![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Back to "new" episodes for me! I go into Cure knowing nothing more than the bare existence of three things: Pangara, tretonin, and Egeria. No real coherence, just liveblogging my reactions. Onward!
Oooh, gorgeous backdrop.
Interesting combo of clothing for these guys: military-like uniform, long jacket, dress/robes (dress robes?). I like the idea of varied formal wear instead of one-style-fits-all. Also, I like the band across the main guy's character in lieu of a tie - it ought to be different from what we wear.
WAIT. WAIT. Tell me that this "commander" guy isn't the same actor who played Rygar in New Ground! They typed him as the hostile paranoid military leader twice? Oh, show. :)
Oh, yeah. Jack the genius negotiator. "Howdy, folks!" ::sporfles::
Oh, nice - Jonas all eager and volunteering, Sam diplomatically putting on the brakes.
Huh. I kinda wish I didn't know what tretonin is and was watching this ep completely cold. The temptation for this must be huge. And despite the hard lesson of Euronda, this is one vast breakthrough, not a hundred years' worth - that would feel more reasonable, and be that much more alluring as a real possibility.
"Earthans!" Just adorable. :) And even more adorable that Jonas takes the trouble to explain that hey, he and Teal'c aren't actually "Earthans" at all.
I really, really want to know which ten planets are on that list of safe addresses. The Land of Light, probably, but what else?
The folder the Pangarans gave Jack and Sam: that's not Goa'uld or Gate glyphs, as far as I can tell. What is it, and how can Sam read it? (Totally neat that she can, though!)
Also, I kinda like that the Pangarans insist on their own trade here. For people that are mightily annoyed when they're told that they're "young" or "primitive," the Tau'ri can be pretty condescending to others, can't they?
Archeology and ruins and brushes and writings on the temple walls... ::sighs:: I miss you, Daniel.
Teal'c reading Goa'uld, YES! ::squishes him:: And this "ancient dialect" seems to be the same writing there was on the paper in the folder, so... I ask again, how could anyone outside Teal'c on the Linguistics Department read it?
Teal'c's face when he spoke of Apophis' death was FABULOUS.
Okay, raise your hand if you didn't know, as soon as we saw the archeologist standing there alone, with eerie music, that she was going to die before she could tell Jonas and Teal'c anything else.
...Or maybe not? She's been scared into complying. OTOH, I really really like seeing Jonas and Teal'c work together like this.
Another moment when Jonas' eidetic memory comes in handy - one quick look at a map of the city, and he can get them where they need to go.
Oh, c'mon. Are we expected to believe Teal'c wouldn't have realized she's there listening, after his Jedi mind trick last ep with sensing the oncoming invisible Ashrak?
I have the same suspension of belief problem here that I had on Kelowna: the idea that a government, especially one seeking alliance and with a suspicious military, would allow aliens to their planet to blindly wander around their cities. The ruins is one thing, but how in the world can they be given such free rein without anything even approximating security guards following them?
Apparently, tretonin comes in designer colors to suit your every need. Purple and peach!
Teal'c sensing the symbiotes, and the faint screeching - ooooh. The last time they saw this, it was in Nightwalkers. I hope their reaction will be colored by that. (Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having, watching all these eps in the proper sequence?)
Falling into a symbiote tank! Shades of Hathor. Does Jonas know enough to be terrified? --Heh, yes, he does. Love that expression on his face.
Why would a symbiote pull a man under water when it takes him as host? And why, after The First Ones, is Teal'c so calm about all those people standing so close to the water? Also, I half-expected Teal'c to dive into the water to rescue the guy - he's safe from implantation, after all.
The military commander's name is TAYGAR. As in, only a letter or two away from Rygar. I say it again - oh, show. :)
That queen is the most repulsive thing EVER. And we're supposed to believe Hathor's host had that attached to her brain stem? Or how about Isis, who looked like a regular symbiote? And Cleo? Shyeah, right.
