The Ark (316)

[Willow'sCat]

That was so funny! Even though Stargate seems to be a Dell shop, I know David Hewlett personally uses a Mac. I wonder if that was written in or an ad lib that stuck.

See I thought that was a lame line, not funny at all and really out of place for the moment. If this was one of those fun eps it would have worked but it felt forced. *shrugs*

[leelakin]

Am I the only one that wants to see & fight to the death ?

Hehe! Well, not seriously to death... but some stick fights with those two would be awesome. =)

The Ark was... I can't say that I found the plot very interesting. The whole 'civilizations bottled up in ships or pods and waiting to repopulate some planet' is a cool thing, but it's not the first time this has been used.

I thought the new sets were REALLY cool though, loved it! And the 'snickers' cap is awesome, I don't think it was intentional, though. *lol*
The special effects were great, too, the space station and Shep breaking through the atmosphere looked awesome.

Though another thing I felt (I've only watched the ep once so far) was that it really didn't give me a sense of impending doom/danger. I mean, sure, I knew there was danger. But it was more like a generic "there isn't a chance in hell they WON'T survive this" danger and I caught myself spacing out on a lot of the dialogue in the first half of the ep.
Too bad Teyla didn't get more emotional scenes/more interaction with the other main characters, I was kinda expecting that.

In total... hmm, 5/10.

[watcher652]

See I thought that was a lame line, not funny at all and really out of place for the moment. If this was one of those fun eps it would have worked but it felt forced. *shrugs*

What's really funny is that the only one who would get the reference would be Sheppard.

[theonebluegecko]

I loved the line in the first episode this season where McKay mentioned to Ronon that "I am glad I still remember DOS" or something to that effect, and then just explained that it was very funny. The Mac line reminded me of it.

All in all I thought the episode was great an had a lot of good moments. I loved how McKay was willing to stay and leave behind even if it meant possibly risking himself to a degree. I loved how Sheppard was disgusted by how Ronon popped his should back in place. And the whole fight the the death part was good.

Over all it was a fun episode with a good plot, good character interaction scenes, and a lot of good lines.

(Also to note, I did enjoyed the opening, it really made you wonder how they would get to that situation.)

[Fifer]

Cheers for coming on and posting here Ken. I can't tell you how fascinating it is to read the thoughts of the very guy who wrote the episode i just watched. Its a bit bizarre...but the good bizarre.

Firstly i would start off by saying that this was by no means my favourite episode of Atlantis to date but it certainly wasn't a weak "season filler" episode because it did provide us with some useful moments. If we are talking favourites then your last effort, "Common Ground", was a belter.

I saw someone earlier call Ronon a "cartoon character" because of the way he reset his dislocated shoulder. This is a man who survived being hunted by the Wraith for 7 years and slaughtered god knows how many during Sateda. I think reseting his shoulder would be a piece of cake.

Somebody else criticised Ken for the lack of condemnation and disgust at the actions of this civilisation. We have to remember that Jamus told Teyla what happened when they were alone. You saw how horrified Teyla was but perhaps she chose to keep this to herself instead of sharing it with the expedition? Jamus died from his injuries and Teyla perhaps thought no good could come from the widespread knowledge of how this civilisation has acted. Maybe Teyla was offering this civilisation a clean slate through her unilateral actions? I dunno, i'm just throwing it out there.

Now for me the main thing i got out of this episode was how much the team has bonded but in particular the friendship that is starting to develop between Mckay and Sheppard. These are two guys, to be frank, that in normal circumstances just shouldn't be pals but you can see from Rodney's statement: "Please don't do this!", that they have become quite tight. I thought that was pretty powerful and a good bit of writing. While we have seen evidence of their friendship before this was evidence of how much Rodney cared. Credit to you for that.

All in all i would say it was a decent three quarters of an hour but it isn't in any danger of breaching my Top 5 list.

By the way Ken, i usually don't notice stuff like this, but how do the life-signs detectors work if there is a piece of material separating the detector from the skin(when they were in the spacesuits they were still able to use it)? In such an instance how do does the device interact with the gene which i always imagined was done through contact with flesh like when they manipulate the gel on the control chairs?

I'm not nitpicking, just curious is all. Its not a big deal really.

[theonebluegecko]

By the way Ken, i usually don't notice stuff like this, but how do the life-signs detectors work if there is a piece of material separating the detector from the skin(when they were in the spacesuits they were still able to use it)? In such an instance how do does the device interact with the gene which i always imagined was done through contact with flesh like when they manipulate the gel on the control chairs?

I'm not nitpicking, just curious is all. Its not a big deal really.

I believe that the Life Signs Detector only requires the gene on initial activation. I am fairly certain with have seen people without the gene at all use it in the past.

