*Anuna is back to do professional analysis*
(but you were not so bad yourselves, guys!!)
I know this is the anti thread, and not character study thread, so I'll put everything under spoiler tabs, so who doesn't want to read my ramble, can easily skip. To stay on topic, let me just say, S4 sucks. There you go. Now let's look into Sheps head.
Huh! There you go. Hope you are satisfied. Everything that I said about Shep is something I learned "reading between the lines" - because I am actually trained to do that, but I agree - it would be nice to learn something about his past "for real".
(but you were not so bad yourselves, guys!!)
I know this is the anti thread, and not character study thread, so I'll put everything under spoiler tabs, so who doesn't want to read my ramble, can easily skip. To stay on topic, let me just say, S4 sucks. There you go. Now let's look into Sheps head.
Spoiler:
The coin tossing scene tells pretty much everything about him. Like crazylizzie said, it struck a chord. I instantly liked him, actually no - I liked his reaction when he was back with O'Neill in helicopter. he was given a lifetime opportunity and yet he was so reluctant to leave the career that really truly sucked. i mean, USAF officer who's ass is freezing off in Antartica, and he claims he likes it there. You believed him? When I saw the coin tossing scene I did. That was the lonliest man on earth.
On with the analysis. There is something that psychotherapists call "be strong" personality. Both Shep and Ronon belong into this chategory. But I'll concentrate on Shep this time.
"Be strong" characters are truly amazing people - they don't whine, they will always be there to help you, even through the worse (remember episodes like Sateda); they won't complain. They are loyal, they give a lot,b ut they don't ask and recieve attention from people in return. Why? Their deepest fear is that they are not worthy of being loved and cared about - and if they let people get close to them, they are exposed and take a risk to be abandoned. And being abandoned is their greatest fear, because it confirms the deeply rooted belief they are not worthy of love. Those people don't fear death as much as being left behind and forgotten. on the other hand they can lay their lives for others - the ultimate giving gesture.
Now you could say 'Shep isn't really like that' but here are my arguments.
He likes Antartica. He is alone, isolated, doesn't need to be close and connected to anyone - and that is fine by him. After he failed to save those teammates in Afganistan, military punished him (for doing something that was a good deed and his duty - in his eyes - because he doesn't leave his people behind; and that is not only a military motto, but for him it's a life motto too). If military was something like a family for him before afganistan, or at least a structure with rules where he felt safe and was able to do something good, that "family" confirmed his deep belief: he isn't worthy (of being loved, cared about, respected...). When he is offered the chance to actually get out of Antartica, the prospect of losing that safety scares him. There will be new people and he might get to like them. And that could hurt him and prove all over again, that he is not worthy of human contact.
Coin tossing. Look at his face expression. Doesn't he look sad and alone? And yes, there are no flashbacks, no family, no friends. He is literally alone. The worse thing happened to him - there is nobody who'd confirm he is a worthy human being.
Women. Kissing them left and right is done for fun, but there are no really deep feelings. We know he was married and that it didn't work out. It's not easy to be married to "be strong" person. It's a hard job to get feelings out of them, they hide them,a nd no matter how much you try to give them something back (love, affection...) they don't take it - they don't believe they deserve it. Shep's ex probbably felt she couldn't reach him at some point and left him, which proved, in his eyes, he was no marriage/ deep and meaningful relationship material. So flirting is fine. But no love.
But no matter how careful he is, and how much he tried to distance himself from people and not let them inside his walls (and he does have them); he begins liking Atlantis and people there. You can't really turn your heart off. So what happens? he has found a new gamily to which he is deeply loyal. he doesn't ask much, but he is ready to sacrifice himself in any way to keep them and the city safe. Examples - The Eye, Siege 2, The Real World. Loosing that new family, and people who accept him for what he is, is more scaring prospect than dieing in order to save them.
That brings me to "Epiphany" and his beard. At first I thought the beard was there to show how much time has passed since he entered the time dilation field, but later I wondered why he didn't shave it off?? I wathced episode once, but couldn't reach conclusion until I made a video concentrated around that particular episode. He never liked the beard. The fact is - he neglected himself in a way because he was generally feeling down. He didn't know why he was left behind for such a long time, and nobody came to bring him home. Did his friends give up on him? All the while he refused to truly join the new community he found himself in. he never really fell in love with Teer, he kept a significant distance. When the team finally came for him, first thing he did was to yell at them - he expected them to care. he was terrified he would be abandoned again.
