KMInfinity
Nereid
Registered: Jun 2002
Location: Cassiopeia
Posts: 131 |
Overall an excellent episode... Thanks to Vern for making it available to those of us who would have to wait weeks instead.
I am impressed with how well the writers were able to blend tragedy and comedy. There was a definite tinge of darkness added. I like that the consequences were more ambiguous, that the "evil" was less clear-cut compared to the Goa'uld threat. The discussion about the replicators being neither good nor evil, but "merely" like a virus, as Teal'c pointed out, reflects Jack's POV---so he's ready to sacrifice Fifth, just as we'd amputate a diseased limb. Yet, Jonas and Sam did a nice job sketching the alternative but valid POV.
I also liked how the theme of the show was understated yet it resonated throughout. IMO, the theme was that was no "right" way to win and that winning comes at a moral cost, sometimes. As First said, humans have the same attitude about "less advanced" species on Earth. There's a nice resonance with The Once and Future King--First clearly advocates the idea of "Might Makes Right" while Jack has the idea that "Survival is its own excuse". Therefore, Jack is more like First than he would want to admit perhaps. Maybe the title refers to the fact that Jack's choice was an unnatural selection -- he did not choose a "human"* option to solve the problem. Granted, the show was kind of slanted to Jack's POV -- that there were no other options.
I need to rewatch the episode again or get some help with these questions:
1--The whole "flaw" issue.....if the replicators are "engineering" themselves, then First is not the "Final" version. So they think Fifth's humanity was a mistake. What are they trying to achieve?
2--Based on Thor's early info, what is the timeslip from the replicator bubble to the realtime universe? And just how long will it take Fifth to turn off the time dilator? or will he? He was reaching for it--to turn it off or to just check it? Even a few moments of reflection on his part could add years of time for the Asgard. What if he reflects and spends a few seconds or minutes defending the TD, forcing First and the oldreps to spend more time before they can turn it off? In other words--what is the window of realtime the Asgard now have?
Minimum--Fifth turns the Time Dilator off immediately--3 seconds?
Maximum--Fifth defends the TD for _____ minutes before it is turned off. 2 minutes?
*Human--used here to represent the best of moral development---the idea that one's humanity is about more than surviving
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~~~~TANSTAAFL~~~~
What's remarkable about science fiction is that it's literature at its best. It doesn't exist because high schools require students to read it, or because grants are given out for it.... or because colleges have embedded it in their curriculum. It exists because it speaks to people. James Morrow
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