'Quarantine' (413) General Discussion

[Raven56]

Heh, actually it's not the 'cartwright solution' but the 'Bonanza syndrome" and if Katie is going to die, she'll probably get eaten by a carniverous plant they accidentally bring back from a planet. ("Feed me, Seymour!")

And I thought I had a twisted mind!!!!!!

[majorsal]

All that being said, Rodney and Katie just brought it down for me. He wasn't acting like himself, more like himself x5, which I know was how it was supposed to be so that Katie could see the worst of him, but he's been in more dire situations without hope before and wasn't near that bad.

i 'think', because, basically, mckay didn't 'want' to ask katie to marry him. i think he was behaving the way he thought he should (got to know the girl now make it official and marry her), and when the stuff hit the fan, he fell apart from the stress.

if i were katie and saw him all stressed and lying on the floor... i would have made a play for him and... well, hoped that the cameras were off.




sally

[majorsal]

Only bad thing was Rodney. At first he was very sweet but then he became quite annoying. Thankfully Katie got to see him at his worst before she commited. Still, I'm wondering if we're selling Katie short. Did she agree with Rodney to save face or because she truly can't see herself stuck with him? It will be interesting to see if and how that plays out.

All in all, a nice hour spent.

my first thought was that she was telling him it was alright, because mckay had hurt her feelings with how badly he handled the proposal. i really think she would have said yes to him, but now i just think she knows she doesn't deserve to be treated this way.



sally

[majorsal]

Im disturbed that there are disease out there that warrant the entire city being locked down and then self distructed, sounds worse than a prior plague D:

the very first thing that i thought of was from the movie 'the andromeda strain , where blowing something up would give the disease the fuel it needed to become a godzilla disease.


sally

[Lt. Colonel Ryu Gaia]

This is all I have to say about this episode:

[Jumper_One]

This is all I have to say about this episode:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...sRFK/shark.jpg

what about this?

[majorsal]

Hmm, if you look at when that "thing" he was hanging on came loose and almost dumped him, he looked as if he was about to have an 'accident'. And when he entered the control room, he seemed to have the 'adrenaline shakes' as well.

and i think i'm looking at it too much from my pov. when he finally made it over the wall to climb up on top... i wouldn't have been able to get up on ledge and over it. *that's* when my vertigo would have numbed me into inaction. (i can make it up the ladder to the roof, but i have trouble getting on the roof. and getting off... *sighs sadly*)

but yeah, i think i'm putting too much of myself in this scene.




sally

[Shan Bruce Lee]

while the visuals of it was cool (i love it anytime i get to see the wonderful atlantis), i wish sheppard would have shown more fear.

i can't compare how i would have reacted (i have a fear of heights), but even someone without fear would have done some more shuddering at times and maybe had more trouble climbing up and over tops because of it.

but that's my only complaint.




sally

Yeah but Batman did it all the time...

[EdenSG]

For what I would consider a bottle episode I thought it was good. Not great but it did have its moments that shined.

Good:

John & Teyla – I thought these scenes were great. Everything from the conversation about what she would do after the baby comes and John saying her child would always have a family, John bringing up his friend from college who is a cop, (I agree with who ever commented that I think the writers were setting up her return to the team in season 5) to his comment on how in the movies this is when the pregnant woman goes into labor, the baby kicking and then John going into action mode when Teyla got a little dizzy. If he had just decided to go out an climb the tower I might have questioned it but the fact that he did it in response to seeing Teyla in distress was very much in character for him as he has said he would do anything for his team, including lay down his life if he had to.

John – loved how he knew/remembered Rodney’s password

Radek saved the day! Loved his pigeon remarks – continuity from other episode! Also loved his reaction of surprise and discomfort when he turned his face into Carter’s chest as she was taking her jacket off – I did not see this as sneaking a peak just looking in the wrong direction at the wrong time.

Love seeing Lorne! And Chuck!

