SGA 5x17: "Infection" Talkback (Spoilers)

[JME2]

After a Wraith hive ship shows up over Atlantis transmitting a distress call, the team discovers that its crew has been stricken with a disease they helped create.

***

Here's the usual talkback thread up and running as we officially enter the home stretch and SGA's final four episodes...

[Themightytom]

It wasn't too bad, Spoiler

they strayed a little too close to making wraith zombies but they stayed on the right side of the line i think.
Rodney got a liiiiitle bit of haracter developement with keller acting in a surprisingly confident manner, and Shepherd in my opinion really grew a set of balls when he had half a dozen marines pointing guns at Todd's head.

Have they changed the jumper interior design considerably? I was watching SG-1 Mobius the other day and I noticed its all different from what they have now. it also seems like they ahve altered their definition of "organic technology" from fleshy gooey crap to coral-like growths that crumble and are brittle.

[Strider]

This wasn't a great Atlantis episode, but it had Todd, so you can't really complain.

[bilateralrope]

Themightytom, why are you using the spoiler tags to hide things that happened in this episode, even with the spoiler warning in the thread title ?

Even when every time a thread is dedicated to a specific episode of a TV series, it usually contains unhidden spoilers for that episode ?

All it does is risk us getting so used to clicking them, finding no actual spoilers behind them, that when we come across one with actual spoilers behind it we click it without thinking.

As for the episode, I wonder how Todd will fare now that he has lost his hive because he was in a hurry to use the treatment.

[Bilbo]

Interesting that the Wraith drones are mindless killing machines that are controlled by the Wraith upper-echelon through continual mental manipulation. Rodney said it was a theory they had held for a while but has it been mentioned on-screen before?


As for Todd. Since there are only two more episodes left I am expecting we will not see him again until we get a SGA straight to video movie.

[Crazedwraith]

Interesting that the Wraith drones are mindless killing machines that are controlled by the Wraith upper-echelon through continual mental manipulation. Rodney said it was a theory they had held for a while but has it been mentioned on-screen before?

Not mentioned but shown in 'Spoils of War' they're decanting a cloned Drone and it struggles and struggles until they stick the mind control mask on and then its docile again.

As the episode:
I thought it was pretty decent although neither spectacular nor particularly ground breaking. And they took far too long to realise the ship was infected. I mean had anyone not figured that out almost immediately?

I was gratified to see the Marine Shep let wander off on his own, when he went back to see Rodney actually lived long enough to rejoin the main group; the odds were against him after all.

One minor point of annoyance: How many times does it need to be reiterated that Ronon wants to kill Wraith? I mean I know its your only defining character trait big guy but I don't near to hear the same: "But this will kill them! - I don't have a problem with that" exchange so many time in a single episode.

Still A reasonably fun episode.

[Bilbo]

One minor point of annoyance: How many times does it need to be reiterated that Ronon wants to kill Wraith? I mean I know its your only defining character trait big guy but I don't near to hear the same: "But this will kill them! - I don't have a problem with that" exchange so many time in a single episode.

Still A reasonably fun episode.

Having him act any other way would make no sense. He was a runner for years and his entire world was massacred. Almost every single person he knows of was either killed in battle or captured and sucked dry by a Wraith. Yes a few escaped but they were a pathetically small number.

If you, I, or anyone else from this board was in Ronan's position it would be pretty predictable that every other sentance out of our mouth would be a variation of "lets kill the Wraith" or "lets pop popcorn and sit backa dn watch the Wraith die".

Somehow I doubt any sort of non-insane person could get over the effective genocide of his planet.

[FuncoWilkerbean]

I don't see how this series will end in a few episodes.

[CaptJodan]

I don't see how this series will end in a few episodes.

Really? Try and keep in mind these are the people that brought you Ark of Truth, please. Deux Ex, man, Deux Ex.

Besides, it seems pretty clear what they're probably setting up. Spoiler

The fact that the next to the last doesn't sound at all like it applies to the main plot, and next week's doesn't LOOK too close to the main plot either doesn't help your perception. Basically, any resolution will have to come from the last ep and the movie. Having said that...

