UNEDITED EXCLUSIVE: Stargate SG-1 Season 6 Episode 11 "PROMETHEUS" and Episode 12 "Unnatural Selection" REACTION!

Jack finally got to keep a starship! And learned to never get between Teal’c and his ice cream (-: Here are some of my thoughts about the two parter: Let’s start with the deal with the reporter. The air force agreed to let her film in return for her keeping quiet and revealing her sources. The footage would be kept by the air force and would only be released if and when the whole thing was declassified. Why would they need to double cross her and destroy the footage? I don’t see the danger in them keeping footage of their own project, they probably have lots of records of it. It seems unnecessarily mean and dishonest. Next we had the ship getting hijacked. As mentioned by others this was highly unrealistic. The levels of incompetence that would be necessary for this to happen are unimaginable. Then the hijackers demand that two people be handed over - Simmons and Adrian Conrad, who is still a Goa’uld. I can’t imagine why they would allow a Goa’uld to stay inside that man instead of handing him over to the Tok’ra for extraction. No matter how bad Conrad’s crimes were, keeping him as a puppet on a string without free will under the absolute control of an alien parasite is cruel and unusual and shouldn’t have been allowed. Then we get to the second part. It can be said that the replicators are like the Borg of the Stargate universe. If we continue that analogy, the human form replicators are like the borg queen. While the human form replicators make more sense to me, in-universe, than the borg queen, I never liked either. Like the borg, the replicators were a lot more terrifying when they were more alien and therefore harder to understand. The creation of the human form replicators at this point in time raises an interesting question: why now? Reese created the replicators, therefore they should’ve known about her for as long as they have existed. Did they somehow lose the knowledge of her existence at some point in the past? Did they always know she existed but never before examined her construction more closely for some reason? I think Jack’s decision to betray Fifth was the right one. The replicators are far too dangerous, especially the human form ones that we have no defences against. While Fifth seemed a lot more human in nature there was no reason to believe he didn’t share the others’ single minded goal of replicating over and over at the expense of all else or that he wouldn’t grow out of his apparent innocence. It sucked, but it was the responsible thing to do for the sake of all life in the universe. I thought RDA did a good job looking both convinced he made the right decision and uncomfortable with the betrayal.

Limi V

I never gave much thought to the dimensions and the timeframe, but you're absolutely right, it doesn't seem like enough time. They probably started working on a starship at the same time they started working on the 302, because they obviously needed a platform from which to launch the 302s, but that doesn't help much.

Limi V

Actually it was Teal'c that picked a random ice cream bucket for Jack

Limi V

lol This episode is also a cutted one. I have more scense in my DVD. xD

TheStarkiller96

Well he said he'd keep BSG in mind when I sent him the gate prop. Maybe after farscape

Timothy Nikiforovs

I'm usually happy watching the cut youtube versions, but I *knew* it would be worth it to pay to see FW's face when he realized we're getting our own capital class ship.

Yuroguy

And First was on Twin Peaks which is another great show I think Fail would enjoy. Although I'll always remember him as Dr Warwick on the Bold and the Beautiful (not a great show)

Teth

I wanted to rewatch BG again cause it had been a few years but I held off in hopes that FW or one of the other reacters I subscribe to would watch it. Fingers crossed!

Jakob

Yes Timothy. Replicator Third is played by Canadian actor Tahmoh Penikett who was one of the main stars on Battlestar Galactica. Hey Failwhale you have to watch Battlestar Galactica. It will blow you away. I love the Stargate franchise but BSG is my favorite show. By the way BSG was also made in Vancouver. Oh yeah by the way, the actor who played Fifth was in 2 episodes of BSG.

Hok'Tar

Remember what Jack said about blowing up the ship in Descent: "The next one, we keep!" Well, say hello to the next one. ;)

Geonn Cannon

Heh, ItsAPrimate, I watch his videos as well. He is doing all the Star Trek movies thanks to a patreon, and like you said, watched some key TNG eps to lead up to the new TNG movies. I think, and would love, if FailWhale did the same.