I like that the Pangaran head guy cares enough about a regular security guard to ask for help.
Okay, that little speech of Teal'c's about Jaffa incubators improving successful blending rates makes no sense to me. First of all, how about The First Ones? Those symbiotes not only blended successfully, but knew how to hibernate inside the host until the perfect moment. Second, we learned back in Hathor that it's the DNA provided at the breeding that matters to successful blending, not the incubation period. Anyone out there understand this enough to explain to me? I will say, though, that if a failed blending means death to both host and symbiote, that would explain why (unlike fanon) Goa'uld very rarely try to switch hosts.
...Why do I think mentioning that the Tau'ri have "Goa'uld" allies in the Tok'ra is a really bad idea?
Jack has almost nothing to do in this ep so far. He seems mostly just... there.
Jack rolling his eyes while Sam praises the Tok'ra - hee hee hee hee. I do find it interesting that Sam never seems to resent Jolinar's behavior, while her teammates most certainly do. Maybe Jolinar really did blend with Sam more than we thought.
I am so charmed by Jonas going to admit that to what's-her-name that he went through her things. Very like him. OTOH, while it's very cute that Jonas is all, "Oh, I thought we were really good at this!" while she smiles and says, "No, not really," this is TEAL'C we're talking about. So... just no.
I wave the gen flag proudly as I roll my eyes at the romancy music between Jonas and what's-her-name! Glad they didn't go that road.
Seems Malek did learn something last ep, hm? He's being very helpful and informative here. Although if he's supposed to be head of the Tok'ra, why is he sent on an errand?
So if symbiotes can fertilize their own eggs, why did Hathor need Daniel? And Jack's question about why they take hosts is not just a bit hostile, but incredibly insulting. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop - I half-expected the Tok'ra to somehow know that was Mom in there.
I am fascinated that Jack asks if the Tok'ra mind, and that Malek said no, it's "not morally objectionable to me." How about the way Burok's people used the Unas, and the rebellion Chaka inspired? Didn't SG-1 (okay, mostly Daniel at the beginning) have a problem with that? I love when SG-1 explores the various shades of grey.
JANET!
"So you wanted the Gate addresses to the Goa'uld worlds because you wanted to snag another queen?" Heh. I hadn't connected the dots. I love smart!Jack. :)
What is Teal'c doing with that red bulb thingy? Squirting cleanser onto the wall?
"Do you think that's possible?" "Anything's possible." Yeah, that's Jonas in a nutshell - "very up," as Daniel says later.
"Who's Ra?" "...He, too, is dead." Heh, Teal'c, I love when you get all smug about dead false gods.
This. This is a scene I wish I'd known about and comprehended, because this is the SGC I love and thought we'd lost already. The Tok'ra acknowledge they have a debt to the Tau'ri and the SGC uses that debt to help a people they're not even officially allied with. Thank you, Jack.
Nice to see eidetic!Jonas using reference works. And why do I love it when Teal'c says "Tok'ra," as its original meaning would be pronounced?
And here's some more grey - tell the Tok'ra or not?
Not very surprising Calmah (and hey, doesn't that mean "sanctuary"? Interesting name for a Tok'ra) took advantage of the diversion to free Egeria. (Here's hoping she's not a fifth column Goa'uld out to kill Egeria or something...)
Malek, aren't Goa'uld queens also "sentient beings"?
Oh, wow, I wasn't expecting that - Calmah offered her own host for Egeria. Whew. (But, um, how did Egeria FIT?)
I don't agree with Jack at all here. Sam and Jack made it clear that if they could offer an antidote, the Pangarans would be more cooperative. I thought Malek was painfully (almost fatally!) honest about their failure, not prevaricating.
"Egeria has awakened." Ooooh.
There had better be at least one instance of the HOST talking in this conversation with Egeria, or I am going to be seriously annoyed.
"My host has shared her knowledge of the Tok'ra with me. You are beyond my greatest hopes and dreams." That's beautiful and heart-breaking, yes, but call the host by NAME, Egeria! Give us something to show you care about the human aspect of the blending!
