Sunday (317)

[Domesticated Equine]

I can't believe they let him go in this way (making him like no one cared about him when there was never any indication to this in any of the previous episodes) and that we won't see the character anymore. Poor Carson.

I didn't get this feeling at all. While everyone refused to go fishing with Beckett they all had understandable reasons and were quite happy to chat with him. I'm sure all the characters will be wishing they had taken his offer now.

Besides, when Beckett decided to stay and operate on Watson, you really see how much the others care for him. McKay and Sheppard do their best to get Carson out of harm's way and would rather let Watson die than lose their friend. Not to speak of everyone's feelings after the death. I think it was clear that everyone cared about him.

While I don't think Weir's funeral speech was the best ever, I think she was spot on in mentioning that no one ever complained about Beckett. I don't have a hard believing that he was one of the if not the most likeable person on the base (fear of needles aside).

[xfkirsten]

I didn't get this feeling at all. While everyone refused to go fishing with Beckett they all had understandable reasons and were quite happy to chat with him. I'm sure all the characters will be wishing they had taken his offer now.

Agreed - and I think that was one of the things we were supposed to get out of this episode. No one did take the time to go fishing with him - they all had other plans (and in Rodney's case, it was the act of fishing itself that he disliked, not Carson). And I think it was really Rodney that taught us the lesson here when he went out of his way to avoid going fishing - take the time to be with the people you love, because they can be taken away so suddenly.

[Celcool]

I didn't get this feeling at all. While everyone refused to go fishing with Beckett they all had understandable reasons and were quite happy to chat with him. I'm sure all the characters will be wishing they had taken his offer now.

Not so much understandable the way I see it. It's quite obvious, really. Rodney, John and Ronan certainly didn't have any good excuse. Rodney was desperately trying to get rid of him and John and Ronan turned him down flat.

Edit: Rodney disliked fishing, that's true, but he also said that he doesn't want to listen to Carson talking about impossibly boring subjects. It's not about the fishing, it could also be about spending time with a person you're friends with.

[florence]

Not so much understandable the way I see it. It's quite obvious, really. Rodney, John and Ronon certainly didn't have any good excuse. Rodney was desperately trying to get rid of him and John and Ronon turned him down flat.

Maybe but that's how life works. You've never had regrets? Telling yourself you should have done this, said that, spent more time with someone, less time with someone else?
We all make choices. For good or bad reasons. And in the end, we all have to deal with the consequences. No doubt everyone on Atlantis will regret that day but I'm not going to blame any one of them because they decided not to go with Carson.

[Yagami_Light]

Carson Beckett - may flights of angels wing thee to thy rest.

On a side note... the Ancients had the worst friggin "advanced" technology ever. Seems like the side effect for touching more than half of their crap is a creatively inane death.

[Celcool]

Maybe but that's how life works. You've never had regrets? Telling yourself you should have done this, said that, spent more time with someone, less time with someone else?
We all make choices. For good or bad reasons. And in the end, we all have to deal with the consequences. No doubt everyone on Atlantis will regret that day but I'm not going to blame any one of them because they decided not to go with Carson.

I don't blame any of the characters, really, they didn't write what they're gonna say.

[Domesticated Equine]

Not so much understandable the way I see it. It's quite obvious, really. Rodney, John and Ronan certainly didn't have any good excuse. Rodney was desperately trying to get rid of him and John and Ronan turned him down flat.

Turning down someone's invitation to a fishing trip doesn't mean you don't like the person. John and Ronan already had plans and John especially seemed to be enthusiastic about teaching golf. It was also made clear that Rodney turned Beckett down because he dislikes fishing, not Beckett himself. He probably should have gone through with the trip since they had made plans so much earlier, but that's Rodney for you. And like xfkirsten so eloquently put, that is the lesson both the characters and we the viewer should take from this: Spend time with your loved one because you never know which chance could be your last.

[Celcool]

And like xfkirsten so eloquently put, that is the lesson both the characters and we the viewer should take from this: Spend time with your loved one because you never know which chance could be your last.

They had to kill off Carson in order to convey that message. Hmm. Still I didn't enjoy how they handled this.

[ax-protege-l3]

I actually liked this episode. It wasn't all cheery but if Beckett was going to be killed off on the show, I think that the manner in which he died was very Carson-like.

Not abandoning the show. Not over Beckett and not over any other cast changes that might be made in the future. I'd like to see where all of this is actually going.

[nonniemous]

They had to kill off Carson in order to convey that message. Hmm. Still I didn't enjoy how they handled this.

As if we don't get plenty of opportunities to learn those lessons in real life. Killing off Carson mostly teaches me that TPTB can't be trusted and I really shouldn't bother with their show any more.

[Pegasus_SGA]

I know people are upset by this episode, and i'll probably get slammed for it somewhere down the line, but i've never been one to shy away so i'm jumping in with two feet.

I actually loved this episode, for me it had everything I wanted to see apart from Carson... but i'll save that until the end.

From my perspective there was an inordinate amount of things that the fans have requested to see in SGA, in particular how the team interact on their off duty hours, do they spend any time together. Some people have said that some episodes have felt forced when team bonding was thrust upon them.. and they are entitled to their views. For me this episode showed just how much everyone cares for each other.

