'Vegas' (519) General Discussion

[Starsaber]

By the way, does anyone know the name of the Johnny Cash song? I really want to get that for my iPod.

Solitary Man

[Briangate78]

I generally liked this ep. I was rooting for the wraith to eat sheppard though. Darn!

I was also expecting mulder and scully to show up...or at least Skinner. Would have been a cool X-files ep.

It was different, and still kept the SGA feel to it. I think the writing was very well done. It felt like a X-files meets CSI meet Stargate.

[ladyjanus]

By the way, does anyone know the name of the Johnny Cash song? I really want to get that for my iPod.

Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man"

Never knew Cash covered it. It was great...

[Infernorhythm]

Solitary Man

Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdkRfb7vmUE

[Michelle05]

Here are the 3 credited songs from the episode:

"The Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson
"Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones
"Solitary Man" by Johnny Cash. Sniff, poor Shep.

[Yanks4Life23519]

I'm not really sure what I just watched haha. Um, it was definitely...interesting? Is that the word I'm looking for? Sure, I'll go with it. For a second to last episode of a show EVER, that was pretty bad. I wouldn't say the episode in itself was horrible, it was just [really] weird. Not a good way to lead up to a series finale at all. There were a couple good things from the episode though: Sheppard in civilian clothes/sunglasses, McKay's 'Canadian' reference, and Sheppard's car (whatever the heck it is). Now I'm usually confused during each episode but I'm pretty sure I had no idea what was going on in this one lol. I got the jist of it but when McKay talks, I'm lost. Overall, I think the idea of the episode would have been better if done in a different way. I liked that it was in a parallel universe but the way the episode was done made it seem a little boring. Joe Flangian and David Hewlett were great as always but even they couldn't make up for a poor episode.

I hope the finale goes out with a bang! Not a literal one but you know what I mean lol

[DJgirl]

it's 9:47 eastern time... still 10 minutes left... but Vegas is a very large reason why i am GLAD that Atlantis has been cancelled...

boring, dull, no sense that its a "Stargate" episode, let alone a Stargate show... and since its not "our" reality i find no interest in how it turns out...

Amen to that!
I am just at a loss for words at how horrible this episode was. Let's just hope that the finale is WAY better than this was. It is scaring me that this ep is leading into the finale. *keeping my fingers crossed*

But like everyone else has said, you will either love it or hate it. There won't be much in between on this one.

[Briangate78]

I'm not really sure what I just watched haha. Um, it was definitely...interesting? Is that the word I'm looking for? Sure, I'll go with it. For a second to last episode of a show EVER, that was pretty bad. I wouldn't say the episode in itself was horrible, it was just [really] weird. Not a good way to lead up to a series finale at all.

Well the current showrunners thought there was going to be a 6th season when this episode was pitched. So yeah.

[Repli!kat]

Haven't been here in awhile, but have to say,
It doesn't get much better than this!
AWESOME episode!
So beautiful, such great acting from JF, his tragic, downtrodden Shep will haunt me for a long time.
And the others were superb too.
The music was terrific.
I can't say how great I thought this was, I may just explode from SQUEE!!!!
So much love!
Even Keller was good (just a doc, and only a doc)
YUMMMMMM Shep, McKay, Radek....
Why couldn't they all be as good as this?
Well at least I'll have something great to end my Stargate days with.

[Southern Red]

Rob Cooper, please come home. All is forgiven.

Vegas was pure entertainment, yet somehow still Stargate. The main thing to keep in mind here is that this is just one of an infinite number of universes. Everyone who might be disappointed that this Sheppard is an SOB should remember that. Somewhere he is a sweet guy who has a puppy and is married to the nurse he evidently “dated” and isn't planning to call in this universe. Just sayin'. As for me, I love this John. He's hateful, sloppy, rude, doesn't care about anything or anyone including himself and even dishonest. (He was going to take that money and run, right?) But it gave JF a chance to do his best job of face acting to date. A part of me wants to complain about how few lines he had, but they weren't really necessary. We didn't need this guy to be chatty. He got all we needed to know across with just a few looks. When Rodney was telling him his life story and making him sound like the biggest loser on the planet, you could see on his face that it was just what he expected to hear. He knew it all already and didn't care. Now here came some dude in an expensive suit yammering on about how he could help save the planet while telling him what he already knew about what a screw up he was. I'm surprised he didn't just walk out. And then later in the car when he was thinking it all through, you could just see the wheels turning and see him deciding to make his life count for something for once. A masterful acting job by Joe. Loved his look when McKay said, “Things don't always go the way we planned.” The scene where Sheppard lingered looking at the chair was great. I kept hoping he'd just touch it. That would have completely changed the rest of the episode, I fear. And speaking of which, without Sheppard's gene activating the necklace that woke up the Wraith in this McKay's universe, a completely different scenario would have had to take place. But I chose to handwave that just because I wasn't interested in nitpicking. And the female medic he tried to rescue, shows us that no matter what universe he is in, John Sheppard is profoundly changed by the loss of someone he loves. But I must say I find wry amusement, maybe even a touch of annoyance, that this alt!Shep gets more character development in this one little episode than our Sheppard got in 5 freaking years! Anyway, not mad, just pointing out stuff.