Tower Climbing –not a whole lot of tension but the scene was fun to watch. The CGI was great. That pull away shot they did while Shep was climbing was awesome.


Good & Bad:

Teyla on the ledge – At first I was thinking, why? - this is just stupid, but then I thought this was probably a way the writers used to show that Teyla still has conflicts about her limitations and role now that she is pregnant. It seems to me she is struggling with her strong desire to help John and Atlantis and her need to think twice because she is pregnant. I think she really contemplated making the climb – but she did think twice and came in off the ledge. I think this scene was meant to show the conflict that she has but that she is moving toward overcoming/dealing it .

Katie & McKay – I have not had any strong feelings, positive or negative about the Katie & Rodney relationship. It was a bit surprising that he wanted to propose – I wondered if this had anything to do with Jeannie goading him to taking the next step with Katie in MC. I did love how he shared with John his intention to propose and how John was skeptical at first than supportive. McKay was much more fatalistic and annoying/complaining/whining in this episode than I would have thought and it was not easy to see his character like that. But in a way it worked because while I think Rodney’s character has made strides in the past 3 ½ years, he has not completely changed. And in time of extreme distress he, as many people, revert back to old, unproductive behaviors. The situation really played into all his fears, unknown deadly contagion, locked in a confined space, no access to communication or computer to help him solve/deal with the problem and being on his own,(ie: no team). I think the scene shows that Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla can bring out the best in him – they understand Rodney’s reactions, how to respond to him, push him to act instead of react and most importantly that they will back him up. Rodney has learned to trust his team over the past 3 ½ years and I think facing a life threatening situation without them was just too overwhelming for him and he reverted. I have seen this happen to real life people many times. I think if one can later recognize what they did and apologize for it – as Rodney did - shows great personal insight and character growth. My two cents, I think the Katie/Rodney relationship is over. I think they both now realize they are not right/ready for each other.

Ronon & Keller – I thought it was interesting that Keller shared her perspective of feeling like an outsider for most of her life. If I recall Ronon felt like an outsider when he first came to Atlantis. This and the fact they both feel responsible for things out of their control had them see something in common with each, creating a bit of a bond. Also thought it was cute how she went along with his idea to use the oxygen tanks to try to blow open the doors. Not sure I see them getting together or any official ship – my sense is they were two opposites, who in a situation of possible doom, realized they shared some common feelings over certain situations in their life and had an almost moment. I think I see this leading to more of a friendship than relationship. But I could be wrong.


Not Good:

I just did not have the sense of a lot of tension for the dire predicament Atlantis was to be in. Even though ventilation was down and the beacon was broadcasting I just did not have sense of impending doom or threat. Radek commenting “oh dear’ when hearing the plumbing was down was the best.

Cringed at the plant comment Katie made though my husband thought it (and Ronon referencing Jaws) were the best lines in the show.

Radek grabbing the wrong crystal and frying the laptop then apologizing over and over to Carter was a bit unsettling. I think of Radek as being a lot smarter.


All in all, this was an episode that was meant to explore the characters a little more deeply on a personnel level, and to that end it was pretty well done. I enjoyed it.

[Killdeer]

OK. Reactions on first viewing:

Not a great episode. Had some great scenes, but the episode as a whole dragged.

The good:

1) Shep and Rodney. The scene in the beginning was a great scene for their friendship - Shep trying to get Rodney to play computer games with him, his expressions when Rodney showed him the ring, and his encouragement. Then Shep knowing Rodney's password (loved Teyla's expressions on finding THAT out), and him knowing that Rodney was freaking being trapped in the lab.

