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locker_monsterI do enjoy it when I'm annoyed with something on a TV show but then it gets resolved. It proves the writers do know what they're doing from time to time. ;-) Case in point, Stargate Atlantis episode eleven. Episode ten left me unhappy with certain plot turns, but episode eleven is beginning to make up for that. I'm not 100% impressed, mainly because of the one little thing they dropped in at the end, but I liked that surprise; it just needs to be expanded upon.
Good start for the second half. Let's just hope all this set-up pays off and doesn't suck. ;-) And if there is suckage, the first Stargate SG-1 DVD movie is out a few days ofter Atlantis season finale so there'll be something else to focus on.
It's so bizarre that this wasn't their traditional mid-season two parter. I mean, it continues on from episode ten but there wasn't a huge cliffhanger. But it was a huge special effects blow-out you'd expect of a second part. Eh. Whatever. If the producers wanted to change things up a bit, why not. Maybe they're trying to save money for later in the season.
Being the continuity geek that I am, I just loved how they had all these characters come back. First off, Caldwell and Ellis. Together! Well, in the same episode. Good to know Caldwell is still around. Plus, it was so cool to see the two ships together with Asgard lasers no less. I guess the SGC scientists have been busy since "Unending"; I guess this also means they kept all of the Asgard technology. Whoo, lasers. Funny how Caldwell is so used to being there and Ellis is still the outsider. I bet Caldwell was thinking, "Yay, I'm part of the team now. I can make fun of the new guy." I hope to see more of Caldwell and Ellis, because really, they have FX shots of the two ships now. Why not use them if you have them? ;-) And didn't they do the "Colonels" joke before, only with "Doctor" in place on SG-1? I have a vague memory of something like that. Or I'm thinking of another show.
They totally need to give the Wraith a name. They've been so consistent before. Steve. Bob. Mike. I fully expected Sheppard to call this Wraith "Dave" or something. Of course, the writers could have dubbed the Wraith with a name; I'm just to lazy to find out if they did. So from here on in in this post, the Wraith working with the team will be called Dave. Seems Dave has been hanging out with McKay and humans for far too long. Just some of the looks he gives Rodney really makes it seem like he's becoming a little human. The fact that Dave escapes with the other hives at the end just means he has the opportunity to come back. Also, he knows about Atlantis, would could come back to bite the team in the ass. And an interesting fact is revealed: Hive Queens are able to make new soldier Wraith. So they're totally like bees.
And the Saffron wanna-be Larrin came back, too. I only call her a Saffron wanna-be because so much of her first appearance in "Travelers" reminded me of how Saffron played Mal. Heck, Larrin even knocked out Sheppard with a kiss. Well, she kissed him and then knocked him out, but still. I actually expected Sheppard to go looking for Larrin and her people before the suggestion to team up with the Wraith was brought up. Larrin's people are the only race out there with ships. Plus the team could always use more allies. Doesn't hurt that Larrin has control of an Ancient warship either. The only thing I don't like about Larrin is how the writers are playing up the tension between her and Sheppard. You know, not every pretty lady Sheppard meets has to like him. Likely the writers are taking a Daniel/Vala approach with Larrin and Sheppard. They start out hating each other but then grow to tolerate each other.
So everyone's working together. Aw, how nice. Making the Replicators into one giant blob? Yeah, not the best plan Rodney has ever come up with, but I guess it worked. For the time being. I always thought the Replicators' ships were made out of the nanite cells as well, but I must have been thinking of the Milky Way Replicators. I'm sure they've mentioned this distinction at some point, because clearly the ships and the buildings weren't affected by Fran. And Fran. The second you start naming things you get attached to them. And with only the nanites affected by Rodney's plan, having one ship survive is totally probable.
And guess who was on that surviving ship. :-D The episode was good, had some nice character stuff I'll talk about in a bit, but the ending made up for episode ten. Though, it remains to be seen if the Elizabeth at the end of the episode is original Elizabeth with Replicator super powers gone bad or Replicator!Elizabeth who somehow escaped from the Replicators at the end of episode ten and is leading a small band for some unknown reason. I want to say band of Replicators but if so, how did they escape the giant blob of doom? For that matter, how did Elizabeth, original or copy, escape that fate as well? If all the nanites were pulled in, that means her nanites would have been sucked in, too, essentially killing original Elizabeth. If these are Replicators, I bet they changed their programming or something, because they had the intel. Because they must be Replicators if they're flying the ship. Unless they're humans with the gene that Elizabeth rounded up. Bah, too many questions.
But I digress. Elizabeth. Not dead or captured. I appreciate that Torri Higginson's name was left out of the guest credits. I just hate shows that do that. It totally ruins the episode because you know a character is back, you just don't know when or how they return. I mean, how hard is it to tack the actor's name at the end? Buffy and Angel used to do it all the time. Hopefully this means that Elizabeth will be back for more episodes. I was told Torri was only signed on for four and this appearance, short as it is, does count. When her name didn't pop up in the credits I totally thought Elizabeth would be returning for the season finale. Maybe that's still the case, but that means she'll be around for more than four episodes.
