@Robin ~
“Vala would have rocked my world!”

But… bringing in Vala wouldn’t have made any sense in that situation. She’s only met Sheppard once and doesn’t know much about Replicators or nanites. Bates is a familiar face for Atlantis fans (not all of whom have watched SG-1), and I think it was nice to see what became of him after he left Pegasus. (Also, we don’t know what she’s actually doing now, since we haven’t seen Ark of Truth yet.)

If the set-up were slightly different, I could see Vala overhearing them talk about the problem at SGC and begging to come along, and Landry okaying it to keep her out of people’s hair at the base. She’s proven herself a capable hunter and fighter, after all. And if Poole could have turned out to have an off-world buyer, and she might have known who it was. In the end, though, I simply want to see Vala again (and didn’t want to see Bates).

“I mean, honestly, would they treat non-nanite-based robotic life-forms this way?”

Yes. See the SG-1 episodes ‘Menace’ and ‘Double Jeopardy’. The SGC doesn’t play well with sentient artificial lifeforms, particularly when they’re connected in any way with the Replicators.

I should have been clearer — I meant it in the sense of “treat them as an automatic security threat”, not “treat them badly in general”. And like you said, in this case, the fact that she *is* related to the Replicators did make a difference in that regard — which wasn’t fair, because she wasn’t the real deal; she’s just a knock-off. That’s like having a bird that’s sick with a bird-only illness and keeping it away from your dogs because you’re afraid the dogs will catch the bird’s disease — it makes about the same amount of sense to me. There was no reason to suspect she would pose a threat security-wise any *more* than any other robotic life-form. For the SG-1 android doppelgangers, though, it was a matter of Jack and the others being uncomfortable with their presence, rather than a fear that they might hack into the computers. (Or am I misremembering that?) I just didn’t see a reason she couldn’t have been allowed to work at the SGC after her programming was looked over. It kinda comes back to Rodney’s way of thinking in “Adrift” — she could only do what she’s programmed to do, like Weir’s reprogrammed nanites and Fran.

I think part of my problem with the family plotline is that I was prepared to dislike Dave Sheppard simply because the actor who played him is (I think) the same guy who played Pacey’s overly uptight older brother on Dawson’s Creek. (I tried to confirm this, but imdb was utterly unhelpful.)

And now, to the nitpicking parts…

“Vala would have rocked my world!”

But… bringing in Vala wouldn’t have made any sense in that situation. She’s only met Sheppard once and doesn’t know much about Replicators or nanites. Bates is a familiar face for Atlantis fans (not all of whom have watched SG-1), and I think it was nice to see what became of him after he left Pegasus. (Also, we don’t know what she’s actually doing now, since we haven’t seen Ark of Truth yet.)

“I mean, honestly, would they treat non-nanite-based robotic life-forms this way?”

Yes. See the SG-1 episodes ‘Menace’ and ‘Double Jeopardy’. The SGC doesn’t play well with sentient artificial lifeforms, particularly when they’re connected in any way with the Replicators.

So… all in all, not my favorite episode of the season, but not entirely horrible.

As for the past thing, I generally am of the “our past shapes our future; learn from it and avoid repeating history” mindset. Also, I’m fascinated by how smal things in our lives can have far-reaching repercussions, hence my wishing for more backstory. It would have been a more interesting episode for me if it had concentrated on his past rather than that Replicator. XD I love to see what makes characters tick, and that often involves childhood experiences. As for Bates, I just would have liked to See Ronon being defensive of Teyla. I wonder if Kavanagh will be more likeable, the way Bates was here, in “Midway” …

That’s a fair point and of course you’re right about the past shaping our future and all of that. But there’s a fine line between “remembering it so you can learn from it” and “remembering it only so you can use it to keep the old arguments going” – Ronon coming to Teyla’s defense all these years later (especially when he wasn’t THERE so what does he know?) would have been keeping the old arguments going. Same with John and Dave – it was time to let it go.

I have a feeling Kavanagh’s going to continue being a pain in the ass – especially after what they did to him the last time. But he’s such a cool pain in the ass. :O)

The money thing with Dave did come across badly, there’s no doubt about that. *shrug* another time when I’m probably more forgiving of a character than I should be (or really – the writing of the scene).

Like really it was his FATHER who went to Standford instead of Harvard and whatever John did was way worse in his father’s eyes.

Ooh! THAT had not occured to me! Now that you mention it, that does make more sense! (Okay, so I can be a little thick sometimes …. XD)

As for the past thing, I generally am of the “our past shapes our future; learn from it and avoid repeating history” mindset. Also, I’m fascinated by how smal things in our lives can have far-reaching repercussions, hence my wishing for more backstory. It would have been a more interesting episode for me if it had concentrated on his past rather than that Replicator. XD I love to see what makes characters tick, and that often involves childhood experiences. As for Bates, I just would have liked to See Ronon being defensive of Teyla. I wonder if Kavanagh will be more likeable, the way Bates was here, in “Midway” …

@Karen ~ That sounds like an interesting fic; thanks for the heads-up! I’ll have to look for it after I finish reading stuff for the Stargate Fan Awards!

While I don’t think that the episode wasn’t the best action-wise (the Replicator didn’t really do anything replicatory), the interactions between Shep and Rodney and Shep and Ronon were great to watch.

I LOVED that they included a scene with Rodney – very very awesomely done too. And the way they had Ronon go with John was great too.

And I’m once again defending characters mainly because other people want to trash them. I ended up liking both John’s brother and his ex-wife. I can agree that Dave’s assumptions about John wanting money don’t make much sense but a) we don’t know the whole story and b) Dave could have been mostly venting his frustration. Not it wasn’t nice but I could see where he was coming from. Sure he assumed the worst of John but I’m not going to hate him because of it.

BATES! I like Bates more now than I did when he was first on the show. Honestly he’s in the same boat as Kavanagh – they both ended up being used to cause conflict with the main characters by going against them in one way or another. And like Kavanagh he was right to a point. No Teyla wasn’t directly responsible and yes he could have handled the situation better but it doesn’t mean he was totally wrong and a horrible person because of it. There’s also the whole fact that Bates who was as “by the book” as you can get had to deal with a commanding officer who was not by the book at all. I actually wouldn’t have wanted any mention of what happened in he past – it’s in the past and it should stay there – no need to bring it up now when it wouldn’t do any good for anyone.

I do agree that it would have been nice if Dave and Nancy had a bigger roll – maybe have them find out what John does for a living and see the truth. But really I did like what we got. Like you said there wasn’t any earth shattering information about John but I was really happy with what we did get. I think there’s an element of leaving things in the past were they belong to John’s family issues – it really isn’t THAT important what happened in the past but rather where they go from here. Which is why I like how they ended the last scene with John and his brother – the idea that they’re going to at least try to talk. The fact that John went back there and the fact that his brother let him in tells me a lot about the situation. That they’re not going to shut each other out.