Ethon (915)

[Valisnor]

This ep was great. I think it showed the power that the Ori have and are capable of give beyond the old magic trick of healing poeple. For the first time it's shown that they do have some knowledge that is physical and directly threatening earth(not counting beachhead and the giant gate). Sorry to see Premmy go but hey what a way to go that was great .

[kazzyk]

I may be near here, but I have been watching SG-1 since Season 3.


Honestly, I hated this episode. Killing off the Prometheus was unwarranted and unneeded. Now, I could have understand some epic space battle where the Prometheus dished out some whupass and eventually got taken out (for instance, back in Lost City, Part 2 - had Prometheus been destroyed then, it would have been better that way than this way).

However, the Prometheus got it's ass kicked like a red-headed step child. Personally, I don't find that to be entertaining. Why not kill off Earth now? Just kill of SG-1. Hell, they're replaceable, Ben Browder proved that. Just kill the entire cast, yeah.

The worst part about it is that the writers seem to have killed off Prometheus simply because of a quick one-liner that Teal'C gave back in Ripple Effect. I'm sorry, but just because the Prometheus was lost in an alternative dimension DOES NOT mean it has to happen here.


My take: good acting, good effects, good characters. HORRIBLE writing. I was quite disgusted to see Prometheus die an undeserving and pointless death. The fact that so many of the crew was lost and that the Rand and Caldonian people just ended up killing themselves, this episode quite honestly sucked. It seems like the writers hit a bit of an emo bump and decided just said "screw it" and did something grand and dramatic - only it wasn't and it wasn't needed.

I'm not saying we shouldn't kill off characters like Pendleghast, or destroy things like the Prometheus, but why the hell did they have to do it the way they did? Hell, it would be like if next week, the Wraith just show up and blow up Atlantis - just like that. Not only is it a bad plot course, but it's unneeded and quite noninteresting.

However, that's just one fan's take on things. Had the Prometheus dished out some pain and kicked some butt before going down, I'd be rooting and tooting for this episode, but the writers just took a dump on this episode. It sucked, to be completely blunt and honest.

I totally agree--in fact while I was watching--my first thought was the writers are dumping down Stargate.

The "Team" came across inept. Really--when did they start having talks with potentially dangers foes on the planet itself? Given the circumstances--why wasnt it earth or a third planet with sgc teams as back-up?

So now Cam is restrained? The Mitchell we have seen would have blown the thing up--in spite of Daniels pleas. Or at the very least--a back-up plan.

I have had a problem with Ori from day one--beyond whatever todays healines are that seem to inspire the writing--there doesnt appear to be any hope--no choice--so yes--why not just destroy Earth now.

I have no problem with hard to beat bad guys or losses but good grief--give them something--this is after all Stargate (or was).

Unlike others--Teal'cs reaction when seeing Sam was soooo out of character it really took me by surprise.
Then there is Teal'c as second seat??? Who are they kidding?

The best acting came from captain going down with his ship. I agree that if Prometheus was to go--then let her go out in a fight.
Science Sam was forced and reckless.

We are really suppose to believe the "team" didnt even consider the "deal" was a lie?

Last but not least--they killed a good many of that ships crew--blew the ship--and the SGC (especially Cam) allowed that weapon to stay intact??
Just wrong and so not Stargate.

The tribute to all these deaths and loss of the first earth ship capable of space flight? "what a bad day"--have a beer.

Once again--great potential gone bad.

[FallenAngelII]

Well, stupidity has always been part of human nature. How could people not see that the Rand leader than gone mad? How can ANYONE follow a mad moron like that? And then when the Kaledonians got a choice, even with the assurance that the Ori would destroy them if they stay, they refused to take it.

And why weren't the Rand smart enough fire at the Kaledonian capitol with their satellite? As long as it's not broken, use it. Needless to say, it's pretty safe to assume both will destroy each other.

And how stupid can someone get? My great-great-great-moron-of-a-grandfather started this war! Now I have to see to it that we win?! "The Kaledonians deserved to die long before the Prior ever came here" (or something like that). Those were the words of the mad Rand protectorate leader and STILL, there were soldiers willing to follow him after he was shot!

Speaking of the team's ineptness: OK, they were smart enough to plan their escape by hyperdrive if they were unable to destroy the satellite. YET, they STAYED! Until the satellite had accumulated enough power to fire AND until they DID fire! They had several seconds, during which they could've escape between when the satellite was done firing up and when it did fire.

Where did all of their intelligence go once they failed to shoot down the satellite? And why did they take such a long time discussing whether Daniel's life was expendible?! Fire now! Run after! "Don't think"!

What kind of beacon was that (the one Daniel was wearing)?! Of course people would take it into custody once they searched Daniel! How un-subtle can you get? Turn it into a necklace or a bracelet of some kind! Something that doesn't obviously scream "Technology!!!!".

