Rewatch: Lifeline

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

[Poll #1858169]

Comments

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Okay, that wasn't fun. I got on to watch the episode, and it's gone from my Netflix queue. In fact, Atlantis is no longer being offered through Netflix, at least, not that I can find. I have managed to find an alternative, but the sound isn't very good, so I don't know how much I'll be able to contribute. I'll do my best, though. Hopefully, next week, I'll have time to find a better alternative.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Poor Atlantis - dead in the water (so to speak), shield shrunk to just a tiny portion of what it's capable of, and looking so gray and dingy. Certainly a compelling look at how dire everything is for our intrepid team.

Of course, we then get a bit of relief from the tension and sad picture with some humor between Radek and Rodney in a puddlejumper. Then, John jumps in. I love the dicotomy between the serious topic he brings up and the humorous way he presents it.

Rodney comes up with a solution - no surprise. Quite a telltale motion from Elizabeth - tucking in her hospital gown as her main team comes in. The bit of vulnerability made me really sympathize with her.

Opening credits - and never has the distance between the city we see here and the one we see during the episode seemed so vast.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Such a grim episode. The seriousness of what they're asking Elizabeth to do, what she asks them to do, even the reason John asks Teyla to stay behind, Ronon's terseness with Rodney in the puddlejumper, the march of the rest of the team to the jumper. I assume those guards were there because of Elizabeth. It made me think of Stormtroopers from Star Wars - the way their feet sounded on the deck.

Heh, good - a little levity with Sam and Bill arriving on a foreign planet. Bill was wonderful, although I felt bad that he didn't get his picture.

Cool effect with Elizabeth's nanites being hooked in. It certainly makes for an easy trip to the ZPM they need.

Hee - John calling Ronon Chewy. Priceless, and a great humorous moment. This episode needs all it can get.

I just occurred to me - why does a whole city not notice a jumper coming in? Their tech is the same as the ancients, so surely they can detect a cloaked jumper. Especially since they are well aware of the humans on Atlantis, and that they are enemies. Anyway...

Retrieving the ZPM was sooooo easy. So, of course, that means something has to be thrown in to complicate our team's lives and make the mission harder and more dangerous. Everything else Rodney's been able to do remotely, I guess it's the bad sound that's keeping me from figuring out why they have to actually go into the city and down nine levels to plant the commands that will awaken the Replicators need to fight the Wraith.

Eeps, so tense now that they've actually started. Especially seeing Oberoth in the Control Room. John and Ronon get to the Core easily enough, plug in Rodney's device easily, but of course nothing happens. Rodney tries to tell John what to do, as more and more Replicators throw themselves at the beam so the rest of their people can figure out how to override it.

Oberoth waits to go down until they are almost through the field. I wonder why he has a greater survival instinct than the others?

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Eeps, Elizabeth runs out of the jumper, and John orders Rodney to hit her kill switch (after some promting by Ronon - this is not an order John particularly wants to give). But, it doesn't work.

While John works on getting Rodney's program into the system, Elizabeth confronts Oberoth. She sitcks her hand in his head. I know she has nanites now, but I thought you'd have to be made of them to do that. I guess not. Of course, Oberoth is made of them, so maybe only one 'person' has to have that component. Anyway, she challenges him, which he doesn't take kindly to.

John gets the program in, but Replicators show up. Before a shot can be fired, though, they all freeze. Great timing, Elizabeth. *g* Ronon is really on the ball in this episode. He seems to be in his element. Where John keeps freezing, Ronon keeps going, and keeps prompting John, as well. Ronon disarms all the Replicators, and then asks if they can go. That galvanizes John, and he wants to make sure the program is completely downloaded before they leave. Another levity moment when John asks how long will it take and Rodney snaps at him to not start that again (referencing a past Replicator episode).

Meanwhile, Elizabeth is still trying to keep Oberoth in her control, but she's weakening. John and Ronon have time to download the program and start running, but only a few seconds later all the Replicators unfreeze and the rest of the team are captured. Oberoth has the three men put in a cage, but Elizabeth is apparently out of the picture - struggling with Oberoth was to much for her.

Oberoth has his men put John on his knees and then puts his hand into John's forehead, to get the information about Atlantis he still needs, only something seems to be wrong. They are all smirking at him. And, John morphs into Elizabeth. Hee! She used his arrogance against him. I love the way she turned the tables.

