'The Kindred, Part 2' (419) General Discussion

[Falcon Horus]

You made me giggle like a girl

Aw, how sweet.

[jelgate]

Aw, how sweet.

Don't encorage him.

[Integrabyte]

Aw, how sweet.

You should see me when I cook . Chicks dig my salmon

[Mitchell82]

Exactly, Rachel worked with what the writers gave her and she couldn't be doing backflips or bantos fighting 8 months pregnant! My sister could barely move in the last weeks of her pregnancy. Same with my cousin. At that point both women just wanted the kid out they could at least see their feet agian!!

Exactly. I have never actually seen someone act that far into a pregnancy.

Which goes to my point that while I give Rachel all the credit for shooting almost up until she popped, the pregnancy never should have been written for the fact that people are criticizing Rachel for her acting and performance when the woman could barely move or do anything and again worked with what the writers handed her.

Hmm I see your point and I kinda agree however I think her acting was just fine and the story actually did work IMO.

You think it is soooo easy you go do it!

No thank you. Let Arnold Schwarzenegger do it.

[Klenotka]

For god's sake give Rachel and Teyla some slack. Neither Rachel nor Teyla could go on an ass kicking spree. And I'm going to assume you have never been witness to someone who is pregnant? Believe me when I say there is a reason the military takes pregnant women off duty.

My sister in law is pregnant. I used to be a baby sitter for my friend´s daughter. So I know that it´s not easy. I admire Rachel that she was able to make so many scenes, I do. BUT, they have never given to Rachel anything to act or Teyla to do for two damn years. And I think her twenty lines in whole S2 are not excusable by pregnancy.
Maybe it would have been better just write her off for some ten episodes, like they did it with Amanda in the beginning of S9. Rachel didn´t have to be in last five or eight episodes and her story-arc (if you are brave enough to call that a story-arc) could be solved sooner or to use Michael or Todd for other purpose. Or Kindred episodes could have been in the middle of the season. Or maybe instead of Harmony or Trio.

[Mitchell82]

My sister in law is pregnant. I used to be a baby sitter for my friend´s daughter. So I know that it´s not easy. I admire Rachel that she was able to make so many scenes, I do.

First I hope you didn't think I was being rude it did come off snappish which I didn't intend it to be. I too admire her quite a bit.

BUT, they have never given to Rachel anything to act or Teyla to do for two damn years.

I really hate to be rude but I really hate having to defen Teyla and TPTB when it comes to this. I do contend that yes she didn't have alot of character development in season 3 becuase they focused mainly on Ronon, Weir, Rodney and and Carson. However she was far from being ignored or wallpapered IMHO.

And I think her twenty lines in whole S2 are not excusable by pregnancy.

I also hate this. I've heard the same argument on the Enterprise forum with Travis. She has had way more than 20 lines.

Maybe it would have been better just write her off for some ten episodes, like they did it with Amanda in the beginning of S9. Rachel didn´t have to be in last five or eight episodes and her story-arc (if you are brave enough to call that a story-arc) could be solved sooner or to use Michael or Todd for other purpose. Or Kindred episodes could have been in the middle of the season. Or maybe instead of Harmony or Trio.

I disagree. Her arc was indeed an arc and no she shouldn't have been written out.

[ToasterOnFire]

none is expecting backflips or fighting
the writing was fine, the acting was terrible.

I'm not expecting a physical kickass Teyla at this stage either. But she was at the other extreme - passively walking from place to place and almost calm in responding to what was happening. For all Teyla knew, Michael was going to kill her and/or her baby right there. I certainly would have been struggling, resisting, or otherwise more passionate than she was.

I'm not going to blame those scenes all on the acting either - the writing was pretty damn bland too.

[Briangate78]

I'm not going to blame those scenes all on the acting either - the writing was pretty damn bland too.

Sometimes I feel I am watching a totally different show. Oh well, Agree to disagree.

[Mitchell82]

I'm not expecting a physical kickass Teyla at this stage either. But she was at the other extreme - passively walking from place to place and almost calm in responding to what was happening. For all Teyla knew, Michael was going to kill her and/or her baby right there. I certainly would have been struggling, resisting, or otherwise more passionate than she was.

Calm? Uh no she wasn't.

I'm not going to blame those scenes all on the acting either - the writing was pretty damn bland too.

No it wasn't. It was one of the best written eps in a season with quite a few of them.

[Chailyn]

I'm not expecting a physical kickass Teyla at this stage either. But she was at the other extreme - passively walking from place to place and almost calm in responding to what was happening. For all Teyla knew, Michael was going to kill her and/or her baby right there. I certainly would have been struggling, resisting, or otherwise more passionate than she was.

I'm not going to blame those scenes all on the acting either - the writing was pretty damn bland too.

I agree, but maybe she wasn't allowed to struggle/get physical due to her condition? Still she could have been shouting, threatening, screaming, etc. Whatever happened to the "they will pay" Teyla from Missing? She acted like she was going to hunt someone down and rip them apart. Well, she finally meets up with Michael, but all of a sudden she's as passive as a mouse. Besides refusing to eat (which is still passive resistance), she doesn't come off as vengeful at all.

