Critical Mass (213)

[xfkirsten]

I loved this one! A lot of things that I loved, people have already mentioned:
-The tension between McKay and Cadman was great. I love that McKay is still weirded ut by the events of Duet.
-Loved the 101 Dalmations (I'm a Disney freak!) and LOTR mentions. I thought it was hilarious how he mentioned LOTR, and suddenly the scientists got the idea.
-Kavanagh - the man I love to hate. He got some great scenes in this one. Being verbally shot down by an Asgard - how embarrassing! I also love how he fainted, that was priceless. I thought it was great to see him get some real character opportunities in this one, to be put in the position where his past actions made him look like the bad guy when he really wasn't.
-Zelenka with the kids... I would so love to hear the story on that one!
-I thought the song was very pretty. Felt a bit out of place, maybe, but I did like how they used it as the background to the montage. Rachel has a gorgeous voice! The dub on it was pretty shoddy, though.

On a different note, though, I felt like this episode was another big step for Weir. We're really clearly seeing the changes she's starting to go through. I can't imagine her ever authorizing torture like that at the beginning of the series. She would have argued against it vehemently. And I absolutely loved that there was a scene at the end where she did reflect on what she did - it wasn't a "shouldn't have done that, oh well" kind of a deal. She was really genuinely upset about what she did. Loved that scene! And I also loved her little sparring matches with Kavanagh - he really fired some zingers at her! It seemed to me like those insults were really stinging her. She pulled back a bit when he said that, almost looking like she was hurt and trying to hide it. Despite the fact that those insults came from Kavanagh, that's still gotta hurt.

[FireCat]

This was a very, very good episode, I was surprised with the Caldwell revelation, and it was good to see Hermy again, in all his glory, and anything with Zelenka is tops with me. As for Kavanagh, he has to return. He is SGA's Maybourne, or Kinsey, the guy you want to go over to and KICK!

The only downer was Rachel singing. While she has a lovely voice, it brought the pacing to a screetching halt. This episode had too much going on, and was too rushed to begin with, and it would have been better to have the "dying elder" scenes placed into a quieter episode where the singing scene would have been more appropriate (interspersed into a clip show, for example). Here it just seemed out of place. I do like Teyla, but this just wasn't the spot to showcase Rachel's other talents.

Overall, not too much to complain about. Carl Binder did another nice job.

[Ouroboros]

I agree on the goodness of this episode. I especially liked the scene where Kavaneaugh told off Weir. He was 100% right and she pretty much knew it.

Some minor down points were

The Song: Nothing wrong with it aside from the fact that it went on a bit too long. That tense stuff with the Goa'uldified Caldwell and the city almost blowing up probably would have worked better without the happy midieval jubilee going on in the background. It was also kinda corny if you listened to the actual lyrics which I unfortunately did. Certainly no amazing grace. I'll let that slide though 'cause Luttrell did an ok job singing it. Who knew she could do that?

Kavanaugh fainted cop-out: Yeah ok so Weir gets to mitigate the consequences of ordering the guy tortured because the plot jumps in to save her by making it so he wasn't actually tortured for real. What was Ronan doing for the ten minutues he was in there, standing around scratching his head?

Things I liked

Kavenaugh telling off Weir as mentioned. I would rather Caldwell had eventually said it but it was nice somebody finally did.

No stupid deus ex machina McKay solution to get rid of the virus at the end like "I'll just reset the computers duh!"

Wraith cruisers not destroyed by returning Daedalus in another "humans are superior" wankoff. I was almost convinced that this was going to happen the minute they used cruisers instead of hiveships.

LotR reference that everybody suddenly gets after the dalmations one fails.

They actually think of using relay points to transmit the signal. This is downright intelligent!

Goa'uld plan to cause city to blow up was fairly clever and would have worked had the code not been given up. I wonder why even make a code to undo it all though. It's not like there's ever going to be a reason why he'd need one other than to cough it up if he was caught. If he'd just mashed the keyboard when it asked him for a new code Atlantis would have been screwed no matter how much they tortured him.

