Sanctuary (114)

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After reading thru this thread it seems the majority of the episode haters are women (who perhaps feel some catty hate/envy for the leading lady?) and generally good reviews from the guys. I'm seeing a trend here.....

Overall excellent episode ......and the poll seems to agree to date at least. Excellent storyline, excellent guest characters, outstanding cgi. Very well done episode all around.

[SmartFox]

She wasnt really going back and forth. When she went to Alantis it was the first time in thousands of years that she had left that planet. As for the ascended part idk.

[LoneStar1836]

I’ve yet to read this thread beyond the comments on this page, so excuse any repetitiveness or stupid rhetorical questions.

Okay hopefully tptb got that homage to Kirk having a woman on every planet out of their system. I admit this episode is my least favorite of the season so far, but it was not quite as bad as I expected from some of what I gathered around the board. Though, what was the point? We already know that it is not beyond the Ancients to break rules and be banished from the honorary Ancient club, which to me is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Was it just to introduce a character that may possibly reappear in a later episode? Or just so they can say they finally met an Ancient still wandering the Pegasus galaxy?

Shep and McKay were a little out of character in this one. Shep going all gaga over what’s her name, and McKay overreacting just a tad too much. Even when facing death, he’s not that snide or pessimistic, and Shep may be a guy, but he’s more respectable than to fall for the first beautiful alien chick he sees and put aside his ability for rational thought and suffer from tunnel vision over a woman he has just met. Not that I think he and Chaya did anything, but Shep does have a little more self-control than that (or I hope) otherwise he’ll end up with every STD of the Pegasus galaxy. (Had to laugh though at the face McKay made when Beckett mentioned she didn’t have any STDs.) This and the so-so story are why this drags up the rear of the season so far for me. Oh, and poor Ford. I think he was just there for a little bit of eye candy this week and not much more. They even had to demote Weir’s character development when they let her make the stupid decision to let Shep run after her in the PJ when they knew the Wraith were waiting on the other side of the gate, but then we don’t get our umm….glowy ending.

It had some good parts, but was just kind of boring and sloppy with the non character development, imo. It wasn’t awful, but not their best work either. And why were the Wraith so interested in this planet? You would think by now they would know that an Ancient protects it and just leave it alone since it really didn’t have that many people to snack on anyway.

[Erik Bloodaxe]

Er, okay... I'm confused about one thing about Chaya and her being Ancient and Ascended 'n all that nifty stuff.
Soooo, she was Ascended she said but she comes and visits her people every once and a while. So, she's going back and forth from corporeal to Ascended, corporeal to Ascended, which kinda contradicts what I remember Orlin in S5 of SG-1 saying about Ascension. He said that once the Ascended take human form, they can't become Ascended again without the help of the Others. (Which, by the way, always makes me think of that Nicole Kidman movie. )

Actually, no, she was in far too perfect health to have ever been truly corporeal during any part of that episode; excellent imitation though.

Er, but one last thing... what was with the Ascension soul-sex? I'm sorry, but that just creeps me out. It made me cringe when Carter and Orlin did it on SG-1 and I cringed just as much when Sheppard and Chaya did it here.
Is it just me or is the whole thing kinda creepy? They just meet these people and they're like, "Sure, I'll share my very essence of soul with you! Like that's not important!" Shouldn't they want to get to know these Ascended a bit more before doing this? Maybe I'm just being uber-conservative but it kinda strikes me as the Ascended version of sexual promiscuity...

Rewatch "Ascension"; if you notice, the whole "soul-sharing" thing is a method of getting to know each other, albeit instantly; and the Ancients all strike me as being a quite-forward culture anyway. :-p

-Bloodaxe

[Merlin7]

Female here who LOVED the ep.

Love the beginning. John with his "McKAY!" And Rodney's "It's not like I'm holding back" It's so not that for Shep. It's that he's Rodney. He's supposed to be able to fix everything! LOL

But I still don't get WHY Shep is all bundled up through the whole ep. Everyone else is so NOT. LOL

Smitten Shep. And it wasn't about lust. Loved that. He wasn't all MACHO he was flustered but eager to have her help them.
Loved it and how Joe played it.
I really don't get why Rodney was so angry with her though. They all want Athar to help, but why was he so touchy right from the beginning? He's not really like that usually.

