/steels self for AWESOMENESS… and prays there is no Hathor this time
It’s a wonderful day at the SGC base in Colorado. Jackson’s bed-ridden with appendicitis, Carter’s busy with a naquadah reactor, and O’Neill wants to go fishing… but he can’t find a fishing buddy to go up to Minnesota with him. But just as he’s walking away, he gets
TRANSPORTED AWAY!
Oh look! An Asgard ship! Kinda looks like Thor’s!
O’Neill wanders around, but there’s no sign of our grey little buddy. However, we do get
MECHANICAL BUG THINGS EW OH GROSS.
They look like spiders! Oh god!
Hold on just a minute. This opening is the same as the one from the pilot. It’s the lame one where they circle around the face of Ra and then zoom out. Please tell me this is just a one-time occurrence.
The bugs don’t attack him, but they are moving towards the transport site. Hm…
O’Neill eventually finds Thor, but our little Asgard buddy isn’t lookin’ so hot. (Gasp! No!! I actually like him!) He is, in fact, dying (I SWEAR IF THEY KILL HIM OFF…) and he explains that those little mechanical insects in the hallway? Yeah. They’re the “worse than the Goa’uld” enemy Thor mentioned back in “Fair Game”.
He directs O’Neill to some videos he made, since Thor himself is too weak to explain. The video explains that the bugs out there are called “Replicators” (why am I getting a very Borg-like vibe here?) and, oh yeah, they took over the ship (the Belisknor), so he destroyed the outbound transporter.
So, pretty much, Jack is doomed.
Back on the base, Teal’c returns from visiting his son (at least someone was using his vacation time) and goes to the Hangout, where Carter and Hammond are now. O’Neill has managed to get a holo-communication device up and running, and explains the situation to the three. He’s ordered up a bunch of explosives (since presumably he needs to destroy the ship so the Replicators don’t infest Earth), but tells Teal’c and Carter to stay there… It’s a one-way trip.
Yeah, like that’s going to stop them.
O’Neill fires up the transporter (hey dude, keep in mind that that thing attracts the Replicators!) and… Teal’c and Carter come up with the cargo. (Hammond overruled Jack’s orders, not that I think that would’ve stopped them from coming anyways.) However, then the bugs come running, and we learn something else:
Those wonderful zat’ni’ktels? They don’t work on the Replicators.
But good ol’ fashioned guns do!
Much to their collective horror, though, the Replicators can… well, they can regenerate.
All right, now this is starting to seem like the Borg all over again! Or something like that.
They enter into the chamber where Thor resides, and he explains to them all that their explosives won’t work in the ship. (Well… that kinda stinks.) Inertial dampening fields and all. (Gosh, I have missed seeing ships every episode!)
Carter plans to make her way through all the technobabble specification recordings, but first Thor explains to them the nature of their enemy. The Asgard don’t know where or from whom they come from, but they’d made the fatal mistake of bringing a few onboard a ship for study. In time, they became a plague that is destroying his whole home galaxy.
Right now, they’re eating the ship. Like, literally consuming it. And the only available option? Burn up the Belisknor in the atmosphere.
Teal’c and O’Neill wander through the ship, Carter leading them from back where Thor is. (I should mention here that his condition is worsening…) They make it to the bridge, but there are Replicators everywhere.
Okay, Plan B?
Blow the deceleration drive, but they’ve got to put the explosive right there on it. As in, outside of the ship. And who’s going? Teal’c, of course, because he’s just sooooo eager to put his life in danger AGAIN. (Geez, Teal’c, just for once, couldn’t you say, “Uh-uh, I ain’t goin’ out there,” but of course you’re just sooooo honourable…)
My personal rant aside, Teal’c suits up, and we get this funny little convo as he’s about to head out into space:
O’Neill: “Say somethin’.”
Teal’c: “One small step for Jaffa.”
O’Neill: “Very nice.”
Ha! Gotta love it. That’s one thing SG-1 has never failed at: Adding a little light-hearted humour to break up a tense, tense moment. And with that, he’s off, device attached and making his way around the ship.
There’s actually a really awesome shot of the ship at this point in time, and we get to see just the massiveness of it…
Teal’c returns, but the air lock won’t open.
Well, CRAP!
And it gets worse! His tank just blew! OH GAWD CARTER DO SOMETHING HURRY.
He pushes off from the ship, free-floating, and Carter and O’Neill watch in stark anticipation as she tries to beam him back aboard. He transports back inside, and… oh god, HE’S OKAY. He’s weak (well, duh!) but he’ll be fine.
The ship, on the other hand? Maybe not so much. The Replicators are moving the ship down.
Back in Colorado, they have orders to blow up the ship as soon as it enters into the atmosphere. Jackson, who has since come down to the Hangout in order to remain updated on his team, is of course protesting, but when it comes to the fate of all of Earth’s humanity… well, you haven’t much of a choice.
The Russians are in on it, too. This looks bad.
SG-1 transports the Stargate out of the base and up to the ship, where Teal’c starts to dial out to P3X-234. (Ah, so it’s “Serpent’s Grasp” all over again! Good thinking!) But time’s running out… The Replicators start to enter the room, and Teal’c’s still dialing. They manage to open the ‘Gate, but the Replicators are in full force.