[Easter Lily]

This episode demonstrates loudly and clearly why I prefer Atlantis-based episodes... the city itself just makes for such fascinating storytelling and the possibilities are still largely untapped. It also allows for much more emphasis on the team. Furthermore, it reminded me why Stargate and more particularly Atlantis is a favourite of mine.
I loved the pacing in this one... it was appropriate to the plot... the gradual sense of urgency was conveyed through movement around the city and crossing over to and from the SGC. The reference to LOTR (which, incidentally is my favourite scene from ROTK) while being hilarious was also interesting from the point of view of the idea of critical mass and chain reaction. I'm not a huge fan of Teyla generally but I liked the juxtaposition of the "singing" scenes with the rush to evacuate and to find the access code. It reminded me of another poignant "singing" moment in ROTK.

Great to see Cadman again. Nice to see her in body and being actively engaged in the solution. The banter between her and Rodney is priceless and seeing her walking and chatting with Beckett at the end was quite nice. I also liked Beckett's interaction with Teyla on this one... they really have such a wonderful rapport going. Interestingly, Beckett seems to have a terrific rapport with women perhaps it stems from his closeness with his mother. Nice piece of consistent character development.

Kavanagh strikes again... plenty of fodder there for the Weir/Kavanagh shippers here. The man we love to hate. The man who is in deathly fear of Ronon. Now, there's a new strategy to deal with him. Anytime he doesn't behave, just let Ronon loose on him. Well, he has only himself to blame for egging Weir on about not being tough enough.
Still, I'm glad to see that Weir was very uncomfortable with the decision to extract information from Kavanagh... "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown". Torri did tell us that Weir would be forced to make some pretty dark decisions down the road and I'm pleased to see that they didn't shy away from that and the consequences of doing so.

Poor Zelenka... I just about died laughing... I wonder if he's busy thinking of new ways to get back at Rodney.

FINALLY... an episode that adds to the Athosian arc...
FINALLY... some decent Teyla stuff without invoking the Wraith sensory angle.
Ah Carl Binder... you're the MAN!

[Yeade]

Whee! Can't wait to see!

Since I haven't watched the episode yet, I don't have much to say, but I do have one comment about SG-1/SGA crossovers in general. I'm fine with it so long as TPTB do crossovers sparingly and as in this episode, i.e. to give the Atlantis expedition more headaches, and not so much to solve any troubles that might arise.

I think it's interesting to consider that problems on Earth might spill over into Atlantis, and it opens up a lot of dramatic plots. Just think of the possibilities! "Critical Mass" introduces the idea of infiltration and sabotage from Earth. In this case, the culprit was looking to destroy Atlantis and, as I understand it, neutralize the threat of the Wraith to the Milky Way. Suppose, instead, someone wanted the city for its wealth of technology and knowledge. Or saw the expedition as the perfect bargaining chip (read: hostage) to use against SGC. What if the war with the Ori heats up, and Earth loses contact with Atlantis?

Presto! Action! Suspense! Drama!

And all is good.

[Astrofighter]

My problem was her singing was clearly lip synched, it didn't look very good visually even if he she personally did sing it.

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

This week's ep was a terrific whodunit with just the right blend of mystery humor and pathos to keep me riveted. Well done on bringing the totally unrelated b-plot into synch with the A-plot. Rachel Lutrel has a lovely singing voice. Her scenes really plucked at my heartstrings.

(My one nitpick)Pity that they couldn't have arranged the room better for sound, though. Lip-sync really took away from the serenity and the drama taking place. Also, there seemed way too much musical accompaniment given the situation (anybody musically inclined here able to say how many types of instruments were used?). A clear, unaccompanied voice would have been fantastic!

Loved having Novak and Hermy back! Novak/Weir was a great dash of humor after the intense Kavenaugh/Weir scene. I think all the characters played extremely well off each other and liked how they all interacted with more than one character. Once again, I applaud the PTB for involving the other members of the Atlantis/Daedaleus missions.

Caldwell as Goa'uld. Wow! Didn't see it coming. I was seriously worried that it'd be the tap-dancing bomb expert, Cadman, who had been Zatarc-ed by the Goa'uld. Whew! I hope this isn't goodbye for Caldwell. I think it has to be goodbye for Ponytail wussy guy. No balls, eh? heh, heh, heh. I don't see how he could stay on in Atlantis after this.

Overall, an ep that has me enthusiastic(unlike last week's). Keep it up! Thanks.

