SGA 5x05 "Ghost in the Machine" (Spoilers)

[JME2]

The city of Atlantis becomes host to the minds of disembodied Replicators, led by someone very close to the team.

***

I didn't see a thread open for last night's episode, so here we go.

Well, the thread from the ending of "Be All My Sins Remember'd" is finally re-visited. It was clever way of bringing back Weir given how Tori Higginson declined to return. Of course, given how Weir was written out, I can't say I blame her. But they should just take a few Jumpers and blow them to hell; having those bodies floating out could could come back to bite them on the ass and I really don't want any more Replicator-esque recurring threats anymore.

3.5/5

[Covenant]

Yeah, I hope this is basically the end of replicators, as it's about time that the whole thread came to a conclusion. They've mined it for all it's worth in their setting, and it's a one-trick pony of invincible robot man stuff. It's too bad that Weir ended this way, since it's a pretty lackluster end for the character, but Atlantis has a history of pretty poor character endings. Not that they should have to make it an epic storyline, but it does seem a bit underwhelming.

[SCRawl]

A fine way to write Weir out of it once and for all.

I do have a question, though: at the beginning, the team had just finished visiting a planet for the possibility of constructing an Alpha site (i.e. emergency evacuation site). That planet had a space gate, which means to me that it wouldn't be very convenient for that purpose. I suppose they could bring the stargate down to the planet surface, and build around that. Am I making any sense?

[CaptJodan]

A fine way to write Weir out of it once and for all.

I do have a question, though: at the beginning, the team had just finished visiting a planet for the possibility of constructing an Alpha site (i.e. emergency evacuation site). That planet had a space gate, which means to me that it wouldn't be very convenient for that purpose. I suppose they could bring the stargate down to the planet surface, and build around that. Am I making any sense?

Of course you are, otherwise I wouldn't have had the same general opinion of that retarded comment they made. If you need to quickly evacuate Atlantis, you're not going to fit everyone in the Jumper, and as we continually see, there isn't always a 304 waiting to help out. Pretty bad alpha site, really. I'm sure they could detach the thrusters, but it seems like a lot of work, especially in light of the FLYING MONKEYS!!!!

So these were the no-frills replicators, huh? So I guess that's why not a single thought was paid to maybe busting out the anti-replicator weapons in case one of them tried exactly what they tried? No "put those anti-replicator crystals in the shield matrix, and if we need to, we'll activate the shield and wipe them all out at once" plan? No, we're going with the "let's hope enough bullets takes them down" plan. Another week of screaming at the screen wondering what happened to competent SG teams.

And yes, a jumper or Daedalus should stop by and blast them to pieces to be sure. But judging from the competence they displayed this episode, I think we can safely assume they won't do that. It's not like there aren't other races running about the galaxy capable of picking them up and experimenting with them.

[Meest]

Another meh episode to me, depending on if the new data Weir gave them does anything. Still funny how they offered Wraith tech instead of Ancient. About the alpha planet site, is it possible for a habitable to have visible rings?

[Stargate Nerd]

The city of Atlantis becomes host to the minds of disembodied Replicators, led by someone very close to the team.

***

I didn't see a thread open for last night's episode, so here we go.

Well, the thread from the ending of "Be All My Sins Remember'd" is finally re-visited. It was clever way of bringing back Weir given how Tori Higginson declined to return. Of course, given how Weir was written out, I can't say I blame her. But they should just take a few Jumpers and blow them to hell; having those bodies floating out could could come back to bite them on the ass and I really don't want any more Replicator-esque recurring threats anymore.

3.5/5

I was hoping for some explanation as to why the combined Wraith-Earth-Traveler fleet was able to get the drop on the Asuran fleet in "Be All My Sins Remembered". Maybe some sabotage by the splinter group.

3/5

[TimothyC]

One very nice touch was seeing the thrusters move a gate back into place.

[loomer]

So these were the no-frills replicators, huh? So I guess that's why not a single thought was paid to maybe busting out the anti-replicator weapons in case one of them tried exactly what they tried? No "put those anti-replicator crystals in the shield matrix, and if we need to, we'll activate the shield and wipe them all out at once" plan? No, we're going with the "let's hope enough bullets takes them down" plan. Another week of screaming at the screen wondering what happened to competent SG teams.

If it was good enough for O'Neill and Teal'C, it's good enough for them.

[Cecelia5578]

A fine way to write Weir out of it once and for all.

I do have a question, though: at the beginning, the team had just finished visiting a planet for the possibility of constructing an Alpha site (i.e. emergency evacuation site). That planet had a space gate, which means to me that it wouldn't be very convenient for that purpose. I suppose they could bring the stargate down to the planet surface, and build around that. Am I making any sense?

Of course you are, otherwise I wouldn't have had the same general opinion of that retarded comment they made. If you need to quickly evacuate Atlantis, you're not going to fit everyone in the Jumper, and as we continually see, there isn't always a 304 waiting to help out. Pretty bad alpha site, really. I'm sure they could detach the thrusters, but it seems like a lot of work, especially in light of the FLYING MONKEYS!!!!

