Critical Mass (213)

[MasySyma]

It was a bad week in the SG universe for me. First, I disliked Ripple Effect, and then this episode relied on every clichee possible before ending up with a nice little bow wrapped around a bad episode.

1. Can Weir grow a backbone soon please? Either make the call or don't, but stop with the wishy washy "oh my" kind of leader where the subordinates can see her. I never thought that I would agree with the annoying man with a pony tail, but I did last night.

2. So the Trust have had at least 4-5 months in Atlantis (because we don't know when the Col. was taken over) and they wait until now to cause trouble? Then why did the good Col. agree to go to Atlantis when Weir requested his presence? He should have willingly stayed as the communication point between the bases and let the city blow up.

3. I liked the scenes with Teyla, but they didn't fit with this episode. It appeared as if the dying mentor was used to keep Teyla busy because she couldn't do anything else in this episode.

4. I liked the McKay/Cadman banter for five minutes, but it got old.

5. Ronon needs to stop being used as Sheppard's lap dog. Sheppard nods and Ronon gets to go torture someone. Yuck.

6. The clean ending weakens the episode as well. The code worked; the wraith are deceived again; and all is well. The asguard can even save the good Col. The episode was too much fairytale and not enough reality. If the asguard beaming technology can save people, why hasn't it been used to eliminate the Goa'uld who survived the end of Season 8 on the SGC side of the house? Apparently, the rest of the SGC has no use for the technology, or Hermoid is just that brillant.

Zelenka's scenes were the only funny moments of the episode. Almost everything else was either bland or bothersome.

I have been extremely disappointed by Season 2 of Atlantis. Many of the episodes look great on paper, and I'm not referring to extra spoilers; however, time and time again, the episodes are not delivering on their potential. I'm beginning to get tired of this habit.

[HirogenGater]

I had no problem with the episode. Weir seemed liked someone with morals forced to do something she didn't want to do. She was faced with the problem of the entire city being destroyed. I'd be hesitant as well to use torture. Cool way to bring the Goa'uld into Atlantis, and it was nice to see tha Asgard on the ship again.

[HirogenGater]

I agree. The second she started singing I was like OH NO! They're ruining the show! But then it all fit together and I have say Bravo Zulu to the writers and producers. It was beautifully done and totally added to the drama. They took a risk by doing this and I think they passed with flying colors.

Agreed, I thought the same thing there going to ruin the episode, but it just fit well. Nice Job.

[Seastallion]

Teyla can sing..!

[-Jules-]

This was def. one of the best episodes of this season for me! I loved the plot and the how the characters worked with each other. (Teyla can sing!?!?) It wasn't what I was expecting, I like that. It had a nice twist at the end and kept you guessing...
Great job, TPTB! ^_^

[Dannygirl]

Agreed. Wonderful epi. 5/5

Is this Caldwell's last epi or is he on till the end of the season? I thought I read something where he was signed on for 8 ep's. This would be about 8 now, right?

I really do feel for Weir. Kavanagh accuses her of using her heart too much and not her head at Atlantis' expense. Well he got what he wanted, she used her head though I don't think he was under the impression it would ever have been against him. He didn't exactly help his situation much. Too big of an ego and mouth and too little of common sense. His lying only got himself into more trouble. I look forward to her character development.

[LORD MONK]

Great ep. I loved it. I couldn't believe Weir sent Ronin in to tourture that annoying little brat. Why can't he just die. They take away Ford and leave Mr. Pig Tail. Although I didn't agree with the hole tourture thing, I had know problem when it was Caldwells turn. But I also new they would only do it enough so the host can talk then they would stop. If the Pig Tailed guy didn't want to get tortured he shouldn't have acted like a little baby and whine about how know one like likes and tried to help instead of fight. I want him to be fed on.

Love the twist at the end. This ep. Rocked which is good because SG-1 was horrable

[BigGator5]

I agree. The second she started singing I was like OH NO! They're ruining the show! But then it all fit together and I have say Bravo Zulu to the writers and producers. It was beautifully done and totally added to the drama. They took a risk by doing this and I think they passed with flying colors.

Agreed. The song would either fail or succeed and the roll came to a nice and easy 7. Good job!

As to the tourture issue. I think this show was trying to make a statement, but it came off bad.

One thing, Kavanagh wasn't tourture. He fainted before Ronon could do anything. He deserved what he got, the jerk. Weir's statment about us turning on each other, was also kind of dumb. We should be blaming the Trust (or Baal), not each other.

Caldwell was also hit by a stun gun and not The Rack. Plus, he had a snake in his head. When dealing with the Goa'uld, you got to put it in your mind that you may have to kill the host.

[prion]

Great ep. I loved it. I couldn't believe Weir sent Ronin in to tourture that annoying little brat. Why can't he just die. They take away Ford and leave Mr. Pig Tail. Although I didn't agree with the hole tourture thing, I had know problem when it was Caldwells turn. But I also new they would only do it enough so the host can talk then they would stop. If the Pig Tailed guy didn't want to get tortured he shouldn't have acted like a little baby and whine about how know one like likes and tried to help instead of fight. I want him to be fed on.

Love the twist at the end. This ep. Rocked which is good because SG-1 was horrable

The entire city was about 24 minutes away from being turned into dust, so Weir agreed to using 'excessive force' (Ronon went to visit Kavanagh). It's a nasty thiing to do, but was Ronon going to twist the guy's arm (literally, and twist enough and Kavanagh would spill his guts). This wasn't nasty long and involved torture, which is far worse. HOwever, we did see at the end that Weir was disturbed by the decision she made, which does fit into her character.

