Covenant (808)

[kadosho]

1. Thor And Jack -two best buddies
Goes to show how their friendship really is. And is Thor really much of an Asgard anymore.. he acts more like Jack everytime we see him. ^^;

2. Tell the truth, or keep quiet-
The way the plot moved was great, it really gave that glimpse of what the other side sees whats going on. And whats been kept quiet for so long.

A spiffy ep.. and yeah kinda weird how this was to air before another ep.
Oo,

[Mio]

I think it would have been better if the other ep aired. I mean, If this happened after Affinity, the Trust would have been mentioned earlier in the episode.

[Major Fischer]

ok, 5 mo nths since new order, death knell was a couple to few before that, i just don't see how they hollowed out a mountain in less than a year

Just a thought, but the "new" Alpha Site could have been under construction while the "old" Alpha Site was still being used. They could have known or understood the vulnerability in the past, and began addressing the question but had not been finished yet by the time of Death Knell.

To use a related example, NORAD was based in a 3 story wood structure at Wright-Patterson AFB before the Cheyenne Mountain complex was built. They knew it was a vulnerable target, but continued to use that headquarters while the mountain was cored out.

[gwangung]

Just a thought, but the "new" Alpha Site could have been under construction while the "old" Alpha Site was still being used. They could have known or understood the vulnerability in the past, and began addressing the question but had not been finished yet by the time of Death Knell.

D'oh!

Good thought; think we're too used to dumb TV-think to consider some obvious reasons...there could be (and should be) all sorts of back up Beta and Gamma sites across the Galaxy that SGC is using as off site backups.

[Skydiver]

Tok'ra crystals?

if it was tokra crystals, then i would imagine that it would look like tokra tunnels. And since Death Knell, the tok'ra have been pretty much a non-entity.

it's possible, just not very likely, at least in my opinion.

An existing large cave is a possibility, but that base looked pretty huge. It was big enough for a stargate, and getting a stargate into a mountain. not to mention big enough to hanger a f303(301, whatever)

[AgentX]

Just finished watching Covenant. Thought it was pretty good for an Earth-based episode. Everyone was pretty much in character, would have liked to have seen Teal'c used more, but understand why he wasn't. I really liked Sam this episode, first time I was feeling the same kind of appreciation for her as I did in S1-4.

Wasn't a fan of Coulson, I found the voice in the beginning to be very distracting, almost whiny. That being the main negative about the episode is a good thing.

[Albion]

If by the end of Season 8, we are used to Nearly no Jack Interaction, and OK with it, and they left open some great stories for a season 9, but RDA can only do cameos, isn't that better?

Short answer? No. <g>

Absolutely not.

Uhuh.

If RDA/Jack is on the screen I want him to be there 100% is my point. Whether it's the writers just writing him poorly or RDA only giving the scene reading half his attention and sleep-walking through it - I don't know what the problem is.

All I know is that if RDA/Jack is going to be on the screen rarely, then those rare appearances should be made to count. They should sparkle. Crackle with energy and fun. At the moment most of them don't. They're flat and uninspiring. The dialogue Jack's being given isn't witty or sharp, it's dull. I'm not saying this is every appearance or every episode - sometimes he's been great - but for me it's been a lot of it so far.

I guess what I'm saying is that if we can't have quantity with Jack - and I fully understand the reasons why we can't and have no issues with them, other than the fact that I'd obviously love a perfect world where we could have as much Jack as we want <g> - then we should have quality. Those rare appearances should be the best they possibly can be - to make up for the times we miss him.

Re how they built the Alpha Site - haven't got time right at the moment to read everyone else's posts on this, but has anyone thought already that the Asgard might have helped them out? They must have the technology, surely?

And re Colson - I wasn't entirely sure about him. I thought the actor played him a little over the top in many scenes and I wasn't that impressed. The character was fine though. I meant to say earlier that I agree with the poster who called him arrogant. When he'd finished his little speech to Sam about how he didn't think anything really bad would happen to the world if the secret got out and even if it did he figured then we'd deserve it, I was half expecting her to ask him what gave him the right to take that risk for an entire planet and was kind of surprised that she didn't. That's what I was asking. Who'd he think he was? But then I guess if you're worth millions and the head of a global business empire it would be hard not to be arrogant.


Albion

[Bandersnatch]

Howdy Campers,

(I'm writing this only after reading a few previous posts -- the Forum -- or more likely AOL -- won't let me into the first few pages)

Well, another Season 8 episode come and gone. *Covenant* -- it was all right. Been done before on the show, but there was a different twist this time. I guess, if such a program did exist, there would always be a constant battle for secrecy.

I'm still missing the spark of Mr. Anderson, as some of you have already commented on. He only seemed to have his signature nature about him in "New Order 2" and "Zero Hour." I miss the irreverent sarcasm, the dryness, the flippant remarks -- the classic O'Neill and the real RDA. It's sure odd to watch a Season 8 SG after seeing *Cold Lazarus" and *The Gamekeeper* beforehand. Those were the days...

