtle and vague on purpose. Lucky us.