Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

I Throw Up My Hands in Defeat: The Triangle IS Poorly Written

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    I Throw Up My Hands in Defeat: The Triangle IS Poorly Written

    There. I've said it. Are you happy now? All of you that have worried and wailed against the very idea of a love triangle on SGA.

    I protested against your concerns and stood by TPTB in the ultimately vain hope that we'd get something interesting and worthwhile out of their attempt to write a romantic relationship (or two) into the show. Alas, it was not to be.

    First Contact is the first episode that really plays up on the notion that Ronon and Rodney are interested in and "competing" for the same woman, Jennifer. And what do we have to show for it?

    Desperate Rodney, staring after the two of them forlornly as Jennifer and Ronon run off to the Deadalus together.

    A somewhat jerk-ish Ronon as he smirks back at Rodney as he leaves with Jennifer.

    And an either oblivious or uncaring Jennifer who knows how Rodney feels yet seems to be encouraging Ronon.

    Which wouldn't matter if she reciprocated Ronon's feelings, but we don't know what she's about because TPTB seem to have forgotten all about the third side of this triangle. Making this triangle more similar to a right-angle with no purpose other than what? To demonstrate how silly men get when they're "in love"?

    So what's going on here? Are TPTB really screwing this up or is that just happening in my crazy mind?
    sigpic

    #2
    I really, truly wish that you had been right when you said it might not be as bad as the nay-sayers had expected. I really do
    sigpic

    Comment


      #3
      She's a young naive prodigy. Their experience in relationships is nil and their knowledge is close to it. At least she doesn't have a daddy complex.

      Comment


        #4
        The sad thing is, is that it's not just Keller that's getting the short end of the characterization stick here - it's all 3 characters.

        I may not like Ronon much as a character or think much of Momoa as an actor, but even I know that Ronon (as he was initially written by TPTB) would have more respect for Jennifer, if not Rodney, than to act like this is some sort of competition or game for him. That smirk, more than the constant bag-carrying and "protector" status, demonstrated how far out of the realm of anything believable TPTB are taking this triangle.

        No one smirks like that unless they have a reason to smirk at the other guy "competing" for Jennifer's affections. And the only reason to smirk woul be to further rub in the fact that he's spending more time with her than Rodney and therefore seems to have the advantage. Which just belittles everyone all around. And makes Ronon seem like he's a teenager again.

        And I have no clue what the writers are doing with Jennifer. Rodney professed his love for her so she KNOWS how he feels. In The Shrine she was portrayed as the one who seemed to be most in sync with how Rodney thought and in Tracker she just stared at the two of them as they fought over her bags like she had no clue as to why. The very fact that Rodney was there should have urged her to have some compassion for the guy and at least have let him know before hand that Ronon was coming too. Way to get the guy's hopes up and then crash them back down to Atlantis, Jen.

        Or should I say writers? Because it seems like no one is safe from the crazed pen of TPTB. Not even their favourite, Rodney.

        He's insecure and not particularly suave and if the writers are trying to play that up to make the whole, nerds-can-still-get-girls scenario play out even more dramatically then they're doing their jobs either too well or not well enough because I can't seem to decide if I'm hating desperately-in-love Rodney or liking him.

        It's cute and it's sweet, but mostly it's just sad and cruel.

        Meanwhile, we know nothing of how Jennifer feels. Oh, we shippers can analyze scenes through our rose-coloured shipper glasses and make up scenarios that interpret various looks and gestures to mean that she loves either one of those men, but we have nothing concrete like Rodney's love or Ronon's intentions. And all that that is doing is providing fans with more reason to view her as somewhat of a tease.

        Either a tease or she really is naive and oblivious. Like the most naive woman to ever hit her late twenties. And that? Is just wrong.
        sigpic

        Comment


          #5
          Yeah, I gotta say this was the ONLY thing about the episode I did not like. I didnt take much interest either way when I read about the "love triangle", I read about it and didnt really give it any thought, but I dont really like it at all :/ It makes me dislike all three characters a little o_O thankfully it didnt stop my enjoyment of the rest of the episode - but I dont really care to see more of that kind of thing.
          Go buy my music and give a starving artist some support. It's dirt-cheap, dammit.
          Ion Plasma Incineration (Hard and heavy electro-industrial music in the vein of late 90's classics, updated for the 21st century!)

          Current project : Working on Tolathians Outpost Cyclopean, the world's first pure non-humanoid extra-dimensional sci-fi show! 100% no humans !