Love how patient John was with him, considering.

<Shallow moment>Loved him LYING DOWN! GUH! God he looked so beautiful. I want his jacket off though. LOL

I like Chaya. I do. And I see her interest in John. I really do. She was flirting back. It was sweet.

And I like how John understood how religious people are about their beliefs. So far I love this muchly. So much SHEP!

GUH! He was so cute when he held out his arm . And when Rodney wanted to tag along and he clapped him on the shoulder. Loved it.

I liked Chaya touching his arm and leading him off at one point.
This ep really does read like ROdney and Chaya vying for Sheppard's affection. Love that! LOL

Okay..I freaking adore her. SEriously. I saw oodles of chemistry. I thought she was totally in to him and flirting back. And actually MORE in control of it than Shep was. Almost like she was orchestrating it. I like her. Yup. I like them together.
The kiss? GUH! God to be her. Lucky woman! LOL
He was too adorably cute when he jumped up and was all flustered about liking her. So JOE. So...GUH!

This ep is great.
DH is still playing Rodney as so damn jealous. <Naughty boy> LOL

I wonder about the console. What if Shep had touched it? Would it have lighted just cause of the gene? Hmmm


Shep was smitten. And..I really like the way the actress played Chaya. THis ep, to me, and I'm probably reading it wrong, but hope I'm not, given that the Show tends to put in clues then follow through. Chaya was attracted to John and came to Atlantis for him. Because of him. *I* want to believe, and I could see it being played out on the ep, it's because, as she tells him in the end, they're not so different. She could have connected to the HUMANS on her planet to NOT be so lonely. Someone other than the priests. But she connected to JOHN! Why? Cause of his Gene? Cause of WHO he is really?

I hope so.

I loved him throughout. Loved every mintute of him and really...I like Chaya. For me she conveyed what she was supposed too. Loved Weir and her thought proccess. Beckett was so cute. Rodney was..just off. Seriously. WHY was he so sure she was evil? Bad? Right from the get go? Makes no sense. Especially since Rodney is all about facts and he had NO FACTS she was bad/evil. Even at the end> Sure Chaya didn't tell them who she was. Her choice really. But she was NEVER a threat. No one felt she was and Rodney had no proof. Hmmmmm

I'm probably reading WAY more into this...but so what. What I got from this ep was...they made it a point to bring up John woke the Wraith. I think that meant something. Also, Weir tells him to GO, then when he says he thinks the Wraith are attacking Athar's planet...Weir is upset. Understood. But I love John knowing he won't be taking on the Wraith with just one ship. When Chaya shows up on the PJ...she seemed stunned that he came to HELP HER SAVE HER PEOPLE! I think that meant something to her and it showed her WHO John is. She already guessed he was a warrior who would fight to save his people. NOw he was figthing to help save hers, even knowing WHO she was and what she could do. I think THAT meant something.

Then at the end, when he's a bit upset...that she had lied to him..was untruthful.. I loved how he admitted how he felt about her was part of why he was there. But not all. He really wanted her to help them. To learn from her even if she couldn't offer Sanctuary.

I like that she said she had no regrets and didn't get connected to anyone in the villages and that it was only NOW, with HIM, that her exile was punishment.
And his offer to visit. Then his.."Man..I'm flirting with someone of a different species" She pointed out "Not so different and SHOWED HIM" I think that means something and I LOVE IT!

I know some shippers got caught up in the Kirk/Romance thing. I don't think that's what this ep was supposed to be about. I think it was supposed to Show that Shep isn't so different from an Ancient. That it's MORE than just the gene. She shared with him so SHOW him they weren't so different. I was like YES!

I'm thrilled about this.
And I'm thrilled that I loved Chaya. This is my fave ep so far of the new ones. Because I think it DID tell us alot about John. Which is what I have been waiting for.

[ShadowMaat]

I've said it before, I'll say it again: whoever wrote this ep has absolutely NO CONCEPT of what the characters are really like. McKay was wildly out of character, basically a parody of himself, and Shep was almost as bad.