[AlphaBlu]

Easily the best Atlantis ep since Runner and Siege III. One of the best they've done as well.

It had the SGC, it had a cast of reoccuring characters as long as my arm, it had suspence, everyone had something to do. It was great! And the song went really well over the ending.

Things that bugged me:

1. Cadman's hair. Admitedly she's much cuter with her hair like that than all tied up, but surley it's against regs for a female solider with hair that long to wear it that long, unless she was not currently on active duty.

2. Teyla singing. When the song first started I thought 'Oh no!', but that feeling quickly went away when I realised that the song scene wasn't a scene, it was a background piece to fit the ending of the episode, and suddenly the whole Teyla B (C?) plot had a point to it. What bugged me about the singing though was that it was so obviously dubbed. Dubbing is fine, but this looked, felt and sounded dubbed, which detracted from the bits when it cut back to Teyla (nice white dress notwithstanding).

Things I thought were great:

1. Zelenka. 'Nuff said.

2. Cadman, despite the hair, showing up again, and her having scene a scene with Beckett.

3. Kavanaugh. I love his character. Such an excellent 'close to home' bad guy. I really hope we see the repucussions of this between him and Weird episode later down the line. They might do it too. Kavanaugh showing up in Letters was a huge surprise, so TPTB obviously won't forget about him. The scenes between him and Weir were fantastic, and Hermiod telling him to shut up was great.

4. Agent Barret! He's the last person I expected to see on an episode of SGA. That was awesome.

5. Dr. Lee. I actually clapped after the 'Twilight Bark/LOTR' scene. Bill Dow is so good at that role. And I loved how everyone in the room instantly understoof what he meant when he used the LOTR analogy.

6. Landry and Harriman. Even if they only got one scene together, it was still good to see them on SGA.

7. More stuff for Teyla. As I said, I didn't really get the point of that plotline until the very end, but it worked and it gave some extra stuff for Teyla's character, which was needed.

8. Caldwell the Goa'uld! I did not see that coming. Moreover when Caldwell said 'What?' I actually said it at the same time. Even when Sheppherd pointed the gun at Caldwell I still couldn't bring myself to believe that Caldwell would be in leage with the trust, party because I just couldn't see him doing it and secondly because I like his character and didn't want him turned into a bad guy.

Then his eyes flashed.

And the music hit just the right notes at that point. Thankfully he seemed to be an unwitting participant in the day's events.

9. Hats off to Andy Makita, Brenton Spencer and the other production guys who made parts of the city look different this time around. It was a nicley put together episode.

10. The montage was great.

I'm just stoked about how good this episode was. I didn't mind Epiphany as it turned out to be different to what I expected (though could they have used a different set for Sheppherd's recovery than the exact same one that Mitchell used in Babylon), but this episode was fantastic.

And I'm really looking forward to Grace Under Pressure next week. Hopefully it'll live up to what I'm hoping. It's been too long since McKay and Carter (imagined or otherwise) have been in a room together (Mobius doesn't count).

BYE

[AutumnDream]

Hey, Cadman can have whatever hair she likes as long as Shep is in charge. ^_^ Military rules on Atlantis are pretty easy-going and different!

Yeah, I didn't suspect Caldwell either! I honestly didn't know who to suspect. I STILL didn't get it until a few seconds after they beamed him in. Geez... I must be getting slow in my old age.

I imagine Ronon was threatening Kavanagh or asking him a few more times before he started in on him. When Kav realized Ronon was gonna beat him up, he fainted. Or passed out. Whichever.

[Teal'c]

This has just replaced Letters From Pegasus as my favourite Atlantis episode. Let's list off some points:

Secondary characters: Caldwell, Zelenka, Kavanagh, Cadman, Walter, Lee, Barrett, Novak, Hermiod and, of course, Chuck. It was marvellous.

The way they set up who you suspected was that you're to think it's Kavanagh, but then that's too obvious so it must be Cadman, but they might double that back to Kavanagh. Then there's Novak who was acting a little too Novak and thus could have been a Goa'uld. That stuck with me, I was convinced it was Novak, unless Carl & Brad wanted to pull some sort of tripple-loop red herring that not even Lost is capable of.

