Poisoning the Well Week

[em_kellesvig]

Ah, Carson Beckett on his first trip offworld. The callback to McCoy from "Star Trek" was a nice touch.

The writers balanced the slippery slope ethics of this episode in several interesting ways. While Beckett was willing to help the Hoffans speed up their research, he intended it to move along the usual trial and study paths of modern Earth science. That wasn't quite what the Hoffans had in mind.

There's a subtle echo of Star Trek's "Prime Directive" at work here; this episode illustrates why it's so important not to interfere with the development of another culture, particularly when their goals go beyond what you find ethically acceptable. Best intentions aside -- for both Beckett and the Hoffans -- the real question here is just because you can do a thing, should you?


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"Poisoning the Well" 1x07

Comments

[melagan.livejournal.com]

You know why I'm lousy at commentary? You give big thinky thoughts

and I say...

Dimples!!!!

[em_kellesvig]

Dimples are perfectly valid. So are nipples.

[aadarshinah.livejournal.com]

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Just because you have the power to do something, can control it, doesn't mean that you're ready for it, or can do the right thing with it.

We see this all the time with the Ancients - they have impossible, impressive power. Power that borders on the divine. But they still made gross mistakes (the Wraith, the Attero Device, the Arcturus Weapon). If they weren't ready for the power their science gave them, we certainly aren't either.

Granted, at least the Expedition tried to get them to stop when they realized what the drug did. To quote Sun Tzu, "“There are roads which must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.” It's not a perfect analogy, but the gist is the same.

[em_kellesvig]

Very true. Beckett got caught up in the possibilities of what he was doing without really understanding how far the Hoffans would go once they had what they wanted. It's Pandora's Box but without the hope.

On the other hand, the Wraith make people desperate beyond Earth concepts. Is this really a slippery slope or a massive learning experience for the expedition? Or both?

[aadarshinah.livejournal.com]

Well, it's like in "The Siege, Part 1" when they're talking about possibly taking the ZPM from the planet with all the kids to power their sheilds. Sure, it's a lot more useful with the Expedition, but would they be really worth saving if they're willing to expose a bunch of kids to something like that?

I can't honestly say if it's a slippery slope or a learning experience for the Expedition. Both, probably. The Hoffans' desperation, and that of all the people in the Pegasus galaxy, is truely beyond Earth comprehension. But death on such a scale, in way that, when impliment, can only - and does - lead to their complete anihilation? It's worse than the Wraith. After all, the Wraith only kill to live. The Hoffans' implimentation of their drug is just senseless killing all around.

[hoktauri]

That was a question they (that is, the Expedition) never directly and consciously asked themselves. Which led to all sorts of problems later on down the trail.

I did love the Star Trek allusions, though, and Carson's fear of Gate travel. :-D

[em_kellesvig]

I always wondered why they never asked. Was that a deliberate omission by the writers or did they just fail to follow through on it? The closest they got was in "Vengeance", when Ronon said, "I told you people not to do this!" -- meaning Michael.

We'll never know now.

[hoktauri]

Hmm. Now that I think about it, Ronon does sort of carry that voice of questioning the Expedition's moves sometimes. (Except for the torture of Kavanagh, which seemed a little out of character for him, but I digress.) Maybe they were going for it that way? Have Ronon be the voice of ethical and moral reasoning? I'd say that fell to Teyla, too, sometimes, and Elizabeth did put forth a few questions of her own, but not nearly so often as Ronon did.

I may have more insight as I progress through my own rewatch. *g*