{"id":1740,"date":"2010-12-04T16:35:09","date_gmt":"2010-12-04T16:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2018\/11\/28\/975-revision-v1\/"},"modified":"2019-07-09T12:46:41","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T12:46:41","slug":"hide-and-seek-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2010\/12\/04\/hide-and-seek-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Hide and Seek"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hide and Seek<\/em>\u00a0is the\u00a0third episode<\/strong>\u00a0of the franchisee show\u00a0Stargate Atlantis<\/em><\/strong>[1]<\/sup><\/a>. It first aired in July 2004.<\/p>\n

Spoilers?<\/strong>\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n

Synopsis: An energy-feeding\u00a0shadow\u00a0is freed and a shield stone is found. They get rid of the shadow and can\u2019t use the stone any more.\u00a0Fin.<\/p>\n

DVD Commentary<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instructions: (1) Print off this commentary. (2) Hire a voice actor – someone with a deep voice and who is well versed in the way of\u00a0sardonicism<\/a>. (3) Insert DVD and hand commentary script to the actor. Sit back drinking local, mass-produced beer. Corn chips should already be handy.<\/em><\/p>\n

A few of the major scenes I’ve inserted notes for – bold, small, bracketed – to make it slightly easier to work out what’s what. The best alternative to hiring an amateur street performer <\/em>into your living room is to watch the episode and then read this.<\/em><\/p>\n

(First scene – Rodney getting a shot)<\/strong><\/p>\n

For some strange reason, they start this episode with an inappropriate joke by\u00a0McKay<\/a>\u00a0about getting\u00a0with<\/a>\u00a0the people they just saved from an\u00a0alien species<\/a>\u00a0responsible for holocausts all over the galaxy. My problem isn\u2019t with the joke, but with the fact that it\u2019s supposed to be cute.<\/p>\n

Scene sets up the first plot, as Rodney gets a\u00a0retrovirus\u00a0containing some special\u00a0Ancient\u00a0gene. Which is cool. But that\u2019s all we\u2019re told about it. I like science, and unfortunately, there isn\u2019t too much on this show. To paraphrase\u00a0Clarke<\/a>,\u00a0a sufficiently advanced technology might as well be shown as being magic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Then we switch to\u00a0Weir<\/a>\u00a0who\u2019s being told that everything about the city is awesome and it can meet all their needs \u2013 also there are some kids who run into her. Hmm, I wonder if the kids could get into any trouble?<\/p>\n

A couple of\u00a0slapstick\u00a0jokes later and we find out that Rodney’s got a magic stone that gives him an impermeable shield which he put on because apparently, the premise told him to.\u00a0Midas\u2019 curse<\/a>\u00a0kicks in, and we\u2019re left wondering, how oh how will he get it off? We spend some time alternatively laughing and freaking out about the whole thing, which is how this will be treated until the end of the episode.<\/p>\n

The set-up of the next scene, a meeting between\u00a0Teyla<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Earthians<\/a>, is a nice, albeit not very subtly handled running plot for this and the next few episodes. The\u00a0Athosians<\/a>\u00a0are new and there\u2019s no reason why they should become\u00a0BFF<\/a>\u2019s immediately. The only reason I bring this up is that there\u2019s a paucity of running plots, aside of course from\u00a0the scary aliens\u00a0one. Which is a criticism, even if it is an unfair one.\u00a0SGA<\/a>\u00a0sticks to the tried and true formula of\u00a0the monster of the week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In case it\u2019s not clear how the monster will be introduced, we\u2019re warned again that the kids shouldn\u2019t touch anything because it could be super-bad. So it\u2019s OK, they can still run around, “but\u00a0don\u2019t press the red button”.<\/p>\n

Going back to the Midas plot: Weir has an idea, which-is-just-an-idea-but-it-could-be-the-one-thing-that-is-right, maybe, just maybe, Rodney\u2019s shield\u00a0ex machina<\/a>\u00a0will stay on until he doesn\u2019t want it. Or until the plot no longer needs him to.<\/p>\n