The reveal was perfect. I cringed at first when Teyla started singing, but the music was quite good, edge of the seat stuff I haven't had since Serenity. Then when Caldwell was beamed away I figured, "Oh, they must be telling him about Cadman's amazing discovery" but BAM! He's a freakin' Goa'uld! I did not suspect that at all. I take my hat off to Brad and Carl.

The Teyla storyline wasn't that interesting, but at least she has something to do. Everyone did, even Ronan with his Jack Bauer impression. Would have been better if Ronan has given him a couple of punchs to the gut.

The only thing that upsets me about the episode is that nothing is going to top this, Michael and Allies might come close, but seeing as how we're going to be left on a break with The Tower... yeah, I'll have to live off this until Lost comes back in January around the same time as Michael and Allies. Ooh, 24 will be back then too!

[IMForeman]

Excellent episode. Tension, morality, and a genuine mystery. Teyla's song was fantastic, and they way they worked it in was extraordinary. 10/10.

-IMF

[Scarym1]

Well I must say I really enjoyed this ep.

I liked the switching back and forth between Cheyenne Mountain and Atlantis. It was great to see Dr. Lee. I thought him mentioning that he had kids was cute. I found it suspenseful. I was hoping that Cavanaugh wasn't guilty. I thought that would have been too convenient. I thought Teyla's singing was awesome. I thought that the gouald being Caldwell was the best twist I had seen in ages. I never saw that coming. I was lying on the couch and as soon as that was revealed I just sat up and said "What?". I thought it was quite exciting.

I am glad I didn't have to wait until January for these eps.

[James_the_Wraith_Sympathiser]

Yes this was a very good episode. ...because of but not limited to the following reasons:

- Kind of a mini SG-1 / Atlantis crossover
- We get a few more lines from Dr. Novak (what can I say...geek girls are sexy...and her nervousness is cute!)
- Hermiod - "Dr Kavanagh. Stop talking. Thank you." Pwned!!
- Lt. Laura Cadman...is HOT. I bet the reason McKay gets so annoyed with her is because it was her in his body, not the other way around
- Good plot, didn't think that Caldwell would be the Goa'uld...
- Dr. Lee explaining the 'twilight bark'....but then resorting to the Lord of the Rings explanation! as an LOTR fan I was very pleased to see that
- Interesting that a Goa'uld can apparently be removed from a host by using the Asgard transport beam (albeit an Asgard needs to calculate the exact location in the body)

All in all I think this has probably been one of the best this season, along with Duet and Aurora.

[Jonzey]

I loved the episode. I loved all the secondary characters they brought back. I loved the twist. I loved the song.

I was thinking continuosuly throughout the episode ''It better not be Cadman who's the spy. That would be so predictable''. Then I thought ''If they really wanted a twist, they would make Skinner the spy''. And BOOM! They did. And they made him a goa'uld, which I did not expect.

Now we know why the Daedelus returned to Atlantis before getting the reply from the SGC...

[Gaterholic]

I loved this one.
was it rushed, and might have done better as a 2 parter? sure, but it was still great.
I was guessing the whole time, and super suprised at the end.

I actually liked the singing, although i will agree it was out of place. i was wondering what the point of the subplot was the whole time.
I guess they want to free up their style freedom early, so they don't get stuck like sg1. sg1 is great, but they got the show down pat, the would never sing.
Doing this open the show up for other types of things.... Think buffy.

Great show.

Notice how i didnt spoil anything in this post!

I think im getting back into this forum thing again.

[White Knight]

Great, great episode.
- McKay and Cadman were hilarious.
- Seeing Kavanaugh was a suprise. In the GateWorld description of this episode, it doesn't list him. I'm thinking that the Seagle part was divied up between Cadman and Kavanaugh (yay for returning characters!).
- Liked the subtle undertones that were brought forward at the end about infighting.
- I honestly didn't expect Caldwell to be the Goa'uld, and I'm glad that he didn't do the "Bow down before your God" bit 'cause that's pointless now. Just think of the ramifications of Caldwell as the Goa'uld; they were gonna put him in charge of Atlantis.
- Cadman/Beckett. This ship I can get behind, since it felt more natural and less forced than any of the others we've seen.
- Singing Teyla. Looks like Joe Flanigan was a little off in his guess.
- I look forward to the next episode by Carl Binder.
- I was suprised at how much SGC stuff there was. I thought it'd be more like the end of Letters From Pegasus, not several long scenes of Landry, Barrett and Lee.
- Lee's explanation of how they're gonna communicate with Atlantis. He mentions Lord of the Rings and suddenly everyone gets it.
- The plan to blow up the city was pretty good and pretty logical, unlike some other plans we've seen to blow things up.
- Kavanaugh's reaction to Ronon.
- But most of all, everyone had something to do that furthered the story.
- Some of Kavanaugh's lines ("I don't have any friends!")

