So, Stargate: Atlantis.

[bironic]

First, I ventured into the fic during the Great Fanfic Branch-out of December and January. Then I tried an episode to get a feel for the characters fuelling the fic (by chance, the one with Jewel "Kaylee" Staite as a half-Wraith; a good one to start with). Then moonlash_cc declared she would lend me the first two seasons of the show; I was going to tell her I wasn't feeling too fannish about it and that she really didn't have to go to the trouble, but then I watched a few more episodes, and read a little more fic, and when I saw her on Saturday I was all grabby-hands "Gimme!" because it really is awfully addictive and much easier to like than I'd thought, being a snob and SG-1 hater.

So! Now I'm up to 1.14 and having a ball. It's been too long since I had a new action-packed sci fi series with likeable characters to enjoy. Advanced technology! Space! Humanoid aliens! Danger! Isolation and acclimation! Melodrama! Intense situations fostering equally intense friendships and rivalries! Banter and hilarity! Ahh. And the colors are lovely, all blues and grays, and bright light on Rodney's wide eyes.

Rodney is immensely entertaining and sympathetic, with his unabashed egotism and condescension and warp-speed speech and fear and crooked slash of a mouth and atheism and occasional Canadianisms, and his knack for getting caught in sticky situations (Zapped by a Wraith stunner! Trapped behind a personal shield that won't turn off! Kidnapped by aliens and forced to participate in weird sex rituals! No wait, that last was fanfic. Dammit.).

John's just as great, from his dry drawl ("Atlaaaannis") to his tactical skill and talent with firearms to his careful self-containment and irony. I like him a lot more than I expected to. Sorry, not up for much more character analysis than this right now.

Zelenka is indeed as adorable as I'd hoped, whether he's snapping back at Rodney or playing "prime/not prime" or being all long-suffering when Rodney interrupts him and steals his thunder, etc. I demand more Zelenka.

I demand less Wraith. God, the Wraith are such a stupid alien race. I hate them and their white dreadlocks and red wigs and their over-the-top diction and body language. I liked John nicknaming his POW "Steve," though; always fun when a character undercuts another's pomposity. And they're useful for initiating capture/rescue and torture plot lines. But so is just about every other civilization our heroes encounter.

Elizabeth's favorite announcement opener, "This is Weir," sounds ridiculous every time. Other than that, she's a refreshingly well-adjusted female character. They could cut back on all the shots of her gazing into the middle distance as she makes a Tough Leadership Decision, though.

I don't much care for Carson, which is weird, since I usually go for the doctors with accents. He's kind of a non-entity. And why is Rodney always smarter than he is in medical matters (see "The Hot Zone"), despite Rodney's dismissal of medicine as "voodoo" when compared with the hard sciences?

moonlash_cc mentioned her belief that John has been coded as gay, and that the show screws with traditional gender roles in general (link plz?), and I agree, even having only seen a dozen episodes so far: You've got a woman running this joint scientific-military expedition quite competently; a male soldier uncomfortable with women who come on to him, dealing with women in positions of power without seeming to notice that they're women, taking Ford's man-crush on him in stride, and -- and, oh, there was a joke somewhere in there about liking men, possibly involving Ford, that he was very cool about; a female alien skilled in fighting; a male scientist teased for his "girlish" cowardice; and so forth. Which isn't to say that the show doesn't also buy into huge stereotypes and gender and genre clichés.

And lots of John and Rodney camaraderie moments. Most recently, the little back-and-forth mouthing they did in the jumper at the beginning of "The Defiant One" while trying to convince Elizabeth to let them explore the wrecked Wraith ship had me laughing. Also I want to watch the beginning of "Hide and Seek" over and over again. Rodney cooing at Carson's mice, yapping a mile a minute before he realizes what he's getting into with the gene therapy, John pushing him off the balcony and then announcing gleefully that he shot Rodney first -- "In the leg," duh, Elizabeth -- so playful! The poor guy, so afraid of all the threats Atlantis poses to him that his subconscious won't let him turn the shield off. But then he got all brave and walked straight into death's maw to save the day.

I wish they'd shown more of Rodney's transition from lab geek to field hero in the beginning of the season. I watched "The Defiant One" last night, when the magically appearing friend/ingenue apparently threatening to one day outshine Rodney, a.k.a. Dr. Gall, remarks on how "the Rodney he knew" would never be so itchy to dash out into a fight. I would've liked more of that Rodney in the beginning and more of the change depicted on the show as he put more missions under his belt. I find it hard to empathize with heroes in general, so I'm always most interested in that move from ordinary person/nerd to someone who can leap into action and brave certain death for a friend or the greater good.