Some minor scenes: wondering whether the Athosians can be trusted, but\u00a0Sheppard<\/a>\u00a0insists that he trusts Teyla, how can he not? She\u2019s his corresponding\u00a0POAA<\/a>. This fact is the cornerstone of their relationship, which in turn is derived and substantiated by\u00a0sexual tension.<\/p>\n

(Scenes showing kids going missing and then being looked for)<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n

Oh. My. God. Some of the kids are being naughty and playing when they should be asleep. I hope nothing bad happens.<\/p>\n

We get some filler: father saying that he wants to look for his missing son because apparently, he loves him; a premise says that they can\u2019t use the pre-established\u00a0sensors\u00a0because they can\u2019t, but also there\u2019s something strange on the sensors \u2013 it might be related. Some strange shit is happening with the lights. Again, could be related to the missing kid. Still too soon to say. Someone\u2019s seen a strange shadow, hmm. Give me a second and I\u2019ll connect the dots. There, got it. There\u2019s something there!<\/p>\n

More filler: wondering whether the shadow is scary, people being worried about the missing kid, reminding us that Rodney is wearing a green stone, more lights flickering. FYI, we\u2019re half-way through.<\/p>\n

We find out that the shadow of death eats energy. They could probably use that to win the day. But how? How god damn it?!<\/p>\n

The kid\u2019s still missing but now it\u2019s OK because he can tell them where they are so they go get him. And believe it or not, the restless kids pressed the red button letting out the shadow\u00a0thingamajig<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More flickering lights and the shadow reminds us that it\u2019s dangerous.<\/p>\n

The shadow was being studied by the Ancients in studying\u00a0ascension, which is cool. Ascension is one of those concepts\u00a0SG-1<\/a>\u00a0just took as a plot device. It\u2019s an incredible idea, even if not an original one, but one which SGA chooses, aside from a couple of moments like this one, not to wonder about. It\u2019s only in\u00a0SGU<\/a>\u00a0that they properly decide to have people fascinated by the concept.<\/p>\n

(Preparing, and then trying to get the shadow back into its box)<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n

Plan A\u00a0is to capture it the way the Ancients did. Hopefully, they have a\u00a0plan B\u00a0in case it doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

Rodney can\u2019t use his magic\u00a0shield of protection\u00a0(defence +12) because he can\u2019t. I hope he can use it if they really need it…<\/p>\n

Plan A: doesn\u2019t work. Oh-oh. But wait, now they have a plan B: send a big\u00a0battery\u00a0through the eponymous gate. Sounds good, but wait… it doesn\u2019t quite work. They need someone to push the battery through the stargate. But who? It\u2019s too dangerous. Wait. Doesn\u2019t Rodney have a shield which can protect him? Yes, yes he does, and it does. Huzzah,\u00a0the day is saved.<\/p>\n

And so everything\u2019s back to normal, back to the way things were, ready for another adventure.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> Apparently in the\u00a0Stargate<\/em>\u00a0universe,\u00a0Atlantis\u00a0is an actual\u00a0ancient myth, and not an\u00a0allegory<\/a>\u00a0made up by some old\u00a0bugger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hide and Seek\u00a0is the\u00a0third episode\u00a0of the franchisee show\u00a0Stargate Atlantis[1]. It first aired in July 2004. Spoilers?\u00a0Yes. Synopsis: An energy-feeding\u00a0shadow\u00a0is freed and a shield stone is found. They get rid of the shadow and can\u2019t use the stone any more.\u00a0Fin. DVD Commentary Instructions: (1) Print off this commentary. (2) Hire a voice actor – someone with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[159,204,197,93],"tags":[],"metadata":[158],"class_list":["post-1740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-everything2","category-film-review","category-sci-fi","metadata-shai_footnotes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1602,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2017\/06\/03\/naso\/","url_meta":{"origin":1740,"position":0},"title":"Naso","author":"Pala","date":"June 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Editorial notes: The worldly focus of Torah teaches that daily life on earth, with all its trivialities, trials and difficulties, is the realm that is given to us to sanctify and raise up. 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