For what it's worth
I was completely unspoiled for this ep - hadn't even read a summary - so from the opening scene it hit me really hard - as it has for so many of the people whose reviews I've read subsequently.
I suppose that a subject such as Rodney's mental deterioration will necessarily resonate with a group of people such as those that fandom attracts - those who live in their heads - as well as the high likelihood of there being family-illness-resonance as well, so I guess it's not a surprise.
But it was the slash that hit me hardest. I just... John and Rodney have never been more OTP in canon as far as I'm concerned. They're crow-barring that Rodney/Keller in there as hard as they can, but I just do. not. see. it. Even if I remove my slash-goggles and put on my (admittedly slightly dusty) het-goggles, I just can't see the chemistry between them as anything other than friendly - unlike her relationship with Ronon which, even in this episode, still sparks off the screen.
This is profoundly frustrating mainly because the writers are so obviously phoning it in. It's like they decided to do the relationship and forgot they'd have to actually, you know, write it into the show. It's all tell, no show. We hear from Rodney how he feels, and maybe we see Keller mooning over the footage of him, but, er, anything else? Instead we have Rodney shouting for John, Rodney remembering only John in his worst moments, Rodney running to John for comfort... I mean, as a slasher I love it, but as a viewer of the show I find the inconsistency profoundly irritating. I want to shake these lazy writers and point out to them that just because Keller and Rodney are a man and a woman, just because they exist in the same place together, doesn't mean they're automatically going to fall in love. Hell, you can even be attracted to someone and not want to be romantically involved with them. I know, it's a revelation.
I can't even see their personalities as particularly complementary. Why on earth do the writers insist on pairing Rodney with women with all the backbone of a jellyfish? Rodney needs someone who won't put up with his shit - or rather, the women they're pairing him with need someone who won't grind them under the heel of irritation and arrogance. I can imagine Katie Brown or Jennifer Keller, five years into a relationship with Rodney, completely worn out by his temperament and his arrogance, fantasising about leaving him for a nice quiet librarian or something. Someone who won't continually bark at them. Because that's cute for maybe the first six months, but unless you know how to handle, it gets old pretty soon after that. And I've seen no evidence that either of them can handle it.
I'll admit that this tendency on the part of the writers worries me, slightly, because we all know that some of the writers on SG:A (*cough*Gero*cough*) use Rodney to air their darker, less socially-adjusted sides - see every commentary ever. I can't help but feel like this constant parade of drips is some kind of hideous wish-fulfillment: a nice quiet girl who won't argue back. But maybe those are just my issues.
All that aside, however, the slash in this episode was wonderful, and one can't help but come away with the feeling that, no matter how much Rodney believes he loves Keller, John will always be the one he calls for without conscious thought. And now, that's canon.
*sigh* Yeah. That's the good shit.