Inferno (219)

[Blizzah]

Inconsistencies aside, it was a good episode IMO. It is always cool to see new ancient technology but I can shake the feeling that if the ancients could not defeat the Wraith, why should humans from earth. Additionally, the Wraith have another 10,000 years of evolution and advancement since the battle with the ancients. I don't know, I really like SGA but the whole fighting the Wraith storyline is inconsistent. I guess this time around the Wraith are more fractured and without a central control they are weaker, sort of the old war time strategy of "divide and conquer". Just saying.

[Skie]

It is always cool to see new ancient technology but I can shake the feeling that if the ancients could not defeat the Wraith, why should humans from earth. Additionally, the Wraith have another 10,000 years of evolution and advancement since the battle with the ancients. I don't know, I really like SGA but the whole fighting the Wraith storyline is inconsistent.

The Wraith defeating the Ancients made only sense in S1. Be assured

Spoiler:

in later seasons you are going to scratch your head about how the Wraith were able to defeat the Ancients, that or the Ancients were utterly stupid, since every invention after Season 1 seems to be a failure and McKay has a better grasp on Ancient technology than the Ancient ever had themselves.

[Giantevilhead]

There were two easy ways they could have resolved the situation. They could have had the Daedalus borrow a gate from the nearest planet. They could have beamed everyone to the other side of the planet to give them the time needed to evacuate. Yes the volcano eruption will affect the entire planet but I'm pretty sure that it'll take more than a day for all the soot and toxic fumes to get to the other side of the planet.

Plus the whole idea of the Teranan drawing too much power is kind of ridiculous. There's like a thousand people on that planet, how much power could they possibly use?

[gateraid]

There were two easy ways they could have resolved the situation. They could have had the Daedalus borrow a gate from the nearest planet. They could have beamed everyone to the other side of the planet to give them the time needed to evacuate. Yes the volcano eruption will affect the entire planet but I'm pretty sure that it'll take more than a day for all the soot and toxic fumes to get to the other side of the planet.

True, but until the point where the gate was lost, they thought they'd be able to evacuate everyone that way. And the Deadalus wasn't anywhere the planet initially, Weir had to send it there. Initially they thought they'd have time to get everyone out before the situation got too critical. That tends to be how natural disasters work - unpredicatable, and easy to come up with better ideas when we know after the fact what the timeframe actually was. At the point when they decided to evacuate everyone by ship, it seemed like the best plan.

Plus the whole idea of the Teranan drawing too much power is kind of ridiculous. There's like a thousand people on that planet, how much power could they possibly use?

It wasn't the people, it was the shield generators that were drawing too much power. We don't really know the energy requirements for their shield, and we know from our own world that even a small adjustment to anything under the ground can have disastrous effects.

[Lythisrose]

From Joe Mallozzi's Blog:

INFERNO (219)

A fine episode sandwiched between two great episodes.

Hmmm. At a bit of a loss on this one. I mean, it was solid stand-alone episode. The only elements I recall from the production are the impressive visual effects (of the lava claiming the stargate) and Carl’s frustrating quest to find a name for the planet that everyone could agree on.

What did I miss? Thoughts?

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

Good episode. I liked it when Shep told McKay his plan sucked.

The visual effects for this episode were amazing.

Tomorrow, Us becoming allies with the Wraith, blasphemy.

[Krisz]

The great visual effects made this an enjoyable episode. Notably; the gate falling into the lava flow and the Ancient ship's shields holding back the lava momentarily before the ship jumped into hyper space for a moment.

Finding the intact Ancient ship was cool, but again the quick fix by 'super' McKay was a bit far fetched.

[Lieutenant Sparrow]

A good ep.

The chancellor was an idiot. Always jumping to conclusions. Good thing he apologised.

Ancient Warship. Awesome.

I laughed when Beckett was looking around for a seat and Shep looked at him funny.

And now we have a Wraith ship on the way. Yay.

[Matt G]

Midweek, another ep of Atlantis.

1. Cliches ahoy!

2. Chancellor seemed more of an idiot this time.

This was possibly the precursor to the lemon thing.

Fun ep

[garhkal]

A good ep.

The chancellor was an idiot. Always jumping to conclusions. Good thing he apologised.

I think that was done so he could be seen in a more 'pitiable light' when he did apologize..

though i wonder why we never saw any of them again after the ep??

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Inferno

Instead of getting an penultimate episode dealing with the threat at hand, we get one which deals with a standalone story dealing with a super-volcano, shield generators and a ship called the Orion which for the most part is a deal breaker for the Atlantis team...

