Major spoilers for "Critical Mass".
Sounds like it has potential, particularly if it does a nice left turn and the traitor turns out to be someone we wouldn't suspect.
When I first heard about "Critical Mass" I thought oh thrill, it's going to be some stranger whom they'll just conveniently kill at the end. (And it probably will be. Atlantis so far has a lousy record of copping out of opportunities for genuine suspense.) I thought it's a pity it won't be Beckett or somebody TPTB don't want to kill off just yet and therefore have to try really hard to save instead of just blowing them full of holes. Beckett might be an excellent choice because how often does *he* get checked for unwelcome guests?
Yes, that leaves the major problem of how the transfer occurs without the prior host suffering some medical consequences. But given a symbiote's ability to heal its host rapidly, it's quite doable. I mean, just consider how fast it must stanch the bleeding of the entry wound in the new host. It very likely can do the same for the prior host on the way out. And SG-1's "Lockdown" and "The Enemy Within" have established that people can be quite normal and oblivious to blackout periods when the symbiote takes total control.
At first I considered the idea of Cadman being the host, but I didn't see how that was possible because surely she'd have been carefully checked out after her "Duet" adventure. I also toyed with the idea of the symbiote accidentally ending up in McKay in "Duet" then taking advantage of the situation, but again, it seems McKay was quite thoroughly checked near the beginning of "Duet". (On the other hand, Sheppard's line about maybe some things don't show up on an MRI could have prophetic significance. But if the writer of "Critical Mass" takes this route, he'd better provide a darn good reason why Atlantis isn't applying the medical protocols the SGC does, considering they're both in the business of exploring really weird alien worlds.)
So the symbiote's best choice is someone who doesn't go offworld (much) and therefore doesn't get thoroughly checked very often.
Notice in "Duet" Cadman said Katie Brown doesn't go offworld. But this is still "some near-stranger whom nobody will miss if we riddle her with bullets". What if the symbiote couldn't resist the opportunity to get into the chief medical officer or the head of science? The symbiote could have moved to McKay for nefarious reasons then moved on. Or perhaps there was something we didn't see between Brown and Beckett after McKay departed their dinner.
*
Mind you, "Critical Mass" is more likely to be the simple "Oh look we found a body. Hey, he used to be host to a goa'uld! Now, who was with him when he died?" Meh.
Originally posted by Purpleyin
When I first heard about "Critical Mass" I thought oh thrill, it's going to be some stranger whom they'll just conveniently kill at the end. (And it probably will be. Atlantis so far has a lousy record of copping out of opportunities for genuine suspense.) I thought it's a pity it won't be Beckett or somebody TPTB don't want to kill off just yet and therefore have to try really hard to save instead of just blowing them full of holes. Beckett might be an excellent choice because how often does *he* get checked for unwelcome guests?
Yes, that leaves the major problem of how the transfer occurs without the prior host suffering some medical consequences. But given a symbiote's ability to heal its host rapidly, it's quite doable. I mean, just consider how fast it must stanch the bleeding of the entry wound in the new host. It very likely can do the same for the prior host on the way out. And SG-1's "Lockdown" and "The Enemy Within" have established that people can be quite normal and oblivious to blackout periods when the symbiote takes total control.
At first I considered the idea of Cadman being the host, but I didn't see how that was possible because surely she'd have been carefully checked out after her "Duet" adventure. I also toyed with the idea of the symbiote accidentally ending up in McKay in "Duet" then taking advantage of the situation, but again, it seems McKay was quite thoroughly checked near the beginning of "Duet". (On the other hand, Sheppard's line about maybe some things don't show up on an MRI could have prophetic significance. But if the writer of "Critical Mass" takes this route, he'd better provide a darn good reason why Atlantis isn't applying the medical protocols the SGC does, considering they're both in the business of exploring really weird alien worlds.)
So the symbiote's best choice is someone who doesn't go offworld (much) and therefore doesn't get thoroughly checked very often.
Notice in "Duet" Cadman said Katie Brown doesn't go offworld. But this is still "some near-stranger whom nobody will miss if we riddle her with bullets". What if the symbiote couldn't resist the opportunity to get into the chief medical officer or the head of science? The symbiote could have moved to McKay for nefarious reasons then moved on. Or perhaps there was something we didn't see between Brown and Beckett after McKay departed their dinner.
*
Mind you, "Critical Mass" is more likely to be the simple "Oh look we found a body. Hey, he used to be host to a goa'uld! Now, who was with him when he died?" Meh.
. The sh*t hits the fan. Beacon activated, Cloak rendered useless and bomb planted. Cadman called in to help search for the bomb and McKay begins to suspect her of betraying them
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