Stargate

[Reply #120 on:]

January 4th, over here. 

Anyway, SG-1's "Prometheus Unbound" and SG:A's "The Eye" both aired over here tonight:

Prometheus Unbound:

Solid episode, with some nice inter-series reference as the starting plot point. Always a pleasure to see General Hammond back of course.  However, the character of Vala still seems a bit mysterious (exactly how much of her supposed backstory was in fact true?). She was played very well though (Daniel : "You're a fruitcake!"  ).

The Eye:

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I'm going to go with numerous other people here and make this my favourite Atlantis episode thus far. Definitely more of the "Die Hard" vibe, with Sheppard, to use a hoary cliche, "kicking butt" (I especially liked the scene with the smoke grenades  ) and the guerilla-esque tactic of activating the shield. The Genii are obviously the secondary villains thus far, which is interesting (I can't think of a recurring secondary villian SG-1 faced, save the replicators (and they're hardly secondary)).

Things that I would have liked to have happened but didn't:

1. Seeing that Genii brat fried in the electrified corridors. 
2. Seeing the Genii leader walk backwards slowly into the Stargate only to have it shut off before
he was entirely immersed (a la SG-1's "The Enemy Within" ). 

Two very strong showings from the SG franchise.

[Reply #121 on:]

That had to be the weirdest SG "fight" I've ever seen in Prometheus Unbound.

CK: Stop referring to Die Hard!! 

[Reply #122 on:]

Shan't! 

Especially since the producers themselves compared it to "Die Hard" : Link! 

[Reply #123 on:]

I thought Prometheus Unbound was a very... odd episode. It was funny, in a creepy kind of way.  I  would be surprised if that's the last we see of that character.  It was interesting getting such a Daniel-heavy episode with no Teal'c or Carter (that I remember) after an episode that was the other way around.  Also, Jack has looked older than usual in the last few episodes.

[Reply #124 on:]

That Vala chick (Claudia Black) will be back in 5 more episodes of season 9, along with her Farscape compadre, John Crichton, who will be in a few eps too.

[Reply #125 on:]

Anybody knows when will episode 16 of Stargate: Atlantis ("The Brotherhood" ) would be broadcasted on SkyONE? or is sci-fi catching up the gap?

[Reply #126 on:]

"The Brotherhood", assuming Sky start airing 4th January and keep going continously, would air on the 2nd February. I think it's the Canadian stations which have aired all the way up to "Before I Sleep".

[Reply #127 on:]

Yeah I've seen that one... for some reason they stopped at "Before I sleep" which is a shame... that means all my favorite shows will only be back during the middle of the "tests season" at the end of the semester... I'll have alot of catching up to do in that case...

[Reply #128 on:]

*Lil Bump*

I just read on the SG-1 TVTome site that the producers of Stargate have been unable to secure Richard Dean Anderson for more than a few guest spots. I heard that he just recently had a new child and wants to spend more time with his family. I can respect his decision now that I know that it's not about $$$.

But still, it's probably some of the saddest news in the history of the show.

[Reply #129 on:]

This means he won't be in which season? 9?
Ah well, fair play to him anyway.

[Reply #130 on:]

Yeah, it'll be season 9.

They've already wrapped up shooting Season 8.

[Reply #131 on:]

Finally managed to catch up with both SG-1 and SG:A episodes today (I missed the Tuesday airings due to moving back to Reading, and while SG-1 was repeated on Wednesday, Sky seem to have stopped airing the Mix Atlantis repeats).

SG-1 : It's Good to be King

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Maybourne returns! (again) Nice episode with him having some redeeming qualities. Although I wasn't too fond of when he was sucking up to the First Prime. Yet another System Lord to scratch out on the wall and it was nice to see SG-1 using elements of Atlantis as well as the other way around. At least we know the Go'auld ships suck against Ancient weaponry. 

Best part of the episode : seeing O'Neill off-world for the first time in a long time (not since "The Lost City", I think). It's going to be a real loss when he goes altogether, but I respect that he hasn't just quit and left everyone hanging, he's let a gradual phase-out of the character - and of course the fact he's doing it for personal reasons means you can't really hold it against him.

