Trinity (206)

[Mio]

I have to agree with the earlier poster that once again the episode was seriously lacking in beleivability! My big hang up this episode is the super gun destroying the entire planet.

Assuming that the planet's land masses were spread out like on earth there is absolutely positively no way a energy gun could wipe everything out because it shoots in straight lines! A vast majority of the planet would be outside its "line of site".

You're confusing the gun with the power source. The gun was simply a variation on the Ancient defense satellite, modified to shoot in bursts rather than in a 'beam'. The power source was like a AA battery versus a power plant. When the power source was going critical, the weapon tried to relieve some of the excess energy by firing. It was the Zero point extraction thingy going critical that blew up 5/6 of the solar system.

[Southern Red]

Speaking as someone who still believes it's just a TV show which we must view with a huge amount of artistic license, I will still say that this was a great episode for character building and tying up little relationship points.
l. Rodney's arrogance and refusal to listen to reason has been building to the point that he has now nearly destroyed a solar system, almost killed his best friend who may have lost trust in him for good, and broken bonds with his entire scientific team. Oh, and royally pissed off his boss. DH is doing a marvelous job of showing all the conflicting emotions and nearly obsessive thoughts of his character. I love Rodney, but he is making me squirm.
2. Sheppard's struggle to make the right decisions while past failures are haunting him, obey his military superior, not break his shaky trust with Weir and do what he thinks should be done for the good of Atlantis and Earth are all present on his face. Sometimes all at once. His tension is evident in his body language. The way he stands like a coiled spring when he wants to get his point across, and you can just see the wheels turning. Joe is doing a wonderful job of being Sheppard. He's not rushing about, waving his arms and screaming "look at me, here's Shep being stubborn, here's Shep being a brave hero, here he is being the ranking military officer of Atlantis, now it's time to make a face that gets Elizabeth to change her mind" No, Joe Flanigan is John Sheppard. He puts him on like a comfortable pair of shoes and we see his strengths and vulnerabilities.
3. Zalenka has grown so much as a character, and seems to have developed a genuine friendship with McKay. I noticed they are calling each other by their first names. Nykl also projects this character is a skillful way. Now it remains to be seen how the dynamic between those two has been altered.
4. Teyla is finally getting to grow. She will continue to be a great asset to them as a negotiator. She will also prove to be a factor is keeping Ronon from becoming more of his own worst enemy. Now let's move her out of the scantily clad alien wardrobe.
5. Elizabeth is torn between trying to get along with Caldwell because she knows he is out to get her and Sheppard, and following her own tendency to not trust the military and try for peaceful negotiations at all cost. The thought of such a powerful weapon scares her, but she has grown over the last year to the point that she can accept its existence reluctantly. She trusts Sheppard's opinion because she knows he has the best interests of Atlantis at heart and won't lie to her. Yes, some of us see and hope for a relationship between the two of them, but give us some credit for being beyond the "ooh, aren't they pretty. Let's make babies." stage. What,for crying out loud, would be wrong with a slow buildup to a love relationship? Remember that a growing number of mature women are watching this show. It can't be all science yimmer yammer every week.
I'm sure I could think of more, but real life calls. I just wanted to give the psycho shipper perspective.

[whatswiththehairtealc]

The second to last scene where DEX and Tayla get back and Dr. Wier is *****ing the crap out of McKay, is perfectly done. I love how you hear the conversation from way outside the room, highlighting how bad McKay is getting it. it reminded me of the scene in Top Gun when the Air Boss was yelling at the chief instructor about Maveric performing a "flyBy".

I also wonder how many worlds and civilizations McKay wiped out with that little screw up and I wonder if it will come back to bit the team in the ass.

[Steve_the_Wraith]

McKay blew up 5/6 of the solar system but chances are the other planets were uninhabitated

[aAnubiSs]

The second to last scene where DEX and Tayla get back and Dr. Wier is *****ing the crap out of McKay, is perfectly done. I love how you hear the conversation from way outside the room, highlighting how bad McKay is getting it. it reminded me of the scene in Top Gun when the Air Boss was yelling at the chief instructor about Maveric performing a "flyBy".

I also wonder how many worlds and civilizations McKay wiped out with that little screw up and I wonder if it will come back to bit the team in the ass.

0 Civilizations. They would've mentioned if the solar system had a second planet with people on it.

[FoolishPleasure]

My take on "Trinity". . . I liked it quite a bit, on several different levels.

Rodney. . Rodney is not the perfect "Nobel prize winning" scientist he thinks he is. That's what I like about this show - no one is perfect, everyone "fails" now and then, it makes them more believable as characters. David Hewlett shows, once again, what a versatile actor he is. Loved how he had to ask Sheppard's forgiveness at the end, and I found that scene very powerful. Rodney screwed up big time and now he has to pretty much suck up to everyone. . .until he saves the day in a future episode, and redeems himself.

Someone remarked about whether bosses really yell like that. Yep, I've worked for a few men and women who threw marvelous temper tantrums. Weir ripping into Rodney was great, IMO. . go Lizzy!