[MediaSavant]

Take a beer into your workplace on Monday and see how that works out.
I know how it would work out at my current place of employement and I know how it would have worked out when I was in the USAF.

Well, my place of employment has a bar on premises which opens at 5PM two days a week. It's also not uncommon to have "late in the day" parties with alcohol.

Don't air force bases have Officer's Clubs? The military bases my dad used to take me to (he was Army Reserve) all had them.

It was clear in that scene that Mitchell was off duty and they weren't in an operational part of the base. They weren't "at work" technically. I don't see it as inappropriate.

[ShimmeringStar]

Well, stupidity has always been part of human nature. How could people not see that the Rand leader than gone mad? How can ANYONE follow a mad moron like that? And then when the Kaledonians got a choice, even with the assurance that the Ori would destroy them if they stay, they refused to take it.

The Rand president may have been a good actor (a.k.a. Ronald Reagan) and put on one face for his people and another to his staff. Although it could have also been that he may not have shown anyone his Ori extremist side before, since the satellite weapon had only just become operational. In regards to the people - everyone who survived the plague had given their allegiance to the Ori in exchange for their lives. The majority of dissenters were inferred to have died in the Ori plague. (Not to say there weren’t dissenters still left, but they would’ve had a harder time doing anything about their leaders given that both societies were on the verge of collapse, struggling to sustain themselves, let alone fight each other or worry about removing the Ori.) When it had gotten down to daily, minute-to-minute struggles to live, they had to place their faith in someone, no matter how much they wouldn’t have followed him/her if circumstances were different.

RE: Caledonia – I wonder if perhaps the Caledonian leader decided, since death on a world-wide scale seemed inevitable no matter which route they followed, that she wanted their civilization to die by their own hand in a quicker fashion rather than by slow suffering by the Ori?

Just some thoughts.

[Traveler Enroute1]

-Shared command nod! Loved that neither Cam nor Sam would sit in the "Big Chair." Nice touch, having Cam debate with himself whether to sit there or not, and deciding not. Hmmm. Why does Sam smile like that when Cam nixes the chair? Hmm-hmm.

=majorsal: i loved that scene!

Team leader was an issue in this episode. The captain of the Prometheus having to look to two people for orders clearly illustrated the writers/PTB are going to deal with this onscreen sooner rather than later. Esp. in the way things went down: loss of Prometheus and most of its crew, and what amounts to a failed mission should spark some not so nice investigation when Landry returns. There were at least two control room survivors (Sam's assistant and the pilot) whose testimony of events on the bridge could put the an unflattering light on this area. Just MHO.

Just sayin', it will be interesting to see the fallout from this matter both politically and military-wise. Let's hope it's addressed so that the good story here and the hard work done on it won't just fade.

[ShimmeringStar]

I am going to watch the repeat and I haven't done that in a while.

*grins* I know! I watched and stayed awake for both showings! (Maybe it was that I was trying to finish the tax returns while I watched? )

Just finished reading the thread (watching the 2nd showing of SG1 & half of SGA meant I was too pooped to get on here to read/comment. I’m glad someone had better eagle eyes than me on what Daniel and Cam were drinking; it was hard to tell if it was soda or beer. (And I honestly thought they didn’t want us to know because of 'product placement' issues.) But I still thought it was a nice gesture for him to bring Daniel a soda if it had been that… Though after hearing what Daniel said had happened after they left the planet, it did seem like it was more warranted. (But… did it seem like to anyone else that Daniel was wishing it were something else as he examined the can? Wine or something harder?)

I was kind of sad too when the Prometheus was destroyed and Colonel Pendergast went down with the ship. He was a very honorable character and very believable as the Prommie’s commander. (But once again, as several people have noted - there goes another great supporting character that it would have been great to have seen more of in the show.)

It was a moving moment when Daniel thought everyone was lost. (Though it was hard to tell with the lighting and camera angle exactly what he was doing hunched over in the cell. Looked like he may have been in shock or overwrought and crying – the face looked puffy and red, but when he did a 180 a scene or two later and was being his overly-optimistic self to Jared – it did put a question mark in my mind since it seemed like Jared was spouting lines that given Daniel’s demeanor a few minutes earlier would have been more natural coming from Daniel.) I liked Teal’c and Sam’s exchange too when the met up with each other in Caledonia (T having thought Sam died), as well as Teal’c’s expression when he learned Pendergast went down with the ship. (Yay to Chris for excellent emoting when they’re not giving him much of any (or any good) dialogue!)

Loved seeing Ernie Hudson. I’d managed to see him for a few minutes earlier this week in some “B” movie SciFi ran – the usual Skiffy fare (blech) - and want to say that even in the short time he was on the screen in this ep he was wonderful in comparison.