And screaming "Trek" every five minutes doesn't change the fact that this ep was a very poor (VERY poor) knock-off of classic Trek plotlines.

There was some interesting stuff in this ep, but it was buried under smarm, cheesiness and melodrama to the point where it's barely worth the trouble to try and find the "good bits". IMO, this was one of the worst eps of the season and I hope they don't let this writer out of the closet very often. He does awful things to the characters.

[JustRun]

Hi! This is my very first post!.... okay, glad I got that out of the way.

I absolutely loved the "Sanctuary" episode. I would watch it again and again just for Chaya.... incredibly beautiful. I tip my hat to Major Sheppard, Tim Meadows would surely give him the "Ladies Man" crown after this episode.

By the way, isn't anyone concerned with Atlantis' diminishing stock of Ancient Drone weapons on the PJ's? They have used quite a few already this season and I dont think there are any just lying around to reload the Jumpers.

[jckfan55]

McKay was a *total* jerk on the planet, but he did raise good security concerns later in the episode.
Before we knew she was an ancient & we found out that she was in perfect health, did anyone else wonder if the Atlantis crew was going to be responsible for her death by infecting her with all kinds of earth diseases? I at first thought this was going to be a case of her not having any antibodies to earth disease & we blunder in and kill off a planet or something.

[keshou]

I wasn't spoiled that much but had heard this was the worst episode of the last half of the season. I didn't think it was dire but not one I'm going to jump to rewatch again.

One problem is that it just felt like I was watching a Star Trek episode. And I mean an episode from the original series. At least they recognized it and kind of threw in a few "Kirk" references to acknowledge it.

After great strides in fleshing out and maturing McKay's character in recent episodes he seemed very pissy in this one. He was being a real jerk on the planet and not much better back at Atlantis. He was right about his concerns but the character has grown enough recently that his behaviour in this episode now seems out of character.

And Shep. I mean all the Kirk references were right on. He seemed like a teenager with a crush in this one rather than the military leader of the Atlantis group. His boyish playfulness is fun but in this episode it was too much. The end - with the "oh cool" from Shep was kind of a perfect silly line to punctuate his whole behavior.

I did enjoy Chaya being an Ancient. The actress was very pretty, but not much of an actress. They kind of telegraphed the storyline with the "previously on Atlantis" clips but I still enjoyed her story and the opportunity to find out more about the Ancients in the Pegasus galaxy. Still big on the "no interference" thing of course.

One nice thing was that Weir or Teyla didn't seem too concerned about Shep getting romantic. I was afraid with the kind of writing I was seeing that their jealousy claws were going to come out. Guess they left that to McKay.

So.........nice to peel back the layers on the Ancients a little more. And I still love seeing all the sets and the visual aspects of Atlantis itself. But all in all it just seemed like a throwback to early Star Trek.

[kris]

I’ve yet to read this thread beyond the comments on this page, so excuse any repetitiveness or stupid rhetorical questions.

Okay hopefully tptb got that homage to Kirk having a woman on every planet out of their system. I admit this episode is my least favorite of the season so far, but it was not quite as bad as I expected from some of what I gathered around the board. Though, what was the point? We already know that it is not beyond the Ancients to break rules and be banished from the honorary Ancient club, which to me is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Was it just to introduce a character that may possibly reappear in a later episode? Or just so they can say they finally met an Ancient still wandering the Pegasus galaxy?

Shep and McKay were a little out of character in this one. Shep going all gaga over what’s her name, and McKay overreacting just a tad too much. Even when facing death, he’s not that snide or pessimistic, and Shep may be a guy, but he’s more respectable than to fall for the first beautiful alien chick he sees and put aside his ability for rational thought and suffer from tunnel vision over a woman he has just met. Not that I think he and Chaya did anything, but Shep does have a little more self-control than that (or I hope) otherwise he’ll end up with every STD of the Pegasus galaxy. (Had to laugh though at the face McKay made when Beckett mentioned she didn’t have any STDs.) This and the so-so story are why this drags up the rear of the season so far for me. Oh, and poor Ford. I think he was just there for a little bit of eye candy this week and not much more. They even had to demote Weir’s character development when they let her make the stupid decision to let Shep run after her in the PJ when they knew the Wraith were waiting on the other side of the gate, but then we don’t get our umm….glowy ending.