Ah, Malek. Thank you for acknowledging the humans.
"This was not a malicious act." "Nor was mine, Major Carter." Like Sam, I'm not sure what Egeria means. It wasn't malicious to blend with Calmah's host and try to survive? I had this vague notion she was actually apologizing for Jolinar, but that doesn't make sense... Or was Egeria deliberately leaving out a specific component from her forced breeding that made the tretonin so much more difficult to refine?
Jonas bringing up Kelowna's choices fascinated me, but just saying "That's why I left" without mentioning Daniel feels like edited history, somehow. Yes, of course, I understand that the point he's trying to make here would be diluted by talking about Daniel, but - still.
Hah! I was right! ...Or I vaguely remembered it from the script I speed-read over four years ago. Either one is possible. :)
Oh, thank you, Egeria. "They do not deserve this end." Finally finally proving the founder of the Tok'ra really does care about human beings. "The salvation of the Pangarans shall be my final act. Such is the spirit of Tok'ra that I wish to live on."
Taking Egeria back to the base so everyone can attend the final kawhoosh?
Heh - can't remember the last time we got to see someone dial.
A sobering, thoughtful ep. Not sure why tretonin is still such a problem in Changeling and later eps when Egeria gave them the solution, though. What am I missing? And yes, I really do wish we could've had at least once a few words from the host in that conversation between Malek and Egeria, but ah well.
Oooh, gorgeous backdrop.
Interesting combo of clothing for these guys: military-like uniform, long jacket, dress/robes (dress robes?). I like the idea of varied formal wear instead of one-style-fits-all. Also, I like the band across the main guy's character in lieu of a tie - it ought to be different from what we wear.
WAIT. WAIT. Tell me that this "commander" guy isn't the same actor who played Rygar in New Ground! They typed him as the hostile paranoid military leader twice? Oh, show. :)
Oh, yeah. Jack the genius negotiator. "Howdy, folks!" ::sporfles::
Oh, nice - Jonas all eager and volunteering, Sam diplomatically putting on the brakes.
Huh. I kinda wish I didn't know what tretonin is and was watching this ep completely cold. The temptation for this must be huge. And despite the hard lesson of Euronda, this is one vast breakthrough, not a hundred years' worth - that would feel more reasonable, and be that much more alluring as a real possibility.
"Earthans!" Just adorable. :) And even more adorable that Jonas takes the trouble to explain that hey, he and Teal'c aren't actually "Earthans" at all.
I really, really want to know which ten planets are on that list of safe addresses. The Land of Light, probably, but what else?
The folder the Pangarans gave Jack and Sam: that's not Goa'uld or Gate glyphs, as far as I can tell. What is it, and how can Sam read it? (Totally neat that she can, though!)
Also, I kinda like that the Pangarans insist on their own trade here. For people that are mightily annoyed when they're told that they're "young" or "primitive," the Tau'ri can be pretty condescending to others, can't they?
Archeology and ruins and brushes and writings on the temple walls... ::sighs:: I miss you, Daniel.
Teal'c reading Goa'uld, YES! ::squishes him:: And this "ancient dialect" seems to be the same writing there was on the paper in the folder, so... I ask again, how could anyone outside Teal'c on the Linguistics Department read it?
Teal'c's face when he spoke of Apophis' death was FABULOUS.
Okay, raise your hand if you didn't know, as soon as we saw the archeologist standing there alone, with eerie music, that she was going to die before she could tell Jonas and Teal'c anything else.
...Or maybe not? She's been scared into complying. OTOH, I really really like seeing Jonas and Teal'c work together like this.
Another moment when Jonas' eidetic memory comes in handy - one quick look at a map of the city, and he can get them where they need to go.
Oh, c'mon. Are we expected to believe Teal'c wouldn't have realized she's there listening, after his Jedi mind trick last ep with sensing the oncoming invisible Ashrak?
