...

[castalia]

Well, with one episode they managed to both validate my pairing and kill one half of it. Bastards.

I knew the rumors that Carson would be "disappearing" at some point, but as Jewel Staite is only drafted for 14 episodes next season I had assumed it would be a temporary disappearance. I was in denial up until the point where they showed the flag-draped casket.

I'd ask why my shows always kill off my favorite characters, but that would be rhetorical.

I'm going to miss Carson and his interaction with Rodney, Elizabeth, Teyla, Ronon, and Radek. So many cute moments over the past few seasons. I'm going to miss the humor and the accent that reminds me of university friends.

One thing that did make me happy was the ending. Some emotional honesty from Rodney, a reassuring Carson who already knew those things but was glad to hear them anyway, and some not so subtle hints that we may be seeing Carson again in one form or another. I know an alternate universe Carson would be hitting the reset button, but I don't care. I don't want to lose my pairing, and Rodney doesn't need to lose his best friend. McGillion is still listed as being cast in future eps, so I assume we'll get him back in some form or another.

*reaches for another tissue*

A solid ep, though, except for the stupidity of the "explosive tumors" plot. WTF was Gero smoking when he came up with that one? The contrast b/w the memorial service, with Weir saying how much everyone loved him, and the rest of the ep, with everyone not wanting to spend downtime with him, made me sad, though.

Comments

[gritkitty.livejournal.com]

The Game was stupid. Almost all the episodes have some level or other of stupid in them (exploding tumors? wtf??), and I chalk up the stupidity of The Game's plot points to the usual poor writing.

lauraspeak said below: "I see a McKay/Shep dynamic, I think they have a rapport, but I did always wonder if they were friends. I thought maybe they are friends when together, in the team, or maybe it's just friends when they have to be - or just getting along when they have to get along."

That makes a lot of sense, and it clarifies much of the McKay/Sheppard chemistry and why so many writers love the pairing. Tension! Slash writers *love* it! I know I do. But they spark a lot, even -- especially -- when John's being a dick, when McKay is all Mr. McRanty-pants, when they're yelling at each other, when they get that sarcastic back-and-forth going. I'm holding that relationship up and comparing it to McKay's easier groove with Carson, and I can see the difference better. I can also see why most the writers go for McKay/Sheppard over McKay/Carson for the very same reasons. Carson is a freind, not a lover. Slash writers are, after all, romance writers, and what better fits the typical romance novel trope than sparking angry passion? "McShep" all the way. But now that I'm seeing another peice of the puzzle, oh, man, I could go for a great Rodney and Carson freindship fic; that'd be awesome.

You know, I've been re-watching bits and peices of SGA, and in light of this dicussion I'm seeing Carson in a new light. That -- is very cool.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

I quite agree with much of what Laura said. She put it better than I did :)

As a slasher, sure, I love the tension. I just like there to be that base of friendship underneath, and maybe these days I'm just not as much for the "only friends b/c we ended up on the same team" dynamic. My favorite SGA fic to seek out is genfic, I think, as long as there's a good Rodney and Carson relationship.

I'm glad you're at least getting to like Carson a bit better. The whole thing with the multiple uses of characters is a Gateverse tradition, I'm afraid. They don't kid around when they give us "genius" characters - I'm sure they like to think Carson is a general practitioner, a surgeon, and a geneticist all rolled up into one. Much like Carter was a pilot, a physicist, a mechanic, an engineer, and a sometime computer programmer all at once. Sometimes they mesh the talents well and sometimes they don't.