I agree that the writing didn't give her much, but the acting was pretty bad, imo. To be fair though, I thought the acting was weak across the board in this ep, except for David, Paul, and Connor. Shep, Carter, Keller--they weren't at their best either, imo. Maybe people are just pointing to RL more because her plot was the most dramatic and theoretically called for the biggest response. When those scenes fell flat, it was just the most obvious.

I know we should cut her a break because of her pregnancy, but at some point television and real life shouldn't cross paths. Despite what's going on in an actor's life, the character should still remain a separate entity. Teyla is not RL. There are lots of casual viewers who probably don't know about RL's real pregnancy; they only saw what we got on screen.

[Killdeer]

I agree, but maybe she wasn't allowed to struggle/get physical due to her condition? Still she could have been shouting, threatening, screaming, etc. Whatever happened to the "they will pay" Teyla from Missing? She acted like she was going to hunt someone down and rip them apart. Well, she finally meets up with Michael, but all of a sudden she's as passive as a mouse. Besides refusing to eat (which is still passive resistance), she doesn't come off as vengeful at all.

I agree with you and ToasterOnFire. I wasn't expecting Teyla to get really physical either but I was expecting some sort of resistance. She didn't seem to put up any resistance - not even with her superduper Wraith mind control from SoW, which wouldn't have required any physical fighting. She just let herself be led here and there...it was hard to take the whole "danger" seriously when Teyla's just calmly walking from place to place. I mean, when the two guards were walking her to the ship, she's just calmly walking along there - she could hear the P-90 fire, why didn't she try to call out, scream, something?!?

[Chailyn]

I agree with you and ToasterOnFire. I wasn't expecting Teyla to get really physical either but I was expecting some sort of resistance. She didn't seem to put up any resistance - not even with her superduper Wraith mind control from SoW, which wouldn't have required any physical fighting. She just let herself be led here and there...it was hard to take the whole "danger" seriously when Teyla's just calmly walking from place to place. I mean, when the two guards were walking her to the ship, she's just calmly walking along there - she could hear the P-90 fire, why didn't she try to call out, scream, something?!?

Good points! I never thought about her using her "Wraith power". Even though I've had issue with that "gift" in the past, at least it would be consistant. If Teyla could fight off a couple strong Wraith queens then Michael shouldn't have been a problem. It's as if her "Wraith power" is only used when it's convenient to the plot, yet we're supposed to believe that she's all-powerful when she finally does use it.

And we already know that apparently the baby makes her even stronger. Teyla just came off so bad in this. S4 shot her character to pieces.

[Falcon Horus]

S4 shot her character to pieces.

That it most certainly did... sadly.

[Briangate78]

S4 shot her character to pieces.

That it most certainly did... sadly.

That is your opinions. I think this new Story arc has made her character Very interesting. I cannot wait to see the outcome and what plans Michael has in store for her.

[cabouse18]

I agree, but maybe she wasn't allowed to struggle/get physical due to her condition? Still she could have been shouting, threatening, screaming, etc. Whatever happened to the "they will pay" Teyla from Missing? She acted like she was going to hunt someone down and rip them apart. Well, she finally meets up with Michael, but all of a sudden she's as passive as a mouse. Besides refusing to eat (which is still passive resistance), she doesn't come off as vengeful at all.

I agree that the writing didn't give her much, but the acting was pretty bad, imo. To be fair though, I thought the acting was weak across the board in this ep, except for David, Paul, and Connor. Shep, Carter, Keller--they weren't at their best either, imo. Maybe people are just pointing to RL more because her plot was the most dramatic and theoretically called for the biggest response. When those scenes fell flat, it was just the most obvious.

I know we should cut her a break because of her pregnancy, but at some point television and real life shouldn't cross paths. Despite what's going on in an actor's life, the character should still remain a separate entity. Teyla is not RL. There are lots of casual viewers who probably don't know about RL's real pregnancy; they only saw what we got on screen.

Certain times it is hard to separate the two and I think this was obviously one of those times. Her pregnancy was visually scene by everyone...so that made it a little hard to overlook. However, it could have been handled differently and a little better. That has always been my argument.

But I do understand what you mean. TV is suppose to be an escape from reality where the actor and character are complete separate entities and while some actors inject their personalities into their characters or the character is created with pieces of their actor's personality there are certain aspects that should remain out of or away from the camera.

And we already know that apparently the baby makes her even stronger. Teyla just came off so bad in this. S4 shot her character to pieces.

I don't think it that at all. Granted it may not have been the most welll written arc but I don't think it destroyed her character. It definately gave us another side of character to see; the emotional one. It diversified her character in the sense that all we have seen from Teyla in the past 4 seasons are her leadership, fighting, negotiating abilities. IMO up until now the character had seemed a little stagnent so while I may be critical in that this was not the best arc for her, I will not say that this shot her character to pieces.