Monday, September 29, 2008

Stargate Atlantis: Tracker (Season 5)

Finally, here's my review of Tracker!

Given the quality of the previous two episodes Whispers and The Queen, and given the preview of Tracker (Keller gets kidnapped...again[1]?), I had extremely low expectations of this episode.

Anyway, here are some notes I took while I watched the episode.

- While it's understandable for Sheppard to be surprised that Rodney would volunteer for a humanitarian mission on his day off... in the alternate timeline he experienced in Season 4, alt-Rodney told him that he and Jennifer were in a relationship. So why would Sheppard act surprised, if he should know that Rodney would fall for Jennifer?

- So, Ronon asks why the people on the other planet are sick, and she tells him it's like an Earth disease, influenza. How does that help Ronon?

- Didn't we see this episode before? Wasn't it Missing?

- Did Keller ACTUALLY think she could outrun her captor?

- We're almost halfway into the episode, and so far, it's been a lot of walking and chasing. Wow, it's so exciting and interesting.

- So, Keller has been kidnapped to save the life of a dying child. Again I say, didn't we see this episode before? Wasn't it Miller's Crossing?

- Hmm... a Wraith wandered into the child's cave. This must be where Ronon shows up. ... ... ... Oh, Keller killed him. My bad.

- Geez, Ronon's tracking ability borders on a psychic power.

- Umm... Keller is attempting to fight Wraith? With a stick?

I'll give this one a back-handed compliment: It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be, and towards the end, it got fun. Granted, the first half of the episode, when Keller and her captor, Kiryk, were en route to their destination, was boring. Once Kiryk started opening up, things got more interesting. Kiryk seemed like he has potential to be interesting, and he and Ronon could've had some character growth by teaching him how to be "human" again. But we probably won't see him any more. Alas.

Some people on Usenet pointed out that given the high rate of kidnapping on these missions, Rodney and Ronon absolutely should not have wandered so far away when Keller was treating her patient in private. They also noted that the Wraith seem to be getting easier and easier to kill, if Keller can take one out (referring to the one she stabbed in the cave). However, as the discussion progressed, someone pointed out that a doctor would know a good spot to drive in the knife.

The Rodney/Ronon/Keller situation was a little interesting, although I think Ronon might be exaggerating his interest in Keller to give Rodney a hard time. The episode could've been a little more interesting if, when Keller was trying to break up the fight between Kiryk and Ronon, Ronon had accidentally injured Keller. I know that is kind of a cliche. But during the episode, I had no concern for Keller's well-being at all. I don't think Keller should've been in mortal danger, but I wish the writers had done something to shake things up a little, like putting the characters' psyches and relationships with each other in danger. Given that Ronon may have some romantic interest in Keller, that certainly would've affected their dynamic.

[1] Amusingly, Jewel Staite complained at Comic-Con about getting kidnapped in the woods for a second time.

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