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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Annorax on December 09, 2005, 06:58:53 am

Title: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Annorax on December 09, 2005, 06:58:53 am
This episode has aired in Canada and is now available you-know-where.

Episode Description
Spoiler:
The city of Atlantis has laid hidden from the Wraith for months, but all of that may be about to change.

Rodney McKay introduces Colonel Sheppard to Dr. Alison Seagle, a scientist who has just arrived on Atlantis from Earth (via the Daedalus, now making regular trips between Earth and the Pegasus Galaxy). Seagle is joining McKays's team, and Sheppard irritates McKay by flirting with her.

The Atlantis base is now making weekly contact with Stargate Command on Earth, dialing in to relay updated information.

Meanwhile, Teyla asks Dr. Beckett to join her in a trip to the mainland. She is greatly concerned about her old Athosian friend Charin, who apparently needs medical attention.

The team is now able to hide the city of Atlantis with a massive cloaking device, but someone has set off a beacon. The Wraith have been alerted, and two Wraith Cruisers are detected moving toward the planet by long-range sensors. Though Sheppard once had an affinity for Dr. Seagle, he now has reason to treat her with an air of suspicion. Her strange behavior even causes McKay to suspect that she has betrayed them.

Annorax edit to stolen description: Seagle was replaced with Lt. Cadman, who was previously seen going crazy inside Rodney's head due to a transporter accident.

My big question
Spoiler:
Did NOBODY figure out who the Gou'ald could be before it was revealed, complete with "glowing eyes, evilness, that sort of thing"? This is the kind of thing that tends to screw with people's heads. Oh well, there's always next week.
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Mefustae on December 09, 2005, 09:50:31 am
Saw it yesterday, quite good in my opinion.

Spoiler:
Although, Teyla suddenly breaking into song forced me to skip-ahead, and I was really annoyed by the logic hole towards the beginning; If the SGC thought that if Atlantis were to connect a wormhole to Earth the bomb would detonate, why the hell didn't they just put something inside the Stargate to stop the wormhole from engaging?! Or if that's too much effort, just dial the Alpha-Site just before Atlantis is due to dail in, that would buy a good 38 minutes for the Relayed message to reach the Atlantis crew!

Apart from those bits, a good episode, and i've got to admit, Caldwell turning out to be a Goa'uld was certainly a twist I did not see coming.
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Martinus on December 09, 2005, 10:33:51 am
Utterly agree regarding Teyla Mefustae, otherwise it was well worth the DL. :nod:
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: an0n on December 09, 2005, 03:38:07 pm
It all got very Dune towards the end.....
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Bobboau on December 12, 2005, 02:56:45 am
not a bad epp, but I just ****ing HATE it when there is some horendusly obvius political point just blatantly crowbared into a show, this one had two of them! I knew pony tail wasn't it due to the fact that they were enevetably going to try to beat it out of him and that would be wrong. and then there was the whole euthinasia crap, letting people do something I consiter stupid is fine, but I don't want to have to watch it!
damn I hate it when stupid sloganisedly simple political crap is force fed to me by it being a plot point of a TV show I'm watching. I remember enterprise doing it a few times, and everytime a reptilian quoted Bush I wenced, GOD I hope this doesn't become a regular part of the show.

and it was rather neat to have some SG1 stuff come into the show :)
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: an0n on December 12, 2005, 03:04:05 am
Overall, I'd say it was the weakest episode of Season 2 so far.

And given that I know what happens in the rest of the season, I think it's fair to say that this episode will remain the ****tiest for a while.
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Nuke on December 12, 2005, 03:08:32 am
has this one aired on scifi yet of do i have to wait till january?
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Col. Fishguts on December 12, 2005, 04:14:10 am
Not too impressive.

The singing was mostly disturbing, and I guess they tried to pull a LotR moment with the show-all-the-drama-while-we-only-hear-the-wannabe-sad-song. And failed miserably.

On another note, something that struck me awhile ago and has nothing specifically to do with this episode. Did I miss an explanation to why everybody in the Pegasus galaxy speaks English (or on most new planets in SG-1 for that matter). Or did they find some universal translator ?

