Help?

[bluflamingo]

Okay, I admit it, I'm lost.

Do they stop working on the Replicator shut down program at some point before Be All My Sins Remembered, or does it just fade into the background in favour of McKay's blob weapon and everything?

And if they do stop before that, when? And why? Please help! My brain can't cope with mid-season 4 Atlantis plots any longer, it all got too confusing.

The worst thing being that I'm not even sure it matters, considering how much I've messed with the season at this point, but I can't figure out if it matters until I figure out what happened, and the combination of wikipedia, gateworld and skimming the episodes isn't helping - I'm throwing myself at your mercy!

Comments

[ariadne83]

The Seer, about 23 minutes in (of course I didn't use this as an excuse to re-watch season 4 *g*): Carter comes in and asks Rodney about what progress he's been making with the shut-down code and he says it's "not very promising"
The gist of it is that switching on the attack code was relatively easy, because that's what the Replicators were designed to do, but switching them off is virtually impossible without the original Wraith virus - which they plan to obtain from Todd. Todd's ship transfers the virus, and Todd and McKay work on it together, but Rodney figures out it's incomplete. It was Todd's insurance policy: give them just enough to almost finish it, but keep some back so they have to keep him alive. They have to put the kibosh on that plan when Todd's hive ship is destroyed

[ariadne83]

And Rodney and Todd say, at the beginning of BAMSR (about 11 minutes in) that reconfiguring Todd's code didn't work

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Thank you, that's a big help :)

Maybe I'll follow your lead and use this as an excuse to rewatch (again) some of season 4.

[dracotelitha.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered that myself and ended up with the conclusion they run a crisis by crisis problem thing. Or else there is a list. Something like:

Priority Problems to solve.
1. Why Rodney isn't getting any.
2. How does Sheppard's hair stick up like that?
3. Is Teyla scarier as a pregnant woman or as a non-pregnant woman?
4. Complete Replicator Shutdown virius.

When I first thought of that list I wasnt' trying to be funny at all, but now that I think about it Rodney would have a list like that. But seriously they probably do have a list of priority projects that need to be worked on but they just rotate them out. I bet Zelenka has to make a schedule, because Rodney is suppose to make it but always screws it up.

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

they probably do have a list of priority projects

Yeah, probably, at least when they're not in the middle of a crisis. It seems like they worked on the shutdown code for weeks and weeks though, and then it kind of faded into the background. It's driving me nuts that I can't figure out why or when!

[dracotelitha.livejournal.com]

Then I'm throwing in my lot with ariadne83 it's plausible and makes sense. Now we have to answer the question is Teyla scarier pregnant or not?

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

Obviously scarier pregnant, as the writers were crapping bricks at the thought of treating her as a character with agency like they had previously. Note that before the pregnancy reveal (even while technically pregnant in "Missing") Teyla = kickass warrior-diplomat who's always competent and resourceful and has to be outnumbered like 20 to 1 for there to be any dramatic tension. After the pregnancy reveal, Teyla = damsel in distress who gets condescended to constantly and is reduced to urging others to action rather than doing anything proactive herself, even when being marched around by nameless extras who look like they've overdosed on thorazine.

[bluflamingo.livejournal.com]

Gah, don't remind me. And then Michael with his whole, no, no, I just want you for your baby, after which I'll kill you, despite having shown interest in you as a person previously... It's not a good thing when the good guys are acting as poorly towards a character as the bad guys.

Plus, why did it have to be a choice between part of John's team and stays at home doing nothing? There must be teams on Atlantis who *don't* go out getting shot at every other week, she couldn't have joined one of them? Stayed in the city training people? Helped out the anthropolgists by telling them about Pegasus culture? She could have been a really cool link between the main characters and everyone else, but no, instead she has to get kidnapped and nearly killed. And stop wearing her uniform, because it just wouldn't do for a pregnant woman to be dressed like a soldier.

Huh, I didn't realise I had such strong feelings on the subject!