Sateda
Ronan's usually an interesting character so behold to my surprise comes an episode where he is forced to be a runner again, complete with tracking device and everything and behold to even further surprise the fact that he'll be running in the city where he once lived. (The city that was only hinted at in "Runner") This is obviously the defining point for Ronan character wise and it all comes down to whether or not the writers/producers can execute it capably and as it turns out, they do.
The first thing you'll know off the bat was that this city was basically designed for Ronan to roam around in; it's got that worn-torn war like look, it's got guns, it's got ammo, it's got environments and it's even got convenient places where the enemies come out. It almost seems like a video gamers dream and he does well in this as he moves around, does acrobatics, look awesome (and somewhat like a Klingon at times) and kills Wraith with ease. I'm guessing the actor behind Ronan must of had a lot of fun when he was filming his scenes, it can be a blast when you get to shoot at Wraith, walk away from explosions and well, just be awesome; and the Wraith don't take this for granted, as they too use their hunting skills and their strength in numbers to prove themselves to be a worthy foe. They haven't forgotten about the serious stuff though as every place seems to bring back remnants of a long war that tore their people apart. The shields and dead bodies laying around, the important places; though it's not what it was hinted to be in "Runner", it's still enough for us to look at this place and to think at what it once was; the people who lived there and the society that they once had.
Built for action.
One of the best things about the episode is that it shows us an example of what he did when he was running and a look into his past. It must of been tough to run from the wraith, getting a brief moment to look for ammo and supplies and to treat his wounds. It's tense, it's hectic; though he knows what to do, he still feels the need to keep on running, keep on going, never stopping, never resting because he isn't given a chance to. Ronan's scenes show us one essential thing about him, he may be skilled, his moves may be finely choreographed but he's just as vulnerable as the rest of us. Through disjointed flashbacks, we learn of his dedication and devotion; it's nice to know that he was agile and focused as he is now, as he commanded those soldiers and even helped some out in need, past Ronan really put all that he did into his efforts. His wife was somewhat generic but I felt for her nonetheless mainly because her desire to help and his desire to see her off okay just seemed to work well with each other. He's hoping they can get out there, she's hoping they can save lives; those are both things that influence our characters and drive them to do the things they do even though the odds are stacked against them. It makes their scenes engaging, it allows us to go past the pre-defined traits of the characters and see them as something more, which helps to give essential depth to these flashback scenes.
The look of his scenes could be described as a unrefined version of what SGU would eventually utilize; which is the edge, shaky camera angles, various usage of filters, disjointedness and progressiveness. There is some of SGA's tricks being used here but watch this and watch a random episode of SGU and you'll see what I mean; it's quick, jolty, unfamiliar and at some times even distracting but when used in relation to Ronan, it quite fits him nicely. He's obviously been in a war and he's been running for quite some time, the feeling that he gets when he remembers something or sees something familiar would be quite similar to what we're seeing on screen, which is shots of action coming at us, wraith cullings everywhere you look, the most painful memory you could ever think of... People watching the show will have to think how he can live with himself if he deals with this, this flood of past memories and tight bonds; which is good for his character overall. It's funny to how these scenes would directly influence some of the style of SGU, like these people were working on these scenes unaware that they would inspire a future series... I guess fate is a funny thing.
Serious but funny...
With all the Ronan stuff going on, you might of thought that the episode would of forgotten about Atlantis; well they haven't and to tell you the truth, they're mostly unnecessary. It was nice to see what was going on at Atlantis, the scenes here really show how much the crew cares for Ronan and how they see him as an essential part of the team. It really gives the essence that they care for each other no matter what they do or how impossible the stakes and they wouldn't split apart for the world; The Atlantis crew is supposed to be a team so to see them acting like a team is nice. Unfortunately there isn't much variety to these scenes; while it does show that they care for Ronan, they don't dive down into the personal feelings of each member or even their connection to them, it just seems like they're there to send our heroes to pick up Ronan and save the day which is a shame since I've seen Atlantis do tantalizing character moments before. It's almost as if the writers couldn't use Ronan to fill the episode and instead decided to stretch these scenes out to fill time which would explain the inclusions of McKay's glutinous maximums dart plot. I personally found it to be mostly unfunny and somewhat wasted; while McKay is doing scientific stuff most of the time, the other times it seems like McKay seems to be coasting which is the main problem here; I don't know what'll happen to "Atlantis" if McKay coasts further. They do help to further Ronan's character though...
I've heard that this was originally supposed to be the third episode of the season but this was switched for the "Irresistable"; I'm saying that this should of been the third episode of the season. It's enjoyable, it grows Ronan's character and it provides us with an entertaining 44 minutes. There are some elements that are unnecessary and the whole thing can feel somewhat gimmicky at times but still... This episode really shows what they can do once they put their minds to it with Ronan, he's just a character with so much potential and this episode really shows it; if you like Ronan then you'll love this.
Ronan...
