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Jul. 30th, 2008 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snowystingrayI've been sitting on these episode reviews for too long, and now they're starting to pile up! Oh, the hardship of watching too much TV. :P (And then of course I just had to start watching a new show, too; with its second season starting back on Sunday, I decided to catch up with Mad Men. I blame this 110% on Anne Dudek and her unfortunate tendency to get written off of every show she's in -- but I will follow her dutifully across the rugged terrain of the small screen!) General spoilers through: The Middleman 1.07 "The Cursed Tuba Contingency"; Stargate: Atlantis 5.03 "Broken Ties"; and Psych 3.02 "Murder?... Anyone?... Anyone?... Bueller?"
Middleman first, I suppose, because I have the least to ramble about. Mostly I just want to express my general girly gooshiness about the tragic romance of MM/Lacey, d'awww. Don't you just want those crazy kids to be happy, already? --but I guess emo manpain is what keeping the old heroes alive is all about. And, really, I don't feel shippy about them in the sense that I hope they'll ever get together, just that they're fun to watch being awkward and adorable around each other. It's like S3 Wesley/Cordelia, in a way... actually, uhh, now that I think about it, that is an astonishingly apt comparison for how I classify them in my brain -- sweet and maybe kinda hot except of course completely deflated when/if anything ever actually happens.
And now to all the stuff I sort of meant to say about Psych/SGA when I first posted after they aired. Oops. I can't decide whether it's entirely inconvenient or entirely perfect that Psych and SGA both air simultaneously. It's not like the logistics are overly complicated: watch one, record the other (although deciding which to watch first presents a weekly dilemma). Rather, I worry that I'm going to become redundant in my viewing/reactions, start mingling bits of each into the other. Because, okay, at this point I'm at least 83% convinced that the two shows exist as AU versions of each other -- partially due to the insane amount of actor crossover, but primarily because both shows hook me in with the eternally fascinating four-person team dynamics and, really, I'm kind of tempted to post reviews that consist only of, "New Psych? OMG TEEEEAM!!" and "New SGA? OMG TEEEEAM!" This week especially because, seriously? OMG TEEEEAM[S]!! ...But then of course once I start mentally smooshing these two shows together my thoughts on each one sparks new perspectives on the other, which is my excuse for taking so long to write this up, as it sort of spiraled away from me during its composition.
I was going to simply start with a simulsquee over "...I'm not gonna take a bath with you" and the overall John/Ronon vibes but especially the closer with Tyre's sword -- which then sort of turned into my musings on how those different dynamics fit together (my multishipping tendencies, let me show you them!). The bathtub bit was pure fanservice, of course (not that I would ever complain about naked!Hewlett :P); and as much as it relies on getting as much mileage as possible out of Odd Couple-esque "boy, aren't these two guys so wacky in their differences?" I do sort of love that, on some level, John and Rodney will always be goofy for/with/about each other -- in a way that, yes, can be played for a quick miscommunication joke and homoerotic awkwardness, but that also speaks to why they play off of each other so well. Even when one is clearly in a state of, "uhh, wtf?" about the other, they do need that interplay of a "fresh perspective," as Rodney says, to help each other through dead ends and around blind corners. Then those overt moments of trying to adopt those different practices, like John's, "What would McKay do?" in "The Eye" or Rodney's pep talk of "things that Sheppard would say" in "Common Ground", it's clear that they operate on slightly distorted perceptions of the other, but at the same time notable that they vocalize and try to compensate for that absence.