The one thing I disliked; I was fully expecting Weir to slap Kavanaugh's ass down for what he was saying in the interrogation, and I was disappointed when she didn't. Oh well, maybe next time.

[Gaterholic]

Well, when do you all thing he was goa'ulded? and how!
I'm assuming sometime between the last episode and this, otherwise his other actions don't make sense....

Will he be back?
I know there is no reason NOT to put him back in command, but you know the military.. he's been compromised, so who knows.

I think it will come down to how popular the character is. It would be an interesting add on to the character, there are no former goa'ulds on the show, they seemed to lean away from that.

[ToasterOnFire]

My my, the second half is shaping up to be much better than the first! This was one of the better episodes I've seen in a while. Great plot, everything flowed nicely, and I loved seeing all the returning characters.


...but of course I have to nitpick things. It's what I do.

-While I really liked the tension throughout the show, I agree with others who have stated it seemed a bit rushed. Not as rushed as Hive at least, but still somewhat squashed. The whole discussion about the bomb and its tie-in to the ZPM went by way too fast for me.

-I liked the smart idea for the relay system to send a message to Atlantis and how Rodney and the others kept on unraveling the intricacies of the spy's plan. Nice to see that the spy is no dummy.

-I hate to admit this, but the secondary story didn't really tie into the A plot and actually may have been the reason why the main plot felt rushed. It's so frustrating because I really enjoy watching Teyla (especially when she's not with Ronan), seeing Beckett have some screentime, and getting to know the Athosians better. I've been wanting to see all three for quite some time now, but I think that their story would have been better suited to another episode. Epiphany, perhaps?

-Rachel does have a lovely voice, but sadly I didn't really care much for the song (would have been better in another language) and thought that the voiceover didn't really fit with what was going on onscreen.

-I accidentally spoiled myself in advance so I knew Caldwell was the spy. Watching with that knowledge, I was surprised at how the camera angles, music, and script didn't even hint at him. If anything, there were more hints for Cadman. Well done.

-I was rather confused with how Elizabeth knew about the Trust infiltration. Was that briefed to her while she was on Earth? Was it in the message somehow? Did I miss something or was it a plot hole?

-I loved the plot continuity in this ep. Zelenka going to see the kids in Childhood's End (and the result, bwa! ). Novak and Hermiod. Cadman. Kav. Teyla's "grandmother". That sort of stuff is exactly what I want to see with Atlantis and I hope it keeps up.

-Cadman seemed toned down this ep, which is just fine with me. I did enjoy seeing Rodney squirm. However, like someone mentioned earlier, I'm still unsure as to why she was added in place of that new female scientist.

-What can I say, I like Kav. I like how he isn't portrayed as the cackling villian out to get everyone - he has some honest concerns with Atlantis and Weir. And he's a smart cookie too and thinks well on his feet. I hope we see him again.

-I was actually hoping that Ronan did torture Kav so Elizabeth, Caldwell, and Shep would have to truly deal with the consequences. Having him saved in just the nick of time brushed everything under the rug. Oh well, I have to remind myself that while Atlantis may claim to be darker than SG1, it has nothing on BSG.

-(Did anyone else notice that the two people who have questioned the authority of Shep and Weir the most - Kav and Caldwell - had rather unpleasant things happen to them in this episode? Hmmm...)

[macktheknife]

I think if they really went through with the torture, then you almost have to get rid of kavanagh. Because he would'nt stay there after being tortured would he?

[Giantevilhead]

I think that the Athosian stuff should have been cut and they should have focused more on the sabotage and Hermiod should have done more.

I wonder how much Goa'uld knowledge Caldwell will retain after the symbiote is removed.