The Quest, Part 1 (1010)

[coolove]

Not a bad episode. There was a little bit of Indiana Jones vibe there. Towards the end, I half expected Daniel to throw Adria over that edge.

[nyxlily]

The people who like this episode pretty much voiced why I like it, so I won't go repeating the various reasons.

A few items I do want to point out:

-I was glad that there was a reason, any reason, why Vala had the dream that solved the 1st riddle, rather than it coming out of nowhere.

-What was the riddle Adria solved? She said the ancient word for the answer, but did anyone said what the english equivilant was?

-I thought Sam's reaction to seeing Ba'al was a little too mild. With after what he did to her in 'Insiders' I thought he deserved at least a punch in the face. But then, that whole episode seemed to have been written exclusively to give a semblance of an acceptable reason of why/how Ba'al ended up on that planet and everything else that went on in that episode was essentially 'reset'.

-I don't think Daniel not being able to grab the Saangra had to do with his 'truth of spirit'. We knew that they'd face a Dragon at the end, and if he (or anyone else, for that matter) was able to just grab it and go, then what was the use of the Dragon? Also

Spoiler:

the aol clip showed that the -real- treasure was the Ancient's 'Library of Knowledge'.

I'm convinced the hologram was just that, a hologram.

-Mitchell was WAY more watchable this season than last. And whoever said the writers had found the character's center was right on the money. They were finally writing Mitchell consistently and with a lot more seriousness.

I think this is it. I'm sure I'll find more to write about on second watching.

[badblu]

this episode was a great one

it makes me sad that this time next year sg1 will be gone

[nyxlily]

Just one more thing to add, actually:

WHY oh why did Vala pack a hair dryer on this mission? Did she actually expect to find an outlet that's compatible to US standards to plug it into off-world? I couldn't even plut my electronics in a hop away from this continent!

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

I loved this ep, and love it when Daniel gets all passionate against someone (just like in The Pegasus Project) and in this case, it was Adria - ha! No Ori Powers! She looked hot though in this ep...

SG-1 vs The Dragon? Talk about playing it over the top, nah just kiddin - it should be great! I lmao when Vala came running into Daniel's office in the beginning and just figured everything out all of a sudden...

[silence]

great ep, can't wait for second part.

i didn't read spoilers about Adria being that guy, but i noticed her name in intro and since she didnt showed up till they went out of village, i guessed that might be her (and after she quoeted Origin i was sure)... but nice trick anyway.

i liked Vala here, but i am really interesting in what's really going on with Daniel, Adria is showing so much interest in him (i read spoilers for "Shroud") cause he was ascended only or maybe there are some things they (Ori) need from him?
This Daniel part in S10 is becoming nice and intersting story arc... and i still remember repliCarter saying that Daniel doesnt even know what's inside his head... damn...

overall... VERY good ep.... can't wait to see second part...

(yeah, the dragon ending was a bit corny, but expected)

[AutumnDream]

Good episode. But gawd... I don't think I've seen anything as bad as that ending. Geez. The original Star Trek had less cheese in its entirety than the end of that scene.

[Bandrews]

This certainly is an interesting thread, albeit incredibly repetative - makes for a change from what I'm used to though. I'll leave out anything that I feel has been noted adaquetly earlier in the thread, so as not to participate in this tradition

I'm having some difficulty putting this into words, so bear with me.

I found that Adria appeared to be only a shell of her former self in this episode, and her inability to use her powers wasn't the only cause. In the episode, Adria's eyes were black the entire time and nobody noticed. The device she used to disguise herself would not have required contact lenses or the like to fake eye colour, as it had no difficulty in faking everything else without assistance, so what was the cause? The conclusion I can make is that Morgan's protections caused her eyes to change colour, signifying her weakened state. If this conclusion is true, I'm left asking myself why nobody noticed. It makes no sense to me, did anyone else notice this? I had to watch the episode in question second hand this week, but I find it highly unlikely that anybody would edit the colour of her eyes so well in so many different scenes. I don't know why it's so important, but her performance felt empty without the eyes that seperate her from normal humans.

The second problem I had with the episode was the lack of involvement that the majority of the cast played in the storyline. Adria's lack of intimidation aside, while each character did get a short period of time to shine in, it felt strained to me. Vala was obviously waiting for Teal'c to say Wind, it was fairly obvious and all.

Overall the episode did have an interesting plot, and it was driven fairly well by Michael Shanks, I just don't think it stands up to the quality of previous episodes. It felt strained :\

Regarding previous comments about Ben's performance, I'm not sure I understand where those people are coming from. While I don't particularly dislike his performance, I have never found Ben's acting to be completely believable. To me, facial expression and eyes are incredibly important, and I find his to be incredibly lackluster. He's usually squinting, or has some sort of forced concentrating or blank expression on his face. I'm curious to know which areas you believe he's improved in - he's not horrible, he's just no where near the level of the others (Amanda Tapping for example). :\

[SierraGulf1]

Actually, they did point out her eyes, prompting a quick Goa'uld-esque-but-not-exactly flash of yellow eyes from Adria.