In reality, the team is still free, and still making their way back to the jumper. Of course, John wants to get Elizabeth out. They go to look for her, but as they do Oberoth starts to overpower her. She orders them to leave her behind, and once again it's Ronon to get John to make the hard choice.

They make it back to the jumper and start to escape. They are almost fired upon by a huge Replicator ship, but the Apollo showed up in the nick of time.

Unfortunately, I missed most of the conversation that takes place back on Atlantis between Rodney, John, Sam, and Bill. I think they were talking about a planet. Oh, okay. They were talking about the new planet to set Atlantis on. With two moons yet. I guess so we don't forget that it's a completely different planet from where they've been for the last three years.

John gets Atlantis down, using the chair, although the descent isn't easy. But, you can see in his face that he can't be happy with his accomplishment. The man who never leaves anyone behind, had to do it today, and it's weighing more heavily on him than anything else that's happened since he got to the Pegasus Galaxy. You can see it clearly in his face after Atlantis is safely down. I just want to cuddle him.

I can't hear Ronon's first line when he comes into Elizabeth's office to talk to Teyla, but it looks like he's trying to be comforting as she does the unpleasant chore of packing up Elizabeth's things.

We get confirmation that Rodney's plans to get the Replicators attacking the Wraith has worked, and Sam goes to talk to John who is outside looking at the two moons (I keep thinking of Elfquest *g*) Ooh, there are actually five moons.

*sighs* I had a hard time hearing a lot of the end of the episode. The last scene between Sam and John was one I only got a few lines from. Ah well. Hopefully I'll have a better alternative next week. If not, at least I can get the episodes, and most of it was pretty clear.

[that-which.livejournal.com]

OK, that's a little odd.

According to IMDB, Amazon is the only place Atlantis is available online now. The other two, plus movies, are still available on Netflix (along with full episodes of Universe on Syfy and Hulu). Which is an interesting deal for someone to have made,

What's even more interesting? You can get all the series streamed for free with Amazon Prime, or you can buy individual episodes, or a season, in Amazon's proprietary format. All the franchise individual episodes are $1.99.

A season of Atlantis is $19.99 (HD seasons are $29.99).

A season of SG-1 is $13.99.

A season of Universe HD is also $13.99. A season of Universe SD is $3.99.

I don't have whys for any of this - maybe whoever is in charge over at MGM right now really likes Amazon? Because the Atlantis MGM page has a big ad for buying the series at Amazon, where the five season DVD set is selling for, um, $54.99 (or a little over half what I paid for it a year ago, and what an HD season sells for on iTunes now).

So, apparently, for whatever reason, Amazon, which is trying to get people to adopt Prime and their Very Special Format, has cut a deal to make Atlantis, out of all the shows in the franchise, exclusive online Amazon content. And, for whatever reason, they value an entire season of Universe at roughly the same price as two episodes of either of the other series.

Boy, Brad Wright (and Mallozzi and Mullie) sure did do the shareholders of MGM a big favor with that decision, huh.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Whoa! You really need Rodney to give you a permanent link to all SGA episodes.

In any case, here's the link to the GateWorld transcript of the epi: http://www.gateworld.net/atlantis/s4/transcripts/402.shtml

I always read it before the rewatch and keep the tab handy for writing my comments.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was through my Amazon Prime membership that I managed to see it last night. Luckily, I noticed the little icon as I was copying and pasting the summary from IMDb, or I probably would have missed it altogether.

I don't get what's going on with Netflix or with MGM, to make these decisions, or why it's mostly Atlantis. I've seen other things offered through both Netflix and Amazon streaming, so this choice makes no sense to me.

Although, I am glad that Amazon is getting some quality shows available for free streaming. A few months ago when I checked, everything was either a foreign film or something I'd never heard of.

Thanks for all the information. I hadn't even looked into the cost of buying the series, yet. So hadn't known the price was really down for the complete set.

[twinsarein.livejournal.com]

Oh thank you! I don't know why I didn't remember the transcripts. You've mentioned them several times before. My only excuse is being so flustered by the sudden absence of the show from Netflix. It still makes no sense.

