The Tower (215)

[FireCat]

And WTF was with Shep kissing that chick? I just wanted to scream when that happened. Who the hell keeps on kissing ramdom ppl? Hell, she could have chlamydia or anything. That scene made me want to break my computer, and I love my computer.

Forget the Eratus bug issues, Shep is probably a walking alien STD by now. So much for having respect for our main character.

*Sheph0r*. I love expanding my vocabulary!

[doylefan22]

I actually enjoyed this ep. It came across as nothing deeper than a fun romp as an ecuse to restock Atlantis. Yes they could have done it in a more serious and meaningful way but I can forgive them one daft episode every now again. If you can avoid over analysing the characters, plot and technology issues it was a fun ep. I didn't take it seriously at all - don't know if you were meant to but I think looking at it light heartedly makes it much easier to enjoy (lmao at Sheph0r and Beckett's housecalls quip).

As long as they're not all like this it doesn't bother me.

[Heaven]

this episode had so much wasted potential
the ronon and teyla plot was completely unnecessary I think this episode would have gone down better if it was just mckay,shep and beckett.
the shep-mara deal I understand it was a necessary plot device but other than that shep felt completely out of character on this one.
he's usually very good at reading people and discerning situations, even play a role when he has to, but here he was completely off.
anyway despite the bad writing for sheppard joe did a great job (as usual )
mckay was excellent as always (can't get enough of this character!)
beckett did a pretty good job too.. great seeing him offworld!

this epi got me looking forward for a sheppard-beckett-mckay story, this would be a mustsee!

**plothole **
how did Otho or whatever his name scan shep if he doesnt have the gene?

[ShadowMaat]

Thanks for the reminder, Heaven.

I think the scanner doesn't require the gene in order to be used (not all tech requires it or half the people in Atlantis would be fracked). HOWEVER... Otho makes a big deal out of Shep having the gene... but McKay and Carson have it, too. Granted, McKay was off gallivanting with Baldrick, but Carson... shouldn't he have been scanned, too?

[Arlessiar]

I read quite a few reviews now and there a lot of people who really hated this episode, and a few liked it and thought it was good entertainment.
Personally I didn't like it very much. The best thing were the drones and the Puddlejumpers, there was some nice team interaction and Beckett was in an ep again, but that's about it, the rest was pretty dispensable. And I hate wasted chances, fun or not. And it didn't appear like a planned parody or pure fun to me.

Too many things are left unsaid: What about the Wraith? When they come back everyone on this planet is doomed now. What about the city? No explanations or speculations on this matter. How did Rodney get out and why were there earthquakes no-one else cared about? No time left to explain this in the end.

Everyone of the team was pretty much in character though, I think. Yes, even Sheppard. I hated, I really hated it to see him falling for this silly chick and by now I hope too that there will be less of these superficial eps for him, but at least I can understand it somehow. He's a man, she's a good looking woman, one comes to the other... And although I wished he'd be the kind of man who just pities this desperate woman, looks away and just gives her back her dress - maybe that's just not Sheppard. He is a good guy, but he has flaws, and one of them seems to be that he falls for such women very easily. I really hope he had a condom in his BDU.

Mara Goldilocks. This woman made me cry. This girlish voice and this pathetic behaviour...

And yes, many people said it already and I agree, the pseudo-historic setting was awful. I know they don't have the money to make a perfectly historic setting, but I didn't expect that at all. But these colourful costumes and all these veils, and the silly decoration of the throne room, that was too much of a cliché for me.

And Mr. Once-good-now-bad-guy should be lucky that the gene therapy worked on him!

-Why did the guards look like Nazis? It threw off the whole medieval thing. They had plastic and stuff in their hats/uniforms that no one else wore and just looked out of place holding knives instead of lugers. They looked so wrong there that their beat downs of the various medieval peasents came off as unintentionally hilarious.

I don't know how many times I felt annoyed by these types of uniforms on TV. You can find them on nearly every SciFi/Fantasy TV show and in some other genres too. I know, there aren't so many ways you can vary the style of an uniform, they all look similar in a way, but sometimes it's sooo obvious... I'm sick of that. Is that really necessary? I'm able to identify the bad guys without this stereotype, thank you! I already hated the Genii uniforms. And now these guys... And it really didn't fit into the general medieval setting!

-Renaissance fair background music, bit of overkill there guys ok.

The moment I heard the cembalo I just thought "Please no, how much more cliché can you put into this"...

-They're going to rise up but rather than march to the tower with pitchforks and torches and go in how McKay got in or someway similar they stand around waiting to die via airstrike like morons

Full ACK, made me wonder too. I mean, the new Lord Protector can watch the people in the village, but only because he knows that the people are there. And he wasn't able to track the people before he sat in the chair, so he would not have been able to find them if they hid somewhere else in the meantime, or?

In the end this was an episode with a few nice but too many ridiculous moments for me. Looking forward to the next ep.

