Hot Zone (113)

[DarkQuee1]

Personally, I thought Bates obeyed Shep because Shep is the ranking military officer and he felt he HAD to obey. That, IMO, is why he apologised to Weir.

I think Weir was completely right. Shep screwed up and screwed up big time. He didn't even seem willing to consider the possibility that she might have a point. He was so consumed by his own self-righteousness that he ignored everything and everyone else. Bad Shep. He came through in the end, yes, but he made it more difficult for everyone in the process.

I felt that Weir acted appropriately in all instances, although personally I would have been a lot harder on Shep. A LOT harder. I admit that Shep isn't one of my favorite characters, but I like him well enough most of the time. However, in this ep and Sanctuary, I actually hated him. *grinds teeth* The cocky boyish act doesn't play well for me, particularly in this ep.

ITA. I was furious with the character at that point. Basically, he pulled a military coup on the civilian leadership of the base. And this is the guy who, when Sumner told him to remember who was in command, replied, "That would be Dr. Weir." Unless, apparently, she doesn't do what he wants her to do.

And his action actually made things worse. He ended up being responsible for exposing a lot of other people to the disease.

I'm very glad that TPTB addressed it and had her ream him out at the end; I was afraid that it was going to be another "male" and "military" gets to diss "female" and "civilian" situation. He stepped way over the line and he didn't seem remotely apologetic about it until she hit him.

BTW, in my opinion, Bates was wrong, too. If Gen. Jumper gave a sergeant an order to disobey a direct order from the President, would he be expected to follow it? No, he wouldn't. Weir was in command of that base and Bates should have followed *that* chain of command.

I don't like the increasingly skimpy costumes for Teyla. Hey, TPTB: try working on her character instead of her bustline!

The most interesting thing for me was the question of who created the virus, and why. Was it an enemy of the Wraith with a Ree'tou rebel idea that humans were the Wraith's primary food source, so destroy the food, destroy the Wraith? Or something worse than the Wraith out there?

(Watch: this will be the "new enemy" of SG-1's season 9!)


J.

[Merlin7]

I agree that Weir was being too slow, she didn't respond quickly enough when Rodney advised that Peterson was perfectly able to get through the security lockouts in the system. She had Grodin working on it but when Rodney said someone needed to stop him, she didn't come up with idea of who could go and do it. However I think Sheppard acted too quickly. He had been itching to get out of the gym and do something ever since the alert first started and when Peterson escaped he decided it had to be him. I understand why he felt like that but I also understand why Weir acted the way she did but neither of them at that point showed any flexibility or frankly any logic. It was like the discussion Sheppard had with Teyla afterwards, both he and Weir were completely locked into their own decisions and neither were thinking clearly. Weir was following outbreak protocol and sticking to a lockdown and non-movement of all personnell which is completely correct. Sheppard on realising that the situation was in danger of escallating decided as the military CO that it need dealing with, which is also correct. I was angry at Sheppard for undermining Weir's authority and getting Bates to overide her decision, I thought it was very unprofessional but I do think that Weir at that point wasn't coming up with any ideas of how to deal with the situation. She looked lost and out of her depth which of course made it the worst possible occasion for Sheppard to disregard her authority. They were both being rather pigheaded and stubborn. It never should have escallated into a contest of wills over the radio.

Whilst watching that scene I was thinking that they both needed to take a breath for a second and logically sort something out. I don't know the layout of Atlantis, where the Control Centre is in relation to the gym and where Peterson was but the most sensible thing was to locate where he was, where he was heading ( they could see it all on the computer screen) and work out who (military wise) was the nearest to him and also able to get access to a hazmat suit to go and deal with him without having to open up too much of city that was already locked down. It may have been the case that Sheppard and Teyla were the most suitable people for the task but that was never addressed because the whole situation got out of hand. I remember thinking when Peterson first escaped and they were tracking him from the CC why didn't they just send Bates to deal with it. They could lock everything down after him as he passed through.

You're right about Rodney, despite being in another near-death situation ( and we all know how well he handles those ~lol) he was the only one keeping a cool head. Rodney saved the day. He worked out the nature of the virus and then how to deal with it. Sheppard did come up with the final solution and risked his life but only after Rodney had already done most of the groundwork. The combination of Weir's cautiousness and Sheppard overzealousness could have led to a lot more deaths than actually happened.

For Weir and Shep it turned into a pissing contest, which I think they both learned from. And I love the realism of it. In that kind of situation, people react. Differently. Weir's instinctive reaction is to get all the intel and work it through. NO TIME FOR THAT. Shep's reaction is to do something. ACTION. But he did stay put at first.