2) Teyla and John. Very good scenes together. I am definitely not a shipper of these two and never will be, but I enjoyed these scenes quite a bit. The whole shooting out-of-order thing makes it seem rather weird that she's suddenly showing so much, but unless someone points out a time clue in the episode that I missed, or one comes along later, I'm going to pretend that it's been about two months since SoW. Shep's panic about Teyla going into labor was cute, and the hand on the tummy thing was great. I enjoyed the talk they had, and Shep's story about his cop friend. And his comment about her baby having a family on Atlantis. And I had to love someone's comment in their review that "Teyla starts talking about feelings and Shep goes out a window." LOL. That being said, we've hashed this issue out with them for three episodes now. It's time to move on, and I hope they don't keep revisiting and revisiting this. As much as I liked the scenes, I've reached my Sheyla quota for the season.

3) Shep and Lorne and the techs - that was more interesting than a lot of this episode, and I'd rather have had more of that than what we had.

4) Zelenka in the air ducts. That was great. I love Zelenka, and I'm so happy he survived! (I was having attacks of paranoia leading up to this episode).

5) I like it that they're making an effort this year to show Teyla as computer-savvy.

6) I was very much afraid that they were going to make this another Rodney-screws-up episode when Radek started talking in the transporter, and I was getting ready to get really upset, but fortunately they didn't go that direction. *great sigh of relief from me*


The not-so-good and the just-plain-bad:

1) Ronon/Keller. This absolutely did NOT work for me. My opinion about Keller has been on a downward slide all season long. This wasn't as bad as Missing, but it wasn't great. The setup with just the two of them seemed very forced to me. With the others I could possibly buy it being just the two of them, but Keller's all alone in the infirmary when Ronon comes in? Seriously? No other doctors, nurses, techs, anything? That one was just too painfully convenient. And the whole story about Keller's prodigy childhood was carefully designed to elicit sympathy I know, but I didn't feel a thing except irritation. Mainly because when I was watching the scene, I kept feeling like I was being told to feel sorry for her, but it wasn't happening. TPTB really have a thing for this character (witness all the promo pics for her when we've never had recurring characters included in the promo pics, not even Carson when he was recurring) and so I know I'm just going to have to get used to her, but I really can't find anything to like about her. And I'm not buying the setup between her and Ronon either. Sorry. Although - the oxygen tank scene was funny - I did like that one.

2) Katie/Rodney. I haven't really had an opinion about this relationship one way or the other, but I didn't really enjoy this. And I hated Rodney regressing to his S1 self. He apparently didn't learn anything from GuP. I can see him regressing a little bit, but totally giving up and laying down and dying? That didn't work for me - I don't believe Rodney would do that. However, my main issue with this couple is that they bore me. Sorry, but there it is. I felt like their scenes and Ronon & Keller's scenes just slowed the episode down. I don't know what's going to happen with them now, but I do think they're done. And I was pretty sure that they were somehow going to kill Katie off, so I give the writers credit for ending the relationship without doing that. But poor Rodney - he needs a hug.

3) Carter and Zelenka - meh. Didn't really care for this that much. Zelenka's pigeon pic was cute. I didn't like that Zelenka was made to look stupid though. And Carter kind of had a little condescending thing with him at the beginning that irritated me a little bit - she did the same thing with Bill Lee back in Adrift and I didn't like it there either. That's something that used to pop up on SG-1 every once in a while, and it always bugged me. I can handle Rodney's blatant in-your-face arrogance better than I can handle the subtle almost eye rolls I pick up from Carter sometimes.

4) Shep's tower climb - this looked awesome in the previews, and then when I actually saw it, it was like - oh, that is so not real. I couldn't buy into it for some reason. It was just too far out there.

5) Teyla's climbing out on the ledge - yeah, I didn't like that either. It seemed a little reckless - I was glad she climbed back in, but it seemed like a waste of screentime. They could have had her do something else.

6) And last. Ok, writers, what gives? Why are they so very very determined to cut Rodney off from his team this year? I'm getting very very frustrated about this. I'm tired of this deal where Shep is the only one on the team that Rodney is friends with. I need to see the rest of the team caring about him too, and him being included with the team. I really am frustrated that he got cut out of the pregnancy reveal thing, and that everyone else ( + LORNE) has had scenes with Teyla regarding it, but nothing with Rodney. He's part of the team too! Arghhhhh!!!