Anyway, and so begins the debate of which Elizabeth it was at the end of the episode. I'm more inclined to believe it's original Elizabeth, but that's probably because I don't like the idea that she's dead. I like to think that Oberoth lied when he told everyone Elizabeth was dead. Maybe he sent her off on a suicide mission to get rid of her and expected her to die, but that didn't happen. So Elizabeth escaped, rounded up some help and a ship, and has some plans. Hmm, now that I've written that out, it sounds very unlikely. If original Elizabeth escaped, why didn't she return to Atlantis or try to contact them? Maybe it's because she's evil now. She is wearing black after all. Maybe when the Replicator attack code was activated, it affected Elizabeth and made her bad. I've been rooting for an evil Elizabeth since the beginning of the season; maybe it will actually happen. Or the black is just a mislead and this is just Replicator!Elizabeth. She is wearing the new uniform, albeit in leather. It's more plausible that this is Elizabeth's double; the double team sacrificed themselves so she could escape, she got a ship and she's planning on... doing something. She needed the Replicators out of the way for a reason. Maybe she's working on ascending the Replicators that want it? Okay, I suck at guessing. I'll just wait and see. But I really do hope Elizabeth, whichever version, is evil. That would put her in conflict with the others.
Speaking of the others... Teyla revealed she was pregnant. Good thing, too, because she was bound to start showing. I liked that Sheppard and Ronon had two very different reactions. I'm sure the Sheppard/Teyla shippers will argue he's angry because he's jealous, but I think he's just annoyed she was hiding the truth and putting herself in danger. Teyla's pregnancy does put her in an odd position and it's something that's never been addressed before. None of the female team members have ever been pregnant and on active duty. Vala doesn't count because she was pregnant in another galaxy and not in mortal danger. I fully expect Teyla to argue with Sheppard about being kicked off the active roster. Funny how Sheppard looked to Ronon after Teyla revealed her pregnancy and Ronon said, "Don't look at me." And cute joke, Ronon suggesting his name for the baby, boy or girl. I guess this means they'll have an episode where Teyla learns the fate of her people. I keep forgetting that they're missing. I can't decide if that's going to be the plot for the second two parter later in the season or if that's for something else.
Being the continuity geek that I am, I just loved how they had all these characters come back. First off, Caldwell and Ellis. Together! Well, in the same episode. Good to know Caldwell is still around. Plus, it was so cool to see the two ships together with Asgard lasers no less. I guess the SGC scientists have been busy since "Unending"; I guess this also means they kept all of the Asgard technology. Whoo, lasers. Funny how Caldwell is so used to being there and Ellis is still the outsider. I bet Caldwell was thinking, "Yay, I'm part of the team now. I can make fun of the new guy." I hope to see more of Caldwell and Ellis, because really, they have FX shots of the two ships now. Why not use them if you have them? ;-) And didn't they do the "Colonels" joke before, only with "Doctor" in place on SG-1? I have a vague memory of something like that. Or I'm thinking of another show.
They totally need to give the Wraith a name. They've been so consistent before. Steve. Bob. Mike. I fully expected Sheppard to call this Wraith "Dave" or something. Of course, the writers could have dubbed the Wraith with a name; I'm just to lazy to find out if they did. So from here on in in this post, the Wraith working with the team will be called Dave. Seems Dave has been hanging out with McKay and humans for far too long. Just some of the looks he gives Rodney really makes it seem like he's becoming a little human. The fact that Dave escapes with the other hives at the end just means he has the opportunity to come back. Also, he knows about Atlantis, would could come back to bite the team in the ass. And an interesting fact is revealed: Hive Queens are able to make new soldier Wraith. So they're totally like bees.
And the Saffron wanna-be Larrin came back, too. I only call her a Saffron wanna-be because so much of her first appearance in "Travelers" reminded me of how Saffron played Mal. Heck, Larrin even knocked out Sheppard with a kiss. Well, she kissed him and then knocked him out, but still. I actually expected Sheppard to go looking for Larrin and her people before the suggestion to team up with the Wraith was brought up. Larrin's people are the only race out there with ships. Plus the team could always use more allies. Doesn't hurt that Larrin has control of an Ancient warship either. The only thing I don't like about Larrin is how the writers are playing up the tension between her and Sheppard. You know, not every pretty lady Sheppard meets has to like him. Likely the writers are taking a Daniel/Vala approach with Larrin and Sheppard. They start out hating each other but then grow to tolerate each other.
So everyone's working together. Aw, how nice. Making the Replicators into one giant blob? Yeah, not the best plan Rodney has ever come up with, but I guess it worked. For the time being. I always thought the Replicators' ships were made out of the nanite cells as well, but I must have been thinking of the Milky Way Replicators. I'm sure they've mentioned this distinction at some point, because clearly the ships and the buildings weren't affected by Fran. And Fran. The second you start naming things you get attached to them. And with only the nanites affected by Rodney's plan, having one ship survive is totally probable.
