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dr-futbol-blog · 5 months

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38 minutes

The episode 38 Minutes (S01E04) is a strange one. This is the first time we see the team on an away-mission (and we see this only in flashbacks), and yet there is this established dynamic within the team and between the characters that would be much more at home later on in the season. They all care too much, they trust each other too much. There's an intimacy to their interaction that is difficult to explain.

The functioning of the puddle jumpers is deconstructed when we have barely learned how they work in the first place. We learn obscure Wraith lore when we've barely scratched the surface with them. And then there's the question of the strange almost-confession from Sheppard to Weir that is left hanging at the end of the episode.

There are some parallels between this episode and the previous, Hide and Seek (S01E03) that kind of provide a motivation for them happening in sequence, the episodes mirroring each other. I suppose a modern binge-watching audience might spot such parallels much more readily than one would have watching episodes in a weekly schedule and if these two had been separated by more episodes between them, but it is still weird.

There are in both episodes, for one, the subtle and private touches, unnoticed by the others.

Both lead characters also end up unconscious on the floor at the end of the episode, tended by the medical staff. There's also the innuendo: where Sheppard referenced dicks ("That's [size not mattering] a myth!") in a tight spot, here Rodney describes John's bug bite as a hickey. How ever you want to interpret their relationship, these off-hand comments reveal that they sure do think about each other in sexual terms.

Where Rodney has his Big Hero Moment and saves everyone, Sheppard is saved by everyone. They all work so hard so save the man who believes he has to save everyone even if it kills him but does not believe himself worth saving.

It is very touching but it would have made more sense and carried more weight later on in the season, perhaps after we had seen him save the day and the others a bunch of times. Now we start deconstructing the hero myth right from the outset.

But it's actually the almost-confession that I want to dissect here.

Often when homoerotic subtext was used end employed in mainstream shows, especially during this era, the more something was in fact hinted, the more the main-text had to compensate by showing or referencing something over-the-top heterosexual. It's the plausible deniability. There sure is something gay going on in here so we'll distract the normative viewer with bells and whistles elsewhere (cf. the nurse at the end of this episode; Sheppard smiles at her and the mainstream audience is going to interpret that as sexual interest -- after all, nurses are sexy in Western culture. But note also Rodney side-eyeing her as she walks away. What this is is another case of Sheppard using his charm to get someone to do something for him -- in this case, making sure that he gets sick bay privileges). We sure don't want to make John Q. Public uncomfortable. They have to be given the chance to read the text in a normative way.

John Sheppard and Elizabeth Weir are the main characters of the show. It is easy to read their relationship as a friendship but a kind of a will-they-won't-they dynamic was also inserted into it. There are looks, there is unexplained tension, we are clearly meant to see them as close even if the nature of their closeness remains unexplained. All of this is of course true of Rodney and Sheppard, as well. It keeps things interesting, narratively speaking.

In the episode, there is this strange throughline of Shappard wanting to make what equates to a death bed confession of some kind. It is not an offhand remark but something that is returned to time and again:

Weir: Hang in there, Major. We're working on the problem. Sheppard: I know you are. Listen. I'd like to say something while I still can. Weir: Don't! You're gonna get through this.

...

Sheppard: What I wanted to say was... Weir: Save your strength, John, and tell me in person. Sheppard: This is important.(Weir sighs and closes her eyes.) Weir: I'm listening.

...

Weir: By the way, what were you going to say? Sheppard: When? Weir: Before, when you thought, you know ... Sheppard: Oh, that. Weir: I didn't want you to say it at the time, but now I'm curious. Sheppard: I was going to say, um ... take care of each other. Weir: That's nice. Sheppard: Yep. McKay: And, uh, indeed, we did. Sheppard: Yes, you did. Thank you. Again. McKay: You're welcome.

Weir: You weren't really going to say that, were you? Sheppard: I have no idea what you're talking about. Weir: I didn't think so.

Clearly, this means something.

Is this meant to be romantic? It can be interpreted as romantic. The mainstream audience likely will interpret it as romantic because that's what they are primed to do. Man, woman, something unsaid = unresolved sexual tension, unrequited love. Right?

Only, this interpretation makes no goddamn sense.

