SGA

[shavedape]

Yes, that did/does get irritating. Though, don't forget, McKay did blow up a solar system. Every time they got close to acquiring another ZPM something came up--all irritating as well.

To my bolded above, and, not trying to say it was all good-since it wasn't--but SGU did sometimes show failure and the cost of it. But with so many other issues and that show, they tried a "bit of this and a bit of that"-some good ideas from the previous shows, that were just mishandled in the writing and execution of the show.
--- merged: Feb 15, 2013 at 6:20 PM ---
I was just looking through 'stargate wikia' and found this bit in the Atl section on 'todd the wraith'

Is it "true"- I don't recall the team returning to Pegasus after "enemy at the gate". I thought they just parked it in SF Bay? Or was this somehow passed on in SGU?

Or is it just a bit a "wishful BS" that someone typed into the wikia?

Todd provided the expedition with two ZPMs so it could fly to Earth and battlethe Hive before it attacked. Atlantis landed on Earth after the Hive had been destroyed and Todd was still in custody. (ATL: "Vegas", "Enemy at the Gate")
After putting Todd into stasis to keep him alive without dealing with the ethical issue of whether or not to feed him, he was released after the expedition had returned to Pegasus and were investigating reports of a new Wraith Queen, known as 'Queen Death'. When studying a holographic projection left by Queen Death, Todd appeared to be slightly attracted to her image, but he was recovered by Wraith responding to the message's activation before Sheppard could question him about Queen Death's implied status in Wraith mythology.

Sounds like some lousy fanfic that someone snuck into the wiki. Incidentally, I once tried to read some amateur Stargate fan fiction. It was weeks before the doctors would take the bandages off my eyes.

 

[Joelist]

I'm sorry, but SGA was not THAT bad. It did have some things going for it and overall it was entertaining.

It had actual likeable characters you could root for. Weir was a well written female character and the interplay between Shepard and McKay was also good. Teyla started out good also although later in the show she was underused. Beckett was a good medical doctor character and Caldwell was well played. Of course there was the Keller problem - no offense to Jewel Staite whom I like as an actress but that character just did not work. She wasn't written well and frankly the way her personality was written no actress could have pulled it off. But all in all the characters were good and played off each other well - pity they didn't take that lesson over to SGU.

The Wraith actually had interesting ideas behind them. Their origin story (humans in the Pegasus Galaxy - remember it was established that the Ancients seeded Pegasus like they had the Milky Way - coming into contact with the Iratus Bug, and the genetic fusion that occurred when Iratus Bugs fed on humans over the millennia eventually led to the Wraith) was actually interesting and showed thought put into it unlike the "aliens" in a lot of other shows. Also the reason for their hibernation-waking cycle (to prevent their eating away their whole food supply) and elements like Wraith worshippers and the "gift of life" were nice plot elements too.

I agree they powered them down a touch as the show went on, probably as a "correction" to having made them rather too powerful to start off with.

The Asurans were a bit more of a mixed bag. Actually the show erred in having them called replicators because they weren't - per the plot they were nanotechnology based androids. Hence there being no "bugs" or "blocks". They also did not act like replicators and had a different origin. The writers mistake I think was trying to evoke the SG-1 replicators and play off the popularity of that villain - they should have just not mentioned them at all and treated the Asurans as creatures in their own right.

All in all it wasn't THAT bad.

 

[YJ02]

I'm sorry, but SGA was not THAT bad. It did have some things going for it and overall it was entertaining.

It had actual likeable characters you could root for. Weir was a well written female character and the interplay between Shepard and McKay was also good. Teyla started out good also although later in the show she was underused. Beckett was a good medical doctor character and Caldwell was well played. Of course there was the Keller problem - no offense to Jewel Staite whom I like as an actress but that character just did not work. She wasn't written well and frankly the way her personality was written no actress could have pulled it off. But all in all the characters were good and played off each other well - pity they didn't take that lesson over to SGU.

The Wraith actually had interesting ideas behind them. Their origin story (humans in the Pegasus Galaxy - remember it was established that the Ancients seeded Pegasus like they had the Milky Way - coming into contact with the Iratus Bug, and the genetic fusion that occurred when Iratus Bugs fed on humans over the millennia eventually led to the Wraith) was actually interesting and showed thought put into it unlike the "aliens" in a lot of other shows. Also the reason for their hibernation-waking cycle (to prevent their eating away their whole food supply) and elements like Wraith worshippers and the "gift of life" were nice plot elements too.