Bye, A.

[Willow'sCat]

That was just downright awful. There have been a few episodes in this half of the season that I've quite enjoyed watching, but this was simply a painful experience.

The acting was poor all-around (David Hewlett not withstanding), the plot unoriginal, predictable and uninteresting. The existence of a second Atlantis-like spaceship/city could have made for a very interesting story, but it was all wasted. We basically have a stand-alone episode that provides Atlantis with a few more drones and jumpers but doesn't explain the second city at all. It's possible we'll come back to this storyline later, but I'm not holding my breath.

At least Sheppard got some. AGAIN!

Except for the last part about Sheppard getting some lol. You said all I could or want to say about this dreadful episode *and yet* ...it is the worst of all the SG episodes full stop and I liked Wormhole Extreme!

Not even worth the *how many hours* I had to wait to get it from my cousin in Canada. Not happy Joe.

This was kiddy stuff. Yes it had a purpose to get more drones blah,blah,blah but it was a waste of an episode there were really interesting ideas but they were side stepped or just side swiped.

I understand it was a filler episode and was meant to be 'light' in some ways but will someone please explain to the Men at the top that some of us have respect for women and we don't like seeing the Col treat women like his personal playthings, oh sure she seemed willing being naked and all but she was a pawn plain and simple and he should know better, how old is he?

I admit is ambiguous but it would be far more consistent of what we know about Sheppard to believe that he rejected Mara's advances.

I have no doubts given the timeslot and general 'feel' of SGA that cutting straight to the next morning was to imply they had sex. They so did it. But the...*I never see these things coming* PLEASE! Blind Freddy could see it and this guy is our Military Leader.


Baldric, ROFLMAO that was priceless glad McKay got to say it.

[Domesticated Equine]

Except for the last part about Sheppard getting some lol. You said all I could or want to say about this dreadful episode

Oh, don't get me wrong - I didn't like the scene and think it portrayed Sheppard as a horny teenager unable to control his libido. But if John was real, he would have had a moment of pleasure in this episode, something I can't say for myself.

[CalmStorm]

Question to those who saw the episode:

From what I have read, they have now discovered a city, which appears to be identical to Atlantis (minus the gate)........so is there not the slightest concern, or mention of concern, in this episode that the wraith might now find the defensless city and take the "star drive" travel information and other technology from this city??? I mean, earlier this season the idea of completely destroying Atlantis to prevent its technology from falling into wraith hands was the prime issue. Now, they are totally abandoning what appears to be an identical city with very possibly that same technology.....does that make sense? ....or am I missing something in the reviews?

[falc122727]

I'd like to see the new drone supply deployed to the Daedalus. An awesome ship, but in serious need of some offensive fire power, unless of course they can overcome the Wraith jamming of the Asgard transporter.

If the Wraith make it to Atlantis, those drones won't make a huge difference. They can be more effectively used selectively for specific off world missions by the Daedalus or Jumpers.

[Domesticated Equine]

Question to those who saw the episode:

Now, they are totally abandoning what appears to be an identical city with very possibly that same technology.....does that make sense? ....or am I missing something in the reviews?

The difference is that the city doesn't have a stargate capable of reaching our galaxy nor does it have a functional ZPM capable of powering the star drive anymore. It still makes zero sense to leave the city just lying around but lack of common sense hasn't stopped the writers before.

EDIT: I re-read your post and noticed you mentioned the lack of the stargate. Yes, they're basically leaving all the technology necessary for reaching Earth on the planet. Maybe they're gambling on the wraith not coming to the planet again, not finding the city, being unable to power up the star drive and not being able to gain any useful knowledge from the city. Nice to see they're not taking the fate of our home galaxy lightly.

Btw, one thing that bothered me was how the second city existed at all. You'd think the wraith would notice their ships getting destroyed, investigate and find the city and eventually overwhelm it like they did with Atlantis. After all, the Geni were forced to hide and accept the cullings so as not to get destroyed wholly by the wraith.

[Wildrat]

Uh, the Alterans were wiped out by a plague millions of years before the Wraith even evolved. I think you meant Lantians.

Not quite... Alterrans and Lantians are two differtent names for Ancients. They called themselves Alterrans and the humans on Atlantis call the Ancients who lived there Lantians (short for Atlantians).

Anyway, the Ancients from Atlantis went back to earth 10.000 years ago and joined their friends any relatives here.

And not all were wiped out by the plauge, those who survived ascended in time.

[rexpop]

Incidentally, what's the percentage on Carson's gene therapy whatsit these days? Has he perfected it? Or are the odds now in favor of it actually working? I though it would have been massively ironic if Otho had gone through all those machinations only to have the ATA gene not take.

It is still around 50-50 which is the same as it was give or take a few points as it was when the topic came up in 'Hot Zone'.