The anti-feeding drug is perfected and it's a race to distribute it to the Hives, possibly with Todd as a good Wraith for a change. They go out, Hives resist, deux ex away, and the end. Come on Atlantis, prove me wrong.

[Anarchist Bunny]

I don't see how this series will end in a few episodes.

Really? Try and keep in mind these are the people that brought you Ark of Truth, please. Deux Ex, man, Deux Ex.

Besides, it seems pretty clear what they're probably setting up. Spoiler

The fact that the next to the last doesn't sound at all like it applies to the main plot, and next week's doesn't LOOK too close to the main plot either doesn't help your perception. Basically, any resolution will have to come from the last ep and the movie. Having said that...

The anti-feeding drug is perfected and it's a race to distribute it to the Hives, possibly with Todd as a good Wraith for a change. They go out, Hives resist, deux ex away, and the end. Come on Atlantis, prove me wrong.

Yes I hope Atlantis doesn't let us down. So far they've done a pretty good job of handling the bad guys with more and more massive nuclear explosions. From the shitty Genni nuke, to Deadalus nukes, to compressing all of the replicator nanobots until they reach critical mass.

Only thing left to due is have Rodney accidentally blow up the whole damned Pegasus galaxy.

[Alyeska]

The SGC still has the booby trapped ZPM that is capable of destroying a large chunk of a single solar system. Use it on the Wraith.

[Revy]

I actually don't think anything will happen at all. I think the Wraith will remain at large, and the series will end with the Atlantis team gearing up, saying some peppy lines, and then walking through the Gate. The End. I doubt they're going to kill/neuter the main villains of the show right before the movie comes out.

As for the movie ... well obviously as anyone would expect, the Atlantis team will have to go in search of some Ancient long-lost bit of tech that magically defeats the Wraith and makes all their problems go away.

So, err ... yeah, Deus Ex, just like people have been saying.

[Crazedwraith]

Nah, Dues Ex is SG-1's bag of tricks. Atlantis doesn't really go in for that sort of thing.

[Themightytom]

Themightytom, why are you using the spoiler tags to hide things that happened in this episode, even with the spoiler warning in the thread title ?

Even when every time a thread is dedicated to a specific episode of a TV series, it usually contains unhidden spoilers for that episode ?

Well since I have had complaints in the past that I spoiled something for someone and should have tagged it, I will now do it every time, especially when I am one of the first to post. I didn't break any forum rules, I'm pretty sure you threw that in there ebcause you ahd nothing to say relevant to the topic and wanted to feel involved. You're a douchebag.

All it does is risk us getting so used to clicking them, finding no actual spoilers behind them, that when we come across one with actual spoilers behind it we click it without thinking.

If I am able to classically condition you to click spoiler tags without thinking than you would probably be the same idiot who clicks on a topic that warns about spoilers and complains when things are spoiled. there's no winning with people like you. Whsoe this "Us" anyway, are their really other people who would get in line behindd you and say "He's right! he speaks for us! Please stop spoiler tagging things, or we will have our behavior altered to such an extent that we no longer think!"
Spoiler

You're a moron, a complete and utter moron. My advise would be; don't stop thinking, I know it hurts, do it anyway.

[Themightytom]

Nah, Dues Ex is SG-1's bag of tricks. Atlantis doesn't really go in for that sort of thing.

dude I hope you were joking, the city ITSELF is a DEM leftover from stargate.

ZPMs..Drones, replicators, replicator desroying replicators, replicator destroying replicator creating machines, invincible shields, cloaks asgard beam weapons asgard cloaks, Atlantis has been like a scavenger hunt for one DEM after another

[Crazedwraith]

Nah, Dues Ex is SG-1's bag of tricks. Atlantis doesn't really go in for that sort of thing.

dude I hope you were joking, the city ITSELF is a DEM leftover from stargate.

ZPMs..Drones, replicators, replicator desroying replicators, replicator destroying replicator creating machines, invincible shields, cloaks asgard beam weapons asgard cloaks, Atlantis has been like a scavenger hunt for one DEM after another

Most of those are plot devices, not DEMs. None of them are insta-wins pulled out of nowhere (aside Fran maybe), which is what a DEM is.

