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Enemy at the Gate -- Reaction, thoughts, and other things mixed in for flavor
Well guys, this is it.
The finale has come and gone, and with it, the last of the new episodes of Atlantis. I, for one, am actually fairly happy with what we got in the last episode (there are some minor quibbles, there always are), but all in all, I do think it was a fitting end. I mean, what's more fitting for the last episode but for Atlantis to finally return to its original home planet to save the day?
Ronon's (Temporary) Death
And more than that, we got team. We had team actually dying on each other, and all of the emotions in between. From each teammate. And then we had dead!teammates rising from the dead (ala Wraith, handy trick that), and relived!team saving him from death numero duo. I mean, yes, if the show had been two hours, I would have loved for them to linger a little longer on Ronon's death, get some nice reaction scenes as it starts to sink in -- and then bang! Ronon's not dead. Cue elation!
But I'm definitely content with what we got, because even in the short time span, the quick reaction shots, you could see what it did to each one of them. Teyla's quick turn and burst of gunfire I am fairly sure I imagined the scream of rage, but I don't think I imagined the fury she was projecting. Rodney's shock, dismay, and that wibbly, "oh no" face he used to make so much in the first two seasons when someone died on him tugged at me. And John, oh, John. Your eyes say so much.
Also, was I the only one who really wanted Ronon's reply to Rodney's "But you were dead!" to be "...I got better." Possibly in a very high pitched British accent? Perhaps.
John Sheppard Still Needs Therapy
John just doesn't volunteer for suicide missions, he makes them up on the spot! *g* This one never fails to crack me up, mostly because it seemed to be kind of a fanon thing to me for a while, John's propensity to try and kill himself. I think he's gotten a lot worse at it these past two seasons, sort of amping up over the course of this season. My count is at about four (Seed, Prodigal, Vegas, Enemy at the Gate). Seriously, John, you are entirely too eager to go out with a bang. Are you that afraid of old age? Retirement? Is this some sort of strange, John Sheppard variant of the mid-life crisis? ("Oh noes, I'm still alive! That wasn't supposed to happen!")
Okay, I'm kidding. But it's very endearing. In a strange, "I'm glad he's a fictional character, because if he were my friend in real life I'd be very worried" kind of way.
Wormhole Drive
...huh? You know... I thought I heard a mention of this earlier this season, but it did seem to be another case of:
They did this with some other piece of technology earlier this season... but it's late enough right now that I don't remember. Ah, well. While I do enjoy it when they successfully interweave things from episode to episode to episode, it wasn't a complete "WTF? Left field?"
Cameos FTW!
We got to see just about everybody in this episode, which made me a happy "Oh, look!" kind of fangirl. We got Sam, Walter,BaldwellCaldwell, Colonel Ellis The Tool, Zelenka, Lorne (Heroic!Lorne even! :D), Todd, two partridges in a pear tree, Clone!Carson (who somehow upgraded his ram to where he could fly the city and fire drones without taking out the tower's support columns) (Don't hurt me, Gayle, I only kid because I love), the return of the Checkett OTP, the death of John's Chair of Destiny (off-screen). All we were missing was Larrin and leather. (There was a conspicuous lack of leather in this episode. Thank you, costuming department. Thank you.)
We got also got mention of some characters that didn't make it (although there was one glaring omission... but this is happy post, we'll move on!) It would have been fun for all of SG-1 to be there, but that would have been a bit much. In my head, though, Cam was up there with the rest of the F-302 pilots, merrily blasting away at Wraith darts. And Sam was, uh, talking to him on another channel? I don't know! But Cameron Mitchell is like a happier-go-lucky, less suicidal version of John. He is incapable of staying safe on the ground when he could be zipping through the air.
We also got to see my major, non-SG1 crush, Major Davis return. I'll be honest, when they first announced the spin-off, I had some really naive hope that he would somehow get poor Lantash the (canonically very dead) Tokra, gain Jonas Quinn as his geeky sidekick, and go off to the lost city and be awesome.
For the record, I'm very glad my crazy, naive hopeful version of SGA never came true. I like what we got much better. (SNARK! :D) Um, yes. One could say I even adore it.
Ronon + Amelia
D'awww. She came to see him! While I have missed our friendly Chucknician at the helm lately (Chucksole (Chuck/DHD Console) is my OTP), I like Amelia much more than I thought I was going to. The "get lost" look Ronon directed at John in this scene made me snorfle a little. And that Amelia just had to show him the view of the San Fransisco Bay, once again: d'awww.
