Topic: Stargate SG1 Season 8

[6pairsofshoes]

New Order Pt. 1&2.

O'Neill finally gets thawed out by Asgard.  Replicators steal Carter.  Remaining system lords come to Earth where the new head of SG program, yet another perky supermodel type, this time a brunette who seems to have gone to the Let's Make a Deal school of acting, takes over and tries unsuccessfully to exert a sense of gravitas.  Mr. Handsome Replicator tries to get Carter to be his one and only and she's having none of it.  O'Neill helps Asgard develop neutralizing weapon against replicators.  Some success in that they all get to go home where we're told the General gets a promotion so Jack gets to be new General and in command of SG program while Carter gets promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.  And Teal'c grows hair.  What's up with that?  More hijinks with replicators to come.  They have figured out how to replicate Samantha, who emerges covered in goo.  They look for a planet to  pick up where they left  off evolving as human form.  Octopi are more intelligent, most likely, but given the anthropocentrism of the show, of course aliens want to be like us, because, after all, we are the crown of creation.  Right?

[8ullfrog]

That's uh, still Weir, they had to recast as the original actress wasn't offered the ongoing role, which is super weird. She actually wanted to do it, but they replaced her. You also didn't note her first order - "Open the Iris!" going with the classics.

The replicators are creepy. I liked the lighting on their ships, but hated everything else about their creepy Stockholm plan that turned out to not even be needed.

I loved how bless'ed petty the Goauld are, and that they directly reference it.

I also don't get why the replicators left the isolation field, they could have waited out the death of the stupid organics that keep stymying them.

Wow, a lot of these just bleed over, how do you feel about that?

I liked the second half better than the first half. Aside from the silly Goauld, it didn't have much on offer.

In this one, we get one of the best bitchy moments between Jack and Daniel.

(O'Neill's mind is linked to Thor's ship)
Thor: O'Neill, can you hear us?
O'Neill: Hey! Hey guys! What's going on?
Thor: Your mind has been interfaced with the Daniel Jackson.
O'Neill: What?
Jackson: What?!
Teal'c: The name of Thor's ship is Daniel Jackson.

When I watched this episode I wondered if this was real or if Carter was still in the matrix, but then I watched the Atlantis pilot, and sure enough, Jack's got the star. As to the hair, maybe Chris Judge felt cold after all those years. One character later notes that he also used to be more golden.

I do wonder why Weir essentially got shitcanned and sent to an undesirable posting, but she recovers from that handily.

[6pairsofshoes]

Ah.  That's interesting.  I looked them up--both actresses--they had similar careers, guesting on the same tv shows, getting similar awards, both Canadian.  They tend to work on the sorts of shows I don't watch, so they were unfamiliar to me.  It is puzzling that they'd swap them out after one episode.  Odd.

The replicator stuff could be more clearly laid out, it's kind of fuzzy how the whole dynamic of their evolution plays out, and the blurring of human/machine could have been explored with more insight and nuance than was done here.  It's not clear how these objects reproduced themselves--that seems to fly in the face of physics.  I'd like to have that explained, too, instead of having the TA DA fait accompli business laid out before me on a plate like a piece of cake I have to eat without wondering what's in it.  But that's me.  I don't think these series are written for me so I guess I shouldn't complain.

[8ullfrog]

they eat everything, poo out most, and use the rest to make more replicators. That dipshit reese is responsible.

Well, her dead dad is. Things got worse when the asgard tried to study them and they ate their poo and killed them. Essentially, Replicators are very dangerous.

Wasn't there an episode where they kidnapped carter because they needed a "dumb" solution? I vaguely recall her trying asgard food and it was poo. like circles and triangles, and they tasted like batteries.

[6pairsofshoes]

These are not biological organisms, right?  Why do they need to eat anything?

[8ullfrog]

Sadly, this is literally the replicators driving function. Be fruitful and multiply. They could be so much more.

Like, remember the Harlan bots way back? SG-1 came home, Jack had a blood test, his arm popped open, and the SGC instantly turned against SG-1?

Like yeah, they're robots, dependent on Harlan's planet, but they were still 100% loyal. They even continued the mission in that one heartbreaking episode.

Replicators are one of the dumbest grey goo situations in scifi. Like, Atlantis also did replicators, but they gave them an excuse for being broken. Those ancient assholes made them always at 100% rage.

That's good motivation. "golly EVERYTHING I'M ALWAYS MAD LETS KILL EVERYONE ELSE"

Is honestly... better than the milky way replicators.

I am SORELY disappointed in Repli-carter.