But sentiments aside, it was a good episode. Good work done by everyone -- AT had some good moments and MS arms just keep getting bigger A little bit of back story and a glimpse of the new Alpha Site. Lots of cell phone work -- wish I could get mine to work as well as Carter's does.

The new episodes take a break next week -- what will the next batch bring? I don't know about you kids, but I'm casting my wish fishing net already.

[Elwe Singollo]

I guess Sam needs a new cell phone number

[Ugly Pig]

I made the mistake of watching the new Atlantis episode directly after the new SG-1, before getting this typed up... Now my impression of Atlantis is kind of overshadowing the impression I had of the new SG-1. Oh well...

PIGGY'S USELESS OPINION
of 'Covenant'

This was a good episode. Although the preview last week made it seem like the existance of the stargate would be disclosed to the public, well - was anyone really fooled? But then again, the fact that this was originally intended to air before last week's episode kind of gave that away. Actually, I was a little worried that there might be some trouble with the continuity because of the switch, but thankfully there wasn't.

The Trust played a much smaller part in this than I had thought. Doesn't matter... I'm sure we'll see them again soon enough. We did get some fun throw-backs to past episodes, such as the appearance of the reporter from 'Prometheus' and the reference to Bregman from 'Heroes' (which, for some reason, I was half-expecting). Thor's appearance was of course great. I especially liked the over-using of the Asgard transporter (Jack and Thor seeing the President? Heh heh).

The guy from 'The Nanny' was good. I found his character likeable, even though I think he showed some poor judgement. "I don't think it will happen" (in reference to catastrophic reaction to the stargate's existance). Uh-huh. And just who do you think you are that has the right to risk it? Great final scene, though. All dark and... dark. Good stuff.

Now then, what I am wondering: Where the heck was Teal'c in all of this? Did he spend all of his screen time in the last two episodes or something? Ah, well. At least everyone else got a fair share.

And now, I'm off into the sunset... On second thought, forget that. I'm not really an outdoors kind of pig. I'll just stop talking.

[Liv]

Hmmm, I don't know exactly how to feel about this episode. I was looking forward to Covenant and for about half the episode those expectations were pretty much fulfilled. That would be the first half. It started out really well, but then somewhere halfway through I felt like it lost a lot of its steam.

It was a wee bit difficult to not see Shaugnessy as the previously mentioned Sheffield character on "That show which name I will not repeat". The first five minutes were the most distracting, though.

Okay, the good parts:

- That exasperated sigh from Daniel just at the beginning, when he and Sam are watching Colson on Live TV. Sweet.

- Daniel and Sam's little visit with Colson (and wasn't that just a nice excuse to see Daniel in a suit ). I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really hope Sam and Daniel get even more scenes together in s8, because they have such a comfortable friendship thing going on between them. The asgard-talk, for instance, (while I wouldn´t exactly call it 'banter') was amusing:

Sam: "What if... it wasn't really an Asgard?"
Daniel: "Looked like one."
Sam: "Didn't sound like one."
Daniel: "Didn't say anything."
Sam: "That's my point."

Oh, and that "I got 13 messages from Emmet Bregman." got a big smile out of me as well.

- And speaking of the Asgard: I do so very much love Thor!
Seeing him in that chair in O'Neill's office, next to Daniel, was even funnier than I expected. Every time his head tilts, or his eyes blink... He's just so adorable!

[Elwe Singollo]

Daniel and Sam's little visit with Colson (and wasn't that just a nice excuse to see Daniel in a suit ). I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really hope Sam and Daniel get even more scenes together in s8, because they have such a comfortable friendship thing going on between them. The asgard-talk, for instance, (while I wouldn´t exactly call it 'banter') was amusing:

I know what you mean, i too myself haven't seen many Daniel/Sam scenes, where is the friendship?! I miss it much. But this episode refreshed my loss of the two's friendship, haha...

[Mio]

- And speaking of the Asgard: I do so very much love Thor!
Seeing him in that chair in O'Neill's office, next to Daniel, was even funnier than I expected. Every time his head tilts, or his eyes blink... He's just so adorable!

Yes, they are pretty good at controlling Thor in a way to make him seem pretty funny.

[muffo]

I'd like to say that though I enjoyed the esisode(see my post at #49) I have to agree with those who miss RDA. There just isn't enough of him and they are not writing him well. No sparkle, no magic that only he can create. This show is RDA for the most part and they can't do another season under these conditions. Does any else think O'Neill hasn't been the same since the torture by Baal and the mind rape by the relicator leader? We only got dark, downer ending to those shows. I want O'Neill to get his "mojo" back.

[Lugal]

Here's one point that nobody mentioned but I noticed right away.... Did anyone notice that the Colson Industries logo was just the Sci-Fi network slogan flipped around??? It's prominent in Colson's office during the Colson/Sam/Daniel interview. It's a stylized "C" for Colson, but also, conveniently, the flip-side of the network's logo.

I noticed that too.