'Tracker' (509) General Discussion

[Infinatus]

Ï have no problem with this. But read my last sentence. The Wraith are supposed to be stronger than humans, but apparently this one wasn't. I'm not trying to find every illogical mistake in every episode for some time, but this was really lame.

Maybe this particular Wraith was just a weakling. The whole point of hunting runners could be to weed out such Wraith, since Wraith society seems to be so social Darwinian.

[Lucylee]

When I first watched this episode I was "meh", but ok, it's not my favorite but I don't expect to love every ep.
But the more I think back on it, the more I really dislike it.
For the following reasons:
I don't like the characterizations of Ronon and Rodney. Ronon was shown to be very mean and dismissive towards Rodney.
Also, Ronon was far too loud in the forest and would have drawn any Wraith in the vicinity straight to them. He was being brutish and just attacked the other runner out of sheer alpha dog "red zone (see Cesar Milan) rage"
And the Wraith! They should have called them the Wisps (Wraith Jr Scouts). What a bunch of losers. These dudes were the most incompetent bunch of bugs we've seen yet.
Rodney again with the bumbling and stumbling and comic relief.
I can hardly even believe these are the same characters that were played with such sensitivity in The Shrine.
Keller was OK, but there is no way she is better than Teyla at fighting Wraith. I agree they need to show her as a stronger character, but SuperJen is ridiculous.
The end is very sexist, what do they mean they will LET her decide which one gets her. I think that's her decision from the get go.
I HATE this ship - Rodney is just looking pathetic and "on the rebound" from Katie. All he has done for 5 years now is fall in love with women for comic relief. It is sad because he's such a proud character, it really demeans him, to see him like this.
The action in the forrest just started to drag, I looked away, I wasn't enthralled. And given that some people had problems with Whispers, I never looked away from the screen once during that one. It was far and away a better episode. This WAS like watching a boring video game where the goal is to shoot as many Wraith as possible (thanks someone for that idea).
No Teyla! What's with that? I bet she has less screen time than she did last season. I miss the Fab 4 when they are not there.
I love Rodney and Ronon and am OK with Keller, but This may go down as one of my least favorite episodes of the entire series/franchise. It portrays adult men and women with the same sensitivity as did the Irres.
Rant over, still stewing.

[g.o.d]

Maybe this particular Wraith was just a weakling. The whole point of hunting runners could be to weed out such Wraith, since Wraith society seems to be so social Darwinian.

or he was drunk. Look, they established Wraith as the stronger species and they should follow it, not make them weaker and weaker so one little doctor can beat them or fight with him long enough so another doctor can shoot him.

[bluealien]

When I first watched this episode I was "meh", but ok, it's not my favorite but I don't expect to love every ep.
But the more I think back on it, the more I really dislike it.
For the following reasons:
I don't like the characterizations of Ronon and Rodney. Ronon was shown to be very mean and dismissive towards Rodney.
Also, Ronon was far too loud in the forest and would have drawn any Wraith in the vicinity straight to them. He was being brutish and just attacked the other runner out of sheer alpha dog "red zone (see Cesar Milan) rage"
And the Wraith! They should have called them the Wisps (Wraith Jr Scouts). What a bunch of losers. These dudes were the most incompetent bunch of bugs we've seen yet.
Rodney again with the bumbling and stumbling and comic relief.
I can hardly even believe these are the same characters that were played with such sensitivity in The Shrine.
Keller was OK, but there is no way she is better than Teyla at fighting Wraith. I agree they need to show her as a stronger character, but SuperJen is ridiculous.
The end is very sexist, what do they mean they will LET her decide which one gets her. I think that's her decision from the get go.
I HATE this ship - Rodney is just looking pathetic and "on the rebound" from Katie. All he has done for 5 years now is fall in love with women for comic relief. It is sad because he's such a proud character, it really demeans him, to see him like this.
The action in the forrest just started to drag, I looked away, I wasn't enthralled. And given that some people had problems with Whispers, I never looked away from the screen once during that one. It was far and away a better episode. This WAS like watching a boring video game where the goal is to shoot as many Wraith as possible (thanks someone for that idea).
No Teyla! What's with that? I bet she has less screen time than she did last season. I miss the Fab 4 when they are not there.
I love Rodney and Ronon and am OK with Keller, but This may go down as one of my least favorite episodes of the entire series/franchise. It portrays adult men and women with the same sensitivity as did the Irres.
Rant over, still stewing.

Excellent review. I totally agree.

[Guest]

Ï have no problem with this. But read my last sentence. The Wraith are supposed to be stronger than humans, but apparently this one wasn't. I'm not trying to find every illogical mistake in every episode for some time, but this was really lame.

