Epiphany (212)

[Shep'sSocks]

On rewatching I liked it more. I loved how completely frantic Rodney was to get to Shep, and how he towed everyone in his wake until they got it for themselves. Their level of concern, urgency, and tension would be very refreshing on SG-1 now and then.

I didn't object to Sheppard becoming romantic with the woman. What I didn't like was that we never got to see his angst about being abandoned play out, to really see the psychological toll that would take on a person. Sure he must have believed they were trying to rescue him, but part of him must have wondered if they'd had to give up on him.

JF's original idea had him going into a void alone. Given how powerful the cave scenes were, I think it would have been better to keep him largely alone. Maybe with a volleyball or something to talk to :-) Then a longer reconciliation with his team as he came to accept he'd only been gone for hours.

Well, I've already read fan fics like this so I must not be the only one thinking of it :-)

I think I liked JF's story better, too.

[FoolishPleasure]

JF's original idea had him going into a void alone. Given how powerful the cave scenes were, I think it would have been better to keep him largely alone. Maybe with a volleyball or something to talk to :-) Then a longer reconciliation with his team as he came to accept he'd only been gone for hours.

That would have made a much better episode. Sheppard totally ALONE for six months, reflecting on his life and trying to survive, while the others frantically tried to save him.

That whole subplot with the Yoga People didn't start until half-way through and was just useless. We learned nothing about Sheppard. Frustrating.

[SnoggingPicard]

That would have made a much better episode. Sheppard totally ALONE for six months, reflecting on his life and trying to survive, while the others frantically tried to save him.

That whole subplot with the Yoga People didn't start until half-way through and was just useless. We learned nothing about Sheppard. Frustrating.

Completely agree. Now that you guys bring it up, this would have made for a much better hour of television. Better character stuff, better acting opportunities, etc. The village people, to me, were bland, boring, and predictable. We learned absolutely nothing from them, got no new information about the Ancients, and the beast was brought up and then erased with hardly an explanation. Guess we'll have to chalk it up to a lost opportunity...

[CalmStorm]

After reading all the reviews from those who had seen this episode sometime ago, I had very low expectations and quite honestly did not expect to like this episode. However, I found myself pleasantly surprised that I did enjoy this episode. Perhaps I enjoyed it because I knew what to expect, what was going to happen and all of the the little things that other viewers found distracting and a tad bit unbelievable.

Good:
-MALP on a stick.....and then the comments from McKay about how it had limited capabilities (such as atmosphere) and explaining to Shep that it was after all a MALP on a stick.
-Conan and Xena comment
-Fast paced episode (to me at least)
-McKay requesting a pilot from Weir because he doesn't trust Carson and admitted that he cannot fly in a straight line
-Weir off-world, and part of the team is always good

Not so good:
-It wasn't exactly Kirking.....but give me a break.....another ascended ancient interested in Shep...nnnooooooo.....please TPTB no more episodes in which some woman is falling all googoo eyed over Shep....please
-Although I did like the idea of the beast, all I could think of was Predator. I'm suprised they got away with it.
-Ronon...good grief he his ultra protective of Shep, people talk about Weir being a mother hen, but look no further than Ronon....anyone hurts Shep and he'll just rip their head right off their shoulders, or use his massive gun to save the mess
-Ending, as usual was rushed.....all I can do is look up at the clock and think...How are they going to finish this and tie everyting up in the 2 minutes remaining


It is easy to pick apart a show that you really enjoy. Even though I have these criticsms.....I still enjoyed this episode. It was a bit predicatable and there have been very simiar shows like this one on other programs, but what makes it new all over again is that it is the first time we have seen this particular group handle this situation.

[nccjones]

I voted good but it was close to excellent. It did remind me of A Hundred Days, but then that's one of my favorite SG1 episodes...lol.

I felt for both Rodney and Sheppard in this episode. Rodney wanted the Ancient device to be good and it turned out not to be and he was frustrated and wanted to help Sheppard so bad. As for Sheppard...man, the poor guy thought he was abandoned. I felt for him every time he said "don't leave a man behind".