It had some good parts, but was just kind of boring and sloppy with the non character development, imo. It wasn’t awful, but not their best work either. And why were the Wraith so interested in this planet? You would think by now they would know that an Ancient protects it and just leave it alone since it really didn’t have that many people to snack on anyway.

Ditto, ditto. You said almost everything I wanted to say. This was my take on the episode, too. I will add I liked Ford in this one, especially when he was encouraging a tired McKay along on their hike. I was hoping there was a subplot for him but there wasn't. This was the simplest episode yet and although amusing, not a unique variation. I loved Chaya's dresses. Very pretty.

Weir: yes go, no maybe you shouldn't. Make up your mind, please.
McKay: If it wasn't for him, I would've watched it later in the week. I think he'd be a little more respectful of other religions, too. I also wish he would've been vindicated in a more dramatic way than in a conversation at a conference table.

And I would think that Chaya could take care of the bad guys before John could get there.

[Mil]

I liked the episode quite a bit.

This is not out of character for Sheppard he did the same with Talya fist episode. (And she gave back as good as he did)
Of course Sheppard was highly attracted after all this was an ideal woman seriously and she was chasing him as much or more. Why an ideal woman, she was not only beautiful, she was the leader of her people and clearly very intelligent. She was not a Kirk babe she was superior to Sheppard in every way.

The ancient was also ethical in that she avoided relationships to the people she protected and controlled. She chased someone who she would not be using her power to control or take advantage of. Not ideal but she was forbidden her own kind.

I wrote a long theory on why flirtation is historically a common thing for what SG is doing and flirtation is an effective tool that SG should commonly use.

I like that Talya this episode (and before) seamed to approve of this and that she seams to consider flirtation part of her bargaining/negotiation tactics and that just because the flirtation is somewhat tactical it’s not exploitation if an equal exchange is the goal and a real romance is a possibility.

I thought the worry about the romance also good because romancing is a two edged sword in that it can backfire. But just like other tactics I think it’s a risk benefit decision to be taken on a case by case basis and ruling out flirtation could be a negative to SG mission success.

I also like romance storylines and sense romance is a realistic common part of exploration I see no reason not to have it occur fairly frequently.

[ShadowMaat]

I think flirting/romance as a "tool" is appallingly stupid and if it happens much more often on Atlantis, I'll stop watching. Sex may sell to other people, but it does not work for me and I don't want to see it.

As far as I'm concerned, Shep and the others should learn to keep it in their pants.

[Merlin7]

I think flirting/romance as a "tool" is appallingly stupid and if it happens much more often on Atlantis, I'll stop watching. Sex may sell to other people, but it does not work for me and I don't want to see it.

As far as I'm concerned, Shep and the others should learn to keep it in their pants.

Flirting/romance as a TOOL in general doesn't work for me either. But I didn't see Shep doing that with Chaya. He was GENUINELY attracted to her. Yet still focused on trying to convince her to convince Athar that they deserved Sanctuary for their people as well.

And I still believe the CONNECTION with Chaya/Athar was all about the GENE/Ancient thing, baby!

[GatetheWay]

I think that like Hot Zone was suppose to show the weaknesses in Sheppard's character, Sanctuary was suppose to show the weaknesses in McKay's. But Hot Zone, IMO, did a much better job justifying Sheppard's behavour then Sanctuary was in justifying McKay's.

Sure maybe you can say he did not like the planets selfishness for only using the 'weapon' to deffend themselves and no one else but I really thing they made him overly angry. TPTB should of just made him more suspicious of Chaya (sp?) then being full out hostile.

But security wise I think McKay had better idea about caution then anyone else. It makes you wonder where the heck Bates was to back him up.

P.S. I thought it was great that we finally saw Teyla has a sense of humor.

[animoid]

P.S. I thought it was great that we finally saw Teyla has a sense of humor.

Yes, and to me it felt somehow out of character. Her chat with Sheppard was clearly written in for comic relief purposes.