Letters From Pegasus (117)

[BruceDickinson]

*****

What a great episode!

I loved everything about it, from start to finish!

Few spoilers below...

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McCay has been one of my favorite characters, barring my frustrations with him in Sanctuary ( ), and in this episode he was gold (hehee - that was classic stuff). ((Leadership... , stitches I tell ya, had me laughing real good!)) The Oriental lady was very funny and the McCay flashbacks were hilarious, the sandwich bit was my favorite, but all of them were pretty funny. McCay recording his speech was some good stuff, and I'll remember some quotes from this one for a long time... The whole thing around the fungus thing was funny too.

The light beam was interesting (maybe something they will exploit down the road....hmmm?), and the part were Teyla was frozen watching the wraith just outside the PJ was really cool.

Lots of character development in this one and I liked that a lot (bit of a selfish dark side to Teyla? ). The ending was very warm and wrapped up a great episode wonderfully.

[Shep'sSocks]

Teyla's arrogance was astounding. She lectures Sheppard on becoming like the Wraith yet she only wants to save her friends. I think this episode so totally shows the lack of chemistry between Teyla and Sheppard.

[Major Fischer]

Torri Higginson topped the list of some wonderful monologue performances in this one, I even liked Ford, and felt for him. First time all season. Only sore point was Teyla. I found her grating and superior, in a way that made me want to strangle her and point out that if you reach your hand to save one more person than is feasable you put all the rest at risk.

[IMForeman]

I would like to say though that Ford should have PUNCH THE PENCIL NECK JERK right in the FACE when he started complaining to General Oneil... Kavanagh (SP?) acted like a gutless coward complaining behind everybody's back like that.

Well, I took solace in the knowlege that by the time he gets to his spiel about the serious misjudgements of Dr. Weir, Jack would have turned off the video.

Kavanagh (on recording): "I feel it is my duty to inform you of what I consider to be serious errors in judgement among the leaders of this expidition..."
CLICK.
Jack: "I think I've seen enough of that. Nice of him to write, though."

-IMF

[ShadowMaat]

Well, I took solace in the knowlege that by the time he gets to his spiel about the serious misjudgements of Dr. Weir, Jack would have turned off the video.

Yep. Jack would want no part of that pompous BS. However, there could have been others watching it who took Kavanagh a little more seriously...

[Hex.FTB.enabled]

Brilliant episode. It is quite a feat to do a clip show that doesn't feel like a clip show. A lot of the episodes lately have featured more stand-alone, off-world stories (which is fine, that needs to be developed), but with the Wraith on their way, it's important to bring home the magnitude of the Atlantis expedition, everything they've accomplished, not accomplished, and are up against.

The whole video message thing could've gotten very cliche very fast, and before you know it, we The Real World 6,342: Atlantis. Gladly, it was a good balance of suspense and reminding us how horrible the Wraith can be with a deeply personal empathy for the characters. Weir spending most of her time sending messages to loved ones of fallen soldiers fits her character so well, and shows what a compassionate leader should be. And her message to Simon was a great way of showcasing the human being behind the leader. Likewise, Shep's message was a very touching way of showing the burden leadership brings.

For as much as McKay never got around to talking about leadership, this episode sure was a great commentary on it. His bits tied everything together very well with patented Mckay humor, and the part to is sister was very touching. I love how well they've rounded out his character. Zelenka's bit was great, and Cavanaugh filled me with a deep desire to smack the crap out him, so kudos to the actor.

I agree with the above posts that Teyla was way off and out of character, but that's really my only bone to pick with this episode. I'm hoping next week will fix that. Looking forward to next week!

[Shep'sSocks]

I don't think Teyla was out of character, I just don't think she realises what is important to Sheppard and what isn't. They're from different cultures and have different priorities.

[IMForeman]

Yep. Jack would want no part of that pompous BS. However, there could have been others watching it who took Kavanagh a little more seriously...

Mild Spoilers for "The Siege" part 2.

Spoiler:

Someone did, if Colonel Everett's attitude is any indication. I just know Jack wouldn't have stood for someone whining about their superiors behind their back.

[IMForeman]

I don't think Teyla was out of character, I just don't think she realises what is important to Sheppard and what isn't. They're from different cultures and have different priorities.

Spoiler for "The Gift"

Spoiler:

Teyla hasn't been getting alot of sleep since "The Brotherhood." She's a little testy.

-IMF

[ShadowMaat]

You know, it's interesting... the writers seem to have their "weak points" when it comes to the characters. Joe & Paul can't write Bates, Alan Brennert can't write... anything, but he's particularly off with McKay (and Shep a bit), Carl Binder can't write Teyla... All my opinion, of course, but it seems like I've said a few times that such-and-such was a great episode but Character X was "off". Sanctuary was flat-out horrible in all ways, but the McKay and Shep stuff was particularly bad.