Brent Justice

I was awaiting for you to react to this episode really hard. I usually struggle to not spoil when it comes to Stargate, but I'm proud that I was able to restraint this info. This level-up is the beginning of a new journey. I agree when you said you feel like you're watching a new series. ;)

Yan Brassard

Gallifrey gals do tng reactions, heavily obscured and muted. So best bet would be to watch along in another window

Timothy Nikiforovs

Yeah I've looked for some good Star Trek reactions and they're.. well, I haven't found any that actually go through any whole series without most of them being blocked on Youtube. I've looked for some DS9 reactions for a long time. There could be some Patreon exclusive stuff out there, but I wouldn't know how to find them without the person first posting it on Youtube 🤷‍♀️ Someone I do follow was watching all the Star Trek movies though and got to First Contact and thus watched TNG The Best of Both Worlds pt 1 & 2 first to understand it better and actually got them on Youtube, so that was cool. If anyone does find any Star Trek pre-Discovery reactions on Youtube or Patreon though, hit me up with that info if anyone comes across any! 😂

Lady Beyond The Wall

he might just have to do what some reactors do and massively obscure the picture. Or it could be a patreon exclusive Also even at 2 eps a week, all of trek would take about 7 years to go through, and thats not even counting post Enterprise stuff

Timothy Nikiforovs

While Trek would be cool honestly dont want him to have to deal with that youtube nightmare. Pretty sure everything he does here makes it to youtube at some point but CBS is insanely bad

Magus

We've got to get him into Star Trek one of these days, though that probably wouldn't happen for a few years at least, lol.

Lady Beyond The Wall

Yes that's another! 🤣

Daryl

nice sequel to the "phasers?" line from Redemption

Timothy Nikiforovs

"Sir we can't call it the Enterprise." Either you didn't think that was as amusing as I did or it flew over the head. I couldn't gage which. Honestly a tiny bit deflated. 😒🤣 One of my many fav Jack quips.

Daryl

...despite the fact that they mentioned Reese several times in this episode, and the events here were a direct result of the Replicators finding her body.

Flufux

When you said the SGC needed a major step up earlier in the season by at least the midpoint of the season, you hit the nail right on the head exactly, as episode 11 is the exact halfway point. Also, you missed it in the episode the X-302 was revealed at the beginning of season six, but the X-303 was actually mentioned by Gen. Hammond at the end of the episode when he was talking about the concessions being made to the Russians.

James Yancy

I don't even like these episodes so much, but I've been looking forward to your reaction. You've been waiting for this level-up for a while! 😂

Teth

I think there's been a large influx of YouTubers for season 6. I think it's great having such a large current SG fandom here - I really hope y'all can dig a little deeper with your commentary beyond next episode/end of season hype, and, "can't wait for..." kind of comments. There is so much to talk about that doesn't involve referencing episodes Faily hasn't seen yet. Please for the love of all that is good, it's a simple request - we're all excited for what's to come, but, if you're here, please be with us where we are *now*.

Stef Furness

Nice 2 parter

Gabe A

Please don't mention the names of the spinoffs. There's a strict no spoiler policy here. Just avoid mentioning anything past what he's seen, at least by name or specific details.