I agree they powered them down a touch as the show went on, probably as a "correction" to having made them rather too powerful to start off with.

The Asurans were a bit more of a mixed bag. Actually the show erred in having them called replicators because they weren't - per the plot they were nanotechnology based androids. Hence there being no "bugs" or "blocks". They also did not act like replicators and had a different origin. The writers mistake I think was trying to evoke the SG-1 replicators and play off the popularity of that villain - they should have just not mentioned them at all and treated the Asurans as creatures in their own right.

All in all it wasn't THAT bad.

Yes, i agree. I think we were mainly speaking on what could have gone better in the show. The wraith,IMO, could have been a much better story had they had a different backstory-one where they were somehow corrupted humans/ancients and not a ambitious bug who got human form by magically ingesting human life force.

We saw Sheppard transforming after being scratched by the wraith child (who in turn had Iratus bug based gene therapy injected in her). What was the point in showing this if not to demonstrate a transition of human-wraith?

Even in sci-fi I prefer some type of grounding over magic.

And the replicators/asurans. Either form, in either show, they were just a take on a familiar concept introduced by another popular show of the time. Robots with human form, skin, hair and emotions--something that "other show" was criticized for, but somehow ok in sg.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Yes, i agree. I think we were mainly speaking on what could have gone better in the show. The wraith,IMO, could have been a much better story had they had a different backstory-one where they were somehow corrupted humans/ancients and not a ambitious bug who got human form by magically ingesting human life force.

We saw Sheppard transforming after being scratched by the wraith child (who in turn had Iratus bug based gene therapy injected in her). What was the point in showing this if not to demonstrate a transition of human-wraith?

Even in sci-fi I prefer some type of grounding over magic.

And the replicators/asurans. Either form, in either show, they were just a take on a familiar concept introduced by another popular show of the time. Robots with human form, skin, hair and emotions--something that "other show" was criticized for, but somehow ok in sg.

Human form Replicators appeared in SG-1 before BSG dude.

 

[YJ02]

Human form Replicators appeared in SG-1 before BSG dude.

doesn't matter, they still continued on with the idea after bsg began..just shows a semi dead creativity circle by both shows tptb; idea genesis=success=copy=success=copy

the thing is there are some who blame bsg for introducing the concept and its being a bad idea

 

[Rac80]

I always felt that old wraith like Todd were Ancients who had tried to use gene therapy to beome immortal. They had taken genes from the iratus bug and grafted onto their DNA. The drones and the creature sheppard was evolving ino seemed rather mindless. even after their treatment with the retrovirus- they weren't on the same mental level as Todd. all just IMHO of course.

 

[YJ02]

I always felt that old wraith like Todd were Ancients who had tried to use gene therapy to beome immortal. They had taken genes from the iratus bug and grafted onto their DNA. The drones and the creature sheppard was evolving ino seemed rather mindless. even after their treatment with the retrovirus- they weren't on the same mental level as Todd. all just IMHO of course.

that makes sense--in as much as any part of a fictional show can-. they do say the 'masked' soldiers and drones are somehow 'different'. perhaps they are more in line with the bug then the "long hairs" and queen wraith are?

also, in s3 "irresponsibel" with the Lucius Lovin character. He is wearing an ancient personal shield and protecting a village from all comers.

did i miss something when rodney screwed around with the shield device he found? i mean in this ep, we see Lucius eating and being massaged by the women. With rodney he couldn't eat or be touched. Was there something different/wrong with "Meredith's" shield or did tptb do a retcon?

 

[Joelist]

Rodney had not discovered how to turn the shield on and off - I think Lucius had.

 

[Tropicana]

Aye I think so too. Though with Rodney's version it was under the illusion that all Ancient tech had a fail safe component to them, until they changed that by the episode, "Before I Sleep"

 

[YJ02]

Rodney had not discovered how to turn the shield on and off - I think Lucius had.

Oh, ok..though I had 'smelled" some creative writing so as to "lighten up" the ep (back rubs, foot massages, etc)

Though in it, all Lucius says is "You know ancient stuff, it lasts forever"

But whatever-focus on plotline and arc....

 

[YJ02]

Couple things on a couple of eps

in "this mortal coil".now this one really sounds familiar "nannites built "your" flesh and blood bodies from the inside ot"
hmm..robots covered with human flesh,blood and organs complete with synaptic capture
where have i seen that?

by "trio" did anyone else get sick of seeing more of the same "were trapped" episodes? all these seem to have been were "actor exposes". a video resumes for "hey see what i can do for after this show gets cancelled". done for the actors benefit and not the audience..Quarantine was another one

And on Carter's table behind her desk she has photos I recognize the one of her father and of the girl Cassandra. Anyone know who the other photos are of?

