SGA 3x20 First Strike
Aug. 29th, 2012 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkA meme astridv posted indirectly gave me a plot idea and for the first time in weeks I'm in the mood to write fic again, yay! But first I have to rewatch some episodes. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. My silly space show <3
3x20 First Strike
Jennifer! Is this the first time we see Jennifer? Awww, she's great. Yay for recognizing when you're not qualified for something and asking for help! Have a big cake!! But nobody believes you ("everyone says you're doing great! I trust you!") and so you have to do what you can, always knowing that it's not enough, that you're not good enough, and every day you wonder when you'll make the fatal mistake... And then eventually, months later, you become maybe cautiously hopeful that you can do this, and you become less careful because it kind of works, doesn't it? (it's only the tiny things that happen, but those could happen to anyone, and you don't see how things could be done better, everyone says you're doing great) but as hard as you try, you can never quite shake the feeling that you're not good enough. I possibly have feelings about this. Jennifer!
Why Elizabeth doesn't listen to her is a different thing: Elizabeth has a completely different background. Unlike Jennifer Elizabeth had to fight against people who constantly underestimated her and told her she couldn't do this, can't be trusted with that responsibility. She still does, we see it in this episode! So partly as a defense mechanism Elizabeth developed a great deal of self-confidence, which often masks even to her when she really isn't 100% qualified for a position. (See: leader of Atlantis!) Elizabeth doesn't want the same to happen to Jennifer: she really does believe that Jennifer can do it, because she herself always took any of the few opportunities of responsibility she was given and grew with the task. If Elizabeth had stayed in charge, I don't think she ever would have wanted to recognize that Jennifer might not be ready for this position yet.
Here we have another character admitting he can't do something - Rodney, did you at least write a performance review for Radek? ;) I believe John when he says he thinks every one of his men is above average - they are serving in Atlantis and still alive, that's a good indicator. "I don't think leaders should lie, Elizabeth." How did I forget how ridiculous his face is?!
No really, why weren't they made aware of the ship-building three weeks ago? Communication and coordination is important, people. But Ellis' posturing and acting on behalf of the IOA makes it clearer.
I like how the Atlantis command staff seems used to having meetings together here. And then Elizabeth's and John's exchange: "Can you believe this?" "No. Almost seems too good to be true." "What?!" Aw, Elizabeth, always hopeful. Ouch, that dismissal by Ellis must have hurt. But she gets back at him later :)
I love that Radek&Rodney scene in front of the nukes. They don't like it, but they like the risk and possible alternative even less. They could make a decision, as Radek points out correctly, but they're not sure enough, so they follow orders.
The John&Elizabeth scene is also nice: he wants her to understand, she really doesn't need this right now. They do have good chemistry together.
Rodney, now is very late for doubts!
That is a brutal detonation scene. Sure, later they say that all Replicators have their conscience stored somewhere so nobody "died", but still, the amount of devastation on that planet...
Sending the military commander of Atlantis out alone in a tiny Jumper over a planet with superior Ancient technology after they've just been attacked is such an extremely stupid idea, argh. And it's completely unnecessary here even from TV POV!
Oh hi, Ronon and Teyla! You're still here? Aren't you normally on trade missions when these kinds of events happen, or is that only in fanfic?
Very cool visuals with the beam.
"We're in trouble." "It took you five minutes to figure that out? You're slipping, buddy." Heh.
How does the beam sustain the shield? I don't think that makes any sense. But whatever.
"So we can assume the Replicators are behind this." "I hope so." "You hope so?" "Otherwise we discovered yet another super-powerful enemy."
Only now when I see Rodney do this again after a long time of not watching any episodes I realize how many fics don't succeed at getting across his particular kind of - well, Rodney.
Ellis wants to share his exasperation over Elizabeth with John and John just gives him a neutral shrug and weird expression. ^^
Not a very good negotiating position, but at least you tried.