I'm not sure the wraith's strength would have made that much of a difference as Keller was mostly blocking his attacks and ducking, she didn't knock the wraith to the ground and the fight lasted less than 20 seconds, the wraith had already taken some rounds and there is also size, a wraith isn't that much bigger than a human so while he couldn't reach past the stick or step through Keller's defensive moves I don't find it that hard to believe she could have held off a wraith for that amount of time.

Maybe this particular Wraith was just a weakling. The whole point of hunting runners could be to weed out such Wraith, since Wraith society seems to be so social Darwinian.

That's a good point and given what we know from 'The Queen' about wraith social structure I wouldn't be surprised if that is the case.

[Skydiver]

or i've thought that hunting the runners is a rite of passage....wraith 'warriors' must survive the hunt or bring back the human to pass into true warriorhood...or maybe that's how they lose the ugly face mask - and stop being canon fodder - and become an 'officer' in the army

kinda like african tribes and surviving a lion hunt

[ddc]

If McKay had not shot the wraith it would have had Keller eventually, all she did was attack him (saving McKay) and fend off his attacks with defensive moves. I don't see how it was stupid, if anything after 'Missing' I think it was fitting for Keller to have taken up self defense lessons with either Teyla (she couldn't because of pregnancy) or Ronon and that is what happened, people have mentioned that she should have been better prepared for off world travel, well now clearly she is.

Agree. It's been a year since Missing, plenty of time to learn some basic self defense.

On the Wraith being too easy to kill, I saw it as a result of the situation. They'd come tracking one Runner and were spread out. They ended up facing 4 people, 3 of them armed.

Re: Rodney's fumbling. Again, I took that as due to the circumstances. Usually when he's fighting Wraith he has a P-90, here he just had a side arm and no vest. Plus they'd been traipsing all over the place for who knows how long (the convenient short night made the length of time they were on the planet hard to guess), dodging traps and Wraith. So he was shakey, but he did reload and continue firing, then jury rigged the transporter armmband while walking which enabled the Runner to deal with the Wraith at the Gate.

[Cautious Explorer]

Mmmm. If the spoilers didn't refer to "the many loves of Keller," I would buy that. I certainly like that idea better, even if it means Ronon's an a**hole.

The "heavy-handed Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Suddenly-now" is in reference to lack of leadup TPTB are displaying in with Keller in S4 and now her ships in S5. Keller was decisive and commanding in and emergency "Adrift," then suddenly and without warning she was a flailing disaster who couldn't follow directions. Then suddenly and without warning she was interested in Ronon in "Quarantine." Then suddenly and without warning she was flouting HIPAA to flirt with Rodney even though she followed it with Teyla in "Missing." Then suddenly without warning Rodney "loves her for a while" her even though they had one drink (and Keller watching that vid over and over again was just sickening for me -- she's a doctor, he has brain damage, huh?). Then suddenly and without warning McKay and Keller aren't together even though she seemed really interested in "The Shrine." Suddenly and without warning Keller and Ronon have been spending all this time together, just like suddenly and without warning Keller's okay in a fight.

Instead of showing the viewer character and plot development (having a scene of Keller and Ronon sparring a few eps after "Missing" or at least having Teyla point her in that direction, having one of them mention a date or two before the love-thing, not having Keller suddenly oblivious to McKay's attentions after the fruit-cup thing (because if she's pretending the vid never happened I'll give her points for that)) they just backref it after the fact. That's lazy writing. It's forced.

Even without all that, there's still been a dearth of Team eps and that... is just disgusting.

DragonLady

Excellent post. TPTB are becoming fonder and fonder of the "let's pretend it happened" technique. Sloppy, sloppy writing.

Maybe this particular Wraith was just a weakling. The whole point of hunting runners could be to weed out such Wraith, since Wraith society seems to be so social Darwinian.

Then why pick the strongest people to become runners? Why not pick people of varying degrees of strength depending on the abilities of the hunter?

[fumblesmcstupid]

Not Brad Pitt

I get really tired of people dissin David Hewlett's looks!

Is he a handsome man?? HELL FRICKIN YES!

He has a beautiful smile, gorgeous Eyes! a great laugh and he is just awesome!

[Linda06]

Not Brad Pitt

I get really tired of people dissin David Hewlett's looks!

Is he a handsome man?? HELL FRICKIN YES!

He has a beautiful smile, gorgeous Eyes! a great laugh and he is just awesome!

Brad Pitts ugly anways Now do you reallly want DH to be compared to him

But DH isn't my cup of tea but we all have different taste so don't let it get you down.....As long as you like him that's all that matters

[Shan Bruce Lee]

or he was drunk. Look, they established Wraith as the stronger species and they should follow it, not make them weaker and weaker so one little doctor can beat them or fight with him long enough so another doctor can shoot him.

They've established that the Wraith are stronger based on how recently they've fed. These particular Wraith could've been chasing the Runner for a long time. We don't know how long the Runner had the little girl with him after her village was destroyed.

