Post by Ahryantah on Aug 1, 2005 19:28:42 GMT -5
Review of the Stargate Atlantis episode "Runner," first airing on the SciFi Channel on July 29th, 2005.
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Wow. I don’t even know where to begin.
So I’m going to try something a little different. I’ve found that doing recaps, especially for Atlantis, is more fun than just giving my opinion on the episode. Because seriously? The Atlantis writers are smoking something good this year, and I just can’t bring myself to approach these reviews in an entirely serious frame of mind. Off we go.
The teaser begins with some bantering between two random characters we’ve never seen before. One of them is a botanist and way too excited about the ozone layer. Namely, that this planet doesn’t have one. Yet it somehow supports vegetation suspiciously similar to that found around the Vancouver area. The Stargate writers try to cover their asses by having the botanist say pretty much the exact same thing. At this point I had flashbacks to SG-1’s “The First Commandment” and feared that this week would be another retread of old SG-1 episodes.
I am very happy to report that it wasn’t.
So Botanist Guy goes looking for plants but finds a dead Wraith instead. Bummer. Though you know what they say: “The only good Wraith is a dead Wraith!” As the Atlantis guys ponder this new development, the camera turns and we see EvilFord up in a tree.
The Wraith gets brought back to Atlantis and Beckett dissects it. At this point he is an expert at cutting apart Wraiths. He finds that the Wraith died of gunshot wounds, and that the enzyme sac has been removed. Hmm. Could it be EvilFord?
McKay and Teyla definitely think it could be EvilFord.
Sheppard thinks so, and Weir decides to send a couple teams out to get Ford back. Caldwell is all down with this plan, but for some reason is extra-pissy this week. Like last week he was, “Shep and me are bestest friends!” and this week he’s all “I outrank you, bitch!” Someone replaced his coffee with decaf or something. He tells Sheppard that if he can’t bring back Ford, then Sheppard needs to neutralize the threat. At least he’s nice enough to use euphemisms. Sheppard gets all mad at this, because Ford is a friend.
Caldwell: You didn’t have a problem with mercy when it came to Colonel Sumner.
Caldwell: 1, Sheppard: 0. Poor Sheppard looks like he’s about to cry.
See?
Didn’t Everett pretty much tell Sheppard he wished Sheppard had killed him a couple weeks ago? Geez, you mercy-kill one superior officer and everyone starts thinking you’re Dr. Kevorkian.
So Sheppard, Teyla, McKay, and another random team (including Major Lorne, one of the guys from the teaser) all go to the planet. McKay whines about radiation the whole way and everyone else suppresses the urge to smack him. At the planet, they pair off into teams, after some bantering between Sheppard and McKay.
Sheppard: Strong enough for anyone within five miles to smell you. (referring to McKay’s sunscreen)
McKay: Like they haven’t been tipped off by the Aqua Velva?
Sheppard can’t think of a good comeback, so he settles for glaring. McKay: 1, Sheppard: 0. But in return for the Aqua Velva crack, Sheppard sticks McKay with Major Lorne, and Lorne wonders what he did to piss Sheppard off.
So they all split up to find Ford. In the dark, because it’s a deadly sun planet. Sheppard and Teyla, in their part of the woods, think they see something and start chasing it. They both get knocked out by some kind of stun weapon. Lorne and McKay realize something’s wrong, and run back to the jumper to let Weir know. Meanwhile, Sheppard and Teyla awaken, tied up, in a cave being guarded by a strange man.
Look at my cool dreads.
Sheppard wants to know what’s going on; the strange man wants to know the same thing. They go back and forth on that for awhile, until Teyla steps in and tells the man (Ronan Dex) that they’re looking for Ford. Ronan has seen Ford when Ford killed the Wraith that was hunting Ronan, but he doesn’t seem to care a whole lot. He goes off and totally leaves Sheppard and Teyla alone. Teyla wastes no time in feeling up Sheppard (“I am trying to get my hand free.” Yeah, right, Teyla. We believe you).
Sheppard is so not buying the "trying to escape" excuse.
Back at the jumper, McKay and Lorne set out again, hoping to find someone. Ford, Sheppard, or Teyla, at this point I don’t think they care. McKay wears a freaking radiation suit to go tromping around in the woods, and I don’t know whether to laugh or feel bad for him for being such a dork.