I'll go check out the transcript. Thanks again for the info and the link.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Oberoth waits to go down until they are almost through the field. I wonder why he has a greater survival instinct than the others?

Well, he's a copy of a real Ancient and we know how arrogant they were, so he's just showing the same 'tude and sense of entitlement (he did this before, too). OTOH, none of them are unique, considering that he's the umpteenth copy of Oberoth. Destroy him and he'll just recreate himself again.

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

No prob. Even I should use them more often. More than once I've been watching an episode when the sound mix (music and SFX) overwhelms the dialogue, leaving me grasping at whatever I could really hear but not decipher. So, instead, I keep replaying a few seconds over and over. *headdesk*

[that-which.livejournal.com]

The blueray comes out this month. I suspect the DVDs are going to get even cheaper soon.

Comment 1A

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Well, the Previously on gave us everything we needed to know in a nutshell. As in ... these people are nuts, hoping to sneak away from the Replicators' homeworld with a little trinket, aka a ZedPM.

Back to the present and seeing the dead-looking city flying through space. John walks into the 'jumper bay just in time to catch another episode of the Rodney-Radek comedy special. I think this is the only way Radek has to get back for Rodney's insults, by pretending he simply doesn't understand English. Ha-ha, Rodney, you got zapped. ::kisses it all better::

Another ha-ha: “Timmy Torture” vs the oddly slow way in which Radek is speaking, that he's really not trying to kill Rodney. Well, not this very instant anyway.

Well, enough fun for now, because it's time for John to nag and Rodney to get all testy regarding getting the hyperdrive to work ... successfully. Hey, if you had to try to understand what you'd done when you were a super-genius, you'd find it difficult, too. John's having a hard time trying not to make faces as he listens to Rodney's unenlightening explanation.

Ah ... back to our fave John/Rodney banter. Of course, then it's time for John to bring up the purpose of his visit. So ... what are they going to do when they reach the Asuran world? Well, Rodney has a solution for that ... and, yes, it's time to pay Elizabeth a visit. Note the two guards flanking her doorway. Aww, this is nice ... that the entire Team came to see her. She stares at them ... and it's time for the opening credits.

We resume by seeing the edge of the city (well, that's all I can make out) from an unusual angle. And then Rodney's explaining how he's going to use Liz to hack into the Asurans' systems. Well, Liz knows enough to ask the hard question: what will happen if the Asurans take over the nanites in her brain? John had Rodney install a kill-switch in the program which would effectively kill Liz. But John is being surprisingly gentle and optimistic, saying that's not gonna happen. Just after Teyla and Rodney give her a reason why she's their last resort, Liz cuts Rodney off. She's agreeing to do it. Then John says they're leaving right now which sends Rodney into a flutter of objections.

Everyone but John leaves. And, once again, it's Liz who brings up the painful subject. Over his objections that nothing will go wrong (uh ... John, have you checked out the Pegasus galaxy and how things always get screwed up), she insists that he be ready to take all necessary actions. The music is serious, too.

The music continues in a serious vein through the next scene. John wants Teyla to stay on the city, with very specific intent. As Radek may have found a planet that will sustain life nearby, it'll be up to Teyla to keep a handle on things and also to keep people's hopes alive. Because, if the city can't establish orbit or land (as it won't, if John doesn't return with a ZedPM), then Teyla will have to order the evacuation of Atlantis by 'jumpers. What a burden to have placed on her shoulders and what a horrifying outcome, if they were to have escaped in the city only to lose it. John gives Teyla a deadline of 12 hours. As always, I love the idea of Teyla in charge (and completely forgot about this part of the episode since the first time I'd watched it).

We're back to that comedy duo in the 'jumper. Though, now, Radek is being especially slow and tentative. Did Rodney really want him to test it, is he certain, yadda-yadda? In any case, the outcome is good. We hear something powering up. Yay. Mind you, Radek still has to offer a warning, that they may burn up all the power in the initial jump.

Comment 1B

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Ronon shows up to ask if Rodney's ready. And then hails John to relay the answer. So impatient!

The music is filled with tension as we see Liz being escorted by way too many guards. It reminds me of Leia being brought to Vader by the stormtroopers. Though, consistency point (or lack of it). If Liz is seen to be such an enormous threat, why did NO guards accompany her in the 'jumper. Yes, I know, I know. It would have been harder for her to get away at the end and the mission woud have been a failure. But it's still a dichotomy of overkill earlier vs apparent negligence later.