(I did find it funny and entirely realistic when Weir changed the photo on her desk from her husband and the dog to one just of the dog after he told her "see ya")

 

[Gatefan1976]

Don't be suprised if it was Tori who asked for that change however dude

 

[ParagonPie]

I believe when Carter is unpacking there is a brief shot of Jack in one of the boxes (giving the assumption that those two are no in a relationship).

Funnily enough I don't remember much of Season 4, but the episode which had the most hilarity was 'Spoils of War' where they found out the Wraith's super dupa secret weapon (cloning place) only to have it easily destroyed in like 5 minutes. lol moment. Either make your bad guys a threat or don't have them at all. I know I'll keep banging on about it, but seriously the Wraith were never an actual threat unless you were one of the Red Shirts then well good luck buddy! Now this is a thing always in Sci-fi is the lack of regard for their fellow crew or squad, its funny to watch like 12 unnamed people be killed off and no one bat an eyelid yet if the main cast stub a toe everyone and their wheel chair bound dog will come to the aid (resulting in many, many deaths in the ensuing firefight). Happened in the episode Midway where Shepard basically lets his entire assault die a gruesome death and be all like "Oh wells, dum de dums, got a plot to progress", don't you care man? A Commander not caring about the people under his Command? However to be fair in the episode Trinity (as I previously mentioned an episode which I very much liked) showed both Shepard and Rodney's concern for the 'extras' just from different view and moral points.

 

[YJ02]

I believe when Carter is unpacking there is a brief shot of Jack in one of the boxes (giving the assumption that those two are no in a relationship).

Funnily enough I don't remember much of Season 4, but the episode which had the most hilarity was 'Spoils of War' where they found out the Wraith's super dupa secret weapon (cloning place) only to have it easily destroyed in like 5 minutes. lol moment. Either make your bad guys a threat or don't have them at all. I know I'll keep banging on about it, but seriously the Wraith were never an actual threat unless you were one of the Red Shirts then well good luck buddy! Now this is a thing always in Sci-fi is the lack of regard for their fellow crew or squad, its funny to watch like 12 unnamed people be killed off and no one bat an eyelid yet if the main cast stub a toe everyone and their wheel chair bound dog will come to the aid (resulting in many, many deaths in the ensuing firefight). Happened in the episode Midway where Shepard basically lets his entire assault die a gruesome death and be all like "Oh wells, dum de dums, got a plot to progress", don't you care man? A Commander not caring about the people under his Command? However to be fair in the episode Trinity (as I previously mentioned an episode which I very much liked) showed both Shepard and Rodney's concern for the 'extras' just from different view and moral points.

Early on-and in sg1 they had the motto--from real world military belief-"we don't leave our people behind" (a pledge tried to be kept true after v-nam-there is still a "special unit" assigned to the mega US Embassy in Baghdad that is looking for one soldier captured by the enemy).

that faded away after like sga s2, seriously though, i would say it was more of some fan focus group id'ing that notion has being distracting or unimportant so they let it go and went the way of other scifi shows where the 'red shirts' come and go and who cares

with all of those us military deaths in the pegasus galaxy--do you know how much of a crisis that would cause? family notification, congressional committeemen asking where and why all of these deaths,etc. they kind of tried to touch on that in sgu, but of course it was lame

with the photos on carters back desk, there are 2-3 in the middle (it is no accident that the ones of cassandra and jacob carter are on the sides and bigger to draw the eye)one looks like it might be carter's brother but hard to tell. with all of the dead dudes piled up that had an attraction to sam, its surprising she doesn't have up more pics (Martouf, et al)

 

[ParagonPie]

It was funny when soldiers all today have the motto of 'We don't leave our people behind' yet we seen many others die in rather stupid ways. Life of a redshirt I guess. However with that said, the whole issue was brought up in one episode where Shepard Visits Aiden Ford's family and the episode 'Letters from Pegasus'. The problem here is, the SGC is still a top secret so family members will have no knowledge what so ever of what their partner/spouse did, it could be covered up with anything from training accidents to KIA in recent conflict zones on Earth, so there is no reason for why there would be an inquest or public back lash. The problem, the huge one is that the soldiers in SGA aren't special forces, they are generic green army or marines which you wouldn't use in these kind of situations, only if the SGC was in public knowledge and they knew about the conflicts.

