Gemini (811)

[IMForeman]

Jack had a choice: leave Fifth, or risk a planet of 3 billion people.

Just picking a nit here, but Earth's population is over 6 Billion.

Here, we are in complete agreement. It's uncalled for. In Endgame, we have Sam going on an op in jeans, high-heeled boots and a leather jacket, while all of the men are in combat gear. And it's only going to get worse, judging from Prometheus Unbound and the fact that TPTB will be gearing to bring in Farscape fans. While Farscape could be witty, it could also be very juvenile in its humor, and sexual innuendos and double entendres were big on the show.

Maybe it's just me, but I really haven't been noticing the outfits either way. I'm neither offended, nor titillated by Sam's recent attire. I just really haven't been paying attention to their clothes... I think it's because Stargate is still incredibly tame in comparison to just about everything else on TV today... or maybe it's just because I really have no problems or hang ups about skin... I dunno.

Oh, and Claudia's character has a perfectly valid story reason for wearing what she's wearing in the bits they show in the commercial.

-IMF

[Hex.FTB.enabled]

Here's my 2cents:

I agree that it's not the fastest-paced episode ever, but I still liked it. I thought it was interesting to see Sam a little bit more vulnerable than normal, and being confronted with your double would throw anyone off. And I know she seemed really gullible, but the scene where Replicarter shared the simulation of killing SG-1 with Carter almost had an abused girlfriend energy to it. I think they were playing that angle (since Fifth basically mentally tortured Carter in New Order).

But regardless how much I did or didn't like certain points (yes, the tank tops seem ridiculous), Amanda Tapping did an amazing job. You didn't need the outfits to distinguish between them, they were completely separate characters.

[ShardsofGlass]

I'm surprised people don't like the outfits. They didn't bother me in the least and were pretty conservative, imo.

Personally, I thought AT did a good job as the replicator. I liked the way she looked like she was sympathetic one minute and calculating the next. However, I thought she really underplayed Carter's emotions. Carter is facing this person who looks, acts, and thinks exactly like her. Exactly. Yet, she hardly showed any emotions of worry or of being scared or freaked out. SHe was always just breezily competent, as if facing another dull day at the office. Which didn't make sense, considering what she really was facing.

In some scenes she reminded me of Data from TNG, curious but emotionally detached.

[Lexx]

I liked this episode well enough when I first saw it, but it's not one of those episodes that holds up for future viewing. There are some that I can watch over and over again because of the action scenes, acting, and overall interesting story. "Gemini" isn't one of these. I couldn't even pay attention to it when it aired tonight, and I've only seen it once. A month ago. Here's hoping "Prometheus Unbound" will be better.

[kadosho]

This ep is the so-so one like many are saying.
But I think its main purpose is just to open a new story we'll follow later.
The only problem, its gonna run through some pitfalls, but in the end..
We'll know that the Replicator's are going to get even worse.
Just good Sam vs Evil Sam is gonna be kinda weird.

[Hyperspace]

Letting a relicator of any sort, even one that looks like Carter, near the ONLY weapon that can destroy them, is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of!.

Exactly!!! I really felt "DUMBitis" was completely what happened and it was very out-of-character for Sam. Was she ever suspicious at all?

I felt that 1) Carter should NOT have been put in charge, there was a conflict of interest (or emotions); 2) the Alpha Site should NOT have been revealed to the Replicators.

I too saw the Terminator-like effects, and for a moment wondered if, like '2001', Repli-Carter could hear Teal'c and Sam talking about terminating her in the end.

But the whole 'I want to die, you have to kill me' thing was completely, absolutely unbelievable. I can't believe Carter was hoodwinked by that. Why not tell the Repli-Carter to jump into a black hole or self-destruct? I know, I know, Replicators have survived black holes. But I couldn't believe how easily SG-1 was duped.

It was still a fast-paced episode, thusly entertaining and making it easier to gloss over the problems. I enjoyed it, but I was incredulous at the ending.

When the first full segment of the ep aired, I immediately wondered if SG-1 had a backup plan, and a thought that it "was a ruse" -- I felt she was possibly working for Fifth, and I thought it was possible she manipulated her images to trick Sam in their 'mind meld,' plus I expected her to betray Fifth, and expected her to do something to betray SG-1.

In the end I was kinda disappointed that SG-1 didn't have a backup plan like even Captain Janeway did in Star Trek: Voyager's "Counterpoint" and "Scorpion" where in the end, the cast reveals to the 'new ally/defector' that they knew all along that s/he couldn't be trusted.

It was a good ep, but not a very plausible or in-character one especially for Sam...I guess they needed that to make the Replicators the uber-threat again.

IMO, also it would be more convincing if Repli-Carter altered her appearance; in essence shape-shifted in order to escape.

BTW, where on the Gateworld main page can you rate the ep? I remember doing that last year.

Not that there's a real comparison, but SG-Atlantis' team was MUCH SMARTER this week!

[gwangung]

Yes. VERY disappointing.

Should have been a cat and mouse game between the two Carters, with RepliCarter winning because she's learned the lessons of betrayal better.

