Stargate SG-1 - Season 4 - Entity - Jack's way

When diplomacy fails...aggressiveness prevails.

[@mattboesch8907]

I always love Jack's demenor at 4:07 after Teal'c tells them that he thinks the Entity is trying to upload itsself back into the mainframe. You can tell he's thinking "Like hell it is." before shooting Sam with the Zat.

[@tauridborn2777]

Amanda Tapping's acting in on-point

[@cb-gz1vl]

That's what I liked about Jack. He wasn't dripping in altruism. That was Daniel. He knew things had to be done.

[@AshSpots]

Something that always struck me about how the alien signal communicated was that while it talked about damage being done to them, it used the word "contagion" and referred to the damage being done before they realised what it was. This makes the situation sound less like radio waves causing damage by their nature or the presence of radio waves in general, and more like how the waves behaved. It might be possible that the electronic nature of the signal may have acted like a sickness or infection to their kind (Or some sort of syncronising effect), or possibly just as bad akin to a drug that affects the mind, warping them without their being about to notice.

[@GooglyEyedJoe]

It's funny, call me an aggressive person if you want but I find myself agreeing with Jack more often than Daniel in episodes like this. To quote Jack about Daniel: "That boy can really grovel if he has to."

[@davidlewis5312]

I feel like the exception is Spirits and Other Side. Though Jack was against the plan to go behind the Natives back to mine the Trianium so perhaps they were both right. Daniel's way was just the solution to the problem. In other side, Daniel was right and Jack admitted it later.

[@keithtorgersen9664]

@david lewis, another exception was Scorched Earth.

[@TheMAZZTer]

@@davidlewis5312 Don't forget the feature film. Jack was literally on a suicide mission. Daniel figured out a better option.

[@jaredleonard2239]

Jack was right the whole episode. Shut down the signal. Close the gate. Turn off the computers. Blow up the thing in the storage room. Leave her or we will soak your world with broad spectrum electromagnetic nukes. Everyone else wanted to talk. He saw it wanted to kill them.

[@Ragitsu]

To be fair to everyone else, they've solved their fair share of conflicts through simple speech/negotiation.

[@warbossgrotsmasha23]

jack's a military man through and through, he knows a threat when he sees one

[@LabradorIndependent]

We're used to the typical "military options fail but a good speech saves the day" type plots - this was an interesting flip of that script.

[@IsleOfFeldspar]

Also, radio frequency energy is all over the cosmos. Locally, Jupiter and Io emit quite a bit.

[@Ragitsu]

Atmospheric shielding, anyone?

[@Ragitsu]

@@davidtherwhanger6795 I'm talking about shielding that an advanced civilization *places* in _their_ atmosphere.

[@Ragitsu]

@@davidtherwhanger6795 "to everyone" You're a spokesman, now? Anyhow, I know what I said and I know what I meant.

[@wilmersandstrom2826]

@@Ragitsu Nah. It's just a plot point that doesn't make sense. Radio would constantly pass their planet and likely be naturally produced by their planet even before they existed. Unless they developed this weakness after becoming advanced enough to prevent it. But if that was the case then there is no reason for them to have been ignorant of the danger the probe posed and they would have been equally able to protect themselves from it.

[@hokutoulrik7345]

I think it is more of the frequency the MALP was broadcasting one. It might have been too high for them to tolerate.

[@christopherg2347]

0:45 This part just never made sense to me: A machine planet. That is damaged by Radio waves? How did they ever manage to live? Basically all our technology on earth either intentionally or as a side effect emits radio waves. 2.4 Ghz. If your oven, microwave, toaster or elevator motor can't be 100% prevented from emitting radio waves, emit in that range. You need a license for just about all other frequencies, but this one. And that is before we consider the crapton of radio signals we get from outer space. I mean, we have freaking _radio_ telescopes, because there is so much comming and worth collecting. This has to be the equivalent of being allergic to water vapor in the air.

[@TheFounderUtopia]

I always saw it more as the entities themselves were radiowaves, basically energy based lifeforms, and maybe their entire civilization too, all existing sort of on its own plane, and what we saw on the video feed was merely the small portion of their world that had physical form. Kinda like a server room for the Matrix. If so they likely evolved symbiotically with whatever natural radio waves existed in their environment while new ones would be totally random, like a bomb blasting through the structures they depended on. If you wanna talk about what really doesn't make sense, how did Jack shoot her twice with a zat without killing her lol. Also how much of Carter's consciencness was lost forever because he decided to be a dick and interrupt the transfer as it tried to do exactly what he just told it to.

[@marianpazdzioch6632]

I read an old sci-fi book once about war between aliens and humans. War started because humans tried to communicate with aliens using radio waves which were harmfull to the souls of their deceased. Aliens themselves used optronics instead of electronics for that reason.

[@snewsh]

"It's fucking space magic, I ain't gotta explain shit." -the showrunners, probably.

[@xXShadDragXx]

To be fair I would imagine the radio equipment on the drones would be pretty strong to account for any environment it encounters

[@PR--un4ub]

@@TheFounderUtopia What I wonder is: for what reason(s) would such a civilization use the Stargate?

[@rayzermaniac5218]

The problem with this is it seems that you are supposed to feel sorry for the entity trying to defend itself but it behaved hostile the entire time it was there. There was never any real sign of compromise.

[@Domihork]

Why exactly did Jack shoot her? And why was nobody checking her vitals after being shot twice?

[@stars9084]

If the alien returned into the base computer it could continue its attack

[@devinbrynjulson4052]

First: nuclear weapons. Second: 1 tap stun, 2 tap kill.

[@leeroberts1192]

Normally 2 shots from a zat kills the person being shot at

[@delcox8165]

A better question is why he shot twice. If you listen to the sound effects going on in the background, Jack waited until _after_ the electrical show had finished before pulling the trigger a second time. Whatever thoughts were going through his head at that moment don't make any sense. Jack didn't trust it; perhaps the thing _was_ able to leave Sam after all, and he was pulling the trigger on just his friend. If he knew the thing was being a soldier and presenting itself to be sacrificed after ushering Sam to safety, he would have jumped on rescuing her from the mainframe instead of wanting to blow it up. The writers really did Jack dirty this episode.

[@wulfgarpl]

Maybe those were Furlings

[@Taospark]

Why would this entity think humans would bluff when we nuked ourselves twice?

[@Ragitsu]

Did it research our history?

[@Taospark]

@@Ragitsu If it had even basic access to our military data at Cheyenne, it'd know that it was sitting on the command and control of at least three thousand ICBMs way more powerful than those used in WWII that would set off EMPs beyond belief.

[@stevenstandley1241]

Upset that carters hospital outfit wasn't the same paper thin gown we all get that is open in the back most of the time.

[@I_SuperHiro_I]

I have a confession to make…..Sam is hot.

[@Ragitsu]

Possessed or otherwise?

[@I_SuperHiro_I]

@@Ragitsu otherwise, but then again, I wouldn’t say no to possessed Sam either lol.