[6pairsofshoes]

I got tired last night, watched some and then fell asleep so I'll have to go back over them to remember which episodes they were.  Lockdown:  Sick Russian who had wanted to join SG1 was occupied by Anubis, Anubis running around the base inhabiting people like bad barbeque smoke (another thing you don't want to inhale for health reasons) and then leaving.  Now you see him, now you don't.  He hit up DJ and Carter among others, then moved on.  Russian (whose immune system had been fatally compromised by Anubis's week-long occupation of his body) takes one for the team and takes off with Anubis (occupation #2) through the Stargate.  That wasn't supposed to happen.  The facility was on Lockdown while all these hijinks were going on. It's not clear why the other dead system lords aren't floating around, disembodied, causing trouble.  I guess SG figured that if Anubis had enough rope, he'd hang himself with the Ancients.  Oh well.

Zero Hour was kind of fragmented and did not do much to keep my attention.  SG1 off world, supposedly victims of kidnapping plot by Ba'al, subject of the SG's subsequent negotiations with a Goua'ld prisoner.  Prisoner leads them to some odd device that was supposed to help with Antarctic weapon of ancients but really a plot to blow up the Solar System.  Jack's negotiating skills and ability to ferret out intrigue and deception on full display.  Some plant messing with the stargate that's all over the facility and only removable by bombarding the whole area with Gamma radiation, but of course everyone who puts on a red suit can stay and not be concerned with it.  Nice job of ignoring physics, sci fi guys!  SG1 comes home, Samantha saves the day.  Mole assistant sent in to report back on Jack to President is suitably impressed although initially skeptical.  Snore.

[6pairsofshoes]

Avatar:  Teal'c is in a chair intended to interface neurologically with him and to offer realistic simulations of conflicts with Goua'ld soldiers (you know the terrifying ones that Anubis had developed with black armor and little white points of light for eyes?).  Teal'c thinks it's not realistic enough. There's a fail safe to allow him to cease the simulation, but he's in there refusing to give up, getting virtually killed time after time.  Finally, they send Daniel in there to help him out, as Teal'c is undergoing extreme and dangerous stresses.  After about 50 minutes of intense getting killed, they pull him out of there.  It reminded me of the Roger Zelazny novella, The Dream Master.  That's one creepy book.  This has echoes of that.

[8ullfrog]

I have things to say about those other episodes, but I loved how bless'ed stupid the CG Daniel looked. Like, Holy poo.

They're kull warriors, but notably less important now that swampgas is... swampgas.

[6pairsofshoes]

Affinity:  Teal'c lives off base and gets involved with a neighbor who is beaten by her boyfriend.  The boyfriend ends up dead.  T is framed.  DJ tries to help and the bad guys make him translate some Goua'ld text and use kidnapping to force this.  They send the information via computer somewhere and disappear through Goual'd rings. 

Carter says yes to a marriage proposal with nice cop.  He helps her undo the mystery.  Teal'c gets exonerated.

Next episode: Covenant: fakey hollywoody entrepreneur who went to overacting school threatens to tell the world about aliens and SG1 has to minimize exposure and damage.  Carter is friends with fakey guy, mr aerospace engineer.  Evil guys in league with Senator K. are involved and try to ruin his company.  Things get sorted as Carter takes him off world for a happy future of working on prototype planes at the Alpha Site. 

[8ullfrog]

Lockdown: Kinda mood whiplash, Danny getting shot is funny, the fate of the Russian Colonel, who was by all accounts a true blue hero, not so much.
My little notepad document opines that Starbuck/Apollo should have stuck with the sibling bitchiness we get with O'Neill/Daniel, but they made it angsty lust cowpoo instead.

ZERO HOUR

I love how Walter flat out nabs Jack a new assistant out of annoyance. Walter was always fun. The rest of my notes on this episode, while extensive, made no goddamn sense on reread. I can't even tell if I liked the episode.

ICON
Similar shitty notes, I mentioned that the SG teams are actually loaded with the heavy weapons this time, and wondered why they don't do so more often. I also don't get the point, the magic lifesign eradicator doohickeys on their guns kill the Kull Warriors, and the P90 can do suppressing fire impressively. Maybe they didn't want to go down the path of laser weapons, the zats have somewhat depreciated as well. Shanks bless'ed HATED the zats. We get another cylon guest star, and actually a recurring guest star, but not the same character. It's kind of funny because Chief from BSG also played two different Jaffa who both die.