It's like all their bickering and prodding is part of some perpetual fascination with this romanticized notion of each other that's really kind of screwed up in that they have a tendency to get quite openly greedy and selfish about each other -- but, well, it's still so weirdly romantic! And I wish I had a better word to describe it because I don't feel that it necessary connotes what I mean to say, but I guess maybe take it in the sense of "romantic friendship," where it's used as a sort of magnifying word: that idea of romantic as most important, highest priority relationship. They seem to latch onto it without really caring to understand what it means... until it's about to suddenly not be there. And then. Oh. "Tao of Rodney"? "Miller's Crossing"? It's like John's face breaks open (and, yes, this is just a shameless excuse to post Joe!face!!!) To borrow John's words, he simply can't let go of that piece of himself. I don't care how many times they have the "McKay's in mortal danger which forces personal growth" episode (and, gee, how much do I love a show where, honestly, there's enough of them to deserve specific classification), I will love it every. damn. time. (Which leads me to a brief spoilery aside about the upcoming 5.06 based on promo shots and comments at the SGA Comic-Con panel; namely, the fact that I CANNOT WAIT FOR "THE SHRINE" TO AIR BECAUSE I PREEMPTIVELY DECLARE IT MY MOST FAVOURITE EPISODE OF ALL TIME. Nurse!John??? *wibble* And the team stranded on the gate...! And Jeannie...!! Then from the panel, which I was just watching this afternoon... *snerk* If you haven't seen it yet, the usual question comes up about favourite episodes, and Brad notes that, due to the often disjointed nature of filming the show, he doesn't have a sense of favourite episodes in their entirety, just favourite moments. So he starts talking about the one that stands out the most for him from this season -- from "The Shrine," of course. "A scene between Joe and David on the pier... at night..." and then a ripple of giggling goes through the fangirl contingency in the audience. Joe just gets this, "Uhhh, oops," look on his face and, I assume in order to remind us that it's of the buddy bonding instead of, say, the Chaya romancing variety, waves his hands and adds that "it involved beer." ... ...Um, yeah, thanks for clarifying, because now I'm just picturing drunken twilight waterside fumblings. Basically, yeah, this episode needs to air like now. The only downside to this all is that it airs the week I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed, so I'm afraid I'll either be in too much agonizing pain or too drugged up on hydrocodone to properly enjoy it.)
And then on the other side of it for Rodney, I suppose he spends a bit too much time watching John go off on ridiculous suicide missions for me to pick out any particular soul crushing moments. ...Except that I'm totally going to do it anyway. Okay, the beginning of "Siege, Pt. 3," right after Rodney learns that Sheppard miraculously escaped death by nuclear explosion, he just collapses into his hands at the console. Most of it is off screen, happening so quickly that I couldn't really get a good cap of it, but it breaks a teeny piece of my heart every time. Really, though, the best indicator of McKay's Huge Epic Slightly Illogical Fixation on Sheppard is of course his alternate "The Last Man" self, devoting an entire lifetime -- and, really, thousands upon thousand of years, if you count the AI as well -- to restoring John to the timeline. I think it's really interesting how that idea has been expanded this year, too, mostly in "The Seed"; whereas much of Rodney's motivation in TLM can be seen to stem purely from desperation, with nothing to work on except saving John, trying to reverse engineer his miracle and designating John's disappearance as the starting point -- in "The Seed," we see Rodney's deep attachment to the idea that John being there changes everything, that he is in fact the one necessary component to their future success.
Okay, I have now gone on about SGA for much longer than I originally intended (and don't worry, I'm still not finished :P) but here's where I wanted to comment on this week's Psych as well, because both shows have been playing around with the same idea of the impact of a moment. Rodney has this idea that one person can be the key to the future; and Shawn seems to feel that way too about Abigail. Everything hinges on the decision to hold onto that person, that moment -- or, in Shawn's case, to let it go out of fear of its impact. And the thing is, they're both sort of right. Both choices carry a heavy impact. But as Henry says in the car (and oh my gosh how much did I love him in this episode? THIIIIIS MUCH!), what's missing from that philosophy of fixation on a moment is that, well, it's not just the "big" moments we think of that matter. It's every moment and every decision. Everything changes everything. While sometimes it can seem easier to trace what seems to be missing back to one person, one loss, there's so much more to securing happiness than being there for one moment and letting the rest of it slip into place. This is where I start in on my TEEEEAM!! flailing for both shows, because I think they both develop toward the same conclusion away from isolated figures and incidents and instead embracing the power of collective histories and group efforts. So Rodney decides that it's vital to bring Sheppard back -- sure, I can run with that, but the impact of his return only extends so far as his involvement with the rest of the team. It doesn't matter if he comes back to his timeline unless Rodney and Ronon are waiting for him at the gate, unless they pull together for Teyla, unless they share in the same struggles day in, day out. And over with Santa Barbara's finest, the same happens at the close of 3.02. Shawn finally has his moment with Abigail and can at last acknowledge it for what it is -- a moment, and that's it. Contrast this with the speech he makes about his years of friendship with Gus, how his greatness comes from sticking by Shawn for a lifetime of decisions, some bad and some good, but all integral to who they are. I think we can see a bit of this right after the kiss, too, when Shawn catches sight of Jules -- that, again, there's so much more compounded within that relationship that, even when it's not at any sort of notable high point, it still isn't something he should take for granted. And Lassiter! Ohhh Lassiter. This episode might have been a bit too focused on his own personal issues for me to get properly excited about his team-y relationships, but I loved him covering for the other three back at the station. Plus, ummm, the closer was kind of OT4 perfection, was it not?