Awww. Lovely chatter between John (the dad) and Teyla (the kid) before he leaves the city. The music is filled with hope and optimism. Hmm. The 'jumper sure looked like a tiny bug as it flew through the shield.

Poor Rodney has a pessimistic freakout when John asks him if he's ready. But, with Ronon getting upset at him, he relents and says he is, though we can see he's not a happy camper.

The music's back to being optimistic, exploratory, ending with a militaristic Star Warsian beat at they fly through a hyperspace window.

This was a cute juxtaposition for the next scene, seeing the established wormhole on some unknown world (oh, lookit, Vancouver evergreens), then having Sam Carter and Bill Lee walk through. Of course, he geeks out over it immediately and then tries to backtrack his ... uh ... enthusiasm. Sam seems very understanding. So, what is it Bill? Was this your first time off-world? In any case, it's too late to take a piccie, because Sam hails the Apollo and they're beamed up almost that very second. Huh? That's the second time I've heard “five-by-five”, this time spoken by Col. Abe Ellis (and, of course, I can't remember who spoke it the last time, only a few episodes ago).

So, there's some babble about cannibalizing parts of the Apollo to boost the sensors, but Abe agrees to it. And only then does Bill's camera flash. Poor Bill.

Now we're back on the 'jumper as it just exited from hyperspace. The Asurans' world is right ahead. Though Liz congratulates Rodney, he has to put a damper on any celebrations, because Radek's caution was right. They've burned up so much power there isn't enough to get back. Oops. Though, if they manage to get a ZedPM, he may be able to tie it into the hyperdrive, but John insists they focus on other things first.

And first is to synch Liz to the world. Wow, it sure works, as we look through her eyes. She tells them which way to go and the music reflects both her wonder and optimism. John sets the 'jumper down on a ledge and he and Ronon take off. [As an artistic note, it's interesting to see how clear the Canadian and American patches are on Rodney's and Liz's shoulders as they're left alone.]

The music turns into a cat-and-mouse stealth mode as John and Ronon go through darkened corridors, with Liz directing them via radio. They hit the jackpot and John removes one ZedPM, hoping that Rodney's correct that the Asurans won't notice one less among the dozens in the system. Um, Rodney, isn't that a little lackadaisical and short-sighted? John calls it “wishful thinking”. Anyway, there's a softly triumphal surge in the music as John gets one ZedPM to emerge.

Only a few moments later (how come getting back never takes as long), they've reached the 'jumper.

Comment 2A

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

So, they can take off, right? Uh, wrong. Rodney says he's discovered his version of the Holy Grail, aka the command code that will make the Replicators go after the Wraith. John's reply is priceless. “Yeah, but they don't attack the Wraith. They've been sitting on their nanite asses for ten thousand years.” Not a problem, John. Rodney thinks he can reactivate the code.

[And now, again, we're about to have something happen that will have grotesquely horrifying consequences for hundreds of thousands of people. Rodney simply thought that this would solve their Wraith problem ... or at least lessen it. If I may digress, it's like how some people tamper with biological problems. In Australia, farmers with the support of the sugar cane industry introduced cane toads to the island in 1935 in the hope of eradicating two types of sugar beetles. Well, the toads ate some beetles, but not enough to count. OTOH, the toads were poisonous, had very few predators in Australia and adapted easily to living conditions. So, instead of solving one pesky problem in one province, the entire country was now overrun with a new and much bigger problem.]

So Rodney's mentioning one reason why the code was deactivated ... “maybe the Ancients did it when they realized they couldn't control them”. DING-DING-DING!!!!! Danger, Will Robinson. Uh ... Rodney, shouldn't that be a huge honking clue that you're messing with something that could easily backfire? Does Doranda ring any bells? To add to the hubris, Rodney also gives himself a pat on the back for finding that particular code amid millions of other codes.

Rodney proposes a plan using Liz to upload the changes but would have to wait around until the next replicator merge. John slaps down that plan immediately, especially if it means instant assimilation to Liz. Liz and John argue as to whose call it is to make. So Rodney proposes another plan to make changes directly to the central data core. John likes that one better, even though there's just one small problem. The core is in the centre of the city, several levels down.

