I think SOW is a lot better than BAMSR.
BAMSR was basically the Atlantis team using Asgard and Ancient technology to beat the Asurans. There were no hard choices to be made, no sacrifices by the main characters, and the Asurans were beaten in a very impersonal manner. Oberth was not seen at all.
I didn't really get a sense of danger during the battle. It was a cool looking battle, but the Asurians never seemed to counter-attack. They were on the defensive during the entire episode, which put the team in little jeopardy. Their Asgard and Ancient technology gave the humans a decisive advantage ship-to-ship.
The effort to form the alliance was very easy. All the negotiating was done off-screen in the span of minutes during the episode. The only challenges were technical in manner. Slight tweaks to the replicator code to make Fran, slight tweaks to the "attraction code" and a miraculous neutronium ore deposit to effect the plan were the only clever bits... all effected through McKay's technobabble. I like BAMSR, but it didn't seem like a very dramatic episode in the end.
However, Spoilers of War was a gritty and personal episode. The Wraith are always scary with their biological technology. The birth of the Wraith warrior - and the glimpse of him unmasked - was very disgusting. The team was in jeopardy for much of the episode. Teyla had to risk the safety of her child to rescue the team... and her character changed because of it too. There was little real character growth in BAMSR except for a 30 second scene with Ellis (and that was just politics with no real sacrifice or danger for the main characters). It was nice to see Teyla controlling the Wraith instead of the other way around like last time. Everyone on the team had something to do and contribute. Tood was a good character and showed the Wraith as multidimensional villains unlike the Asurans in BAMSR. There was still action, but it was because of tactics and strategy instead of McKay's technobabble. The team got their hands dirty and there was meaningful information revealed (like the history of the Ancient-Wraith war).
Everything in the story seemed to be connected naturally with few "lucky coincidences." Even Teyla's enhanced abilities was easily explained based on her pregnancy (no "hey, there's a neutronium vein or an ancient replicator maker"). So for me, SOW seemed like a much better written episode than BAMSR. Sure there was a cooler battle in the previous episode, but it was a by-the-books with little conflict. SOW had better action and a more dramatic and naturally flowing story. Which is why I think it is a better and more interesting episode.
BAMSR was basically the Atlantis team using Asgard and Ancient technology to beat the Asurans. There were no hard choices to be made, no sacrifices by the main characters, and the Asurans were beaten in a very impersonal manner. Oberth was not seen at all.
I didn't really get a sense of danger during the battle. It was a cool looking battle, but the Asurians never seemed to counter-attack. They were on the defensive during the entire episode, which put the team in little jeopardy. Their Asgard and Ancient technology gave the humans a decisive advantage ship-to-ship.
The effort to form the alliance was very easy. All the negotiating was done off-screen in the span of minutes during the episode. The only challenges were technical in manner. Slight tweaks to the replicator code to make Fran, slight tweaks to the "attraction code" and a miraculous neutronium ore deposit to effect the plan were the only clever bits... all effected through McKay's technobabble. I like BAMSR, but it didn't seem like a very dramatic episode in the end.
However, Spoilers of War was a gritty and personal episode. The Wraith are always scary with their biological technology. The birth of the Wraith warrior - and the glimpse of him unmasked - was very disgusting. The team was in jeopardy for much of the episode. Teyla had to risk the safety of her child to rescue the team... and her character changed because of it too. There was little real character growth in BAMSR except for a 30 second scene with Ellis (and that was just politics with no real sacrifice or danger for the main characters). It was nice to see Teyla controlling the Wraith instead of the other way around like last time. Everyone on the team had something to do and contribute. Tood was a good character and showed the Wraith as multidimensional villains unlike the Asurans in BAMSR. There was still action, but it was because of tactics and strategy instead of McKay's technobabble. The team got their hands dirty and there was meaningful information revealed (like the history of the Ancient-Wraith war).
Everything in the story seemed to be connected naturally with few "lucky coincidences." Even Teyla's enhanced abilities was easily explained based on her pregnancy (no "hey, there's a neutronium vein or an ancient replicator maker"). So for me, SOW seemed like a much better written episode than BAMSR. Sure there was a cooler battle in the previous episode, but it was a by-the-books with little conflict. SOW had better action and a more dramatic and naturally flowing story. Which is why I think it is a better and more interesting episode.
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