Making of Me and SGA: Broken Ties (spoilers)

[sheryden]

I was really interested to see this, not only because I love John, but also because I'm interested in LGBT history. I started seriously studying it when I was preparing for my Master's thesis, but my familiarity is mostly with LGBT history in the US. I'd like to look into the subject as it pertains to other countries. Hearing the horror story that one gentlemen told John about the...reeducation was disturbing. And also, I had no idea Scotland didn't decriminalize homosexuality until the 1980s.

The tests John went through were interesting, although a couple of the theories seemed a bit off the wall (like the hand thing--although, now I'll be looking at the hands of all my gay male friends to see how long their fingers are).

Some of those tests must have been overwhelming and a might have felt a bit invasive. John seemed to deal with them well, though. I truly felt for John when he was having the MRI, though. I don't do well in enclosed spaces, either.

I love John's parents. They just seem like genuinely good people, and they seem to really make an effort to support their son. I know some gay and bisexual people who aren't so lucky. I still remember when my friend JC came out to me. We all knew he was gay, of course. Working where we worked (college writing center), over half the staff, including our boss, was gay or bisexual. Still, he felt the need to hide it from us. When he finally did come out to me, he was horribly nervous and looked like he might throw up. He introduced me to his partner at the time, and I was like, "You know everyone knows you're gay, right?" He looked stunned, and his partner was like, "See? I told you." While we had lunch, he kept saying, "Everyone seriously knows?" Anyway, while we were on a road trip later, I asked about his parents, and he said, "That's another can of worms." He never said anything else about it, so I don't know if things have improved yet.

Anyway, back to John. John and Scott were adorable together. It was nice to see Scott a bit, since he's usually shy for the camera. The bit in the car just screamed "old married couple."

What else happened? Oh, how about I be shallow for a bit? John in his underwear. John in the pool. Yayz.

In any case, I do tend to believe that biology determines sexual orientation. I'm glad John got some closure, though I know he wanted to actually see the scientist locate a gay gene.

I love John even more now. I love that he has a Barbie doll collection, and that he used to love Abba. And I find it extremely funny that the men in his family seem to have a thing about dressing people up in drag. LOL!






Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb and say I was underwhelmed. Maybe I was expecting too much, or maybe I'm just having Teal'c/Apophis flashbacks. I don't know. I found the whole thing pretty predictable, and I didn't emotionally connect with the story the way I thought I probably would.

I generally love Ronon-centered stories. I even have a "Ronon is cool" tag. So yeah. Fangirl here. But comparing "Broken Ties" to "Sateda" or "Midway?" This episode is just not of the same caliber as those episodes.

That's not to say that I didn't love some aspects of the story. First of all, I enjoyed the Ronon/Teyla bonding. Their relationship is one of my favorites on the show, and I really miss seeing them be all sibling-like.

Speaking of Teyla relationships, I was pleasantly surprised to see Kanaan. Part of me suspects they're going to do something horrible to him, but I hope they don't. It would be nice to see someone on the team have a stable relationship. I hope Kanaan gets fleshed out a bit.

LORNE! I loved seeing him, of course. What we saw of him. His appearances last season were so much fuller. "Tabula Rasa." "Doppleganger." "Spoils of War." Those were wonderful episodes, because he was portrayed as a defined character. I felt like what Lorne did and said in this episode could have been done and said by anyone. I hope we see more appearances of substance by Lorne in later episodes.

It was quite nice to see some McKay/Sheppard chatting. As I was complaining the other day, I really miss seeing them interact. The writers seem more interested in the Ronon/Sheppard dynamic, and while I like their relationship, too, I consider McKay/Sheppard dynamic to be the core of the show, but it's fallen into general disuse. Anyway, the point of this rambling paragraph is that I was glad to see them brainstorm together.

One of my favorite things about this episode was Woolsey, and by association, Woolsey and Teyla. Their rapport is quite interesting, and I'd like to see their burgeoning friendship explored. Seeing a glimpse into Woolsey's past and his free-time activities made me like him even more. While I miss Sam, I can see Woosley becoming a favorite character for me.

So overall, not my favorite episode. Ronon episodes usually pack more emotional punch, but this one just kind of sat there. And if Sam had been in the city, she would have wisely said, "You know, we went through this with Teal'c a few years ago."