Ex Deus Machina (907)

[zats]

What was good:

a. The patches moment with the 'new' team was great, if only because I can stop making jokes about SG-.5.
b. I know we saw Sam last week, but this ep seemed a little more...I dunno. An improvement over "Hey, look, kids, it's Sam! Ahem, where were we? Oh, right, the galaxy's in danger. And so, back at the ranch...", which is what last week felt a bit like.
c. Whee! Ba'al. And lots of him!
d. And the amount of speculation over "Not exactly..." could power NYC for a day.

What wasn't good:
a. Missing Vala. And Jack. But I'll live.
b. This isn't concerned with this ep specifically, but recent eps in general: I've got nothing against Earth-based eps. But whatever happened to SG-1 being the first-contact team? You know, going through the 'gate to acquire new technologies to fight bad guys? When was the last time we made contact with an entirely new race? I miss that.

[Jonzey]

First, I could have sworn they said the area had been evacuated.

It had. A 5 block radius around the building at least. Possibly more if they kept evacuating after that.

[Lieut-Col. P@rick Durden]

OK. I thought it was a great Ep. I watched it and was instantly DOWN w/ SG1 back together. however the one thing that was sorta upsetting/ uncharacteristic was teal'c. I mean c'mon now after eliminating the replicaters abd defeating the system lords (some of them at least) why did he back away from the brunt of the Jaffa nation I mean what would be perfect os teal'c and braatak in charge so the alliance can work you all heard what gerack said about the tok'ra what kind of BS is that we all worked together in the fight for freedom from the SL's and replicaters now what we have accomplished is going to be hindered by a moronic jaffa who is a wannabe guo'ald so basically what i'm saying is that teal'c needs to do is a little head bashing and kill gerack because if the jaffa keep going in this way we might as well wage a war on them.



oh it sounds outlandish I know but C'MON!!!

[KatG]

And a big shippy sigh was heard across the US.

I actually bounced when Agent Barrett said to Sam "So you're single again?" and Sam paused then replied "Not exactly." Still have a very, very big grin on my face.

Aside from that this was a very good episode. Love that Ba'al has multiple clones and that he can make bombs out of buildings.

Nice awww moment when the team became official again.

Garek is a scary guy. He's going to cause as much trouble as the Gould ever did.

Really, really happy with this episode.

[the fifth man]

It's nice to see that many of my peers liked the episode as much as I did last night. It definitely wasn't a let-down from the hype about it. Yeah, there were some parts I could nitpick at, but they are the same as what most of you have posted ( the building beam-up, and the clone Baals ). Of course, the clone Baals could turn into a great little story arc if handled properly. Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Can't wait for "Babylon" in two weeks. Of course, the favorite episodes marathon next friday should be sweet too. Nothing beats "the best of" stargates.

[golfbooy]

OK, my own thoughts. Warning: I'm longwinded. Deal with it.

Love it or hate it, this one was SG-1. As someone mentioned earlier, perhaps you can classify it as middle season SG-1, but it's still SG-1. Besides, any episode that makes all of fandom retreat to their respective corners sounds pretty classic to me.

I'm surprised to see so many threads about how Ben Browder and Cam Mitchell are being, pardon the pun, shafted by TPTB. As an avid SG-1 fan from the very beginning (wow, that was a long time ago), I've rather enjoyed his measured, steady introduction to the story. And I've certainly enjoyed the fact that Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c are being treated as the leads they are. It seems that a lot of Browder fans were expecting him to join the cast and immediately dominate storylines and screetime a la John Crichton, but SG-1 has always been its own show and about its four original team members. Lots of other characters join in the fun, but that the show is still predominantly about Sam, Daniel, Teal'c, and even Jack to some extent, makes me one happy fan. In his first episode Mitchell told Daniel that he wanted to learn from the best, and that's exactly what it looks like he's been doing. Like it or not, he has no experience with gate travel, with off-world politics, and with serious interaction involving aliens. Add that to the massive expertise of the other SG-1 team members, and the fact that at any given time they become de facto team leader is hardly surprising or unexpected or improper. Mitchell should certainly defer to Sam when dealing with technology, to Teal'c when dealing with the Jaffa, and to Daniel when dealing with cultures/history/artifacts.