I also like DH's acting here. Rodney didn't annoy me even once. His McKay was in his own way just as big a jerk as Sheppard was. Could we surmise that never having met John and coming under his influence made him so dour and serious? Rodney, Radek and Woolsey all looked very dapper in their suits. Seriously, their universe is quite formal with the carefully styled hair and all while Sheppard just looked more rumpled than I ever thought possible. But the looks fit the characters here.

Now, I appreciate Mr. Cooper's attempt to give a nod to the Keller conflict by having John tell her that she looks too young to even be in medical school never mind being a coroner. And could the former head coroner be Carson? However, I would rather he had just left her out altogether. And of course, McKeller had to pop up. At least one shipper group is celebrating.

Then there was Todd. The same connection exists between him and Sheppard as in our universe. This Sheppard gets that have-I-seen-you-somewhere-before look on his face and Todd just zeroes in on him. Love the line “Come inside. I'll show you your destiny, Jooohhhnnn Sheppard.” John looks stunned. And then McKay says “They can get in your head.” No duh.

From the western-sounding theme music for Sheppard to the 3 songs used, the soundtrack was outstanding. Solitary Man was perfect as were the 2 songs for the Wraith. This was different for Stargate which throws some people, but once in 5 years, different is a good thing. Every time I heard that theme music for Sheppard, I kept expecting Clint Eastwood to wander into frame wearing a poncho and chomping on a cheap cigar. This Shep was very spaghetti western Eastwood to me. And that is a very good thing. JF, call your agent. Have him find out if anyone is remaking “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Or maybe “Hang “Em High”.

There was very little humor. One little moment when Rodney joked about Star Trek: The Experience and Woolsey looked all sad and said “that closed” made me LOL. But all in all they were a very serious, humorless lot. The two guys from the Sopranos talking about the dogs and the finger were a stitch though.

And now for the Sheppard dies-like-a-dog-in-the-dirt scene. All in all the best scene ever bar none. Thanks once again to Joe's acting. He did what he thought he had to do and maybe he thought he failed, but his transmitter allowed them to zero in on the Wraith. And major kudos to Neil Jackson also for his fine acting throughout. It's not shown whether they send a rescue. But my theory is that since McKay told him not to engage the Wraith he assumed that John was out of the way. Having researched Sheppard so thoroughly, McKay should have expected him to disobey, but in his defense things were a bit hectic. It was a powerful scene and as long as you can keep this John separate from the John we are used to seeing it shouldn't bother you.

Can you tell I loved this one? Mr. Cooper obviously had fun playing with all his fancy toys and the CSI stuff was a tad overdone, but it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment. This one makes me wish Rob Cooper had kept control of the show and used his considerable talents to make S4 and S5 a lot better.

[Sue_Jackson]

OMIGOSH!!!! That was like the best!! That episode totally ROCKED!! First of all.....I give kudos to Robert Cooper for a well written and well directed episode! This is unlike any Stargate episode I've ever seen (both SG1 or Atlantis)! I love the fact that it was different. I mean.....it was very un-Stargate. But....I loved it!

I think they should've put CSI Atlantis in the opening title because it was a complete homage to CSI Miami. I mean.....even John Sheppard was starting sound like Horatio for awhile there. I think he might've stolen his sunglasses too. They had many of the cliches of CSI Miami with the zooming in and SFX stuff.

I loved the whole casino stuff. I was so into this. I love the Wraith disguising himself as human. I also figured out that was the guy who played Khalek in Prototype (S9, SG1). I loved how he played the highstakes poker. Also....I loved the cameo from the guys from The Sopranos. Very clever.

And....it took me awhile but I did figure out that the Rodney in that reality was Rod (AU McKay) from McKay and Mrs. Miller! Very clever.....again! This episode was so much fun!

The only thing was that I wish the more of a connection with that AU with current Atlantis. But.....this did seem like a complete stand-alone. I guess that was the intention.