So these were the no-frills replicators, huh? So I guess that's why not a single thought was paid to maybe busting out the anti-replicator weapons in case one of them tried exactly what they tried? No "put those anti-replicator crystals in the shield matrix, and if we need to, we'll activate the shield and wipe them all out at once" plan? No, we're going with the "let's hope enough bullets takes them down" plan. Another week of screaming at the screen wondering what happened to competent SG teams.

And yes, a jumper or Daedalus should stop by and blast them to pieces to be sure. But judging from the competence they displayed this episode, I think we can safely assume they won't do that. It's not like there aren't other races running about the galaxy capable of picking them up and experimenting with them.

Jesus Fucking Christ, do you watch SG episodes just to always make critical comments in sd.net threads?

[Steve]

It does seem so.

I mostly liked the episode, save that for the second time I can think of the Atlantis Expedition has acted treacherously IMHO (the first was their treatment of Michael in the opening of Season 3 - we've all seen how that has worked out for them) out of their "OMG Replicators!!!111!!!!" attitude that the writers have imposed on them.

[His Divine Shadow]

I'm getting really annoyed at the "machines can't ascend biological life is somehow real alive" bullshit that one is forced to endure when the replicators are brought up. They also solved the whole thing really badly, should have given them biological bodies instead of yieldling to the OMG replicators crap.

[NecronLord]

Yes. Personally, I was rooting for Koracen here.

As for the ARGs: I assumed there was a limited number of them anyway, and that they were either at the SGC or on the ships, now that they all thought the Asurans were gone.

[Kristoff]

I liked Woolsey showing some balls under threat of death.

[Zac Naloen]

Of course you are, otherwise I wouldn't have had the same general opinion of that retarded comment they made. If you need to quickly evacuate Atlantis, you're not going to fit everyone in the Jumper, and as we continually see, there isn't always a 304 waiting to help out. Pretty bad alpha site, really. I'm sure they could detach the thrusters, but it seems like a lot of work, especially in light of the FLYING MONKEYS!!!!

Are you kidding?

Easy as pie.

Beam into daedalus launch bay. Remove thrusters. Beam to planet. Plug into DHD from an uninhabited planet. Viable alpha site.

[SCRawl]

Of course you are, otherwise I wouldn't have had the same general opinion of that retarded comment they made. If you need to quickly evacuate Atlantis, you're not going to fit everyone in the Jumper, and as we continually see, there isn't always a 304 waiting to help out. Pretty bad alpha site, really. I'm sure they could detach the thrusters, but it seems like a lot of work, especially in light of the FLYING MONKEYS!!!!

Are you kidding?

Easy as pie.

Beam into daedalus launch bay. Remove thrusters. Beam to planet. Plug into DHD from an uninhabited planet. Viable alpha site.

Wouldn't it be easier to, you know, find a planet with a stargate already on the ground, such as the uninhabited one from which you suggested salvaging the DHD?

I never suggested that such an operation was impossible, but rather that it wasn't convenient.

[Zac Naloen]

It's quite clear they are looking for planets not inhabited by any sentient life but also to be earth analogous.

Most uninhabited planets in Stargate that have planet gates have been shown to be uninhabited for a reason.

[Anarchist Bunny]

Of course you are, otherwise I wouldn't have had the same general opinion of that retarded comment they made. If you need to quickly evacuate Atlantis, you're not going to fit everyone in the Jumper, and as we continually see, there isn't always a 304 waiting to help out. Pretty bad alpha site, really. I'm sure they could detach the thrusters, but it seems like a lot of work, especially in light of the FLYING MONKEYS!!!!

Are you kidding?

Easy as pie.

Beam into daedalus launch bay. Remove thrusters. Beam to planet. Plug into DHD from an uninhabited planet. Viable alpha site.

Wouldn't it be easier to, you know, find a planet with a stargate already on the ground, such as the uninhabited one from which you suggested salvaging the DHD?

I never suggested that such an operation was impossible, but rather that it wasn't convenient.

Although it would be nice to have a gate that is mostly unused by anything other than the dominant factions of the galaxy(as a gate that leads to vacuum would only be used by those with ships). No Wraith Cattle stumbling across their Alpha Site on the way to his secret porn stash and selling them out next culling.

An uninhabited, yet substantial planet that has not been inhabited by humans(thus no interest from the Wraith, they don't seem to be huge explorers) and with a Space Gate(thus no interest from the majority of the rest of the galaxy) is the perfect place for a Alpha Site.

Asgard Teleporters have been repeatedly shown to have no problem with Stargates, the Tauri have displayed repeated willingness to shuffle them arround(the McKay/Carter Bridge), and the Asgard core of a 304 would probably be very useful in setting up a new base.

Anyway, ho hum episode. Agree with the 3.5, better than standard filler that is plaguing the series, nice wrap up to the Weir plot(shit I thought they were just going to abandon it) and FRAN! <3 hot gynoid genocidal weapon of mass destruction.

