Character Musings, John Sheppard.
Sep. 10th, 2005 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mari4212Last night, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
celtic_sky asked me if I was planning
on doing an essay on John Sheppard, similar to the one I did on McKay.
Honestly, until she asked I had no intention of doing so, but she got
me thinking, and these are some of my ideas. This is based off of
Season one, so it's safe for people who are trying to stay spoiler free.
John Sheppard is sort of the direct opposite of McKay. Where McKay hides behind a mask of sarcasm, Sheppard seems open and friendly. Seems being the opperative word in that sentence. Once you get behind McKay's shields, he is very open, you can read his thoughts and emotions easily on his face. When you try to get below Sheppard's surface, on the other hand, you can't get anywhere and he forces you back out.
For all his outward openness and friendliness, Sheppard is a mystery. It's ridiculously easy to learn surface facts about him. We know that he loves to fly, that he likes football and ferris wheels, and that he is very charming. But it's been two years, and we still don't know much beyond that.
Besides his outward affability, we are given hints that Sheppard has a dark side. In the first episode he is capable of deciding that death would be preferable to being sucked by the Wraith, and he shoots Colonel Sumner. He does feel remorse, and Sumner did want him to do it, but still. It takes a certain type of person to be able to make a choice like that, and to do so quickly.
We see his interactions with Steve, when they capture him. Sheppard makes a point of taunting Steve, stepping close to the cage, verbally baiting him. He enjoyed having Steve as a prisoner. Maybe it's a bit of a control issue, and taking Steve captive proves that he doesn't have to be afraid of the Wraith, but his actions seem to go beyond what the other characters do.
Perhaps his darkest moment in the first season was during Letters From Pegasus, when he made a judgement call, and was going to refuse to take any of the people from that planet. Technically, he was correct. They needed to get the information back to Atlantis, and there is only so much room in a jumper. But it was the way he made that decision, without seeming to need to think it through. In the end, if it comes down to a choice between his people and anyone else, he will choose his own. And he won't apologize. Of course, if an opportunity comes up that will allow him to save both, he will take it.
And that is what rescues him I think. Although he has a dark side, he reigns it in. He will make the tough choices, but then he will also try to save others if at all possible. He knows who and what he is, and he has himself under control.
celtic_sky asked me if I was planning
on doing an essay on John Sheppard, similar to the one I did on McKay.
Honestly, until she asked I had no intention of doing so, but she got
me thinking, and these are some of my ideas. This is based off of
Season one, so it's safe for people who are trying to stay spoiler free.John Sheppard is sort of the direct opposite of McKay. Where McKay hides behind a mask of sarcasm, Sheppard seems open and friendly. Seems being the opperative word in that sentence. Once you get behind McKay's shields, he is very open, you can read his thoughts and emotions easily on his face. When you try to get below Sheppard's surface, on the other hand, you can't get anywhere and he forces you back out.
For all his outward openness and friendliness, Sheppard is a mystery. It's ridiculously easy to learn surface facts about him. We know that he loves to fly, that he likes football and ferris wheels, and that he is very charming. But it's been two years, and we still don't know much beyond that.
Besides his outward affability, we are given hints that Sheppard has a dark side. In the first episode he is capable of deciding that death would be preferable to being sucked by the Wraith, and he shoots Colonel Sumner. He does feel remorse, and Sumner did want him to do it, but still. It takes a certain type of person to be able to make a choice like that, and to do so quickly.
We see his interactions with Steve, when they capture him. Sheppard makes a point of taunting Steve, stepping close to the cage, verbally baiting him. He enjoyed having Steve as a prisoner. Maybe it's a bit of a control issue, and taking Steve captive proves that he doesn't have to be afraid of the Wraith, but his actions seem to go beyond what the other characters do.
Perhaps his darkest moment in the first season was during Letters From Pegasus, when he made a judgement call, and was going to refuse to take any of the people from that planet. Technically, he was correct. They needed to get the information back to Atlantis, and there is only so much room in a jumper. But it was the way he made that decision, without seeming to need to think it through. In the end, if it comes down to a choice between his people and anyone else, he will choose his own. And he won't apologize. Of course, if an opportunity comes up that will allow him to save both, he will take it.
And that is what rescues him I think. Although he has a dark side, he reigns it in. He will make the tough choices, but then he will also try to save others if at all possible. He knows who and what he is, and he has himself under control.
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Date: 2005-09-10 07:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-10 07:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-10 08:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-10 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-10 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-10 08:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-09-11 05:54 pm (UTC)You're so right about Sheppard. He is totally and completely a mystery to me still. I mean, we've had little peeks into the personal lives of the other characters, and yet none into his. They've done really well at making us feel like we know him very well, and yet, we don't.
For me the defining moment of how dark he can truly be is The Storm/The Eye. The fact that he killed 60 people all on his own... it just left me speechless. I remember a few times on SG-1 when they would show such remorse over even one person being killed by the shield on the Stargate, be they an enemy or not. But Sheppard didn't let it bother him. At least, not outwardly.
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Date: 2005-09-11 06:41 pm (UTC)And thank you for your comments. I'd forgotten about that scene in The Storm/The Eye, but it does show what Sheppard can be. It's not that he's evil, or even a bad guy, but that he is capable of making these decisions and just accepting the consequences, regardless of what they might be.
Thank you for commenting.
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Date: 2005-09-15 05:30 am (UTC)Firstly, that really weirded me out. Because for a long time when I was younger, that was me. *wigged*
Now about Sheppard... I really think that is him. And it makes me really curious as to what pushed him over the edge. In a way, he strikes me as a bit like Jack - they both have things they won't talk about (although we know, sorta, what Jack's is) and they both have marks on their records. And they'll both do anything to protect their people.
But it has me wondering, because while John seems lighter than Jack (with his everyday personality) sometimes I think he's capable of being much darker - ie. LfP, leaving them behind is something I think Jack would never consider doing. Or at least, not for longer than a second.
I find it interesting that these two men - who were set up to play the same part in their respective shows (Heck, they even have variations of the same name: John/Jonathan) are so similar and yet so different.
And after all this chatting, my conclusion (and seemingly out of nowhere comparison) agrees with this:
And that is what rescues him I think. Although he has a dark side, he reigns it in. He will make the tough choices, but then he will also try to save others if at all possible. He knows who and what he is, and he has himself under control.
That is John.
Eeeeee! I like hanging around you. You actually make me think and have to explain.