SG:A's "The Defiant One"

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Not as good as "The Eye", but still a solid episode. The bugs kinda reminded me of those evil little energy things from one of SG-1's episodes (I think it may have been called "Prodigy" ) - in fact I was waiting for one of the team to reference this fact, but it never came. 

Atlantis slips slightly into Redshirt Syndrome (TM) but at least one of the redshirts got a proper storyline, as well as a poignant death. He's right as well, I think McKay has changed a lot since his introduction in SG-1. He's less narcissistic and less afraid, but he's still not a clone of Carter and/or Jackson. He's still perfectly willing to "borrow" a ZPM or give nuclear technology to another race (the Genii) but that's a good thing IMHO because it gives him space for further development.

I think it's interesting to see that Shepherd seems to be more of a tactical soldier; he used smoke grenades in "The Eye" and flares here; he just strikes me as more of a lone soldier than O'Neill, who always seemed much stronger as a commander. Of course, the reason for this might be Shepherd's current rank and thus stage in his career.

[Reply #132 on:]

Yeah, I missed em on Tuesday too.

SG-1: ACK! Wayne Brady from Whose Line is it Anyway!!
He was ok, but his death sucked.
Maybourne was good

Atlantis: I liked this better, creepy ship and uber-Wraith, but I'm dissapointed they keep using old SG-1 characters, it totally ruins the SG Universe for me.

[Reply #133 on:]

Wait. How have you guys seen these episodes? They havent been aired yet!

[Reply #134 on:]

SG1 is airing on Sky one in the UK, and Atlantis is airing on The Movie Channel (I think) here in Canuckistan (As well as the UK, but not as far ahong in the season, right?). 

SG-1 : It's Good to be King

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I liked Maybourne in this one, he really seemed to be good at being king, but still had that Maybourne "I want to kick him in the teeth, but I still like him" quality. I didn't really like Wayne Brady as the first prime (he wasn't menacing enough). I also liked...

May be a spoiler for those who haven't also seen Atlantis's Before I Sleep

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the tie in to the ancient with the time travelling puddlejumper. I guess he got pretty far in continuing his work... I suppose that we were supposed to see the SG1 episode before the Atlantis one (though they each work well enough on their own), based on where they are in their respective seasons, and the airing order in the states.  It definately would have changed my view of the Atlantis episode, had it been the other way around.

Atlantis: The Brotherhood

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I think the Genii are being overused, and more than a little cliche bad guy at the moment.  Oh, well.  I liked the puzzle to find the ZPM (I usually like things like that in Sci-fi). I love that McKay still calls it a "zed" PM, most Canadians that I know (myself included) are just as likely to use "zee" as "zed", especially in acronyms. I didn't like that they didn't get to keep the ZPM, they didn't seem to put up much of a fight. They could make a good case that they are descended from the ancients and just re-found Atlantis from clues left behind from their ancestors, as well as being directed to the planet by an ancient... but they just gave up. Oh well, it just allows for more suspense for the upcoming Wraith attack, I guess.

[Reply #135 on:]

Those episodes that CK reviewed aired on Sky1 last Tuesday.

And I saw the second of the first two SG-1 episodes involving the super-soldiers, so that's why Jacob and the Tok'Ra have been absent for a while, I wonder where they went?

[Reply #136 on:]

Yeah, we havent seen them since the alliance of Earth, Tok'ra, and Rebel Jaffa broke apart in Season 7.

I miss them. 

[Reply #137 on:]

They probably went to find out how their symbiotes can have zex.

[Reply #138 on:]

 

Originally posted by ~FazeShift~:
They probably went to find out how their symbiotes can have zex.

They'll be gone for a while...

[Reply #139 on:]

 

Originally posted by Nasty Pasty:
I miss them.   

I don't.    Except Jacob, he was cool.

Personally I hope the Tok'Ra get whupped.   

EDIT: Reviews of tonights episodes:

SG-1 "Full Alert":

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What looks to be the final NID episode (those guys got what they deserved, being made Goa'uld hosts and all). Plenty of O'Neill in this episode, which was good.

The SG-1 writers are a little predictable, though :  I knew Kinsey-Goa'uld was going to escape the minute Teal'c didn't escort him. It's almost certain he'll be back and in a way I hope Kinsey survives, just so the team can rescue his sorry butt and lord it over him for the rest of the series. 

SG:A "Hot Zone" (What happened to "Sanctuary"?