So much seems to have happened or been established off-screen, from Rodney's growth to the formation and bonding of the team to the exploration of this huge, brand-new, wondrous city full of unknown technology. Come on! So much wasted potential there. The first few episodes should really have paid more attention to what they were finding in Atlantis, all the crazy stuff that must have happened as they poked at unknown equipment in a totally alien operating system, than to, say, the instant focus on the Wraith or the discovery of a "spy" within the Athosian refugees. How does Grodin, for instance, suddenly know how all these plastic crystalline doodads work? Rodney rearranging circuits and repairing jumpers I can almost believe, since he's a genius and all -- although he knows far too much about engineering for him to be only (only! ha) an astrophysicist.

Ooh, and Kolya, finally getting to meet Kolya. He wasn't exactly how I'd pictured him physically; I guess I was expecting someone a bit more alien, having (incorrectly) assumed from fanfic that the Genii were somewhat more advanced than the Atlanteans both technologically and evolutionarily. What is it with acne scarring and sci fi villains? I feel I should add a caveat to my stock text at work that says, "You may not wish to undergo microdermabrasion/chemical peels/IPL/etc. for acne scars if you hope to have a successful Hollywood career as a character actor specializing in villains and cast members of crime dramas." He was also less threatening and less powerful than fanfic would have him, though quite clever and merciless. Cutting Rodney! I'd so been looking forward to seeing that. The cutting itself was quite disappointing, since it once again happened off-screen -- fill-in fanfic ahoy! -- but Rodney's palpable self-hatred after confessing, and his gasp of pain when Kolya's henchman grabbed his arm later, compensated well enough. Can't wait to see Kolya come back and get John. Oh, the hurt and/or comfort scenarios are always my favorites. Even little bitty moments like the one in "The Hot Zone" when Rodney dropped to his knees and touched Johnson's legs, trying to coax answers out of her, before she died in Zelenka's arms. Mm.

I think that's it for now. Least favorite episodes so far: "Poisoning the Well" and "Childhood's End." Don't know what my favorites are, but I've described most of my favorite scenes above. Just, so happy to be happy and carefree, casually fannish instead of intensely fannish, in the first flush, and so on.

Comments

[velvet-midnight.livejournal.com]

Oh, yay! A convert to Atlantis. I just got my hands on the second season DVD set and I'm squeeing with joy. :D

Good show, yeah? I love Rodney, but Elizabeth is my favorite character. Agreed that "Poisoning the Well" isn't the best. Quite sad. And Kolya is by far one of my favorite sci-fi bad guys. Usually they stand there and gloat and don't seem very threatening, but he's nasty.

SG-1 hater? Really? Can I just ask why?

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Well, shunner, more like. I loved the movie in all its cheesy action glory and didn't try to watch the show when it started airing, because it was like sacrilege. If it's not James Spader, it's not Daniel Jackson, you know? Even though I'm sure the more you watch, the more you come to see what's-his-name as the real Jackson, and so many hours of television give you far more character depth than a two-hour movie. But on the few occasions I tuned in to give it a half-hearted go, I never felt the desire to watch more than a few minutes. Nobody grabbed me, I couldn't take Teal'c seriously (ironic, coming from a Star Trek fan), and the "witty banter" struck me as clunky and unfunny. The only episode I've watched in its entirety is the super-meta one (http://bironic.livejournal.com/56222.html), which I thought was very funny, probably because I know a bit about the SG-1 fandom (and sci fi fandom in general) and didn't care enough about the show to be bothered by all the self-referencing.

Elizabeth's cool. There just hasn't been enough attention paid to her yet for me to really become invested in her.

"Poisoning the Well" completely failed to move me. Whether that's because it was Carson-centric, totally predictable, or otherwise poorly written, or some combination of these, I don't know, but I ended up reading or writing something while it played in the background so I wouldn't be so bored I had to skip it.

Yes, you knew you had to take Kolya seriously when he shot those guards dead as soon as he stepped through the gate. He's smart, ruthless, adaptable and quick, and like you say, doesn't stand around soliloquizing while the heroes do their thing under his nose.

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

Rodney is immensely entertaining and sympathetic, with his unabashed egotism and condescension and fear and crooked slash of a mouth, and his knack for getting caught in sticky situations

Rodney is such a great character. I love how expressive he is both physically (those hands!) and verbally. He's just fascinating to watch. As fanfic writers constantly note, all of his emotions show on his face (a nifty contrast to John).

