'Reunion' (403) General Discussion

[justhere1971]

Okay, some thoughts:
-Will we see the Iron Chef host again? Maybe he and Ronon can have a cook off.

Alright I agree w/ 100% of your post -- but I couldn't for the life of me remember where I'd seen that guy! Thanks for the reminder.

[Mattathias2.0]

No, the reason Ronon wasn't fed on has never actually be explained (on-screen). My belief is the Wraith recognized his strength and abilities, choosing him to be a Runner (to be fed on shortly thereafter - oops).

Ok, I just wanted to clear that up because I thought about that when the other Satedans explained their story.

Thank you.

[justhere1971]

I loved Ronon's hesitation about going w/ the Satedans versus his "old" team. That was a nice touch.

I agree with who ever said that Ronon continues to be the most developed character despite his lack of lines.

[ToasterOnFire]

Oh yeah, the whole ep I was expecting him to take a huge bite out of a pepper or peach or whatever like he does in the Iron Chef intro.

Ronon's painting reminds me of a bad heavy metal album cover.

[vaberella]

Ronan continues his habit of becoming the most developed character on Atlantis even if he doesn’t get the most lines. Teyla continues to be given the shaft. First she gets beat up by the losers, then she’s the first to get stunned….but I guess it had to be Mckay to be the last standing as neither Teyla or Shep would bail. But it would have been nice to have Shep go down first ala O’Neil in the NOX ep….just to change things up and give Teyla some heroics. She was good in her scenes with Ronan, just she very much seems like a minor supporting character.

I agree with the Ronon comment, since I've been saying that for ages. As for the Teyla comment, I think you're being uncharacteristically unfair. First off on your statements I'd say she wasn't given the shaft. Far from it. First off she was one woman taking on 3 people? How realistic is it for her to take on three---and I mean one who has martial arts skill and put in full display (that was the cat from The Crow TV show, and I think he played Bruce Lee (can't be too sure)), then she's got a woman who has about 5-8 inches on her, and another guy going at her at the same time. She can throw a strong blow no doubt about that---but it's no where near the power that Ronon can dish out and those guys are Ronon's peeps---think of her taking on almost three Ronon's at once. I'm not surprised...I'm surprised she was able to put in the hits that she did get in. So no shaft there.

I don't get the big deal about her being the first to get stunned...it wouldn't work story wise really. Teyla would have to keep shooting and try to drag John's dead weight with one hand while McKay was busy tinkering away---doesn't fit too well so I think the way they did that worked with the storyline and easy conclusion on where the writers wanted to go. At least John got stunned as well.

As for the supporting role...it wasn't her ep. I found that McKay and Shep were also put to supporting role. Since the moments seemed to focus on either Carter or Ronon.

Sheppard was good but gave up on the Weir begging uncharacteristically early for him. I expected more complaining. Not that I am upset with it. I like Carters “give me a plan that could work and I will think about it” and I was happy Shep saw the logic in it. Sort of disappointed no one else brought up Weir…well again except Ronan. That scene with him and Carter was very cool. He reminding me of the first days of his arrival and Carter not flinching (in his presence), yeah she’s dealt with warriors before. I also liked how he didn’t flinch when she subtly threatened him…but then he knew the security issues.

I agree with most of what youi said except for the first part. John again is aware of his limitations even if he's anxious about DW. I also get the feeling that John was mainly testing out the waters and not really begging to go on the mission as soon as possible because he's aware of the loop holes in his plan. Let me try to broaden that statement. When I say "testing out the waters" I mean to say that I think he wanted to garner Carter's intentions on Weir and what her idea would be on going on a rescue mission. Other people, let's say I say Ellis, would probably say out right "No" and it's final. Carter's 'no' was a no, but she also said she was open to any realistic ideas and not adverse to that which worked well with John's hopes. That's all I picked up from the scene, so I didn't see John as giving up too quick. He knew what he was doing in that moment and I felt that was seen throughout the ep.

IMHO the most developed characters on Atlantis are McKay and then Ronan (well and Carter for SG-1 watchers). If they can just give Teyla and Sheppard some development then maybe there will be a S5 of SGA.

I'm putting Ronon ahead of Rodney. McKay is not as developed as one would think. To me a developed character has some level of unpredicatability like all humans. There's something about them that can surprise you and here in lies the added dimension. Rodney doesn't have that dimension. As most posts have it and most people say...McKay was "typical" Mckay. So then he's just a perpetual marionnette giving us the same dance. Ronon is far different from that. We see Ronon thinking outside the box ie, Vengeance; we see Ronon acting quirky ie, Echoes/Sunday; we see Ronon cry, ie Sateda. The man is a wealth of emotion and changes and more than the robot---"shoot'em up" and don't ask questions. He's a defined character.