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Slightly reminiscent of SG-1's "Lockdown", which wouldn't be so much a problem except it's a S8 episode, which of course aired not long ago. Still, more of McKay (who's fast becoming my favourite character after being pretty loathsome on SG-1) being a leader and I thought the military/civilian conflict was handled well (interesting that Atlantis seems to be making much better use of it's initial premises than Voyager did (I am of course referring to the Maquis/Starfleet tension, which was dropped almost immediately)).

The idea of a nanite virus isn't exactly original but I did like that we didn't find out who created it in the episode (the Borg!  ).

[Reply #140 on:]

Damn, hurry up Saturday.

[Reply #141 on:]

I take it that's a "I missed it", then? 

[Reply #142 on:]

Woooo! New Atlantis on this Friday and SG-1 next Friday!

I can't wait!

[Reply #143 on:]

I didn't really like "Hot Zone". Too SG-1ish. Nothing bad about SG-1, but you get a feeling of deja-vu.

[Reply #144 on:]

 

Originally posted by CyberKnight:
 SG-1 "Full Alert":

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What looks to be the final NID episode (those guys got what they deserved, being made Goa'uld hosts and all). Plenty of O'Neill in this episode, which was good.

The SG-1 writers are a little predictable, though :  I knew Kinsey-Goa'uld was going to escape the minute Teal'c didn't escort him. It's almost certain he'll be back and in a way I hope Kinsey survives, just so the team can rescue his sorry butt and lord it over him for the rest of the series.   

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I found the episode kind of disappointing and... well... boring.  I don't think that they did a good job of building up the stakes or the suspense, and it was fairly predictable at times, as you mentioned.  It did have some good dialogue/interaction moments (Kinsey/Jack, Daniel/that russian woman), but was overall very... meh. I didn't really get into it. 

edit: Odd, it seemed to cut off some of my text...

[Reply #145 on:]

I know this is technically a double post, but it's been 10 days, and there have been new episodes airing in the meantime.

SG1: Citizen Joe

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This was a good episode, especially considering it is a clip show that has very limited appearances by the main cast.  It was very funny, and the clips were chosed well and used sparingly. Easily the most self-referential show since Wormhole X-treme. There were also a few, but not many, Simpsons references (as to be expected, considering the references in the past and the actor playing Joe). I liked the ending (Jack had been seeing the Joe's life for years, and didn't find anything strange with it... heh). I'm not sure what Jack did about Joe's wife, though. Did he just tell a civilian that the top secret program actually exists, and all these tales of planetary destruction near-misses are true, and hope she doesn't tell anyone (and tell her in a public park, no less)? It was a bit odd.  It's the best episode of the second half of the season, for sure.

Atlantis: The Gift

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Meh, I didn't much care for the episode. I don't think it did a good job of building suspense, and I didn't find the Wraith DNA researcher all that interesting or original.  And didn't we already know that the Wraith wanted to get to Earth for a new feeding ground, or was that just something I was assuming? Oh, well, hopefully the next ones will be better (supposedly there are some big changes on the way for Season 2 that may begin in the finale).

[Reply #146 on:]

Shit again, mental note, use VCR machine-y-majig.

[Reply #147 on:]

I liked the Atlantis and SG-1 episodes last Friday.

"The Eye" was a fantastic episode, one of the best so far. I really hope this isnt the last we see of the Genii.

"Gemini" was another great one. I love the episodes with the replicators and it was great seeing Carter as a bad guy. Should be leading up to some interesting plots next season...

[Reply #148 on:]

I enjoyed the Atlantis episode this week, but I thought the SG-1 episode was only OK.  The replicators have never been a good stand in for the Gou'ld IMO and the human ones are even less interesting.  I don't find the idea of an evil Carter running around to be all that compelling.  I hope they dispense with that storyline fairly quickly, but it doesn't look like they will.

[Reply #149 on:]

Speaking of the Gou'ld, I'm really starting to miss the SGC/Gould conflict alot. I miss the teams having battles with Jaffa at every turn, and everything has seemed kinda dull since Anubis kicked the bucket. Or did he?

[Reply #150 on:]

Citizen Joe: (Can't believe we're already into the final six of S8)

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Meh, I thought this was was only alright. Although it was an interesting idea to have a clip show without really showing clips, it made the ones they did show feel out of place (see also my comments on "Inaugaration" from last year).