So John says they'll have to come back again, just get out of there with the ZedPM, get back to Atlantis and land the city. But Rodney and Liz says it's not gonna happen. Once the Asurans have realized there's a ZedPM missing, they'll figure out who did it and our team will never have the same opportunity again. This time it's Rodney doing the prodding, 'cuz it's now or never. John stares ahead, thinking.

Hello, brilliant Rodney. For your special assignment today, you've chosen to turn the cloak into an anti-replicator field. I'm impressed. Then John tells Rodney he's staying behind with Liz. So, how will John put the changes into play? Oh, simple. Rodney can just put the command on a tablet and John'll just plug it in! Rodney scoffs at that idea. At least “plug-and-play” is a whole lot better than that DOS joke on the Hive ship. But John has every confidence that Rodney will make it that simple. When Rodney questions why, it's Liz who interrupts them ... that he's needed to keep an eye on her. John gives Rodney a piercing, tight-lipped look, as if to say Now do YOU get it? Yes, John, he finally does. When Rodney turns around, he catches Ronon mucking about with something that he should have no reason to. Liz points out the platform on which John should land the 'jumper.

Comment 2B

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

And then it's back to the Apollo emerging from hyperspace. Abe's impatient already (it seems to be catching, lol), as they've made 11 jumps without any success. Sam says they have 39 more to go before they reach the intended destination. Unfortunately, Bill then makes a totally useless comment. Like ... duh. Okay, on to stop 12.

We're back in the 'jumper that we see uncloak. John's testy as he points out that little fact. Not to worry, Rodney's just engaged the AR field and only needs to see how far it can penetrate. John repeats that last word with such a weird inflection. I know that Joe F likes to fool around with some of his acting, but this one just didn't make any sense.

Oooh. It was cool watching the HUD, seeing that broad beam ... uh ... penetrate down several levels. Uh ... bye-bye, replicator peeps, you're now deactivated bits of crystals. Rodney says they're good to go, but John waits until Liz nods her head. Rodney is so offended by that though he shouldn't be. After all, Liz is the one who can see through walls.

Rodney hands John the laptop he's just reconfigured to intersect with the Asurans' copycat Ancient consoles and there's a bit of banter about liking things simple. The music has that hopeful, heroic aspect to it.

Then Rodney and Liz settle back to wait. Well, she has work to do. Uh-oh. A control room person has just spotted an energy anomaly and informs Oberoth. He guesses immediately what the target is.

John and Ronon are walking through the corridors (it's so handy that the place is identical to Atlantis, so same sets) until they see replicators ahead, but those are disintegrated as soon as they hit the edge of the field.

Now that's some weird core room. It faintly reminds me of the interior of the Death Star in Star Wars because of the height. Even the reflection of the light through the doors until they slide closed resembles the walkway.

But that core, it looks like a part of a carousel with its garish colours and streamer thingies but I love the blue slats of light on the consoles. Anyway, John plugs in the laptop ... and nothing happens. Of course, Rodney has to ask if John plugged it into the right slot. Uh ... it has to be, because there's only one.

To add to their problems, the replicators are coming, according to Liz, hundreds of them. So let's try the second most common electronic fixit: unplug and try it again. Nope. Didn't work, so Rodney's really blaming John for doing something wrong. John sounds incredulous. It's not his fault.

We then see replicators reaching the field and disintegrating. More follow. The music rises in tension as they wonder why the interface isn't working, as the console doesn't recognize the tablet. We see one burly replicator walk through the field before he disintegrates. The control room person advises Oberoth that they're nearly through the barrier, so only then does he deign to go there. Yeah, yeah, with great power comes the right to sacrifice others before you put your existence in danger. Sorta, kinda silly when Oberoth's been recreated many times before. Should I consider this an inconsistency in logic? Well, considering how often TPTB didn't think things through, it's highly likely.

Comment 2C

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

It's crunch time for John who doesn't understand any of the computer babble from Rodney. So, just listen and obey is what he has to do. John sounds extremely pissed off, because THIS is not SIMPLE. Besides, he never signed up to be an IT techie.