As Anarchist Bunny said, generally Atlantis solves its problems with big ass explosions.

[Themightytom]

I see what you are syaing, but I think the plot devices are intentionally used to handicap the insta-wins. The atlantis cloak came out of nowhere, Rodney pulled it out of his but in classic "My life is in danger, I think fast!" fashion
the drones sort of were to be expected, i mean SG-1 was looking for the super weapon, but its capaibilitties seem equal to the task of whatever plot is in motion,. whether its one shotting a hiveship or a gao'uld mothership.

The beam weapons were DEFINITELY out of nowhwere.

the Asurans were never even hinted at until the episode they were featured in, clearly the ancients INTENDED them to be the DEM but their plot defice replciation and plot device half assed destruction prevented them from ever following through. until they did, and the ploy device decided to start killing the wraith's food supply rather than the wraith.

not only does Atlantis deploy DEM regualrly, the pride themselves on it, especially Rodney whose JOB is to build DEMs

[Zac Naloen]

The atlantis cloak came out of nowhere, Rodney pulled it out of his but in classic "My life is in danger, I think fast!" fashion

It was established tech from the Jumpers. Shown in season one that the cloaking device could be adapted into a shield (defiant one) and in season two Rodney worked out a jury rigged way of doing the reverse. Not a DEM.

the Asurans were never even hinted at until the episode they were featured in, clearly the ancients INTENDED them to be the DEM but their plot defice replciation and plot device half assed destruction prevented them from ever following through. until they did, and the ploy device decided to start killing the wraith's food supply rather than the wraith.

I always assumed the asurans made, or were a more advanced version of the nano virus from series one.

[Themightytom]

You make a great point about the replicators and the nano virus, but regarding the atlantis cloak, I know what episode it came out of, I am saying taht within taht episode it popped into existence, it wasn't "Something they were working on" or anything like that, Rodney pulled it out of his but halfway through the episode when they realized the wraith were overwhelming their defenses

[Zac Naloen]

but regarding the atlantis cloak, I know what episode it came out of, I am saying taht within taht episode it popped into existence, it wasn't "Something they were working on" or anything like that, Rodney pulled it out of his but halfway through the episode when they realized the wraith were overwhelming their defenses

It's not like he built a cloaking device out of nothing.

He pulled the device out of a jumper and plugged it into the shield generators.

Good thing Ancient tech is plug and play really.

[Sky Captain]

Just watched the episode and I liked it, certainly I can say this episode was above average. Being stranded in a crumbling hive ship full of hungry zombies and crash landing half of that ship in ocean is`t something you see in every Atlantis episode. Now I even more than before like wraith ships since it seems they have built in (or grown in) multiple redundancy so even half of ship can fire it`s attitude control thrusters to control it`s angle of descent.

[NecronLord]

People around here don't seem to know what a Deus Ex Machina actually is. It's more than just an unexpected twist, it's a nigh-divine intervention that solves the plot problem. The Asurans weren't a Deus Ex Mechanica (they could have been, mind, if they were nicer about things). Adding a new villain is neither a DEM, nor is it often a bad idea for a series. A real Deus Ex Mechanica would be Thor sending a ship to Asuras to drop a PWARW on them. Extra credit if this Asgard intervention was not announced beforehand.

[Crazedwraith]

Considering he'd have to resurrect himself first it really would be. Plus he's Thor ie) A god, which fits the original derivation as well. (Greek plays where the ending was a god turning up and fixing it all.)

[Zac Naloen]

People around here don't seem to know what a Deus Ex Machina actually is. It's more than just an unexpected twist, it's a nigh-divine intervention that solves the plot problem. The Asurans weren't a Deus Ex Mechanica (they could have been, mind, if they were nicer about things). Adding a new villain is neither a DEM, nor is it often a bad idea for a series. A real Deus Ex Mechanica would be Thor sending a ship to Asuras to drop a PWARW on them. Extra credit if this Asgard intervention was not announced beforehand.

Extra Extra credit if he turns up unannounced.