[jenks]

I believe that the Life Signs Detector only requires the gene on initial activation. I am fairly certain with have seen people without the gene at all use it in the past.

According to Sheppard you need the gene, when he handed it to that colonel guy he say 'won't do you any good, you need the gene'.

[Alipeeps]

I believe that the Life Signs Detector only requires the gene on initial activation. I am fairly certain with have seen people without the gene at all use it in the past.

Hmmm, don't think so. Evidence from The Siege Part II indicates that you have to have the gene to operate it.. Sheppard tells Everett so, saying the LSD won't work for him and Everett smugly holds up the functioning LSD saying he got the gene therapy just that morning etc....

[Belamel]

I loved this ep. I think it had a little bit of everything that makes a good hour of SGA. Loved the character interaction, humor, and the movement of the story. It had great pacing, between the action and the dialog. It was a great team episode and I really enjoyed how everyone had something going on. Very happy.

[kiji_onubis]

ello, im new to this but not new to stargate, im from the uk and i have been trying to follow all the new episode of stargate atlantis and sg1, i have yet to find stargate atlantis s03 the ark. help anyone???

[Alipeeps]

ello, im new to this but not new to stargate, im from the uk and i have been trying to follow all the new episode of stargate atlantis and sg1, i have yet to find stargate atlantis s03 the ark. help anyone???

Before you go any further with this line of questioning, let me just give you a friendly heads-up that discussion of illegal downloading or filesharing or hosting online etc etc etc is not allowed on GW. Any posts mentioning such subjects will be deleted by the mods...

[Detox]

so it's that bad eh?? i shall not go with you lot till i see the episode and ive liked every episode of SG-1 n Atlantis to date.

Don't mind them. They're the ones who complain about every episode of Stargate Atlantis.

Overall, this episode wasn't that bad. I enjoyed it.

[jerkface]

I really liked this one.

What surprised me most was how un-filler-y it really was. Though ostensibly the main plot/action was about an alien people we've never seen before (and probably won't again), in the end it seemed to really be about the team and especially (excitement!) Teyla.

As Teyla points out in the final scene, Jamus' actions seem like how John behaves most of the time, though this time we (the audience) are seeing it from the outside.

Her speech to Jamus about preserving the memory of his people also felt like a nice insight into her perspective as an Athosian too. This episode also reminded me of S1's Poisoning the Well (in a good way), as it brought back the theme of Pegasus Galaxy civilizations so desperate to escape the wraith they will make moral decisions more difficult than those previously encountered by our MW guys.

Herick's reaction to losing his family also felt like a dark mirror of what John could do if really faced with having lost his Atlantis family. It did make Sheppard's final decision to try and save Teyla even more believable (though he's always unnervingly ready to sacrifice himself).

And overall, I really loved the setting. The atmosphere of the barely habitable station...all the darkness and lack of air. It felt a lot like the opening of Knights of the Old Republic 2, on the Peragus mining station... (though this is probably just me ).

If I had to list my nitpicky things against this (and I will ), I'd say that yeah, the explanation of why John survived could have been better. I did understand that it didn't go as he planned (especially since the opening repeated the bolt failure part), but the moon collapse-push thing wasn't totally clear to me until I read about it here.

There were also a couple of moments when line readings seemed to go against the general tone: Ronon's smile as John left in the shuttle seemed out of place, even for someone as sanguine about death as R. has a right to be. Weir's line about Jamus' death also didn't feel strong enough. I know she didn't experience what the others did, but a beat there could have helped it seem less abrupt.

But otherwise...this was really what I've been looking for in SGA this season, a nice balance to the lighter, Echoes type episodes.

[Lizabeth]

Overall I thought The Ark was a good episode. I could have done without the intro. Starting at the eight hours earlier would have confused me less. Loved the Rodney John interaction, and Rodney's doom comments in general. And "should have used a mac!" Ha! Awesome! Would have liked to see more Elizabeth, but loved John's faith in her and rescue missions. Would have liked to see Elizabeth's reaction fleshed out more to Johns hero complex. She's got to be frustrated with him constantly risking his life. But then, I wouldn't have him any other way, I don't think she would either. Love the good ol' family vibe in the team. Would have liked to see more of Ronon's concern for Teyla, between this and Echoes it didn't seem balanced well. But overall, good episode.

[Lorr]

I haven't seen the Ark yet, but I am such a hussy for spoilers, I came in here for a looksee. I must admit that I kind of wish that I had not read Ken's responses just to see if I picked up on the points myself. But, knowing the "backstory" will help me understand what's going on. I'm looking forward to it! Thank you, Ken, for coming here to discuss things! Much appreciated, and no matter what you say, you are a brave, crazy man.