The Scourge (917)

[Deejay435]

Apparently I am the only one here who watched Tremors the seires. In an ep of TTS A group of insects that were really a hybrid of termite/ant with a smattering of randomness thrown in were eating plants, then mules, and finaly people. They traveled underground and made a loud sound when they approched. Many people have pointed out the vibration sensing commonality so I won't go into that, but did the egg thing remind anyone else of "they nest"?

I never watched the series, but I did watch the movie Tremors, and I admit, I was thinking of that movie all through Scourge. (Not that I minded, I loved Tremors in all it's cheesy, parody goodness.)

I just kept expecting them to pole vault to the research base.

[KeiranFuller]

Yeah it wasn't the greatest. But one thing I did like is the character development in Woosley.

[Jonzey]

I liked 'The Scourge'. Dunno why so many people didn't. I mean, I've seen what people complain about in past episodes, and this ep rectified most of them. I mean:

Annoying Mitchell - not so much in this episode
Sexing up of the show - didn't see any of that
Not going off world enough - whole ep was off world
Don't get to see the stargate - Saw it twice on earth and again on the gamma site
No teamwork - they worked as a team in this ep to accomplish their goal (plus they watched a movie afterwards- which some people seem to think it weird. but the original team with Jack did it a fair few times that we saw, and since Sam and Cam were friends beforehand, then it seems natural to me. I mean, are the other three supposed to just leave Mitchell out? or what? what was the problem with that scene?!)
Teal'c not being used much - I thought he had a lot to say in this ep
Daniel being more soldier than linguist/diplomat - he was definately playing the diplomat in this episode
The Ori are boring - well we didn't actually see them in this ep, only heard about them
Ships being used as a quick way out - kinda, but the team did have to work for it
Too much comedy - well there was a bit of friendly banter between them, but there were also scenes of people being eaten alive by bugs. doesn't look like comedy to me.

[Fargater]

As usual I tried to read the whole thread before posting, but had to stop here because you said so much I agree with.

Overall... yawn.

There were some parts I liked:

Mitchell seemed less hyper and more... mature and in control, perhaps. I wasn't hoping the bugs would eat him, at any rate. This is an improvement over some past eps.... I thought the scene between him and Teal'c went pretty well.

Hmmm. Well I guess so, but I still thought it wouldn`t be any great loss either if they did. Yeah, he was a bit more mature in this one, but his comments about "babysitting" the IOA or whoever they are people were just. . . I couldn`t help thinking of something I heard long ago. "When you point your finger at someone else, there are three more pointing back at you." He`s been babysat by the rest of the team quite often himself.

There were some great Sam scenes; I liked the interaction between her and Woolsey.

Oh yeah! And I liked when Woolsey finally yelled at the hysterical French guy on her behalf.

I liked the final scene when the four of them were standing side-by-side defending the research station.

Teal'c had some great lines.

I thought the Chinese rep was interesting; I hope we see her again, and they follow up on whatever nefarious plot the Chinese government might be hatching.

Me too. I liked her and Daniel`s interaction. Some people are talking future ship there but I agree with whoever said it seemed just like the old Daniel to be the diplomat and it was nice to see the linguist also (as someone else said). My Mom happened to be awake for this ep and commented that the talking in Chinese was rude to the others (which is true) but it was nice when Cam said something which let them know you can`t be sure who`s listening/understanding your conversation.

This must be the ep they were referring to some time back when JM or someone said something about wanting to know Daniel`s history with Chinese and maybe with this woman, and also deciding whether to have Cam also know Chinese. I forget where I read it but other people will remember it too.

It was clear that they are at least trying to establish a team feel incorporating the new characters, and it didn't seem too OTT in this one, so I give them points for effort.

Yeah, I want to give them points for effort too, even though the whole movie night thing seemed a bit forced to me. And now I`m curious to see Old School. And why does Cam insist on Starship Troopers? I wish they`d said something about taking turns picking the movie and that it was his turn, otherwise I would have preferred Teal`c to cram a DVD player in his mouth to shut him up.

There were also some things that I didn't like:

The whole bug echo-location thing... um, seems to me the last place a creature that used echo-location as a defense mechanism would want to be is underground. Wouldn't their sounding mechanisms just bounce right back at them? Gee, there's something solid all around me! What is it going to not bounce off of to give a contrast? Does sound travel really well through dirt? The whole thing seemed more than a little flakey to me after the bugs went underground. I could believe it better if they were sensitive to vibration, but I don't think echo-location is the same thing, is it? Perhaps someone with a better understanding of how echo-location works can explain in detail why this made sense.

AMEN! I was thinking the EXACT same thing. Vibration would have been a much more logical explanation unless they meant they use echo-location above ground and vibration sensitivity below ground. And I was nitpicking the way the people were walking. Anyone who`s ever hunted nightcrawlers knows how sensitive earthworms are to the sensation of footfalls, even when one steps lightly. They alternated between jogging along (thud, thud) and tiptoeing.

And the bugs are charging right at Teal`c and Cam, go to ground right at their feet practically but don`t just swarm over them and eat them because. . . they stopped moving just in time for the bugs to "lose" them?
What the frell?

All those bugs formed from a single bite of meatloaf? Don't most things have to eat/drink/convert energy somehow in order to grow/multiply? Seemed more like magic to me than something plausible.

Yeah, someone else also commented on that, and I agree.

Plus the effects were stolen from the Mummy movie... Cool, but nothing I haven't seen before, and better done.

I forgot about The Mummy. It`s been ages since I saw that.

I don't know, if I had something crawling around under my skin, I would be screaming in pain in horror rather than trying to scratch it like it was some pesky mosquito.

