Underground (108)

[GateWorld]

DISCUSS ... UNDERGROUND EPISODE NUMBER - 108 Efforts to open trade relations with a species called the Genii turn sour when the team discovers their new "allies" have ulterior motives. Visit the Episode Guide >>

[Skydiver]

so far, a very creepy episode, and it plays well into what i'm seeing as an ongoing theme of Atlantis

deception. many races they've ran into hide thier true nature to survive

this overwhelming, massive and almost fanatical fear of the wraith. These folks are willing to do about anything to stop them or survive them

i do have a bit of a quibble with shep wanting to trade C4. first of all, they can only have a finite amount and second of all, they want to start being the intergalactic arms dealers????

ooh, and we know that the picture for this thread is wrong. it'll be fixed as soon as it can

[Drewbert]

Finally!
Ever since I was blown away by the first episode, I've been waiting to be impressed again. This episode did it.

[Taonas]

This episode was awesome!

Plus it has Colm Meany in it, he's one of my favourite actors! (next to those of Stargate )

The ep has to do with the Genii and has Colm Meany.... It rhymes

[Loki]

Holy crap that was awesome! I mean the whole way through it was a good episode, but that ending was awesome. I assume since this is a episode discussion thread spoilers are implied but if not heres your space
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Having the jumpers de-cloak was so sweet and I swear every episode Shepard just keeps getting cooler and cooler. Guy reminds of a mix between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. I have expected him to tell the jumpers to target the head guy to make sure he went down first if things went bad. I gotta say I'm really impressed by Stargate Alantis so far, so much so that I feel it's making SG1 look medicore. All in all I can not wait to watch it again at mid-night.

[Larry The Chevron Guy]

Great episode!

I wasn't expecting them to infiltrate a Wraith ship like that. Quite a brave thing to do, and was a great twist.

And that Genii chick with the curly hair was HOT!

[Major Fischer]

Not so much episode related as thread related...

... to the Mods, the information at the top of this thead is wrong, both the episode number and the picture.

[Redwall]

McKay was great, again. And his comments on how the bomb works were all firmly grounded in reality AFAIK.

"I built one for my science fair."
"They let you do that?"
"It wasn't a working model..."

[Larry The Chevron Guy]

And there was a Lemon joke again!! LOL

[Praxus]

I agree with the Aliens. She was an idiot for trying to rescue them when it would undoubtably cause the Wraith to come and foil any chances they have of destroying the ship.

Very good episode

[Rukkian]

I have like all the episodes, but now it really seems to be hitting its stride. I almost find myself waiting more to see atlantis than sg-1. This episode was awesome and I cant wait see if the genii show up again.

[aeroe]

So we made mortal enemies with Bilbo Baggins and the techno-hobbits? Scary.
I was half expecting an Aschen type of baddie, but the hobbits aren't close to our level of technology in many regards. Especially considering our gold mine of technology we're based at.

I also loved the ending. I'm so tired of seeing SG1 being captured or ambushed. I'm glad these guys are smarter than that.

[NightGloom]

So... I'm guessing someone cuts hair in Atlantis?

This was a great episode. So far I'm very impressed by Atlantis. Really liked some of Weir's more sarcastic comments. I have to rewatch the episode though, cause there were some stupid fireworks going off and I couldn't hear all of it so I'll post actual comments later.

[major al]

I love the ending, otherwise the rest of the episode was once again deception due to the fact of the impending Wraith attack, and we get blamed for how we awaken them before there actual feeding time, but gah i love it anyway - I'm still waiting for the episode when Atlantis makes a connection back to Earth and just tell them a fraction off what they have there hands on and oooo, i can just imagine it

[keshou]

Really good episode this week. Written by PDL, although I swear Brad Wright had his hand in this one.

*The Genii, seemingly simple people but right away we knew there was more to them. Friends, enemies, could go either way. Lots of nice layers and twists and turns to the interaction between the humans and the Genii.

* Good Shep/Weir discussions this week. I actually felt for Weir, having Shep keep coming back with all these "deals" he's made. Trading C4? Shep knows how to impress the new people.

*Mckay and the atomic bomb. Love McKay and loved all his scientific babbling in this episode. I think he knows he should keep him mouth shut but he just can't resist showing off. He and Shep make a pretty good banter team.

*Colm Meaney. Good role for him. He has such a friendly face but can be quite menacing.

* The wraith ship was really well done. I think the ships are scarier than the wraiths themselves. The idea of cocooning people for food was effectively creepy and although I felt for them I tend to think Teyla should have probably stayed with the others.

* Teyla was certainly more expressive this week and her hair is certainly better a little shorter. For the first time she really seemed to be asserting her knowledge and her place on the team. I wish I was more convinced by the actress but I did think they used the character well this week.

* Shep was mostly great although I did wonder why he didn't try and check in with Ford before venturing down into the bunker. He also needs to practice his negotiating skills although he did manage to have a few tricks up his sleeve. Nice save at the end getting the interface device. So 60 wraith ships. That's a lot.

* Glad they haven't forgotton the practical realities of survival. Food might have to be rationed huh? Guess the Athosians haven't had time to grow anything on the mainland.

