Unnatural Selection (612)

[aAnubiSs]

I would have liked the Replicators to stay non-human. There's something to like about an ememy that doesn't care about feelings, moral... and sex ~~

[Selmak]

Didn't they become human to replicate that girl.

[ShadowMaat]

I've always said that if the A.I. Wars ever started, I'd be siding with the machines.

I, too, have issues with Jack's decision to abandon Fifth and while I understand all the rationalizations that have been spouted about why he did it and how he had "no choice" but to leave him behind, I'm never going to be entirely convinced and it still doesn't change the fact that it bothers me.

I felt the same way about Reese, too. She was trying to help when Jack barged in and "killed" her. I suppose that situation was a little more ambiguous due to communication, but I still didn't like it overmuch.

Someone said that they felt Jack was unsympathetic to android life- that even his own robo-self had to be dying before Jack would grudgingly admit that robo-SG-1 was just as alive/real as their human counterparts. I agree with that assessment. Jack's definition of "alive" seems to be narrowed specifically to creatures of flesh and blood. It's another reason that his character has fallen out of favor in my eyes.

Vague spoilers for S8 New Order
.
.
.
.
.

Of course, Jack's actions set things up nicely for a fantastic potential story arc in New Order, but at the time Unnatural Selection was written, TPTB didn't know if there'd be another season. If S7 had been the end, then Fifth and the others would have been forever trapped by the time dilation device. It seems like an awfully harsh end for a very "human" character, regardless of what his brethren were like.

I shall be curious to see how (or even if) this storyline gets developed...

[Selmak]

First kinda looks like jack to me... in a weird way.

[Selmak]

The replicators actually become evil... before they were just bugs replicating

[Liv]

I just have to point out that that look on Teal'c:s face when Jack tries to eat from his food canister (is it ice-cream?) is about the funniest thing ever. I could not stop laughing. It´s a good thing I wasn´t eating anything at that particular moment cause I might have choked on it. Priceless.

[SeaBee]

I just have to point out that that look on Teal'c:s face when Jack tries to eat from his food canister (is it ice-cream?) is about the funniest thing ever. I could not stop laughing. It´s a good thing I wasn´t eating anything at that particular moment cause I might have choked on it. Priceless.

Oh yes, I have to agree. I always have trouble listening to the speech on this scene, because I always end up watching the slapstick like byplay between Jack and Teal'c.

[Madeleine]

This episode really was good. It was the best ep all season not to feature firemen or wonky gravity.

It almost seemed like two different episodes. The initial stuff was light in every way and the later stuff was dark, and oddly the stuff on the enclosed ship felt very open compared to the claustrophobic feel as soon as they reached the planet's surface.

I liked the stuff on the ship. Especially the scene that Teal'c just OWNED despite not having a line

I was apprehensive once I realised that there were human replicators. I loathed the whole idea of the Borg Queen and the execution thereof, it made the whole concept of the Borg mean a lot less than when they were all equal and equally automaton-like in their soulless hives. I was very surprised to find myself liking the humanoid Reps after a few short minutes. I think it helped that Reese's story in Menace was such a good one, and that the Lego bugs did have a vaguely sensible reason for building themselves some people. I wonder how much of Reese's father and neighbours is in First and co. There certainly was plenty of Reese in Fifth, which was great. He's a jolly good actor. The moment when he realised he was betrayed was surprisingly heart-rending considering he was an OC of only 30 mins standing.

Sam was on-form, doing her best Lots Of Science And Minimal Technobabble stuff. (I like my SF to have S in it, but if the S is to be as unscientific as Stargate's is (no insult intended) then I like it to make sense in short English words, cos anything else is a sign of Lack Of Imagination causing the writer to rustle up a quick Deus Ex Machina.) The Asgard slowed time, the Lego sped it up, and Sam's going to slow it down again, hurrah.

And it's always nice when a favourite episode gets a follow up, but that's for another thread...

[Lord Zedd]

yeah it was indeed a good episode lots a replicators! and we saw the prometheus again and Thor allways a pleasure when the Asgard pay us a visit

[LMichelle]

Okay, now I understand about Fifth.

Good episode. I liked that it was left open-ended.

[Yu`]

I like this episode all the way untill the end. God Fifth was a really bad character I hope I dont see him in future.

One of the low points for me seeing SG1 didnt resolve the problem Fifth did.

[Jeril]

There certainly was plenty of Reese in Fifth, which was great. He's a jolly good actor. The moment when he realised he was betrayed was surprisingly heart-rending considering he was an OC of only 30 mins standing.

Yeah, I just saw the last 15-ish minutes of this episode and it remains among my top favorites, if not my favorite of all time.
Gods... I want to cry!! I feel so sympathetic towards Fifth, even when in S8

Spoiler:

he goes all wacky

. I watched Jack at the end of this episode and all I'm thinking is "You unfeeling *******!!" I can't believe he did that. Poor Fifth. I just want to reach in at the end when it focuses on his sad, lost little puppy dog face and give him a big hug and tell him everything's gonna be okay because in S8,

Spoiler:

he'll get his own personal Carter to play with.

About Gemini,

Spoiler:

I hope Fifth's not dead for good. I love that character. He's so pretty and out of control. I want to see more of him!!

[Easter Lily]

You know... I never realised how good Season 6 was/is...
Now that I'm revisiting it on DVD and watching them continuously (with hindsight)... all I can is "Wow, it really goes places". I'm really *ahem* surprised *cough* at how good it is... and am beginning to understand why people aren't so happy about the characterization of Carter in subsequent seasons...

Unnatural Selection... not exactly a touchy feely episode, is it? A morass of ethical issues being raised, and as others have said, it shows another side to this gungho military thing.

I really like Carter here... I like the fact that in spite of her military and scientific background, she is still fundamentally a human being... I don't always get that from Carter... More often than not I feel that she's just a humanized gobbledegook machine but in this episode, I see a tender side, her obvious discomfort in following Jack's orders and the look in her eyes at the end of the episode that all is not well with the universe.

Jonas... I've always liked... yes, in some ways he fills that role vacated by Daniel but I think he makes it his own. He is the conscience of the team now and has the gumption to say what Carter is thinking but dares not say.

The episode certainly throws a different light on Jack... for him, I suggest, the world is black and white. Perhaps it is easier for him to see things in those terms having been in the military for as long as he has and seen more horrors than most of us can ever even begin to imagine. He has to rationalize the situation in his terms... I pity him... that look on his face at the end highlights so well the dilemma... the second thoughts may be having.

I am uncomfortable with Jack's decision but I know we're meant to be... it definitely opens up a whole can of worms regarding the sanctity of sentient life even with amoral beings such as the replicators.

[SilverRider]

I don't really agree with Jack's Decision in this ep, but i can understand why he chose to leave Fifth Behind.

If you looked at it from his view, they are pretedors (Sp?). I mean even Fifth was different, he still had the knowaldge of how make another "Human" like replicator. He could have build the army of his own and who knows what could have happened....

That's the way i see it, *hides behind Davis to make sure no one grills her *

[splifficated]

I think Jack made the right decision, although it certainly was a difficult one to watch, but .... Fifth was a risk, a huge one. He alone could make who knows how many more replicators, and the galaxy could end up back where it started. Jack isn't the type of person who can leave that kind of risk out there.