To sum things up, think of his talk with Teyla in "Sateda". Teyla did a great job of analyzing him IIRC. (she could be a great psychologist!) But he didn't feel very good when she confronted him with things that he usually hides (the most wulnerable aspects of his personality). by the end of the conversation he can't even look back at her.
The flyboy attitude, snark, smartass comments, flirting - all of that is a mask underneath which is a person that is hungry for care and affection, but to scared to ask that from people.
On with the analysis. There is something that psychotherapists call "be strong" personality. Both Shep and Ronon belong into this chategory. But I'll concentrate on Shep this time.
"Be strong" characters are truly amazing people - they don't whine, they will always be there to help you, even through the worse (remember episodes like Sateda); they won't complain. They are loyal, they give a lot,b ut they don't ask and recieve attention from people in return. Why? Their deepest fear is that they are not worthy of being loved and cared about - and if they let people get close to them, they are exposed and take a risk to be abandoned. And being abandoned is their greatest fear, because it confirms the deeply rooted belief they are not worthy of love. Those people don't fear death as much as being left behind and forgotten. on the other hand they can lay their lives for others - the ultimate giving gesture.
Now you could say 'Shep isn't really like that' but here are my arguments.
He likes Antartica. He is alone, isolated, doesn't need to be close and connected to anyone - and that is fine by him. After he failed to save those teammates in Afganistan, military punished him (for doing something that was a good deed and his duty - in his eyes - because he doesn't leave his people behind; and that is not only a military motto, but for him it's a life motto too). If military was something like a family for him before afganistan, or at least a structure with rules where he felt safe and was able to do something good, that "family" confirmed his deep belief: he isn't worthy (of being loved, cared about, respected...). When he is offered the chance to actually get out of Antartica, the prospect of losing that safety scares him. There will be new people and he might get to like them. And that could hurt him and prove all over again, that he is not worthy of human contact.
Coin tossing. Look at his face expression. Doesn't he look sad and alone? And yes, there are no flashbacks, no family, no friends. He is literally alone. The worse thing happened to him - there is nobody who'd confirm he is a worthy human being.
Women. Kissing them left and right is done for fun, but there are no really deep feelings. We know he was married and that it didn't work out. It's not easy to be married to "be strong" person. It's a hard job to get feelings out of them, they hide them,a nd no matter how much you try to give them something back (love, affection...) they don't take it - they don't believe they deserve it. Shep's ex probbably felt she couldn't reach him at some point and left him, which proved, in his eyes, he was no marriage/ deep and meaningful relationship material. So flirting is fine. But no love.
But no matter how careful he is, and how much he tried to distance himself from people and not let them inside his walls (and he does have them); he begins liking Atlantis and people there. You can't really turn your heart off. So what happens? he has found a new gamily to which he is deeply loyal. he doesn't ask much, but he is ready to sacrifice himself in any way to keep them and the city safe. Examples - The Eye, Siege 2, The Real World. Loosing that new family, and people who accept him for what he is, is more scaring prospect than dieing in order to save them.
That brings me to "Epiphany" and his beard. At first I thought the beard was there to show how much time has passed since he entered the time dilation field, but later I wondered why he didn't shave it off?? I wathced episode once, but couldn't reach conclusion until I made a video concentrated around that particular episode. He never liked the beard. The fact is - he neglected himself in a way because he was generally feeling down. He didn't know why he was left behind for such a long time, and nobody came to bring him home. Did his friends give up on him? All the while he refused to truly join the new community he found himself in. he never really fell in love with Teer, he kept a significant distance. When the team finally came for him, first thing he did was to yell at them - he expected them to care. he was terrified he would be abandoned again.
To sum things up, think of his talk with Teyla in "Sateda". Teyla did a great job of analyzing him IIRC. (she could be a great psychologist!) But he didn't feel very good when she confronted him with things that he usually hides (the most wulnerable aspects of his personality). by the end of the conversation he can't even look back at her.
The flyboy attitude, snark, smartass comments, flirting - all of that is a mask underneath which is a person that is hungry for care and affection, but to scared to ask that from people.
Huh! There you go. Hope you are satisfied. Everything that I said about Shep is something I learned "reading between the lines" - because I am actually trained to do that, but I agree - it would be nice to learn something about his past "for real".
But SGA characters are also TPTB's creations, so they should treat them with more respect, don't you think? 
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