I loved Rodneys comment "Conan and Xena"...that was classic. I'm still trying to figure out what Ronan's purpose is. He adds no value to the team, at least Teyla was of some help to Rodney. I totally agreed with Rodney when he said he wasted valuable time explaining the situation to "Conan and Xena". That's why I don't understand why Ronan is on the team. I would feel they would want an expert on the team. They already had one alian "expert" which was Teyla (who is slowly growing on me), so they should have 2 other science types on the team. JMO.

But I still like the show and I really hate to say this, but it's starting to surpass SG1 right now in my opinion. Even the credits are much better.

[freyr's mother]

They know the ancients wont do anything like strike them down for taking the ZPM so why didn't mcKay just take it?

[starfox]

Morals. Ethics. And because Elizabeth told him not to.

Besides, who's to say an Ascended wouldn't have just swooped down and grabbed it back before they left? At least now they have somewhere to go if they need more time to work on a strategies and technologies to deafeat the Wraith.

[Wraith_Hunter]

Because when she told them to leave it alone & that the sanctuary would remain active for people to ascend. Then she seemed pretty adamant to me, when she said it, she wasn't ascended yet, since they were keeping it open to let them out. Then all they had to do was stop it & put some sort of protection around the ZPM. This will have meant that they will have all been trapped in there for the rest of their lives.

So while they may not kill you, if McKay did piss them off. Then they will have probably returned & forceably took the ZPM from them. Then as punishment for not listening & doing as they were told. They will have made them stay in the sanctuary for the remainder of their lives. Especially since we've seen that they hold grudges for people that don't follow their rules. So to defy her words will have only brought them far more trouble that they could have handled...Trust me on that!

Should they really be on the lookout for a ZPM, then as they have the Daedalus with it's Asgard sensors. Then I'm amazed that they haven't be shown or told on screen that they went back to the brotherhood's planet & scanned. Then if it is gone from there. Simply send a team down to get all the last dialled DHD addresses, as we've already seen happen in SG before. There most likely will not be that many, so all the ones that are one it are strong possibilities of where the ZPM has been relocated to. Send the Daedalus & PJ's to them & have them scour the surface from head to toe for it.

[freyr's mother]

Because when she told them to leave it alone & that the sanctuary would remain active for people to ascend. Then she seemed pretty adamant to me, when she said it, she wasn't ascended yet, since they were keeping it open to let them out. Then all they had to do was stop it & put some sort of protection around the ZPM. This will have meant that they will have all been trapped in there for the rest of their lives.

So while they may not kill you, if McKay did piss them off. Then they will have probably returned & forceably took the ZPM from them. Then as punishment for not listening & doing as they were told. They will have made them stay in the sanctuary for the remainder of their lives. Especially since we've seen that they hold grudges for people that don't follow their rules. So to defy her words will have only brought them far more trouble that they could have handled...Trust me on that!

Should they really be on the lookout for a ZPM, then as they have the Daedalus with it's Asgard sensors. Then I'm amazed that they haven't be shown or told on screen that they went back to the brotherhood's planet & scanned. Then if it is gone from there. Simply send a team down to get all the last dialled DHD addresses, as we've already seen happen in SG before. There most likely will not be that many, so all the ones that are one it are strong possibilities of where the ZPM has been relocated to. Send the Daedalus & PJ's to them & have them scour the surface from head to toe for it.

I've said it before and i'll say it again, we need to use anubis' mind probe on the chick from brotherhood.

[starfox]

I saw it a bit differently. Obviously there are comparisons to SG1's "100 Days". The difference being:

Jack was stranded and after several months figured there was no hope of going home. No one had contacted him, and he DID fit in with the society. He was helping to build structures, repair equipment, catch food, even partied with the group. He LIKED the people and truly cared for Laira. He did not sleep with her until he had decided he was going to STAY with her.

Sheppard was completely UNHAPPY all the way through this episode. He never seemed to care for these people and consistenly complained about being stuck there. He finally found a backpack at the cave with items from his friends - he KNEW they were trying to get to him. So what does he do? He has make-out session with GF of the week. I never got the feeling that he loved her, or even liked her. So why the heck is he sleeping with her when he had no intention of staying with her and he had just discovered his friends were coming to save him?