Ronon + Teyla
Er, not meant in the same sense as above. I think this is going to have to count for the team roadtrip, because, hey, all four of them finally got Earth at the same time. Sure, Ronon's going to be recuperating for a while, but soon, all four of them will pile into a rental car in San Fransico and
I was supposed to be talking about Ronon and Teyla, wasn't I?
I wanted to make specific mention of the scene where Woolsey tried to offer them an out, because I rather liked it. First off, Ronon explicity stated that Atlantis was his home. We got Teyla's admission (although less straightforward) back in "Prodigal" when she was talking about "my people", and clearly talking about the Atlanteans. Secondly... the expedition finally got a little credit. Yes, they're bozos and dorks to the Nth degree and sometimes really need to learn the concept of manners when visiting someone else's homeworld -- but they're also trying. And it's nice, every once in a while, that someone throws them a bone.
But I also loved Ronon and Teyla, especially on the hiveship. My friendshippy moments between them are few and far between in the show (*shakes fist*), but I'm going to be rewatching if only for that bit when Ronon gets stabbed. Oh, Teyla, her face. If John and Rodney are my one true OTF, Teyla and Ronon are my very close second. To me at least, they've always seemed to get each other in a very similar way that John and Rodney get each other. Of course, not being emotionally constipated idiots enables them to actually speak to each other like adults every now and then (although they have their moments too *g*) -- but yes, their friendship is something I wished we had seen more of. One day, if I ever can get a handle on their voices, I'd love to be able to fill in some of these gaps.
Final Finale Rambles
While I'm sad we're not going to get any more weekly adventures, I actually think I'm fairly happy with how everything ended. I do have my caveats (in a separate, locked post), it was almost over-the-top, but... it ended in a good place. Nobody died permanently, it all wasn't a holodeck sequence (yeah, that still bugs me *muttergrumblestupidEnterprisemuttergrumble*), things weren't drastically altered (ie: Stargate Program suddenly going public because of giant cities landing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean) to make it hard for fanon to pick up, and our last shot was a balcony scene, with everyone looking out over the water together. I kind of have a balcony scene kink, so those always work for me. Like I said above, Atlantis came home to defend Earth, but it's going back to the Pegasus Galaxy -- and the adventures will continue. Whether in fanfic, virtual seasons, or even movies that can bring everyone back for one last hurrah -- it's not over.
And for the fan like me, who loves living on the spaces in between, that's right where I want to be.
The finale has come and gone, and with it, the last of the new episodes of Atlantis. I, for one, am actually fairly happy with what we got in the last episode (there are some minor quibbles, there always are), but all in all, I do think it was a fitting end. I mean, what's more fitting for the last episode but for Atlantis to finally return to its original home planet to save the day?
Ronon's (Temporary) Death
And more than that, we got team. We had team actually dying on each other, and all of the emotions in between. From each teammate. And then we had dead!teammates rising from the dead (ala Wraith, handy trick that), and relived!team saving him from death numero duo. I mean, yes, if the show had been two hours, I would have loved for them to linger a little longer on Ronon's death, get some nice reaction scenes as it starts to sink in -- and then bang! Ronon's not dead. Cue elation!
But I'm definitely content with what we got, because even in the short time span, the quick reaction shots, you could see what it did to each one of them. Teyla's quick turn and burst of gunfire I am fairly sure I imagined the scream of rage, but I don't think I imagined the fury she was projecting. Rodney's shock, dismay, and that wibbly, "oh no" face he used to make so much in the first two seasons when someone died on him tugged at me. And John, oh, John. Your eyes say so much.
Also, was I the only one who really wanted Ronon's reply to Rodney's "But you were dead!" to be "...I got better." Possibly in a very high pitched British accent? Perhaps.
John Sheppard Still Needs Therapy
John just doesn't volunteer for suicide missions, he makes them up on the spot! *g* This one never fails to crack me up, mostly because it seemed to be kind of a fanon thing to me for a while, John's propensity to try and kill himself. I think he's gotten a lot worse at it these past two seasons, sort of amping up over the course of this season. My count is at about four (Seed, Prodigal, Vegas, Enemy at the Gate). Seriously, John, you are entirely too eager to go out with a bang. Are you that afraid of old age? Retirement? Is this some sort of strange, John Sheppard variant of the mid-life crisis? ("Oh noes, I'm still alive! That wasn't supposed to happen!")
Okay, I'm kidding. But it's very endearing. In a strange, "I'm glad he's a fictional character, because if he were my friend in real life I'd be very worried" kind of way.
