Epiphany (212)

[caty]

Think the backstory theory came from writers, etc. saying 'you'll find out this' and well, we found out he was scared of lightning as a kid, but I really hoping for tidbits from his adult life. Oh well.

No, if you watch an interview with Joe here on Gateworld (I think it was in april), he explicitly stated that there will be backstory in 'Epiphany' dealing with his time in Afghanistan..

They probably even shot it, but it didn't make the final cut..

I would really, really like to know what Joe thinks about how the episode turned out.

BTW: After I've watched it s third time, I enjoyed 'Epiphany'.. Think I finally might have gotten over my disappointment that there wasn't any backstory and the lack of after-whump scenes *evil*

Needless to say that Joe was absolutely fabulous again, is that man real?

[caty]

I think the entire episode should have been on Sheppard in the cave without the sundry wannabee ascendees. All the cave stuff with him talking to his radio was fabulous. Sheppard angst, in cave, flashbacks. Wouldn't that have been splendid?

OMG, that would have been perfect! Talk about character development...

[Easter Lily]

I think the entire episode should have been on Sheppard in the cave without the sundry wannabee ascendees. All the cave stuff with him talking to his radio was fabulous. Sheppard angst, in cave, flashbacks. Wouldn't that have been splendid?

You know me... I won't disagree there... I love onscreen claustrophobia...
I don't mind sundry wannabee ascendees (with a bit more spark please) running back and forth from the cave trying to feed him and persuade him to go ascending...
Angsty Sheppard is always good...

[Shep'sSocks]

No, if you watch an interview with Joe here on Gateworld (I think it was in april), he explicitly stated that there will be backstory in 'Epiphany' dealing with his time in Afghanistan..

They probably even shot it, but it didn't make the final cut..

I would really, really like to know what Joe thinks about how the episode turned out.

I'm guessing that we're never going to find out.

BTW: After I've watched it s third time, I enjoyed 'Epiphany'.. Think I finally might have gotten over my disappointment that there wasn't any backstory and the lack of after-whump scenes *evil*

I've watched it several times up to the dread beast bit and it's great. After that, I'm a bit 'meh' about it.

Needless to say that Joe was absolutely fabulous again, is that man real?

With that hair?

[Unamed]

Could someone tell me what day new eps air in canada?

[ToasterOnFire]

Wow, Ronan got to use his sword! And here I thought it was just to pick up chicks.

I was a bit worried after reading early reviews here, but I ended up actually liking this ep more than Hive. The beast was rather unimpressive though. I didn't go in expecting any Shep backstory so I wasn't disappointed in that area. The alien gal of the week was much better than Chaya and I saw her relationship with Shep as more mututal and less her flinging herself at him. Rodney stole the show - I always enjoy seeing a cranky, under-pressure Rodney and I thought his admittances that he couldn't fly the PJ well and that the idea was really Zelenka's were nice bits of character development. Ronan and Teyla were great, though I am getting a bit sick of seeing them together all the time...

Best line of the ep - "I didn't ask for a log!"

(I'm watching SGA with a physicist friend of mine, and indeed she spends a great deal of time yelling "LIES, LIES, LIES!" Can't wait until she gets to "Trinity," exotic particles, and the laws of the universe breaking down. I imagine the biologists have the same trouble dealing with... well, everything Beckett does.)

Indeed. Magic retroviral therapies and chopping out huge chunks of DNA to turn a wraith back into a human, oh my! Ignorance is truly bliss when watching most sci-fi.

[majortrip]

I think the entire episode should have been on Sheppard in the cave without the sundry wannabee ascendees. All the cave stuff with him talking to his radio was fabulous. Sheppard angst, in cave, flashbacks. Wouldn't that have been splendid?

I wholeheartedly agree with you here. The ascendees weren't that interesting to me at all- they were almost a distraction. I, too, have watched it a third time, and by far the very best parts were Sheppard's.

This ancient chick didn't bother me in regards to Sheppard, but she was boring. Nice, but boring.

[Michelle05]

Oooh, so don't agree with this. He doesn't tend to show it but it's all internal. Remember, this is the guy who conjured up dead people in Home. But do come on over to the Sheppard Appreciation and Discussion thread for a chat. Wouldn't mind hearing your reasoning.

I'll come over and have a lurk; maybe you'll convert me. I would love to see more raw angst in Sheppard than I have. I've been using fan fic for that :-)

[Erised]

If you ask me, those people's excuse for not ascending was very, very, VERY LAME!

[AutumnDream]

Indeed. Magic retroviral therapies and chopping out huge chunks of DNA to turn a wraith back into a human, oh my! Ignorance is truly bliss when watching most sci-fi.

Read this! Just the first paragraph should be enough to make anyone understand how Beckett's retrovirus isn't an impossibility, especially considering the advanced ancient resources on biology he has at his disposal.

[Linzi]

I would love to see more raw angst in Sheppard than I have. I've been using fan fic for that :-)

You're not the only one.....

[Yeade]

[Sheppard]'s just not an angsty character. Jack doesn't like to talk about himself either, but the reluctance appears rooted in pain, not simple flippancy. With Sheppard you're left wondering if anything unpleasant ever touched him deeply. I'm not even sure the clown thing was for real!

