Sateda (304)

[kymeric]

*This is the first time we've seen a hive led by a male. Quite the change from the BEE HIVE social structure of the first two years. I wonder if this hive was the exception. Gives some political/cultural differences between how some hives run. Maybe there are some matriarcy, some patri, and Im waiting for democratic wraith. "All in favor of eating everyone on this planet raise ure hand"

*Rhonin has emotions. Wierd. Did anyone else feel his wife had it coming. Im all for naieve idealistic hand wringin, but i have never seen anyone more determined to die. Not even the son in the war of the worlds remake!

*Man Sheppards got some back story. Trust me, no one is that withdrawn and unable to communicate without something big that happened to them. I bet his parents were gunned down in a dark alley leading him to vow justice as a caped crusader! ... Uhm .....

*EDIT*
Oh and ROFL at the wraith sunglasses.

[Pocus]

Wow! is the first thought that comes to mind when I think of this episode. It was full of good things: Explosions, character development, explosions, team development, explosions, sinister villians, explosions, leather *sigh*. Nice job!

Stuff I liked:

*Getting some insight into what Ronon had to deal with for seven years. It makes it easier to understand his "shoot first, especially if it is Wraith" attitude. I thought the flashbacks were great. They were short bursts of uncontrolled memories of the last time he was there. If he had not been in mortal danger, then the flashbacks probably would have been different. They would have been more selective and sad remembering life on Sateda, not the death and destruction.

*John and Teyla interaction. It had a feeling of mending bridges to me. I think that way back in Letters from Pegasus, Teyla developed a "them and us" feeling about the people on Atlantis and the people in the Pegasus Galaxy when John did not do what she expected him to do. The situation was totally different from going to find Ronon, but I think that she was still surprised at the effort and committment that was put into locating and going after Ronon. I liked how John tried to explain his feelings to her about the people on Atlantis and certain ones in specific. It was great to hear him say what he would be willing to do to save his "family" on Atlantis.

*Rodney was great. Yes, he got shot in the butt with an arrow, but he handled it well. He did not let it get in the way of going to get his friend. He is another one that does not show emotion well. He would rather hide behind science and ego than admit out loud that he cares. BUT, he did just that when fighting with Carson about who was going to help the team out. He felt that it was his place to go. He may have never had a conversation with Ronon, but he has seen what type of person Ronon is and how far he will go to save someone. Rodney respects and likes strong personalities and Ronan is just that!

*Carson has come a long way since Rising. He did not hesitate to do what needed to be done to save Ronon and he definitely seemed willing to go do more if necessary.

*The Wraith were a little more individualized. It was cool seeing some different looks and technology. The Big Wraith was interesting. He came across as scary, egocentric, and just plain mean. I thought it was interesting that he put Ronan back where it all started. He knew that would be the most hurtful thing.

(now for the shallow, entertainment stuff)

* leather and black uniforms for all -- woohoo

* explosions and cool weapons

* lots of good fight scenes

* Rodney's boxers

Stuff I did not like:

thinking.....

* We had to wait this long for an action episode with character/team development in it.

*

Nope, can't come up with anything else!

[shockwave]

A great episode
Probably the best SGA episode
the character development, the action
they should make more episodes like this instead of episodes about stupid behaviour and cheesyness

the closest thing to a BSG episode SGA has

RCC should write more stuff like this

[buzlighty1]

this episode had everything. it was like a mini movie.

It was great to see what Jason is capable of as actor and hopefully has earned some respect from the Pro Ford fans. who are always looking down at him as the guy that just replaced Ford.

Sateda is what Atlantis should be and it shows that SGA has a bright future

Yeah its an awesome episode. But i think it fit more into season 2 then it does season 3. I'd rather them explained why the wraith can't feed on him. Plus whats with the male wraith controling his own hive. What do you think?

[AGateFan]

Maybe Ronan killed the queen the last time he was taken hostage and thats why the dominant male wraith was so p'd off? Of course if that had happen you think they would have showed it.

Maybe their last queen died and the new canadates dont think this hive is worth the effort because they were never able to kill Ronan and so they have to kill ronan to get a new queen. But then why the game, why not kill him outright.

Maybe this is like a training hive where all the young males hang out hunting trying to get accepted by other hives with queens. That doesnt quite work.

But a hive of males that were booted from their oringal hives by the queens and the other dominant males... that kind of works. These wraith all looked a bit different then your normal wraith so maybe they were outcast. Kind like in nature when one animal gets kicked out of a group and it has to go make its own new group... generally the young males all kind of congragate together and fight amongst themselves to get some experience and some attention from the femals.

I guess maybe Michael would have ended up with a group like this, or made his own (maybe still will).

[macktheknife]

what about that wraith from condemmed?

[aaobuttons]

I really liked this episode. I don't think it was the best, or even one of the best, but it's definetly a great episode. It unfortunately went a little long and repetitive in spots and if it had been tightened a bit it would have flowed better.

Likes:
- Ronon development. It's about time. I really liked how he cried out when he was in pain, and more than once. So many times hero types are silent or just grunt when they get punched, thrown, stabbed, etc., and that's not a person really acts. His hug to Beckett was great! Reminded me of a fic I read a long time ago called something like Androcles and the Lion.
- The Shep/Teyla scene. Great to see a bit under that Coolness shield of Sheps. And how he awkwardly patted her hand, like he didn't really know how to show affection. I really wish this had been in early season 2 though... It just seems like they've been through too much together to be having this conversation now.
- Rodney and Carson the heroes!
- Shep didn't save the day!