...And, man, I totally started out wanting to write about Ronon-y stuff (go figure, seeing as how it was a Ronon episode and all!) yet once again it's starting to get too late for my brain. Mostly I just wanted to comment on how much I enjoyed the John/Ronon in "Broken Ties" (well, really, in everything. XD But, uh, just prompted by this episode) in contrast to everything I just blabbed about with McShep. Instead of this confusing, insistent, sometimes acknowledged but not really dealt with thing between two guys who are eternally Weird for Each Other, John and Ronon just slide together in what I suppose could be described as a soul mate-y way, in that they are such kindred spirits who just sort of get and are comfortable with each other in a way not often to be expected from intergalactic relationships. But even as I love all the opportunities this offers for just hanging out and being goofy and getting excited about dumb stuff in the same sort of easy way, it's Ronon!angst episodes like this one that serve as reminders that, for all the squishy team-ness we enjoy now, Ronon and John's affinity for each other is really based on the hardest, most tragic parts of their lives. As with Psych, this episode had a strong team closer, too -- but, just, ouch! How much does it hurt that everybody else gets their scene of relaxation and happiness, while John and Ronon hang about the infirmary exchanging remembrances of fallen friends? But... well... at least their lives suck together now? Because I don't want to close this on a depressing note, it makes me think of one of my very very favourite team fics for turning cold dreariness into warm fuzzies: Cold by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ltlj.
OMG! I can't believe I almost forgot to include this! Ahahahaaaaa, okay, so as 5.03 was a Mallozzi ep, of course he blogged about it. With cut scenes. And. Original bathtub dialogue?:
SHEPPARD: Okay, but I’m not getting in a bath with you.
MCKAY: I’m both relieved and slightly disappointed. Now, let’s review [THE FACT THAT I SECRETLY WANT YOU TO SEE ME NAKED. OKAY I ADDED THIS PART MYSELF BUT IT'S TOTALLY IMPLIED].
See? That right there? Is why I subject myself to so much stupidness surrounding this show. XD XD XD But, honestly, I think it fits so well with a lot of the things I was trying to say about the two of them -- that they will always be played for a certain level of hamminess, but under that is a real sort of needy attachment to it all. "Honestly, colonel, I was not suggesting anything of the kind. Except of course now that you bring it up -- really? You wouldn't? Look, we're talking about Archimedes here, not a pornounless you want it to be."
ETA: The other thing I meant to mention! I think I loved this episode of Psych a tiny bit extra based purely on the fact that the intro had me saying, "ZOMG I'M TOTALLY A PSYCHIC" because. Yeah. Shawn as Judd Nelson? I totally called it! So, yeah, I think it's hilarious that it ended up being the backbone of this episode. XD Plus, I know I blogged about this a lot during the course, but I spent a good month of my summer immersed in John Hughes movies/teen film archetypes for my film lit project, and Shawn using that knowledge to solve a murder of all things made me feel like maybe I devoted myself to something worthwhile, after all. XD XD
Middleman first, I suppose, because I have the least to ramble about. Mostly I just want to express my general girly gooshiness about the tragic romance of MM/Lacey, d'awww. Don't you just want those crazy kids to be happy, already? --but I guess emo manpain is what keeping the old heroes alive is all about. And, really, I don't feel shippy about them in the sense that I hope they'll ever get together, just that they're fun to watch being awkward and adorable around each other. It's like S3 Wesley/Cordelia, in a way... actually, uhh, now that I think about it, that is an astonishingly apt comparison for how I classify them in my brain -- sweet and maybe kinda hot except of course completely deflated when/if anything ever actually happens.