[RealmOfX]

It's a toss up between mediocre and bland - I think I'll go with bland, yep that just about sums it up.

The good things :

• the whole team was together and contributed something

The bad things :

• The good things list is very short
• Rather pathetic looking dragon

The so so things :

• I got bored
• Vala annoys me, maybe they could try writing her as someone who acts like they actually should belong on an SG team.
• Mitchell DUH!! Stealing Jackisms now? Oh and it's not good form to leave your pack behind (and I hope he didn't hurt himself with his gun).
• Teal'c didn't get to do hardly anything.
• Ba'al didn't get to do hardly anything, oh yeah he was there for later on because he knows the dragon's name.
• Lotsa people just hanging around, so I sure hope they actually get to do stuff in part two.

You know what's the worst part? It's a cliffhanger AND I DON'T CARE!

[DEM]

WHY oh why did Vala pack a hair dryer on this mission?

Yeah, see, that's the kind of OTT gag that grated. I'd enjoy her for a few minutes and then BAM! Stooges.

[shockwave]

great ep, nice team feel

by why would vala have an electric hair dryer with her, that was OTT

might have been cool to see with the people in the time dialation field a few jaffa, and maybe even another baal

[SoylentGreen]

i thought it was pretty fun episode but it was a strange sg-1 episode i thought it went too far a way from sci-fi

and was i the only one that when they showed the mountain "the lone mountain" thought WHATY? The LONELY mountain?! from the hobbit? they showed the mountain at the distance and before he even said anything i thought about that and then he said the name.

the dragon was cheesy, it seems like the CGI department can do amazing space, spaceships, and real enviroments but fauna doesn't work too well. remember the monster from "unvitated"? that look too funny and the dragon was kind of blah.

i did notice that the cave set looked kind of cheap for some reason maybe i was tired.

for some reason it didn't set too well for me having Ba'al and Adria being part of the party on the quest. i thought about fantasy books/whatever that have members there that are distrusted.

oh dragonlance.

oh Teal'c you were so awesome i can barely hear you now.
Adria was a little to whinny for me, i liked that she had a hint of being a very ominous (sp?) character but i can tell from now what her personality is going to be like.

i'm glad that doctor who is going to wash away the bad flavour from the wait until march, the cancellation and this season's really bad episodes.

[Maxum]

Great episode..!
Adria is really taking a shine to Daniel isn't she? Like mother, like daughter, I guess... I think she may want to convert Daniel as much as she wants Vala. Having a former ascended (she knows! Not THAT suprising...) become a follower of Origin would be a big coup for her side.

I think converting Daniel is very much on Adria's mind. Daniel is both human and Ancient. The Ori are trying to convert worlds to their religion, and SG-1 and earth are trying to throw a monkey wrench into their plans every chance they get. If the Ori can sway Daniel, they not only corrupt a former Ancient, but they also may be able to lure other humans - not to mention Adria's mother.

One poster mentioned that the second half of the episode seemed to center on Daniel, but I disagree. Parts centered on the Ori/Ancient angle of the storyline. I feel that Adria's greatest opponent is Daniel because he KNOWS exactly how Ancients think and respond to some degree. She can't snow him with fabricated lies or misinformation they way she can with others. Daniel can look her right in the eye and call her a liar, and she can't refute it because he DOES know. It makes for great animosity, drama, and tension.

I enjoyed last night's episode partly because there are breadcrumbs being dropped by the writers regarding the Daniel/Adria/Ori/Ancient/human angle. I always felt it was stupid that the writers never seemed to pursue stories about Daniel being a former Ascended being. I mean that's HUGE. They are the gatebuilders, afterall.

The Quest was very good because the entire cast was utilized well, and we're also getting little hints of things to come. THAT'S what makes a good cliffhanger.

[iluvdaniel]

The whole Ba'al and Adria being there didn't bother me at all. Adria is there purly because she wants to get the weapon in order to distroy it. She knows that she cannot do it on her own, so she is doing the normal "bad guy" thing and using SG-1 to get it for her. I'm just wondering if she knew she wouldn't be able to use any of her powers, and where can't she use them. She did use her strength to help to "save the child". But it wasn't untill they were in the fire chamber (right outside the dragon chamber) that we first get a glimps of her not being able to use any of her powers.


As for the reason for Ba'al being there, I believe there is a reason and that it will be revealed in part 2.