Dislikes:
- Why have Caldwell there, just another example of him disagreeing with the team for no plot reason. It could have easily been handled off screen since the team got their way.
- Why does Teyla feel like she's not a part of Atlantis??? She's freaking IN COMMAND when Elizabeth goes to Earth!!! And what's up with her only saying Shep and Weir make her feel like one of them, Rodney has been backing her 100% since Suspicion!
- Rodney did NOT need to get shot in the butt. He could have easily gotten hit in the leg or side or arm and still had the same effect. The butt only served to make it OBVIOUS that we are supposed to be making fun of him.
- Can they even TRY to make the structures look different from planet to planet! I understand budgets and such and only have so many places to shoot, but when a location is used for a major scene in another episode, DON'T use it in another major scene... at least not 2 seasons in a row, without trying to make it look different.

[AGateFan]

what about that wraith from condemmed?

I dont have enough informaton on him. He could have been serving as a mouth piece for the queen on the thrown. This guy was definitly sitting on the thrown and definitly looked like he had some genetic defects or something.

[cindyz]

WOW! a great episode! Finally, some backstory on Ronan. Jason Momoa has done a brilliant job with his character. and the stunts and fight scenes were impressive. Thanks to 2Bam for that! I give this episode 2 thumbs up and a 10!

[Fatewarns]

*This is the first time we've seen a hive led by a male. Quite the change from the BEE HIVE social structure of the first two years. I wonder if this hive was the exception. Gives some political/cultural differences between how some hives run. Maybe there are some matriarcy, some patri, and Im waiting for democratic wraith. "All in favor of eating everyone on this planet raise ure hand"

maybe wraith social structures are simliar to pirate social structures, like if the current leader of the ship on a pirate isn't doing well the crew can force him to step down.

[starfox]

Notes on the Ronon character development side of things.

*I'm pretty sure I read in the spoilers that Malena was supposed to be his wife, so that's the angle I was watching that from. But I thought that because I was spoiled for it, not because it was shown. If they were supposed to be married, a wedding scene in the flashbacks would have been nice.

*Ronon's concern for his team. The desperation JM put into the "leave them out of this" and the moment at the end show that he does care about these people, which is important. You have a guy who has lost everything; it would be much easier to simply not give a sh*t after all that. But he does. I think that's one of the reasons they had to put this into season 3, so enough time would have passed that it would be believable to see everyone caring this much. And, if the episode had been played 3rd instead of 4th, it would have been in the same place "Runner" was last year.

*I'm kinda glad we didn't learn more about Ronon's past. This way my theories that Ronon was a teacher and/or poet and/or university student that got conscripted aren't totally blown to hell (what? It's a hell of a lot more interesting than making him straight military).

[Elinor]

Wonderful episode! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done to cast and crew!

Jason did ever so well and, at last, we get some story on Ronon. Loved the action scenes. The whole thing was shot very stylishly and the background music was fab to.

Great, great character moments in this one. Loved the scenes between McKay and Carson. I'm so glad Carson seems to be being used more this season so far. Those two fighting over the gun!

Favourite scene for me though was between John and Teyla. Oh my word...touching or what?! That kinda brought a tear to my eye actually....really well done! Shep is so screwed up!!

*Man Sheppards got some back story. Trust me, no one is that withdrawn and unable to communicate without something big that happened to them. I bet his parents were gunned down in a dark alley leading him to vow justice as a caped crusader!

LOL! Well he has started wearing the 'black'...who knows what we might see him in next!!

[Korean_Turtle87]

this episode frakking rocked!

[vaberella]

Wonderful episode! Thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done to cast and crew!

Jason did ever so well and, at last, we get some story on Ronon. Loved the action scenes. The whole thing was shot very stylishly and the background music was fab to.

Great, great character moments in this one. Loved the scenes between McKay and Carson. I'm so glad Carson seems to be being used more this season so far. Those two fighting over the gun!

Favourite scene for me though was between John and Teyla. Oh my word...touching or what?! That kinda brought a tear to my eye actually....really well done! Shep is so screwed up!!



LOL! Well he has started wearing the 'black'...who knows what we might see him in next!!

Agreed Beanie. You know what...All I have to say is when Shep gets his backstory...he needs slow motion as well. It's just not right for him not to get slo-mo!!

[Ouroboros]

This was the episode Ronon needed a year ago, before they found him even. This was the episode that gave him more depth and meaning as a character. It was also a pretty good episode in it's own right.

Hopefully this episode will have proved to TPTB that Ronon (and Momoa) are capable of doing more for the show than acting senselessly hostile toward everything that crosses in front of him. I want this Ronon to stay, he's infinitely more interesting than the Ronon he replaced.

I think this episode pretty much killed the idea of Wraith hives as bee hives to. Unless that giant tank-like ******* was the ugliest Wraith female ever to grace the show. I wonder how he beat the apparent Wraith matriarchy and got his own hiveship and cadre of follower goons?

Was he a commander in his own right or just a lesser follower of a more powerful hivequeen who'd been granted his own ship? Maybe he's the guy that Wraith hives send their newbie hunters to for training?

Whatever the case this was a good episode. It gave some clues as to what a Wraith attack on Earth might be like, gave a lot of good development to Ronon, Shep and Teyla and it comes at the perfect time to erase some of the stain of last weeks disaster. It also contains nothing that's ethically questionable, nothing that makes the team look like idiots suceeding due to divine protection alone, and no significant plotholes.

5/5 for me. More like this please.