I have the same suspension of belief problem here that I had on Kelowna: the idea that a government, especially one seeking alliance and with a suspicious military, would allow aliens to their planet to blindly wander around their cities. The ruins is one thing, but how in the world can they be given such free rein without anything even approximating security guards following them?
Apparently, tretonin comes in designer colors to suit your every need. Purple and peach!
Teal'c sensing the symbiotes, and the faint screeching - ooooh. The last time they saw this, it was in Nightwalkers. I hope their reaction will be colored by that. (Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having, watching all these eps in the proper sequence?)
Falling into a symbiote tank! Shades of Hathor. Does Jonas know enough to be terrified? --Heh, yes, he does. Love that expression on his face.
Why would a symbiote pull a man under water when it takes him as host? And why, after The First Ones, is Teal'c so calm about all those people standing so close to the water? Also, I half-expected Teal'c to dive into the water to rescue the guy - he's safe from implantation, after all.
The military commander's name is TAYGAR. As in, only a letter or two away from Rygar. I say it again - oh, show. :)
That queen is the most repulsive thing EVER. And we're supposed to believe Hathor's host had that attached to her brain stem? Or how about Isis, who looked like a regular symbiote? And Cleo? Shyeah, right.
I like that the Pangaran head guy cares enough about a regular security guard to ask for help.
Okay, that little speech of Teal'c's about Jaffa incubators improving successful blending rates makes no sense to me. First of all, how about The First Ones? Those symbiotes not only blended successfully, but knew how to hibernate inside the host until the perfect moment. Second, we learned back in Hathor that it's the DNA provided at the breeding that matters to successful blending, not the incubation period. Anyone out there understand this enough to explain to me? I will say, though, that if a failed blending means death to both host and symbiote, that would explain why (unlike fanon) Goa'uld very rarely try to switch hosts.
...Why do I think mentioning that the Tau'ri have "Goa'uld" allies in the Tok'ra is a really bad idea?
Jack has almost nothing to do in this ep so far. He seems mostly just... there.
Jack rolling his eyes while Sam praises the Tok'ra - hee hee hee hee. I do find it interesting that Sam never seems to resent Jolinar's behavior, while her teammates most certainly do. Maybe Jolinar really did blend with Sam more than we thought.
I am so charmed by Jonas going to admit that to what's-her-name that he went through her things. Very like him. OTOH, while it's very cute that Jonas is all, "Oh, I thought we were really good at this!" while she smiles and says, "No, not really," this is TEAL'C we're talking about. So... just no.
I wave the gen flag proudly as I roll my eyes at the romancy music between Jonas and what's-her-name! Glad they didn't go that road.
Seems Malek did learn something last ep, hm? He's being very helpful and informative here. Although if he's supposed to be head of the Tok'ra, why is he sent on an errand?
So if symbiotes can fertilize their own eggs, why did Hathor need Daniel? And Jack's question about why they take hosts is not just a bit hostile, but incredibly insulting. I'm waiting for the shoe to drop - I half-expected the Tok'ra to somehow know that was Mom in there.
I am fascinated that Jack asks if the Tok'ra mind, and that Malek said no, it's "not morally objectionable to me." How about the way Burok's people used the Unas, and the rebellion Chaka inspired? Didn't SG-1 (okay, mostly Daniel at the beginning) have a problem with that? I love when SG-1 explores the various shades of grey.
JANET!
"So you wanted the Gate addresses to the Goa'uld worlds because you wanted to snag another queen?" Heh. I hadn't connected the dots. I love smart!Jack. :)
What is Teal'c doing with that red bulb thingy? Squirting cleanser onto the wall?
"Do you think that's possible?" "Anything's possible." Yeah, that's Jonas in a nutshell - "very up," as Daniel says later.
"Who's Ra?" "...He, too, is dead." Heh, Teal'c, I love when you get all smug about dead false gods.
