Fail Safe (517)

[LeftHandedGuitarist]

I always think that they dumb down Carter's explanations too much!

[hedwig]

Yes, that much I could figure out. But her slide and computers presentations and explanations are usually impossible for me to understand clearly. I admire whatever scientist worked as a consultant to SGI and Amanda Tapping to prep her in this field.

Actually, Amanda did her own prepping. Ever since the show started, she made it a point to study up on things she was supposed to know and understand as Sam Carter so that she could sound like she knew what she was talking about when she said her lines.

Its easy enough to understand. Anubis brought the asteroid and our bomb didn't work because it was made of naqudah which is more heavy the real world structure of asteroids.

Actually Anubis sent an asteroid filled with naquadah, hoping it would plow into earth, destroying it and solving his problems. Once Sam found out the asteroid was filled with naquadah, she said the resulting explosion would likely have vaporized all the oceans on earth, if not destroy our entire solar system.

And the bomb didn't work, because Jack disconnected the wires that would have allowed it to explode.

[Matt G]

This was actually the first ep I watched on "squinty vision"...for whatever reason I hadn't been able to get hold of it any other way.

1. First impression of the idea, slightly meh.

2. Overall...let's face it as expected, SG1 does meteor-strike movies with the odd tweaks.

3. Probably the most eye-raising one was the use of naquadah in the asteroid.

Generally though, not the greatest ep of all time, though rewatching actually made it slightly better trying to remember how they got out of certain situations.

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

I liked this episode because the solution of the episode was to take the asteroid into hyperspace to go through the Earth and exit on the other side.

We don't know this yet but

Spoiler:

Anubis is responsible for this attack.

On Monday (Boxing Day), an episode that focuses on the Free Jaffa.

[Jae'a]

My LiveJournal post

Great ep, love it

[Krisz]

O'NEILL: (to Daniel)
I've seen this movie. It hits Paris.

A great episode, Stargate's version of one of the better 'disaster befalling Earth' movies!

Has all the required cliched elements.

At least they acknowledge that the discovery of the asteroid was 'miraculous', found by chance by an amateur astronomer, but still found!

Miraculous dead stop in the cargo ship just a couple of feet above the asteroid's surface.

A malfunctioning bomb with wires the same colour, 'which wire to cut' tense moment, with the right one being cut every time! I liked the nod to the orginal movie here, where O'Neill is once again faced with a bomb that won't disarm when he uses the disarming procedure.

A quick repair of holes in the hull of the cargo ship when all life support had been lost.

The hyper space jump made at the right moment! This was a great idea, taking the asteroid 'through' the Earth.

Rescue by a Tok'ra just before life support ran out.

[jckfan55]

I enjoy this one for the teamy-ness if nothing else.

[Lieutenant Sparrow]

This is a great ep.

I never got bored watching it. Lots of excitement.

Didn't like how plastic the asteroid looked when they were taking the bomb down. What a perfect path for taking the bomb down as well haha.

[syncline]

Jack: And Earth gets hit by that rock and we're all wiped out, that's going to be unfortunate too?
Freyr: Very.

Sometimes it almost seems like the Asgard are actually being sarcastic, in a masterfully deadpan way. Maybe that's why they like Jack so much

[jelgate]

This is a fun episode if not a little predictable. It was obvious to me that from the beginning that the Goa'uld were behind the asteroid that was heading to Earth. I liked how they made the cargo ship a piece of junk in this episode as it races towards Earth as it should be a piece of junk fron the crash from Last Stand although it is somewhat hard to swallow that they made it fly again. I thought the solution for hull fractures in the cargo ship was a creative one. I thought it was pretty creative for Sam and Daniel to hide in the escape pods. But nothing was more creative then creating a hyperspace window for the whole asteroid to fly through Earth. That was so interesting to see. Although it seems somewhat of a deus ex machina to have a Tokra sweep by and save SG1 after they had saved Earth. I don't really understand why Hammond decided to stay behind. He deserved to leave Earth just as much as anyone else at the SGC.

[SaberBlade]

I don't really understand why Hammond decided to stay behind. He deserved to leave Earth just as much as anyone else at the SGC.

I've always thought he decided to stay because he was unable to bring his family with him. Here is a man whose main mission is to protect the people of Earth and when something bad truly happens, like all life being wiped off the planet, he isn't even able to save his wife (if he had a wife, I don't recall), children and grand children. Staying behind seemed the easier thing to do than live out the rest of years knowing everyone else he loved was dead.

[skim172]

I don't know if anyone's mentioned this before, but has anyone noted the monumental odds of cutting five wires in the correct order? It's 120 to 1 against. There was less than a 1% chance that Jack didn't boil away the Earth's atmosphere and cook the planet.

The thing is, this was a special custom-made weapon, more powerful than any human bomb before it. And the fate of the world depends on it not going off until it's exactly at the right location. You'd think that it would have been designed to be simple to disarm. Any chance of an error setting off this untested weapon before the right time would have been unacceptable. If the bomb started ticking, disarming it needed to be quick and easy. So why have the keypad and the wires at all? Why not just have a vital component that is easily removed and without it, the bomb just shuts off?

[Zysu]

Great episode. Loved it. Very tense. Some great Hammond bits, he looked so sad & lost when heard SG1 were most likely dead. And I don't mind a bit of cliche & astonishing good luck now & then!

[Cluas]

So why have the keypad and the wires at all? Why not just have a vital component that is easily removed and without it, the bomb just shuts off?

I agree. The writers tried to make it more exciting, but failed IMO.
I would say again, average.

[Falcon Horus]

Those sneaky but clever Goa'uld.

And Freyr's mother will probably never hear what O'Neill had to say about her clone of a son and her. His diplomatic skills aside... they give General Hammond aches in places he didn't know he could get O'Neill-related aches.

Love the look of the asteroid.

Cut the red wire --- and they're all yellow.
Carter, I can see my house! -- one of those iconic one-liners.

O'Neill: I'm confident.
Daniel: Me too.
Teal'c: As am I.

Carter thinking: I'm not.

Plan C -- always works. And if it doesn't there are 23 more letters in the alphabet to use.

Meanwhile at the SGC...

Hammond choosing to stay behind. Good thing all turned out well in the end...