And guess who was on that surviving ship. :-D The episode was good, had some nice character stuff I'll talk about in a bit, but the ending made up for episode ten. Though, it remains to be seen if the Elizabeth at the end of the episode is original Elizabeth with Replicator super powers gone bad or Replicator!Elizabeth who somehow escaped from the Replicators at the end of episode ten and is leading a small band for some unknown reason. I want to say band of Replicators but if so, how did they escape the giant blob of doom? For that matter, how did Elizabeth, original or copy, escape that fate as well? If all the nanites were pulled in, that means her nanites would have been sucked in, too, essentially killing original Elizabeth. If these are Replicators, I bet they changed their programming or something, because they had the intel. Because they must be Replicators if they're flying the ship. Unless they're humans with the gene that Elizabeth rounded up. Bah, too many questions.
But I digress. Elizabeth. Not dead or captured. I appreciate that Torri Higginson's name was left out of the guest credits. I just hate shows that do that. It totally ruins the episode because you know a character is back, you just don't know when or how they return. I mean, how hard is it to tack the actor's name at the end? Buffy and Angel used to do it all the time. Hopefully this means that Elizabeth will be back for more episodes. I was told Torri was only signed on for four and this appearance, short as it is, does count. When her name didn't pop up in the credits I totally thought Elizabeth would be returning for the season finale. Maybe that's still the case, but that means she'll be around for more than four episodes.
Anyway, and so begins the debate of which Elizabeth it was at the end of the episode. I'm more inclined to believe it's original Elizabeth, but that's probably because I don't like the idea that she's dead. I like to think that Oberoth lied when he told everyone Elizabeth was dead. Maybe he sent her off on a suicide mission to get rid of her and expected her to die, but that didn't happen. So Elizabeth escaped, rounded up some help and a ship, and has some plans. Hmm, now that I've written that out, it sounds very unlikely. If original Elizabeth escaped, why didn't she return to Atlantis or try to contact them? Maybe it's because she's evil now. She is wearing black after all. Maybe when the Replicator attack code was activated, it affected Elizabeth and made her bad. I've been rooting for an evil Elizabeth since the beginning of the season; maybe it will actually happen. Or the black is just a mislead and this is just Replicator!Elizabeth. She is wearing the new uniform, albeit in leather. It's more plausible that this is Elizabeth's double; the double team sacrificed themselves so she could escape, she got a ship and she's planning on... doing something. She needed the Replicators out of the way for a reason. Maybe she's working on ascending the Replicators that want it? Okay, I suck at guessing. I'll just wait and see. But I really do hope Elizabeth, whichever version, is evil. That would put her in conflict with the others.
Speaking of the others... Teyla revealed she was pregnant. Good thing, too, because she was bound to start showing. I liked that Sheppard and Ronon had two very different reactions. I'm sure the Sheppard/Teyla shippers will argue he's angry because he's jealous, but I think he's just annoyed she was hiding the truth and putting herself in danger. Teyla's pregnancy does put her in an odd position and it's something that's never been addressed before. None of the female team members have ever been pregnant and on active duty. Vala doesn't count because she was pregnant in another galaxy and not in mortal danger. I fully expect Teyla to argue with Sheppard about being kicked off the active roster. Funny how Sheppard looked to Ronon after Teyla revealed her pregnancy and Ronon said, "Don't look at me." And cute joke, Ronon suggesting his name for the baby, boy or girl. I guess this means they'll have an episode where Teyla learns the fate of her people. I keep forgetting that they're missing. I can't decide if that's going to be the plot for the second two parter later in the season or if that's for something else.
Good start for the second half. Let's just hope all this set-up pays off and doesn't suck. ;-) And if there is suckage, the first Stargate SG-1 DVD movie is out a few days ofter Atlantis season finale so there'll be something else to focus on.
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 02:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 04:43 am (UTC)Yup, questions a plenty to ponder in this episode. I want answers now, damn it! ;-)
no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 04:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 05:05 am (UTC)Could you provide a link anyway? I wouldn't mind reading the Q and A with Martin Gero if there are minimal spoilers. I really like the episodes Gero writes, plus he slips in Canadian references and that's an automatic check in the awesome column. :-D
no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 05:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 03:16 pm (UTC)The whole thing could have been an elaborate plan - give Atlantis the tech to track all the Non-Weir replicators, let them come up with a way to defeat all of them at once, leaving the hiding Weirites a free hand to do what they want to do.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-06 07:41 pm (UTC)I'm starting to believe it's Elizabeth's duplicate at the end of the episode. She was only created because that small group of Replicators wanted to learn more about Ascension. So some of the rogue Replicators escape being capture, free duplicate Elizabeth, they steal a ship, and hide out until they learn the other Replicators are gone. Of course, I'm basing this all on Elizabeth's one line. For all we know they wanted the Replicators out of the way for another reason and this is original Elizabeth.
However, they've done an evil duplicate Replicator of a team member before with Sam so I'm inclined to believe the evil black leather look is a ruse to throw off the fans.