Letters From Pegasus (117)

[dsrbecky]

Here is my version:

Zelenka: “At the bottom of the sea; we have got a (failsafe)… mechanism. It pulled out an anchor of the city from the bottom of the sea by a huge force. We were terrified… we were terrified by that. Unbelievable! What is happening? And what a hubbub! Whole city was fluttering like during an earthquake. It was something unbelievable. And suddenly…eh…we were moving! Whole city was rising up and up to the surface of a sea. It was something unbelievable! The towers broke through the surface of the sea and we were rising up and up. Such an amount of water! The waves! Waterfalls! All flowing down from such an altitude. We shoot up, up to the sky… and suddenly… sun… simply the beautiful sun. It was shining through all windows… I will remember that… I will remember that my whole life…”

Ford: “You didn’t say anything that would require security clearance, did you?”

Zelenka: “Security Clearance?”

[Standback]

This was a well-done episode. Much impressed. Kudos all around.
One of the really great and unique things about Stargate is that it's made up of Guys Like Us. It's the U.S. military (international contigent, with Atlantis), and they've got real-world military issues, troubles and situations. It gives everything a flavor of realism, and a feeling of connection and familiarity.
In Atlantis, that's harder to keep up, because they're disconnected from all that. The organization is unique to Atlantis. They don't answer to anybody higher up, or have the President or the Russians interfering. Their equipment is Ancient technology, which is undoubtably cool and fun, but it's a lot more remniscent of Star Trek than the US Air Force.
So it's great to see an episode like this, that reminds us: yeah, they may be far off from the familiar military of SG1, but they're still Guys Like Us. They're still connected to home, and to all they've left behind. And to us.
I especially appreciated the attention given to Weir recording messages for the families of those killed. It rings a familiar chord from real life, where deaths (and military deaths in particular) are all too real. Painful, but appreciated, perhaps more appreciated for fictional characters than in real life. And story-wise, it's very gratifying to see that even the obligatory deaths of minor characters are taken very seriously. The show's working hard to avoid Redshirt Syndrome, and doing it well enough for my tastes. Treating throwaway charcters like real people, a wide range of minor recurring characters like Zelenka and Bates, and episodes having ramifications in the immediate future and recalling the immediate past - all these help Atlantis achieve a realism, a vibrancy, a complexity and a believability that are all too rare elsewhere. This show, and "Letters From Pegasus" in particular, is a credit to its writers (and producers, and directors, and actors, and everyone else involved... but I'm rooting for the writers )

Go forth and triumph.

[kashi]

Not a bad episode indeed. I wish they'd spent more time on the SGC receipt of the message and on the wraith culling rather than padding it out with crap.

[OfF3nSiV3]

i find it strange that few mentioned the wraith beam..aren't u interested in knowing what the hell is it?

[Quinn Mallory]

Something had stauned me :
Both Kavanagh and Weir are opposing Geneva Convention to the experiments on Steve...
1. Geneva Convention doesn't apply on non-human creatures.
2. The Stargate jurisprudence : if aliens' and humans' lifes are in balance, human life primes. Tauris had never hesitated on killing goa'ulds to free the hosts (for example : at least 300 goaulds died in Steveson).
3. The experiment had been realized on a consentant human volonteer. Stricto sensu, Steve was not the cobaye, because the drug had to avoid feeding, not to kill him.

The "Geneva Convention" for Wraith is a bad error of concepts... Totally out of subject. I hope they will forget it.

This was done just to make distinct the Atlantis mission which is not a military expedition from the SG-1 missions that are all run by the military.

Kavanaugh is just arguing that this expedition has become more military than to his liking.

This was another very good and touching episode. I was originally discouraged by the credit of all the exerpts in the beginning of the show (thinking this would be a clip show) but that wasn't the case.

Q

[Buzz Lightyear]

I think Teyla'c choice was right, they should have tried to help as many people as possible.

But not at the expense of failing to complete their primary mission, which is to collect vital military intelligence on the Wraith and bringing it back to Atlantis.

In the end, they managed to do both, but only because the Wraith had cut them off from the stargate temporarily. They still risked compromising their mission when they took in refugees.

[Skydiver]

And who was it that was filmed with a naquadah generator behind them?

the czech dude

that made me laugh. he was obviously telling the whole story of raising the city...then ford asks him if he told any secrets, with the naq reactor right behind him

[Whistler]

Fantastic Episode, I loved all the Video Messages, especially Rodney's and Zelenka's. The Shep/Tayla storyline saved it from being exclusively a clip show, which was nice and refreshing. The clip shows this year are fantastic, so so funny!

Ah yes, and also it was fantastic to see Ford being used! RSF is definatly good at what he does, he plays Ford well, and I hope that they let him continue that.

[mryan]

That part where Teyla is waiting in the puddle jumper with the refugees and she spots Sheppard coming back to the ship...she picks the binoculars up to get a better look and we get a shot of her smiling as she sees him running back.

What I thought was kinda funny about that was for like a brief second there as she's looking through the binoculars she smiles (she's glad to see him returning), but at the same time you hear in the background someone screaming help me because they're under attack from the Wraith. I just thought it was funny that's she's giving that big grin while someone's screaming for help in the background.