[Melak]

ok in the tower we find an exact duplicate of atlantis filled with tons of drones and puddle jumpers

If I'm not mistaken, Mckay says that the city is nearly identical, not exactly identical.

[Schroedinger]

The Altarans were not wiped out by the plague. In Rising, Daniel cites the plague as the reason the Ancients left Earth in their "flying city". The Altlantians ARE Altarans. There is no difference between the Ancients in our galaxy and the ones in Pegasus.

[Wraith_Hunter]

When they can't even integrate old Goa'uld weapons into any of their ships. What chance do they have of installing Ancient weapons. Just because they have Drones, doesn't mean they can just put them in Daedalus & fire them at will.

A far more sensible solution is to have it permanently carry a few (3/4) Puddle Jumpers in it's landing bays. Should they get into trouble, open the landing bay doors & let the Jumpers fire the Drones at the Wraith ships safely behind the Asgard shields. When the Drones run down, they could simply re-stock the PJ's supply again with the ones that they have found.

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

Eh, whatever....

I didn't much care for this ep. No mystery - I knew the technomage from B5 was the bad guy the moment I saw him - no drama and certainly no hard questions being tackled, here, despite, noticing the potential for some.

1)Why did the Wraith abandon their attacks on this world? No, really?

2)How the heck does an entire city get buried and overgrown like this one did?

3)Where did the Tower residents get their funky deco?

4)Why wasn't someone, somewhere, making a fuss about these visitors taking everything they want from their city and only line of defense against the Wraith? Isn't it like gunpoint-trading fur pelts for trinkets?

5) When is McKay going to develop some people skills?

Bright spots: Beckett's and Ronan's parts, small as they were.

[Speedyturtle]

Didn't Mckay fire one of the drones by just interfacing his tablet PC with it? If he could do that with a laptop it shouldn't be too hard to fire them from the Daedulus. Or did he interface it with an Ancient console? I can't remember...

[Wraith_Hunter]

Didn't Mckay fire one of the drones by just interfacing his tablet PC with it? If he could do that with a laptop it shouldn't be too hard to fire them from the Daedulus. Or did he interface it with an Ancient console? I can't remember...

His PC seemed to be interfaced with the city's systems. That's how he could run the Star Drive etc & so because he had access to the systems then he could launch it failry easily. To fit them into Daedalus they would need all the appropriate Ancient systems & being they can't even take an energy weapon from a glider, Al'Kesh or other ship & put it on one of their own, then there is no chance in hell that they could patch in Drones to the Deadalus systems without significant Asgard help. Since the Asgard didn't give them weapons in the first place, then I can't see the high council giving Hermiod permission to even make an attempt. Especially since we all know what Drones can do, Anubis enhanced ships could easily take care of Thor's ship & Drones went through his like butter. So if the Asgard really are concerned about providing other races with anything that could be used against them, then they'd have to be seriously stupid to do that. Especially when there is a very high chance that they could wipe out Asgard ships without much trouble.

The writers screwed up on this, they give away Asgard sensors, beaming tech, Drives, Shields & goodness knows what else in the Earth ships. Yet can't even find themselves to design something that won't have the slightest effect on their ships but ma7y provide more offensive capabilities against other potential enemies that they might encounter in their travels. Since Thor exclusively said in 'Disclosure' that he was there to install weapons on Prometheus.

So failing the writers to stick to their own storylines, I cannot see Drones being equipped on Daedalus, other than with the help of Jumpers for a good few years yet. Drones seem to be the most powerful weapons that we have ever seen in Stargate & so since they have had other Alien tech fopr years in Area 51 & cannot make heads or tails of it, then there won't be much hope for Drones in Earth ships for the forseeable future.

[knocknashee]

Didn't Mckay fire one of the drones by just interfacing his tablet PC with it? If he could do that with a laptop it shouldn't be too hard to fire them from the Daedulus. Or did he interface it with an Ancient console? I can't remember...

I think he interfaced the Tablet with the Ancient console...and as an addendum, McKay has the (artificial) ATA gene...

I don't think putting them on the Daedalus would be a particularly good idea, considering the Wraith are constantly trying to steal it. Lets be fair, as long as they have intergalactic hyperdrive, getting it intact is going to be high on the Wraith's priority list...

[prion]

1)Why did the Wraith abandon their attacks on this world? No, really?

Because the tower could shooot down their ships with drones.

2)How the heck does an entire city get buried and overgrown like this one did?

Sinkhole? Lousy yard maintenance? Earthquake sucked it up?

3)Where did the Tower residents get their funky deco?

After Christmas sales. Really. The worst stuff will show up.

4)Why wasn't someone, somewhere, making a fuss about these visitors taking everything they want from their city and only line of defense against the Wraith? Isn't it like gunpoint-trading fur pelts for trinkets?

It's a feudal system of sorts. Might makes right. The villagers complain, they get blown up. Ouch.

5) When is McKay going to develop some people skills?

When pigs fly