McKay whines some more. Then he whines some more. Then, to change things up a bit, he bitches for awhile. Just when Lorne is about to take out his P90 and shoot McKay himself, he (Lorne) gets taken out by some kind of stun blast. Well, gee, this is familiar. McKay instantly panics and calls for help on the radio, but it turns out it’s just Ford, who’s all, “Hey, how are you?” like he just didn’t take out Lorne and shove him under a bush. McKay is understandably freaked by this, but tries to get Ford to come back to the jumper with him. Ford wants to rescue Sheppard and Teyla first to prove that he can, so the two of them set off. Aw, it’s like the team is all back together again. Except not, because Ford is INSANE and CREEPY. But other than that, it’s all good.
INSANE and CREEPY
Meanwhile, Sheppard and Teyla end up not really needing to be saved, because even though Ronan pretty much kicks their asses with one hand, they can offer him something that he needs: Ronan is a runner, someone tagged by the Wraith with a tracking device so that they can be hunted as sport or something. No one really knows why the Wraith do this. Possibly not even the writers. But Sheppard offers to let Beckett come and surgically remove the device in exchange for his and Teyla’s freedom. Ronan agrees, but keeps Teyla as a hostage.
So apparently Sheppard likes Teyla more than McKay because by the time he gets back to the jumper Lorne has awoken and also made his way back there, where he tells Sheppard that McKay is missing. Sheppard’s all, “That’s nice, but I have to save Teyla!” Some team leader you are, Sheppard. You and Jack need to have another little chat about that whole “don’t leave people behind” thing.
Weir agrees to let Beckett do the surgery, or rather, force Beckett to do the surgery, because getting Beckett to go through the gate is like pulling teeth. And I would like to take a moment from the recap to say: Please, Weir, for the love of God, stop pulling that stupid face. You know, the one she always makes when she kind of raises her eyebrow and squints her eyes and cocks her head, because it looks like she’s totally smirking, but she usually only does it when delivering bad news. So it looks like:
Weir: Beckett, I order you to go to Planet Certain Death and perform surgery outdoors on a wild man. ::smirk::
It just doesn’t look right. Does she hate Beckett or something? Does she wish death for her expedition members?
Beckett whines a bit, but nowhere near as loudly or as irritatingly as McKay has all episode, and he eventually goes to the planet. He wants to give Ronan anesthetic, but Ronan, being the manly man he is, don’t need no stinkin’ anesthetic. So Beckett does surgery without it, and they actually show it, and I start wondering when I switched over to ER.
Oh, wait, I didn’t, because this is still Atlantis. I realize this when Beckett pulls a nasty-looking thing out of Ronan’s back, and dude, something that big next to your spinal column has got to hurt. Ronan is an even manlier man than I thought. Oh, yeah, and we get random shots of Sheppard pointing a sniper rifle at Ronan’s head. Ooookay.
The thought of shooting Ronan pains Sheppard. Or maybe he just has gas.
As soon as the tracking device is out Ronan faints, which is quite possibly the funniest part of the whole episode, after his whole “I’m tough, I can take it” attitude.
While all this is going on, McKay and Ford are running around in the forest, and despite the fact that Ford is INSANE and CREEPY, McKay picks right up where he left with Lorne and whines and bitches for hours. Dude, what is your problem this week? Ford’s not the most stable person on the planet right now, and he finally snaps, and the two of them get into an honest-to-god screaming match, which ends with McKay pretty much daring Ford to shoot him and Ford coming this close to blowing McKay’s head off. Then Ford kind of snaps out of it and apologizes, and the two set off again. A little later McKay stops again, insisting that Ford is lost, and EvilFord comes out to play. Apparently the Wraith enzyme also causes bipolar disorder, because damn. Some more screaming, and now it’s McKay’s turn to point the gun, only this time he TOTALLY SHOOTS FORD. In the arm, but still. And if you thought EvilFord was evil before, look out! Ford goes for his own gun and McKay, in the smartest move he’s made all episode, drops his gun and runs like a bat out of hell.
So these scenes were the most awesome of the whole episode. I mean, wow. That’s all I can say. I am truly sincere. It’s sad that Ford’s not a regular anymore, but if that means we’re going to get these kinds of performances out of him, then I’m completely happy with it.
Sheppard, Teyla, and Beckett, near the cave, are huddled together and talking, and Ronan takes the opportunity to mysteriously disappear. The other three hear gunshots, and Sheppard and Teyla take off, while Beckett randomly pulls out an assault rifle. Seriously. Where the hell was he keeping that thing, in his pocket? It comes out of nowhere and it’s completely hilarious to see Beckett waving around a gun almost as big as he is.