And yes, I know Joe Mallozzi said

Spoiler:

that they would have a scene in

Spoiler:

Kindred,

which is great, but why so stingy with it? John and Teyla have had a ton of scenes now, and Ronon and Teyla have had some great scenes. I want more Rodney and Teyla scenes! *jumps up and down in frustration*

I'm starting to wonder if they're building up to something with Rodney. There's been quite a few comments about Rodney being off his game. And with his slow isolation from everyone except Shep (and Zelenka to some extent) and losing Elizabeth and Carson, two of his best friends, it would be interesting if they were slowly building up to something major with Rodney. It's interesting, but it seems like Shep is about the only one he relaxes around anymore. But if they are, they're being pretty subtle about it. And there's been no spoilers about it for upcoming episodes, except for some cryptic hints in Joe Mallozzi's spoiler poems. Who knows? I guess we'll see. Rodney has felt off to me this season, and it would be cool if that turned out to actually be a plot point instead of just the way the season's going. But I know better than to get my hopes up with this show. Better to not and be pleasantly surprised.

[ykickamoocow]

6) And last. Ok, writers, what gives? Why are they so very very determined to cut Rodney off from his team this year? I'm getting very very frustrated about this. I'm tired of this deal where Shep is the only one on the team that Rodney is friends with. I need to see the rest of the team caring about him too, and him being included with the team. I really am frustrated that he got cut out of the pregnancy reveal thing, and that everyone else ( + LORNE) has had scenes with Teyla regarding it, but nothing with Rodney. He's part of the team too! Arghhhhh!!!

Agreed. I just know that the writers are setting up a storyline where for some reason McKay turns evil and trys to kill the rest of his team

[Hyperwarp]

This episode (413) should be Quarantined!

Ok, I guess that was a bit too harsh . Can't expect all the episodes to be excellent like "Spoils of War".

[Ebeneezer_Goode]

Quarantine > Spoils Of War

[Hyperwarp]

"Spoils of War" = TRUE SGA episode! (Teyla + Child Vs Wraith Queen! That was gooooood!)
"Quarantine" = Soap Operah!

[PG15]

LOVED IT LOVED IT LOVED IT.

This was just an AWESOME episode if you are invested in the characters, which I am, fortunately. Finally, we get some peace and quiet (sort of) where they can really show off their little characteristic intricacies. Without massive explosions and energy blobs flying around, we are able to capture every little facial movement, every nuance in their line deliveries, and...I laughed my ass off, basically. The dialogue was spot on (thank you Mr. Binder! And I guess all the other writers as well, since it's always a group effort), the deliveries were at times hilarious, heartwarming, and just...I don't know, cute. Heh.

Before I get to the HUUUUUGE list of great character moments, I just like to touch on 2 things:

1. Continuity. Within the first 15 minutes, I noticed how easily the characters recalled past events and the effortless way they were inserted into the dialogue. I counted references to 5 episodes: Travellers (Shep wanting Ronon's gun to blast the Lantian doors), Tabula Rasa (Kirsan Fever, Rodney...cactus thing), Echoes (Radek's pidgeons), BAMSR (Mckay loosing his game, as per Zelenka), and Sateda (Ronon mentioning his lost love). After that, I basically got so immersed within the episode that I didn't bother to write anymore down (yeah, I was actually taking notes during the episode. Ha!). Basically, these were great, and really captures that sense of flow that dominates this season. Of course, the ultimate story arc that was carried over with this episode is Teyla's pregnency, but I'll talk about that later.

2. The Tower Climb. Incredible. I actually watched it 3 times (which I don't do often in Stargate), and another time with my mom. She's not a fan of Sci-Fi, and she didn't get any sound (I watch the episode on the computer with headphones on), but she was still floored by that whole sequence. She boasted about the show and how *real* that shot looked, and I agreed. The zoom-out was just spectacular. LOVED IT.