Wormhole Drive
...huh? You know... I thought I heard a mention of this earlier this season, but it did seem to be another case of:
They did this with some other piece of technology earlier this season... but it's late enough right now that I don't remember. Ah, well. While I do enjoy it when they successfully interweave things from episode to episode to episode, it wasn't a complete "WTF? Left field?"
Cameos FTW!
We got to see just about everybody in this episode, which made me a happy "Oh, look!" kind of fangirl. We got Sam, Walter,
We got also got mention of some characters that didn't make it (although there was one glaring omission... but this is happy post, we'll move on!) It would have been fun for all of SG-1 to be there, but that would have been a bit much. In my head, though, Cam was up there with the rest of the F-302 pilots, merrily blasting away at Wraith darts. And Sam was, uh, talking to him on another channel? I don't know! But Cameron Mitchell is like a happier-go-lucky, less suicidal version of John. He is incapable of staying safe on the ground when he could be zipping through the air.
We also got to see my major, non-SG1 crush, Major Davis return. I'll be honest, when they first announced the spin-off, I had some really naive hope that he would somehow get poor Lantash the (canonically very dead) Tokra, gain Jonas Quinn as his geeky sidekick, and go off to the lost city and be awesome.
For the record, I'm very glad my crazy, naive hopeful version of SGA never came true. I like what we got much better. (SNARK! :D) Um, yes. One could say I even adore it.
Ronon + Amelia
D'awww. She came to see him! While I have missed our friendly Chucknician at the helm lately (Chucksole (Chuck/DHD Console) is my OTP), I like Amelia much more than I thought I was going to. The "get lost" look Ronon directed at John in this scene made me snorfle a little. And that Amelia just had to show him the view of the San Fransisco Bay, once again: d'awww.
Ronon + Teyla
Er, not meant in the same sense as above. I think this is going to have to count for the team roadtrip, because, hey, all four of them finally got Earth at the same time. Sure, Ronon's going to be recuperating for a while, but soon, all four of them will pile into a rental car in San Fransico and
I was supposed to be talking about Ronon and Teyla, wasn't I?
I wanted to make specific mention of the scene where Woolsey tried to offer them an out, because I rather liked it. First off, Ronon explicity stated that Atlantis was his home. We got Teyla's admission (although less straightforward) back in "Prodigal" when she was talking about "my people", and clearly talking about the Atlanteans. Secondly... the expedition finally got a little credit. Yes, they're bozos and dorks to the Nth degree and sometimes really need to learn the concept of manners when visiting someone else's homeworld -- but they're also trying. And it's nice, every once in a while, that someone throws them a bone.
But I also loved Ronon and Teyla, especially on the hiveship. My friendshippy moments between them are few and far between in the show (*shakes fist*), but I'm going to be rewatching if only for that bit when Ronon gets stabbed. Oh, Teyla, her face. If John and Rodney are my one true OTF, Teyla and Ronon are my very close second. To me at least, they've always seemed to get each other in a very similar way that John and Rodney get each other. Of course, not being emotionally constipated idiots enables them to actually speak to each other like adults every now and then (although they have their moments too *g*) -- but yes, their friendship is something I wished we had seen more of. One day, if I ever can get a handle on their voices, I'd love to be able to fill in some of these gaps.
Final Finale Rambles
While I'm sad we're not going to get any more weekly adventures, I actually think I'm fairly happy with how everything ended. I do have my caveats (in a separate, locked post), it was almost over-the-top, but... it ended in a good place. Nobody died permanently, it all wasn't a holodeck sequence (yeah, that still bugs me *muttergrumblestupidEnterprisemuttergrumble*), things weren't drastically altered (ie: Stargate Program suddenly going public because of giant cities landing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean) to make it hard for fanon to pick up, and our last shot was a balcony scene, with everyone looking out over the water together. I kind of have a balcony scene kink, so those always work for me. Like I said above, Atlantis came home to defend Earth, but it's going back to the Pegasus Galaxy -- and the adventures will continue. Whether in fanfic, virtual seasons, or even movies that can bring everyone back for one last hurrah -- it's not over.
And for the fan like me, who loves living on the spaces in between, that's right where I want to be.
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The General Hammond scene made me cry, knowing that was Amanda talking about her friend. I'm so glad they did that.