"We're gonna need another plan." "Yup, okay..." Poor Rodney, it's always on you.
Ellis calls John by his first name? I didn't get the impression that they knew each other very well, so it only seems patronizing and impolite. Then he tries flattery, "you should be running Atlantis, not Dr. Weir." The conversation shows that for Ellis Earth >>> Atlantis and John loves Atlantis more, but we knew that. Yes of course the first attack was responsible for the counterstrike, there's no somehow about it, you should have thought of this before, John. A bit weird.
Elizabeth and Teyla! They confide in each other, but can't always fully understand each other because they don't sufficiently understand each other's culture. Still, it's nice to see that they're good friends and help each other work through what's on their minds. Poor frustrated Elizabeth. But how could the situation have been easily avoided, at no high risk to Earth? I don't think she would have stepped down, though. There's not really anywhere for her to go.
(I forgot how long it takes to write a thorough episode review...)
For some reason the next scene where Rodney and Radek explain their plan is hilarious. Rodney being Rodney, everyone reacting to him, including Ellis being impatient, Teyla and Elizabeth rolling their eyes, and Radek.
"Yeah, I don't think that's your call." Rodney <3 He followed orders, but he knows who's in charge and he doesn't hesitate to show it. Awww.
"Look, as much as I hate to say it, Zelenka's not infallible." Rodney gets the best lines this episode.
10 seconds to go to the safe areas? That's not much! (And I don't think the balcony counts...)
"Aye aye, captain." Is there fic where Elizabeth is a steampunk ship captain and Rodney her loyal mechanic somewhere? And the rest can be the crew they hired and that happens to stay? Please?
"Told you." "Thank you, Radek. Very helpful."
"What's the plan?" "That was the plan." Why do I like these little scenes so much? I missed this show.
"I need to learn some science." Yes, Ronon, yes you should! Only he doesn't, unlike Teyla, as we see in season 5, because the writers never remember.
The Fantastic Four? I didn't remember that, I thought that was fanon! xD "I'm not invisible."
"How come you get to be Mr. Fantastic?" "Because he was the leader, and I'm the..." pause, Ronon raises an eyebrow, Teyla looks at him. "I'm just saying that... (etc.)" Awww. Team <3 John is a dork, and Teyla totally did that on purpose *g*
"Shouldn't you guys be bickering, or something?"
"I'm my own department head, you know!"
"Why don't you guys just make out and get it over with, huh?" Rodney and Radek are so great together!
And then Rodney and John get the same idea at the same time and finish each other's sentences while Radek stares at them *g*
Ellis' apology looks surprisingly sincere, even though he doesn't think she should lead the city. O'Neill is "awfully fond" of her, huh, instead of saying that O'Neill respects her a great deal.
"Are you sure you can do this?"
"What, fly the city?"
"What else could I possibly be talking about."
"I flew a V-22 Osprey once."
"Was it as big as the city?" Boys!
Why is the chair rotating? They like to give us pictures of John on the rotating control chair, I can't complain. He looks very relaxed there.
"That's it. We're flying." Atlantis is great! I love Rodney's look of wonder.
Nooo, Elizabeth! Sorry, apparently I can't do this without many exclamation marks.
It's nice that you want to show Jennifer being good at what she does and cool in a crisis, but do you have to make the other doctors/nurses look less smart to do it?
Lost in the middle of nowhere - but again, very cool visuals. :)
I really enjoyed this episode! And writing the review, if only it didn't take so long. Oh well, I'll be grateful I did it in the future.
The new Doctor Who season starts soon, but my friends don't have time this and the next weekend so I'll have to wait and avoid spoilers until I catch up with season 6. I might watch a bit more SGA until then to distract myself, and who knows, maybe I'll actually manage to write something?