And now to all the stuff I sort of meant to say about Psych/SGA when I first posted after they aired. Oops. I can't decide whether it's entirely inconvenient or entirely perfect that Psych and SGA both air simultaneously. It's not like the logistics are overly complicated: watch one, record the other (although deciding which to watch first presents a weekly dilemma). Rather, I worry that I'm going to become redundant in my viewing/reactions, start mingling bits of each into the other. Because, okay, at this point I'm at least 83% convinced that the two shows exist as AU versions of each other -- partially due to the insane amount of actor crossover, but primarily because both shows hook me in with the eternally fascinating four-person team dynamics and, really, I'm kind of tempted to post reviews that consist only of, "New Psych? OMG TEEEEAM!!" and "New SGA? OMG TEEEEAM!" This week especially because, seriously? OMG TEEEEAM[S]!! ...But then of course once I start mentally smooshing these two shows together my thoughts on each one sparks new perspectives on the other, which is my excuse for taking so long to write this up, as it sort of spiraled away from me during its composition.
I was going to simply start with a simulsquee over "...I'm not gonna take a bath with you" and the overall John/Ronon vibes but especially the closer with Tyre's sword -- which then sort of turned into my musings on how those different dynamics fit together (my multishipping tendencies, let me show you them!). The bathtub bit was pure fanservice, of course (not that I would ever complain about naked!Hewlett :P); and as much as it relies on getting as much mileage as possible out of Odd Couple-esque "boy, aren't these two guys so wacky in their differences?" I do sort of love that, on some level, John and Rodney will always be goofy for/with/about each other -- in a way that, yes, can be played for a quick miscommunication joke and homoerotic awkwardness, but that also speaks to why they play off of each other so well. Even when one is clearly in a state of, "uhh, wtf?" about the other, they do need that interplay of a "fresh perspective," as Rodney says, to help each other through dead ends and around blind corners. Then those overt moments of trying to adopt those different practices, like John's, "What would McKay do?" in "The Eye" or Rodney's pep talk of "things that Sheppard would say" in "Common Ground", it's clear that they operate on slightly distorted perceptions of the other, but at the same time notable that they vocalize and try to compensate for that absence.
It's like all their bickering and prodding is part of some perpetual fascination with this romanticized notion of each other that's really kind of screwed up in that they have a tendency to get quite openly greedy and selfish about each other -- but, well, it's still so weirdly romantic! And I wish I had a better word to describe it because I don't feel that it necessary connotes what I mean to say, but I guess maybe take it in the sense of "romantic friendship," where it's used as a sort of magnifying word: that idea of romantic as most important, highest priority relationship. They seem to latch onto it without really caring to understand what it means... until it's about to suddenly not be there. And then. Oh. "Tao of Rodney"? "Miller's Crossing"? It's like John's face breaks open (and, yes, this is just a shameless excuse to post Joe!face!!!) To borrow John's words, he simply can't let go of that piece of himself. I don't care how many times they have the "McKay's in mortal danger which forces personal growth" episode (and, gee, how much do I love a show where, honestly, there's enough of them to deserve specific classification), I will love it every. damn. time. (Which leads me to a brief spoilery aside about the upcoming 5.06 based on promo shots and comments at the SGA Comic-Con panel; namely, the fact that I CANNOT WAIT FOR "THE SHRINE" TO AIR BECAUSE I PREEMPTIVELY DECLARE IT MY MOST FAVOURITE EPISODE OF ALL TIME. Nurse!John??? *wibble* And the team stranded on the gate...! And Jeannie...!! Then from the panel, which I was just watching this afternoon... *snerk* If you haven't seen it yet, the usual question comes up about favourite episodes, and Brad notes that, due to the often disjointed nature of filming the show, he doesn't have a sense of favourite episodes in their entirety, just favourite moments. So he starts talking about the one that stands out the most for him from this season -- from "The Shrine," of course. "A scene between Joe and David on the pier... at night..." and then a ripple of giggling goes through the fangirl contingency in the audience. Joe just gets this, "Uhhh, oops," look on his face and, I assume in order to remind us that it's of the buddy bonding instead of, say, the Chaya romancing variety, waves his hands and adds that "it involved beer." ... ...Um, yeah, thanks for clarifying, because now I'm just picturing drunken twilight waterside fumblings. Basically, yeah, this episode needs to air like now. The only downside to this all is that it airs the week I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed, so I'm afraid I'll either be in too much agonizing pain or too drugged up on hydrocodone to properly enjoy it.)