Hopefully next season the writers will start to get a better "feel" for those characters they can't quite grasp yet.

Oh, and I think I said this the last time the ep aired, but Ford was FANTASTIC in this ep. I just loved the boy to pieces- his energy and enthusiasm, harrassing Carson to make it more heartfelt ("Dude. Fungus?!"), walking out on that pompous prick Kavanagh... he had some good facial expressions, too, particularly when he's watching Weir record all those messages. And talking to grandma and grandpa. *sniff*

Did you notice that Ford and McKay used very similar expressions? Ford said "Hi Grandma, Grandpa, it's me, Aiden... Obviously." And in the bit where McKay is talking to his sister he likewise identifies himself and adds, "...Obviously."

Also, speaking just for me, I don't think Teyla has enough personality to be acting "out of character", I just know I despised her and her holier-than-thou attitude in this ep and I don't care WHAT excuses she has.

[NightGloom]

Wow... that was a really good episode and very emotionally driven.

Well, I asked for character development for Teyla... and I got some, unfortunately I absolutely despised it. Sure, she knew these people, but she really didn't have a right to delay the mission further. She joined the Atlantis team, that's who she should be loyal to, especially since she should look upon Sheppard as her leader. She can regret her decision, but she can't just take it back.

I really liked the video clips throughout, McKay's were especially hilarious. Truthfully, I think this episode was more poignant than Heroes Pt. 2, but I won't go into why that episode "wasn't right."

[Hex.FTB.enabled]

Oh, and I think I said this the last time the ep aired, but Ford was FANTASTIC in this ep. I just loved the boy to pieces- his energy and enthusiasm, harrassing Carson to make it more heartfelt ("Dude. Fungus?!"), walking out on that pompous prick Kavanah... he had some good facial expressions, too, particularly when he's watching Weir record all those messages. And talking to grandman and grandpa. *sniff*

I can't believe I forgot to put that in post! *points upwards* What she said. Just another example of how Ford deserves more to do. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure any other character would've been better suited to tie everyone together like that.

[prion]

I don't know why, but I found McKay's "Oh don't be so analogue" line hilarious. I almost fell out of my chair.

And the Japanese scientist, too cute.

Zelenka and Beckett. Also too adorable.

Actually, it's analog, but since that's now (sigh) such an archaic term...

Miko, the scientist who worshipped the ground Rodney hopped on, was hysterical. Zelenka's Czech letter, Kavanagh brown-nosing "The leadership here sucks" letter was good (aiee, want to throttle him), Bates was good, Weir let Simon go, McKay would have talked for TWO hours if the tape hada been that long (he was right about dogs though!)

Excellent episode with drama, humor, pathos, the whole work, and excellent setup for the remaining 3 eps.

[jyh]

I agree that this is an EXCELLENT episode. A great mix of drama, action, humor, and sentiment. I was really caught off-guard when Weir first started recording the messages to the families of the dead soldiers. I, like many others, had been so caught up in the fact that everyone could record a message to their loved ones (and wondering what they would say) that it came as a shock to realize that a number of crew members are no longer around to record messages, and that as the head of the expedition, it would fall to Dr. Weir to communicate w/ their families. Very moving. Rodney's message definitely provided the humor, and the scene w/ Dr. Cavanaugh indicated that his little snit earlier in the season didn't occur in a vacuum and hasn't been forgotten. As for Shepherd, I guess we haven't heard much about his personal life, but he must have SOME family, it was almost a symptom of denial the way he said there was nobody to whom he wanted/needed to send a message.

As for the Shepherd/Teyla adventure... I too must agree that she was very arrogant & condescending. Admittedly, she has never been a favorite character of mine, and I cringe everytime I read about Shepherd/Teyla shippers (NOOOOOOOOO!!!!). (On an unrelated note, why do all the 'aliens' on Stargate, including Teal'c and Teyla, have such a formal, stilted way of speaking? THey neve speak casually as 'real' people do in conversation. YOu almost never hear them use contractions... instead they say "I do not believe that is the case"... or "I cannot allow you to do such a thing.") Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

I did think it one thing was stupid, tho: the commercials showed Carter at the SGC saying "It's from Pegasus," and we saw that Amanda Tapping was listed as a guest star. And yet that scene-- all 12 seconds of it, consisting for the most part of only that one line by Carter, is the very last scene in the episode.

But I really do think this is one of the best episodes of Atlantis I've seen all season. Too bad they're giving Ford a larger role just when they're going to give him a smaller role.

[Jeff O'Connor]

I don't think words can describe how very, very, very happy I was with this episode. Hot frellin' wow... I... this... is my favorite thus far.