Well Teyla will get development and so will Shep--there are eps geared specificially for them which I get the impression will totally redefine them. I thought Teyla was very different in this ep than most other of her eps from S1-S3. She was harder, in your face, and spoke a lot more. I would never have expected Teyla to go on the attack just because of what Ronon's bud say. She's a bit more restrained than that. So to me that was unpredicatable and made me wonder a bit more about her. Good stuff overall. John also got some great development as I mentioned. He's definitely toned down the recklessness and is thinking through things, this was definitely seen in the strategy scene---the old John would have jumped at the original plan with not too many questions. Here was definitely a bit more reserved. I hope to see more that throughout the season.

[chocdoc]

First impression: I really liked this. I was laughing out loud at the beginning with Rodney thinking he would get command (even though I knew that was coming) and his face when he found out who really was. The scene with Teal'c was wonderful. As Vabi said *waves at Vabs!* the look on Teyla's face as Ronon reunites with his friends was great. Nice tie-in to Trinity (she's with him when he finds out he's not the only Satedan alive).

Shep stealing Rodney's present still makes me laugh (as does Rodney's reaction) and the scene with Carter is goofy and awkward and perfect. The best part was going from the silliness to the sudden animosity when Ronon shows up. I LOVE that he threw Weir in her face. Way to not just move on. Almost everyone would react just like he did. And good for her to stand up to him.

I also love the little bits between Carter and Sheppard. I have the feeling it may escalate as the season moves on, but again, they don't overlook the loss of Weir and his determination to find her. It has to be killing him that he left someone behind, especially someone that he considered family. But he accepts Carter's decision, recognizing the wisdom behind the caution.

He's also cautious about attacking a Wraith lab. He only relents when he hears that they are trying to undo what Weir gave her life for. The conversation between Sheppard and Ronon is good. I find it interesting that Teyla went to John first with the news instead of waiting for Ronon.

I love that although Ronon had made his decision to leave, as soon as he heard gunfire, he didn't hesitate to run toward his team. It seems his decision wasn't quite as final as he had thought. I'm of two minds about having the Satedans be Wraith worshippers. On one hand, it makes for great Ronon angst and helps explain how some humans could become worshippers. On the other hand, I would have liked to see him actually make the hard choice between the Satedans and the Lantians. I did notice that Tyre walked away although we don't actually see what happened to him. I wonder if he'll be back (if you know - don't tell me. I like surprises.)

McKay again shows signs of becoming a better team player. He doesn't whine about the mission. He accurately fires his P-90. He hides well enough to escape being captured (until the Satedans show up). He keeps his head after being captured.

It was great to see the storyline carried forward. Interesting to find out that the Wraith actually deactivated the Asurans attack programming. Fascinating to watch the replicator walk right through the gunfire and completely ignore the humans. Nice to see Zelenka go off-world without complaint (is he trying to impress the new boss?).

The fight scene with Ronon and the Satedans - wow! I know it's choreographed, but I'm still amazed they can do that without someone getting hurt. I also loved blindfolded Teyla kicking Ronon's a**. You go girl!

Great look on Sheppard and McKay's faces when Ronon calls them his friends and wants to go home. Nice throwback to earlier in the ep when Tyre tells him that he is an ally to the Lantians not a friend.

Rodney stole Ronon's painting! I can just see it hanging on his wall next to the diplomas. Lovely scene with Teyla at the end although personally I would have liked for it to have been either with Sheppard or with the entire team.

Definitely worth a second (and third) viewing.

I agree with all that you said -- you hit the highlights for me!

I thought this was a very strong episode -- good character development between the characters. And yes, the fight scene at the end was really impressive, and I usually don't care about that. Great balance between character development, action, and humor!

Liked that Sam didn't just ease right in--she faced a number of problems right away and had to make decisions and stick to them. And Jason Momoa did a good job in this one. I really like Ronon much more than I did before as a result of this episode.

Can't wait until next week for the next episode!!

[AGateFan]

Was that him? I spent the entire hour trying to figure out where I'd seen that guy before......
I loved the little bit at the end where Teyla returns Ronon's picture and says that Rodney thought that he should have it back and Ronon says, "I never gave it to him."
Jason did a great job.


Wilson3Girl

That guys been in a ton of low budget martial arts movies...and I think he was the crow (in the TV series, not the movie).

[justhere1971]

Oh yeah, the whole ep I was expecting him to take a huge bite out of a pepper or peach or whatever like he does in the Iron Chef intro.

Ronon's painting reminds me of a bad heavy metal album cover.

It was even funnier that Rodney's the one who took it. It looked like a hunting scene, no?

Also, are they literally going "dark" this season? It was so hard to make out the scenes in the ship.

One more thing, I thought those other Satedan's said they couldn't be killed? Did I take that literally again?