Similarly, the fact that Mitchell is the team leader at all really seems to be a matter of casting/production politics rather than one of military protocol. His promotion to SG-1 is, perhaps, the biggest plot convience of the whole season. Certainly the return of Col. Carter, along with her massive experience with the stargate itself, her eight years of field duty, her history with the Goa'uld, etc., trumps any claim to command that Mitchell holds. And while I'm aware that often times the best person doesn't get picked for command, in this case the very nature of the Stargate Program kind of rules that out.

Oh, right, Ex Deus Machina.

Well, Teal'c emerges as the real standout in this one, continuing to fight for the well being of his people (both Jaffa and Tau'ri). His composure and patience in the face of defeat at the end of the episode illustrates how far he has come as a character. His reactions and his words are those that I'd expect from Bra'tac, and that Teal'c has reached that stage of maturity and experience is a satisfying journey to have watched.

Carter resumes her place with appropriate aplomb. She carries a good portion of the story in this one, and the inclusion of some personal tidbits help to establish a comfortable base for the rest of the season. It also appears as though her return also allows the writers to finally progress the story further, after holding pretty much pat for the first five episodes.

Daniel, despite a much deserved (and needed) break from the spotlight, manages to maintain a presence in the action. He looks quite at home cavorting about with Sam, and thankfully more relaxed without Vala around.

And, then there's Mitchell, who like Daniel, manages to maintain a presence in the story without having very much to do at all. His idea might have saved the day, but it was a passive solution, and one that doesn't really allow for a great character moment or tremendous screentime as hero. See above for my sentiments on this.

Landry continues in his role as Hammond Jr., not intruding into the narrative and not taking the spotlight away from SG-1. And Gerak manages to be an effective foil for Teal'c. Kudos to TPTB for not letting Lou Gossett's and Beau Bridges' famed status overrun the story and the show.

Lastly, Ba'al still holds his place as the most engaging Goa'uld since Apophis. His perpetual promotion of his own well being and his own agenda serves him well. I'm not too sure how I feel about the clones, but I said that about Replicarter too, and was forced to eat quite a bit of crow after New Order. I think I'll reserve judgement for a while this time.

I'll end with a few complaints. I like the Prometheus as much as the next guy, but the show could definitely use a break from it. The next few eps look to be going that route, so we'll see. And the bit with the building I can swallow. It's just a little rough going down is all. As for the real Ba'al, I'm hoping he wasn't on earth at all. There a number of explanations for the clones Goa'uldish nature, the easiest being that they weren't Ba'al, just other Goa'ulds who had taken his cloned host. Lastly, the patch scene was nice, but too understated for my liking. I'd have preferred more of a to-do over SG-1's reformation. And they still haven't resolved the command issue, one way or the other, enough for my tastes.

Still, I enjoyed it. Bring on Babylon.

[TechnoBoY]

I think this is one of the best so far in S9! I liked it a whole lot! I've been dissapointed lately with the eps but this one was really good. It felt like good old SG1. Good stuff!

It was nice to see that reporter lady back! Yup yup! We need more episodes like this.

[Quinn Mallory]

For whatever reason, I didn't have a high expectation of this episode (since most of the Earth based episodes in the past are a bit weak). I would have to say that this episode easily exceeded my expecation and beyond.

It's a rather interesting twist to have Ba'al hiding out on Earth and the further set up Gerek's dominance over the Jaffas. I also enjoyed the return of agent Barrett, that reporter from Prometheus and Covenant, and of course the team getting back together.

Now some nitpicking: I find it a bit odd that Sam didn't come up with the idea to beam out the building. I think all of us have such a high expectation of Sam that it is a bit disappointing when she is not the one who solved the problem (the only exception, in my opinion, is when they let Jonas solved the problem in Redemption). I guess they just want to give Mitchell another chance to shine. Another thing is the use of the poision to kill goa'uld. Are we supposed to assume that all of the Jaffas are now on tritonin and don't need a "junior" to survive? Did any Jaffa die from the poison?

Anyway, it was a good episode once again.

[AGateFan]

For whatever reason, I didn't have a high expectation of this episode (since most of the Earth based episodes in the past are a bit weak). I would have to say that this episode easily exceeded my expecation and beyond.

It's a rather interesting twist to have Ba'al hiding out on Earth and the further set up Gerek's dominance over the Jaffas. I also enjoyed the return of agent Barrett, that reporter from Prometheus and Covenant, and of course the team getting back together.

