The final scene: It just didn't work

[KindlyKeller]

I thought it worked perfectly. It was painful -- in a good way -- to watch Rodney's avoidance of the realities of the situation. And Paul was amazing. I've always liked Beckett, but not been 1/10 as attached to him as most people. At the end of this ep, though, I can safely say that Paul's performance in this episode is one of the past in the history of the franchise.

[Aurora24]

I guess it was because I thought of clone Carson as being just like the real Carson that I thought that the last scene worked. The fact that Carson was going into stasis unfortunately wasn't much of a surprise because it was shown in the preview for the ep, but I thought that everyone seemed to react they way they should in that situation, especially Rodney. I know that some people have commented that he didn't have that much of an emotional reaction, but that to me was typical McKay, he doesn't do well with expressing the emotional stuff, so the line about programing dreams and him saying that this was "see you later" seemed natural, especially since it was also a reference to the conversation in Sunday. Rodney was trying to cope with potentially losing his best friend again.

[Camaxtli]

Well in Rodney's words it wasn't a goodbye, but a "see you later", which is why a lot of the long emotional farewells were not there. Plus the team probably didn't want it to seem emotional to Carson incase he thought they knew there wasn't a chance. And knowing Rodney he'd be working on some kind of method to replicate that Wraith enzyme, which is why he chose not to make a big point of saying goodbye.

Also some of the crew (Carter mainly) do not know what to make of him, for all she knows Carson could still be a threat, which explains her distance to him.

[Dutch_Razor]

My main problem with the scene was, I was like "zomg he's going to drop dead on the floor every second, put him in the pod NOW!"...

[jyh]

I thought it was a very well-done scene. The letter Carson wrote to his 'mum' was a great touch, and I thought Carter handled it well. As noted, she's been through something similar, with someone she cared about a lot. She & Carson never worked together, but she fully grasps his feelings on the matter. The Sheppard goodbye was good, and I do think that Rodney's reaction was pure 100% Rodney: avoidance of actual emotional issue.

What felt wrong to me was Ronon's reaction. Didn't anyone else think that was out of character? Especially as cautious and suspicious as Ronon tends to be... I don't think he even really believed it was Carson. I mean, he HUGGED Carson. Even Sheppard didn't do that, and while Shep is by no means a 'touchy-feely' kind of person, Ronon is far less so.

I agree that it would have been nice to see everyone's faces (and Carson from behind the chamber), but I thought the current ending worked just as well. In fact, I thought the whole scene was VERY moving.

[erb]

What felt wrong to me was Ronon's reaction. Didn't anyone else think that was out of character? Especially as cautious and suspicious as Ronon tends to be... I don't think he even really believed it was Carson. I mean, he HUGGED Carson. Even Sheppard didn't do that, and while Shep is by no means a 'touchy-feely' kind of person, Ronon is far less so.

I thought it was in character for Ronon in his dealings with Carson. Remember Sateda and Ronon hugging Carson there. This sort of interaction between the two characters has history behind it. Ronon is touchy-feely when it comes to Carson. And he doesn't even have to be trapped to force some emotion.

[Killdeer]

I thought it was in character for Ronon in his dealings with Carson. Remember Sateda and Ronon hugging Carson there. This sort of interaction between the two characters has history behind it. Ronon is touchy-feely when it comes to Carson. And he doesn't even have to be trapped to force some emotion.

I agree - Ronon hugs people. He hugged Carson in Sateda, he hugged John in The Return, he hugged Rodney at the end of ToR. I didn't see anything out of character about this.

[Briangate78]

Ending was perfect. Job well done!

[jyh]

Okay, I stand corrected. I had actually forgotten about that last scene in Sateda. But still.... a hug??? Ah well, we all know the big guy has a big heart.

[YutheGreat]

The final scene, where Carson is being put into stasis, was not pulled off correctly. No, it's not the fact that he was put into stasis, it's how it was portrayed.

I'm in the camp that believes this important scene should have been much more emotional and dramatic.

What was wrong with it? I can't put my finger on it, but I'd say it was one or more of the following:

1. The suggestion by Keller that he go into stasis was done a tad too early in the episode; so the shock we should have felt when he went into stasis was removed.
   
2. It was too clinical. Everyone was lined up, ready to say their pseudo-goodbyes on cue. Their reactions to it seemed forced.
   
3. When the camera pulled away right at the end we should have seen all their faces from the front, their facial expressions, not their backs and just the faces of Beckett and McKay.
   
4. For those of us who've seen the SG-1 episode "The Lost City", you'll remember the stasis scene there. Maybe expectations were too influenced by that one.

You know, maybe that's how that's they wanted the scene to be played out. Maybe placing Carson in stasis was meant to be a clinical non-dramatic non-sad process....




(Carson/McGillion himself was excellent in EVERY scene.)

They could have done it better I agree. In comparison to other stasis scenes like O'neil in Lost City or even Fifth in Unnatural Selection This scene wasn't as dramatic. but if they did the same as what they did with O'neil some may argue that they copied it so.

The only thing I want was Halling to show up and say "Doctor, you have made a difference...Thank you" hug. then fall back to show the Athosians who were rescued then stasis.