Runner (203)

[hlndncr]

I'm not a Ronan fan and I don't generally care for Ronan episodes. I will say that on this rewatching I enjoyed this episode more than I have in the past.

This is Maj. Lorne's first appearance on SGA. I really like Lorne. Kavan Smith likes to say he had no character, and I'll admit we don't get anything much in the way of a backstory, but I disagree that he's a totally empty shell. Lorne seems like a good man to have around in a fight or off duty. And with the exit of Bates and Ford we really did need some other military personnel we could recognize or it would seem like Shep was the commander of no one.

And speaking of so long Ford, yeah don't let the iris hit your butt on the way out. We have a cooler kid in town now to take your place. Too bad. The writers finally started giving him something to do and then dropped him like a hot potato. Personally, I think they were lazy and didn't want to try and make Ford someone to hang on too. (They were too busy going for the lame jokes with McKay.)

Ronan gets more backstory in the first five minutes of his introduction than Ford got after an entire year. If I were being generous I'd say they learned from their mistakes. However, after this he just becomes the big dumb muscle and all further character development is off the table.

[Matt G]

At some point...another ep of Atlantis.

1. The laugh is, back in '05 we assumed that Enzyme-Ford would be a recurring char. For whatever reason it didn't happen.

2. Also we took Ronon's presence for granted in the later season but to start with, any unspoilered viewer would not be sure if he could be trusted.

3. Androcles and the Lion. Have to read up on that.

4. Ford was just nuts here.

Solid stuff.

[Lunaeclipse]

I'm not a Ronan fan and I don't generally care for Ronan episodes. I will say that on this rewatching I enjoyed this episode more than I have in the past.

This is Maj. Lorne's first appearance on SGA. I really like Lorne. Kavan Smith likes to say he had no character, and I'll admit we don't get anything much in the way of a backstory, but I disagree that he's a totally empty shell. Lorne seems like a good man to have around in a fight or off duty. And with the exit of Bates and Ford we really did need some other military personnel we could recognize or it would seem like Shep was the commander of no one.

And speaking of so long Ford, yeah don't let the iris hit your butt on the way out. We have a cooler kid in town now to take your place. Too bad. The writers finally started giving him something to do and then dropped him like a hot potato. Personally, I think they were lazy and didn't want to try and make Ford someone to hang on too. (They were too busy going for the lame jokes with McKay.)

Ronan gets more backstory in the first five minutes of his introduction than Ford got after an entire year. If I were being generous I'd say they learned from their mistakes. However, after this he just becomes the big dumb muscle and all further character development is off the table.

I also like Lorne as a character. He makes a good second in command in a combat kind of sense and I think he is loyal which I like too. As for Ford, I liked his character to a point too, although I think he made a more interesting villain than a member of the team.

I disagree about Ronon being "big dumb muscle". He may not have a science brain (that's what Rodney's for), but usually he's keeping an eye on the things that the others aren't - like what lurking when they don't know it's there... it's a different kind of smart... and he seemed to balance Sheppard out...

[hlndncr]

I also like Lorne as a character. He makes a good second in command in a combat kind of sense and I think he is loyal which I like too. As for Ford, I liked his character to a point too, although I think he made a more interesting villain than a member of the team.

I disagree about Ronon being "big dumb muscle". He may not have a science brain (that's what Rodney's for), but usually he's keeping an eye on the things that the others aren't - like what lurking when they don't know it's there... it's a different kind of smart... and he seemed to balance Sheppard out...

I agree Ford was written better as a villian but I think that's just because Ford was written better period. They let RSF put more of himself into it and they actually made an effort to give him something to work with. If they had done that with Ford as a member of the team he would have been more interesting and might have lasted longer.

As for Ronan, I believe he had the potential to be more. In this episode we establish he's a soldier from a very advanced society and he's been able to allude the wraith for seven years. But in the next episode he's chowing down on a pile of meat and potatoes with his hands and shootin' things. In a much later ep he basically walks out when the team is trying to figure out a mystery saying something like when you have something for me to shoot at let me know. And the PTB have even said that what Ronan brings to the team was a big dangerous presence. So no matter what he could have been he was basically written off as big dumb muscle early on and that's what he stayed.

[Matt G]

Looking back, Ronon certainly comes accross as damaged goods but also, Teal'c in SG1 never knew that much science. How many elite military personel have that sort of brain?

[hlndncr]

Looking back, Ronon certainly comes accross as damaged goods but also, Teal'c in SG1 never knew that much science. How many elite military personel have that sort of brain?