Finally a number of replicators make it through the barrier which Liz senses. She wants to pull John and Ronon out immediately. But Rodney protests because they're not done yet. John gets even more pissed off, especially with all the additional babble Rodney is telling him he needs to do. On top of that, Oberoth is on his way. It's worse. Oberoth knows the Lanteans are there. John and Ronon are being surrounded which Rodney takes to mean they're as good as dead. Uh ... John and Ronon heard all of that on their radios. That. Was. Priceless.

But while Rodney's backtracking on the radio with John, Liz takes that opportunity to rush out of the 'jumper. Rodney yells after her. John sounds testy when he asks what happened and why. Of course Rodney doesn't know. John hails her on the radio but there's no response. Ronon states the obvious ... if they capture her. Rodney sounds panicked over the radio. Ronon reminds them of the kill-switch. We see Rodney look serious. This time it's Ronon who's pushing John to make the call. John tells Rodney to do it. The music rises and sounds discordant. The music is intersected with the sound of Rodney not being able to engage the kill-switch. We're back to hearing militaristic marching music. Then there's that high-pitched beep-beep-beep-beep of failure. Rodney doesn't know why. It could be because of interference or because Liz is able to exert some control over the nanites, the way she did last time. He'd have to run a diagnostic.

Well, Ronon's the practical one, saying that – if they're screwed – they might as well continue with the mission.

Eeeeeeee. Oberoth is striding down a corridor until he is met by Liz who extends her arm out and everything flashes golden. When the light fades, Oberoth and Liz are under a dimly-lit cone. He sounds surprised. Liz sounds very self-assured. Ooh, very Borg-like of her, saying she has direct access to the replicator collective. She's in control now. ::giggles:: She sounds like a newly-awakened dominatrix!

John's finally been able to get the plug-in to work and Rodney sees the info on his screen. But replicators rush into the core, trapping John and Ronon. Not to worry, the replicators all freeze. Just one thing. Rodney didn't do it, so he figures it might have been Liz. Makes sense. Ronon uses the time to knock weapons from the replicators' arms. Gee, Ronon, I'm sure that, when they unfreeze, it'll take them a couple of seconds to bend over and Pick. Them. Up. Again. John dares to ask Rodney how long they'll stay frozen. Instead of having to go through what happened before, he accepts Rodney's reply of less time rather than more. Sounds good to me.

Speaking of time, John wants to know how the upload is coming along. Rodney says it just needs a few more seconds. Uh-oh. John had to ask exactly how many seconds and Rodney growls at him.

We're back in the shady cone. So Oberoth acknowledges he's impressed by Liz's strength but, hey, she can't keep it up. She says she'll do it as long as she can. She chastises him for his arrogance and – wow – I can just hear the scorn dripping from his lips as he says he can feel her weakening already.

Comment 3A

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Rodney tells John he and Ronon can unplug and get out of there. They rush through halls now full of frozen replicators.

Oberoth and Liz stare at each other. Suddenly he grabs her arm and she gasps in fear. He says she underestimated him – again.

Major uh-oh. The replicators in the corridors are moving again, something that Rodney finds out when he's confronted with an armed guard.

As Liz appears to weaken, still in the shadowy cone, John and Ronon are trapped along a catwalk after they've run up some stairs.

Oh, dear. The guys are behind bars as Oberoth pays them a visit. So were they brave or just stupid. They don't answer that, but want to know where Liz is. According to Oberoth, both her mind and body are essentially not there. Ugh. Oberoth says she's been taken away to be repaired. Just one problem. Oberoth wasn't able to glean (what a euphemism for extract) all the information from her mind, so our guys will have to tell him the exact location of Atlantis. But, as they're not going to do it voluntarily, the cell door slides open and Oberoth enters. The guards force John down onto his knees. Again. Boy, I hope Joe wears kneepads for how often Queens, etc make him kneel.

Oberoth expends his arm, but there's a weird forcefield sound as it touches John's forehead, unable to penetrate any further. John puts an insulting gloss to his question: “Problems?” And then Oberoth looks up and sees such smirky smirks on both Rodney's and Ronon's faces. Oberoth retracts his arm in confusion. Hey, what could be happening?

Oh, nothing. Just John's face and body morphing into Liz's. That was fabulous CGI work. We're suddenly back in the shadowy cone. Oberoth is stunned when Liz tells him it was all fake and that the team is successfully escaping. She never underestimated him but he sure did her. But, then again, arrogance rarely learns.