Next week's preview looks interesting. Hammond!!!

[NurseRatched]

Nicely done. Again, it entertained me more than SG-1; good plot, good pacing, good SFX.

Teyla's hair looks a LOT better with her new 'do. Overall, a stronger presence for her in this ep, as opposed to her "Should we not do <whatever>?" every few minutes.

We learn that McKay, "in order to get his fair share" before supplies run out, drinks a LOT of coffee daily, and also designed a model of an atomic bomb for his 6th grade science fair. Mr. Hewlett's rapid-fire prattling about U-235 versus U-238 and all that nuclear physics stuff was utterly convincing.

I'm becoming more convinced as the show develops that Mr. Francks, will all due respect, should stick to the straight-laced, just-the-facts stuff; he's not that strong an actor to carry off even light comic relief. The quick salute to SG-1's "Children of the Gods" (the moonshine reference) was overdone, and quite clumsy IMHO.

Is Weir going to let Sheppard negotiate anything ever again? Next time she should handle that part of the exchange, perhaps via an audio/video link through an open wormhole. And exactly how many outfits did she cram into her backpack? That itty-bitty aqua tank top seemed a little on the skimpy side for someone in authority.

Colm Meaney. Yeah. Always good.

To make the Wraith even more despicable - on-board pantries stocked with cocooned live people. (And leftovers. Ewwwww.) And ruh-roh: up to 60 hive ships?

Shep: Poor negotiator here (seems rationing should have been implemented from day one, knowing they had finite amounts of consumable goods), C-4 (also limited availablity) in exchange for food they may have been able to obtain from another Athosian trading ally, or wait for the Athosians to grow) didn't seem very smart. Smart: cloaked jumpers. Diplomatic skills aside, he still rocks.

What was done well: SPOILERS AHOY:

Spoiler:

Nicely sets up the "Storm/Eye" arc - the Genii aren't too happy with the Atlantis team, and Sora is out for sweet, sweet revenge against Teyla, who indirectly caused her fathers' death. Look at the upcoming episodes gallery - it's Sora and Teyla in that knife fight.

[Jonas]

Really good episode. Atlantis seems to be hitting its stride. I agree that it was stupid for Teyla to try and rescue the cooned man. That scene reminded me of "Aliens" where the Marnies enter the hive and find that woman alive.

McKay had some great lines and i love all his techno babble. It was great to see Colm Meaney. (Chief Miles Edward O'Brien) I think that makes him the sixth "Star Trek" actor to appear on Stargate.

Good episode all around, the effects were great.

[Skydiver]

Originally Posted by Major Fischer

Not so much episode related as thread related...

... to the Mods, the information at the top of this thead is wrong, both the episode number and the picture.

yep. we know. but that's something that darren has to change, i don't quite know how.

he'll take care of it as soon as he can.

[Bobthespirit]

Okay, several problems I have with this episode.

1) Their secret hatch was *really badly* hidden.

2) When they find said secret hatch, they decide, rather to go back and radio what they're doing, to just push forward, and rather than *not* spying on their new friends, to spy on their new friends.

3) McKay "Oh yeah, I'll tell you exactly how to make an atomic bomb, just having met you and having no idea what you plan to do with it. I mean, sure, for all I know you could be planning to use it against innocent people later, but hey. While I'm at it, this is how you make nerve gas."

4) Teyla decides to tell them it's *their* fault the Wraith awoke, when she knew they were perfectly capable and perfectly willing to kill them on the spot without consequences, when she could have just said 'the wraith awoke'.

5) Weir...Weir..okay, this isn't specific to this episode, but GOD YOU ARE SO WOODEN. She's about three steps away from saying 'there's coffee in that nebula'. And when you have your heart to hearts with Shepherd, can you *pretend* you are disciplined military like people and not talk like kids in a treehouse?

So...we have Teyla about ten times as naive as Daniel with nobody balancing her out with hard military disipline like Jack, we have Shepherd who acts like he's on vacation, we have Ford who doesn't really say much of anything, and McKay who's never in his life heard of the word 'practical'.

We've seen some signs of hope with a few of the earlier episodes, but I'm really hoping Atlantis writing turns around quickly.

I do like all the characters in general except for the two that happen to be in charge, but up until those two ships decloaked I was feeling like I had no respect for the intelligence of any of the characters for the entire episode.

[Universal Nexus]

Originally Posted by aeroe

So we made mortal enemies with Bilbo Baggins and the techno-hobbits? Scary.

That. Line. Rules. May I please use that in my signature? Pretty please? It's a lot better than my current one!

My opinions on this episode are VERY positive. I really enjoyed it, much more than most of the previous ones. It wasn't action-packed or anything, but I truly found it something I could watch without rolling my eyes. I loved McKay, and Sheppard in it as well. The new villain was cool, too, being really different. I really think there's potential for the Genii in the villainry department, too...

Teyla was okay in this episode, I guess. She still hasn't grown on me. I liked Weir a lot, though. "THEN we'll talk about nuclear weapons." Hee hee. I liked that line...