AMEN!!!

And the whole bugs-streaming-from-the-body thing. Ummm, the guy couldn`t have been alive if they ate him entirely from the inside. No organs to sustain life. And that container wasn`t very good if it couldn`t take being dropped from a height of what? three feet? Seems to me if you`re trying to contain possible contagion you`d use a stronger container. And the body they found- how convenient that the bugs ate everything but his head, just so they could find him sort of intact. It would have been cooler if they just found his clothes. We didn`t need the extra ick factor and "SciFi Original Movie" business of them suddenly finishing him off just when they were there to see it. Oh wait. Those were supposed to have been from eggs laid inside the guy that matured and then burst out eating as they went? meh And speaking of clothes, the redshirt guy they swarmed all over right in front of the others, umm, where were his clothes? They ate them too apparently.

Weren't we just told that SG-1 have little locator beacons that the Odyssey could have searched for instead of life signs? Gosh, if the locator beacons were associated with life signs standing in a cave a ways away from all the other clusters of life signs, you'd think they might have considered the fact that SG-1 was still alive. But I guess the locator beacons are going to be like numerous other cheap plot devices that will come and go and be used or not used at the writers' whims.

<<sigh>>
Yeah.

Did they HAVE to make it the woman who fell down and hurt her ankle at the end in order to slow them down and increase the dramatic tension? How cliche' is that? Or was it supposed to be a bonding moment between her and Daniel? Well, it still made me roll my eyes.

Yeah, that got me a bit, but then I saw those ridiculous shoes she was wearing and told myself it was great for her that she got as far as she did in them.

Asgard beaming technology to the last-second rescue... AGAIN. C'mon, this is getting really boring and predictable.

AMEN AMEN.
The only thing to wonder about was how many inches the bugs would be from their feet before they got beamed up. Would have been nicer if a few bugs got on them just as they were getting beamed so they`d get a few bites at least.

[gamer83]

Anyone know what that Chineese Ambassidor was alluding to when she grilled Daniel about if the US would follow China's lead had the tables been turned? She made it seem as if the Chineese were about to enact some changes. The way she worded it, it almost seemed like she was insinuating some sort of time travel to put the gate in Chineese control....could they have recovered the Alteran time ship in this timeline?

[AGateFan]

Mitchell and the French guy didnt get eaten. As I see it that was two problems with the episode

[gamer83]

^^NM, just saw the other thread.

[Fargater]

As soon as they all left the Research Center, I thought "that lady is going to trip in her high heels."

heh heh
Your eye is better than mine. Didn`t notice the shoes until they undoubtedly caused her to trip and fall.

Loved when Woosley was running with his shirt hanging out.

I enjoyed watching this episode, but got tired of the guns. Did they all have to fire at once? Couldn't they conserve ammo? And I hope that was the last "beam them out at the last second" episode.

Oh, yeah, that was another thing Mom and I were both saying about the ammo. Which is funny because Mom usually nods off and doesn`t really watch the show but stayed awake for whatever reason this time. And we both said, after the big BOOMs with the C-4, that should do for a bit, but they were blazing away with the guns also. Didn`t seem very prudent after the "almost out of ammo" comment.

[Maj_Cliffhanger]

Okay, someone please tell me I heard wrong...

When the Chinese delegate greets Daniel she rattles off his creditials, saying he has PhDs in Archeaology, Anthropology and... I could swear she said 'Phrenology'! Reading the bumps on people's heads?!! No... I HAD to have heard that wrong. Yet, I know it wasn't Egyptology or Linguistics...

What did she actually say? HELP!

[Dani347]

No, it was philology.

From Websters.com:
n : the humanistic study of language and literature

[Dani347]

That's not the vibe I got at all. I got more of a "Hmmm. Of all the delegates, she's the one we really have to worry about, she's the dangerous one. Can't have her sitting alone and stewing" vibe. After all, he had already told Cameron that the tour was actually about the Chinese, and not the IOA as a whole.

Hmm, except if I was her, I'd be extremely annoyed with this guy, no matter what I knew about his credentials, just plopping himself down by me when I was giving off I want some time alone signals. I think it's just as bad to force someone to interact with you when they want to be alone. The least he could have done was take the time to ask if she minded if he sat there. She probably would have said yes, just to be polite, and then he could have sat down. I just found it annoying, and I don't really like finding Daniel annoying.

[Maj_Cliffhanger]

No, it was philology.

From Websters.com:
n : the humanistic study of language and literature

Thank you Dani347! That makes so much more sense - and actually works better than the 'linguistics' I'd been expecting as it helps explain his indepth knowledge of so much mythology.

[Uber]

Hmm, except if I was her, I'd be extremely annoyed with this guy, no matter what I knew about his credentials, just plopping himself down by me when I was giving off I want some time alone signals. I think it's just as bad to force someone to interact with you when they want to be alone. The least he could have done was take the time to ask if she minded if he sat there. She probably would have said yes, just to be polite, and then he could have sat down. I just found it annoying, and I don't really like finding Daniel annoying.

I would agree except for the fact that they seemed to have established a rapport before and even joked around. She didn't seemed offput to me but she knew who Daniel was and why he was there...so she took it all in stride.

[Fargater]

I saw it that way, too. In the midst of a PR mission, the last thing you want is for one of the people to whom you are trying to sell the mission to sit off by themselves. He was a bit abrupt to just invite himself to sit down, but he also recognized that it was his job to try to improve relations and make a connection with the representative of the Chinese government.

Yeah, this assessment works for me. I agree with you and UberSG-1Fan.

[Shep]

i enjoyed the hell out of it. it was fun and had lots of team interaction.