I guess it stems from the writers unable to see the difference between normal person, and normal personality. The former is what they write in, the average joe put into other worldly experiences. Look at SGU, most of the soldiers in that acted more like collage or high school students having a slappy fight.

 

[YJ02]

It was funny when soldiers all today have the motto of 'We don't leave our people behind' yet we seen many others die in rather stupid ways. Life of a redshirt I guess. However with that said, the whole issue was brought up in one episode where Shepard Visits Aiden Ford's family and the episode 'Letters from Pegasus'. The problem here is, the SGC is still a top secret so family members will have no knowledge what so ever of what their partner/spouse did, it could be covered up with anything from training accidents to KIA in recent conflict zones on Earth, so there is no reason for why there would be an inquest or public back lash. The problem, the huge one is that the soldiers in SGA aren't special forces, they are generic green army or marines which you wouldn't use in these kind of situations, only if the SGC was in public knowledge and they knew about the conflicts.

I guess it stems from the writers unable to see the difference between normal person, and normal personality. The former is what they write in, the average joe put into other worldly experiences. Look at SGU, most of the soldiers in that acted more like collage or high school students having a slappy fight.

Trust me, that many deaths-war on earth or not-of people under the command of peterson afb and cheyenne mtn and some snoop reporter or "bradley manning" type is going to let someone know

 

[shavedape]

How many times did alien ships pop into orbit around Earth (not many, but still)? Also, what about later in the series when they developed battleships like the Prometheus and the Daedalus? There's no way ships of this size could stay hidden from view. It's not like the government controls all the telescopes and astral detection devices out there.

 

[YJ02]

How many times did alien ships pop into orbit around Earth (not many, but still)? Also, what about later in the series when they developed battleships like the Prometheus and the Daedalus? There's no way ships of this size could stay hidden from view. It's not like the government controls all the telescopes and astral detection devices out there.

No, they just made "smart" phones, ipads and other distractions easier to get to keep the people's view from the skies

But, no, if it were to go on, they would have to go public at some point. By the time of SGU, so many people; military, contractors, families, that dude who bought a "stone" at the yard sale, etc, have been "read in" (non-disclosure agreement) that someone is bound to break their promise. the Ben Cotton character on SGA is a prime example-that guy is pissed at the world, he'd talk for the smallest amount of cash.

 

[ParagonPie]

Trust me, that many deaths-war on earth or not-of people under the command of peterson afb and cheyenne mtn and some snoop reporter or "bradley manning" type is going to let someone know

While there will be whistle blowers for sure, it could of been tied into the over arc that reveals the Stargate program to the world. In Earth Final Conflict there was a para military organization that got out of work youths off the street, eventually they were being trained to fight in off world battles, only when some of the main characters within that show saw the body bags coming back was the issue actually raised but it was going on for some time. I'm not saying the Government or military has total 100% security but it could of been eased in slowly but the writers once again failed to use this as an asset for future shows (like SGU). For example, families raising the question of their loved ones deaths, such as why their body has been kept away for burial etc.

I suppose what I was getting at previously was the lack of regard for fellow man, if you have a causality (or more than one) you don't press on, you get the wounded and dead out of there ASAP.

It comes down to what is stargate? As a sci-fi show it is the standard, yes it has military theme to it (such as the majority of personnel being USAF) but it isn't a military sci-fi. Star Fleet is a military organization, it has military structure, ranks etc. A military sci-fi involves in the theoretical warfare of the military, so in stargate it would be, how would the military of today adapt to this new level of warfare. Sadly this was never really asked about and would of been great to ask the questions to military experts from generals to ex special forces soldiers, especially in the 'look' and technological evolution of the soldiers equipment.

 

[YJ02]

In the S5 ep "Brain Storm"-whether it was the "green is universal" ep or not, one can see the real life argument and Search for solutions-and all of the confusion, disbelief and arguments it brings. the on screen chaos when a "room full of the smartest people...can't stop acting like 6th graders-Dr Keller" is an example of the perceived disarray of the real world science community and the infighting it has with both; acceptance/denial of problem and "how to fix it" issues

I agree, it was def a 'filler' ep-more character depth development and perhaps a test of sorts for some of the "love" concepts they brought into SGU(?)

It was ok-but no much SG though

Also like how the S4 and S5 are all in HD on amazon..the previous seasons may have been hd filmed, but rarely were available to view in hd on amazon