Comments | sga_rewind: SGA 1x08 Underground: Discussion

michelel72 in sga_rewind

SGA 1x08 Underground: Discussion

Jan 16, 2010 11:47

This post opens discussion of Stargate: Atlantis episode 1x08: "Underground".

This episode first aired in the US 27 August 2004. This episode is parallel to Stargate: SG-1 episode 8x08 "Covenant", by original US airdate.

US DVDset summary: When Atlantis' rations begin to dwindle, Dr. Weir concentrates on trading with other worlds for food. ( Read more... )

discussion: 1x08 underground, discussion: s1, season1, ep: 1x08 underground, discussion

Comments 9

a_blackpanther January 16 2010, 17:45:17 UTC

This is not one of my favourite SGA eps, mostly because of the stupid going around the expedition members, especially (but not limited to) Weir and Sheppard. And while he's not very experienced in trade negotiations (although, mr. Military Man should have been a lot more careful!), she has absolutely no excuse for letting him do as he pleases without asking her first. She is the leader of Atlantis, and a negotiator. Why did she let the team go alone to the Genii home world in the first place? And then she keeps agreeing with the crazy and rather unreasonable terms John comes up with. WTF ( ... )

mercury973 January 17 2010, 07:32:41 UTC

Had to keep this conversation going-
I love the Genii as badies and this one was a good one. I never liked the Wraith since they at first were just predators and the fact that I'm embarrassed to admit I watch a show where the bad guys look like bad cracked-out Marilyn Manson fans, but I digress. I can see where the Genii are coming from- a millennium of having to hide their people and protect what is there. I get that. I also like the fact that they were fairly close to the current SGA timeline (say late 1940s-early 1950s).

But what I love about this episode is John and Rodney getting lost. Too cute. We really got to see the beginnings of a friendship here.

michelel72 January 18 2010, 07:50:17 UTC

Yeah, I grow more sympathetic to the Genii the longer I think about their position, at least when you confine that to this episode. I find that about many SG-verse villains, oddly.

As for J&R: No kidding. They really started to hit their stride here with the whole buddy-system thing, squabbling with each other (lightly) but then turning to present a more united front to outsiders.

mercury973 January 18 2010, 09:56:29 UTC

It was interesting to see the Genii and their "Amish" cover. I wish that they got to do more interactions with other people. They kinda only did one per season after season 1. Oh well.

Teyla- poor Teyla. I loved how advanced (for a lack of a better word at 1:53 am) the Athosians lived. They didn't want to venture into the old city, which was never really expanded upon, but they had technology that also was dropped. Remember in Hide and Seek where Teyla was able to light the candle with her own lighter?

For the John and Rodney show- Other than Hide and Seek (personal shield), is this the first episode where they go off together? I fell for Rodney the 1st time I saw him as I missed him in SG1, but John was a lot more uptight in season 1. More military. I dunno.

Man, I miss this show!

Thread 5

sporangia January 18 2010, 04:48:45 UTC

The expedition is running short of food, and the opening sequence suggests they haven't actively been trading for food yet. They've known all along they might never see Earth again. What's going on?At the risk of asking questions that have been done to death, I need some help understanding the wider Stargate universe situation on the eve of the Pegasus Expedition launch. From what we saw of the expeditions travel to Pegasus they were under provisioned and unprepared for the journey they were taking. I have not seen SG-1 so I have no idea of the political climate or back history of the universe to help me put their seemingly ill prepared jump into perspective. I have assumed that from the start the Expedition had multiple purposes, military, political and scientific. Was the main impulse to go to Pegasus--to search for weapons to help in the wars in the home galaxy? And why were so many of the scientists not trained in self protection skills, before they left earth ( ... )

michelel72 January 18 2010, 07:47:29 UTC

Consider the pilot. From the transcript at Gateworld:O'NEILL: Well, with the amount of power you'll need to make this trek, odds are it'll be one way.

WEIR: Yes, we know, but the benefit to humanity is far greater than the risk, General, and it is a risk that every one of my expedition members is willing to take.
They knew. Maybe the average guy in the lab didn't really believe that, but the leaders knew it was a real risk. Note that the Americans didn't let Daniel go despite his clear desire, and the head of hard sciences is not Sam but the guy who historically acted as the antagonist to her, the guy they exiled to Russia for extolling head over heart. There are very few military officers (one Colonel and apparently one Lieutenant planned, with the American military represented by the "blue-collar" Marines rather than the more "intellectual" Air Force**, and the only overt AF member and only Major a disgraced pilot with only genes to commend him as far as they know). This all reads to me that the higher-ups and the American ( ... )

sporangia January 19 2010, 04:02:45 UTC

The benefit to humanity is far greater than the risk.

This is of course a very diplomatic phrase that circumvents telling us what the real motives for the Expedition were. I want to know exactly what she means by benefits to humanity. It's a curiosity thing with me. I have assumed that familiarity with SG-1 would have made what appears inexplicable make more sense. Or maybe not (LOL)

I find your speculation that the Expedition might have been staffed with the 'not ready for prime time players' a very interesting idea, something I had not considered. I need to think about the implications of that. Thanks for the idea to gnaw upon.

The military deployment also puzzled me. I just assumed that three un-named officers were probably killed (off scene) in the attack in Rising. I was going with the theory that one of the Wraith culling techniques, when they meet with successful resistance, was to first kill (or stun) the officers(or equivalent)among those resisting them. Their telepathic reading on humans perhaps made them ( ... )

michelel72 January 19 2010, 04:34:44 UTC

The impression I got about what they thought the benefits would be was simply that they might find living Ancients, who might be prevailed upon to help them against the Goa'uld, or at the very least would be able to study whatever the Ancients left behind in their storied outpost. I have notes somewhere about just what the SG-verse expected about that outpost, but I think in general you can get an idea from the last episode of SG-1 season 7, either by watching or by transcript. I'm weak on SG-1 lore myself, unfortunately.

My take is that the American-driven staffing is the C team, incidentally. I don't mean to malign the staff from other nations (or even the American-driven staff who stepped up). It's only fanon, but it explains a lot for me ( ... )