Wow, pretty much total disagreement here. I thought this episode was one of the recent best. Personally, I get really tired of feeling like every episode has to advance the overall arc in some way. I like self-contained episodes that just have a story, a beginning and an end. And I thought this one was handled really well, good balance of suspense and humor. I hated the movie Memento, but I thought the little nods to it here were nice.
And as to your loophole, I thought that all the other Ethosians went to the mainland on the prior Atlantis world, and so weren’t available (pretty sure that world has no gate of its own; with the city gone, it’s cutoff).
It was a reasonably entertaining episode. I’ll still take it over 95% of what else is on TV. There are always going to be stand alone filler eps.
Regarding the Ethosians, didn’t they permanently settles someplace? Atlantis is now on a new planet, and I think Teyla & Ronon are the only two native Pegasusians (?) in Atlantis now.
I’m mildly disappointed how Carter is standing back and not contributing much while McKay works his genius magic. Those two used to more or less go head to head, while basically complimenting each other’s strengths, and exchanging entertaining banter.
I like self-contained stories too, and Stargate is no stranger to them, but the “alien lifeform infects someone and/or causes a quarantine” rehash is as worn out on Stargate as a time travel episode of Star Trek. I feel like there’s been no momentum to this season and based on what I’ve read of what’s to come, I think a good portion of the episodes are going to be self-contained and the ones that are part of the arc don’t sound all that spectacular. There isn’t much emphasis on establishing Carter’s command, and as lev said, there isn’t much being made of her established relationship with Rodney either. I really liked Atlantis in the first three seasons, moreso than even SG-1, but it just seems to be losing steam to me. I was really hoping for more, but only time will tell.
As far as the Athosians (correct spelling) are concerned, they only left Atlantis because the Ancients returned to claim it and I’d just as soon assumed they had come back after the Ancients left. Seemed a fair assumption, I thought, even though there was no indication that they’d ever returned.
You know what’s worn out? The endless episodes which take place on yet another primitive, medieval Hercules & Xena-type world. That bores me. I’ll take viruses over that. And the prior week’s episode was a welcome relief too. A new culture, and it isn’t medieval! It’s advanced, and space-faring. It’s actually somewhat interesting! Bet we’ll see them again. Wonder how one of earth’s new Daedalus-class battlecruisers would’ve fared against this new space-faring culture’s main ships?
One thing about that episode though. Sheppard noticed they seem to be the originators of Ronon’s hand weapon, but then they dropped it. Ronon never acknowledged knowing anything about these people. So how’d he get his weapon? Will that be a future story? Sheppard said “I always wondered where he got that.” What, all this time hanging out together you never asked?
Well now that the Odyssey is armed to the teeth with Asgard technology and can blow away Ori battlecruisers with ease, I’d venture to guess it would be a cakewalk … that is, if they ever get around to upgrading the Daedalus with the same tech. They won’t, I’m sure, as it was just a contrivance of the final episode of SG-1 and a plot device that won’t ever be revisited. Still and all, the Earth ships seem to have an edge in maneuverability and speed due to their small size.
I always figured Ronon’s had a lot of exposure to black market contraband and trafficked weapons. His whole background in firearms probably got him first pick over a great deal of toys from gunrunners in the Pegasus galaxy … the same gunrunners that probably sell to pirates, mercenaries, and nomadic folk like the ones from that episode. That pistol is probably a hot seller.
Geez, I can’t remember now. I’ll have to go back and watch. I know the Asgards weren’t initially able to make more of a dent in Ori ships than Tau’ri (earth) ships. They eventually figured out a weakness or something, but I don’t think it was off the shelf Asgard tech and anyway, it’ll probably be a long time before they learn to safely adapt and use Asgard tech. The Asgard gave them all their knowledge, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to use it except when it’s convenient to the plot.