The beginning of this episode is just great. The Stargate disappears just when Daniel tries to activate it in a very tense situation. Very nice idea! The rest of the episode is full of good action and very nice schemes. Very well done and mostly good written.
So why just 6/10? Because Alan McCullough does it again. Sloppy writing! Just as in "Stronghold" we see Ba'al without any explanation in a Ha'tak with quite a few Jaffa who obey their arch enemy (all brainwashed? How? Where?). And since Nerus has the correct address it can't be just any Ha'tak. It must be Ba'als old Ha'tak (from where he beamed off in "Reckoning" after he was defeated) or at least one with a stargate (and an Asgard beaming device) he obtained before the events in "Beachhead". Then Ba'als actions in "Ex Deus Machina" make no sense. But it seems everyone's having a Ha'tak these days. The Lucian Alliance's got at least three of them. Was there a big sale I missed (and Earth, too)? Honestly, how did they get them? I thought all of the former Goa'uld-ships are now in the hands of the free Jaffa and maybe a few remaining but hiding Goa'uld? I don't think either of them would give away a Ha'tak without a real good fight and then certainly not in a good shape. Ba'al certainly does not. And once again he is killed. Despite seeing a few clones on his ship I would bet that again this was not Ba'al but another clone. Sorry, I'm falling through the plot- holes here and this is sad because otherwise it's a real nice story. Maybe Alan McCullough should write (popcorn-) action movies where logic and story-development isn't as important as in a (good) Science Fiction series. I think I would very much like these movies because taken aside continuity and good explanations his writing is not bad at all. Both "Stronghold" and "Off the Grid" are very good in every other way. Without these annoying plot-holes this episode would have got 9 or 10 points from me.
So why just 6/10? Because Alan McCullough does it again. Sloppy writing! Just as in "Stronghold" we see Ba'al without any explanation in a Ha'tak with quite a few Jaffa who obey their arch enemy (all brainwashed? How? Where?). And since Nerus has the correct address it can't be just any Ha'tak. It must be Ba'als old Ha'tak (from where he beamed off in "Reckoning" after he was defeated) or at least one with a stargate (and an Asgard beaming device) he obtained before the events in "Beachhead". Then Ba'als actions in "Ex Deus Machina" make no sense. But it seems everyone's having a Ha'tak these days. The Lucian Alliance's got at least three of them. Was there a big sale I missed (and Earth, too)? Honestly, how did they get them? I thought all of the former Goa'uld-ships are now in the hands of the free Jaffa and maybe a few remaining but hiding Goa'uld? I don't think either of them would give away a Ha'tak without a real good fight and then certainly not in a good shape. Ba'al certainly does not. And once again he is killed. Despite seeing a few clones on his ship I would bet that again this was not Ba'al but another clone. Sorry, I'm falling through the plot- holes here and this is sad because otherwise it's a real nice story. Maybe Alan McCullough should write (popcorn-) action movies where logic and story-development isn't as important as in a (good) Science Fiction series. I think I would very much like these movies because taken aside continuity and good explanations his writing is not bad at all. Both "Stronghold" and "Off the Grid" are very good in every other way. Without these annoying plot-holes this episode would have got 9 or 10 points from me.