[Darren]

You can rate the episode on the "Gemini" page:

http://www.gateworld.net/sg1/s8/811.shtml

[Erik Bloodaxe]

Umm.. Her emotions were the cause of the whole storyline.. and possible destruction of the galaxy.

Please, this is SG-1 we're talking about... the galaxy isn't going to get destroyed.

-Bloodaxe

[Erik Bloodaxe]

same here.
It's just odd
ok, they'll toss the regs out the window with what they wear, cause those t-shirts are NOT regulation....but they stick on other things like hair and frat regs?????

what? they can sex up the air force but have to play by the rules for everything else????

Well, it does get its stamp of approval from the Air Force, so if they had a real problem w/ the wardrobe... Besides, I don't even really notice anything odd w/ it myself; I can certainly name a great deal of other shows where the outfits are far more revealing than anything in Stargate: Andromeda, any given Star Trek (the catsuits that are odd to claim to be Federation-approved ), Point Pleasant (so far), Smallville, and so on. So, yeah, once again even if some notice oddities at times, SG-1 still remains above the majority of the other series out there, in this case in terms of having more realistic attire than the others (most of the time).

-Bloodaxe

[Erik Bloodaxe]

Just a sort of general observation, but what's w/ all the focus on "Carter's intelligence" (or lack thereof as many keep claiming) w/o considering that just maybe Repli-Carter knows exactly what to do and say to dupe Carter? She does share several of her mental patterns, after all, and it's not like the Asgard thought up much of a back-up plan themselves.

(Though, for the record, the writers should've come up w/ a better excuse than the "weapon immunity" one; it's far too easily tested, but thankfully the twist at the end makes up for that weak point in the plot ).

-Bloodaxe

[Shivan]

Gemini was good, but at first I thought we were going to go down the predictable road and changed my mind and than again decided it was going to go down the predicted road and in the end IT did.

At first Replicarter was believable almost, and than you see her "supposedly true" intentions and you think... "How predictable." AND then I started thinking that it was TOO predictable and thought "Maybe she is still helping the humans."

But they did throw in her taking control which I wasn't really expecting too much.

I'll be honest - It was slow-paced but It's still Stargate to me. I only have a few things that I want to complain about -

-Where is Daniel?
-I don't like Jack calling Teal'C "T"

And recently Teal'C has been acting, to me, a bit off. I know he is becoming more adjusted to Earth but I want to see Teal'C. The character I grew to love, that is what made the team- the characters. And seeing them change kinda throws off the balance.

But please don't take what I say wrong, I still liked Gemini very much.

[LoneStar1836]

I’m not reading any farther back than yesterday’s posts (at least not tonight cause I don’t feel like reading through 200+ posts at the moment). Some how I did manage to stay spoiler free for this one other than the fact that RepliCarter showed up.

Okay I don’t think this episode was totally awful, but it had its flaws along with elements of strong irritation for me. I just hate the way they are making Carter incompetent and weak as a leader. I know they were having to work in some way to make RC a new enemy and invalidate the big honk’n gun, but did they have to do it at the expense of Carter. Her falling too easily to the manipulation of her feelings by RC. Sam is stronger than that though maybe she was thinking RC had taken on the more innocent and humanistic qualities of Fifth along with her memories and didn’t have such sinister intentions. I will say that I didn’t see the betrayal of Fifth coming. I knew SG-1 was going to be bluffed but not poor ol’ Fifth.

As others have said, I too totally disapproved of Carter in a tank top. I found that so unprofessional and distracting that I was thinking more about that than what she and Daniel were talking about. Daniel is the one that’s supposed to be distracting me. Not Carter. Plus that was the only time I could be distracted by Daniel since he seemed to be MIA the rest of the show. At least Teal’c got a little more to do in this ep.

My other big disapproval was the “torture” that RC shared with Carter. I know RC was manipulating Sam by playing to her feelings. Even though RC is not truly representative of Sam’s thoughts and feelings so what she was showing her was something RC conjured up from a hodgepodge of Sam’s memories, but honestly is “Sam” going to have a much harder time killing Jack than she is Daniel. I know why they played it out that way or at least it is why I feel it went down that way, and it only adds to my dislike of that particular element in SG-1.

AT did a great job acting in this one, and for me, that is probably the only thing that will make this episode worth watching again to go back and pick up on the little nuances that she added to RC.

I also got to give credit to RDA in this one. Jack was actually serious and contributed to the scenes he was in, though I dislike the way he was not confident in Carter to follow his orders. Even he was reading her weakness in this episode.

[Lexx]

but honestly is “Sam” going to have a much harder time killing Jack than she is Daniel.

That was probably the thing I disliked the most about the episode. She has no problem at all killing Daniel, but then she hesitates and flutters when she has to kill Jack. It's becoming more and more obvious that the J/S ship is more important to certain writers than the team dynamic.

[Carole]

it was obvious carter let her feelings get in the way and she was right to say at the end it was her fault....

anyone with a brain could have seen it was a trap a mile away....so obvious...

I enjoyed this episode until the end. How can O'Neill tell her it wasn't her fault. I guess love really is blind.

Carole