IIRC they needed Jackson in SG-1 for translating originally. Became it too much a hassle to come up with an unique language for each episode ?
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Bobboau on December 12, 2005, 04:26:39 am
yeah, everyone 'just does', sort of like how the entier galixy is populated with humans, without any realy good reason for it. that was one of the coolest things about SG1 origonaly, there were humans all over the galixy, not aliens that just happened to look like us and have the exact biological and biochemical makeup, and there was a good reason for it, and _nobody_ spoke english, well almost nobody. now stargate is just stupid generic scifi... sad :(
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Mefustae on December 12, 2005, 04:49:25 am
Quote from: Bobboau on December 12, 2005, 04:26:39 am
yeah, everyone 'just does', sort of like how the entier galixy is populated with humans, without any realy good reason for it. that was one of the coolest things about SG1 origonaly, there were humans all over the galixy, not aliens that just happened to look like us and have the exact biological and biochemical makeup, and there was a good reason for it, and _nobody_ spoke english, well almost nobody. now stargate is just stupid generic scifi... sad :(
Well, obviously, except it takes more than just 'generic sci-fi' to become the longest running American Sci-Fi show ever, and globally second only to Doctor Who. Honestly, i've seen so many people raise this question and say it really lowers the quality of the show, but you'd be saying the exact same thing if nobody spoke English. I mean, having to translate everything in every off-world mission would get real tedious and real old real ****ing fast.

The English thing aside, Pegasus is populated not by beings that *look* like humans, but they are humans. The main idea is that the Ancients seeded the barren Pegasus Galaxy with Humans, the more primitive form of the Ancients themselves. They did the same thing with the Milky Way, only to a smaller extent.

@Nuke: AFAIK, this episode won't be shown until mid January when Atlantis starts airing again on SFC. However, it's been airing up in Canada for a few weeks now, and thus open to acquisition... *ahem* elsewhere.
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Setekh on December 12, 2005, 06:06:17 am
Quote from: Bobboau on December 12, 2005, 04:26:39 am
yeah, everyone 'just does', sort of like how the entier galixy is populated with humans, without any realy good reason for it. that was one of the coolest things about SG1 origonaly, there were humans all over the galixy, not aliens that just happened to look like us and have the exact biological and biochemical makeup, and there was a good reason for it, and _nobody_ spoke english, well almost nobody. now stargate is just stupid generic scifi... sad :(

I've never heard of anything like this in the canon, but they generally have good sources...

http://www.gateworld.net/news/2004/01/moredetailsoniatlantisipre.shtml

Particularly:

Quote
As hoped, the lost city is indeed a treasure trove of advanced technology, which includes such things as a universal translation device. Each team member travelling off-world receives one, which is capable of instantly translating virtually any language encountered.
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: an0n on December 12, 2005, 06:39:54 am
I don't remember that.

I think the general explaination was that English is basically just 'New Ancient', thus most people spoke it.

Though I have to admit, I did like SG-1 better in the first season when everyone was talking Goa'uld.
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: IPAndrews on December 12, 2005, 07:02:09 am
For the record, I've tried to "get into" Stargate about three times. In the last two cases I picked big end of season finales figuring that would showcase what the series had to offer better than anything else. I have to say that in every case I was very disappointed with what I saw. The appeal of this series just completely baffles me. I have to admit I loved the original movie, I thought the whole concept was just a brilliant idea. The series though just never seemed to go anywhere. I have a friend who swears by this show. Thinks it's the bee's knees (which is good). He keeps telling me I should watch it and not judge it on the first few seasons because it only gets good about season four. This is a fan talking! I have to say that under those circumstances I am very impressed by they amount of flogging the networks have got out of this particular dead horse.

So should I try and watch this latest fantastic new Stargate episode? We're on :Atlantis now right?
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: aldo_14 on December 12, 2005, 07:21:15 am
Quote from: an0n on December 12, 2005, 06:39:54 am
I don't remember that.

I think the general explaination was that English is basically just 'New Ancient', thus most people spoke it.

Though I have to admit, I did like SG-1 better in the first season when everyone was talking Goa'uld.

I kind of understand their reasoning, though; it'd get just as old if the first 15-20 mins of every episode was translating the other-planet-language for the whole 9 seasons. 

I still like Stargate, although I think it's somewhat been spoilt by the ever-increasing levels of techy-ness introduced into it.  I found it a lot more interesting, I think, when they were fighting lasers with P-90s and struggling to bodge together tech above their level.  Although I'm enjoying the new series despite all that.
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Col. Fishguts on December 12, 2005, 07:40:48 am
Quote from: IPAndrews on December 12, 2005, 07:02:09 am
So should I try and watch this latest fantastic new Stargate episode? We're on :Atlantis now right?

I tried to get into SG-1 several times too, never caught me really. But I ended up seing quite a lot of it anway, which led to SG: Atlantis, which I find more entertaining (although I can't quite explain why).

It's good, mindless entertainment but I can't take it even slightly serious.
Title: Re: SGA 213 Critical Mass
Post by: Nuke on December 12, 2005, 02:58:07 pm
i sorta expected atlantis to bomb. i didnt think it would be as good as it has been thusfar. its definately better than the last season or two of sg1, which is starting to become less intresting.