Tracker - Review
23/10/2008 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rachel500Tracker is the 9th episode in Season Five of Stargate Atlantis.
Review
The foundation for Tracker is classic Stargate; off-world the team runs into trouble, gets out of trouble and goes home again. Tracker has one small variation to this; the team isn’t the team but the CMO accompanied by two of the team. As with any splitting up, the episode lives or falls by how much the individual viewer enjoys the dynamics shown instead. The combination here is unusual and complicated by a romantic element that Stargate rarely tackles head-on – particularly among its regular characters – but it is held together by a great overall story.
With the classic Stargate format, the story has a solid foundation and it is well written by Carl Binder. It is wonderfully constructed from the goodwill mission, to Keller’s disappearance, the slow reveal of the Runner, the reason for his taking Keller, the rescue and escape from the Wraith. Maybe it isn’t the most original plot or the most dramatic but it is filled to the brim with character interaction.
Kyric is an outstanding character. There are obvious similarities to Ronon – the physical toughness, the fighting skills, the outer shell, the inner vulnerability. Runners are definitely a ‘type’. Yet Kyric quickly becomes his own character. Much of that is down to his relationship with Celise which reveals Kyric’s sense of honour, his guilt and self-recrimination but much of it too is down the outstanding performance Mike Dopud delivers as Kyric. He reveals layer after layer until Kyric’s final sacrifice of drawing the Wraith away and allowing Celise and the Atlantis team to be safe.
Keller’s growing relationship with Kyric over the course of the episode allows Kyric’s layers to be gradually revealed; as she gets to know him better and understands Kyric’s motivations so does the audience. The situation also allows a clear comparison to be drawn between last season’s Missing and Tracker. Here Keller is kidnapped and threatened but while clearly scared, she handles herself well and has more confidence; a good performance by Jewel Staite. She tries to escape, she kills a Wraith when it threatens Celise and even manages some defensive moves in the final fight. She’s come along way from a frightened cowering wreck. She’s grown and that’s nice to see, even if unearth-shattering from a characterisation perspective.
If Keller and Kyric provided one situation, the pairing of Ronon and McKay provided the other (a lovely balance of Runner and scientific sidekick in each plot). It is always good to see Ronon portrayed as intelligent as no Runner is stupid. His tracking abilities are wonderfully shown as is his ability to understand the strategies employed by the other Runner. More so, Ronon quietly assumes the leadership role – unsurprising given his previous history as a team commander on Sateda and given the terrain. His leadership style is very much ‘I lead, you follow; don’t slow me down.’ But like Kyric, Ronon’s vulnerabilities are also highlighted; his protectiveness of the people he cares for (although given he seemed to have worked out Keller was with the Runner willingly the full on attack may have been overkill) and it was also nice to see his own guilt from his Runner days shown in the exchange with Kyric. While it might have been nice to have seen more between the two Runners, the constraints of time within the story didn’t really allow the time for it.
It was good to see McKay like a fish out of water and not the one to save the day. While some is played for comic relief (loved the ‘watch your step, sir’ bit), McKay actually handles himself competently despite his own knowledge that the situation does not play to his strengths; he runs from the Wraith, he shoots one while hopping on one foot, and he shoots another one in the battle with Wraith (although the fumbling with the clip maybe shaded him clumsy unnecessarily). The scout story is nice background and played out in always being prepared by downloading the planetary info. He’s more comfortable when he fixes the teleportation device (which is an incredible invention – really interesting and loved the curling tendrils as it reattached) and it’s a nice beat that Keller keeps it for him.
McKay’s growing attachment to Keller and the potential triangle with Ronon is the sub-plot. From the outset, it’s clear that McKay’s only going to spend time with her, that’s he practising medical terms to impress her, that he’s slightly resentful of having his alone time disturbed by Ronon. Throughout, he’s concerned about her and also throughout, McKay is sensitive to how Ronon and Keller interact. The audience sees every beat between the two through McKay’s subtle jealousy and fear the two are connecting romantically.
I’m not keen on the idea of a love triangle; two team-mates who care for each other, even if they’re not buddy-buddy, competing for the affection of a woman seems tawdry. However, the end scene with McKay approaching Ronon and asking what’s going on is actually a fairly mature approach to the situation. Maybe if I was Keller I would be affronted by the handshake (and equally flattered at the same time) but I do think it’s probably realistic; I know if I thought my friend was interested in the same person, I would talk to them first. I think Jason Momoa and David Hewlett do a superb job throughout the episode, and this end scene is a good example: it’s beautifully underplayed to a large degree. I also have to give credit to the relatively slow build up of the arc with through The Seed, The Shrine and now coming to fruition in Tracker. The producers get kudos for improving their arc-building skills although it will be interesting to see if it holds for the remainder of the season.
Overall, I enjoyed Tracker. It was a good story with some funny moments mixed in with heart-tugging. Indeed, a good job all round and while I may still have some concerns over the whole love triangle notion, credit for the subtlety here.