Ok, time to get to the meat of the story. As I said, the character moments in this episode was just wonderful in so many ways. Every pairing was different, and I for one enjoyed every one of them. To follow others' examples, I'll deal with them one by one:

Sheppard and Teyla: I gotta say...I love this "relationship" they've got going on here. I'm not a Stargate shipper by any means, but still, it was both hilariously awkward and sweet. What Shep was doing is exactly what I'd be doing: being ridiculously careful as if Teyla were a timebomb or something. Hey, us guys know that it's probably annoying for the lady being waited upon, but it's instinct. As men, we are instinctively compelled to protect the young. I'd probably be much worse, actually.

As for Teyla...well, I love her this season. It's not that she's become "that pregnent women", but rather that they've given Rachel a chance to really shine as an actress, allowing me to discover many MANY different facets of Teyla that I've never noticed before. Rachel is again fabulous in this episode, and her scenes with Shep was just lovely, especially about how the kid will have a family, even though the Athosians may be lost. As I said above, one of the great character arcs of this season is how Shep and Teyla are dealing with the latter's pregnancy, and the slow and gradual and natural progression of this storyline has really gripped me. The best way I can put it is, I guess...no longer are Shep and Teyla merely close friends and team mates, but for the first time since Atlantis started, I see them as family, along with the rest of the team. They don't just care about each other in dire situations, they care A LOT about each other even in their off time. They aren't just co-works, basically. This may be a strange realization this late in the show, but I honestly never really saw much of it before. It's hard to explain.

Suffice it to say though, I loved their interaction. Of course, it wasn't all caring and sharing. I loved Shep's nervousness at sensing that maybe Teyla will go into labor; I loved the return of mensa!Shep at remembering the numbers, and of course, I loved 42.

Normally, I don't really like my heroes to *act* like "heroes". You know, like those moral, goody-2-shoes, spandex, cliched heroes who valiantly risk life and limb to save the world every chance they get, or whatever. That's why I love Stargate, because, basically, these people aren't your typical heroes, and so that, when they DO do those dangerous things, it's all the more impacting. So that's my long lead up to revealing how much I loved the tower climbing scene. I know I just talked about it, but that was for the CGI. This is for the fact that I cheered on Shep as he made his heroic climb. Like I said, I love me some regular Joe Heroes.

Oh, and I also loved how casually Shep went about breaking windows. Hey, let's just throw the nearest hard thing at it.

Oh boy...that was a lot, and for only 1 of the pairs! Ok, let's move on...

Carter and Zelenka: Perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect. I loved how Zelenka played up the intimidation he must have felt at being stuck with, not only his boss, but Samantha Carter of all people! Sam was great in this episode. She was brainy, and yet the leadership qualities were just radiating off of her. She definitely has a presence (she actually reminded me of Captain Janeway, from Voyager...and for me that's a good thing. The writing for that character may not have been very even, but Kate Mulgrew, like Amanda Tapping, has a really commanding presence, and I LOVE it!). Still, I thought the star of this pair was Zelenka. David Nykl did a phenomenal job with his portral...honestly, I pretty much enjoyed everything he did in this episode. From the pidgeons, to the, uh, "peek" at the goods (and they were great goods ), the "Oh dear" from finding out about the lack of plumbing. Just...brilliant, brilliant acting and dialogue.

And then of course, we have that regular Joe Hero scene from him as well! The crawling through the ducts MUST have been uncomfortable, but with Zelenka going off in czech like that...it was priceless. And don't even get me started on that fall. One of the funniest things in Stargate? Possibly. Haha.