When Oberoth threatens Liz with her life, her heroism shines like a beacon. [And, um, I'm starting to cry.] She might not, but her team will.

John contacts Rodney who's still unable to contact or track Liz who is currently appearing to weaken against Oberoth. He manages to grab her arm and force it from his forehead. But he's still on his knees looking up at her. At that moment, John and Ronon find them. Liz orders them to get back to the 'jumper. When John protests, Liz insists, saying she can't protect them if they don't leave and then they'll all be trapped ... and several guards come running toward John and Ronon. So they retreat and run into the 'jumper. [Uh ... that seemed awfully convenient. Too convenient.]

Rodney looks shocked when John and Ronon show up without Liz. Rodney's question gets just a look as an answer from Ronon. John tries to get Rodney on track by asking if they can cloak. But Rodney says they drained too much power with the AR field, and will try to interface the ZedPM. So John takes off and asks about the hyperdrive. Also no go. Which is bad because they're being followed and are being shot at.

Comment 3B

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Rodney insists he needs more time when John tells him they've just lost weapons. Even Ronon gets into the game of urgently nagging Rodney. Who says, if he doesn't get it right, they could incinerate. Which is bad.

What's even worse is what uncloaks dead ahead. It's some fancy flashy-lights craft (that looks a bit like a crab), powering up weapons. But something fires on it first. Woo-hoo! It's the Apollo and John is hailed by Abe. Just in time. Which Rodney voices. And is answered by Sam. Just then, John asks Abe if the ship can locate Liz whom they had to leave behind by her sub-cu. Sam exchanges a look with Bill and replies that she can't pick up her signal. Both Ronon and John have resigned but pragmatic looks on their faces. Anyway, second later, they've entered the 302 bay and the ship enters hyperspace.

It's a relief to see the city back to its ornamental setting, fully covered by a shield, as it continues to fly through space. There's a wee meeting taking place. Rodney's telling Sam, John and Bill about the planet they've chosen. Liz didn't know about it and it also has venomous snakes. Yuck. I think Bill agrees with me.

Rodney hails Radek. Okay, David Nykl, I'm glaring at you. There is NO way Radek would pronounce it ZeePM. Zee is an American pronunciation; both the pronunciation and the spelling were intended to put as much distance between the States and England and have something that's distinctively American. I'm just surprised that David didn't raise an objection, especially as it is a valid one. Obviously, David H is accustomed to speaking Canadian, but David N should have recalled speaking a European language. Yes, I rant a lot. /end rant.

Yay, success. The city goes into hyperspace. The music's the type of stuff you get in perhaps a space documentary. The city emerges immediately and they're near their new home planet. Rodney joins Sam and John on the balcony. They made it. Well, almost. John still has to land the thing. Sam mentions they used up a lot of power opening up a hyperspace window. John asks if there's enough power to the shield; Rodney says there'd better be or else ... and he lists a whole bunch of doomsday possibilities. Which John so does not appreciate, though Rodney's oblivious as to why.

The look of the snowflake as it gets closer to the planet is stunning. John's back in his revolving lounger, though the music's not relaxing enough. Neither is Rodney as he notes the angle is too steep. Time to nag John about the reentry. Which gets argued about with a bit of geekspeak from Bill who says you can't have reentry if it's your first time entering. Yeah, yeah, we all know that. While the city's shaking, Sam basically tells Bill to shut up.

We now see the heat generated by the atmosphere against the bottom of the city. More nagging by Rodney.

Bill yells they're over the ocean, so Rodney yells at John he's got to slow the city's speed. The music is both powerful and majestic as John concentrates on his task. Oops, too bad Rodney has to interrupt that majestic feeling. So, John, Rodney wants you to land the city the way a leaf kisses the surface of a pond. Is that all?

Just so we remember they're still there, we see Ronon and Teyla being all shook up, too. Suddenly, we see and hear a huge whomp as the city lands on the ocean, a tsunami of waves rushing away from it.

Comment 3C

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

Everyone in the control room (is that where they were) picks themselves up almost from the floor basically. Rodney's really pissed off by the nature of John's ability to kiss. The chair returns to an upright position while John just sits there, processing everything.