And then on the other side of it for Rodney, I suppose he spends a bit too much time watching John go off on ridiculous suicide missions for me to pick out any particular soul crushing moments. ...Except that I'm totally going to do it anyway. Okay, the beginning of "Siege, Pt. 3," right after Rodney learns that Sheppard miraculously escaped death by nuclear explosion, he just collapses into his hands at the console. Most of it is off screen, happening so quickly that I couldn't really get a good cap of it, but it breaks a teeny piece of my heart every time. Really, though, the best indicator of McKay's Huge Epic Slightly Illogical Fixation on Sheppard is of course his alternate "The Last Man" self, devoting an entire lifetime -- and, really, thousands upon thousand of years, if you count the AI as well -- to restoring John to the timeline. I think it's really interesting how that idea has been expanded this year, too, mostly in "The Seed"; whereas much of Rodney's motivation in TLM can be seen to stem purely from desperation, with nothing to work on except saving John, trying to reverse engineer his miracle and designating John's disappearance as the starting point -- in "The Seed," we see Rodney's deep attachment to the idea that John being there changes everything, that he is in fact the one necessary component to their future success.
Okay, I have now gone on about SGA for much longer than I originally intended (and don't worry, I'm still not finished :P) but here's where I wanted to comment on this week's Psych as well, because both shows have been playing around with the same idea of the impact of a moment. Rodney has this idea that one person can be the key to the future; and Shawn seems to feel that way too about Abigail. Everything hinges on the decision to hold onto that person, that moment -- or, in Shawn's case, to let it go out of fear of its impact. And the thing is, they're both sort of right. Both choices carry a heavy impact. But as Henry says in the car (and oh my gosh how much did I love him in this episode? THIIIIIS MUCH!), what's missing from that philosophy of fixation on a moment is that, well, it's not just the "big" moments we think of that matter. It's every moment and every decision. Everything changes everything. While sometimes it can seem easier to trace what seems to be missing back to one person, one loss, there's so much more to securing happiness than being there for one moment and letting the rest of it slip into place. This is where I start in on my TEEEEAM!! flailing for both shows, because I think they both develop toward the same conclusion away from isolated figures and incidents and instead embracing the power of collective histories and group efforts. So Rodney decides that it's vital to bring Sheppard back -- sure, I can run with that, but the impact of his return only extends so far as his involvement with the rest of the team. It doesn't matter if he comes back to his timeline unless Rodney and Ronon are waiting for him at the gate, unless they pull together for Teyla, unless they share in the same struggles day in, day out. And over with Santa Barbara's finest, the same happens at the close of 3.02. Shawn finally has his moment with Abigail and can at last acknowledge it for what it is -- a moment, and that's it. Contrast this with the speech he makes about his years of friendship with Gus, how his greatness comes from sticking by Shawn for a lifetime of decisions, some bad and some good, but all integral to who they are. I think we can see a bit of this right after the kiss, too, when Shawn catches sight of Jules -- that, again, there's so much more compounded within that relationship that, even when it's not at any sort of notable high point, it still isn't something he should take for granted. And Lassiter! Ohhh Lassiter. This episode might have been a bit too focused on his own personal issues for me to get properly excited about his team-y relationships, but I loved him covering for the other three back at the station. Plus, ummm, the closer was kind of OT4 perfection, was it not?