Now some nitpicking: I find it a bit odd that Sam didn't come up with the idea to beam out the building. I think all of us have such a high expectation of Sam that it is a bit disappointing when she is not the one who solved the problem (the only exception, in my opinion, is when they let Jonas solved the problem in Redemption). I guess they just want to give Mitchell another chance to shine. Another thing is the use of the poision to kill goa'uld. Are we supposed to assume that all of the Jaffas are now on tritonin and don't need a "junior" to survive? Did any Jaffa die from the poison?
Anyway, it was a good episode once again.

Yes all the jaffa that were attacking Baals compound died. That is why Landry and Mitchell had the look of angst on their faces when they heard the Jaffa were attacking and Teal'c said something like "we must not hesitate". In other words go ahead and kill them, we told them not to be there anyway.

I’m a bit surprised we (earth) didn’t have a stronger reaction to an alien ship being in our system without our consent. Perhaps we should have mentioned that we hold sovereignty over the Solar system and ANY intrusion into that system without our consent is an act of hostility....I’m pretty sure the jaffa wouldn’t like it if we parked Deadeleus over Dakara..... Well I guess we didn't say that because we cant really back it up yet, but that is the message we should get out. We are friendly as long as you don’t do anything unfriendly and a heavily armed mothership anywhere near our planet is unfriendly. IMHO

[Raine Anaya]

And the Baal clones at the end? That scene demands fanfic. It really, really does.

Absolutely.

[Jace021903]

This was my least favorite so far of season 9--not terrible, just kind of bland for me.

The cast did a fine job, but I really don't enjoy the Trust/Conspiracy storylines that much.

Still, there were a few standout moments...

Teal'c had something to do--nice bit of acting by CJ.

The band officially getting back together--with patches--was nice...long time coming.

I like the little Daniel and Sam friendship moments that have been thrown in over the last two episodes--I hope we see more.

Jace

PS: I really miss Vala. (sigh)

[Uber]

Okay. I loved this episode.

First of all, as a Sam fan, it was so great to see Sam way back in action! I mean, sure, she was in Beachhead...but for that she was only there on a TDA. Now, FINALLY, we have SG-1!!! WOOOOOOOOT.

I just LOVE Ba'al. So to see so many...well, it made my day.

The scene of the team reuniting was delightfully understated...Sam's conceding grin and Teal'c's typically head bob slash muted response combo said it all. And the smile between Sam and Daniel...it was just right. It was time for the team to be one again.

That being said, I hope Cassie has made it out of the tough spot she was in. I hope we learn more about what she was going through...it must have been pretty heavy for Sam to rearrange her life and take a desk job.

I was delighted that Teal'c is no longer a wall flower. His speech before the Jaffa leadership was strong and compelling. And his sadness at the end when he realized that their hearts belonged to Garak for the time being was palpable.

I like that Cam had something to offer. I think he's a good addition to the team but I still do not feel that he has so far shown me as a viewer what qualifies him to lead the team. He's got potential...I just am not seeing any real reason he should command the team. I like the fact that he's quick on his feet...his idea to beam the building away was cool. I'm glad Sam didn't come up with it or those who don't appreciate her would accuse her of being Super!Sam again. Like that's a bad thing...

Daniel. *sigh* Here's a memo to Michael Shanks. PLEASE SLOW DOWN!!! You don't have to talk so dang fast! I feel bad for those who don't have English down 100%...trying to listen to him race through the dialogue is tough even for me and English is my native language...I have to rewind and relisten to his dialogue to get the gist.

Then of course there's the shippy beat. Very subtle so as not to rattle the cages of those who rabidly oppose any kind of ship between Sam and Jack but enough to delight the shippers. What's freaky is that several months ago, I predicted how the scene would play out and posted it on the Sam/Jack shipper thread. The search feature is currently down but as soon as it's back up I'm going to see how close I was to the actual script.

You know, with Beachhead I felt like my show was starting to come back (actually I got the initial feelings of hope with The Powers that Be)...but Ex Deus Machina sealed the deal.

All in all...a thoroughly enjoyable episode. Everyone had a role to play...everyone was valuable. As for the rest of Season 9, BRING IT ON!

I give this ep four out of five zats.

[Kalliope]

PS: I really miss Vala. (sigh)

Welcome to the club of not entirely happy campers...

[Sir Ruff]

This was a funny/strange episode.. Clones, beaming up skyscrapers, Baa'l in a suit.. But I think this gives some idea of what's to come. And it's always fun to see american-finnish people in stargate (Sonya Salomaa who played Charlotte)

[Terrarin]

???????????????????????????????????????????

How do you pronounce 'ex deus machina?'
What does it mean?
How is it related to the topic of the story?

Thanks.