Anyone else see a bit of resemblance (especially in the mouth area & tone of voice) between John Aylward, the actor playing Rand President Nadal and Tom McBeath (Harry Maybourne)? Maybe Harry’s got some cousins out there in the universe.

My biggest gripe, and, yes, I do have one – Who the HECK is in charge while Landry is in DC? I was concerned (and irritated) about that in the first showing last night & on watching the 11 p.m. repeat still had that concern. With no character mentioning that Landry had okayed this mission, it really did seem like the team made the decision on their own (without higher up's approval) to commit themselves and other SGC program resources (the Prommie) to something that the base commander may not have done. And not seeming to have had clear authority to do this seemed to make the loss of Pendergast and the Prommie all the more useless and a waste, especially given that the planet ultimately destroyed itself in the end. (Although that did show us the lazy (or sly like a fox) side of the Ori – don’t waste your own resources decimating native populations – give them a tool or two and let them do it to themselves.)

[Traveler Enroute1]

*grins* I know! I watched and stayed awake for both showings! (Maybe it was that I was trying to finish the tax returns while I watched? )

Just finished reading the thread (watching the 2nd showing of SG1 & half of SGA meant I was too pooped to get on here to read/comment. I’m glad someone had better eagle eyes than me on what Daniel and Cam were drinking; it was hard to tell if it was soda or beer. (And I honestly thought they didn’t want us to know because of 'product placement' issues.) But I still thought it was a nice gesture for him to bring Daniel a soda if it had been that… Though after hearing what Daniel said had happened after they left the planet, it did seem like it was more warranted. (But… did it seem like to anyone else that Daniel was wishing it were something else as he examined the can? Wine or something harder?)

I was kind of sad too when the Prometheus was destroyed and Colonel Pendergast went down with the ship. He was a very honorable character and very believable as the Prommie’s commander. (But once again, as several people have noted - there goes another great supporting character that it would have been great to have seen more of in the show.)

It was a moving moment when Daniel thought everyone was lost. (Though it was hard to tell with the lighting and camera angle exactly what he was doing hunched over in the cell. Looked like he may have been in shock or overwrought and crying – the face looked puffy and red, but when he did a 180 a scene or two later and was being his overly-optimistic self to Jared – it did put a question mark in my mind since it seemed like Jared was spouting lines that given Daniel’s demeanor a few minutes earlier would have been more natural coming from Daniel.) I liked Teal’c and Sam’s exchange too when the met up with each other in Caledonia (T having thought Sam died), as well as Teal’c’s expression when he learned Pendergast went down with the ship. (Yay to Chris for excellent emoting when they’re not giving him much of any (or any good) dialogue!)

Loved seeing Ernie Hudson. I’d managed to see him for a few minutes earlier this week in some “B” movie SciFi ran – the usual Skiffy fare (blech) - and want to say that even in the short time he was on the screen in this ep he was wonderful in comparison.

Anyone else see a bit of resemblance (especially in the mouth area & tone of voice) between John Aylward, the actor playing Rand President Nadal and Tom McBeath (Harry Maybourne)? Maybe Harry’s got some cousins out there in the universe.

My biggest gripe, and, yes, I do have one – Who the HECK is in charge while Landry is in DC? I was concerned (and irritated) about that in the first showing last night & on watching the 11 p.m. repeat still had that concern. With no character mentioning that Landry had okayed this mission, it really did seem like the team made the decision on their own (without higher up's approval) to commit themselves and other SGC program resources (the Prommie) to something that the base commander may not have done. And not seeming to have had clear authority to do this seemed to make the loss of Pendergast and the Prommie all the more useless and a waste, especially given that the planet ultimately destroyed itself in the end. (Although that did show us the lazy (or sly like a fox) side of the Ori – don’t waste your own resources decimating native populations – give them a tool or two and let them do it to themselves.)

Nice analysis, ShimmeringStar. On the 2IC when Landry's away, I wondered, too. But on second viewing, Sam says on the bridge that Daniel's been out of touch for 2 days. I'm going to jump to an assumption and say that Lt. Colonels probably can't order the earth's flagship without some higher approval so maybe they got it from Landry offscreen. In which they would have had to make a case for this whole mission anyway, I think. Maybe just being SG1 makes them default stand in command at SGC? Where's military protocol officers when you need them?

Just sayin', and yes, I saw some resemblance to the actor playing Ori-toast to actor McBeathe.

[Zoser]

My major complaint (there were many) was Season 9 was so boring - well that changed - Ethon finally put a little tension back in the mix. I think it was the best of the season, RE was good, this was better - maybe there is hope yet.

snipped

My biggest gripe, and, yes, I do have one – Who the HECK is in charge while Landry is in DC? I was concerned (and irritated) about that in the first showing last night & on watching the 11 p.m. repeat still had that concern. With no character mentioning that Landry had okayed this mission, it really did seem like the team made the decision on their own (without higher up's approval) to commit themselves and other SGC program resources (the Prommie) to something that the base commander may not have done. And not seeming to have had clear authority to do this seemed to make the loss of Pendergast and the Prommie all the more useless and a waste, especially given that the planet ultimately destroyed itself in the end. (Although that did show us the lazy (or sly like a fox) side of the Ori – don’t waste your own resources decimating native populations – give them a tool or two and let them do it to themselves.)

