'First Contact' (510) General Discussion

[Ruffles]

That ROCKED! Inventive, exciting, complex, and very cool.

Good stuff:

* Todd - he never gets old. LOVED his willingness to participate even with his doubts. The line questioning Wraith identity if they went through with the testing was BRILLIANT. And the nifty Wraith stunner sticks were way cool. Funny how he had them ready....

* Daniel - I've missed you! He gives as good as he gets with McKay (oh, the snark!), and his amused smile when Rodney mentioned that Sheppard could've been Mensa made me laugh. I love that he's still actively researching the Ancients.

* Janus' lab and experiments - we haven't seen nearly enough about Atlantis and the secrets she holds. I adore the fact there are still some there.

* Todd seemed to know about the device (I didn't catch what he called it).

* alien race - great mystery. Are they human or alien? What's with the suits? How did they know what the alarm on the device signified? Where did the extremely cool shields and cutting device (?) come from? Did Janus create them?

* Teyla, Radek, Woolsey, Caldwell - good to see you. Where've you been?

* Banks - I like her.

* great effects - I don't normally notice these kinds of things, but I particularly liked the alien ships entry into Lantean space and the following flight over the water.

* Sheppard in command - love it when he gets all military

* Woolsey tells Sheppard not to blow the place up. So he promptly manages to blow up the infirmary and the gate room. Oops.

* Daniel being willing to die to avoid the unforeseen side effects and Rodney struggling to shut it down when he figured out what they were

* the plotlines merging at the end - the experiment working which destroys the Wraith cruiser and blows up the Atlantis gate. I wonder how many other worlds will face the same fate before they shut it down.

I have lots of questions, but I'm hoping those will be answered in part 2. I hope Teyla and Ronon will be more involved then.

[jiklar]

What an episode! One scene that really struck me was the conversation between Keller and Todd.

"What would we do?"
"What would we be"

Those are two very frightening questions to answering the question of redefining a person's entire identity!

Forget about a person's identity how about an entire race's. They've only known war and killing for 10,000 years. What would they do without that?

[the fifth man]

This is the episode that gets the A+ rating, and the episode you can watch over and over again.

I would definitely give this episode a solid A. I think the second part will get the A+.

As for re-watching it, I intend on doing just that in about a half-hour.

[rarocks24]

You knew the device's critical side-effect before Rodney even explained it? I doubt it.

Spoilers about the Attero Device have been on the webs for months now.

[the fifth man]

Forget about a person's identity how about an entire race's. They've only known war and killing for 10,000 years. What would they do without that?

In the end, I don't think the Wraith can be anything else.

[Chev's Ron]

Why would it effect MW stargates? I doubt very much it's going to do much beyond Pegasus.

Yes, considering that the milkyway gates work a little different than the pegasus gates, and that the wraith most likely based their Hyperspace drives off of the Stargate found on their home world after they evolved into what they are today. I agree that the MW gate system shouldn't be affected at all.

[Briangate78]

I would definitely give this episode a solid A. I think the second part will get the A+.

As for re-watching it, I intend on doing just that in about a half-hour.

As will I! I feel this is like the best mid-season since "The Storm" and "The Eye". Although I did enjoy Season 4's mid season eps, and "The Return". The only mid-season I was not crazy about was "Lost Boys" and "The Hive".

[jds1982]

Yes, considering that the milkyway gates work a little different than the pegasus gates, and that the wraith most likely based their Hyperspace drives off of the Stargate found on their home world after they evolved into what they are today. I agree that the MW gate system shouldn't be affected at all.

I was thinking more along the lines of the devices range actually.

[Teslan]

Yes, things are looking up for this season after that episode. Not that it was bad before, but I didn't think it was up to par with S4. With this one in its favor, it has probably surpassed it, depending on well the second part is.

I'm saying this as someone who doesn't often enjoy cross-over episodes in shows. So far however, Atlantis has benefited on the whole from the appearance of SG-1 characters, with a few minor missteps. Daniel Jackson was a great addition, and I don't think it would have necessarily worked with any other character in that same position.

I'm relieved we don't have to wait several months for the conclusion, because that would be pretty hard to do. Love the new aliens so far (someone I was watching it with mentioned Metroid), all the new tech was neat (the Wraith stick, the Ancient sound-sensitive wall), and there was enough peril at the end to make it interesting to see just how they get out.

[Briangate78]

Yes, things are looking up for this season after that episode. Not that it was bad before, but I didn't think it was up to par with S4. With this one in its favor, it has probably surpassed it, depending on well the second part is.

I'm saying this as someone who doesn't often enjoy cross-over episodes in shows. So far however, Atlantis has benefited on the whole from the appearance of SG-1 characters, with a few minor missteps. Daniel Jackson was a great addition, and I don't think it would have necessarily worked with any other character in that same position.

I'm relieved we don't have to wait several months for the conclusion, because that would be pretty hard to do. Love the new aliens so far (someone I was watching it with mentioned Metroid), all the new tech was neat (the Wraith stick, the Ancient sound-sensitive wall), and there was enough peril at the end to make it interesting to see just how they get out.

Yeah, Metroid, Samus right?

[Myles]

Forget about a person's identity how about an entire race's. They've only known war and killing for 10,000 years. What would they do without that?

They haven't been at war for 10,000 years, and until the Expedition woke them all up, they had a pretty sustainable lifestyle going on. It's not that they like war and killing, they have to kill humans to survive, that's it. It's like us eating meat, we're killing innocent animals - the only difference is the sentience. And I know I wouldn't want to give up steak and bacon.

[rarocks24]

Forget about a person's identity how about an entire race's. They've only known war and killing for 10,000 years. What would they do without that?

And we haven't?

I mean, we got the Punic Wars, the Peloponessian(sp?) Wars, the Mesopotamian, the Persian Wars, the Invasion of Gaul, the 100 Years War, the War of the Roses, The Crusades, the American Revolution, the French Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. Then we have the Korean, Vietnamese, Iranian-Iraqi, Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and then America's time in Iraq, followed a decade later by the American invasion of Afghanistan and very soon after Iraq.

A pretty obvious response to Todd's dilemma is: We all have.

[jiklar]

They haven't been at war for 10,000 years, and until the Expedition woke them all up, they had a pretty sustainable lifestyle going on. It's not that they like war and killing, they have to kill humans to survive, that it. It's like us eating meat, we're killing innocent animals - the only difference is the sentience. And I know I wouldn't want to give up steak and bacon.

I didn't say they were at war for 10,000 years I was saying they just fight and kill. I also didn't say they liked it, I just said that's all they've known.

[jiklar]

And we haven't?

I mean, we got the Punic Wars, the Peloponessian(sp?) Wars, the Mesopotamian, the Persian Wars, the Invasion of Gaul, the 100 Years War, the War of the Roses, The Crusades, the American Revolution, the French Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II. Then we have the Korean, Vietnamese, Iranian-Iraqi, Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and then America's time in Iraq, followed a decade later by the American invasion of Afghanistan and very soon after Iraq.

A pretty obvious response to Todd's dilemma is: We all have.

The difference between the wraith and us is the entire human population hasn't been engaged in murder and war only portion. The Wraith's existence is based solely off murder.

[jiklar]

I should complete a thought or at least spell and grammar check what I type.