brabbel123 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
brabbel123) wrote2006-08-20 06:12 pm
brabbel123) wrote2006-08-20 06:12 pm
[Review] Stargate: Atlantis - 3.06 The Real World
Ordinarily, I like episodes that have one character seriously ill and the others trying to get him or her back... but this one just didn't do the trick. And not even Richard Dean Anderson's guest appearance could change that.
As written before, I don't like Weir all that much. To me she's a mere shadow from the person she was back in "The Lost City" when she was first introduced. Back then, she stood her ground against friends and enemies alike and was able to adjust well to a situation she had never dreamt of finding herself in before. Of course, no one wanted to see Hammond gone and Kinsey's puppet replace him - but she outgrew those boundaries quickly and met all challenges head on. But that changed as soon as she stepped foot on Atlantis. *She*'s supposed to be the leader of the community, but she doesn't act like it. During the first season, she let herself be challenged way too often by Sheppard's behaviour and opinions - and didn't react to it. Remember how Sheppard openly defied her orders in "Hot Zone"? Oh, she may have reprimanded him later on, but nothing essentially changed. Granted, she again found herself in a situation she was hardly trained for, but this time, even after 2 years, she has yet to grow into her role - and frankly, I'm starting to question whether she's the right person for the job after all...
Season 2 saw a change in her behaviour in that she took on a confrontational and sometimes seemingly childish attitude. Of course, having Caldwell look over your shoulder can't be enjoyable, but was it really necessary to react so aggressively to every single one of his suggestions and threaten him with dire consequences? And to be honest, while I really like Sheppard, *he* can't have been very happy to only be promoted due to her influence rather than his own achievements. At least, I wouldn't be. And slowly but surely, the highly principled woman who just a couple of years before campaigned against weapons got lost, only to be replaced by someone who condones the research and later use of a weapon capable of genocide. And yes, I'm well aware of the danger the Wraith pose - but the retrovirus should have been the last resort, not the only avenue that's pursued!
So, my emotional investment in her fate isn't quite as high as it would have been with other characters. Nonetheless I enjoyed learning more about her character, such as her close relationship with her mother even though her apparent lack of grief at Simon's death surprised me. Overall, though, those first 30 minutes of the episode just dragged out. We *know* that Weir spent the last 2 years on Atlantis, we *know* that the stargate exists, we *know* that Weir is being messed around with. So, why not show what's going on in Atlantis instead? Granted, we get bits and pieces, but the rest of the team just talk and essentially get nothing done (Wow, one electromagnetic pulse in 5 hours...) until Sheppard finally takes action and again puts the wellbeing of someone else before his own. Why not get one of the main characters, for example Ronon, Teyla or even John, into those hazmat suits and have them hold Weir's hand and support her emotionally? I mean, they're not really contributing to a solution anyway because they lack the scientific knowledge!
Of course, Niam floating in space couldn't have been the end to the threat of the Replicators. Elizabeth's fight at discerning dream from reality once again emphasizes the danger they pose. But actually, I don't quite understand why only she's infected with the nanites. Why not Rodney who was attacked in much the same way as Weir was by Oberoth in "Progeny"? And the explanation that John wasn't infected when he entered the isolation room and touched her because the nanites were all busy concentrating on Weir was... weak, for lack of a better word. I immediately thought of the ATA gene that saved Rodney back in "Hot Zone" - Elizabeth doesn't have it, but both John and Rodney do. And since the nanites from back then and now are somewhat related, such an explanation would have made way more sense than the one offered here.
The biggest disappointment, though, was the ending of the episode. First of all, Beckett is talking about a battle of wills, right near the end - which Sheppard tries to influence by talking to Weir. Granted, he does appear briefly in Elizabeth's hallucination and helps point her in the right direction. The battle, however, isn't resolved. John's removed from both her bedside and her hallucination, Niam suddenly stands in front of Weir claiming to have won... and Elizabeth who up until then hadn't realized what was really happening and appeared confused at the events, rightfully so I might add, just sort of laughs at him and walks through him. And that's it? What the hell was that for an ending? I feel seriously cheated here. Of course, I'm not opposed to the fact that every illness has its psychological components, but in this case there were lots of nanites in her body, *programmed* to wreak havoc and causing her to be close to death, and the next moment she's back at full health, every single nanite gone? This is different than taking control of the violation into the mind the Replicators comitted before, like Sam or Daniel did in SG-1. Back then, they didn't release nanites into the body - I'd rather define those "mind rapes" as battles of wills...
Of course, the thing I've been most looking forward to concerning this episode was the appearance of Jack O'Neill, who's interestingly conjured up by Weir's mind (or brought in by Niam) as her main link to "her" reality. As good as it was to see Anderson back, it's unfortunate that one of his rare guest appearances was spent on a story line where he's practically not real. To be honest, though, I wonder why she couldn't think of anyone else that might have verified her story about the stargate given that her interaction with O'Neill was quite limited compared to her work with Daniel for example.
Overall, "The Real World" which had the serious disadvantage of being aired the same day as SG-1's "200", I'll grant it that, gets a rating of 4/10. I always like learning more about the main characters, even those I don't care about much, but in this case the surrounding plot was just too weak to hold my attention.
Memorable quotes:
McKay: What?
Beckett: What?
McKay: It's that look. It's the signal that I'd give when I'd get a brilliant idea.