Rodney gives Sam an optimistic sitrep and the music is a variation of the Atlantis theme. Rodney drops the shield upon Sam's command. Whoa – John still looks stunned as Sam acknowledges they made it down safely. Why do I get the impression the city was already telling him that directly while he was looking stunned?

After an establishing shot of the city floating on its new planet, we see Teyla packing away some of Liz's belongings. A photograph. An old-fashioned pocket watch. Ronon comes in then as Teyla continues to put things away. He wonders who will replace Liz. Teyla doesn't know. Hmm. I wonder when Ronon picked up the earth expression of tough shoes to fill. It's a lovely gesture to see him place his hand on Teyla's right shoulder and for Teyla to cover his hand with her left one. Teyla looks up, wondering where she's going to find strength (that's the impression I got) ... that this loss especially affected her (like the way Carson's affected Rodney). I also because Teyla was more affected because Elizabeth had been the leader.

Sam and Bill are leaning over Rodney's shoulder in the control room. He's about to dial ... somewhere. The gate bursts into life. Radek looks up, hopeful. Sam hails Stargate Command. Gee – it sure took them a few seconds to respond. The look of intense relief on Rodney's face is almost hilarious.

Well, there's nothing funny when Radek interrupts to say there's a fleet of ships leaving the Asurans' world. The only strange thing is they're not headed toward Atlantis (well, duh, how could they, as they don't know where it is), but toward what Rodney identifies is a Wraith planet. Rodney figures the attack command must have been activated. Radek's laughing and Rodney's quite pleased with the whole thing.

Sam joins John out on the balcony staring at two moons. Well, according to her, there are five but only two can be seen by the naked eye. John sneaks in congratulations about Sam's recent promotion to full bird Colonel. I just thought to myself, it's a good thing the insignia reflects the position. Otherwise, what if he hadn't received that memo?

Anyway, Sam's not sticking around. She and Bill are gating back ... and this is where I'm going to rant about the low state of North American English. “General Landry wants Dr. Lee and I to gate back....” Arrrrgggggghhhhhhh!!!!! Does nobody else on the continent know what “me” is??? Or that it's to be used when the pronoun “I” is the object? Apparently not.

Okay, no more time to rant. Let's get this episode finished. So ... the Apollo's going to stick around. I tell you, the Daedalus and Apollo, either a taxi company, or long haul shipping (verrry long, lol), or security and defence. John considers what the Apollo did was a risky move, but Sam says it pales in comparison to what he did. Well, he had help ... and they both reflect on the nature of that help for a moment. Sam passes along condolences from General Landry. It's nice to see that John's not giving up hope. That's so like John. They continue to look out over the ocean as the music and episode come to an end.

Closing thoughts:

[helenkacan.livejournal.com]

The only thing I wanted to add was the fact that, even though TPTB got rid of Elizabeth's character (and treated Tori rather shabbily later in the season, so it was no wonder she declined the invitation to appear, forcing them to use the Fran character), at least they allowed the character to depart with dignity. As a diplomat, it had always been her role to broker agreements. What she brought to the table (on behalf of the opposing sides) was crucial. What she brought this time was herself. Her determination, strength and sacrifice were the only reason the team was able to escape, along with a ZedPM. Had it not been for that, then Atlantis would have been lost as well.

I think she provides a valuable life lesson to us (and it's really good it's happening during the Olympics, even though I'm not really paying attention). The winner won't necessarily be the strongest, best equipped or trained, but will definitely be the one who performs the best. Elizabeth went up against the head of the Asurans, her brain powered by a paltry few nanites battling millions. Even though Oberoth was partially responsible for his own defeat (the arrogant fool), what Liz did still mattered.

Hers was still a far better disposal than Carson's character was subjected to. I'm still upset that they just had to write his episode in a way that made him a person with whom his so-called friends didn't want to spend their free time. Ugh. But I already ranted about that. I really did.

On a peripheral note, I'm happy that Rodney got the chance to finish his experimental hyperdrive in a 'jumper, especially as there was no way he could understand the math he'd created while enhanced.

Anyway, I'm done (whether I really am or not). It's way too hot and my leg is aching (which is why I didn't post last night). I watched once early yesterday and BTW there was no audio commentary.