Runner (203)

[Osiris-RA]

OK, gotta admit, this is my first Atlantis review cause this is pretty much the first time I've watched SGA all the way through AND I only did so cause I wanted to see what was happening with this Ronan Dex guy.

So, I missed the actual part when they introduced him but I saw the rest. Shep is ...shep. Mckay, hahaha...Col. Caldwell...far far cry from my beloved Skinner! I hate this guy! Teyla could get a new wardrobe instead of this new I dream of Jeannie-ish look with the belly button and everything. She looks cooler in the uniform IMO.

Um...Dex was ok, he seemed a tad over dressed with the bike elbow pads and stuff The whole micro-backstory they had when he told about how the Wraith grabbed him and stuff...not buyin it. I mean, it's a good story, but he didn't tell it in a way that interested me oodles. I mean, 'Well, I'm a runner, the wraith tried to feed on me, couldn't so stuck me on a lab table cackling manicaly and stuck a chip in my back then let me out and started hunting me so I hunted them back and I've been running since" doesn't really do it for me. Runner is a cute title, sure, but ... I dunno, there's just a big 'but' here.

I don't like they way they wrote Ford. What's he whining for?? He's too nice! If it'd been me, I'd have creamed Mckay *and is it my imagination or is he trying to buff up? * grabbed all the ammo I could, hunted down the PJ, creamed the whole crew, stolen the PJ and flown outta there - shooting down the Wraith Darts just for good friendly-ish measure. I mean, what is this whinin', "You guys don't looooooooooooooooove me!! You betraaaaaaaaaaaaayed me! Well I'ma show you ALL!! You're gonna wish you'd have been a little NICER to me you big bully!! How 'bout I blow your brains out Mckay???"

Geez, blow your own brains out if you're gonna act weird like that man! This is not what I'd call Ford taking control, this is a doofus with one black - seriously black eye who happens to be able to throw people a mile. *snore* THAT could have been done, IMO a WHOLE lot better! Then giving himself to a Wraith ship??? Where's your strategy!! Sure, you can take them out, but really, a PJ jacking would have been cooler. The Dex/Ford fight was nice and whumpy but still....ach, I dunno...They seem to be wasting RSF's acting skills on a wimpily written character.

So...um...that's about it...I whined mostly about Ford...Dex was ok, y'know. Nothing spectacular. And I was right, nothing like Tyr. Tyr could flick him back to the land of the people who need dread growing tips.

BUT, besides that...cool.

[NightGloom]

Hey... it's Eomer!

((Sorry, but Ronon does kinda look like Eomer))

SuperFord- I can see why RSF enjoyed playing the character moreso this season. And I think his portrayal was right on the money, like he was borderline paranoid insanity, but he also had the whole addict thing going. Hopefully we haven't seen the last of him.

-The knife fight between Ronan and Ford was superb. Fight choreography can be hard to do, but this was a pretty realistic fight.

- McKay- So, maybe he overdid it a little, but I laughed. Especially when he was running through the wood screaming "Help me!" and then let out a very girly scream.

- Just out of curiousity, did anyone else find Ronon's flashback of the wraith chasing him funny? For some reason, seeing that wraith run was hilarious to me.... maybe I just need sleep.

-Ronon... mmmmmm...

I definitely need to watch the episode again. Especially since for some unknown reason I took to drawing the picture on my book cover...

[Excali5033]

Ford can't fly a Jumper, or else he'd still use the one he stole to begin with. And the duality is supposed to show how the enzyme is screwing with his head. I dunno if you've seen a real junkie or someone that's bipolar, but the characterization is spot on. Rational thought is not high on the list.

[Osiris-RA]

Ford can't fly a Jumper, or else he'd still use the one he stole to begin with. And the duality is supposed to show how the enzyme is screwing with his head. I dunno if you've seen a real junkie or someone that's bipolar, but the characterization is spot on. Rational thought is not high on the list.

Oh, yeah, I forgot he couldn't fly a jumper...That sucks..

Still, IMO, they could have made him a little less 'bipolar' or whatever. I don't really like the way 'SuperFord' is going. Why's he gotta be the one that gets sick??

*grumbles*

[Hatcheter]

Get real people! You complained when McKay was being too comical, well, tonight he went back to his roots, a sniveling coward. I LOVE McKay, but you didn't want him "likeable", you wanted the old McKay and he was the old McKay tonight. I like him that way, it makes him believable and DIFFERENT from the other characters. I want McKay to stand alone. His arrogance is a part of him, as is his cowardice. Love McKay, you have to accept all of it!

"Sniveling coward". You beat me to it, I was gonna say that!

I enjoyed McKay in this episode. It's entirely in character that he would be keeping a running tally on his lifetime radiation exposure, and have formulated his own SPF 100 sunblock. Not to mention wearing a bulking hazmat suit on a forest manhunt.

