Reunion

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S4 (Reunion)

Hard and painful is the lesson Ronon must learn. Perhaps it was too quick to learn in the space of one episode, I don't know, but it is over by the end, though one dangling thread remains - three friends, three Satedans are tracked down by Ronon and Teyla, renowned as Wraith killers, and it becomes a tale of divided loyalties as Ronon struggles with having a new boss that hasn't earned his trust and which he hasn't earned the trust of: Samantha Carter. It's funny Rodney seriously thought he was in contention for Weir's job, but he did, and it wasn't him, it was her. Yeah, like we needed it spelt out - clearly if Colonel Carter's coming onto a new 'Stargate' series she's going to be the boss! That's how it works, you get promoted. And yet… I can't help thinking command isn't her natural bent, it's not what she's known for - she's great at being tech support, even if that sounds condescending to say, but it's true. She solves problems, and I know we have that role covered with McKay and Zelenka, but somehow I can imagine the series taking off even more if she was 'merely' part of the team rather than leading the whole Atlantis project. I'd have rather Weir remained in command and Carter continued her usual role, but that's not how things happen, nothing stays the same, and in the end I'm just thrilled they brought an 'SG-1' character over to this spinoff, full stop, whatever she does.

I can't go on without remarking on the wonderful little scene with Christopher Judge wishing her well back at the SGC. I've long wondered why he never appeared in 'Stargate Universe' and if he'd ever show up on 'Atlantis,' and now he has. Sort of. We never get to see him actually on Atlantis, nor interacting with those characters, his small contribution is purely for the 'SG-1' fans and to make Carter's transition more final and to show the consequences - she's leaving her old team and job behind. I loved that they got him to do it and I so hope this isn't the last appearance he ever made in the franchise (I'm sure everyone wants to see him take Ronon down a peg or two, in brotherly friendship, of course, but this wasn't the appropriate episode to do it in!). It gave me hope that Carter suggested SG-1 come and visit sometime, and I was saying 'please, please' as while they've had some crossover, we'd never seen the full teams working side by side and that's what you really want. But the moment may have passed, 'SG-1' was off the air, and while they'd come back for a couple of spinoff films and guest appearances in 'Universe' for many of them, I don't know if they made it onto 'Atlantis' in any meaningful way. Which is not to say Teal'c's scene wasn't meaningful, because it absolutely was.

It is strange to see Carter in that position of organising things from the top down. I like that she stood up to the rudeness and brashness of Ronon, even if she did seem a little too gloss lipstick and mild words - again, it's a sign that they've taken the character further than she was ever designed to go and it remains to be seen if it'll work out, in the same way as I like Jason Momoa, but he still had some maturing to do in the acting stakes: most of the time he stays gruff and wry, but when he plays it emotional his voice squeaks! I shouldn't pick holes, and it actually suited the extremes he'd been taken to when he discovers these great friends of his, these loyal Satedans, had turned devil worshippers, basically, he's almost screeching in his disbelief and horror. I really did wonder if he'd be written out, just because we've seen so many cast changes in the first three and a bit years of the series, so different from 'SG-1' and its stolid continuation of the main four for so long. It was always going to end badly, however, as these renegade warriors were so smug and superior, easily slipping into emotional manipulation disguised as matey ribbing, so it was no surprise at all that they turned out to be bad news. I assumed it would merely be that their loose cannon ways were what would turn things around and make them a liability, I had no inkling they were actually quislings and collaborators, working with The Wraith. The loss of two of their friends that Ronon had known suggested their tactics and overconfidence were a downfall, but it was even worse than that - they allowed them to be killed for not joining The Wraith!

It was a real wakeup call for Ronon that there are so few sanctuaries from The Wraith and people who genuinely care about him, and no scene demonstrated that more than when he and Teyla are doing their usual sparring and she keeps whacking him until he tells her what's up. It really showed the strong development that has grown in their characters - in the past it was enough to just show them training, that these are The Warriors, that is Their Role, but here it showed a deeper friendship and led to the beans being spilled and Sheppard does his bit to try and help Ronon not to make the rash choice. It made sense that he wouldn't immediately take to Carter, as he's always found it hard to take orders, but has managed to find a niche in which to operate honourably and where he knows his skills are best used, instead of running around like a lone wolf, or with an undisciplined band for the adventure of it all. There's something more than thrills, what Atlantis is trying to do is far more important than that. But he is a warrior so of course they have to leave it to him to deal with his former friends - I would have preferred if our people had come in and rescued him at the last moment to reiterate that they are his team, they are his friends, but I can see why they'd want to make some big three-on-one fight of it. And a brutal, relatively gory fight it was for a 'Stargate' - you practically see a throat slit and an arm broken in front of you, which is surprising as it doesn't quite fit with the 'family' audience. There does seem to be a drop more language than there used to be, too, sadly.

I was quite unsure if this was going to work out as an episode - the idea of some old mates of Ronon's causing him to question his place in Atlantis' society sounded a bit old hat, something that's been done so many times, but they managed to work in an impossible to ignore motivation for this mission: The Wraith are trying to reprogram the Replicators, and obviously they can't allow that. I liked Rodney being left alone in this chamber to work on that, complete with a Replicator hanging in suspension. And then when the power goes down and it drops to the floor and walks out, completely ignoring the bullets our team are pummelling it with, like some kind of Terminator, intent only on beating up Wraith. I still question why Replicators would choose to assume humanoid form when they could change into any shape, but that's the convention they've chosen for this strand, it doesn't really matter. It remains to be seen if Carter will blossom into a strong leader as Weir so demonstrably was, and how she'll… not exactly integrate into the team, since she's in the office role now, but how the team will respond to her leadership. And despite Ronon not being among my favourite characters, there are signs that they've managed to do something to give him a little more dimension in both last season and this episode. If they can keep that up and give Teyla more crucial moments as when she parallels how he's feeling with her own experience of leaving her people, the Athosians, we could be on for another strong season as with the third. My only issue is I wonder if they'll bring back the Satedan who survived, because I'm not sure I want them to.

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