Sateda (304)

[drufan]

I believe Ronon's most telling scene is where he is pulling shrapnel from his leg in the hospital. I believe we learned everything right there. Utter loss to rage to despair to pain. Loved this episode. The character moments were the icing and far too long in coming.

[TameFarrar]

Well for starters I would have skipped the Village of Plot Device flashbacks entirely. While they may have conveyed that Ronon was taken in by the villagers and they were later attacked by the Wraith, we could have gotten that just fine from Feerless Leader. The flashbacks were too disjointed and didn't convey enough information. Yeah, we get that he was dying- but we don't know why. We get that Nubile Daughter nursed him back to health- but again, we don't know why or what their relationship was like or how the other villagers reacted to Ronon's presence. We know that the village was attacked but, uh... was that supposed to be Nubile Daughter who was screaming as she got wraithed? If so, where was Ronon and if not, what happened to her?

For the Sateda flashbacks I would have done an overlay effect, having the people moving around, past and through Ronon. His memories haunt him, right? What better way to show that than by having the "ghosts" of Sateda surround him? And he can look on with disgust at his past self's behavior, try to stop himself from doing things he knows are going to end badly, try to save the girl from getting fried... And instead of the randomly tossed moments of he and his squad fighting back- and his squadmembers getting killed, how about showing some character moments for the squadmembers so that we feel their deaths a little more succinctly when Ronon comes across their skeletons?

This also felt like a bit of a follow-up (or possibly a lead-in) to Trinity, where Ronon killed Kell. Might have been nice if this ep had been a bit closer to that one rather than dropped randomly into season 3. It might have made the impact of events that much greater.

Ya know ....as much as I truly enjoyed this episode as I read through your ideas on how to make it better I thought....Wow...if they would have done it like this...I would have been even more impressed

Those are some great ideas Shadow!!

So quick before they film everything... write more stuff and send it to them because if we can get more of this kind of quality from SGA I will be watching it with a whole lot more enthusiasum

[Ensign M.I.T.S]

Great episode! Great playing! Great directoring! Far more over my best expectations, really impressive.
I've truly enjoined the director's cut of this episode and the use of the flashbacks. Blu-dizzy for the present scenes and yellow-orange like old film have a really good contrast. The flashbacks are painful for Ronon and the clear cut between present and past, with real white flash between, gave a great impact, I mean cinematographally.
I liked the moments where the team showed their feeling or talk about their feelings to each other, really nice writing. Thumbs up.
Writers gave us some new hints about the characters, intriguing, but they didn't show too much... and I like this way, though someone else would like much more, all and immediately.

ROBERT C. COOPER ROCKS!

And Sheppard in leather jacket is soooo gorgeous

[calajane]

I loved the episode. All the drama and characterization was simply amazing. Jason reached the whole new level. Simply fantastic.
Carson and Rosney were amazing too. And funny as hell.
I could go on and on about Sheppard jacket (*love*) or Teyla's mimic expressions (*priceless*).
But instead, I have one question:
Who the hell was that Lorne wannabe?? Where is my favourite major? Was he injured or something? *is worried*

[nightowl300]

This episode was great! I give it a perfect 10.

[Lt.Colonel John Sheppard]

okay i got to admit Mckay getting shot in the butt and he was like "oh that did not happen" had me rolling on the floor laughing my butt off. i like the fact that they decided to go with a black uniform looked alot cooler with the vests. i hope they use the black in alot more episodes i was getting tired of the blue. um i believe that this year we will get to see alot more of sheppard's backstory right before the mid-season finale. I thought what sheppard teyla should've done was shot the wraith while it was looking at the jumper and then beckett should've shot the drone just to finish him. i liked ronan's "i win" line he looked happy or something. i thought when mckay told sheppard he was flying the jumper, sheppard had a look like "your flying" look and this was a pretty good episode can't wait for next week's episode here comes our new bad guy.

[prion]

I loved the episode. All the drama and characterization was simply amazing. Jason reached the whole new level. Simply fantastic.
Carson and Rosney were amazing too. And funny as hell.
I could go on and on about Sheppard jacket (*love*) or Teyla's mimic expressions (*priceless*).
But instead, I have one question:
Who the hell was that Lorne wannabe?? Where is my favourite major? Was he injured or something? *is worried*

I wouldn't worry about Kavan Smith. He's been quite busy on 4400 as well. It's very possible that there was a scheduling conflict and he was already working on 4400; on Stargate, his character can be replaced by another soldier, but on 4400, his character can't.