Timothy Nikiforovs

Lol, kinda accurate

Timothy Nikiforovs

EveryThirdNotThursday

Ah the Prometheus, Earth's first true interstellar ship. In the words of Tychus Findlay from Starcraft II, "hell, it's about time". I'm once again pleasantly surprised that aside from a few hinty comments, nobody spoiled that reveal. That said, as much as I love both of these episodes for being monumental, watershed moments in the show's history, I have some MAJOR issues with Prometheus. 1 - This one is the most understandable given it's a TV show and can't stick to realistic time constraints without major time jumps, but the X303 could never have been designed and built that fast. The X301 took 2.5 years after getting the gliders, and that was understandable since it was just mixing and matching parts to get 1 working glider, plus some air force stuff bolted on. The 302 was straining credibility, but presumably with highly accelerated design work having started at the same time as the 301(obviously the air force wouldn't want to have to steal gliders to produce their own ships), that's 4 years to get all the alien tech reverse engineered and design and build a space superiority fighter with inertial dampers, a hyperdrive, and who knows what else. The F22 took 24 years from the inception of the program to the finalized fighter being introduced. Even the YF22 prototype only flew 9 years after the Advanced Tactical Fighter program started. Now presumably the USAF kept as much of the development and construction internal as opposed to a public company like Lockheed. Without the military industrial complex and competing bids in the way, the timeframe is just barely believable. The Prometheus is a whole other ball game. The official DVD magazine specs put the Prometheus at 195L X 80W X 65H meters, and the X302 at 30L X 75W X 5.5H, which is clearly ridiculous. The 302 is nowhere near 100ft nose to tail, and 13 lined up wingtip to wingtip would not stretch almost a kilometer. Also that would make a 302 just 5m narrower than the Prometheus, so how could it fit inside? Trekyards on youtube actually got the original CG filming models from the show and they were already scaled to a much more sensible size. The 302 is much smaller at about 14x26x5.5m, while the 303 is much larger at 516x256x301m. At the scales of the studio models, the 2 work perfectly together. The problem is that makes the 303 50% longer than a Ford class carrier, and probably 3x the mass and materials, and 1 of those things costs $13 billion(the entire program cost $37 billion). There's no way with all the cutting edge alien tech and the massive scale that the 303 got built for a mere $2 billion, and in just 2 years at that. It's simply not feasible. 2 - There's absolutely no way it would get stolen. Now I might buy that the air force would make the deal they did to bury the story, but Donovan and her producer would be the only ones going onboard, with the military providing the camera crew, and standard airport security would have spotted that zat. Even discounting that, there would be hundreds of marines and SFs guarding that ship. Richard Dean Anderson hated this part of the story, as he too believed it wouldn't have been possible. Hence they wrote him as not being there for the theft, and it probably wasn't hard for him to get in character to lay into Davis and the others for letting it happen. The whole hijacking pissed him off, and me as well. Still, they got it back, and Earth has a lot more options now. I doubt the ship is a match for a ha'tak, but we're getting there. Like the comparison to the Roci as well. At least we did a little housekeeping and got rid of both Adrian Conrad and Col. Simmons at the same time. That fight with Simmons was weird though. The footage seems to be run at .75 speed or something. I don't know if it's meant to simulate partial gravity on that deck or what, but it just feels off. Regarding Unnatural Selection, I remember being terrified of the human form replicators on their first appearance. As much as one might laugh at O'Neill casually opening up on them, the laughter fades when you realize they aren't even annoyed by the bullets. Being made of nanites, they just repair the holes, kind of like the T1000. Then comes the whole "hand in the head creepiness", and the fact they instantly know just about everything about you. At first it seems they've evolved and their priorities have changed, then you realize they only kept the team alive to toy with them. For all the window dressing of walking and talking and having distinct personalities, they're still driven by the same goal. Teal'c and Jonas' observations on not being evil but being capable of doing evil things is an interesting precursor to the HFRs introduction. The block forms might be driven by comparatively simple programming, and not have the ability to think beyond their core directive of replication and the lives they're destroying. These replicators, as evidenced by Fifth, do. And yet they casually commit themselves to the destruction of all other life. These replicators are definitely evil. Fifth might have been true to his word, but we'll never know now. If they ever get out of that time dilation field, Carter just taught him the concept of betrayal. That said, while it might have been the wrong thing to do from a moral standpoint, O'Neill made a sensible decision here. Fifth wasn't some friendly block replicator that they could blast if he misbehaved. Given the threat the replicators pose, the risk simply couldn't be justified. Jack made the right call, and to paraphrase Cpt. Sisko, a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the safety of 2 galaxies(and beyond). If indeed the replicators are all bottled up on that planet, then presumably the asgard can now free up more resources to help in the milky way. That said they do still have to rebuild their civilization. Time will tell. I can hardly believe we'll be starting S7 in a little over a month. Lastly, BSG fans will recognize Third is played by the same actor as Helo.