Castellaneta was good (I still can't get over how much his "normal" voice sounds like the Box Factory guy from "Bart Gets Famous"  ) and the none-too-subtle good-natured pokes at the fanbase ("I just don't think the team dynamic is as good as it was"  ) were nice, but the episode overall just seemed like a filler week for the show.

 

Originally posted by Nasty Pasty:
Speaking of the Gou'ld, I'm really starting to miss the SGC/Gould conflict alot. I miss the teams having battles with Jaffa at every turn, and everything has seemed kinda dull since Anubis kicked the bucket. Or did he?

Personally I think things haven't quite been the same since Apophis died his final death in the Season 5 premiere. I guess I just never found Anubis that threatening (metal and chainmail armour just beats out Stormtrooper quality plastic in the fear stakes, I guess  ). I think the show is also in many ways less tragic than it used to be; whereas before, the SGC and their allies were constantly being oneupped by the System Lords, in recent years the dynamic's reversed. I also miss the episodes which explored the Ancient's past and in particular the technology behind the Stargate itself, although I think these scripts may be being reserved for Atlantis.

Don't get me wrong, I still think the show's excellent, but as with any show some plotlines are sealed forever.

Spoilers for end of season:

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However, I am looking forward to the return of Ra and Apophis in "Moebius". 

[Reply #151 on:]

 

Personally I think things haven't quite been the same since Apophis died his final death in the Season 5 premiere. I guess I just never found Anubis that threatening (metal and chainmail armour just beats out Stormtrooper quality plastic in the fear stakes, I guess   ).

I totally agree about Anubis.  He just doesn't seem to have that theatrical arrogance the system lords had that made them more interesting to watch. 

[Reply #152 on:]

But he did blow up planets, not to mention piss in the face of the Ascended Ancients over and over.

But yes, I do miss Apophis dearly. Maybe they can find away for him to not be dead again.

[Reply #153 on:]

@ ~Faze~:

New Stargate Tonight! 

[Reply #154 on:]

And to think I was going to go to a Halo 2 bash at a friends house tonight, and an XBox one at that!

Faze doesn't do XBox, oh my, no.

*checks time*
*runs to reserve a TV*

[Reply #155 on:]

In my opinion, both excellent showings from SG-1 and SG:A tonight, although I did have some initial qualms with "Reckoning":

SG-1 : Reckoning, Part I:

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Ooh boy, a two-parter. Which means of course everything must go to hell in the last 5 minutes of the episode. 

This episode saw the return of RepliCarter, who I'm not particularly fond of, and of course, Baal, as well as the Tok'Ra and the Jaffa.

At first I thought the episode was a little predictable, in ripping off Voyager's "Scorpion" (where the Borg are being beaten by Species 8472), in ripping off the Borg in general (adaptation to weaponry), and Return of the Jedi (Anubis trapping the rebel Jaffa - I was actually half-expecting him to say, "Send the fleet to the far side of Takara. There it will stay, until called for."  ). Having said that, I did not expect Anubis to return, so I was quite suprised when he did. Not only that, but I thought the episode came together very well towards the end, with all three parties knowing about the ultimate weapon through various means.

Good exposure of all four members and the return of the best supporting characters (Thor, Braa'tac, Jacob Carter). I just hope they don't kill Thor off.  )

SG:A : Before I Sleep

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Excellent episode, particularly because I'm a fan of the alternate universe view of time travel. I thought the idea of the expedition already having failed once before "our" crew came along was a neat plot twist, and we got to see some more heroics from McKay (as well as the nationality of Weir's assistant - although it boggles the mind why he wears a Union Jack but Beckett wears a Scottish flag - maybe the SG crew haven't heard of the English flag?  )

I loved the tie-in with the timeship discovered in "It's Good to Be King" and the story was very tightly written, with few plotholes that I could see (the lack of the timeship in "our" reality looked like it was going to be one, but in fact that was explained).

Also liked the banter about BTTF; I can definitely see McKay as a nitpicker.  I also think the dynamic between Sheppard and McKay works well.

[Reply #156 on:]

SG-1: Haha, Siler trying to entertain Baal, brilliant.   
I hope I can catch the 2nd half this time.