[Easter Lily]

You were thinking John Woo and I was think Sam Peckinpaw (Stagecoach). Truely top notch camera work. A very visually stunning episode.

I thought it was superb too... loved the slow-mo and the freeze frames, in particular.
Rumour is that Peckinpah is one of Woo's favourites so the connection appears logical. Don't remember Peckinpah doing Stagecoach though.

Pity there was no Mexican Standoff as well...

[PG15]

Wonderful episode. If this doesn't earn an emmy in something then...well, bad stuff will happen.

It seems that Atlantis has stumbled upon the BSG-effect, where mediocre plots are turned into masterpieces thanks to the direcing, the editing, and the music. So a big BRAVO!!! to Rob Cooper!

Ok, the points:

As I said, the directing was THE BEST that Stargate has ever done. The flashbacks were different, kinda like Collateral Damage on steroids. The angle of the shots, the slow motion...just...WOW.

LOVED the conversation between Shep and Teyla, and we finally get a little glimpse into Shep's past (apparently, he has no family). I bet the Shippers had a heart-attack during that scene.

The big Xplosions! Gotta love me some bangs.

Jason Momoa hitted out of the park with this one. Sure, he still acted angry, but that's his personality. Even before the destruction of Sateda he was still an intense person, and I don't think anything can change that. Very well done.

A slight downside, but I just can't get over the fact that they shot this in Vancouver.

Rodney was awesome in this one as well! From his Morphine-induced blathering to his almost-heart-to-heart talk with Carson on the Deddy. It's like the convo between Shep and Teyla, but more McKay-like.

One last thing. I'm afraid that, for me, some parts did indeed slide into soap-opera territory, especially the scenes with Ronon's wife. It appears to be unavoidable though, so no big deal.

Score: 9.5/10

[Brivilya Almasy]

What an amazing episode! This is my first post here, and what an episode to start posting,lol. I seriously almost cried. It was soo good. Ronon's background story was told and it was so sad what happened to his world and his wife. I don't really know his character that well because i haven't seen season 2 yet. My friend has been taping season 3 for me thank god,lol.
But still, i like his character a lot. This was definitely one of the best episodes ever and IS the best episode of the season so far.

[Sela]

LOL...I said THIS WEEK....not this minute .... But I so love that you are my one and only fan.... I have to pay Sela to read

Hey - where's my check from last week?

[Sela]

I thought it was superb too... loved the slow-mo and the freeze frames, in particular.
Rumour is that Peckinpah is one of Woo's favourites so the connection appears logical. Don't remember Peckinpah doing Stagecoach though.

Pity there was no Mexican Standoff as well...

You're right. He didn't do Stagecoach all though he did just about every other Western movie that I love.

I even spelled the poor man's name wrong. It's Peckinpah with an 'h' not a 'w'.

Some fan I am. LOL!

[wolverine_nl]

Great episode....no words for it but 5 stars *****

[McDork]

Wow. just wow. Finally got around to viewing this episode, and i wasnt disapointed, it was so worth the wait.

I've never had a problem as some people with Ronon being on the team.. (as i didnt like Ford), but this episode has made me love him. He must be such a strong person to go through all that, and still have the will to fight. Although he doesnt say it much.. his willingness to sacrifice himself for John and Teyla shows how much they have bonded. And the hug with Carson made me all teary-eyed lol.

I loved McKay getting shot, that was way beyond funny on so many levels. And him on the morphine was superb. Also the banter between him and Carson in the jumper had me nearly squeeing at my PC screen.

It was nice to see Carson be part of the team willingly instead of his usual "Im a doctor, not a <insert word here>". McKay and Carson fighting over the gun was great.

Sheppard was adorable in the entire episode, his conversation with Teyla aboard the Daedalus was sweet.. nice to see that side to him for once.

I LOVE the black uniforms, a nice change.

Two things i did have issues with..

Where was Lorne? who the frell was this new guy.. i dont like him. I want Lorne back..

Also, the Caldwell VS Everyone stories are getting old.. and i hated the way they talked to him.. like he hasnt done enough with being ordered by Weir to potentially sacrifice himself and his crew in the episodes before.. its pathetic, they need to learn he isnt the enemy, and in some cases he may actually be right. Sheppard just doesnt have a clue sometimes and seems kind of clueless.

To Sum Up. Loved it! Prehaps my newest favourite episode =)

[captainpash]

I have to say I didn't love this episode. It was decent, and the Rondey getting shot in the ass was great, and Ronnon was good, but some of the acting was off, which really annoyed me. The action was good, but the ep just didn't make me say yeah loved it. I'll give it a 7/10.