Now sleeep, and I'll do all the other things I was supposed to be doing instead of this tomorrow. As usual.
astridv posted indirectly gave me a plot idea and for the first time in weeks I'm in the mood to write fic again, yay! But first I have to rewatch some episodes. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. My silly space show <33x20 First Strike
Jennifer! Is this the first time we see Jennifer? Awww, she's great. Yay for recognizing when you're not qualified for something and asking for help! Have a big cake!! But nobody believes you ("everyone says you're doing great! I trust you!") and so you have to do what you can, always knowing that it's not enough, that you're not good enough, and every day you wonder when you'll make the fatal mistake... And then eventually, months later, you become maybe cautiously hopeful that you can do this, and you become less careful because it kind of works, doesn't it? (it's only the tiny things that happen, but those could happen to anyone, and you don't see how things could be done better, everyone says you're doing great) but as hard as you try, you can never quite shake the feeling that you're not good enough. I possibly have feelings about this. Jennifer!
Why Elizabeth doesn't listen to her is a different thing: Elizabeth has a completely different background. Unlike Jennifer Elizabeth had to fight against people who constantly underestimated her and told her she couldn't do this, can't be trusted with that responsibility. She still does, we see it in this episode! So partly as a defense mechanism Elizabeth developed a great deal of self-confidence, which often masks even to her when she really isn't 100% qualified for a position. (See: leader of Atlantis!) Elizabeth doesn't want the same to happen to Jennifer: she really does believe that Jennifer can do it, because she herself always took any of the few opportunities of responsibility she was given and grew with the task. If Elizabeth had stayed in charge, I don't think she ever would have wanted to recognize that Jennifer might not be ready for this position yet.
Here we have another character admitting he can't do something - Rodney, did you at least write a performance review for Radek? ;) I believe John when he says he thinks every one of his men is above average - they are serving in Atlantis and still alive, that's a good indicator. "I don't think leaders should lie, Elizabeth." How did I forget how ridiculous his face is?!
No really, why weren't they made aware of the ship-building three weeks ago? Communication and coordination is important, people. But Ellis' posturing and acting on behalf of the IOA makes it clearer.
I like how the Atlantis command staff seems used to having meetings together here. And then Elizabeth's and John's exchange: "Can you believe this?" "No. Almost seems too good to be true." "What?!" Aw, Elizabeth, always hopeful. Ouch, that dismissal by Ellis must have hurt. But she gets back at him later :)
I love that Radek&Rodney scene in front of the nukes. They don't like it, but they like the risk and possible alternative even less. They could make a decision, as Radek points out correctly, but they're not sure enough, so they follow orders.
The John&Elizabeth scene is also nice: he wants her to understand, she really doesn't need this right now. They do have good chemistry together.
Rodney, now is very late for doubts!
That is a brutal detonation scene. Sure, later they say that all Replicators have their conscience stored somewhere so nobody "died", but still, the amount of devastation on that planet...
Sending the military commander of Atlantis out alone in a tiny Jumper over a planet with superior Ancient technology after they've just been attacked is such an extremely stupid idea, argh. And it's completely unnecessary here even from TV POV!
Oh hi, Ronon and Teyla! You're still here? Aren't you normally on trade missions when these kinds of events happen, or is that only in fanfic?
Very cool visuals with the beam.
"We're in trouble." "It took you five minutes to figure that out? You're slipping, buddy." Heh.
How does the beam sustain the shield? I don't think that makes any sense. But whatever.
"So we can assume the Replicators are behind this." "I hope so." "You hope so?" "Otherwise we discovered yet another super-powerful enemy."
Only now when I see Rodney do this again after a long time of not watching any episodes I realize how many fics don't succeed at getting across his particular kind of - well, Rodney.
Ellis wants to share his exasperation over Elizabeth with John and John just gives him a neutral shrug and weird expression. ^^
Not a very good negotiating position, but at least you tried.
"We're gonna need another plan." "Yup, okay..." Poor Rodney, it's always on you.