As for Caldwell, Sheppard came prepared, otherwise he would had to seriously damaged the 'host' in order to get past the Goa'uld. A normal human being couldn't have taken that much Tasering, but a Goa'uld infested one can until the point the Goa'uld is temporarily stunned, giving the host a chance to resurface for a chat.

Despite the misery Caldwell went through, I'm sure he said nothing bad against Sheppard or Weir in this instance as he himself said basically that desperate times call for desperate measures, or, that tough measures need to be taken, whatever.

It's a darker turn for our characters on SGA, but a realistic one. They can't always play nice in the Pegasus Galaxy. To have done so, well, the base would have been blown up.

[prion]

Is this Caldwell's last epi or is he on till the end of the season? I thought I read something where he was signed on for 8 ep's. This would be about 8 now, right?

Don't worry about Caldwell

[SciFiGeek]

Much better than last week's episode. Or the week before that. Or the week...heck, it's definitely the most engaged I've been by Atlantis in a good long while. And it even had a good payoff to boot.

This was probably the most I've gotten into an Atlantis episode all season alongside Trinity. And unfortunately, they both had the same annoyance--the side plot. No offense in general to Teyla, but I felt her sidestory really detracted from the overall episode and I found myself grinding my teeth every time it returned to her. I actually even thought the one in Trinity was decent--except that it kept interrupting the building intensity. And the ending with her singing...I think I would've like it a whole lot more (with the conglomeration of sequences) if I didn't find Teyla so flat and annoying in general. But I wanted to like it, so I'll give it that.

Big pluses? Very little Ronon. So little that it wasn't even until 15 minutes before the end of the episode that I noticed he had disappeared and suddenly realized why I liked it so much. That, added to the fact that it let the series three best and strongest characters--Weir, Sheppard, McKay--stand out. I could've used maybe slightly less of the SGC footage--fun as it was to see Landry, Walter, and Lee--but I was okay with it overall.

"Look, I hate Kavanaugh as much as the next guy, probably more..." Hee. I do love McKay. I love loving McKay and remembering why. He was so nicely utilized in this episode. Also, can I please request lots and lots of Sheppard-McKay interaction? Because you can really never have too much.

Liked the bringing of characters we haven't seen in a while--Novak (who is really growing on me), Kavanaugh, Cadman. And while I roll my eyes every time another Trust episode rolls around on SG1, this was one was surprisingly good.

Best surprise of the episode--Caldwell. I remember predicting that the mole would be Cadman, and fully expecting it to be one of the supporting characters that returned this episode, and was completely fooled by the writers. Beautiful! What's more, I remember thinking how much more interesting it would be were one of the main characters like McKay or Sheppard turn out to be the Goa'uld--and they did the next best thing. Very nice! Though now I really want to know more. How long has he been a Goa'uld? And is he going to continue his command of the Daedalus? Please don't lose him yet--he's such a great, ambiguous character.

Anyway, minimal ramblings of a semi-incoherent loon. Nice to see others liked this episode, as well.

[DragonGate]

This was an excellent use of the fact that the Goa'uld can easily infiltrate us if they want to. I knew from spoilers it was Caldwell, but I agree with SciFiGeek about if it had been one of the regulars. Before I knew it was Caldwell, but after knowing it was a Goa'uld, I was thinking Sheppard.

The song was beautiful and made an excellent backdrop for the final sequence. Had a foresty, fantasy, pagan kind of feel.

Poor Zelenka! Looked like he wanted to kill Rodney.

[nccjones]

Much Big pluses? Very little Ronon. So little that it wasn't even until 15 minutes before the end of the episode that I noticed he had disappeared and suddenly realized why I liked it so much.

Man, I thought I was the only one who felt that way. I'm still trying to figure out why he's on the team. All he does is try to be menacing. I really don't think he adds any kind of value. It should be another scientist/soldier type if you ask me. They already have Xena, so why do they need Conan?

[keshou]

Late to the party and I'm sure it's all been said.

Really enjoyed this episode a lot. Good tension, nicely paced and the contrast of the Goa'uld infiltration / Teyla story was well done.

I LOVE Rodney and Zelenka's snarking. The opening bits with Zelenka leaving and then coming back (LOL on the hair and face paint) were amusing bookends to a solid show.

Also enjoyed Cadman's bits. They've really developed a great group of supporting characters on this show.

I was totally spoiled on Caldwell being the Goa'uld - not sure if I would have guessed otherwise. Reminds me of how good a villain the Goa'ulds really were. They could be anyplace at any time and look just like us.

I really loved Teyla's song and Rachel has a beautiful voice. I wish it had been a little less staged, as in not recorded in a sound studio with a choral backdrop. A more natural accapella delivery might have been more effective. But I did love the cuts back and forth between the tension at the control center and Teyla's "goodbye" to her friend.

[not so ancient]

It was an okay ep. Mostly because it revealed a number of things.

The Athosians are basically Christian Scientists. Which is comforting in an odd way.

Um, no.

One does not have to be a Christian Scientist to be at the end of one's long life and wish to go peacefully, rather than enduring surgery, drastic measures, intervention, or anything other than palliative medication.

There's no indication that an Athosian would refuse almost *all* medical treatment. Halling's broken leg was set. Teyla has been under Beckett's care. So, um, not so much with the Christian Scientist thing.

And why would that be comforting?

But, never fear, for an encore, you've come up with this wonderful zinger:

Weir is now a war criminal.

Right.

And Teyla's a battered woman, and Ronon is a drunken abuser. Have I missed some statements of yours about McKay or Sheppard or Beckett being criminal psychotic warped sickos? If so, I'm sure you'll supply your 'diagnosis' or 'legal judgment' for our edification.

Sheesh!