SGA #5.06 The Shrine (episode review)
Wow, I come back from vacation and find out that Stargate Atlantis was canceled. And then I watched last night's episode. Wow, talk about being depressed.
If I didn't know any better, I'd swear this episode was almost like a study of the progression of Alzheimers. Okay, maybe not really, but the way Rodney's parasitic virus thingy was progressing reminded me of that. I've watched some of my family members develop Alzheimers, and it is one of the most depressing things. My great-aunt was always quite a character - when I was a kid, she always made me laugh, she'd tell me stories, we'd play games... and then as the disease progressed, she started getting a bit off, getting childish, forgetting people's names, and finally hardly speaking at all. Once in a blue moon, she had a moment of clarity. When she was in the very advanced stages of the disease, my grandmother had a nurse to come in and look after her. The nurse wanted to do something with her, I can't remember what exactly but it was something very benign. My great-aunt started getting all worried and she suddenly called out my grandmother's name. And this was well after she'd forgotten everyone's name, including that of my grandmother (she'd sometimes refer to people like my dad - or even my mom- as "that boy.").
Anyway, enough of that heavy stuff. Watching Rodney's memory and control of his faculties slip away reminded me so much of this and had me feeling pretty depressed. The way he pounded on John's door and said he had a nightmare and was afraid of losing his mind and all that. And the way making the recordings documented the progression of the virus really does mirror what you see in many Alzheimers patients. I liked how everyone showed their concern for him, like a true team. Even Woolsey was concerned and brought up his grandfather, and how he'd had a moment of clarity. I liked how Ronan was so determined to help him.
It was nice to see Jeannie again. Her interaction with Rodney almost broke my heart. The way she referred to him as "Mer" and "Meredith" and how he'd vaguely mentioned not liking the name because it's "girl's name." Aw. :(
I liked his interaction with John very much as well. I liked the flashback John had of the two of them sitting on the pier and how Rodney wanted to say goodbye to him. And how he jokingly got John's name wrong and they laughed... and of course the fond little smirk on John's face upon remembering this.
Poor Keller. I was a bit peeved with her at first for not wanting them to take Rodney offworld to the shrine, but then I realized her intentions. She was feeling very guilty that she hadn't acted sooner in trying to operate to remove the parasite, and she wanted to save him all herself.
I was glad she was able to succeed in removing the parasite from him, although it seemed like an easy out to me.
As for the ending ... huh. So I guess that McKeller is canon now? Not quite sure how I feel about it (I've never been much of a shipper in SGA anyway), but I did think it was kind of cute how Rodney admitted it.
So that's my review... not much, but I wanted to say something. As for SGA being canceled, I was very surprised at first. I'd just come back from vacation and wasn't expecting to see that. The more I thought of it though, I can't say I'm as surprised as I was. I'm still a bit more surprised than I was with SG-1's cancellation (you can stop the throwing of rocks now...lol). But with all the cast changes I was wondering what was going on. I hadn't been following the ratings too closely but I thought they didn't start off the season too well. Though now I am hearing the ratings had improved? Not sure what to think.
Bottom line... I love Rodney. I love Shep. I even love Ronan. Hell, I love them all, pretty much. I miss Elizabeth dearly, and I think that was the first sounding of the death knell, IMHO. I read an interview with TPTB that someone on my flist had posted (can't remember who -sorry) that sounded as if they were throwing in the towel so they could concentrate on the third series. I don't know what to expect from that series, and I'm not sure if I'll watch or not. Maybe the first episode out of curiosity, but I'm really not sure. Not sure what to expect from this Stargate Atlantis tv movie they're thinking of doing as well.
So those are my thoughts. Not looking to get into any fandom wars here. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and I've read various ones on my flist. I'm part of this fandom as well so I thought I'd air my own feelings as well. Hopefully you guys are okay with that. :)
If I didn't know any better, I'd swear this episode was almost like a study of the progression of Alzheimers. Okay, maybe not really, but the way Rodney's parasitic virus thingy was progressing reminded me of that. I've watched some of my family members develop Alzheimers, and it is one of the most depressing things. My great-aunt was always quite a character - when I was a kid, she always made me laugh, she'd tell me stories, we'd play games... and then as the disease progressed, she started getting a bit off, getting childish, forgetting people's names, and finally hardly speaking at all. Once in a blue moon, she had a moment of clarity. When she was in the very advanced stages of the disease, my grandmother had a nurse to come in and look after her. The nurse wanted to do something with her, I can't remember what exactly but it was something very benign. My great-aunt started getting all worried and she suddenly called out my grandmother's name. And this was well after she'd forgotten everyone's name, including that of my grandmother (she'd sometimes refer to people like my dad - or even my mom- as "that boy.").
Anyway, enough of that heavy stuff. Watching Rodney's memory and control of his faculties slip away reminded me so much of this and had me feeling pretty depressed. The way he pounded on John's door and said he had a nightmare and was afraid of losing his mind and all that. And the way making the recordings documented the progression of the virus really does mirror what you see in many Alzheimers patients. I liked how everyone showed their concern for him, like a true team. Even Woolsey was concerned and brought up his grandfather, and how he'd had a moment of clarity. I liked how Ronan was so determined to help him.
It was nice to see Jeannie again. Her interaction with Rodney almost broke my heart. The way she referred to him as "Mer" and "Meredith" and how he'd vaguely mentioned not liking the name because it's "girl's name." Aw. :(
I liked his interaction with John very much as well. I liked the flashback John had of the two of them sitting on the pier and how Rodney wanted to say goodbye to him. And how he jokingly got John's name wrong and they laughed... and of course the fond little smirk on John's face upon remembering this.
Poor Keller. I was a bit peeved with her at first for not wanting them to take Rodney offworld to the shrine, but then I realized her intentions. She was feeling very guilty that she hadn't acted sooner in trying to operate to remove the parasite, and she wanted to save him all herself.
I was glad she was able to succeed in removing the parasite from him, although it seemed like an easy out to me.
As for the ending ... huh. So I guess that McKeller is canon now? Not quite sure how I feel about it (I've never been much of a shipper in SGA anyway), but I did think it was kind of cute how Rodney admitted it.
So that's my review... not much, but I wanted to say something. As for SGA being canceled, I was very surprised at first. I'd just come back from vacation and wasn't expecting to see that. The more I thought of it though, I can't say I'm as surprised as I was. I'm still a bit more surprised than I was with SG-1's cancellation (you can stop the throwing of rocks now...lol). But with all the cast changes I was wondering what was going on. I hadn't been following the ratings too closely but I thought they didn't start off the season too well. Though now I am hearing the ratings had improved? Not sure what to think.
Bottom line... I love Rodney. I love Shep. I even love Ronan. Hell, I love them all, pretty much. I miss Elizabeth dearly, and I think that was the first sounding of the death knell, IMHO. I read an interview with TPTB that someone on my flist had posted (can't remember who -sorry) that sounded as if they were throwing in the towel so they could concentrate on the third series. I don't know what to expect from that series, and I'm not sure if I'll watch or not. Maybe the first episode out of curiosity, but I'm really not sure. Not sure what to expect from this Stargate Atlantis tv movie they're thinking of doing as well.
So those are my thoughts. Not looking to get into any fandom wars here. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and I've read various ones on my flist. I'm part of this fandom as well so I thought I'd air my own feelings as well. Hopefully you guys are okay with that. :)