So much wasted potential there. The first few episodes should really have paid more attention to what they were finding in Atlantis, all the crazy stuff that must have happened as they poked at unknown equipment in a totally alien operating system

I was really hoping that they would do that. I think they were afraid of losing their SG1 audience, though, so they focused on the Wraith (who, I agree, are over the top, but at least are better villains than the Gouald [however one spells that]). Luckily, fanfic has happily filled in the gaps. :)

You mention most of my favorite S1 eps in your post: there's a lot of great slashy McKay/Sheppard subtext and snark there. Not to mention Zelenka/McKay sparkage in "The Storm" (the two of them together are a riot).

Oh, the hurt and/or comfort scenarios are always my favorites. Even little bitty moments

Agreed. I also like the moment in that ep when Zelenka realizes there's something wrong w/ Rodney and impatiently shoves away the thermometer the medic is trying to stick in Z's ear.

Just, so happy to be happy and carefree, casually fannish instead of intensely fannish, in the first flush, and so on.

Yeah, I love that feeling. Luckily, with SGA (and Torchwood), I've managed to keep that feeling. :)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Wait, okay, no -- Rodney to John with Chaya around is by far the slashiest interactions they've had yet. OMG, Rodney was so jealous! There is no other explanation. And I confess, when John started to say, "It's just, this is the first time I've been in this sort of situation with a woman... from another galaxy," I thought he was going to stop before the ellipsis. Heh.

I love how expressive he is both physically (those hands!) and verbally. Yes! He's so open.

McKay/Zelenka is my second favorite. They were like a comedy duo in "The Storm," and yes, yes, Zelenka was so compassionate when he thought Rodney was dying, with the gazing and frowning and listening to Rodney's rambling list of unfinished projects, just as Rodney went all soft when members of his team fell ill, even though moments earlier he'd been berating them all. Also, how funny was their high-five/handshake/high-five/handshake/oh-I-give-up thing at the end of "The Hot Zone" when the plan worked?

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Also, Zelenka's dedication in "Thirty-eight Minutes," running circuits in Jumper Two and snapping at Elizabeth to stop talking so he can save Rodney's life.

[barely-bean.livejournal.com]

So much wasted potential there. The first few episodes should really have paid more attention to what they were finding in Atlantis, all the crazy stuff that must have happened as they poked at unknown equipment in a totally alien operating system

Yeah, I get the feeling they really didn't know where they were going for S1, and they were thinking that this would have to take over for SG-1 and target really the same audience. One of my favorite things about S3 has been that we get this, this family bonding between the characters and it just makes me love them more. Can I say how glad I am that you're loving the show!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd very much look forward to family bonding. That's part of what I loved about the core characters on Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel (and other shows, but BtVS above all).

[no-detective.livejournal.com]

*twirls you*

YES!!! EXACTLY!!! Oh, so much to love. And yes, for all the reasons you mentioned and a few you didn't, this is not a GREAT show - but it's a damn good, happy, entertaining one. Even "Childhood's End" which they actually rip to shreds themselves in the commentary - although I have much love for the tribe leader's instant crush on John, and for Rodney making little kids CRY because THAT'S THE KIND OF MAN I WANT OMG. Ahem.

There's been a lot of meta on gender, but because I'm tired and lazy and shameless at self-pimpage, here are my own posts on Atlantis and visual-narrative gendering and on my meta-lust after John Sheppard. I wrote about my Rodney!lust as well later on, but Atlantis and John practically took my breath away in the pilot and I spent most of season 1 rather stunned by them both.

SG-1 offers some answers to the questions you raised, especially in the eps where Rodney appears as a guest-character (let's just say that he was, in some ways, the equivalent of Kavanagh/Kavanaugh/however you spell it, so his development is quite interesting from that perspective). Also, they've been working with Stargates and Ancient crystals for about 10 years before the Atlantis expedition, so that's how they (sort of) know what to do - again, this is the spinoff sort of knowledge that a viewer who isn't familiar with SG-1 would not really have.

But to get back to the important stuff: NEW FANDOM YAY!!!

(One more thing: the Wraith queens are my FAVORITE because they make John kneel a lot. Hey, I'm a simple fangirl, easily amused; don't judge me.)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Time for cheerleader emoticon?   \o/

And yes, for all the reasons you mentioned and a few you didn't, this is not a GREAT show - but it's a damn good, happy, entertaining one.