First of all, Elizabeth Weir was still in a relationship at this time. Granted, she didn't know whether she would ever be able to return to earth, she had not broken up with her man. It would make romantic interest in Sheppard morally dubious at best.

Second, by this time they barely knew each other. A confession of undying love would be wildly out of place, and a confession of interest would fit ill with the direness of the situation.

Third, for mainstream television, Elizabeth is too old to be Sheppard's love interest. Yes, they're practically the same age and the actress is technically the younger of the two, but this is how the world of entertainment works. If they had pursued this, it would have been a May-December romance of the wrong variety for the general audience.

Fourth, the question of the chain of command. Given that the expedition had civilian leadership, the major had been thrust into a command he had not signed up for, there existed a rather precarious chain of command on Atlantis at this time, as it was. Adding romantic entanglements into it would have been a Really Bad Idea. And the chain of command coming between a pair romantically interested in one another was something that was true of the entire franchise. Sam and Jack only got to have each other in some alternative situations, never in the main text. We all knew they loved each other but their position in the military would not allow them to get each other.

While they were both military, we have the same dynamic with Daniel Jackson and Vala, who are both civilians. They got to have each other in a timeline that was erased but in the main text their professional relationship precluded them from consummating their relationship.

And note that this franchise knew how to do unspoken romantic tension perhaps better than any other, it was their bread and butter. This wasn't it.

But wait, I hear you say. Isn't this true of Sheppard and McKay as well?

Yes and no. Yes, there is a chain of command. No, neither of them cares about it in text. That is, the chain of command between them, not chain of command in general.

First, there is the infamous scene in Miller's Crossing (S04E09) where Sheppard attempts, as a last resort, to pull rank on McKay with very little luck.

Sheppard: You're an invaluable of my team, and you report directly to me. McKay: Really? You want to talk about chain-of-command right now? Sheppard: You are not doing this.

Not only was McKay going to do this, the fact that he didn't do it right away had more to do with his respect for Sheppard as a person than a respect for the chain of command. But there's an even more incriminating scene in Harmony (S04E14):

Harmony: Tell me: which one of you is the superior officer? McKay: You mean, who outranks who? Harmony: Yes. McKay: I'm a civilian; I don't have a rank, but basically we're equals. Sheppard: Technically I'm in charge. Harmony: I thought so. You have all the makings of an excellent leader, John.

They are basically equals, John is technically in charge. This, according to them. Of course in reality being in charge of McKay is like being in charge of a bag of cats, but that's another thing entirely.

So what was Sheppard going to say to Weir? I would venture a guess, based on the episode Letters from Pegasus (S01E17) toward the end of the season, that what he wanted to say had something to do with Col. Sumner. That was the thing that was weighing on him this whole time. At this time we knew nothing of Sheppard's family back home or even if he had one -- and he certainly didn't feel he had anything to say to any of them when they were sending their final messages to earth.

Where other people are sending messages to people they love back home, Sheppard's focus is entirely different: "I'm not sure if Colonel Sumner's parents are still alive. I'm not sure he even has a family back there -- not all of us do. But if he does have a family, they should know that he died with honour and courage in the performance of his duty."

At the end of the day, when the chips were coming down, when they were sending their final messages to their loved ones, this is what John Sheppard wanted to say. In the episode he tells Elizabeth that what he had to say was important. This is important. Much more important than any confession of feelings could ever be.

But what did Elizabeth think he was going to say? That remains unclear. What is really curious, though, and notable, is that McKay seems real tense when they're waiting for John's answer. He stands there with what can only be described as baited breath. And it is his reaction -- not Elizabeth's -- that we get to what John says, lying about it though he clearly is.

What is that about? Why do you care so much my guy? Why do you have an investment in this?

Dear God, he's almost as relieved here than he was when they had just saved Sheppard's life.

Like I said, this would have made much more sense further on in the season. But as it is, the dynamic between these two characters got to a really intense start!

#stargate atlantis #sga #sga meta #john sheppard #sheppard is bi #rodney mckay #rodney is gay #ep. 38 minutes #ep. harmony #ep. hide and seek #ep. letters from pegasus #ep. miller's crossing

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