The gunshots turn out to be McKay, who has completely and totally lost it and is running through the woods, shooting his gun into the air and giving girly screams that would make Agent Mulder blush. And then, just to make everything even worse for McKay and even funnier for us, he steps into one of Ronan’s Wraith traps and gets strung upside down in a tree.
McKay: 1, Tree: 20,000
So then of course Ford, who has been chasing him the whole way, catches up and is totally about to really blow him away this time, but then Ronan randomly comes out of nowhere and suddenly the two of them are knife-fighting and I’m wondering what the hell the crafts people at Bridge Studios are putting into the writers’ coffee.
I think the knife fight ends in somewhat of a draw, because Sheppard shows up and warns Ford not to run away. Yeah, that’s going to work. Anyway, just to make it more insane, three Wraith ships have appeared, presumably having tracked Ronan before his tracking thing went out. Ford runs away, Sheppard chases him, and then Sheppard TOTALLY SHOOTS FORD. This is SO not Ford’s day. But Sheppard hesitates going for the kill shot, and Ford jumps into a Wraith beam and disappears. What’s he going to do, wrestle the ship away from the pilot, get a fix while he’s at it? Sadly, that’s probably exactly what he’s going to do. Sheppard watches him go and angsts.
Then suddenly we’re back on Atlantis, somehow having avoided all the Wraith ships and found all the random unconscious extras that Ford shot and left laying around on the planet. No one has died of radiation, either, despite McKay’s constant whining.
Caldwell is still pissy and tells off Sheppard for not killing Ford. Sheppard angsts some more. Hero angst: 1, Sheppard: 0. So it’s apparently not Sheppard’s day, either. Or McKay’s. Or even Ronan’s, as he then finds out that his entire race has been annihilated. Really, the only ones who make it out of this episode in one piece are Weir and her smirk. I think there’s something evil afoot, and it’s not Ford.
Okay, personal opinion section. I really liked this episode. The Ford and McKay scenes were great. The new guy shows promise, but I’ll reserve judgment for next week. McKay whined WAY too much in this episode, like to the detriment of the character. I mean yeah, he’s whiny and it’s usually funny, but there’s such a thing as too much. Teyla once again had almost nothing to do, except fondle Sheppard and ogle Ronan, so I have no complaints about her. Weir was also almost non-existent, which can only be a good thing in this case, and I love everything Beckett does, so that bit was good, too.
I give it 9 out of 10.
And some more Sheppard angst for good measure.
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Wow. I don’t even know where to begin.
So I’m going to try something a little different. I’ve found that doing recaps, especially for Atlantis, is more fun than just giving my opinion on the episode. Because seriously? The Atlantis writers are smoking something good this year, and I just can’t bring myself to approach these reviews in an entirely serious frame of mind. Off we go.
The teaser begins with some bantering between two random characters we’ve never seen before. One of them is a botanist and way too excited about the ozone layer. Namely, that this planet doesn’t have one. Yet it somehow supports vegetation suspiciously similar to that found around the Vancouver area. The Stargate writers try to cover their asses by having the botanist say pretty much the exact same thing. At this point I had flashbacks to SG-1’s “The First Commandment” and feared that this week would be another retread of old SG-1 episodes.
I am very happy to report that it wasn’t.
So Botanist Guy goes looking for plants but finds a dead Wraith instead. Bummer. Though you know what they say: “The only good Wraith is a dead Wraith!” As the Atlantis guys ponder this new development, the camera turns and we see EvilFord up in a tree.
The Wraith gets brought back to Atlantis and Beckett dissects it. At this point he is an expert at cutting apart Wraiths. He finds that the Wraith died of gunshot wounds, and that the enzyme sac has been removed. Hmm. Could it be EvilFord?
McKay and Teyla definitely think it could be EvilFord.
Sheppard thinks so, and Weir decides to send a couple teams out to get Ford back. Caldwell is all down with this plan, but for some reason is extra-pissy this week. Like last week he was, “Shep and me are bestest friends!” and this week he’s all “I outrank you, bitch!” Someone replaced his coffee with decaf or something. He tells Sheppard that if he can’t bring back Ford, then Sheppard needs to neutralize the threat. At least he’s nice enough to use euphemisms. Sheppard gets all mad at this, because Ford is a friend.
Caldwell: You didn’t have a problem with mercy when it came to Colonel Sumner.
Caldwell: 1, Sheppard: 0. Poor Sheppard looks like he’s about to cry.
See?Didn’t Everett pretty much tell Sheppard he wished Sheppard had killed him a couple weeks ago? Geez, you mercy-kill one superior officer and everyone starts thinking you’re Dr. Kevorkian.