For many reasons I didn't mention, I'm sure, this being such a superficial post in so many ways. *g* Wanted to get some of the initial enthusiasm out to make room for details later. Yes, it's not a brilliant show, it's not terribly thought-provoking or profound or insightful or original, there's a lot of dead time *coughChaya*, etc., but it's fun and easy to watch without being stupid either, and that's really what I need right now. Was it you who called it popcorn sci fi? Whoever said that had it right.

Even "Childhood's End" which they actually rip to shreds themselves in the commentary - although I have much love for the tribe leader's instant crush on John, and for Rodney making little kids CRY

LOL, Rodney was those kids was priceless. First for playing the "why?"/"because" game without realizing how ridiculous he sounded, and then for making them cry (and then Ford stepping in with "Hey, you kids know what chocolate is?"), and then for protecting them when the big scary Wraith show up, and then tolerating them as best he was able while the girl tugged on his sleeve at the end looking for chocolate. Loving people who hate kids and deal terribly with them but end up getting along with them anyway – do we overidentify much? Nah.

Oh, and I stayed far, far away from the commentary, because watching "Childhood's End" twice was sort of inconceivable. But if they (who, btw?) spent most of the time poking fun at it, maybe it'd be worthwhile. Did they discuss how blatantly they ripped off reminiscent the episode was of things like Peter Pan and the original Star Trek episode "Miri"?

Ah, I see about Rodney's evolution beginning before SGA. Was Rodney in more than one episode? I may have to check those out; our library does have several seasons of SG-1 on offer. And I can completely see him playing the Kavanagh role at first. Also makes more sense that the scientists and engineers had been studying Ancient technology for that long before tripping off to Atlantis. From the look of things in the pilot, it seemed more like they'd only recently discovered this Antarctic trove and were throwing together a terribly quick mission, even if Elizabeth had her team all picked out.

Thanks muchly for meta posts linkage. I was asking specifically for yours; no worries there. Have been starved for intelligent/thought-provoking reading lately for all sorts of reasons, so these should be great. (The phrase "visual-narrative gendering" alone has got me excited, that's how pathetic I've become.) Anytime you do come across other posts/articles past and present, they'd be welcome additions to my reading list.

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

let's just say that he was, in some ways, the equivalent of Kavanagh/Kavanaugh/however you spell it, so his development is quite interesting from that perspective

I think the writers intended to have the audience think of Rodney that way in "48 Hours" and to hate him, but I fell head over heels for him during that episode. I loved the way he dismissed Carter's hack work on the gate! (I'm not a big Carter fan, obviously.) Plus, he was cute, fascinating, and funny.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Elynittria, did I just spam *you* like five times instead of Moonlash? *facepalm*

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

Um, yes, but that's OK! :)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Mea maxima culpa. Next time I spam you I'll make sure the actual message is for you, at least!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Haven't read your posts yet (*is ashamed*), but how about the part in the S1 finale where John's lying stunned on the ground and the Wraith looms over him and salivates and rips his uniform vest open and leans in like a rapist over a damsel in distress?!

[no-detective.livejournal.com]

YES. EXACTLY.

Many icons have been made of that moment. Actually, many icons have been made of every moment John spends on his back, front, ass, knees etc.

Because we're here for the plot. *cough*

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Hee. I'm not very deep (yet?) in the fandom scene, which could be a good thing insofar as the icons haven't spoiled me for/made me sick of the clips. Though I'm happy to have singled out a moment that everyone else loves too.

WHILE I HAVE YOU HERE -- Is the season two finale a cliffhanger again? Because I'm two eps away and I don't have season 3 and, gah. Potentially.

[no-detective.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they're really worried because several comms got shot down for, ahem, similar services. But they're cool.

OK, must go write up my challenge - oh, the joy of procrastination from packing! ;-)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Don't mind me while I just reply and reply and reply.

1 - Read your posts on lunch break today, including the one with Rodney love, and will someday comment on them, but for now: they're great, and I love you. :)

2 - One more thing: the Wraith queens are my FAVORITE because they make John kneel a lot. Hey, I'm a simple fangirl, easily amused; don't judge me.

I understood you before on something of an intellectual level, because it is cool to see anyone forced to their knees, even if John doesn't make me all squidgy inside, but then I saw "Condemned" last night and OMG everyone in bondage and that guy forcing RODNEY to his knees while he's trussed up and collared and OMG I so completely see where you were coming from and did I mention OMG? OMG.