And....of course it would've been more fun if Ronon and Teyla were there in Vegas.

[Yanks4Life23519]

Well the current showrunners thought there was going to be a 6th season when this episode was pitched. So yeah.

ah really? well that makes sense then lol

[Vala_M]

That was a very cool and different kind of episode!

I've never seen CSI as I'm not into those type of shows but wow! They really did this one differently.

Cool that they actually filmed in Vegas, I guess this is the first episode filmed in the United States!

I loved it! <mod snip>

The Wraith/goth getup was very cool and the makeup scene was cool. How did they get those prosthetics? What was that on his back/spine?

Smart idea to just get money from casinos and not have to do anything else.

Interesting shot of the inside of the body deteriorating during the Wraith feeding process.

Sheppard a detective and Keller was there. Woolsey was an FBI agent and I'm not sure what McKay did exactly.

So they are in Atlantis in that reality but they just came to Earth?

It seems that this episode was like "There but for the grace of god" except for Atlantis. So who was the Wraith who was in Vegas eating people? Was it Todd or not?

I really hate that they never explain how they removed the chair out of the outpost, I'm sure that it wasn't just sitting on the ground and that they had to forcibly remove it. I don't like the chair being in Nevada, they don't even have it in a shielded/special area.

The scene where Sheppard was going after the Wraith was cool. So the Wraith must have jumped about 30 ft to the ground, cracked his skull and just walked away from it? I know the Wraith can regenerate but that was just too much to believe.

Why didn't they think of testing the blood on the street from when he cracked his head on the street?

Spearmint gum! So McKay really did know everything about him!

I wonder what other alternate universe this alternate universe visited and saw Sheppard?

So Sheppard was going to keep the Wraith's money and just start over, about time they show people behaving real instead of the fake "moral" way. But he decided to go back and find the Wraith, good he did. Why didn't they just cut the power to the Wraith's trailer instead of waiting for the air attack?

So did Sheppard die or was he saved? That was the only thing I didn't like about the episode.

I think that the Wraith message ended up going to "our" reality and that is why the Wraith come in the next episode.

Vala,

[ToasterOnFire]

Huh. That was...different.

I liked the non-SGA take (CSI "homage") on the camera work. Lovely gradient filters in the outdoor scenes. Purdy desert scenes.

Beautiful People was a great choice for the wraith makeup scene (missed the best part of that song though, bummer), and the wink and nod of the Johnny Cash scene with Shep driving. Didn't care for the rest of the music, it even annoyed me in some scenes (running on the rooftop).

The Soprano actor guest spots seemed really tacked on and unnecessary.

No Ronon or Teyla really sucked. I'm sure the PTB explanation would be that in this AU they'd be in the PG and not on earth so it wouldn't make sense to see them, blahblahblahwhatevercakes, but to me it felt like another excuse to sideline them. Come on, what a great excuse to have Ronon sans awfulfakewig? Hell, even comparative SGA newbies Keller and Woolsey got at least several scenes each.

I think my biggest complaint with the ep was the pace. The plot was way too slow. I get the feeling that TPTB were going more for atmosphere with the minimal dialog and flashy photography, but I thought the story absolutely plodded at times.

[Briangate78]

OMIGOSH!!!! That was like the best!! That episode totally ROCKED!! First of all.....I give kudos to Robert Cooper for a well written and well directed episode! This is unlike any Stargate episode I've ever seen (both SG1 or Atlantis)! I love the fact that it was different. I mean.....it was very un-Stargate. But....I loved it!

I think they should've put CSI Atlantis in the opening title because it was a complete homage to CSI Miami. I mean.....even John Sheppard was starting sound like Horatio for awhile there. I think he might've stolen his sunglasses too. They had many of the cliches of CSI Miami with the zooming in and SFX stuff.

I loved the whole casino stuff. I was so into this. I love the Wraith disguising himself as human. I also figured out that was the guy who played Khalek in Prototype (S9, SG1). I loved how he played the highstakes poker. Also....I loved the cameo from the guys from The Sopranos. Very clever.

And....it took me awhile but I did figure out that the Rodney in that reality was Rod (AU McKay) from McKay and Mrs. Miller! Very clever.....again! This episode was so much fun!

The only thing was that I wish the more of a connection with that AU with current Atlantis. But.....this did seem like a complete stand-alone. I guess that was the intention.

And....of course it would've been more fun if Ronon and Teyla were there in Vegas.

The show needed to think out of the box, and we got it with this episode. I love these kind of CSI eps, you mix it up with some Stargate elements, and you got yourself a kick @Ss! ep!