          Comment


            #6
            ...I have to ask...whats it matter? So what if theres a love triangle? seriously...do people not realize that moaning about it is way more "High School Drama" than the triangle itself?
            "I'm being extremely clever up here and there's no one to stand around looking impressed! What's the point in having you all?!" - The Doctor (#11)

            Comment


              #7
              It could still be that Ronon offered to come with Keller out of genuine concern + the chance to pull rodney's leg

              ronon after all has had a very traumatic experience in losing the love of his life to the wraith, so it wouldn't surprise me that he only has friendly feelings towards keller
              I'm an average viewer. As plain as they come. People make TV shows based on my demographic.

              Million's of ZPM's, ZPM's for free! Millions of ZPM's, ZPM's for me!

              Comment


                #8
                I take no pleasure in being right about how badly TPTB would handle this triangle because the stakes are so high. I know they have a tendency to write characters out-of-character in order to try to force ship and I didn't want to see that, especially since this is the last season. Unfortunately, after just two episodes of seeing this mess in full bloom, I don't recognize, or like, any of these characters. Ronon's been turned into an arrogant, taunting ass, Rodney's too pathetic for words and Keller appears to either be a tease or she's conveniently forgotten Rodney's confession of "love".

                No where in this mess do I see any genuine, mature feelings because even Rodney's "love" was much too sudden to be believeable. And, it's painful to realize that, according to these writers, Ronon suddenly has nothing but distain for Rodney, despite years of seeing otherwise. No, they weren't best buds, but they respected each other, cared about each other and had each other's back. Now, because the writers wanted a triangle, that's all gone.

                What's even more bizarre about this mess is that TPTB said that the reason they were exploring yet another Rodney romance is because they wanted to show Rodney in a mature relationship. What I would love to know is - how is this triangle more mature than Rodney's relationship with Katie Brown?

                I really feel for Jason Momoa because he was against this from the beginning. Poor guy undoudtedly knew what was coming. No wonder he's been so vocal about not sticking around if SGA made it to a 7th season.
                sigpic
                Sig by Luciana

                Comment


                  #9
                  Alright, what some people don't seem to understand is, the writers are the ones writing the characters, and they can do it how they want, it's not out of character, as much as you want to think it is. I was going to say something about something else, but I think I'll keep that to myself. Don't want to get modded.
                  sigpic

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Shpinxinator View Post
                    ...I have to ask...whats it matter? So what if theres a love triangle? seriously...do people not realize that moaning about it is way more "High School Drama" than the triangle itself?
                    Agreed. And I'm still of the mindset that Ronan is messing with McKay, using Rodney's obvious affection for Keller as a chance to make the good doctor squirm and feel awkward.

                    If you watch the last scene again from Tracker, you can see that Ronan only suggests the idea that he has "intentions" for Keller after McKay announces his feelings and own "intentions" towards her. This presents Ronan with a chance to tease him, because although there relationship is built on a mutual respect of their respective talents, Ronan is just being playful.

                    So he puts forth the idea that "maybe he does have intentions", and Rodney falls for it completely. Therefore, I don't believe Ronan's smile at the end of the ep was cockyness motivated by "this guy doesn't have a chance", but rather it was acknowledgement that he had caught McKay off guard and has one up on him.

                    Cut now to the scene near the beginning of First Contact, where Ronan is doing everything he can to impress Keller, carrying her bags, offering to protect her etc... just for the satisfaction of catching McKay's expression of horror and jealousy in the corridor before they leave. Ronan's smile here was not one of "I'm gonna be bedding Keller tonight you just wait", but rather "I'm still playing this game, and I'm still making you squirm".

                    The impression I've got from the way this relationship has been portrayed is that Ronan is just joking with McKay and messing with his head a little. That is all. I'm sorry but I just can't see the "contrived love triangle" that some people are complaining about. Stargate has a history of either avoiding cliche's, or letting their characters notice, comment, and play up to them (I believe the term from Stargate SG1's milestone episode "200" referred to this as "hanging a latern [on it]") and that is exactly what I think is happening here.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Wayston View Post
                      It could still be that Ronon offered to come with Keller out of genuine concern + the chance to pull rodney's leg

                      ronon after all has had a very traumatic experience in losing the love of his life to the wraith, so it wouldn't surprise me that he only has friendly feelings towards keller
                      Agreed.