Also, so as not to leave other hot people out, John in a collar. Hooooo yeah. And tied up with the wooden stake behind the elbows thing.

[purridot.livejournal.com]

I still have only seen a handful of eps -- but I love SG:A too. And I also hate SG-1. I can't even watch a whole episode.

But SG:A has a lovely set -- I love how large it is, making the Star Trek sets seem claustrophobic; and I find the computer graphics well done. I am intrigued that the expedition is scientific first, and the military is there to protect *them*, setting up lovely tension. (On Star Trek is seemed like most of the officers WERE engineers of some sort themselves, so the same tension wasn't there.)

I think David Hewlett is, in a way, like Hugh Laurie -- he does something with the character that makes Rodney lovable and adorable AND an egotistical jerk. Actually, many of the characters COULD have been stereotypical or two-dimensional but they pretty much all go beyond that. John, for example, has a palpably gentle manner; and all the military personnel have more of a sense of humour than I expected (Ford, Lorne, etc.)

I can't wait till summer when I watch all the rest (and MI-5 too!) I am going to get *so much knitting* done!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ah, to have a summer break in which to watch TV and read. *g* Sounds lovely.

Yes, you're right about David Hewlett's similarity to HL in the way he makes what could have been an easily dislikable character sympathetic (most of the time). And I do like the set -- all bright and open spaces -- different from DS9 and House, although I liked the closed, monochromatic set of DS9. House's sets feel much more claustrophobic to me, for some reason. Same few rooms and one stretch of hallway over and over.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Also, yes --

I am intrigued that the expedition is scientific first, and the military is there to protect *them*

I love that! In "Hot Zone," Lt. Ford snaps at Zelenka that he's teasing him (Ford) as some sort of payback for people like Ford beating up people like Zelenka in school. Well, watching SGA, with the muscle at the beck and call of the brains, and not always unwillingly, is like a big nerd revenge fantasy. *g*

[purridot.livejournal.com]

Hee! Revenge of the nerds! It does play into the whole "reversal of roles" that you were talking about in your post, which is really what is so refreshing to me about the series. Also, it isn't as mind-fucking as House, which is also a nice break ;-)

I get the impression that Film/TV/Media Studies is your field of expertise. That is so tremendously cool!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

It makes me so happy that you said that! I've only studied English lit and journalism officially, whereas media and fanfic studies have become a sort of prominent hobby, but when you think about it, all that training in close textual reading and analysis applies as well to TV as to novels and poetry. And it certainly helps to love the material.

Re: scientists and military, and not only reversal of roles but also happy collaboration, can I mention something that happened in the season two episode, "Grace Under Fire"? I won't spoil the ending, only a little about the plot. (Feel free to stop reading this comment now if you don't want to know.) Rodney's trapped in a jumper under the ocean, and John and Zelenka and everyone back in Atlantis are trying to figure out how to find him and then mount a rescue mission thousands of feet underwater. So Zelenka leads the science team in narrowing down the location of the drowned jumper using many many calculations and a neat computer graphic, and then there's this scene where John calls Elizabeth down to the jumper bay to reveal his Big Plan: all excited, he tells Elizabeth that he's working with a team of oceanographers who came through the gate to study the underground water on a planet covered in ice, and he's combining his field expertise with their specialized equipment to outfit the jumper for deep-sea diving. And then there's one more bit with Zelenka that I won't spoil you for. But OMG, it's like a geek's wet dream. *g*

[thirdblindmouse.livejournal.com]

I've only seen the first episode, but Rodney McKay was instantly my favourite character. I also like Ford, but—for no reason I can explain—Weir irritates me like nothing else.

Rodney is immensely entertaining and sympathetic, with his unabashed egotism and condescension and warp-speed speech and fear[…]

*swoon* Perhaps I should try more Atlantis. I didn't really grab me before, but it won't be the first time a single character has made up the price of admission for me.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Of course I can't say what would or wouldn't grab you and reel you in, but McKay is awesome, and if you felt it in the pilot, I think you'll continue to like or love him -- at least through season one and what little of season two I've seen so far. He's got what made House great at the beginning, insulting everyone else's stupidity and having the brainpower/genius/etc. to back it up, which I know you like; he's the best, he knows he's the best, he's kind of an ass, he doesn't know how to get along with people, and those people learn to love him anyway. Ford was likeable in a puppy-dog sort of way, with what I still firmly believe is a man-crush on Sheppard and his eagerness to name things (badly). I admire Elizabeth but don't feel very warm towards her.