Ronon continues to impress (and. .NO, he is not an alcoholic ). Last week I mentioned that Ronon's acceptance into the team was too easy. I said we would find he is still a loose cannon. Yep. He is. I feel that Ronon was a good person and a good soldier in his past, but the circumstances he has lived in has made him. . I guess you could say, feral. It will take time for the "real" Ronon to come forward. He is not an evil, or a bad person, and I bet he even knows table manners.

Teyla. .Gee, Ronon and Teyla DO look good together. I have never been a Teyla fan but her scenes with Ronon do have a spark of some sort. Rachel has never seemed to have a connection/chemistry with any of the other actors until now. Rachel and Jason play off each other well and it brings a new side to Teyla. She understands why Ronon killed his mentor (the guy was a traitor and caused the deaths of thousands of Ronon's people), but she doesn't think the Atlantis crew will. So they have a secret. It will come back to bite them, I'm sure. One thing I do have to admit. . a teeny crack sort of opened up. .I just "might" like Teyla a bit more.

One other observation. Caldwell admitted he is on the lookout for Ancient weapons. Sound a bit "Kinseyesque"?

[not so ancient]

It's worth considering what McKay has been through with his science team, too.

The Hot Zone. His science team was attacked by a nanovirus. Several colleagues die. McKay's call to keep everyone isolated was a good one.

The Defiant One. Two of his science team are attacked by the Wraith. One is outright killed by the Wraith. The other is dying and takes his own life.

The Siege. Peter Grodin dies because they couldn't repair the Satellite adequately, despite their best efforts. Because they couldn't repair the Satelitte adequately, two Hive ships continue on to Atlantis and create at least 40 casualties and a great deal of damage.

The Siege Part II. Major efforts by the scientists to get the Chair working, to build nuclear bombs, to get the jumpers remote piloted. No deaths among the scientists (that are shown), but certainly stress beyond anything we can imagine.

The Siege Part III. More heroic scientific work. The city is saved.

Intruder: Two members of McKay's science team are lost.

Trinity: Collins dies.

I don't think anyone can fairly say that McKay tossed these lives away just to serve his ego. None can be, in fact, directly attributed to his decisions, capabilities, or errors, except perhaps Collins.

Even from what's not his fault, it's a terrible burden for McKay to bear. He has to be at least somewhat mentally sound to handle that - at all. A lot of people would have just gone home, because their hearts couldn't take what happened, and what could continue to happen.

There is hard work that requires brilliance, determination, courage, and yes, confidence or even ego, to do in Atlantis. McKay drives forward to find solutions, and while he's very cringy at finding solutions if it involves physical danger to himself, he does that anyway. The rewards (surviving another day, making discoveries that are of immeasurable benefit to humanity) are worth risks.

I think all this schadenfreude at The Comeupance of Rodney McKay is indicative of a lack of insight at best, and a nasty streak, at worst.

[ShadowMaat]

What,for crying out loud, would be wrong with a slow buildup to a love relationship? Remember that a growing number of mature women are watching this show. It can't be all science yimmer yammer every week.

What would be wrong with a slow buildup to a romantic relationship? How about the fact that I, for one, don't see any sexual chemistry between Weir and Sheppard? And while I'm sure you didn't intend it, your comment implies, to me, that "mature women" somehow need a romantic element in the show in order to find the show worth watching. Now, while that may be true for you, I doubt that it's true for ALL women, regardless of their maturity level. I watch for the PLOTS, not to see two characters making goo-goo eyes at each other and eventually shagging. If I want that, I'll watch soap operas, thank you, not an action-oriented scifi series.

And just because you don't care for "science yimmer yammer" doesn't mean that others don't like it. I, for one, happen to find the "yimmer yammer" one of the better elements of the show and I'd rather watch THAT than the slow vapidization of Weir and Sheppard as TPTB mangle their characters to make room for more ship. That's my interpretation of things, at least, although I'm sure that many will disagree.

I don't want main character ship on the show. EVER. The only reason I don't object to Dex/Teyla is because neither of them are treated as main characters and because, unlike every other "pairing" I've seen mentioned, I feel that Dex and Teyla actually have a bit of chemistry. If I see chemistry, I'm willing to accept the possibility of ship. If I don't see it, I'm not. *shrug* It's that simple.

Again, just because SOME feel that romance adds to a show doesn't mean that ALL must feel that. I resent the idea that as a woman, I need to have a sexual pairing on the show to root for in order to find it worth watching. NOT true. Not for me. I'm quite content to watch a show where NO ONE hooks up romantically onscreen. Especially not the main characters.

I'll save the rest of my rant for the ship discussion thread (or one could simply go and read what I've already said there), but I wanted to make it abundantly clear that I am NOT watching Stargate to see the characters "hook up".

[derrickh]

Say what? Hello? She pulled the knife on him, remember? If he hit, she'd hit him back and she CAN hit.

He took the knife away from her like it was a toy. He was never in any real danger from Teyla, that much was obvious. You think for a second that Ronon was scared into thinking 'oh no, I better not be bad because Teyla will hurt me'? Nope. That little display by Teyla was so that she could continue to delude herself into thinking that she can have some effect on how Ronon acts. She can't. she hasn't. and she won't.