That's... not exactly what I meant. I see Sheppard's flippancy as his way of dissociating from anything and everything bad that's ever happened to him. It seems like nothing's ever touched him deeply because he internalizes all his darker emotions in some out of the way place where he doesn't have to deal with them. This is not the best way to resolve pain, to say the least (more like a non-way), and I think it explains Sheppard's occasional crazy! moments--he can't contain his emotions and cracks spectacularly.

The clown thing and, for that matter, nearly every other conversation Sheppard's ever had never fails to impress me with how incredibly deflective he is. He's attractive (though I don't think he quite believes this himself, only realizes and uses its effect on people) and charming and probably leaves all the folks he talks to with the impression that they know him well when he hasn't given away much, if any, revealing personal information.

The phrase "drawing blood from a stone" comes to mind.

At any rate, my (long-winded) point is that while he may have deep pains, Sheppard isn't likely to ever let those show unless under extreme stress, pain, or threat of death. And even then, there can't be too many witnesses or he'll probably manage to keep his head together out of some sense of responsibility to others.

And I second Shep'sSocks's invitation to come over to the Sheppard character discussion thread! We have cookies!

All those numbers were derived by someone going 1,2,3 and then comapring that to the time on the recording devices though. It was bound to be off by some margin since people can't count seconds with the same precision a machine does.

You misunderstand, I think. I don't mind that Teyla and McKay estimated. No, it bothers me that Teyla screwed up her math while estimating, and that the estimates don't even remotely agree with time statements from the characters. If Teyla says 3 seconds equates with 12 minutes (720 seconds), then the ratio is 240 to 1. Not 250 to 1. And there's not even an excuse to round!

Another example: Weir says a few or several hours passed. This means more than two hours but likely less than ten because most people will note the passage of that much time differently. (By saying "ten hours" usually.) Taking ten as the upper limit anyways, basic multiplication, with the correct 240 to 1 estimated ratio of time dilation, means 2400 hours for Sheppard. How does that translate to "six months"? I mean, by any standard? Earth's doesn't work, and Atlantis apparently has longer days ("Runner"). Sheppard switched to the planet's time? And the planet had really short days or months?

[Timing with watches] wasn't really necessary since [McKay et al.] already had a pretty good idea of what the ratio was. A precise measurment just would have been a pointless waste of time they didn't have.

Right. I did note that McKay and co. probably forgot about their watches in the rush, but how long do you think it takes to glance down at a watch and track the second hand, Ouroboros? I'm just wondering.

The alien gal of the week was much better than Chaya and I saw her relationship with Shep as more mututal and less her flinging herself at him.

I finally got the chance to watch the much reviled "Sanctuary" recently and, er, Chaya wasn't so bad, really. The attraction was mutual; after all, Chaya left her charges for the first time in Lord only knows how long to spend more time with John, who in turn obviously wanted her to accept his offer to visit Atlantis. Sheppard's relationship with Teer had time to develop--a traditional courtship, if you will, only with psychic visions and all--while his thing for Chaya was puppy love.

AutumnDream, are we talking the ATA gene therapy or the Wraith retrovirus? The basic idea of the first, I think, is pretty sound. It skimps on the details, but that's to be expected when there's next to nothing in canon about the Ancient gene. This LJ post, I think, is a pretty good discussion of the topic.

The thing that breaks my brain in regards to the Wraith retrovirus is that, not only did it not do what it was supposed to in Ellia, but it did something completely different in Sheppard. That is, it enhanced the aspects of Ellia's DNA that were Iratus, then added those elements to Sheppard's (speculation aside) human DNA. Oookay then...


edit: tags

[SGalisa]

haven't seen the ep yet, can't until Jan/2006... but I have a question:
would someone please describe what was going on with Shep's hands and body's reaction vs. his mind - that his physical and mental entities were experiencing some sort of time reaction shift?
thanks!

[AutumnDream]

The prototype retrovirus Ellia took was probably an early version that didn't have the Wraith RNA viral part removed yet, or Carson hasnt figured out how to isolate it. It probably injected a great deal of wraith cells into her already wraithy cells, causing the mutation PAST the bug-ness of usual Wraith. Of course, he wouldn't have removed the multiplying part from the virus either, so when a small amount got into Sheppard's system, it copied itself and made him "convert". This would also explain why it only took a short time for Ellia to totally lose it as opposed to the longer time it took for Shep. She took so much that it didn't have trouble delivering to all her cells, but the small amount John got had to work harder to get widespread cellular penetration. Another reason could be that wraith immune systems don't recognize external wraith DNA as foreign genetic material, so Sheppard was probably quite a bit more resistant than she was.

[Yeade]

Well, that sounds good...

Frankly, I have only the most basic knowledge of biology and, specifically, genetics. All I know is that aspects of the Wraith retrovirus, including the one I mentioned, didn't click for me and others. Possibly this is because the writers left a lot of holes for us viewers to fill in the development and workings of the thing.

would someone please describe what was going on with Shep's hands and body's reaction vs. his mind - that his physical and mental entities were experiencing some sort of time reaction shift?

Are you referring to when Sheppard first got sucked into the portal? As I understand it, the process hurt him because he crossed the threshold slowly, resisting and later being pulled back by Ronon and Teyla. This way, his body noticeably experienced the difference in time flow as opposed to the team quickly stepping through later.


edit: reply to SGalisa