They both made mistakes. THANK GOODNESS! That's realistic.

For me I lean more towards Rodney was running the show. He thought someone should get PETERSON. He then worked in tandem with Sheppard. Rodney did have the basic idea, but Shep found the way to make it work .That's what McShep do. They work together. Weir and Shep are LEARNING to do that. IT's just another dynamic of SGA that I adore.

I like that Weir called him on it, but what makes what he did very interesting to me is still the BATES Factor. Bates is always calling Shep on reacting on his feelings rather than taking a more logical stance on things. *like in Suspicion and eps to come* ALways calling him on it. Yet in this matter he didn't even hesitate. BATES agreed with Shep. For once. He felt Sheppard should go after Peterson. as well. So I'm leaning towards it was the right thing to do, ultimately since Rodney said get the guy.

WEir's mistake was in locking Shep in. He was far enough away that he wasn't going to be in danger even if he and Teyla headed out for the hazmat suits. And I don't think they really HAD time to debate it. Peterson wanted IN the control area and he would have made it.

Weir could have kept talking to Shep. I'm sure though that Rodney would have jumped in at that point and told her to let Shep go. Shep and Rodney really did work together. Weir contributed...nothing. She meant well but at this point, Rodney and Shep worked better on the problem. And I just love the Bates factor. I do. Because he's made it so clear that when he disagrees with Shep he's very vocal about it. He totally thought it was the right thing to save the control area. Bates..the head of security. So...that was cool.

[phenxF16]

I loved this episode! Probably my favorite of the season so far, except for the Eye, maybe.

I'm a big shep/weir fan, but this ep. had something for everybody.

I really hope that they don't just ignore the trust issue, because so far this series has been one of the most realistic that I've seen on TV. Mckay was great and I'm glad that Ford finally showed some real emotion, which happened to be panic.

[ShadowMaat]

...I'm glad that Ford finally showed some real emotion, which happened to be panic.

Yeah, he's been hanging around McKay too long.

[Merlin7]

I loved this episode! Probably my favorite of the season so far, except for the Eye, maybe.

I'm a big shep/weir fan, but this ep. had something for everybody.

I really hope that they don't just ignore the trust issue, because so far this series has been one of the most realistic that I've seen on TV. Mckay was great and I'm glad that Ford finally showed some real emotion, which happened to be panic.

That really was one of the coolest things about the ep. Everybody got a moment/issue.

Bates and Grodin and Zalenka and Ford and Beckett...plus the main characters. SGA does this well and I'm so glad. I don't always like how the characters are written...and I was surprised at how panicked Ford was considering he's a soldier and usually plays it much cooler. But then again..I adore the fact that the characters on SGA are all flawed. All make mistakes. They're so real/human. ::::Hugs show:::

[Vapor]

Just a few stray comments this week.

The Weir/Shep dynamic continues to stay interesting. I love the concept of the two dueling leaders and their often-conflicting viewpoints. In this situation I particularly like that neither side was completely wrong, and they come out learning from each other. I don't know what Weir-haters are talking about. Her thinking was perfectly logical. Just because we know what happened after her decision was made doesn't suddenly make her "wrong." She didn't know anymore than we did at first what was going to happen next. Same with Shep.

Ford's little freakout was my least favorite part of the ep. Sorry, I just continually dislike the things Ford does and says through this season. I've lost all interest in the guy.

McKay, of course, rules.

Notice also that ALL the recurring characters return in this one. Great!

So, I hope it doesn't take them 3 years to follow up on this "who made the virus?" thing. I want to know sometime in the near future, thank you.

This ep rocked. I give it an A. Helluva lot better than last week's.

[Jeril]

I thought this was a really well-done episode with character development practically all around.
I think my favorite part was when McKay was talking real fast before he was supposed to die and he was telling Ford about his sister and he said something along the lines of, "Tell her I died saving someone! Make it sound good! Uh, kids! Yeah! Tell her I died saving kids!" Lol. He's so hopeless...

I was however very irritated with Sheppard when he made Bates let him out of the gym. Weir was so in command and he completely undermined her authority there. He was way out of line. Yes, he saved the day and they couldn't have done it without him, etc. etc. but poor Weir! How's she ever going to have the respect and authority she should if Sheppard continues to do that? He's really gotta work on following her orders more... though he really wouldn't be the same character if he did so I guess I just gotta learn to tolerate that quirk of his. Oh well. He's cute so I'll forgive him.