I'm totally squeeing over Ronon and Amelia, partly because we've seen a connection, however brief it was and they've not launched into being in love but are probably pre-ship. It has so much potential for fic writers. :D
Sheppard - ah, it wouldn't be Atlantis if there wasn't a suicide mission for him to go on, and like you said - they're always his idea. Daniel is synonymous with dying and coming back to life, John is synonymous with suicide missions.
When Ronon died, my reaction was "But you can't kill him off!" totally unemotional, and "But he comes back to life, right?" Of course he did! I feel there was a missing scene (written or in my head) where John argues with Teyla and Rodney and Lorne, and says "Are you sure? Are you really sure? Well we can't leave him. How about we make a Wraith give him his life back." Or something. It' just they didn't seem too surprised to have found him again if it was chance.
So much going on there. Dr Z, Lorne, Beckett (loved Rodney's CIA rating thingy - sounded quite fanfic-like!), Carter, Ellis, Caldwell, Todd the awesome (of course Sheppard didn't kill him, he's too awesome to die!) Davis, Walter, Amelia, Chuck.... (Hmm Dr Z, Lorne and Chuck should have been in that last scene - ah well.)
Yeee!!!
PS - Is it just me, or was the fact that they ended up in San Fran a tip of the hat to Star Trek?
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"Let's all remember where we parked." *g*
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I was sad that Hammond is now canonically dead, but it did give a little bit of closure, and acknowledged him in a way instead of just referring to him off camera. T'was very bittersweet.
I'm totally squeeing over Ronon and Amelia, partly because we've seen a connection, however brief it was and they've not launched into being in love but are probably pre-ship. It has so much potential for fic writers. :D
I really enjoyed it. Understated, but with potential to go somewhere. And she was entirely too cute, letting her hair down (literally) and dolling herself up for the infirmary visit. D'awww.
Daniel is synonymous with dying and coming back to life
You think Daniel is going to be upset that Ronon stole his schtick?
It' just they didn't seem too surprised to have found him again if it was chance.
This is very true. Other than Rodney's "But you were dead!", it was kind of a "Oh, hey, look, there's Ronon. Alive. Cool."
of course Sheppard didn't kill him, he's too awesome to die!
That's totally what happened in my head. But, uh, Todd is definitely going to be hungry until they get Atlantis back to Pegasus. (Because Atlantis is still the only gate in Pegasus capable of dialing to Earth, correct? So they're essentially cut off from the galaxy without it there.)
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I'm sure Daniel would prefer that Ronon took it and kept it! (as it happens, Jack has probably died and resurrected as many times as Daniel. It's just so much more memorable with Daniel! Might have something to do with coming back naked....)
Concerning Todd and Pegasus - they can send him back TO Pegasus, but he couldn't come back as the Atlantis gate system is on Earth. Earth can dial Atlantis in Pegasus. Atlantis in Pegasus can dial Earth. Sateda can't dial Earth. I don't know whether Chulak, for example, would be able to dial anywhere in Pegasus... if they had a ZPM. I would imagine they could, as the only problem they had with not gating to Atlantis from Earth was the power requirement...
(Sorry, got into thinky meta canon/fanon mode!)
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That's right, they could probably take Todd back via Daedelus... although a crafty Wraith stuck on the Daedelus for three weeks sounds like a recipe for disaster.
But can Earth still dial Pegasus? Honestly, I don't know. For some reason I was under the impression that the control crystal that enables the eighth chevron lock is needed for a lock... but I think maybe I had just assumed that? There never has been a need for Earth to dial another planet in Pegasus, or vice-versa.
Hrm *rubs chin* I think you're probably right, you'd just have to have the ability to dial on one end, not necessarily the other. Otherwise those Supergates probably wouldn't have worked.
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Ronon and Amelia. SWEET!
Ronon and Teyla's friendship. Beautiful!
I wanted to make specific mention of the scene where Woolsey tried to offer them an out, because I rather liked it.
Me too! I'm waiting for the obligatory posts of "OMG, five years and the SGC still views them as guests! Alien discrimination!" but you know what? No. I think it's polite to ask Pegasus people if they want to be involved in Milky Way wars, especially if one of them leaves a husband and child behind, and I loved Teyla and Ronon's reassuring answer.
I was spoiled for Ronon's resurrection , but it still kicked a punch.
And ooooh, John and Todd's complicated relationship. I loved Todd's tentative "Is there going to be a next time?" and Sheppard's silence. Eeeeeee.
And John got to pilot an F-302! And you KNOW he needs a minimum number of flight hours to keep his flying brevet (or whatever it's called) and now I have back stories of him going back to SGC every few months to get his flight hours in and meeting up with Cam Mitchell and eeeeeee.