Now the situation is common for most SGA episodes... Crew visits a civilization, turns out something's wrong at that civilization, they do their best to help except in this case; it's something that's destructive and affects the entire planet. This situation really gives them the chance to shine as the ever enduring pressure of a volcano erupting gives them motivation; they're working hard to get everything online, they're being as heroic as they can be and even the near certainty of death gives good performances. These people really know how to take a situation and make it good, Sheppard, Teyla and Ronan in this feel more then just characters, they feel like real people and they really showcase the pressure well. The determination and the skill that they hold as they run and make it out through the ashy nights is easily visible, you can see that they're taking this seriously as if everything were on the line and though there are some moments where that isn't evident (The Rodney/Sheppard exchanges for example) they still manage to come through regardless.

A shining moment.

The civilization manages to be a bit generic but they have defining traits to them, mainly their usage of ancient technology and the shots of them inside of that base of theirs. It makes there scenes somewhat interesting and gives us some investment when the stuff does hint the fan; the chancellor is a bit stupid and condescending (possibly to make us feel for him at the end) but look past that and you see the defining point of the civilization, a group of people who's sole purpose is to make us care about the situation they're in and the ever worsening state of their planet as time goes on. They really manage to show the rush well, with the tremors increasing at an ever slow pace and the awesome VFX that shows the state of the planet at this very moment, It gives a sense of excitement to the proceedings and makes us invest in our characters even more, will they or won't they is the question you'll be asking in this episode and in many cases that make the "will they's" really unexpected; if there is one thing you're be feeling, you'll be feeling our heroes as they try to make it through a tough situation.

It's amazing how they make the environment look really gloomy, what with the lighting and the atmosphere and the considerations they taken in regards to volcanoes. Seriously it truly looks like nothing is able to survive outside; this just makes the scenes that much harrowing, from the scenes where the Stargate is destroyed to the scenes where it seems like there's no hope... Truly this is a dark situation from where there is no hope of escape and all likely means of death and the steps they take to make it believable further that perception. Even the Daedalus is used in a way where it's long transport times contribute to the uncertainty of the situation and it's observational status furthers the contribution of that uncertainty. It just makes the moment they escape all so exciting as they beat ever insurmountable odds and escape the now uninhabitable planet; something like this helps us to get hyped for that moment, that very moment where everything comes together.

A harrowing moment.

It's a pretty fun experience but that doesn't mean there are some bumps on the road; the banter between Sheppard and McKay felt a bit forced... Don't get me wrong, they acted well individually but it just seemed like they were aware of their banter and they were just putting on an act for the cameras, this took me out of the experience because I wasn't watching natural characters doing their thing, I was watching actors trying to put on a comedy routine. Then there are some parts which drag on for who knows how long; while there is something that introduces ancient technology or reveals something about the society, there isn't anything that's keeping our attention, It's to be expected with an episode like this I know but these writers should be good enough to avoid writing scenes like this... plus they seem to be discovering intact Ancient technology left and right. I fear that they're just making their discoveries a bit too convenient, if they manage to discover all sorts of technology then it just zaps all of the fun out of watching the series and if this continues on then it could very well dilute what makes Atlantis so special.

"Inferno" is one of those episodes that's common but manages to be a fun experience nonetheless, they're put in a situation where the insurmountable odds are against them and they manage to both make that situation fun and serious. Our characters provide entertaining performances and the tensity that's there manages to keep viewers engaged throughout it's 44 minute running time; sure, there are some bumps but overall this is a good episode and one that should prove to be a satisfying experience.

7.5/10

[jelgate]

Its obvious that this episode is the generic planet of the week type episodes and the whole point of this episode was to get the Orion for the season finale. It not overall bad but its not good. Thier is nothing surprising or awe inspiring. It has the feel of going through the motions and predictiable. The idea of using geothermal energy as a shield was interesting but it was primarly glossed over to go to a supervolcanoe erupting. I do like the solution to the problem in save the people on the Orion was to use a hyperspace window to escape through the planet. Reminds me of an SG1 episode in season five. Although one thing bothers me abou the Deadalus ferrying to Atlantis. It makes a lot more sense to ferry people to nearby safe planet (maybe even with a Stargate) and then the Deadalus can get the people off the unstable faster. A few days on the middle planet can have Caldwell ferry everyone to Atlantis.

[Jae'a]

My LiveJournal post
Wow, some cool effects in this ep, and I loved McKay's plan at the end. (Yeah, I really said that )

[Cluas]

I actually liked this one. An ancient city, just like Atlantis, how many are there out there?
The story was a bit predictable, and generic.
The actor playing Norina, also was in a SG1 episode (Endgame), I can understand Shep's drooling ...