[Ruffles]

Agree. It's been a year since Missing, plenty of time to learn some basic self defense.

I think that after a year of sparring with Ronon, she would have a lot more skills than just basic self defense. But she'll never be as good as Ronon or Teyla. She knows her skills are limited. That's why she was screaming for Rodney to hurry and shoot the Wraith.

I don't want to see Rodney become Rambo, but I don't buy that he's still that clutzy loading a weapon. Can't you see Sheppard shouting at him at the firing range to reload, practicing it until Rodney can empty a clip and reload blindfolded? Even in S1 (The Defiant One), he's got a Wraith advancing on him, Sheppard hurt, no one else around. He fires until he's out of bullets and asks what to do. Sheppard says reload. Rodney rapidly does it (without thinking or fumbling) and empties another clip. Four years later he can't do the same thing? Nope. Not buying it. Done for comic relief and it irritates me. Now, the tavern scene with the soup - perfect. Funny and true to both characters.

Inconsistency in characterization annoys me to no end - Sheppard not knowing who's on a team (don't get me started on the fist bump), Teyla suddenly unable to fight, Ronon beating the crap out of Kyrik while knowing Wraith are nearby, Rodney unable to reload a gun. Grrrr.... I'm not saying I expect perfect characters. I adore their quirks and flaws. But don't rewrite their abilities/personalities to fit the ep. I found Rodney running away from the Wraith to be perfectly in character (and completely sensible). I wasn't expecting him to wallop the Wraith with a log or set a trap or snap its neck. His aim was great, and he's either ambidextrous or he's been taught how to aim with either hand because he was shooting with his left in The Queen. I appreciate that. So don't let him look stupid by not being able to reload.

/rant.

[Wilson3Girl]

I don't want to see Rodney become Rambo, but I don't buy that he's still that clutzy loading a weapon. Can't you see Sheppard shouting at him at the firing range to reload, practicing it until Rodney can empty a clip and reload blindfolded? Inconsistency in characterization annoys me to no end - Sheppard not knowing who's on a team (don't get me started on the fist bump), Teyla suddenly unable to fight, Ronon beating the crap out of Kyrik while knowing Wraith are nearby, Rodney unable to reload a gun. Grrrr.... I'm not saying I expect perfect characters. I adore their quirks and flaws. But don't rewrite their abilities/personalities to fit the ep. /rant.

Great post! I completely agree---especially with the part I've bolded.

Wilson3Girl

[Killdeer]

I think that after a year of sparring with Ronon, she would have a lot more skills than just basic self defense. But she'll never be as good as Ronon or Teyla. She knows her skills are limited. That's why she was screaming for Rodney to hurry and shoot the Wraith.

I don't want to see Rodney become Rambo, but I don't buy that he's still that clutzy loading a weapon. Can't you see Sheppard shouting at him at the firing range to reload, practicing it until Rodney can empty a clip and reload blindfolded? Even in S1 (The Defiant One), he's got a Wraith advancing on him, Sheppard hurt, no one else around. He fires until he's out of bullets and asks what to do. Sheppard says reload. Rodney rapidly does it (without thinking or fumbling) and empties another clip. Four years later he can't do the same thing? Nope. Not buying it. Done for comic relief and it irritates me. Now, the tavern scene with the soup - perfect. Funny and true to both characters.

Inconsistency in characterization annoys me to no end - Sheppard not knowing who's on a team (don't get me started on the fist bump), Teyla suddenly unable to fight, Ronon beating the crap out of Kyrik while knowing Wraith are nearby, Rodney unable to reload a gun. Grrrr.... I'm not saying I expect perfect characters. I adore their quirks and flaws. But don't rewrite their abilities/personalities to fit the ep. I found Rodney running away from the Wraith to be perfectly in character (and completely sensible). I wasn't expecting him to wallop the Wraith with a log or set a trap or snap its neck. His aim was great, and he's either ambidextrous or he's been taught how to aim with either hand because he was shooting with his left in The Queen. I appreciate that. So don't let him look stupid by not being able to reload.

/rant.

I don't normally quote full posts, but I agree with every single word here. Very well said. This has been one of my biggest issues with the writers on both shows over the last few years, and I think every single character fell victim to it at one point or another.

[angela23]

I did not like Tracker as much as the other Episodes this Year. Mc Kay and Keller do not have any chemistry between them. They seem more desperate than anything. Mc Kay, Ronan and Keller are good actors but there is no chemistry there. It was all good acting but there was something missing. If you all want to develop a romance in the last Year of SGA make sure there is some chemistry between them or it is just flat. Sheppard and Jill had some chemistry, now that would be interesting.I'm going to DVR Brain Storm, it is supposed to be with Keller and Mc Kay. That way I can Fastforward over some of the scenes. I love SGA, but Keller and Mc Kay was a lousy Idea. I don't know if some of the Director's are just trying to mess up SGA.