[CaptJodan]

If it was good enough for O'Neill and Teal'C, it's good enough for them.

Apparently not, since it didn't stop them. Even O'Neill and Teal'C stopped bothering with bullets by the time the human-forms showed up, as they were useless.

Jesus Fucking Christ, do you watch SG episodes just to always make critical comments in sd.net threads?

Suck my ass, fuckface. I wouldn't even rank myself in the top ten of people on SDN who might watch something just to find problems with it. I didn't even bother to comment on "The Seed" or "Broken Ties" as they weren't worth commenting on.

Since I had some positive things to say about the last episode prior to this one, you're full of shit.

As for the ARGs: I assumed there was a limited number of them anyway, and that they were either at the SGC or on the ships, now that they all thought the Asurans were gone.

I think that's a stretch (they can spare not even 1-5 ARGs for an entire galaxy just in case?), but it's one I can swallow, if for no other reason than the last time we saw them was in "Be All My Sins...", on the ships, and that it's likely that production would cease or slow down considerably after replicators in two galaxies looked like they were destroyed.

Still, this doesn't exactly help Atlantis (or perhaps whoever is in charge of supply) in the competency department. The Milky Way has effectively neutralized the replicators, the one exception being the IOA's retarded scheme. Of the three possible locations to put ARGs, we know of two that can actually recreate the scourge of the replicators, any 304 (in theory), and Atlantis. The SGC itself certainly hasn't shown an ability to this. Odyssey, as far as we know, has never been to Atlantis, which suggests that it hangs around Earth most of the time (ARG supply close at hand if Earth needs it), while Atlantis doesn't always have a 304 around. Sending these weapons where a possible new uprising might occur in case of someone's tampering seems obvious.

[JME2]

Also, didn't the Asurans more or less adapt once and for all to the ARG's in last season's "Lifeline"?

[CaptainChewbacca]

Yeah, ARG's no longer worked on Asurans.

[CaptJodan]

Also, didn't the Asurans more or less adapt once and for all to the ARG's in last season's "Lifeline"?

I looked at the transcript and could find no mention of "once and for all". They probably just "adapted" to the "frequency" of that particular ARG setting they were using during that mission. ARGs have always been treated like phasers in Trek against the Borg. Attune them a bit this way or that, and suddenly the weapon works again, though it doesn't seem easy to do on the fly.

What propose is that the security team that beamed down with Ronon (who was carrying an ARG) and McKay in "Be All My Sins Remembered" was armed with...completely useless weapons. Yeah, that doesn't track at all.

Furthermore, the fact that McKay specifically says the replicators that the city made were "no-frills" lends itself that these might not have the uber-adaptability function. They certainly were never linked to the main replicator population. It's almost like starting from scratch.

[Lancer]

Erm, no. The dialogue in Ark of Truth makes it understood that the ARGs exploited a design flaw in the Replicators, a design flaw which presumably both the Milky Way Replicators and the Asurans were able to correct.

[CaptJodan]

Erm, no. The dialogue in Ark of Truth makes it understood that the ARGs exploited a design flaw in the Replicators, a design flaw which presumably both the Milky Way Replicators and the Asurans were able to correct.

What, this?

MARRICK
I believe that particular susceptibility was programmed out of this version.

That's not exactly damning. If you were speaking of something else, quote it, cause I don't see anything suggesting that the MW or Atlantis replicators were completely immune. Especially since they tried using an A.R.G on the replicator they built FIRST. Marrick is referring to HUMAN MADE replicators that were designed against that vulnerability.

Your theory doesn't hold water. ARGs have been used every time the replicators have shown up. I'm not sure exactly when the events of AoT took place, but at the end of her career on Atlantis, she mentioned going to see Baal's execution, which means AoT was likely prior to her events on Atlantis. "All My Sins" have the team beaming down with ARGs, which you suggest are completely worthless against ALL replicators, but during Carter's command of Atlantis. If ARGs were completely useless to all replicators, why use them in "All My Sins"?

[loomer]

If it was good enough for O'Neill and Teal'C, it's good enough for them.

Apparently not, since it didn't stop them. Even O'Neill and Teal'C stopped bothering with bullets by the time the human-forms showed up, as they were useless.

Go back and watch the episodes prior to the human-forms. 12 gauge shotguns (and even 5.56mm rounds, to an extent) have been proven somewhat effective against base replicators, and quite frankly, any other replicator doesn't matter.

Because they're just bullshit. The first time they were shown, that was interesting. But then it got far older far quicker than the metal tide approach of yesteryear.

[CaptJodan]

Go back and watch the episodes prior to the human-forms. 12 gauge shotguns (and even 5.56mm rounds, to an extent) have been proven somewhat effective against base replicators, and quite frankly, any other replicator doesn't matter.

Not disputing they were effective on base replicators. That's why Thor came along, because bullets were most effective. I just don't remember them ever being effective against human-forms.