And finally TEAM. Team team team team ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ I love 'em so. That moment when McKay hands John the detonator with a resigned sigh I was like, "Yes! Go out with a bang! Together! No wait! DVD movie!" but still, they would have been together in the end and that's all that matters.
I could say a lot more, and I do have some minor quibbles (how did Atlantis' shield hold when the Hive exploded right on top of it) but all in all, great episode and fitting end. ♥
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Yeah... and don't they need Atlantis in Pegasus for their home base there? I mean, they could abandon the galaxy forever, but the potential that they could be abandoning Project X, Y, or Z I think is too great. There seems to be a much greater amount of Ancient tech in Pegasus than Milky Way. (Or is that possibly fanon?)
Was Earth Atlantis' original home planet? Wow, five seasons and I had no idea.
Hee. Very first scene from the series is Atlantis taking of from Earth 10 or 11 million odd years ago ;)
Which is something I seem to forget every now and then, that Atlantis is millions of years old, not just thousands. Talk about good engineering.
And ooooh, John and Todd's complicated relationship. I loved Todd's tentative "Is there going to be a next time?" and Sheppard's silence. Eeeeeee.
I ♥ their relationship! It's not simple, and I like that. I like that Todd can bring out the very worst in John (Miller's Crossing still gives me shivers), but that there's this give and take. Every time I see someone complain about John being mean to Todd, I kind of wonder if they remember that Todd was basically a living torture device? Of course he's going to have negative emotions about him, even if Todd is the Best Wraith Evah.
I was spoiled for Ronon's resurrection (people should really learn not to comment with "Don't worry! Ronon isn't really dead!" in posts for Vegas), but it still kicked a punch.
Me too! I had the little heart lurch when it happened, but I remember seeing that comment, so it didn't have the full effect of his death, or his revival. Srsly people, that is major spoilers.
how did Atlantis' shield hold when the Hive exploded right on top of it
Magic! :D And the power of hope and love and
plotwormhole drive.great episode and fitting end
Agreed! ♥ I went ahead and wrote out my quibbles in a separate post to get them off my chest, but I locked it so I could be as much of an ass as I wanted ;) It was surprisingly therapeutic.
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And Team roadtrip, yessss, so needs to happen! Before they take the city back, of course...
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But of course! I think John said it would take a few weeks for repairs, and Team can totally find an affordable rental. I'm still jonesing for a Vegas trip, with all of the hilarity that would result from Teyla and Ronon encountering the strangest city on Earth (especially if the furry convention is going on.)
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We also got to see my major, non-SG1 crush, Major Davis return. I'll be honest, when they first announced the spin-off, I had some really naive hope that he would somehow get poor Lantash the (canonically very dead) Tokra, gain Jonas Quinn as his geeky sidekick, and go off to the lost city and be awesome.
Write your own series! I want to see this! I'll read it! I'll even beta for you! Do it, please!
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I thought about it for a while, but I think whatever that idea eventually developed into is probably going to be somewhat close to SGU. I would love to see a Stargate series, or possibly a mini-series that deals with the Earth characters being integrated into another society, and having to live by their rules. I just don't think I have the energy to write it myself ;)
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I saw that too! And the look when she had to tell John and John's...awesome.
I have to high 5 all you've said. I too have some *uhs*, but for the most part LOVED this and felt that despite the season over all these last 2 eps did redeem and bring things full circle.
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I have to high 5 all you've said. I too have some *uhs*, but for the most part LOVED this and felt that despite the season over all these last 2 eps did redeem and bring things full circle.
Agreed! I was telling one of my friends over the Christmas holiday that season five has some of the absolute best, and some of the absolute worst episodes of the show. Vegas and EatG definitely get checked into the "win" category for me.
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Ohhhh, someone else who squee'd with the Major Davis inclusion. Yep, I'm a fangirl, too. Okay, not on the same plane as MajorCutie or O'Neill but still one of my faves.
Ronon...I was so sure it was going to be Todd who gave him his life back. Loved everyone's reaction to his "death". Great.
Sniff!!!!!! General Hammond. Homer. Sorry, but ever since seeing that SG1 episode where they can't remember anything and when he starts getting flashes, Jack thinks Hammond's name is Homer...anyway I've called him that in my head ever since then.
So much good stuff; wish it could have been a two-hour epi or even a two-parter and we could have gotten rid of one of the other episodes from this year - one I didn't like, of course :D