Review
The foundation for Tracker is classic Stargate; off-world the team runs into trouble, gets out of trouble and goes home again. Tracker has one small variation to this; the team isn’t the team but the CMO accompanied by two of the team. As with any splitting up, the episode lives or falls by how much the individual viewer enjoys the dynamics shown instead. The combination here is unusual and complicated by a romantic element that Stargate rarely tackles head-on – particularly among its regular characters – but it is held together by a great overall story.
With the classic Stargate format, the story has a solid foundation and it is well written by Carl Binder. It is wonderfully constructed from the goodwill mission, to Keller’s disappearance, the slow reveal of the Runner, the reason for his taking Keller, the rescue and escape from the Wraith. Maybe it isn’t the most original plot or the most dramatic but it is filled to the brim with character interaction.
Kyric is an outstanding character. There are obvious similarities to Ronon – the physical toughness, the fighting skills, the outer shell, the inner vulnerability. Runners are definitely a ‘type’. Yet Kyric quickly becomes his own character. Much of that is down to his relationship with Celise which reveals Kyric’s sense of honour, his guilt and self-recrimination but much of it too is down the outstanding performance Mike Dopud delivers as Kyric. He reveals layer after layer until Kyric’s final sacrifice of drawing the Wraith away and allowing Celise and the Atlantis team to be safe.
Keller’s growing relationship with Kyric over the course of the episode allows Kyric’s layers to be gradually revealed; as she gets to know him better and understands Kyric’s motivations so does the audience. The situation also allows a clear comparison to be drawn between last season’s Missing and Tracker. Here Keller is kidnapped and threatened but while clearly scared, she handles herself well and has more confidence; a good performance by Jewel Staite. She tries to escape, she kills a Wraith when it threatens Celise and even manages some defensive moves in the final fight. She’s come along way from a frightened cowering wreck. She’s grown and that’s nice to see, even if unearth-shattering from a characterisation perspective.
If Keller and Kyric provided one situation, the pairing of Ronon and McKay provided the other (a lovely balance of Runner and scientific sidekick in each plot). It is always good to see Ronon portrayed as intelligent as no Runner is stupid. His tracking abilities are wonderfully shown as is his ability to understand the strategies employed by the other Runner. More so, Ronon quietly assumes the leadership role – unsurprising given his previous history as a team commander on Sateda and given the terrain. His leadership style is very much ‘I lead, you follow; don’t slow me down.’ But like Kyric, Ronon’s vulnerabilities are also highlighted; his protectiveness of the people he cares for (although given he seemed to have worked out Keller was with the Runner willingly the full on attack may have been overkill) and it was also nice to see his own guilt from his Runner days shown in the exchange with Kyric. While it might have been nice to have seen more between the two Runners, the constraints of time within the story didn’t really allow the time for it.
It was good to see McKay like a fish out of water and not the one to save the day. While some is played for comic relief (loved the ‘watch your step, sir’ bit), McKay actually handles himself competently despite his own knowledge that the situation does not play to his strengths; he runs from the Wraith, he shoots one while hopping on one foot, and he shoots another one in the battle with Wraith (although the fumbling with the clip maybe shaded him clumsy unnecessarily). The scout story is nice background and played out in always being prepared by downloading the planetary info. He’s more comfortable when he fixes the teleportation device (which is an incredible invention – really interesting and loved the curling tendrils as it reattached) and it’s a nice beat that Keller keeps it for him.
McKay’s growing attachment to Keller and the potential triangle with Ronon is the sub-plot. From the outset, it’s clear that McKay’s only going to spend time with her, that’s he practising medical terms to impress her, that he’s slightly resentful of having his alone time disturbed by Ronon. Throughout, he’s concerned about her and also throughout, McKay is sensitive to how Ronon and Keller interact. The audience sees every beat between the two through McKay’s subtle jealousy and fear the two are connecting romantically.
I’m not keen on the idea of a love triangle; two team-mates who care for each other, even if they’re not buddy-buddy, competing for the affection of a woman seems tawdry. However, the end scene with McKay approaching Ronon and asking what’s going on is actually a fairly mature approach to the situation. Maybe if I was Keller I would be affronted by the handshake (and equally flattered at the same time) but I do think it’s probably realistic; I know if I thought my friend was interested in the same person, I would talk to them first. I think Jason Momoa and David Hewlett do a superb job throughout the episode, and this end scene is a good example: it’s beautifully underplayed to a large degree. I also have to give credit to the relatively slow build up of the arc with through The Seed, The Shrine and now coming to fruition in Tracker. The producers get kudos for improving their arc-building skills although it will be interesting to see if it holds for the remainder of the season.
Overall, I enjoyed Tracker. It was a good story with some funny moments mixed in with heart-tugging. Indeed, a good job all round and while I may still have some concerns over the whole love triangle notion, credit for the subtlety here.