During that exchange, you can almost hear Ronon thinking, 'Whatever'. And what was Teyla's big threat? 'Next time I wont be so forgiving'. Thats supposed to scare him. No. What it means is that she just gave him a free pass to do it again. And maybe the next time he uses her the help murder someone, she'll take the giant leap of telling someone else about it. Maybe.

Teyla talks first, then resorts to action (violence) only if necessary. She's the leader of her people and if she used violence first, well, she wouldn't last long. I'm not sure where you get the idea that she likes her men 'dangerous.'

Nope. Thats not how Teyla acts. Last season she fought with the security officer because he accused her of being a spy. He ACCUSED her of something, and she beat him up. Ronon KILLS a man 2 feet away form her and she gives him a lecture?

The idea that Teyla is attracted to 'dangerous' men (aka abusive) is based solely on whats been shown on screen. Her current boyfriend has 1. Tied her up 2. Kidnapped her. 3. Beat her up using a cheap shot during 'training'. 4. Ended negotiations with a knife. 5. Killed a man in cold blood after lying to her.

There are a lot of people on Atlantis. Her own people live a few minutes away. But the guy she decides to spend time with and go shopping with is the one who has treated her worse than anyone else on the planet? Great judgment Teyla.

If this were BSG, I'd give some credence to such a theory, but Teyla a battered woman? Uh uh.

You may be right. BSG probably would be more upfront about the subject and not try to paint this as a cute relationship. Maybe the writers on SG:A are sneaking this stuff into the show to see how far they can go. Maybe it's all subtext that they didnt ever plan. Doesn't really matter, because whats on the screen is a woman in an abusive relationship.

D

[FoolishPleasure]

It's worth considering what McKay has been through with his science team, too.

You make a good point. There has to be a huge amount of guilt rumbling around Rodney's brain. He mentions wanting to win the Nobel Prize (the McKay ego), but he does mention not wanting people to die for nothing (guilt?).

Poor Rodney. He so needs a big squishy hug.

Ye gads. . I didn't mention Zelenka previously. Why the heck is he not a reg?

Did my eyes deceive me? Did I not see the German woman scientist again this week?

Southern Red: As another one of those "mature female" sci-fi fans, I see where you are coming from. I really get turned off with the, "Oh, aren't those two half-dressed characters so HOT together!" factor. Which is why I'm drawn to the Teyla/Ronon angle - while Teyla was originally the dull "hot bod", the interaction with Ronon can bring a different aspect to her. They have so much in common - they can be INTERESTING without being just HOT looking together (did you notice she didn't dress "skimpy" this episode?). And I do see something with the Shep/Weir angle as well. Not because they are "Oh, so HOT", but because they have care, respect AND conflict with each other.

For characters to be "shipped". .(not that any WILL be), they have to be interesting, and have a purpose for the "ship". Two hot looking actors together "ain't gonna cut it".

[smushybird]

What would be wrong with a slow buildup to a romantic relationship? How about the fact that I, for one, don't see any sexual chemistry between Weir and Sheppard? And while I'm sure you didn't intend it, your comment implies, to me, that "mature women" somehow need a romantic element in the show in order to find the show worth watching. Now, while that may be true for you, I doubt that it's true for ALL women, regardless of their maturity level. I watch for the PLOTS, not to see two characters making goo-goo eyes at each other and eventually shagging. If I want that, I'll watch soap operas, thank you, not an action-oriented scifi series.

I'll chime in that I don't see any sexual chemistry between Weir and Sheppard, either. There have been one or two scenes where I've sensed that some of the writers want to push the two of them in that direction, and those moments have felt a bit forced. Weir and Sheppard work better together when they're butting heads or when she's relaxed and real (which isn't frequent enough) and they can be friends.

I don't need the romantic element either, to enjoy a show like Atlantis. I'm 42 (which I'm assuming most people consider mature ) and I've never been a big fan of love stories, unless they're really unconventional. They seldom are. I've said here before that I would hate to see Atlantis become a soap opera. Once again - please, writers, don't go in that direction.

And I like the science yimmer yammer, too.
Ok, and the cute guys.

[creed462]

McKay will probly start getting less arogrant. He needed the defeat to develope him.

[The2ndQuest]

A pretty good ep overall. I think Caldwell has had his best scenes so far in his brief appearances in this episode and I was really digging the interaction between Teyla and Dex.


However, there were a few lines of dialogue I just could not understand what was being said no matter how many times I replayed it on my Tivo, anyone want to fill me in?

Dex: "anyone believes he should be avenged...("youram"? "noram"?)

Shep: "I'm sure you can do - if you ("really want to try"?)

[Gargen]

McKay blew up 5/6 of the solar system but chances are the other planets were uninhabitated

yea the chances of more than one inhabited planet in a solar system is very unlikely

[not so ancient]

Doesn't really matter, because whats on the screen is a woman in an abusive relationship.

While you may have personal or professional insight into battered women, you are projecting onto Teyla what is simply not there, and in fact, laughable, to the rest of us. You've failed to convincingly explain it. This obsession with Teyla being somehow battered and dominated by Dex is, really, rather....disturbing.