AVATAR - this episode was fantastic, and I very much enjoyed it. I'm just going to blame the stupid mistakes made on Bill Lee, since everyone else does. I really don't get why they keep him around, he screws up and shrugs, he should have been shitcanned after the fifth time! He's the one who made the tree faries murderous! In the short 3d renders, Daniel looks so bless'ed dumb, like they had to have done that intentionally.

I also like that the Digital SG-1 is competent, and both trust and believe Teal'c when he gives them the lowdown. It's a nice contrast to similar episodes on other shows. I think Digi-Carter also decided to go a little ham with it, since there will not be any ongoing repercussions, so golly it, DUAL WIELD SMGS!

AFFINITY
I didn't much care for this episode, Teal'c really does himself no favors as far as making himself not a suspect, he totally said he would kill that dude.
The neighbor is played by Erica Durance. I can never tell if I liked her Lois Lane on Smallville, or if I just hated Lana so much that she was a pleasant reprieve from her. It's a little sad Teal'c doesn't get to keep the apartment, but SG-1 spends very little time in town anyway.

COVENANT

I didn't really care for this, and it undermines an earlier episode. In that episode, on a trip to DC, Jack was confronted by a reporter who had all the facts.

Jack attempts to talk him down from blowing the whistle, and it's left ambiguous as which way the reporter is leaning. He at least respects Jack, and considers him a hero.

He is then abruptly killed, and while dying from being hit by a car, blames Jack.  I always took this as the shadier side of politics, that the cover of the stargate project is defended by killing anyone who threatens the secret.

And then this bless'ed mess. Sheesh, they roll out the red carpet for this guy. I figured taking him offworld was a way to permanently keep his mouth shut and was shocked Carter would go that far. Instead they have her selling him on it. This was one of the clunkers.

Sorry I didn't get back on this sooner, but I've been feeling pretty crap since the super bowl.

[6pairsofshoes]

I hope things lighten up for you guys, since the 49ers let you down and the car thieves showed no mercy.  They have to get better.  I'm moving what I wrote below to TV: WTF because it belongs there, not here.

[8ullfrog]

I've mostly got my reviews cached up to Season 9, episode 12, but no rush.

I don't know why I'm stuck, Ripple Effect, the next episode, is one of my favorites in the entire series.

I think it's the Ori. I just really bless'ed hate those guys. And not in a fun, "wow, punch those Nazi's" way, more like I just wish a writer never came up with them.

[6pairsofshoes]

Endgame.  Evil guys (earthlings) steal tech, including the Gate from the Cheyenne Mt. Complex, and start gassing the Goua'ld, including anybody else with a symbiote.  This is like using an atom bomb to get rid of roaches, overkill.  Of course some toad of a scientist has been in league with this sleazeball network to effectuate this.

Carter ends up on board with the baddies.  Prometheus is trying to get things sorted.  DJ ends up following Carter.  They manage to get the gate back with the help of Teal'c, who has disappointingly found his compatriots among the resistance killed by this gas.  He ends up helping Carter and DJ escape with the gate while evil Asian woman (what is this with people of color being bad guys in SciFi?) takes the ship into hyperdrive.  They're like white suprematists.  They get away while Carter, DJ, Teal'c and the gate get back to HQ.  Oh well.  Not one of the better episodes, but it sure beats the pants off seeing Lena Dunham naked.  I can sort of get why Oedipus blinded himself after several viewings of that.

[8ullfrog]

That was a major downer of an episode, those Jaffa represented essentially all the Jaffa that like earth.

The Trust are the shadowy follow up to the NID, that organization has been rolled up into homeworld command (I seriously wonder if in-universe Hammond was in charge of the Department of Homeland Security, no bless'ed way would they be dumb enough to name a department 'homeworld security' it would reveal that the US has Extraterrestrial territories)

I don't think bitchface's nationality is really relevant here, she was selected for service by being a sociopath in the first place, willing to do "whatever it takes" and not particularly caring for things like blowback. And holy poo is there blowback. For such a brutal episode, Danny gets one of the best jokes. He picks up a glowing... something, and asks Carter what it is. When she explains it is VX gas, he very quickly, very carefully puts it down.

The other fun moment is when the gate is gone, and Daniel mentions to Jack he's sure glad it isn't his responsibility to explain this. My Desktop Wallpaper is the gate room minus gate.

OK, googled it, her name is "Brooks". That information is functionally useless, but there you go. The guy with the Glock 20 is Hoskins, and combined, they have a higher death toll than the Nazi's.

She's never seen again, but BTS scuttlebutt is that she was captured by the system lords and is probably a host.