                      Originally posted by DrJenniferDex View Post
                      Alright, what some people don't seem to understand is, the writers are the ones writing the characters, and they can do it how they want, it's not out of character, as much as you want to think it is. I was going to say something about something else, but I think I'll keep that to myself. Don't want to get modded.
                      Absolutely 100% agreed.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Thank you very much, Klinjon. It's like the Twilight fans who didn't enjoy Breaking Dawn(I did, personally, so did everyone I know who's read it) claiming it was basically just a giant fanfiction.

                        Also, I think people need to stop claiming definitively, as though it's a known fact, that Ronon has no feelings for Jennifer at all, and only Rodney deserves her based on that. We. Don't. Know. We're not the writers, we don't know if Ronon is in love with her or not. I, personally, think he is, because he opened up to her more about Melena than he's done with anyone at all, including Sheppard, who is his best friend.
                        sigpic

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Klinjon View Post
                          The impression I've got from the way this relationship has been portrayed is that Ronan is just joking with McKay and messing with his head a little. That is all. I'm sorry but I just can't see the "contrived love triangle" that some people are complaining about. Stargate has a history of either avoiding cliche's, or letting their characters notice, comment, and play up to them (I believe the term from Stargate SG1's milestone episode "200" referred to this as "hanging a latern [on it]") and that is exactly what I think is happening here.
                          That's what I see on screen too - that Ronon's not interested in Keller, he's just messing with Rodney. I came to that conclusion because I never saw anything, before or after Quarantine, that supports Ronon being interested in Keller and because I know that he loves messing with Rodney. Unfortunately, Carl Binder, who wrote Tracker, implied otherwise. According to him, Ronon's interested and he's gleefully rubbing Rodney's nose in it. The problem with this is that it's not consistent with the Ronon I've seen before this triangle mess.

                          That's where my extreme distaste for this triangle mess comes from - writers who show a profound lack of understanding of their characters. I wish they cared enough about these characters to understand that if you have to write them out-of-character to make their triangle work, then they shouldn't write the triangle at all.

                          Just because they have the power to write anything, no matter how outlandish, for their characters, doesn't mean that they should - not if they want to maintain the trust/interest of their audience.
                          sigpic
                          Sig by Luciana

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by DrJenniferDex View Post
                            Alright, what some people don't seem to understand is, the writers are the ones writing the characters, and they can do it how they want, it's not out of character, as much as you want to think it is. I was going to say something about something else, but I think I'll keep that to myself. Don't want to get modded.
                            Well it's certainly not the way the characters have been written up until now and I think you'll find that that is, in fact, the definition of "out of character". If Sheppard started slitting the throats of all left handed marines, would you not think that "out of character"? Or would you accept it because TPTB wrote it?

                            This triangle, IMO, is demeaning to all three characters involved and I know if I were an actor presented with a script that made me behave like any of them as far as this triangle is concerned, I would seriously wonder why I had signed that contract.

                            And Shpinxinator, you may not give a toss about the characters in the show and therefore what happens to them or what they do, but some people do. Or should we ask permission before expressing opinions on any subject in case they don't meet your criteria for discussion topics?
                            sigpic

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Pandora's_Box View Post
                              Stuff.
                              The reason why I was against this was because I foresaw exactly all of this happening somewhere down the line.

                              Previous experience with the PTB's writing and shipping made me predict that it'd go down exactly like this. Now no one's happy. Rodney's been reduced to a flustered geek without the ability to express himself when it comes to emotions or go for the woman he wants (5 years and we're still on this?), Ronon has for whatever reason become very un-Rononlike with a strange new competitive attitude and Jennifer seems kinda sluttish (or really, really dense).

                              So, there you have it Rononites, Kellerites and Rodneyites. A manure triangle where all sides are badly written.

                              Originally posted by Wayston View Post
                              It could still be that Ronon offered to come with Keller out of genuine concern + the chance to pull rodney's leg

                              ronon after all has had a very traumatic experience in losing the love of his life to the wraith, so it wouldn't surprise me that he only has friendly feelings towards keller
                              Ronon knows that Rodney doesn't take love for granted and that Rodney likes Jennifer. Why would he, having been traumatized due to the love of his life, do this to Rodney just for the lulz?

                              Why would he pull Rodney's leg, smirk at him and all that? Is that what you call a friend?

                              Originally posted by maxbo View Post
                              Stuff.
                              Tell me, my friend, what did you see between "Trio" and "The Sanctuary" to suggest that Rodney had fallen in love (and actually using the "love"-word) with Jennifer?
                              Last edited by FallenAngelII; 28 September 2008, 05:26 AM.



                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X