The Tower (215)

[immhotep]

the anceint were pathwetic in every respect in the operation within the pegasus galaxy.

[Cynicat]

*looks at M&M* Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahaaaaaa! That was hilarious! You guys really had me going for a minute there! Ok, joke's over - where's the real episode?

C'mon guys, where is it?

Wait a minute.


You mean that...that was it?

With the....?
And the.....?
And then the....?
....
...
..
.

Kirk?



Awwwww, crap.

This whole episode was really rather tragic. Their budget-saver bottle eps were better than this (hell, even the clip show was better than this!). Thank the TV gods they've already been renewed, 'cause this one could've been a showkiller. Finding the silver lining though... it certainly makes us appreciate the good episodes.

There's really nothing to analyze here, so I'll just go for the stream of consciousness:

- Ronon kicking arse - very spiffy

- Ronon not wanting to hold hands at the dinner table - very cute

- The showing-the-greed-of-the-upper-class - overdone.

- OMFG, Agent Pendrell! *luffs him* I'd completely forgotten about him, he was so adorable in the X-files.

- Sheppard's reaction to being goosed at the table - LMFAO.

- Kirk routine - *groan* at least it was done for laughs.

- Beckett's little slide into the cell - w00t! it's action!Beckett (well, kinda) Go him

- Otho's plot to kill all the naughty villagers - yeah, great plan Napoleon. Kill the folks who plant your crops

- An....interesting... redress of the Atlantis set. I'm sorry guys, but it looked like a Generic Ye Olde Prop Storage facility, it just didn't work. Ditto the costumes - generic, mismatched, RenFair chic. The aging and grime on the "catacombs" and PJs, however, was nicely done.

- Good to see they finally scored some drones, and extra PJs. Time to break out the kegs for the "We're Not Sitting Ducks" party.

Now we've got to wait until the 2nd for new episodes. Pretty crappy Xmas present, guys... *sulk*

[ShadowMaat]

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.

Oh and yeah, the whole thing with killing the folks who grow your crops? Dude isn't actually THAT stupid, is he? Oh wait, this is an M&M ep, isn't it? Nevermind...

[Jarnin]

I was also thinking could this planet been another address from weirs list from Before I Sleep?

It wasn't mentioned. I seem to remember them saying in The Brotherhood that the planet in that episode was their "best chance" at finding a ZPM from that list.

also now atlantis is almost wraith ready, a shield and some drones, or I wonder if you could fire drones while cloaked?

Um, if you fire drones while cloaked, you'll give away your position. The only way that would work is if you're moving; for example, say Shep was flying around in a PJ. If he fired some drones, then cloaked, then changed his postion, you have a decent tactic. Unfortunately the writers have probably figured that this tactic is way too useful for the good guys, which is probably why they haven't put it in the show.

plus now maybe we can see what else the atlantis chair is capable of

The chair is just another way to interface with the systems on Atlantis. The difference is that it requires that you have the ATA gene to use, which is why weapons are connected to the chair, and not to the regular system controls; it keeps stupid people from potentially destroying themselves.

wraith beat alterrans

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

humans still don't stand a chance with a few more pj's and drones. more will just come. they need something to go after them

Sure, more will come. Then after you kill them, more will come, but there has to be a limit. Wraith reproduction is that limit. Once you're killing Wraith faster than they can reproduce, you win.

The problem is that it's considered uncouth to have the "good guys" wantingly committing genocide.
If you want to wipe out the Wraith, you have to also wipe out their women and children. Since they've already shown us that Wraith children are pretty innocent (they don't feed on humans until they reach puberty or so), that means they must come up with a way to defeat the Wraith without killing them all. So they introduce Beckett's super-serum, which changes Wraith into normal ol' humans.

It's the exact same thing as the symbiote extraction method invented in SG-1: It takes care of the "evil" Goa'uld, while leaving the "innocent" human alive and free.

the anceint were pathwetic in every respect in the operation within the pegasus galaxy.

Would you care to elaborate? I mean, making statements like that beg for examples, but you've just made a hit-and-run on this thread, leaving nothing that adds to the topic.

[Arlessiar]

Rodney refers to his “faithful guide Baldrick”. I can’t work out whether that’s really the character’s name (perhaps with a slightly different spelling like Baldrik) or whether Rodney is being sarcastic and comparing him to Blackadder’s scruffy sidekick!

I hope he refered to Blackadder! I just heard 'Baldrick' and 'Blackadder' shot through my mind instantly! I had to laugh so hard!

Oh and yeah, the whole thing with killing the folks who grow your crops? Dude isn't actually THAT stupid, is he? Oh wait, this is an M&M ep, isn't it? Nevermind...

I also thought that his plan is rather stupid when I heard him say that he wants to kill the whole village. Who brings him the much needed food then? But then he said that he wanted to kill the people to set an example for the other villages. So I guess there are enough other people and farms in the so-called protectorate, so maybe he thinks he can 'spare' a few people...

Bye, A.

[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.