Timothy Nikiforovs

The 303 looks like a office building turned on its side

Ba'alWhale34

Failwhale34 decides to post both episodes of the two parter.. me in my best Denzel impression "my man"!

maximillian metscher

I'm always so impressed by how much Thor is able to convey with just a squinting of his eyes. lol

indaeo

Thank you, Timothy

Stef Furness

There is a pretty good parallel there. Of course the goa'uld merely see their (perceived) superiority as an excuse to rule, while the replicators would wipe out all life that isn't them. First isn't wrong though. If only in terms of intellect, it's hard to imagine a human could look into the mind of an animal and feel the animal is superior. Still, if one acknowledges they're more evolved than others, the question then is what they do with that knowledge. We may not have done a great job taking care of Earth, but at least we understand there's a problem. Obviously the replicator response is the worst, where should they succeed they would destroy all live in the universe and eventually every planet would end up like the one in this episode. They'd have nothing to do and nothing would ever change. The universe would for all intents and purposes be dead. Other philosophies recognize potential in less evolved species to one day be equals. With that school of thought, on the one hand you have Star Trek's Prime Directive, which itself has it's failings when "non interference" means letting a whole species die when it can be prevented. On the other hand there's the Mantle of Responsibility from Halo, where the most advanced race in the galaxy assumed a role of stewardship over all other life to ensure they all have a chance to develop and not go extinct.

Timothy Nikiforovs

Still sore about that one, huh?

Timothy Nikiforovs

well happy birthday, Stef

Timothy Nikiforovs

The X-303 was hinted at in episode 2 when the Russians returned the original gate, its what the SGC gave them the plans to build both the X-302 and 303.

Thomas Thorburn

and then Teal'c forcibly trading his original ice cream that he refused to share w Jack, for whatever Jack pulled out of the bin that apparently looked better. A callback to The Other Guys, Teal'c and Jack frequently have 'heated' discussions about the provided rations. lol

Stef Furness

The ice cream exchange has always been one of my favorite blink-and-you'll-miss-it scenes in the series. That being said, as much as I've watched and re-watched, though, I've never noticed how reminiscent of Window of Opportunity the atmosphere here was, and I'm having flashbacks to Tony Stark telling Cap, "You mess with time, it has a tendency to mess back...you'll see." :: pat pat :: In hindsight, I think I forgot this was that Replicator episode because of multiple spoilery reasons...and I'll drop that thought in hopes others will do the same with their reviews. Hands inserted into heads as cords and cables can be linked into hard drives is frightening. I can't help but hear the parallels between the Replicator reasoning for their "natural selection" and the reasoning Zapacna gave in season 3's Pretense for Klorel having priority over Ska'ara's body - an assumption of superiority and a "failing" on the Tauri's part to recognize their "proper" place in the superseding food chain as a natural function of universal law. Just a bit unsettling, to say the least.

Stef Furness

Hah, being all worried they're going to get away with the ship when Sam is RIGHT THERE! No faith in our Major Carter, man! 😁 Ain't no one going to steal Sam's toys.

Geonn Cannon

One of my favorite scenes in the entirety of this show: Jack trying to steal Teal'c's ice cream!!!!

Erin Ragsdale

"this feels like a different show .. I love it" - that bodes well ;) All hail Mallozzi and Mullie.

Martin Nicholls

I will tell my kids this was the origin of the replicators, fuck reese!

Ba'alWhale34

Top 5 moment

Ba'alWhale34

I don't think I realized this was *that* Replicator episode. What a great double bubble just before my birthday next week.... ... and if I'm not mistaken, that means Faily's birthday is the following week!! Let's go!!!!

Stef Furness

Yo, am I the only one yelling at Faily to shut up when our 303 jumped into hyperspace for the first time?!! Lmao...recollecting about how amped he was for this moment for multiple seasons - I can't be mad! Spacing Simmons would have been satisfying even without that last threat to Teal'c. Sayonara sucka!

Stef Furness

By far my absolute favorite Jack moment.... Ah! *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM* *BLAM*

Matt G

Oh, I've been looking forward to this reaction!

0h-Max

THEY FLY NOW?

Talon Karrde

Whoop whoop!

Daryl

Hellloo, Gorgeous!

Stef Furness

LOOOORE DROP 🚨!!!! Double bubble !!!!!

Ba'alWhale34

Summary: 🚀👾

Failwhale34

Let's fucking GO!

Ba'alWhale34