Carter joins them soon thereafter and sends the stasis pod holding Thor through. Just as the ship begins to burn up, they blow the charges, and the ship…
…starts to blow up…!
…and the fate of SG-1 is…
…unknown. But I’m pretty sure they jumped through.
The scene changes to the wreckage… and there’s one little Replicator left. This can’t be good.
Final thoughts… LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I PRESENT TO YOU:
THE BORG OF STARGATE SG-1!
Okay, okay, I’m kidding. I know that the Replicators aren’t really like the Borg (of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager) at all. They’re far creepier, and clearly far more dangerous. I mean, the freaking Asgard can’t defeat them, and we all know how epic they are.
But I’m pretty sure we’ll see the Replicators again… and again… and again. They’re just far too awesome (and this IS a Season Finale) to be let go after a two-episode arc, since clearly there’s a conclusion to this. So here’s what I think of our buggy little friends:
- They’re kinda nasty. Not in a slimy, “Bane” sort of way, but in a no-mercy, no-nonsense sort of way. They’re absolutely ruthless. They’re robots. They don’t have the same mentality of other sentient races… or do they? Thor said they have an incredible capacity for learning. Just how far could they evolve? Point I’m trying to make is that they are rather like the Borg in this aspect. Where the Borg were obsessed with assimilation of other races, and therefore knowledge, into their collective, the Replicators seek raw materials and thus the means to replicate. On the surface, it’s not as gruesome as jamming a probe in someone’s neck and injecting them with nanites, but it’s far more effective in wiping out populations.
- That’s another thing. They’re darned efficient. Think about it. They reproduce asexually, only need to feed on raw materials (which I presume they could get wherever they like), and have only the one objective in mind. I know they appear to us as spider-looking things, but could they take other forms? The thought scares me a little.
- If they can take on other forms (like, say they got their grubby little mechanical claws on the body-disguiser technology from “Foothold”) could they infiltrate Earth? Impersonate anyone hooked up to the device? The thought’s pretty scary. It’s rather like a major plot point of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, where the Changelings started to infiltrate Earth, and just a few of them were able to wreak havoc everywhere.
- Pretty much I think they’re pretty badass. I love how simple yet complex they are. They make the Goa’uld look like pansies! (Hey, why don’t we send a few over to Apophis..? I’m sure he’d have loads of fun ACTUALLY DYING.)
“Hey, Marie, what about everyone else? You know, the protagonists? Thor? Carter? O’Neill? Teal’c, who you’re unhealthily obsessed with? DON’T YOU CARE?”
Yes, yes, my dear reader, I do care! I just get really excited about villains. They’re so cool.
There’s not really much I can say. I’m kind of surprised that Thor wasn’t able to figure out a way to blow up the ship, considering the fact that the Asgard are really smart and all that. I mean, the SG-1 folks are pretty bright too, especially Carter with her science background, but still… I suppose maybe improvisation’s a Tau’ri thing!
I think that SG-1 made it through the ‘Gate. I also think that Thor’s going to be okay… at least, I sure as heck hope so. If he’s not, I’m going to be sad. He’s such a nice little guy! That and his big eyes are kind of adorable.
(Now, Teal’c, don’t be jealous. You know you’re the only alien for me.)
All in all, this was a very satisfying season finale… Except for one thing.
DANIEL JACKSON.
Really? Appendicitis? That’s a pretty lame excuse, writers. Surely you have a better reason for him to not be with his crew. But aside from that… Well, I just hope they give him a piece of the action in the Season Four premiere.
Even so, it’s light years better than that last season finale!
Love the Goa’uld, but the Replicators are a far more formidable foe than Hathor the Creeper.
PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY:
(Are we okay?!)
O’Neill: So, do you guys think we’re screwed?
Carter: Uh, well, sir, I think we made it through the Stargate on time.
Teal’c: Would we not be all right, since we are here, talking?
Jackson: Teal’c, this is Marie we’re talking about. She’s the most insane blogger on the planet. As far as we’re concerned, as long as she’s in control, the whole universe is screwed.
Marie: Come on, you guys, I’m not that crazy! (Skittering is heard.) COME BACK, DATA! I’ve got naquadaaah! (She chases after a Replicator with a broad grin on her face.)
Jackson: …Yeah, we’re screwed.
Glad you liked the replicators - the idea of a villain who isn't actually malicious, but still highly dangerous, is interesting. As well as intelligent, but in a different way to what we are used to. (I guess it was a bit Borg-like for them to ignore you untill you disturb them somehow).
ReplyDeleteYour predictions about them are interesting. Presumably you'll come back at the end and see how much you got right?
Congratulations on making it to the end of another season (without incurring any overdue fines)!
Oh, and didn't anyone tell you not to feed the replicators?
Nice to see you so excited over the replicators -they are pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think the writers just wrote that Daniel had appendicitis because Michael Shanks really did have it. Then again, they could have come up with something more interesting. Oh well, art imitates life very precisely in this case.
Something more exciting than acute appendicitis? An infection that can kill in a matter of hours? Personally, I can't think of a lot of things more exciting that would leave the actor able to recite lines.
ReplyDeleteThe replicators start out well and then, IMO go rapidly downhill. I have a whole rant about the escalation of villains on TV that I'll spare you. This time.
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