THAT is "kirking"

He didn't necessarily know that his friends were coming to get him soon. There was no message that said "We're coming", and like MasySuma said, the dely in getting the backpack could have signaled larger problems. Also, you can have sex with people you don't intend to have a long, happy, hearts and flowers relationship with. It's not always about that. Think about it; he's been stranded for months and finally gets a very small package from his friends, with no note, no hint of what's going on, no "We're trying, stay strong", nothing to indicate concern for him at all. Then he goes to the cottage to find a woman who has been caring for him for months, who obviously wants him. And she's attractive, and it's been a long while since he last got laid. We don't see him make any promises to her, and from the way he's been acting thus far it would be silly of her to expect any. I don't really count sleeping with her as "Kirking", or if it is, I don't see it as a bad thing in this instance.

[MasterPower]

Doesn't Atlantis already have ZPM?

[freyr's mother]

Doesn't Atlantis already have ZPM?

Yea, but it wouldnt hurt to have 2.

[michael]

I say we go back to the Brotherhood's planet and start killing people until someone talks. If that doesn't work, we try another planet.

[freyr's mother]

I say we go back to the Brotherhood's planet and start killing people until someone talks. If that doesn't work, we try another planet.

Anubis' mind probe is better. It'l tell us what planet she hid the ZPM on. We should only do that after a few seasons though. At a time when the characters become a lot darker.

[jyh]

I thought it was pretty good. Knowing the basic plot (Shep being stranded in a place where time accelerates, being w/ rustic villagers--one of whom would undoubtedly be an attaactive young woman who's interested in him) made me think it would be totally derivative of other sci-fi episodes (ST:TNG, SG-SG1), but there were enough aspects that were different that made it interesting. For example the first segments, when they encounter the 'event horizon' and then McKay, Teyla, & Ronan are desperate to get Shep back were very good and pretty realistic as to how people would really act in such a situation. I too liked that Shep spent so much "time" waiting in the cave... for him it was days if not weeks. I did like the fact that he once he met the villagers he didn't just say "Oh well, I'm stuck here, might as well fit in." Instead he never forgot his 'other' life and never stopped hoping he'd be found. I also liked how Weir & others joined the rescue mission... good to get Weir out of Atlantis once in a while.

What I didn't like: the woman who discovered him (Hedda?) just happened to be young and attractive, not a 58-year-old grandmother. Way too cliche. Someone already mentioned that the townspeople all wore the same few colors, which is true but odd in that they were all colorless.. totally in the background at all times. They seemed to be a peaceful agrarian culture, which again seems cliche (what, none of them had other ambitions?). The fact that Hedda had the 'gift' of being able to know what was going to happen was also very convenient; I think the ep would have been better without that conceit. It's also problematic... it totally negates the notion of free will. And, as others mentioned, the ending was SOO rushed!! It's as if the writers reallized they had only 2 minutes to finish the episode so they just took the first convenient path that came to mind and finished it as quickly as they could. I guess the monster represents their final hesitation in ascending? (Sort of like the monster on Lost represents each person's personal fear or demon.) That wasn't explained well (at least, if it was, *I* didn't catch it).

Anyway, I hope Flanigan will write further episodes, but I want to make the following warnings to THE POWERS THAT BE: don't fall back on all the predictable, overused cliches. We're tired of crew members being stranded on some other world and then conveniently being 'rescued' by attractive locals who of course fall head over heels. If we want to see soap-opera acting, we can watch almost any prime-time network show. Especially when these smitten young people see our stranded SG member as their "savior" for whatever reason. Whether it's from the 'gift of seeing' or 'ancient prophecy,' it's an overused premise.

Overall, I'd give this episode a 3.5. Joe Flanigan gets a 4.5 for his acting, and the Atlantis part of the show (McKay explaining what happened & soliciting assistance) was very good too, but the bubble-village story drags the score down.