I'm not suggesting that smarts = science. Or that a deep character has to be a genius. I think Teal'c became something more because he had a cause. He became a leader of his people in their fight for freedom. Ronan was meant to be the Teal'c of SGA. RCC has said as much. But IMO he was a pale immitation.

[Lunaeclipse]

I agree Ford was written better as a villian but I think that's just because Ford was written better period. They let RSF put more of himself into it and they actually made an effort to give him something to work with. If they had done that with Ford as a member of the team he would have been more interesting and might have lasted longer.

As for Ronan, I believe he had the potential to be more. In this episode we establish he's a soldier from a very advanced society and he's been able to allude the wraith for seven years. But in the next episode he's chowing down on a pile of meat and potatoes with his hands and shootin' things. In a much later ep he basically walks out when the team is trying to figure out a mystery saying something like when you have something for me to shoot at let me know. And the PTB have even said that what Ronan brings to the team was a big dangerous presence. So no matter what he could have been he was basically written off as big dumb muscle early on and that's what he stayed.

Ronon was a member of a seemingly advance society, but he had been living like a caveman for awhile, so I would expect him to act kinda that way - at least for awhile. I'm actually surprised he talked as much as he did. He would've been without anyone to talk to often enough...in my opinion he, should've been used to not saying anything at all. I give Sheppard much respect for earning Ronon's trust so quickly...

[hedwig]

Looking back, Ronon certainly comes accross as damaged goods but also, Teal'c in SG1 never knew that much science. How many elite military personel have that sort of brain?

Teal'c learned quite a lot when joining the SGC. We saw him frequently using computers for various things. He also sat in the navigator's seat on the "Prometheus" in Season 6 - though he was knowledgeable about flying stuff given his experience in flying death gliders. I imagine once he was living at the SGC, he was fairly eager to learn all he could about things related to the SGC.

Ronon didn't want to learn any of those things. By Season 5, he still hadn't learned much about how to run things, while Teyla had asked Major Marks to give her lessons on how to use the computers aboard the Daedelus in order to be able to do more than run and shoot a gun on missions. Ronon was always pretty clueless when it came to science or mechanical things - other than how to shoot his own gun and some of the earth weapons.

[Matt G]

Well as LunaEclipse just the reminded me, the guy had been living rather primitively for the past seven years - not surprised that some of the damage was long term, he couldn't fully get out of survival mode.

[Lieutenant Sparrow]

Hey look it's Tesla. Just minus his vampire side.

Ronan! I love Ronan. Jason is such a good actor. So glad they chose him to play Conan the Barbarian, and Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones.

I love his back story. It makes for a great ep later on. And his gun is still awesome.

Our first run in with crazy Ford. Talk about nuts.

Solid ep.

[Matt G]

Flip! I was wondering if that was Tesla!

[Jae'a]

My LiveJournal post
That's some first impression Ronon makes.
Poor Ford though, lost him again...

[Lunaeclipse]

Well as LunaEclipse just the reminded me, the guy had been living rather primitively for the past seven years - not surprised that some of the damage was long term, he couldn't fully get out of survival mode.

I'm guessing that's part of the reason he ate the way he did as well... He would've had to have caught his own food as well...but always aware that if he didn't move quickly the wraith could get him...sleeping with one eye open and, I'd assume eating quickly, never staying in the same place for long... As long as the tracker was in his back, they could find him... It'd be stressful...

I thought Jason Mamoa did a good job of conveying the character...

[Lunaeclipse]

Teal'c learned quite a lot when joining the SGC. We saw him frequently using computers for various things. He also sat in the navigator's seat on the "Prometheus" in Season 6 - though he was knowledgeable about flying stuff given his experience in flying death gliders. I imagine once he was living at the SGC, he was fairly eager to learn all he could about things related to the SGC.

Ronon didn't want to learn any of those things. By Season 5, he still hadn't learned much about how to run things, while Teyla had asked Major Marks to give her lessons on how to use the computers aboard the Daedelus in order to be able to do more than run and shoot a gun on missions. Ronon was always pretty clueless when it came to science or mechanical things - other than how to shoot his own gun and some of the earth weapons.

I don't think that is was necessary for him to know much of that... The team already had someone who was good at the science, and the others in the team had their own strengths. If all the characters were well rounded and knew fighting, science and all the other stuff, it would be a little boring and it could render some of the characters unnecessary...

and reluctantly Ronon did say in one of the eps that he should 'learn him some science'... Even without science knowledge he knows how to blow things up... does that make him the demolitions expert?...

