Stargate Atlantis "The Last Man" Spoiler review - "It's not such a wonderful life...."

[wraithfodder]

I'll stick it all under the cut since I'll be spilling spoilers.

Stargate Atlantis #420
"The Last Man"

This was the science fiction version of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, sorta. It shows the impact of one man's life on everyone around him, and apparently, Sheppard made a heckuva lot of difference since the universe sorta went to hell in a handbasket without him around.

While the time travel "what might have been" scenario is used in shows that last long enough to use 'em, and are sort of derivative, if done well, they can be enjoyable. I found this one to be fun, mostly because of the great scenes with Sheppard and hologram McKay. The banter was there, and we got a teensy bit of whump when Sheppard struggled through the storm, then passed out on the floor. All covered in sand, although there didn't seem to be any in 'teh' hair. Hmmm....

It was sad that Michael just bumped off Teyla, but well, if he can exterminate entire populations, one measly Athosian is no problem. I think it was also a matter of casting that Rachel was just too far along to participate as well.

Ronon? Well, he went out like he'd want to go out. Killing as many of the enemy as possible in the process. His scenes with Todd were great, and now I expect (if it doesn't exist already) there will be "TodDex" fanfic ;) *cough*  Todd giving this long winded explanation of how he was going to disable the base, while Ronon says "I was gonna blow it up."  was priceless. 

Sam? She went out with style as well, and I think it will be debated who had the more 'noble' death, but both she and Ronon were face with insurmountable odds, and both decided to make their deaths count. While Sam's death was more pretty with SPX, Ronon's was more fun (well, not quite the word I'm searching for) due to the dialogue with Todd.

Lorne? Ha! He's in command. So funny.

Rodney. Wow, well, he finally got the girl, Keller, and it was sorta foregone conclusion she'd die of something. As soon as she coughed up blood, i went, Pegasus Galaxy bug! Ah, it was soooo sad watching standing in the hallway as Keller is creeping closer to death. I loved his crabby old hologram, which was just as egotistical as the original, and Rodney must have spent a LONG time creating the hologram to have that range of depth. Oh oh, and Jeannie. So nice to see her there, until she got fed up with his obsession.

Sheppard: I absolutely adored his look of near panic when he opens the outside door to find out that the beach has extended right up to the door ;) And squabbling with the Rodney hologram. I guess nothing is too weird to him anymore. And the whumper in me had fun watching him stumble through the sandstorm, only to collapse to the floor (and right through Rodney!). And he so loves to torment McKay, telling the man he had no hair in the future. Watch Ronon's eyes during that scene. He practically rolls them when McKay asks about his hair. Bwahahahah!

And then the cliffie at the end.... I realized at the commercial break that, wait, where's the exploding building? Oh wait, it's a cliffhanger, so the very few last minutes were absolutely no surprise. And they're not going to kill Shep or McKay (and Lorne sure as heck had better survive) because they must rescue Teyla in episode one of season five, which if Alex Levine's blog is correct, we'll see in the summer (but there's no scheduled date yet).

Overall, I quite enjoyed this episode. I think what made it best was I probably saw few spoilers on it (besides the ones Skiffy dumps in its ads). I'm not going spoiler free for season five, but am avoiding lots of intense chatter on it.

Lastly............................

Quibbles: why did Sam, of all people, quibble about Sheppard's outlandish story? I mean, really, with all the time travel SG1 has done???

Where was Carson? 

Only eeeeuuuu moment. I am sorry, but that gray uniform SUCKS on Woolsey. Gray is not his color, not the stripes, not the cut, well, geez, if Woolsey is in a perpetually crappy mood, we can blame the suit ;) However, when those cast changes take place in season 5, I hope they remember that Sheppard already heard an AU version of Woolsey taking over and it would be nice to get a one sentence comment on it.

And I think that's it. It's been a very long day and I'm going to hit the sack.


And lastly, lastly, okay, season 4 is over. Time for fanfiction!

Comments

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

There were a few glitches last night, e.g. if Sheppard had stepped outside in what he was wearing in RL the 75mph winds with sand blast included, would have stripped him down like it does in the desert to car paint when it goes through a sand storm.......
Also, there is no way Rodney could have been teaching astrophysics
in a CC......I realize this is all so what, but I think sometimes writers ought to look more closely at their material.....

HOWEVER, on the bright side, I am continually struck by
Ronon's loyalty to Sheppard and the rest of the fab four......in some episodes it is not so much what he says but his actions...
I believe it to be based on the fact that Sheppard really wanted him when no one else did....trusts him....never asks any questions other than 'are you ready to lock and load?'.....and last night they show him leaving Atlantis; his reason for staying was essentially gone.....wasn't it??

[melibabe.livejournal.com]

I think he said he was teaching physics, not astrophysics. Basic mechanics and whatnot are often available there.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Was it 50 or 75mph wind? No matter, it was whipping and he should been a bit abraded. Yeah, I've seen what a sandstorm can do to car paint. It wouldn't be very kind to human skin, plus the heat wouldn't help. Yeah, Ronon's loyalty is just fantastic...

OUt of curiosity, why couldn't Rodney teach at a community college? Or is it that the course in astrophysics just wouldn't be offered?

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

Rodney could be teaching at a CC, but highly unlikely his
area of expertise, astrophysics; it is just not
curriculum for a CC.....
But the biggest hurdle, in my opinion, would be his patience.
He even has a hard time relating to Zelenka on Atlantis and Hermoid,
on the Daedalus, let alone a CC student.
ROFL

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

IT's possible he could manage the patience thing. He'll just teach and students will learn in about one class NOT to ask questions but to find out the answer for themselves ;)

WEll, this is the same show that has Shep flying helicopters used in the army, airforce and navy... ;)

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

You would be right about Sheppard flying different choppers which
are used in Army, AF, and Navy......He may have been
on joint command which is entirely possible given his
background in the ME....or earlier.
He claims he can fly whatever and I tend t believe him...e.g.
I may be wrong but I think initially we see him fly
O'Neill in a Loach which is commonly used in the Army...mostly
for spotting, later he talks about other aircraft, fixed
and chopper....
Interesting to say the least....a fascinating character.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I perused my local community college. No astrophysics. Maybe he offered to teach that as a specialized course.... but I think when they wrote up Shep's bio, they just chose neat sounding names of choppers ;)

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

I probably misunderstood what he was telling Sheppard. It may
have been physics, but even then, I find it hard. I guess it is because he followed it up by saying it would give him all sorts of free time to do his research on timeline. That is what is really glaring in my opinion. When you teach classes in CC, or anywhere, if you care about your students, there is a lot of work to do outside of class. Of course maybe he was doing part time teaching. Who knows??? It's fiction after all.
LOL
I have known military pilots who were cross trained to fixed
wing and choppers......There are not a lot of them, but they do
exist, so perhaps Sheppard was/is one.
I kind of like to envision him being that way. I think he does
say 'anything that flies faster than 200mph'
ROFL

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

I foudn the 'free time' thing odd too, unless Rodney has dragooned an undergrad into grading all the papers for him! ;)

[dr-dredd.livejournal.com]

No, I think he's torturing his post-docs. Lord knows I've seen plenty of advisors do it. :-)

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Oh, then I'm sure Rodney is doing that. After all, doesn't have Zelenka to boss around anymore ;)

[dr-dredd.livejournal.com]

Plus, even Zelenka wouldn't grade papers for him. :-)