So Sheppard, Teyla, McKay, and another random team (including Major Lorne, one of the guys from the teaser) all go to the planet. McKay whines about radiation the whole way and everyone else suppresses the urge to smack him. At the planet, they pair off into teams, after some bantering between Sheppard and McKay.
Sheppard: Strong enough for anyone within five miles to smell you. (referring to McKay’s sunscreen)
McKay: Like they haven’t been tipped off by the Aqua Velva?
Sheppard can’t think of a good comeback, so he settles for glaring. McKay: 1, Sheppard: 0. But in return for the Aqua Velva crack, Sheppard sticks McKay with Major Lorne, and Lorne wonders what he did to piss Sheppard off.
So they all split up to find Ford. In the dark, because it’s a deadly sun planet. Sheppard and Teyla, in their part of the woods, think they see something and start chasing it. They both get knocked out by some kind of stun weapon. Lorne and McKay realize something’s wrong, and run back to the jumper to let Weir know. Meanwhile, Sheppard and Teyla awaken, tied up, in a cave being guarded by a strange man.
Look at my cool dreads.
Sheppard wants to know what’s going on; the strange man wants to know the same thing. They go back and forth on that for awhile, until Teyla steps in and tells the man (Ronan Dex) that they’re looking for Ford. Ronan has seen Ford when Ford killed the Wraith that was hunting Ronan, but he doesn’t seem to care a whole lot. He goes off and totally leaves Sheppard and Teyla alone. Teyla wastes no time in feeling up Sheppard (“I am trying to get my hand free.” Yeah, right, Teyla. We believe you).
Sheppard is so not buying the "trying to escape" excuse.
Back at the jumper, McKay and Lorne set out again, hoping to find someone. Ford, Sheppard, or Teyla, at this point I don’t think they care. McKay wears a freaking radiation suit to go tromping around in the woods, and I don’t know whether to laugh or feel bad for him for being such a dork.
McKay whines some more. Then he whines some more. Then, to change things up a bit, he bitches for awhile. Just when Lorne is about to take out his P90 and shoot McKay himself, he (Lorne) gets taken out by some kind of stun blast. Well, gee, this is familiar. McKay instantly panics and calls for help on the radio, but it turns out it’s just Ford, who’s all, “Hey, how are you?” like he just didn’t take out Lorne and shove him under a bush. McKay is understandably freaked by this, but tries to get Ford to come back to the jumper with him. Ford wants to rescue Sheppard and Teyla first to prove that he can, so the two of them set off. Aw, it’s like the team is all back together again. Except not, because Ford is INSANE and CREEPY. But other than that, it’s all good.
INSANE and CREEPY
Meanwhile, Sheppard and Teyla end up not really needing to be saved, because even though Ronan pretty much kicks their asses with one hand, they can offer him something that he needs: Ronan is a runner, someone tagged by the Wraith with a tracking device so that they can be hunted as sport or something. No one really knows why the Wraith do this. Possibly not even the writers. But Sheppard offers to let Beckett come and surgically remove the device in exchange for his and Teyla’s freedom. Ronan agrees, but keeps Teyla as a hostage.
So apparently Sheppard likes Teyla more than McKay because by the time he gets back to the jumper Lorne has awoken and also made his way back there, where he tells Sheppard that McKay is missing. Sheppard’s all, “That’s nice, but I have to save Teyla!” Some team leader you are, Sheppard. You and Jack need to have another little chat about that whole “don’t leave people behind” thing.
Weir agrees to let Beckett do the surgery, or rather, force Beckett to do the surgery, because getting Beckett to go through the gate is like pulling teeth. And I would like to take a moment from the recap to say: Please, Weir, for the love of God, stop pulling that stupid face. You know, the one she always makes when she kind of raises her eyebrow and squints her eyes and cocks her head, because it looks like she’s totally smirking, but she usually only does it when delivering bad news. So it looks like:
Weir: Beckett, I order you to go to Planet Certain Death and perform surgery outdoors on a wild man. ::smirk::
It just doesn’t look right. Does she hate Beckett or something? Does she wish death for her expedition members?
Beckett whines a bit, but nowhere near as loudly or as irritatingly as McKay has all episode, and he eventually goes to the planet. He wants to give Ronan anesthetic, but Ronan, being the manly man he is, don’t need no stinkin’ anesthetic. So Beckett does surgery without it, and they actually show it, and I start wondering when I switched over to ER.