This. This is a scene I wish I'd known about and comprehended, because this is the SGC I love and thought we'd lost already. The Tok'ra acknowledge they have a debt to the Tau'ri and the SGC uses that debt to help a people they're not even officially allied with. Thank you, Jack.
Nice to see eidetic!Jonas using reference works. And why do I love it when Teal'c says "Tok'ra," as its original meaning would be pronounced?
And here's some more grey - tell the Tok'ra or not?
Not very surprising Calmah (and hey, doesn't that mean "sanctuary"? Interesting name for a Tok'ra) took advantage of the diversion to free Egeria. (Here's hoping she's not a fifth column Goa'uld out to kill Egeria or something...)
Malek, aren't Goa'uld queens also "sentient beings"?
Oh, wow, I wasn't expecting that - Calmah offered her own host for Egeria. Whew. (But, um, how did Egeria FIT?)
I don't agree with Jack at all here. Sam and Jack made it clear that if they could offer an antidote, the Pangarans would be more cooperative. I thought Malek was painfully (almost fatally!) honest about their failure, not prevaricating.
"Egeria has awakened." Ooooh.
There had better be at least one instance of the HOST talking in this conversation with Egeria, or I am going to be seriously annoyed.
"My host has shared her knowledge of the Tok'ra with me. You are beyond my greatest hopes and dreams." That's beautiful and heart-breaking, yes, but call the host by NAME, Egeria! Give us something to show you care about the human aspect of the blending!
Ah, Malek. Thank you for acknowledging the humans.
"This was not a malicious act." "Nor was mine, Major Carter." Like Sam, I'm not sure what Egeria means. It wasn't malicious to blend with Calmah's host and try to survive? I had this vague notion she was actually apologizing for Jolinar, but that doesn't make sense... Or was Egeria deliberately leaving out a specific component from her forced breeding that made the tretonin so much more difficult to refine?
Jonas bringing up Kelowna's choices fascinated me, but just saying "That's why I left" without mentioning Daniel feels like edited history, somehow. Yes, of course, I understand that the point he's trying to make here would be diluted by talking about Daniel, but - still.
Hah! I was right! ...Or I vaguely remembered it from the script I speed-read over four years ago. Either one is possible. :)
Oh, thank you, Egeria. "They do not deserve this end." Finally finally proving the founder of the Tok'ra really does care about human beings. "The salvation of the Pangarans shall be my final act. Such is the spirit of Tok'ra that I wish to live on."
Taking Egeria back to the base so everyone can attend the final kawhoosh?
Heh - can't remember the last time we got to see someone dial.
A sobering, thoughtful ep. Not sure why tretonin is still such a problem in Changeling and later eps when Egeria gave them the solution, though. What am I missing? And yes, I really do wish we could've had at least once a few words from the host in that conversation between Malek and Egeria, but ah well.
Tags:
no subject
Not according to what we know up until this point. We have no idea how sentient they are outside of their hosts, although Egeria does say she was making informed choices as to what she passed down to her offspring. So my theory might be wrong. But before this, no, we never got the impression that a non-blended Goa'uld is actually sentient. They are 'snakes/fish/worms' living in pools.
Of course, you know, Malek is not very consistent there, because he does consider a Tok'ra queen as more deserving, but then, well, so do the humans. It's not like they don't shoot Goa'uld larvae when they see them.
"This was not a malicious act." "Nor was mine, Major Carter." Like Sam, I'm not sure what Egeria means.
I think she means that she was making tretonin not-perfect and thus making the people depend on her even though she knew she was dying. It was self-preservation for her and as above, I am not sure how capable of rational thought a Goa'uld with a brain the size of a needle pin would be.
no subject
Sam, though, didn't think Goa'uld larvae deserved to be shot. Daniel disagreed. I agree with Daniel and with Malek here :) but the argument shouldn't be, "She's sentient!" It should be, "She was never your enemy, and she deserves better than this after all she's suffered."
no subject
no subject