[vaberella]

Am I right in stating Satedans cannot be fed off by Wraith, which is why Ronan was turned into a Runner to begin with?

If that is true, big continuity error.

If not, then I misunderstood.

Yeah you misunderstood. As Ruffies said, they never made clear why Ronon was never fed upon. Ruffies may be right in her statement as to Ronon's abilities and strength. I personally think they chose him because he might have that chromosome mentioned way back when in Poisoning the Well.

*waves like a crazed maniac* to RUFFIES!!!

Ronon's painting reminds me of a bad heavy metal album cover.

Although I thought it looked like Ronon saw 300 and decided to do a painting on that.


or


But if I remember correctly Queensryche had an album cover like that (it's a heavy metal band I liked a lot during the 80s..and they were far from bad). Unfortunately I can't find the album cover I'm looking for, but they had one similar to the poster.

[idlewild202]

Wraith dude was creepy and had a really bad wig.

Haha, okay good, I'm not the only one!

You know, I didn't even think about Rachell showing, and thus I didn't even look for it. I didn't even notice she wasn't wearing her normal outfit while sparing! Normally I pick up on those things!!

[Agent_Dark]

oh, prime episode. The openers were good, but this was even better since it was a character ep. It was unfortunate reading JM's blog to hear him say that he was a bit worried about the studio having problems with Reunion since it was a 'slow burn' episode. These type of episodes are usually the best...

anyway, s4 is shaping up to be a hell prime season

[AGateFan]

I agree with the Ronon comment, since I've been saying that for ages. As for the Teyla comment, I think you're being uncharacteristically unfair. First off on your statements I'd say she wasn't given the shaft. Far from it. First off she was one woman taking on 3 people? How realistic is it for her to take on three---and I mean one who has martial arts skill and put in full display (that was the cat from The Crow TV show, and I think he played Bruce Lee (can't be too sure)), then she's got a woman who has about 5-8 inches on her, and another guy going at her at the same time. She can throw a strong blow no doubt about that---but it's no where near the power that Ronon can dish out and those guys are Ronon's peeps---think of her taking on almost three Ronon's at once. I'm not surprised...I'm surprised she was able to put in the hits that she did get in. So no shaft there.

I don't get the big deal about her being the first to get stunned...it wouldn't work story wise really. Teyla would have to keep shooting and try to drag John's dead weight with one hand while McKay was busy tinkering away---doesn't fit too well so I think the way they did that worked with the storyline and easy conclusion on where the writers wanted to go. At least John got stunned as well.

As for the supporting role...it wasn't her ep. I found that McKay and Shep were also put to supporting role. Since the moments seemed to focus on either Carter or Ronon.



I agree with most of what youi said except for the first part. John again is aware of his limitations even if he's anxious about DW. I also get the feeling that John was mainly testing out the waters and not really begging to go on the mission as soon as possible because he's aware of the loop holes in his plan. Let me try to broaden that statement. When I say "testing out the waters" I mean to say that I think he wanted to garner Carter's intentions on Weir and what her idea would be on going on a rescue mission. Other people, let's say I say Ellis, would probably say out right "No" and it's final. Carter's 'no' was a no, but she also said she was open to any realistic ideas and not adverse to that which worked well with John's hopes. That's all I picked up from the scene, so I didn't see John as giving up too quick. He knew what he was doing in that moment and I felt that was seen throughout the ep.


I'm putting Ronon ahead of Rodney. McKay is not as developed as one would think. To me a developed character has some level of unpredicatability like all humans. There's something about them that can surprise you and here in lies the added dimension. Rodney doesn't have that dimension. As most posts have it and most people say...McKay was "typical" Mckay. So then he's just a perpetual marionnette giving us the same dance. Ronon is far different from that. We see Ronon thinking outside the box ie, Vengeance; we see Ronon acting quirky ie, Echoes/Sunday; we see Ronon cry, ie Sateda. The man is a wealth of emotion and changes and more than the robot---"shoot'em up" and don't ask questions. He's a defined character.

Well Teyla will get development and so will Shep--there are eps geared specificially for them which I get the impression will totally redefine them. I thought Teyla was very different in this ep than most other of her eps from S1-S3. She was harder, in your face, and spoke a lot more. I would never have expected Teyla to go on the attack just because of what Ronon's bud say. She's a bit more restrained than that. So to me that was unpredicatable and made me wonder a bit more about her. Good stuff overall. John also got some great development as I mentioned. He's definitely toned down the recklessness and is thinking through things, this was definitely seen in the strategy scene---the old John would have jumped at the original plan with not too many questions. Here was definitely a bit more reserved. I hope to see more that throughout the season.