Oh, wait, I didn’t, because this is still Atlantis. I realize this when Beckett pulls a nasty-looking thing out of Ronan’s back, and dude, something that big next to your spinal column has got to hurt. Ronan is an even manlier man than I thought. Oh, yeah, and we get random shots of Sheppard pointing a sniper rifle at Ronan’s head. Ooookay.
The thought of shooting Ronan pains Sheppard. Or maybe he just has gas.
As soon as the tracking device is out Ronan faints, which is quite possibly the funniest part of the whole episode, after his whole “I’m tough, I can take it” attitude.
While all this is going on, McKay and Ford are running around in the forest, and despite the fact that Ford is INSANE and CREEPY, McKay picks right up where he left with Lorne and whines and bitches for hours. Dude, what is your problem this week? Ford’s not the most stable person on the planet right now, and he finally snaps, and the two of them get into an honest-to-god screaming match, which ends with McKay pretty much daring Ford to shoot him and Ford coming this close to blowing McKay’s head off. Then Ford kind of snaps out of it and apologizes, and the two set off again. A little later McKay stops again, insisting that Ford is lost, and EvilFord comes out to play. Apparently the Wraith enzyme also causes bipolar disorder, because damn. Some more screaming, and now it’s McKay’s turn to point the gun, only this time he TOTALLY SHOOTS FORD. In the arm, but still. And if you thought EvilFord was evil before, look out! Ford goes for his own gun and McKay, in the smartest move he’s made all episode, drops his gun and runs like a bat out of hell.
So these scenes were the most awesome of the whole episode. I mean, wow. That’s all I can say. I am truly sincere. It’s sad that Ford’s not a regular anymore, but if that means we’re going to get these kinds of performances out of him, then I’m completely happy with it.
Sheppard, Teyla, and Beckett, near the cave, are huddled together and talking, and Ronan takes the opportunity to mysteriously disappear. The other three hear gunshots, and Sheppard and Teyla take off, while Beckett randomly pulls out an assault rifle. Seriously. Where the hell was he keeping that thing, in his pocket? It comes out of nowhere and it’s completely hilarious to see Beckett waving around a gun almost as big as he is.
The gunshots turn out to be McKay, who has completely and totally lost it and is running through the woods, shooting his gun into the air and giving girly screams that would make Agent Mulder blush. And then, just to make everything even worse for McKay and even funnier for us, he steps into one of Ronan’s Wraith traps and gets strung upside down in a tree.
McKay: 1, Tree: 20,000
So then of course Ford, who has been chasing him the whole way, catches up and is totally about to really blow him away this time, but then Ronan randomly comes out of nowhere and suddenly the two of them are knife-fighting and I’m wondering what the hell the crafts people at Bridge Studios are putting into the writers’ coffee.
I think the knife fight ends in somewhat of a draw, because Sheppard shows up and warns Ford not to run away. Yeah, that’s going to work. Anyway, just to make it more insane, three Wraith ships have appeared, presumably having tracked Ronan before his tracking thing went out. Ford runs away, Sheppard chases him, and then Sheppard TOTALLY SHOOTS FORD. This is SO not Ford’s day. But Sheppard hesitates going for the kill shot, and Ford jumps into a Wraith beam and disappears. What’s he going to do, wrestle the ship away from the pilot, get a fix while he’s at it? Sadly, that’s probably exactly what he’s going to do. Sheppard watches him go and angsts.
Then suddenly we’re back on Atlantis, somehow having avoided all the Wraith ships and found all the random unconscious extras that Ford shot and left laying around on the planet. No one has died of radiation, either, despite McKay’s constant whining.
Caldwell is still pissy and tells off Sheppard for not killing Ford. Sheppard angsts some more. Hero angst: 1, Sheppard: 0. So it’s apparently not Sheppard’s day, either. Or McKay’s. Or even Ronan’s, as he then finds out that his entire race has been annihilated. Really, the only ones who make it out of this episode in one piece are Weir and her smirk. I think there’s something evil afoot, and it’s not Ford.
Okay, personal opinion section. I really liked this episode. The Ford and McKay scenes were great. The new guy shows promise, but I’ll reserve judgment for next week. McKay whined WAY too much in this episode, like to the detriment of the character. I mean yeah, he’s whiny and it’s usually funny, but there’s such a thing as too much. Teyla once again had almost nothing to do, except fondle Sheppard and ogle Ronan, so I have no complaints about her. Weir was also almost non-existent, which can only be a good thing in this case, and I love everything Beckett does, so that bit was good, too.
I give it 9 out of 10.
And some more Sheppard angst for good measure.
