Unnatural Selection (612)

[Falcon Horus]

So, we're adrift in space... sort of... and Thor pops in for a chat. He seeks dumb people with low-tech to trap the replicators in a time bubble.

It all sounds so very simple... NOT!

The replicators have sped up time and have evolved into human-like replicators. And Fifth is cute, but he'll learn that betrayal stings. Jonas and Carter are right at the end, they used his humanity against him. It's their own fault he'll go a revenge-spree later.

Jonas and Teal'c eating Ben&Jerry in the cargo hold. Especially Teal'c being overprotective of his pot of ice, then switching with O'Neills.

[Baron Of Hell]

Like the episode a lot. I don't think there was a wrong or right answer to 5th. He could have helped stop the replicators or he might have replicated a army. I'm assuming he gets out sooner or later and becomes a bad guy bent on revenge since the replicators show up in SGA. I missed pretty much all of the replicator story line.

I would have liked to see what was in Teal'c's head. Other than that I had no problems with this episode.

[Falcon Horus]

I'm assuming he gets out sooner or later and becomes a bad guy bent on revenge since the replicators show up in SGA.

Your assumption is correct but not in SGA, much sooner than that.

[LionHamster]

I have a question... at the beginning Thor told SG-1 that they activated the single command that was left in Reese's programming to make the Replicators come to their planet (or wherever) to trap them in the time-bubble... so does that mean that Daniel was wrong in "Menace" and Jack right? Because in that episode the question whether Reese told the Replicators to shut down or not was pretty much left open.
And, was Reese lying when she said that she lost control over the Replicators... cause if there was a command in her programming telling the Replicators to go after the Asgard technology...
or did I just miss something explaining all this?

They "evolved" beyond there original programing

[enibas5]

Not an episode I like to rewatch often. The whole "Prometheus Plot" was not my can of beer. But that might be very well due to the fact that Jonas role was evolving to full membership, getting a lot of lines. At that point he started to annoy me a lot. And I am not referring to the character, but how it was portrayed by Corin Nemec. The bigger the part got, the more obvious the overall bad acting became. Throughout the "Jonas-eps." I could almost feel, how this actor was lost, not having a clue how to do this character. He did not give him anything remarkable. No particular mime, no particular gesture - nothing, besides a way too dramatic and unnatural speech pattern.

Nevertheless, there is that ending of this episode and this outstanding line, that I never forgot after watching it the first time "having turned his humanity against him". That single line and its follow-ups later in the series made up for an otherwise not very convincing episode.

[Janet Fraiser]

Not an episode I like to rewatch often. The whole "Prometheus Plot" was not my can of beer. But that might be very well due to the fact that Jonas role was evolving to full membership, getting a lot of lines. At that point he started to annoy me a lot. And I am not referring to the character, but how it was portrayed by Corin Nemec. The bigger the part got, the more obvious the overall bad acting became. Throughout the "Jonas-eps." I could almost feel, how this actor was lost, not having a clue how to do this character. He did not give him anything remarkable. No particular mime, no particular gesture - nothing, besides a way too dramatic and unnatural speech pattern.

Nevertheless, there is that ending of this episode and this outstanding line, that I never forgot after watching it the first time "having turned his humanity against him". That single line and its follow-ups later in the series made up for an otherwise not very convincing episode.

I love Corin Nemec as Jonas. I'm not sure how you think he should have done the character differently... Is there another, original Jonas Quinn that we should be using as a reference point?

[enibas5]

I love Corin Nemec as Jonas. I'm not sure how you think he should have done the character differently... Is there another, original Jonas Quinn that we should be using as a reference point?

No, there is not.
It is not about Jonas; it is about that I cannot watch him without seeing an actor struggling and "overacting". I just don't buy what he says, what he does, etc.
In this case the actor just does not accomplish to create a character, that I see as a fiction character while on screen. I am annoyed by the exaggerated voice Intonation. I see a guy trying to portray Jonas instead of the character 'Jonas'.

But of course I can accept, that I am alone with that opinion. And I don't claim, that CN is a bad actor. I am just saying, that he never really knew how to portray Jonas and therefore kept on overacting.

[Falcon Horus]

I am just saying, that he never really knew how to portray Jonas and therefore kept on overacting.

That would be because they never gave him any direction about it. He was just Michael's replacement.

[I Am Not James Spader]

Why does Thor transport himself to locations in the chair?

This, to the best of my knowledge, is not the first or last time this happens unless I'm getting various clips I've seen mixed up.

And Thor himself seems to have much less mobility that other Asgard. His head movements seem stiff and limited. Again, however, I'm not sure if this a misremembering on my part.

Am I right or totally wrong?

I love Corin Nemec as Jonas. I'm not sure how you think he should have done the character differently... Is there another, original Jonas Quinn that we should be using as a reference point?

No, there is not.
It is not about Jonas; it is about that I cannot watch him without seeing an actor struggling and "overacting". I just don't buy what he says, what he does, etc.
In this case the actor just does not accomplish to create a character, that I see as a fiction character while on screen. I am annoyed by the exaggerated voice Intonation. I see a guy trying to portray Jonas instead of the character 'Jonas'.

But of course I can accept, that I am alone with that opinion. And I don't claim, that CN is a bad actor. I am just saying, that he never really knew how to portray Jonas and therefore kept on overacting.

I agree with Janet Fraser - I don't know what "over acting" you are referring to.

Nemic does a great job and Jonas is an incredibly likeable character who fits right into the show a character trying to fit in to the team and I took to him straight away even before knowing that he was replacing Daniel.

Anderson constantly goes over the top and this business of O'Neill "acting dumber than he really" has gone on for too long. He ruins the "science" scenes with that and is generally too snarky and too "funny" (but rarely humorous - the "preposition" moment in The Other Guys being a rare genuine moment) but when they go into the "dark" territory like he does here - leaving Five stranded, or killing the replicator creator and fighting to clear Jackson's name before he dies is when he is a great character.

[Falcon Horus]

Probably because Thor is an actual puppet while the other Asgard are computer animated. One can give a lot more mibility to a computer animation than to a puppet.

[I Am Not James Spader]

Probably because Thor is an actual puppet while the other Asgard are computer animated. One can give a lot more mibility to a computer animation than to a puppet.

As I was typing I was wondering if that was the case - that Thor was a puppet.

Why did they make him a puppet and not CGI? Or vice versa and why not make them all puppets?

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

CGI was too expensive for how often they used him. They did tend to use CGI if he were walking. Once (and AFAIK only once), they used motion capture for one of the other Asgard when it was walking. Heimdahl, I believe.

Seaboe

[I Am Not James Spader]

CGI was too expensive for how often they used him. They did tend to use CGI if he were walking. Once (and AFAIK only once), they used motion capture for one of the other Asgard when it was walking. Heimdahl, I believe.

Seaboe

I did consider the issue of expense that but I thought that since the Asgardians are all so alike that it would be that difficult to use adapt the resources to the various characters.

Motion capture? I would have thought that was beyond the budget of the show back then. I've never even heard of a TV show using the technology.

[Falcon Horus]

Motion capture? I would have thought that was beyond the budget of the show back then. I've never even heard of a TV show using the technology.

They didn't do motion capture. They just had Teryl (who voiced Heimdahl) walking on set with an imprint of Heimdahl on a T-shirt at the height where her head would be so the others could look down to the proper height so that when they inserted the CGI image it would look more natural.

[Anja]

You only have to listen to the commentary they explain how they created Heimdahl.