Rodney and Katie: This was definitely a lot more serious than Mckay is used to, and I thought it was facinating. I haven't read the thread, but I am sure there are people who probably didn't like it (ok, so I did read some of it...and that other thread about Rodney and Katie). I have thought about it, and it makes perfect sense. What we have here is basically Rodney dealing with an usual life/death situation but in a completely alien environment. There is NOTHING he can do to fix it. He has to RELY ON OTHER PEOPLE. He doesn't KNOW anything...this all basically lead to one thing, which I am personally all too familiar with: imagination out of control.

Take it from me, I'm in these kinds of situations a lot. I'm kind of a hypochondriac too, so the moment that, say, I feel a strange sensation in my stomach, my mind will just instantly jump to the worst case scenario. Oh crap! Have I gotten food poisoning?! Am I getting the stomach flu? Do I have Hepatitis B?! And so forth. It's irrational, but all-too-human. For this, I thought the Rodney we saw in this episode was perfect. Katie, for all her caring and loving ways, can't help him in this regard. Finally, I see what some others have talked about: she is just not strong-willed enough to help Rodney when he needs it, unlike the rest of his team. This is not to say that Brenda James portrayed her badly. Not at all. In fact, I thought she was great in this episode. It's only that, as a character, Katie is just not strong enough.

Still...that ending was sad for me. I like Katie, actually, and I like how she compliments Rodney, even though it's probably never going to work out in the long run. I feel sorry for Katie though, because she obviously liked Rodney a lot (how else can she stand him for this long? ) despite his various flaws, so for that to end is...heartbreaking. Obviously I don't fault McKay for this (I won't blame anyone for this), as it's just his way. He realized something within himself, so it's not like he's getting dumped or anything. I see this as a mutual breakup, even though I think it will still be painful for both parties.

Oh, and there were some funny moments in this one still, despite the serious character study that I saw. Loved McKay's various stories about how horrible his life was; loved how he so-easily slipped into negativity even though he was trying to cheer Katie up, and of course...bigger and bigger and BIGGER.

Ronon and Keller: I don't care what anyone says, I like Keller, a lot, and I loved her in this episode. Ronon is just the kind of person she needs to tease that bit of...edge, out of her.

Is it just me, or did anyone else get a Mythbusters moment during the oxygen tank scene? Well, Jamie and Adam would certainly approve, because the rocket-tank myth was CONFIRMED.

But anyway, back to this pair. I think, personality-wise, they were the most different. Ronon's this laid-back, confident, impulsive (as in, he acts on impulse, not that he's annoying) man's man sort of guy, while Keller's this insecure, professional, girly girl. Again, there is the factor of intimidation here, but it's reversed from that of Sam and Radek. I loved how mellow Ronon was about this whole thing while Keller was stressing out, and I loved how Ronon basically succeeded at calming her down and reassuring her in his own special way.

Ronon mentioning his significant other from Sateda (yeah, I think it's obvious now that I don't remember her name...) was very cute, and it really made me like Ronon and Keller as a couple. Again, I don't ship (denial), but I can definitely see the appeal in this one. I was, like others, afraid at how that rumored "kiss" at the end would turn out, and it seems that my fears were unfounded. It was perfectly resonable given the events of the episode, and, well, it was just...cute. I definitely want to see more from these 2.

Oh, and going back to that Oxygen tank scene...I loved how crude that whole construction was. Very...Home Alone.

Finally, I gotta give it up for my boy Chuck! He wasn't in it much, but he did give me another great line:

Chuck: Finally!
Shep: You shut it down.
Chuck: No, just the alarm.

It's not much, but I just found it hilarious. It's hard to explain.

Oh, and a mention for that little team scene near the end. The family feeling was very much present, and I loved it. The casual-ness of how Ronon just starts gossiping about McKay was very well done...and then there was the ever-subtle prodding from Shep and Teyla when Keller arrived. Hehe.

Aaaaaannnnnyway, that was a lot longer that I thought it'd be. Overall, an excellent episode for the characters. Carl Binder really outdid himself with Quarantine, and I for one really hope that the Writer's Strike can be resolved soon so he can work his magic on some Season 5 scripts!

Score: 10/10