Atlantis: English accents (and other strong ones) may fly with the Earth crew, but I find them slightly annoying in Ancients, they should get some actors with less known accents or something.
This applies for all non-human races really.

[Reply #157 on:]

Interesting twist today, I actually thought the SG-1 episode was much better than the Atlantis one.

SG-1 : Reckoning, Part II:

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Yep, I loved this one!  Not only because they got rid of RepliCarter (or at least it looks like it) but because of the great flow of the episode. Lots of humour in this one:

 

*The replicators are advancing on O'Neill and a soldier in the SGC, while they blast away at them*

*The replicators freeze as a result of Daniel's control*

O'Neill (turning to soldier): That's odd.

*shrugs*

*They get back to blasting the replicators*

And the cute little replicator that falls on Takara as a result of the same event. 

I was glad they actually managed to use the weapon; I was afraid they were going to pull a traditional Stargate and get really close but then not be able to pull it off (which is in total contrast to a typical TNG, where there'd be no hope until the very last second and then they'd win outright).

SG:A "The Brotherhood"

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This episode would have gone much better if we didn't know that they can't have a fully-charged ZPM or else the series loses a major plot point. As it was, I expected the module to be almost depleted when they found it. Anyway, I've added those annoying New Brotherhood people to the list entitled "Morons I Want To See Obliterated By The Wraith For Their Own Stupidity And That'll Learn 'Em".

Although, we did see the return of Kolya, who has a personal vendetta against the Atlantis Expedition and, more personally, Sheppard. I don't know if, as some people have suggested, he's intended to become the "Kinsey" of Atlantis, but I think he's a good foil for Sheppard (I think Joe Flannigan gets a kick out of shouting "Kolya" in Shatner-esque tone.  ).

The storyline back on Atlantis was better, with the first loss of a puddle-jumper (and presumably a pilot with the Ancient gene). Beckett's becoming more like McCoy as the series goes on.  They definitely played that for laughs with the smash cut.

Apart from the ending, in fact, it was an OK episode. But it's not uncommon for even excellent episodes to be ruined by the last 5 minutes or so. Voyager's "Endgame" wouldn't have been nearly as bad if the ending hadn't been so rubbish (OK, maybe it would have, so that's a bad example.  ).

[Reply #158 on:]

Agreed.

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Where the borking hell did Baal go?
Crafty swine. 

I suspected he was pulling a faker and was actually tricking them while working for Anubis, but only time will tell.

I think it's obvious what happened to Daniel, there was clearly a bright white flash just as RepliCarter was owned by the wave thinger, otherwise, he's spacecow food! (extremely impossibel)
And when he comes back in whatever form, it's possible he'll be UberDaniel because of the mindmeld with RepliCarter!
"Huzzahs!"

The Atlantis episode was great too, reminded me of The Priory of Sion story from The Da Vinci Code.
(Secret orders are always cool)
"KOLLLYAAAAA!!" 

[Reply #159 on:]

SG1: the Reckoning

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My big question about this episode is why did the Ancients build a device capable of destroying all life in the galaxy and just leave it lying around?  Obviously, a device that can output a wave of any type would have a number of uses (as the episode showed), but why then leave it on to the "destroy everybody" setting and hide it in a room with a fairly simple "combination lock" protecting it? It doesn't seem to be too smart.  Also, did anyone else notice that the device was a re-use of the time machine prop from Season 4's Window of Opportunity? Has it been used any other times, besides those two? 

Anyhow, this was a great episode (both were, 1 and 2).  I liked the multi-front battle aspect of it, and there were a lot of great interaction moments, especially the Daniel/RepliCarter scenes and the Baal/Selmak scenes. Hopefully, this is the end of the human-form replicators for good, I never liked the concept, it made the replicators less... menacing to a degree, giving them a face.  I don't think it is necessarily the end of the replicators, though.  They (the writers) could leave them (the replicators) be, and say that they were all destroyed, but they could easily get away with saying that there were a few that were far enough away from a Stargated planet that they survived, and bring them back in a future episode.  I wouldn't mind either way, as long as they don't go human-form again.

Regarding Daniel... I'm looking forward to next week's episode.  Supposedly it is may be 90-minutes, and should go more into Daniel as an ascended being.