5x06 - The Shrine

[propinquitine]

OH MY GOD, SHOW!!!

OH MY GOD, JOHN!!!

OH MY GOD!!!

So, I read a few spoilers for this ep before watching (no self control), and I knew about the Rodney-says-he-loves-Jennifer thing, and I was all "Fuck that" and hostile to Keller through the first half of the episode (I still think she's wrong/making it about her, not about her patient, and, like, extra-creepy about it all, but whatevs).

But you know what? If forcing the heterosexual pairing thing leads us to scenes like Rodney BANGING ON JOHN'S DOOR in the middle of the night, and them sitting on the (romantic moonlight) pier at night, and having John tell Rodney "You're stuck with me, Rodney. Just accept it,", while Rodney is WEARING JOHN's LEATHER JACKET, OMG, then I say: bring on the het, SGA writers, if it makes you more comfortable with giving us delicious scenes of John's undying devotion.

Because that's what it is: John's total refusal to ever give up on him. We've got at least two instances of Keller giving up, now: alt!Keller didn't want alt!Rodney to change the timeline, didn't see the point to trying to change things even though they totally sucked, and in this ep, Keller doesn't give the whole Shrine thing a chance. When she knows she needs to operate, she's all "Oh, I can't. We can't use that, we don't have that, impossible defeatist blah-de-blah." Yes, that is an uncharitable interpretation -- she's still new (sort of) to Pegasus weirdness, has medical training that makes this kind of surgery a terrifying prospect, is science-y and would scoff at the idea of a Shrine (even though Ronon pointed out that he never called it "magic", he and Teyla just said that it always worked. Intellectual curiosity about why that might be, anyone? Oh, no? Because of plot device?), but still, she gives up all the time. Maybe it's something she'll grow out of, but at this point: big on the hopeless despair.

But John? ALWAYS refuses to accept Rodney's death -- he wouldn't hear of this whole "saying goodbye" thing in Tao of Rodney, and he won't hear of it now. Instead, he'll be all thinky and lip-bite-y and figure out that they can use a power drill for brain surgery and reconfigure a life signs detector to detect a totally alien parasite, if it means it'll save Rodney.

First, though, he'll get Rodney all liquored up (actually saying "What could happen?" -- oh, I don't know, drunken!desperate!pier!sex, perhaps?) and then tell him, with Miller's Crossing "I can't"-style shiny eyes, that they'll be TOGETHER FOREVER. THAT'S FINAL. (<--- actual quote!) And then he'll do an adorable spit-take and lean back on his hands and inch his legs open to scoot closer to Rodney, like, I think the camera cut away about 10 seconds before they were full-on snuggling the snuggle of TOTAL LIFE PARTNERS.

Oh my god, show. Just -- wow.

ETA: Okay, wait, so after the spit-take, John leans back on his arms and actually inches his legs closer to Rodney. And he claps him on the thigh when he's first in the infirmary, and there's all the almost-hugging of the banging-on-the-door scene (let's revel in that: Rodney runs through the halls of Atlantis screaming John's name. And here I'd been worried we wouldn't get enough good "John!"s out of Rodney this season. I think this ep makes up for seasons 1-3). And all the supportive grabbing in the shrine itself, and glaring down defeatist Keller in the jumper, plus assisting with brain surgery even though he clearly thinks it's yucky. And he has Rodney wear John's leather jacket on the pier (yes, I'm hung up on that bit -- &hearts clothes-sharing). How could you interpret all of that as anything other than John staking his claim against an interloper? Possessive!devoted!pining!John, how I adore thee.

Comments

[tingler.livejournal.com]

I *know*!!! My heart is like to 'splode!!! Jacket! Bare Feet! PANDA SHIRT!!! <3<3<3<3<3<3

[propinquitine.livejournal.com]

Oh, the bare feet! Good eye! I didn't even notice them the first time through! akjsfdhjkgagjh; amazing.

Does that mean he was walking barefoot through the halls of Atlantis? With a six-pack under his arm, and Rodney (wearing his leather jacket) at his side? Yeah, there's no way the entire expedition doesn't know they're dating.

[unaccompanied-g.livejournal.com]

then tell him, with Miller's Crossing "I can't"-style shiny eyes, that they'll be TOGETHER FOREVER. THAT'S FINAL.

THIS. Yes. They are so boyfriends. ♥

[propinquitine.livejournal.com]

Boyfriends FTW! John's just so sure! Stuck with me, accept it, that's final. It's a done deal, in his book -- they're never not going to be together. ::swoon::

[winkingstar.livejournal.com]

OHMYGOD!!! I finally got to watch this afternoon and it was awful because I am home, and my mum was sort of half-watching with me and thought I was utterly insane because of all the whimpering and sniffing and crying I was doing and I kept my squees and flails to myself and I nearly died. (And I can't even type properly now, I keep making a million typos because saljfhklfhlsghbl.)

So much love for the show and our boys! ♥ (But none for MGM/SCIFI/the production team, who still suck.)

[propinquitine.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor you! I couldn't imagine trying to watch this with non-fans in the vicinity -- keeping that much squee and flail bottled up cannot be healthy!

Aren't our boys amazing? And the Team, my god, with Ronon saying he owes it to Rodney, and Teyla and Ronon totally willing to storm the Wraith planet on their own to get Rodney to the Shrine. Oh, and the way Rodney, in the advanced stages of the parasite, kept calling him "Ronondex", all one word, almost, because it's just a fun name to say (clearly something Rodney's thought about before, even if he wouldn't have ever said so), and it's so affectionate and sigh.

Stupid effing MGM/SciFi.

[winkingstar.livejournal.com]

It was very hard. :( This was definitely the hardest ep to watch without fannish support. At least for "Miller's Crossing" I had the house to myself and was therefore able to flail and squeak in peace. This one, though, was much harder, and I am still all quavery about it. I want to watch it again, but I don't know if I can handle it yet.

They are so very amazing. And in love. And yes, the TEAM was awesome, too! Ronondex being so sweet and cuddly, and Teyla putting her hand on Rodney's forehead and the way they were totally going to plot a way to kidnap him in order to get him to the Shrine. Such TEAM-love.

And Jeannie! She was awesome, too. And she still called him Meredith. (Actually, my mum's favourite line was between Jeannie and Rodney when they were looking at the scanner and Rodney goes, "Hmm." Jeannie: "That's what I said!" Rodney, scornfully: "You said 'hmm'?" Yay, sibling love.)