[ZRFTS]

Runner

For the third episode of SGA, we get something that should of been the second episode instead of "The Intruder"; of course there are stuff that can't be easily explained but this compliments the momentum built up by "The Siege (Part 3)" and it's truly, truly awesome.

For one this is an episode manages to be many things; a hunt episode, a hostage situation episode and a character exploration episode. At one moment you get a bunch of guys looking around for a someone all while a certain tensity surrounds then and at another you get scenes of our heroes tied up in an oddly comforting situation while a certain someone watches over them with unknown intentions all while those scenes double as scenes revealing that character and fleshing him out; you even get some action scenes where there's something on the line. On the surface it may seem like these things are separate elements but if you look closely then you'll notice they have a certain way of supporting themselves. The scenes where they're roaming around build up to the hostage situation/character focus scenes which in tow contribute to the action and the drama; now something like this tends to be risky, you can't have one element outweighing the other or else everything appears unbalanced, luckily the writers manage to balance everything out so that nothing overshadows upstage each other; in fact they learn from each other and apply the lessons learned in those scenes in order to make a pretty interesting plot and the basis for which this very plot is formed serves to further enhance the bond which these elements ever so share.

Managing to be everything for everyone.

As everybody knows, this episode introduces a certain someone who would come to be known as Ford's replacement; a one "Ronan". I particularity loved his focus in the episode, his personality makes him something more then just a one dimensional character and the insight they give into the character through the usage of flashbacks and dialog scenes really gives him depth and complexion that is certainly appreciable seeing as how he's going to be sticking around for quite possibly the remainder of the series; he's just that certain someone who's introduced as just a part of the plot but proves to be really essential to the success of the series as a whole. Combined with his personality, it truly makes for one unique character that most people will remember this episode for. And Ford? Well a bit of a spoiler alert but he returns and he is more prominent and awesome then ever; he still has that enzyme driven mindset but it's nice to know that certain aspects of his personality remain, aspects such as his friendliness, charm and military knowledge. One thing I noticed is that he's better written and given more prominence than the first season; he's saying some truly memorable stuff and establishing himself as a character that should be watched. If more of this was shown in the first season then I guess he might of stuck around longer but I guess the people were clamoring for Ronan so yeah...

The atmosphere varies from element to element but there's one thing that remains consistent, the tensity. The moments that are throughout the episode show how unpredictable the environment around them is, when you have a possible standoff that's turned against you, that's unpredictability and the best part is, many of the moments shown take themselves seriously; it's the will they, won't they thing that'll have viewers hooked to the screen, even during the moments where barely anything happens. In my opinion much of the episode relies on this tensity; there's a sense of urgency which comes with the tension, one which the characters utilize to their advantage, it also allows for many of the best episodes moments to happen whether or not it's action or dialog; the unexpectedly gives a starting basis for the moments which just grow and grow until they payoff in such a fantastic way. Sure, there would still be all this other stuff if the tensity didn't exist but it wouldn't exactly be as special as it is plus it all builds up to a somewhat satisfying climax (I say somewhat because it's short and mostly anticlimatic) where everything you have invested in the episode is rewarded dearly.

Satisfying...

Teyla was particularly useful in that her alien side was utilized in order to enhance the scenes and bring out more in "Ronan", her history has the ability to enhance scenes and I'm just glad they didn't let that lay to the wayside plus we did get some insight into his character as well as her own. Sheppard is decent as usual and Rodney is decent even though he gets some more screentime then the others, his shtick about sunscreen was okayish at first but it kept getting pushed further and further until it negatively affected his performance in the episode, (to the point where a trying too hard one-off character which his snarky lines ends up being better than him.) some of the moments where he acted out were annoying but that's counteracted by the moments where he shows concern, aggression, fear and empathy; in fact the moments where he does show them are pivotal to some of the episodes best moments... I was entertained when he did those moments and I have a feeling that if his character had more of those moments rather then the other moments then he'd turn out to be a better character. Beckett gets a surprising chance to shine when he shows his skills as a doctor and performs surgery on certain someone; though his time is short, his compassion and attention to detail comes across as clear as a bell and the operation itself was a pretty entertaining moment that really reflected the situation they were in and the character he was operating on as a whole.

It's pleasing to see such an exciting episode that gets Atlantis's second season back on track; it may have it's bad moments but it's certainly got it's good moments as well. It's awesome, it focuses on a nice character, it has a tense feeling to everything and even though it's not the best written, it's a really good Atlantis episode that you'll want to watch over and over again. What excuse could you have for not watching this?

8.0/10