8.0/10
Ronan's usually an interesting character so behold to my surprise comes an episode where he is forced to be a runner again, complete with tracking device and everything and behold to even further surprise the fact that he'll be running in the city where he once lived. (The city that was only hinted at in "Runner") This is obviously the defining point for Ronan character wise and it all comes down to whether or not the writers/producers can execute it capably and as it turns out, they do.
The first thing you'll know off the bat was that this city was basically designed for Ronan to roam around in; it's got that worn-torn war like look, it's got guns, it's got ammo, it's got environments and it's even got convenient places where the enemies come out. It almost seems like a video gamers dream and he does well in this as he moves around, does acrobatics, look awesome (and somewhat like a Klingon at times) and kills Wraith with ease. I'm guessing the actor behind Ronan must of had a lot of fun when he was filming his scenes, it can be a blast when you get to shoot at Wraith, walk away from explosions and well, just be awesome; and the Wraith don't take this for granted, as they too use their hunting skills and their strength in numbers to prove themselves to be a worthy foe. They haven't forgotten about the serious stuff though as every place seems to bring back remnants of a long war that tore their people apart. The shields and dead bodies laying around, the important places; though it's not what it was hinted to be in "Runner", it's still enough for us to look at this place and to think at what it once was; the people who lived there and the society that they once had.
Built for action.
One of the best things about the episode is that it shows us an example of what he did when he was running and a look into his past. It must of been tough to run from the wraith, getting a brief moment to look for ammo and supplies and to treat his wounds. It's tense, it's hectic; though he knows what to do, he still feels the need to keep on running, keep on going, never stopping, never resting because he isn't given a chance to. Ronan's scenes show us one essential thing about him, he may be skilled, his moves may be finely choreographed but he's just as vulnerable as the rest of us. Through disjointed flashbacks, we learn of his dedication and devotion; it's nice to know that he was agile and focused as he is now, as he commanded those soldiers and even helped some out in need, past Ronan really put all that he did into his efforts. His wife was somewhat generic but I felt for her nonetheless mainly because her desire to help and his desire to see her off okay just seemed to work well with each other. He's hoping they can get out there, she's hoping they can save lives; those are both things that influence our characters and drive them to do the things they do even though the odds are stacked against them. It makes their scenes engaging, it allows us to go past the pre-defined traits of the characters and see them as something more, which helps to give essential depth to these flashback scenes.
The look of his scenes could be described as a unrefined version of what SGU would eventually utilize; which is the edge, shaky camera angles, various usage of filters, disjointedness and progressiveness. There is some of SGA's tricks being used here but watch this and watch a random episode of SGU and you'll see what I mean; it's quick, jolty, unfamiliar and at some times even distracting but when used in relation to Ronan, it quite fits him nicely. He's obviously been in a war and he's been running for quite some time, the feeling that he gets when he remembers something or sees something familiar would be quite similar to what we're seeing on screen, which is shots of action coming at us, wraith cullings everywhere you look, the most painful memory you could ever think of... People watching the show will have to think how he can live with himself if he deals with this, this flood of past memories and tight bonds; which is good for his character overall. It's funny to how these scenes would directly influence some of the style of SGU, like these people were working on these scenes unaware that they would inspire a future series... I guess fate is a funny thing.
Serious but funny...
With all the Ronan stuff going on, you might of thought that the episode would of forgotten about Atlantis; well they haven't and to tell you the truth, they're mostly unnecessary. It was nice to see what was going on at Atlantis, the scenes here really show how much the crew cares for Ronan and how they see him as an essential part of the team. It really gives the essence that they care for each other no matter what they do or how impossible the stakes and they wouldn't split apart for the world; The Atlantis crew is supposed to be a team so to see them acting like a team is nice. Unfortunately there isn't much variety to these scenes; while it does show that they care for Ronan, they don't dive down into the personal feelings of each member or even their connection to them, it just seems like they're there to send our heroes to pick up Ronan and save the day which is a shame since I've seen Atlantis do tantalizing character moments before. It's almost as if the writers couldn't use Ronan to fill the episode and instead decided to stretch these scenes out to fill time which would explain the inclusions of McKay's glutinous maximums dart plot. I personally found it to be mostly unfunny and somewhat wasted; while McKay is doing scientific stuff most of the time, the other times it seems like McKay seems to be coasting which is the main problem here; I don't know what'll happen to "Atlantis" if McKay coasts further. They do help to further Ronan's character though...
I've heard that this was originally supposed to be the third episode of the season but this was switched for the "Irresistable"; I'm saying that this should of been the third episode of the season. It's enjoyable, it grows Ronan's character and it provides us with an entertaining 44 minutes. There are some elements that are unnecessary and the whole thing can feel somewhat gimmicky at times but still... This episode really shows what they can do once they put their minds to it with Ronan, he's just a character with so much potential and this episode really shows it; if you like Ronan then you'll love this.
Ronan...
8.0/10
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