I don’t know. I am not seeing the great improvement everyone else seems to be seeing for Teyla in this ep. Sure she had more to do then in the first two but she still is far, far behind any of the other characters IMHO. It's like we are so desperate for something, anything out of Teyla that we take the smallest grains and try to make a beach out of it. Teyla is supposed to be an uber fighter. Ronan took on those same 4 people and won. Of course he had RAGE on his side, and the lady did stop the guy from pulling the knife (which is ironic since she’s the one that pulled it one on Teyla). BTW the cutting the girls throat was surprising and odd. It worked to show the insanity but it seemed like an out since she was the most sympathetic to Ronan.

You make a good point on Sheppard testing the waters. He just didn’t seem as persistent on this emotional issue as this character has been in the past. But as stated the character has seen some understated growth and is a little more thoughtful and tactical this year. This is a great change in the character that I appreciate and the "testing the waters" would certainly be a very real thing someone would do.

I had also considered putting Ronan ahead of McKay in development department. Ronan is certainly the "deeper" character but we know a LOT about McKay, from his family situation to his past work life. I just assumed he was one of those "non-deep" people that you run into in life. I know people like him and feel like I know him better then Ronan. Ronan is still something of an enigma. He always seems to surprise me and not in a "they don’t know what they want to do with his character" kind of way, more of a "I am a multi-faceted individual" type of way. There are all kinds of people in the world, deep and shallow. Shallow are easier to get a hold handle on. As a friend of mine says "See how people are and expect them to be that way". That works for people like McKay and keeps them from annoying you....it doesn’t work for people like Ronan since you don’t know exactly what to expect based on what you see....other then he will be loyal to his friends.

I am looking forward to more development from these characters especially Teyla and Shep and have a little more hope every week that the season will proceed well. I am still cautious and still don’t feel I can trust TPTB writing but its all on the show runner to make sure all the writers keep the characters in character and so far Joe is doing a good job IMHO.

[Linzi]

Excellent episode. I really enjoyed it.

Loved the beginning with Rodney thinking he was going to get the leadership role, loved Sheppard swiping the discarded fruit and giving it to Carter! I'm still chuckling about that now! Loved Rodney's awkward speech to Carter too. I cringed for him!

Ronon was great here. Torn between his family and the family he thought he'd lost. I liked Sheppard's mess hall speech to him. Does anyone think he'd rehearsed that with Teyla beforehand?

Carter. WOW! I adored her here. She was so good. I love she calls Sheppard 'John'. Don't know why, but I do. Loved all her scenes, liked her going off world to save the team, or help to. Really liked her stance with Ronon. Good for her keeping her cool when he threw Weir in her face.

I was so pleased to hear Sheppard is still trying to get the go ahead to find Weir. I'd have been so disappointed if that scene hadn't been in the episode. It was much needed and would have been totally out of character for Sheppard not to be trying to get the IOA to agree to a rescue mission. The response from the IOA and Carter is quite right though. It is too risky.

I loved the look of the sets, and the fighting scenes. Loved the twist with the wraithworshipper bit. I also loved that Rodney took Ronon's picture. Very funny.

A well written character episode. A couple of Ronon's scenes with the Satedan's dragged for me, but I'm an impatient girl, and I do understand the need for them there.

I agree with everything Ruffles said in her review, so I'm going to shut up for now.

Well done Mr Mallozzi. A job very well done

[Major_Griff]

Great ep! I was thinking that they would cop out and the reason for Ronon staying with us would be something like all the Setedans die or they get what they wanted and leave the Lanteans behind, I was pretty shocked that they were Wraith worshippers. When they shot Rodney and the frizz control needing wraith walked out I was like Holy Crap Wraith Worshipers! I liked the tension between Carter and Ronon almost like her having to prove herself to him when they went off world. Great scene with Teal'c! And I loved the fact that they mentioned Lizzy. I was worried they'd pull a Carson/Janet and forget all about her in the next ep. Ever since Runner I have wanted to like Ronon, but JM's acting has been so-so. I noticed him getting better in Adrift and especially Lifeline and he was pretty good in this one too. So yeah good ep 8/10. (Oh I only give tens to my very favorite eps so 8 is very very good from me)

[Willow'sCat]

What an incredibly boring episode. Now I know I am no fan of Ronon and Jason needs to learn to stop mumbling but even going into this with low expectations I just came away bored.

Nothing happened. Nothing that I couldn't guess at, heck nothing my 8 year old niece couldn't have guessed at. Oh yeah I truly believed Ronon would leave... and that his friends wouldn't double cross him...

Well Weir was replaced finally... so it wasn't a total lose but Sheppard crapping on about Weir... *play the violins* she was a bad leader get over it all ready.

3/10 and that is only because David Hewlett managed to say his lines without cracking up... 'cause if it was me I would have been laughing hard at what passed for McKay dialogue in this one, well that is Joe & Paul for ya, no idea.

Come back Martin Gero all is forgiven.