Sheppard: How would you know how you looked?
McKay: Because it happened more than once in front of a mirror, okay?
O'Neill: I don't mind being phantasized about, occasionally.
As written before, I don't like Weir all that much. To me she's a mere shadow from the person she was back in "The Lost City" when she was first introduced. Back then, she stood her ground against friends and enemies alike and was able to adjust well to a situation she had never dreamt of finding herself in before. Of course, no one wanted to see Hammond gone and Kinsey's puppet replace him - but she outgrew those boundaries quickly and met all challenges head on. But that changed as soon as she stepped foot on Atlantis. *She*'s supposed to be the leader of the community, but she doesn't act like it. During the first season, she let herself be challenged way too often by Sheppard's behaviour and opinions - and didn't react to it. Remember how Sheppard openly defied her orders in "Hot Zone"? Oh, she may have reprimanded him later on, but nothing essentially changed. Granted, she again found herself in a situation she was hardly trained for, but this time, even after 2 years, she has yet to grow into her role - and frankly, I'm starting to question whether she's the right person for the job after all...
Season 2 saw a change in her behaviour in that she took on a confrontational and sometimes seemingly childish attitude. Of course, having Caldwell look over your shoulder can't be enjoyable, but was it really necessary to react so aggressively to every single one of his suggestions and threaten him with dire consequences? And to be honest, while I really like Sheppard, *he* can't have been very happy to only be promoted due to her influence rather than his own achievements. At least, I wouldn't be. And slowly but surely, the highly principled woman who just a couple of years before campaigned against weapons got lost, only to be replaced by someone who condones the research and later use of a weapon capable of genocide. And yes, I'm well aware of the danger the Wraith pose - but the retrovirus should have been the last resort, not the only avenue that's pursued!
So, my emotional investment in her fate isn't quite as high as it would have been with other characters. Nonetheless I enjoyed learning more about her character, such as her close relationship with her mother even though her apparent lack of grief at Simon's death surprised me. Overall, though, those first 30 minutes of the episode just dragged out. We *know* that Weir spent the last 2 years on Atlantis, we *know* that the stargate exists, we *know* that Weir is being messed around with. So, why not show what's going on in Atlantis instead? Granted, we get bits and pieces, but the rest of the team just talk and essentially get nothing done (Wow, one electromagnetic pulse in 5 hours...) until Sheppard finally takes action and again puts the wellbeing of someone else before his own. Why not get one of the main characters, for example Ronon, Teyla or even John, into those hazmat suits and have them hold Weir's hand and support her emotionally? I mean, they're not really contributing to a solution anyway because they lack the scientific knowledge!
Of course, Niam floating in space couldn't have been the end to the threat of the Replicators. Elizabeth's fight at discerning dream from reality once again emphasizes the danger they pose. But actually, I don't quite understand why only she's infected with the nanites. Why not Rodney who was attacked in much the same way as Weir was by Oberoth in "Progeny"? And the explanation that John wasn't infected when he entered the isolation room and touched her because the nanites were all busy concentrating on Weir was... weak, for lack of a better word. I immediately thought of the ATA gene that saved Rodney back in "Hot Zone" - Elizabeth doesn't have it, but both John and Rodney do. And since the nanites from back then and now are somewhat related, such an explanation would have made way more sense than the one offered here.
The biggest disappointment, though, was the ending of the episode. First of all, Beckett is talking about a battle of wills, right near the end - which Sheppard tries to influence by talking to Weir. Granted, he does appear briefly in Elizabeth's hallucination and helps point her in the right direction. The battle, however, isn't resolved. John's removed from both her bedside and her hallucination, Niam suddenly stands in front of Weir claiming to have won... and Elizabeth who up until then hadn't realized what was really happening and appeared confused at the events, rightfully so I might add, just sort of laughs at him and walks through him. And that's it? What the hell was that for an ending? I feel seriously cheated here. Of course, I'm not opposed to the fact that every illness has its psychological components, but in this case there were lots of nanites in her body, *programmed* to wreak havoc and causing her to be close to death, and the next moment she's back at full health, every single nanite gone? This is different than taking control of the violation into the mind the Replicators comitted before, like Sam or Daniel did in SG-1. Back then, they didn't release nanites into the body - I'd rather define those "mind rapes" as battles of wills...
Of course, the thing I've been most looking forward to concerning this episode was the appearance of Jack O'Neill, who's interestingly conjured up by Weir's mind (or brought in by Niam) as her main link to "her" reality. As good as it was to see Anderson back, it's unfortunate that one of his rare guest appearances was spent on a story line where he's practically not real. To be honest, though, I wonder why she couldn't think of anyone else that might have verified her story about the stargate given that her interaction with O'Neill was quite limited compared to her work with Daniel for example.
Overall, "The Real World" which had the serious disadvantage of being aired the same day as SG-1's "200", I'll grant it that, gets a rating of 4/10. I always like learning more about the main characters, even those I don't care about much, but in this case the surrounding plot was just too weak to hold my attention.
Memorable quotes:
McKay: What?
Beckett: What?
McKay: It's that look. It's the signal that I'd give when I'd get a brilliant idea.
Sheppard: How would you know how you looked?
McKay: Because it happened more than once in front of a mirror, okay?
O'Neill: I don't mind being phantasized about, occasionally.