...And, man, I totally started out wanting to write about Ronon-y stuff (go figure, seeing as how it was a Ronon episode and all!) yet once again it's starting to get too late for my brain. Mostly I just wanted to comment on how much I enjoyed the John/Ronon in "Broken Ties" (well, really, in everything. XD But, uh, just prompted by this episode) in contrast to everything I just blabbed about with McShep. Instead of this confusing, insistent, sometimes acknowledged but not really dealt with thing between two guys who are eternally Weird for Each Other, John and Ronon just slide together in what I suppose could be described as a soul mate-y way, in that they are such kindred spirits who just sort of get and are comfortable with each other in a way not often to be expected from intergalactic relationships. But even as I love all the opportunities this offers for just hanging out and being goofy and getting excited about dumb stuff in the same sort of easy way, it's Ronon!angst episodes like this one that serve as reminders that, for all the squishy team-ness we enjoy now, Ronon and John's affinity for each other is really based on the hardest, most tragic parts of their lives. As with Psych, this episode had a strong team closer, too -- but, just, ouch! How much does it hurt that everybody else gets their scene of relaxation and happiness, while John and Ronon hang about the infirmary exchanging remembrances of fallen friends? But... well... at least their lives suck together now? Because I don't want to close this on a depressing note, it makes me think of one of my very very favourite team fics for turning cold dreariness into warm fuzzies: Cold by
ltlj.OMG! I can't believe I almost forgot to include this! Ahahahaaaaa, okay, so as 5.03 was a Mallozzi ep, of course he blogged about it. With cut scenes. And. Original bathtub dialogue?:
SHEPPARD: Okay, but I’m not getting in a bath with you.
MCKAY: I’m both relieved and slightly disappointed. Now, let’s review [THE FACT THAT I SECRETLY WANT YOU TO SEE ME NAKED. OKAY I ADDED THIS PART MYSELF BUT IT'S TOTALLY IMPLIED].
See? That right there? Is why I subject myself to so much stupidness surrounding this show. XD XD XD But, honestly, I think it fits so well with a lot of the things I was trying to say about the two of them -- that they will always be played for a certain level of hamminess, but under that is a real sort of needy attachment to it all. "Honestly, colonel, I was not suggesting anything of the kind. Except of course now that you bring it up -- really? You wouldn't? Look, we're talking about Archimedes here, not a porno
ETA: The other thing I meant to mention! I think I loved this episode of Psych a tiny bit extra based purely on the fact that the intro had me saying, "ZOMG I'M TOTALLY A PSYCHIC" because. Yeah. Shawn as Judd Nelson? I totally called it! So, yeah, I think it's hilarious that it ended up being the backbone of this episode. XD Plus, I know I blogged about this a lot during the course, but I spent a good month of my summer immersed in John Hughes movies/teen film archetypes for my film lit project, and Shawn using that knowledge to solve a murder of all things made me feel like maybe I devoted myself to something worthwhile, after all. XD XD
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Date: 2008-07-31 04:11 am (UTC)And how handsome is Matt Keesler in a tux?
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Date: 2008-07-31 04:38 pm (UTC)Ha, I was totally digging the mancrushing that was going on in this episode (and because apparently I have to mingle all of my shows together, it reminded me of Psych's "Psy vs. Psy" with Lou Diamond Phillips). I did hope quite fervently that Cecil would end up being swayed to the side of truth, justice, etc. by the purity of MM's love; but I guess it was not meant to be (and his demise was kind of hilariously awesome, I'll give them that).
I loved all the dressing up, ahhh! I commented to somebody a few weeks back that I was just biding my time until we got the "undercover at a fancy dress party" episode, and then when I saw the set pictures of the liner go up on