'Inquisition' (513) General Discussion

[Col.Foley]

Would you kill me if I admitted that I've never watched Babylon 5?

No...I would just say, go to netflix immedietly, rent all five season, and do not return to gate world until you watch them all.
I am quite in worship of that mans writing.

[Redhooks]

No...I would just say, go to netflix immedietly, rent all five season, and do not return to gate world until you watch them all.
I am quite in worship of that mans writing.

You don't even have to do that if you have a fast internet connection because the first two seasons of B5 are on Hulu here.

I thought this episode was average but I feel it is long overdue that some sort of alliance/coalition between Atlantis and the people of the Pegasus Galaxy should be talked about. I guess you could say the Atlantis team could have been reluctant after their experience with the Genii, but besides the Athosians (and maybe the Travelers,) who else have they become friends with? Not all the people in PG are at the renaissance level of development just look at the Hoffans and the Satedans to name a few. While they wouldn't be helpful technologically, they would have more manpower and experience dealing with the Wraith and possibly some useful intelligence.

This building of coalition is one of the things I really enjoyed about Babylon 5 and thought it was a neglected storyline in SGA. Too little, too late since from the spoilers I have seen, this coalition will be barely brought up again, if at all.

[Franklyn Blaze]

The Cigars and Scotch at the end had a very Boston Legal touch, which was amusing to see.

Haha I totally noticed that. I just watched the parts of the episode that didn't involve clips, and made generous use of the fast forward button.

[Khentkawes]

The Not-Good:
- Why is Sheppard the only one who gets to testify? I know he's the "leader-guy" and so he always has to be in the center of the action, but it would have made more sense to hear from all of the team (sort of the way SG-1 worked in Cor-ai, they all got to participate in the trial). Now, granted, Ronon would make the worst defense attorney ever (he'd probably shoot the judge). And McKay wouldn't be much better. So maybe it was best if they didn't testify. But Teyla, at least, should have been allowed to speak. She would have had some nice perspectives, and she seems more diplomatic than Sheppard.

- The ending. I really wanted Woolsey to say something a bit more profound. Something about moral ambiguity, or how they really should treat the people in the Pegasus Galaxy as beings worthy of governing themselves, or something to show that the trial did bring up some valid issues. It's time that the Atlantis expedition learned to look at the big picture and the consequences of their actions. But of course, that didn't happen here. Not that really I expected it to. (hoped, but didn't expect)

The Good:
- Ronon's line about escaping. "when the guards come in, I'll beat them up." Not "we'll beat them up." That made me chuckle.

- Teyla's comment about how Atlantis had made some mistakes or had some set-backs or however she phrased it. Basically she acknowledged that they made mistakes, but they also brought hope. A very nice perspective.

- Oddly enough, I really liked some of the clips. It was nice to see flashbacks with Ford, Elizabeth, and human-Michael (I love Connor Trineer).

- When Sheppard had to admit he didn't have a plan for their escape. That was funny. Even funnier because he seemed a bit flustered when Woolsey asked him.

- Woolsey! Woolsey! And more Woolsey! Picardo is still awesome. He was wonderful to watch. There was some nice development for him, and some nice bonding time between Woolsey and the team. I was genuinely surprised when I first saw Woolsey in the cell with the rest of them. And I cracked up that he was the only one who bothered to think about trying to win the trial. It was also nice to see Woolsey's intelligent side. I mean, yes, Picardo has great comedic timing, but I don't want the character to always be used as comic relief. So it was great to see a more serious, meaty role for him.

Oh, and Woolsey's comment about a "federation, of sorts" was great. Nice Star Trek moment.

I'd really love to see Woolsey used this way more often, although I doubt that will happen, all things considered.

Either way, the episode had some bumpy parts, but I enjoyed it overall. And it was a nice attempt at something a little different.

[Platschu]

It could have been better with less video clips. I wanted to hear Ronon's and Teyla's opinion about the expedition and their actions, because they are from the Pegasus galaxy. I can give only 5/10 point.

[bluealien]

Disappointing episode and once again wasted potential. Very many good points raised by their accusers but as usual it was all brushed aside and no consequenses for the team. Shep was too cavalier and didn't really seem to take the whole thing seriously. But again that's how the writers seem to handle Sheppard lately. I would have liked to have seen more reaction from him instead of jumping to endless clips that went on far too long.

We got a glimmer of something from him at times but then Woolsey stepped in and the whole thing became a bit of a farce. The only scene that really grabbed me was the lady juror telling her story about her family being killed. I would have liked to have seen Shep's reaction to that and not Woolsey. Why didnt Teyla or Ronon get to testify since they are from the Pegasus galaxy and could have given their opinion on how they felt.

It was all too conveniently handled and I didnt like that the Genii get dragged in again. I would have preferred that the council wanted a trial purely because they felt the team had created such distruction in the Pegasus Galaxy and not becasue the Genii wanted to be top dog.

The jury were too cliched and lacked believabilty though they started out well, but then they just seemed to cave far too easily. So we got no accountability, no soul searching by the team.. nothing.

The main charge was that they take things on themselves and act on them without thinking of anyone else in the galaxy, or being accountable to anyone and this was a very valid charge, but it never really got answered at all.

Several times the team have taken action to save themselves or Atlantis but never seem to stop and consider how their actions may be effecting the rest of the galaxy. The latest event was the Alterran Device, Rodney activates it to save himself and Daniel but as usual they just brush off the side effects or consequenses to other inhabitants in the galaxy,.

So many questions asked but none really answered and they get out of their predicament by not so honorable means. I didnt want a guilty version for the team but I would have liked the topic to have been dealt with a bit more seriously and maybe caused the team to do some soul searching but the writers are not willing to go there. They keep things shallow and don't really ever want to delve into anything deep or meaningful in case it may show the team as anything but heros.