[michelleb]

those scenes where elizabeth is recording the messages for the relatives of those who have died in atlantis is just heartbreaking. and rodney too..so funny, then so poignant. this is really good, and nice overview of what's happened so far. love teh idea of teh idiot hating weir and usng his time to tell o'neill about them...much as he annoys me, at least stargate aren't buying into the 'everyone loves the leader' stereotype

[lucylou]

I loved this episode so much! It was great to get more insights into the characters and the people special to them through their video messages and to see their interactions with each other.

Aiden was so cute when he was filming those messages and also very thoughtful and considerate to the people that he was filming. He's a polite young man and we don't always get to see that. RSF is so good in that role and it really is a pity he hasn't been used more because he has so much potential. It was so sweet to see the message Aiden did for his grandparents and to see him doing something other than his military role. He seemed to be in his element filming everyone and the comments he made to his colleagues while they were doing their messages were hilarious. You got to see him being a 24 year old guy instead of a soldier and I loved the insight we got into Aiden through doing that.

Beckett was so totally adorable and I just wanted to hug him! The first message he did for his mum where he was holding back was so funny. It was just the way Paul delivered his lines. It was hilarious especially when he was talking about her toenail fungus lol. The second one where he started crying was just adorable and I really felt sorry for him because you can see he's finding it hard being away from home and from his family. I loved the last one he did though. Awww!

I loved McKay. How he kept trying to make himself sound really important and ended up sounding really theatrical and over the top. It was almost like he was trying to make himself out to still be the McKay he was when he first arrived on Atlantis but everytime he ended up sounding so arrogant and self important he realised how wrong it sounded and ultimately ended up admitting that the people on Atlantis were his family and doing an emotional message to his sister rather than the kinda egotistic one that he started doing. Its like a battle between the McKay that first arrived and the McKay that we've seen develop as the series progressed and as the different things have happened around himand it was cool to see his heart and emotional side win over the more arrogant and sarcastic side to him that he reverts to so often. You can see how he's changed since he arrived. It was also great to hear little snippets about his past and about what he thinks about things like dogs and cats for example. I also wonder what he was going to say about leadership lol.

Speaking of leadership I thought Elizabeths messages to the families of the people that they've lost on Atlantis were really poignant and were amazingly well acted by Torri. Lots of the messages had me in tears in this episode as did all of the actors deliveries of them but it was Elizabeths messages to the families of their lost colloeagues that provoked a lot of emotion. They were just so....right. It was really nice to see the pride Elizabeth had for them all and for everyone else under her command and the respect she has for them. It was also really poignant seeing her letting Simon go awww!

Teyla and Sheppards storyline broke all the messages up really well. I thought it was really well done and the culling was so haunting and atmospheric. I really liked Teyla in this episode too. She had a lot more to do than usual and she really stood up for what she believed in. When Sheppard wanted to leave and she wanted to wait I thought it was admirable how she stood up to him like she did because she wanted some good to come out of the culling and we got to see ho important the people that she cares about are to her. I'm growing to like Teyla a lot more. I only wish they'd give her more to do.

I also loved Zelenkas message. It was so funny and the young chinese Scientists when she was talking about Rodney. I also thought Sheppards message to Sumners family was really poignant.

All in all it was an amazing episode with great performances and it's one that I think I'll deffinately watch more than once.

Lucy x

[Ancients Rising]

The Wraith ships looked different to how I'd imagined them but wow nonetheless.

I liked the episode. McKay was sensational.

I can't think of a bad scene at all in the whole episode.

I'd say this is my second favourtie episode after Before I Sleep and it just pips Rising.

[Matt G]

As said before, this can't really be called a clip show

1. Big up to Zelenka for pulling a fast one in his native tounge!(I hope for his sake that no would-be Earthbound editors speak Czech!) . Big up to the GW Czech translators as well - greenies on their way

2. OK...we knew Kavenagh was an arse...good to see Ford basically saying 'sod this, I don't need to hear this guy talk cack'

3. Very interesting stuff between Shep and Teyla, though is it me or does Shep's practical stance on this op contrast with when he went after Sumner in 'Rising'?

4. Also interesting to hear Sheppard saying that they could do with someone like Sumner right now! Is it going to be a case of 'Be careful what you wish for

Spoiler:

when Caldwell comes along

5. Don't know exactly when this ep is supposed to be set but I did have a laugh when Bates talked about Shaq and Kobe('bringing the title home for the Lakers'). All fellow NBA fans should be able to work out why!

6. OK...who else came out of this ep with the feeling 'It would be great to be on that team!'?

[WormholeAlien]

I enjoyed this ep. Overall, atlantis has been much better than SG-1 S8.

About Ford getting desperate and suggesting they nick the ZPM from those kids....

(Spoiler re: SG-1 S9E19 - Moebius part 1)

Spoiler:

...Why hasn't anyone thought of scanning the brotherhood planet for their zpm, and stealing that one? in moebius they scanned earth for RA's zpm! I would have no moral objections to that. They have no use for the ZPM. They could replace their zpm with a plastic one later... the botherhood won't suspect a thing.

[Madeleine]

Everyone's already said so much better than I could why this ep was just brilliant.

I love it when shows have really decent peripheral characters. Zelenka has a great actor to be able to do so much with what is to most viewers an incomprehensible language.