The Good points

• We had girlie talk between Teyla and Elizabeth (which some fans wanted to see)
• I laughed my head off when Sheppard was trying to get Teyla to play golf with him and Ronon, and Ronon tried to head Teyla off at the pass, hehehe.
• Loved the pat on the arm from Teyla to Ronon as a thank you for the heads up.
• Then we had the Golf game *Thwack* ROFL, loved it.
• We had poor Carson, desperate to go fishing and nobody wanted to go, bless him he went everywhere to find a partner.
• Loved that Atlantis has a chess tournamount *g*
• We had Ronon and Sheppard fighting *fight to the death* Hehehehe
• We had Rodney trying to make a date with Katie Brown and him stumbling over the marriage proposal.(very sweet)
• We had Weir actually relaxing and enjoying herself for once.
• We had Lorne painting
• We had Zelenka in the chess club playing for rations hehehe
• Carson holding Teyla's hand

But most of all we had Carson meeting and speaking with everyone on his last ep . PM did a great job with this, even down to the smallest details of him getting excited that he and Rodney were going fishing was so sweet

I loved the fact that Carson wouldn't leave his patient. He knew the dangers to himself, but he didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt and it just goes to show how self sacrificing the character is and would do anything to save his patients... just as Janet did in SG1 *stops self compaing the two*

What broke my heart in this was how everyone reacted differently. Teyla was at a loss for words, for Sheppard, "It hasn't hit me yet" packed a punch in my stomach. Rodney was so filled with remorse it broke my heart *sniff* especially the ending where he's packing up Carson's belongings and finds the photograph of the two of them from duet.. just as Ronon came in to check if he was ok, which was a very sweet moment. And when Rodney began feeling guilty, Ronon simply said, 'Don't'. it was just enough to get my bottom lip quivering.

But what sent me over the edge was the bagpipes. The whole of the gate room was deathly quiet (no pun intended) and then the bagpipes started playing. It was so serene. Then, as the camera panned around to get everyones reactions, you could feel how much they were hurting, because in a sense they HAD lost their friend....

The ending couldn't have been more perfect (imo) it wasn't corny or cliche as i've heard some people say. You'd be surprised what you think, feel and see when someone who's close to you has died. So, I think having the last moments of Rodney alone and then the two of them together at the very end was beutifully done. McKay is going to have lots of issues over this. And I hope that next week, this isn't all going to swept under the carpet as if Carson meant nothing. We need to see the impact this has on the characters and not brushed aside.

The Bad

Not much I have to say... I didn't want carson to go at all, and I hope TPTB or the writers, whomever is responsible for letting Beckett/PM leave should take on board what people have said on the various threads. Please bring him back, have an alternate him come back to SGA, do a time travel thing, have an alternate universe setting and bring him back then. Or do what you're good at, press the reset button and cancel this episode out.

Okay rant over....

This episode showed how everyone on SGA can work together and for each of them to have sufficient lines, and character development each..so why did it take PM's leaving to bring this to the foreground....

Okay, gonna go watch the ep again to see what I missed.

[Domesticated Equine]

Edit: Rodney disliked fishing, that's true, but he also said that he doesn't want to listen to Carson talking about impossibly boring subjects. It's not about the fishing, it could also be about spending time with a person you're friends with.

This is actually a better point, and it does put Rodney's claim that Carson was his best friend further into question. Even so, you can find someone a bit boring but still care hugely for them. Especially when you consider all the life/death situations the characters have been through, a strong bond is pretty much inevitable.

[Willow'sCat]

This is actually a better point, and it does put Rodney's claim that Carson was his best friend further into question. Even so, you can find someone a bit boring but still care hugely for them. Especially when you consider all the life/death situations the characters have been through, a strong bond is pretty much inevitable.

Actually I think McKay said Carson was the closest thing he had ever had to a best friend, I think you need to understand McKay to understand what he meant. Also it buys you into the whole "I should have done or said that" that a lot of people go through when someone close to them dies without warning. I thought it was played just right.

I didn't say it before but David Hewlett was superb in this episode, so was Paul McGillion, in fact most of the cast gave 110% to their parts. See what good material can do for an actor's performance, any actor.

[theonebluegecko]

I have to say, out of every show I have ever watched where a main character died, Carson's was the best death. The episode nicely centered around him and his connections to the other character and he died saving another's life, I think that it was he would have wanted.

Although it was super sad, this is one of my top favorite Stargate Atlantis episodes.

[Domesticated Equine]

As if we don't get plenty of opportunities to learn those lessons in real life.

You can learn about different things in both real life and through entertainment. I'll quote Eric Walker on his opinion about fiction since he puts it much it more eloquently than I ever could. The same applies just as well to television shows:

We read fiction to discover (or be reminded of) what people think and feel and do in various circumstances--to gain better appreciations of what it means to be human and of ways to deal with Life, the Universe, and Everything. Fiction enriches us, expands us, augments our lives: it allows us to vicariously live many lives, to feel and experience the thoughts and emotions of hundreds, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of persons we are not and never will be, to experience feeling and thinking in ways not our own, often very much not our own.