A few questions:
Who is the 2IC of SCG?
Beer drinking on base? on duty?

[Pharaoh Atem]

this was the first solid episode of season 9

all i gotta say is wow

destroying the Prometheus sucked that was my favorite ship and now it's gone.

Did anyone else almost cry when Colonel Pendergast told everyone to leave. I did I'll admit it the music was perfect at that part the crew members just looking not wanting to leave his side out of respect and loyalty.





Danie's reaction to Prometheus being destroyed was classic and very moving.

this was the first time the members of SG-1 really thought that there had really lost the team. Daniel thought that there might be all dead mitchell & and teal'c where worried about carter.

also that guy that was helping carter wasn't doing anything wrong he was scared consdering that there never thought that did could happen to the Prometheus.

Does anyone else think that the ori have already gotten to the asguard and something bad might had happen to them. there where there for the gou'lud but since the ori showed up there have been M.I.A. are there scared of the ori might finally destroy them condering there weak.

[freyr's mother]

Damn,..... Prommie got raped!

Wow. As much I thought the Prometheus was a peice of junk I am sadded by it's lost.

I feel the same way.

I'm going to miss the Prometheus and Lionel. Very sad. If anyone survived in Rand, the Daedalus should nuke them.

Mmmmmhhhummm..... Damn right!


We could have just beamed a strike team into the Rand bunker to take the satellite control center. Or we could have used a Mark IX to destroy the mothers. Nuke beaming would work as they dont have the jammers the wraith do. I'm gonna miss pendergast too. He was cool and TPTB shouldn't have killed him off. How are we supposed to have a growing armada if they go and do this?


Maybe the asgard didn't give us the full strength asgard shields and instead gave us some they werent using b/c they were outdated. But really, this should be a wake up call for the asgard. They need to start giving us some powerful energy weapons. Better yet, why didn't we just call them up and brief them about the situation. Then they could have come over with their vastly superior technology and destroyed the satellite. Also, i thought prommie had asgard sensors. Wouldn't they have been able to locate daniel without a locator beacon?

Two freaking missiles! Why didn't they just go all out like we saw in beachead? Also, something i noticed in comparing Prommie to Deddy, prommie has faster missiles.

[buckner]

because they underestimated the power of the ori satellite so they didnt use full force

[FoolishPleasure]

Dang.. I just realized something, and not sure if anyone else noticed it yet (though I bet someone has.. ) The Ancients (alterans, however you want to call em) are Vorlons, and the Ori are Shadows.... So does this mean that Mitchell (or Daniel.. but he has done it so many times he must have his own ascention elevator) will ascend then deascend make a long winded speech about how we don't need either of them anymore and kick them out of the known universe?? Hmm...

Yep - I picked up on the Vorlon/Shadow thing long ago. We all know what happened with that - neither was what they seemed to be! I'm hoping TPTB can come up with something just as wild.

[SnoggingPicard]

The Prometheus biting the dust was bad enough, but that last scene with Daneil and Mitchell was very, very sad. I thought it was very brave of TPTB to not end this in an "okay" light. The fact that the Prometheus commander sacrificed himself to save the lives of the others and, he believed, the lives of those on the planet, and to have it be for nothing was very powerful. I liked this episode -- kind of slow and talky at parts, but there were some really good bits that gave the episode a very dark tone.

[Elfinwood]

Just sayin', it will be interesting to see the fallout from this matter both politically and military-wise. Let's hope it's addressed so that the good story here and the hard work done on it won't just fade.

It would be addressed, if this was BSG. Since it is not, I'm afraid that you will just be left to your own thoughts on the issue. Just like we have had to do so much of the time lately with...missing scenes...characters...plots.

I did like the storyline on this one and the special effects were great, but I'm still not getting the "old" Stargate feeling that has been promised and highly promoted. Yeah, they are going through the stargate...to another set! Where are the trees? Maybe Off the Grid will quench my thirst.

And the "team" feeling? Still not there. Maybe it's just that the original three are a bit bored by it all now and the new guy is struggling to fit in. I really hate the exposition scenes now. The ones where they are all lined up like ducks in a row and spout their lines one by one. Except for AT's grimaces, no one moves. Looking back, RDA's inability to be stationary was probably a big plus for those type of scenes...and for his costars and the director. I miss him...and Jack. Jack...who constantly goaded, conjoled, teased, argued with, etc., etc. the rest of the team. Like the superstar in sports who makes the rest of the team better.