I think he was right though in the way he wanted to deal with the situation. I was sitting there, watching Weir, and thinking to myself, "Girl, you've got Bates right there! Give him a gun and tell him to go blow the hell out of that idiot Peterson!" That's what I would've done, at least, but I guess Weir doesn't work that way. Hopefully Sheppard will rub off on her some in the seasons to come.

[DarkQuee1]

I think he was right though in the way he wanted to deal with the situation. I was sitting there, watching Weir, and thinking to myself, "Girl, you've got Bates right there! Give him a gun and tell him to go blow the hell out of that idiot Peterson!" That's what I would've done, at least, but I guess Weir doesn't work that way. Hopefully Sheppard will rub off on her some in the seasons to come.

We have no idea that she wouldn't have, had Peterson made it to the control room. She was still trying to contain him. And remember, the city had locked them all down. Unless Bates had a hazmat suit in the control center, he wouldn't have been able to move around.

J.

[ShadowMaat]

Send Ford or one of the other babysitters. They're military trained, they know what Peterson looks like, and they're already infected.

[slipstream]

I agree partially with some of the other posters here. Altho I was gratified to see Sheppard taking charge from Weir from a male female perspective I thought it was very wrong and dangerous from a military-civilian perspective. I hope that genuine American soldiers would never conduct themselves that way.

However, as the mission is international and strictly speaking none of the national contingents are answerable to the others perhaps Sheppard did not act so badly after all. The American soldiers are there to support and protect but Weir is not an elected official of America and tho she might be chosen by the President I'm sure Weir would never be leading without international support. So maybe very strictly speaking she doesn't really command the military and that's why Sheppard felt morally he could override her.

Weir was being very stupid tho. Mckay/Sheppard/Bates recognized the situation for what it was.

[SmartFox]

I really like that episode. I thought Sheppard shouldn't of undermined Wier's leadership but that Wier wasn't thinking smart at all. She was watching how Peterson kept coming and nothing stopped him yet she did nothing to stop him and if I were Sheppard i would do the same thing. Stop him at all costs. Yes through Shep's actions a lot of people got infected but what if instead Peterson got to the control room. Then you have all the main leadership dead and then no one can get into the control room.

I'm guessing that the Ancients were the ones that made the virus. Complete guess no backing at all. Just the way Mckay avoided answering the question. Also it would make perfect sense as a desperate last resort way to stop the Wraith.

[Azramm]

Spoilers......moved from other thread as well, sorry new/lurker here
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Consider the following:

-Beckett's comment on how the Ancients would never deliberaly design such a thing.

-The insidius nature of the virus. The sudden frightening visions, the foreknowledge of an imminent death at a predetermined time. With the technology of the Ancients they could have made a much faster acting virus. Even with our real life current technology we have invisible chemical and biological agents that kill instantly. The creator of the virus wanted its victims to suffer before they died.

-Consider all of the races/individuals that the Atlantas team and SGC have encountered that would have not only the ability to create such a virus but also the desire.

-The conclusion: Linea. No one knows where she came from. All we know is that she is capable and happily willing to wipe out all life as she finds it. Linea could have been an Ancient or have somehow gotten access to Atlantis at some point. While this may now be a thing of the past her current amnesia points to her being a walking time bomb waiting to wipe out the current race she lives with.


-Second possibility. Slightly remote. Perhaps the Ancients were trying to find a way to counteract the illusion casting capability of the Wraith and it backfired or was not given sufficient development time.

[GatetheWay]

For those who saw the first two minutes of the episode. Was the prime number game McKay and Zelenka playing a reference to DH's movie Cube or was is it just a coincidence?

[prion]

Personally, everybody sorta screwed up in this episode, which made it more realistic. Sheppard saw it strictly froma military viewpoint that he had to protect the base's personnel, and that included Weir. Weir saw it from the 'we can reason this out' point of view- guns and violence are her very last resort - and also figured Grodin could lock the guy out. Sheppard doesn't ascribe to the plan that Grodin's plan MIGHT work.

If Petersen had made it ot the control room, that would have taken out key personnel, AND he could have escaped further into the base. Of course, nobody thought far enough (ahem) about Petersen ducking into that transporter. Oops.

[Hyperspace]

^^^
Someone above mentioned that Peterson should have been zapped. Do they have zat guns on Atlantis? I suppose the Wraith guns...

And what's the total population of Atlantis and the body count so far in Season 1?