Rodney does have courage and compasion, burried deep down, but those take extreme circumstances to bring them out. Physical discomfort is a big thing for him, though, and always brings out the worst in him. He did show sympathy for Ford, and tried hard to get him to see reason and come back to Atlantis.

I was surprised that he managed to screw up all his courage and pull the trigger. I wasn't surprised that that was all he had in him, and he then ran for his life. My big question there is whether he was trying to kill Ford, or if he was trying to fire a warning shot?


As for the rest of the ep, Major Lorne was amusing, I'm hoping he's replacing Bates as the regular background soldier. Is he USAF or USMC?

Caldwell is proving to be a nice antagonist for Sheppard and Weir, I'm certainly looking forward to what he'll be up to over the course of the season.

Dex is hardcore! It may be early, but he just might bring an edge to the show that will really lift it up. His back stroy was filled in nicely, and he interacted very well with the other characters. I like the way Sheppard still seems a little unsure around him at the end of the ep.

As for the scene where Teyla removed his shirt, I'd like to point out that she was likely reacting to the faint scars across his chest from the Wraith's attempt to feed off of him. Consider that the shot of his chest was quickly folled by a shot of the scars across his back.

Ford was great in this ep. RSF didi really well, dancing between youthful enthusiasm, crazed paranoia, and regret for what he's doing. I'm certainly looking forward to his next return to the show.


Next week's episode will be Duet. All the scenes they showed in the comercial are in the images from the Gateworld file on that ep. I suppose that they cose that plot thread since it was most naturally connected to the way this episode ended.

[Excali5033]

Next week's episode will be Duet. All the scenes they showed in the comercial are in the images from the Gateworld file on that ep. I suppose that they cose that plot thread since it was most naturally connected to the way this episode ended.
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Or they're trying to throw us off.

--Introduced a character I already knew was coming. See, this is why I'm beginning to doubt the wisdom of reading previews and spoilers. I think I would have enjoyed this episode more if I didn't already know about Dex. Since I did, I was almost like, "Okay, we know this. Let's move on already."

Just the opposite for me. I didn't know Ford was going to be in the episode.

[Blue007]

LOVED IT!!! Momoa you rocked!!!!
Super Ford you were amazing and Shep...you made me smile!!!
Can't wait for the rest of the season. Momoa ~~bravo~~!!!
To all at Atlantis great job!!!

[Amakusa]

Caldwell is a jerk; it's as if the writers want to set him up like the marine guy from the end of last season except with more staying power. Carbon-copy jerk.

I don't like this Ronan Dex guy. He seems cut of the same mold as Teyla, in that he's the 'outsider' 'alien' who's supposed to bring this 'new' perspective at how things go in the Pegasus galaxy. Only it's round two with a macho man. If they don't play him in some way other than his 'seven ways to kill you' attitude, he will wear out his welcome quick.

Which is ironic, where Ford is much more interesting to watch. The fact that he had a whole season set up with this nice kid fall so suddenly is all the more engaging than Ronan's sob story.

Yes, since you clearly realize that we are all entitled to an opinion, you would think you would know better than to tell people to 'get real' or how they must view a character. We aren't here to be told what to think to be 'real'. Our opinions are, as you said, our right.

That also means I can have the opinion that you're wrong, not 'we' or 'our'. You only speak for yourself; remember that.

[Hyperspace]

This episode was choppy for me, but I still liked it. The BEST part was Rainbow Sun Franks as Ford...his character is bad yet good, the duality at first seems inconsistent yet adds unique layering to him. I was far more interested in the Super-Ford story than Ronan.

Glad to see the 'Redshirts' survive this ep, and liked the Lt. May he stay on Atlantis for a long time!!!

As for Ronan, I wish they'd get rid of the Battlefield Earth look. His character seems ok.

And the planet-setting was filmed nicely---did not look like, as someone said, "P3X-Vancouver"!!!

As for McKay, I think his characterization was off. He IS back to the 'sniveling idiot' of the past, which made me dislike him intensely in the first few episodes of Atlantis. I feel that the use of him as comic relief should not have come at the expense of his newfound growth as a character since 'The Eye' and 'Siege'...he has reverted.

And, can RSF return to full-cast status? Why not bring him on Atlantis in S3 as a half-Wraith?

[Major Tyler]

I'd like to jump on the "piss on Rodney" bandwagon for a moment...

I was shocked at how willing Ford's "friends" were to shoot him. I understand that they thought it was for his own good, but the fact remains that they shot him. Sheppard I could understand better because he fired a shot, carefully aimed at the legs, with a round that pierces flesh and bone cleanly; John could be fairly certain that the shot wouldn't kill Aiden or cause permanent damage. Rodney, on the other hand, fires a shot haphazardly aimed at Ford's central mass, with a round that causes a great deal of tissue damage. I'm sure Rodney was aiming for the shoulder, but he is a poor shot (especially with a pistol) and there is no way he could be sure he would only wound Ford and not kill him.