Ellis calls John by his first name? I didn't get the impression that they knew each other very well, so it only seems patronizing and impolite. Then he tries flattery, "you should be running Atlantis, not Dr. Weir." The conversation shows that for Ellis Earth >>> Atlantis and John loves Atlantis more, but we knew that. Yes of course the first attack was responsible for the counterstrike, there's no somehow about it, you should have thought of this before, John. A bit weird.
Elizabeth and Teyla! They confide in each other, but can't always fully understand each other because they don't sufficiently understand each other's culture. Still, it's nice to see that they're good friends and help each other work through what's on their minds. Poor frustrated Elizabeth. But how could the situation have been easily avoided, at no high risk to Earth? I don't think she would have stepped down, though. There's not really anywhere for her to go.
(I forgot how long it takes to write a thorough episode review...)
For some reason the next scene where Rodney and Radek explain their plan is hilarious. Rodney being Rodney, everyone reacting to him, including Ellis being impatient, Teyla and Elizabeth rolling their eyes, and Radek.
"Yeah, I don't think that's your call." Rodney <3 He followed orders, but he knows who's in charge and he doesn't hesitate to show it. Awww.
"Look, as much as I hate to say it, Zelenka's not infallible." Rodney gets the best lines this episode.
10 seconds to go to the safe areas? That's not much! (And I don't think the balcony counts...)
"Aye aye, captain." Is there fic where Elizabeth is a steampunk ship captain and Rodney her loyal mechanic somewhere? And the rest can be the crew they hired and that happens to stay? Please?
"Told you." "Thank you, Radek. Very helpful."
"What's the plan?" "That was the plan." Why do I like these little scenes so much? I missed this show.
"I need to learn some science." Yes, Ronon, yes you should! Only he doesn't, unlike Teyla, as we see in season 5, because the writers never remember.
The Fantastic Four? I didn't remember that, I thought that was fanon! xD "I'm not invisible."
"How come you get to be Mr. Fantastic?" "Because he was the leader, and I'm the..." pause, Ronon raises an eyebrow, Teyla looks at him. "I'm just saying that... (etc.)" Awww. Team <3 John is a dork, and Teyla totally did that on purpose *g*
"Shouldn't you guys be bickering, or something?"
"I'm my own department head, you know!"
"Why don't you guys just make out and get it over with, huh?" Rodney and Radek are so great together!
And then Rodney and John get the same idea at the same time and finish each other's sentences while Radek stares at them *g*
Ellis' apology looks surprisingly sincere, even though he doesn't think she should lead the city. O'Neill is "awfully fond" of her, huh, instead of saying that O'Neill respects her a great deal.
"Are you sure you can do this?"
"What, fly the city?"
"What else could I possibly be talking about."
"I flew a V-22 Osprey once."
"Was it as big as the city?" Boys!
Why is the chair rotating? They like to give us pictures of John on the rotating control chair, I can't complain. He looks very relaxed there.
"That's it. We're flying." Atlantis is great! I love Rodney's look of wonder.
Nooo, Elizabeth! Sorry, apparently I can't do this without many exclamation marks.
It's nice that you want to show Jennifer being good at what she does and cool in a crisis, but do you have to make the other doctors/nurses look less smart to do it?
Lost in the middle of nowhere - but again, very cool visuals. :)
I really enjoyed this episode! And writing the review, if only it didn't take so long. Oh well, I'll be grateful I did it in the future.
The new Doctor Who season starts soon, but my friends don't have time this and the next weekend so I'll have to wait and avoid spoilers until I catch up with season 6. I might watch a bit more SGA until then to distract myself, and who knows, maybe I'll actually manage to write something?
Now sleeep, and I'll do all the other things I was supposed to be doing instead of this tomorrow. As usual.
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no subject
Date: 2012-08-31 07:33 pm (UTC)I would like to hear more about your Jennifer feelings, please.
no subject
Date: 2012-08-31 09:31 pm (UTC)True, I don't think I've read that one! Strange.