The writers seem to prefer love triangles and shallow characters over anything meaningful at all these days..

[Sp!der]

for crying out loud, its the best clip show in the stargate franchise since letters from pegasus. I really liked it. The End was the best...I never thought of John and Woolsey smoking cigars....i kinda liked it.
all in all...it was a good clip show.

[Linda06]

Well I found this episode a little boring...I never felt they were really in any danger of being found guilty..Ronon,Teyla and Rodney were barely there at all..Like others I would have liked to see them questioned with them being Pegasus residents and to see what their POV is on the whole thing..

It was essentially at Sheppard/Woolsey ep...Although Woolsey was great in this ep...We get to see him play to his strength...Liked the reaction of Teyla and Ronon when I think it was McKay that said something about it not being their fault the wraith woke up..

Also I think there were just too many clips through it for my liking..

Oh and another thing I liked about the ep was no Keller anywhere to be seen and no mention of this romance from hell

But all in all a pretty deisappointing ep *shrugs*

[Atlanis]

I got to say I've have never seen a clip show as good as this one, and it was fantastic and nicly preformed by Mr. Picardo and that last speach his charicter gave to the "judges" was impressive too
the one thing I was supprised that they didn't bring up what the exploading gates form the two parter this year, I am very supprised that they didn't bring that up but I have to say this ep is one of the best IMHO

[segaxgames]

This episode was<mod snip....the language filter is there for a reason, and if you can't express yourself without circumventing it, then maybe you should keep your thoughts to yourself until you can>

[segaxgames]

This episode lost me at "They are not advanced."

[segaxgames]

and their arguments were illogical...

Atlantis did not blow up a "few" hive ships, but A LOT of hive ships.

And it wasn't because of getting them to fight each other, having ancient tech, or the help of allies...

it was because they had ships -- big powerful ships.

I mean, it was like they were skipping over the fact that Atlantis had the strongest ships in the galaxy...

i mean, the script made no sense -- maybe in season one -- but now? Hell no. Destroying Hive Ships is not an "AMAZING FEET" when you have freaking asgard beams and lazers.... I mean, come on.

This episode was bull S H I T!

[bluealien]

Does anyone know where they got the new gate from... can they just stop by the store and buy a flat packed one...

The argument that the Pegasus Galaxy is a better place because the Team distroyed a few Wraith ships is really pretty lame. Also Woolsey saying they lost ONE valuable member.. so I could understand the jurors outrage and indignation at that statement...

So a few hundred Wraith on a hive ship as opposed to the countless worlds that they were responsible for destroying. The Alterran Device alone would have wiped out thousands if not more so a few Hive Ships don't really count.

I don't really see one hive ship being able to cull more than a village with a few hundred people,... So the idea of one Wraith Ship culling entire worlds as always bothered me... I'm sure that there are hundreds of Wraith ships out there so destroying a few of them doesnt really make up for all the other distruction the Atlanteans have caused, whether it was unintentional or not....

[Fan-e-Gate]

Well I have mixed feelings about the episode.
When I heard the title I knew it would be a clip show but I thought it would be an Earthbased IOA court case against Shephard.
Instead we got one with an "impartial" judges.
I wanted this premise to be explored at least once in an episode but I feel that they cheapened it by not exactly discussing the issues. It would have also been a good way to throw in suggestions that fans have offered up-ie why not blow up Michael's ship in S&R while they knew he was still on board (and not wait for a daring rescue)

The verdict-I am glad we got to have a verdict rather than the team trying to escape (regardless of how rigged it was). But similarly it sucked that we ended up bribing one of them. I am glad we didn't have to bribe the most rational one who gave us "not guilty"
That said the arguments on each side were pretty superficial and weak (I guess because it is a 40 min show).

Genii- I really liked these guys but I don't see how they even compare to Atlantis. It would have been cool if they were actually on the judgement panel.

In fact it would have been cool if this was done in front of a whole audience of villagers-giving deathstares, heckling etc.

The smoking scene at the end reminded me of Boston Legal but very out of place for Atlantis (regardless of the context)

Characters-
Woolsey-he is just totally great.
Shephard-kind of hiis episode

Ronon, McKay, Teyla- seriously did they need to be there. They said the same things about trying to escape everytime Shephard came back to the cell. I guess some peopel are just thankful Keller wasn't there.
Judges-is the bribed one familar. Have we seen him on a previous SG episode in the past (maybe as a different character)?
Clips-Seen them quite a few times because I would watch several of these episodes for these exact scenes (and more). I would have liked to see the woman's family getting wasted as it would really make us more sympathetic

[JackHarkness_Hot]

It's a clip show, but it's nice to see a review of the past 5 years of Atlantis.

The council is pretty messed up but they don't understand impartial if it came up and smacked them in the ass. Where bribery (of the non-monetary kind), and grief is so easily manipulated.

In some ways, it's good that the coalition acknowledges Atlantis' action and its role in the PG, like destroying the Replicators.

And the end scene smacks of BOSTON LEGAL! Don't it? I was like "huh?"

I can understand why Woolsey misses his suit, I love wearing suits too. And on that note, it was an okay episode. Good to see Weir on our screens even if it was a clip show.

EDIT: Oh and still annoyed with that lady coalition member, bet she blames the Ancients for creating Stargates for the Wraith to use, blames the Wraith for culling them, blames the Replicators for destroying her village, blames Atlantis for taking action against them. Why doesn't she blame herself too for marrying her husband and giving birth to her kids, if she didn't do those, they wouldn't have died. It's so pathetic.