Another thing...aside from the shooting, Rodney seemed to take little regard in Ford in general. For one, he suggested to Lorne that he and Ford weren't friends at all and that Aiden would have nothing better to talk with him about than weapons and killing! What a pal! Major Lorne seemed like he cared more about Aiden than Rodney did!

Other than McKay intermitantly being taken over by a 12 year old girl, this episode was great! Rainbow did a wonderful job, Ronon was intriguing and well-played by Jason Momoa, and we got to see how the new dynamic on Atlantis is starting to take shape. I'm very glad that Sheppard doesn't have to take orders from Caldwell (at least explicitly) when it come to Atlantis matters. If Caldwell wants my main man killed, he's going to have to come through me!

[Lord You]

Good episode. I think the writer spends too much time reading Gateworld tho! ;-) Did anyone else think the fight between SuperFord and Jason Momoa was actually for their spot on Atlantis rather than who got to kill McKay? :-))

Good: The later stuff with McKay and his interaction with Ford was great! I also liked the concept of the planet and the way Jason's character was written. Almost everyone had something to contribute to the episode and the dialog was inspired without sounding fake. It was also nice to see Ford try that flying armbar again (if I saw correctly), and nicer to see Jason Momoa escape it! That's one tough cookie; I wonder if he was genetically altered by the Wraith.

Bad: McKay at the beginning was a little over-the-top with the whole SPF 1000 thing, and he really should have been a tad more enthusiastic to go after Ford. There's a fine line that I think the writers went beyond. I also didn't really like knife fighting. It just seemed too rehearsed and matrix-like. Finally, you never try to shoot the leg or the arm; chances are you'll miss! It would have been more realistic for Sheppard to shoot Ford with either the Wraith stunner he left with his fight with Jason or Jason's weapon (and have no effect).

All in all, my favorite of the season! My rankings:

Runner
Intruder
The Siege Part Three

[asher_cross]

I liked Runner; it wasn't perfect, but it was better than The Intruder, which I didn't like that much at all.

PROS:

- Ford storyline is getting better and better. Maybe it's just the better material they're giving him, but RSF is stretching and bettering himself as an actor. (EDIT: Did I mention it was better?)

- the action was good in this one, from Ronon's effortless gun-twirling in his half-fight with Shep to his knife-fight with Ford, it was very cool to watch.

- I'm warming to Ronon; he could be an interesting character. Noticed how all the other characters seemed extremely clean-cut compared to him.

CONS:

- I'm typically a huge Rodney fan, and he's my favorite character. But why, why why make him so ungodly whiny? Sure he was whiny before, but at least it was humorous, and he was using it to be condescending and make a point to the others; now he's just doing it to feed his own sudden case of hypochondria. He had some good moments with Ford though.

- I am looking forward to Ronon, only as long as he gets rid of that monotone "tough guy" voice. At least put some inflection into it, Momoa.

- Caldwell, like the poster said above, is a jerk. It just seems like he's there to diss Shep. Weir as always never gets a lot of screen time, and Carson at least got to go out into the field, but it would be nice to see him be part of the offworld team.

Welp, those are my thoughts, likely already repeated a dozen times before I said them, but there they are.

[Hyperspace]

I also didn't really like knife fighting. It just seemed too rehearsed and matrix-like.

I felt that too. It seemed that Ford would shoot his hand out, and Ronan would match it, as if it was all expected.

I wonder if there was any tension there between the actors? After all, the replacement is fighting the original.

Ford's character has received a much-needed infusion of 'interestingness' which IMO could allow him to return to the cast as a full-fledged member...in S3 hopefully.

Edit: oh BTW, is Mitch Pileggi's character a replacement for the Sgt. Bates? We haven't seen Bates since "Siege, pt 1" and I'd like to see him back as the 'overly protective' military guy.

[warmbeachbrat]

Good grief! What's up with Teyla this season? She does NOT seem to be the competent, interesting, well-rounded character that she was last season. She was a vital part to Atlantis last season. She was a liason between Atlantis and the various peoples that they met; she was a skilled fighter and very few got the better of her; she had depth and strength that I just haven't seen this season.

Oh well, other than that, I really enjoyed the episode. What they've done with Ford's character was great and I also find Ronon's character interesting. I thought Shep and Caldwell's interaction was great. I've been waiting for Caldwell's character to make an impact, and I think he really did that tonight. All of the supporting players were great, also. Although, I've got to agree with most of the others that Rodney was a bit over the top.

If I had to rate the episodes so far (out of 10 points), I think I'd give Siege, part 3 a 10; Intruder an 8, and Runner a 7.

[CYBEREAGLE19]

great episode overall, loved seeing ford again, still havent mentioned if theay got that PJ jumper back that ford took, also didnt like how beckets scanner was vert star trek next gen with its lil hand sensor, and I'm so sick of them always bringing up colonol sumer, hes dead get over it