'The Last Man' (420) General Discussion

[ShadowMaat]

But Shep's back now and he's going to Save Teh Universe!!11! None of what we saw is going to happen and IMO being told about various horrors isn't nearly as effective as experiencing them first-hand with the characters on the scene. Sure, there'll be a few hiccups along the way just to add an element of suspense, but I have no doubt that it will all work out and Atlantis will live happily ever after.

[expendable_crewman]

But Shep's back now and he's going to Save Teh Universe!!11! None of what we saw is going to happen and IMO being told about various horrors isn't nearly as effective as experiencing them first-hand with the characters on the scene. Sure, there'll be a few hiccups along the way just to add an element of suspense, but I have no doubt that it will all work out and Atlantis will live happily ever after.

I've noticed the writing team is not the greatest at establishing jeopardy. Putting somebody in danger of losing life ... or taking another job, leaving town or the galaxy ... whatever ... isn't very exciting in TV for a lot of reasons they should teach you at TV writing school. Put up your hand if you thought Ronon was going to leave Atlantis in Reunion? But take the character and expose the person to a life-altering event, follow-through with consequences, and there is your jeopardy. It's the way the other characters react to whatever is happening to the person going through a hard time that makes the story.

Since Sheppard stayed pretty much unmoved, it was hard for me as a viewer to connect to what really happened.

For me, Sam didn't die. She's not dead. I knew she wasn't dead because I knew the timeline was going to be reset. I knew the timeline was going to get a reset because it's a TV show. Atlantis was surrounded by sand (not water) and it was 40,000 years in the future.

Same with Teyla, Ronon, and Keller. The writer could have gone for something different but didn't.

Honorable mention goes to the fact that, as a Stargate fan, I know Stargate does stories that go like this: "they or their alternates live it and I watch it, and then it means nothing because it's AU."

When I can tell I'm watching a Stargate alternate timeline tale, I know better than to get worked up about it.

Everybody was dead. Yeah, alternate timeline.

What's AU for anyway? To be honest, in sci-fi, AU should teach the character (and by extension, the viewers) something he couldn't find out any other way. And I'm not talking about a gate address or the location of a secret hiding place. Maybe if Sheppard had experienced something more than stories his going back would (ultimately) prevent ... Atlantis 40,000 years in the future could have been interesting ten or twenty different ways. I'm thinking now, if they'd cliff-hangared me with him still there, stuck in a timeline he was having trouble resetting, put a twist on that a little bit, I'd have felt more interest.

[Jill_Ion]

Shep didn't have time to learn anything in the future beyond what he needed to do back in the present because he didn't have any food or water.

I saw Shep as being emotionally moved by his team's "future," but YMMV. When he has something to do, to focus on, he isn't going to let himself fall apart. He's going to absorb what HoloRodney was saying, deal with the problem once he awakens, and then deal with it later.

[KindlyKeller]

I kind of don't understand the "I knew they weren't going to die" argument. I mean, it's an action show -- physical jeopardy is always going to be a big component of the conflict/danger. It sounds like some people would prefer an angsty arc where Rodney is obsessed with his hair loss, and his depression sends ripples through Atlantis. Because that's REAL jeopardy!

[ciannwn]

I saw Shep as being emotionally moved by his team's "future," but YMMV. When he has something to do, to focus on, he isn't going to let himself fall apart. He's going to absorb what HoloRodney was saying, deal with the problem once he awakens, and then deal with it later.

It was likely that he found the situation somewhat surreal as well. If Rodney's plan worked he'd be going back and finding everyone still alive so he wouldn't be feeling the same sense of loss as someone stuck forever in the future when everyone he/she knew was long gone. Sheppard also had key information so there was always hope that he could stop his friends and colleagues getting killed in the first place.

I would have liked to have learned something about this future, though. The hologram Rodney had no idea what was out there in the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies so who knows what a successful time altering plan would change? Even if the hybrids were the only ones left it's possible that they could have outgrown their origins and developed a civilisation which made them worthy of being regarded as the Sixth Great Race.

[Amalthea]

Well, all I have to say is you can't beat a mystery time traveling, cliff hanger. That episode was brilliant. I love how in the end, Rodney was so dedicated. Gotta love that team spirit.

Comment for next season:

Spoiler:

Just someone please tell me that they get Woolsey new shoes for next season and let him unzip a little! He looked like a hobbit who wanted to go for a jog.

[expendable_crewman]

It was likely that he found the situation somewhat surreal as well. If Rodney's plan worked he'd be going back and finding everyone still alive so he wouldn't be feeling the same sense of loss as someone stuck forever in the future when everyone he/she knew was long gone. Sheppard also had key information so there was always hope that he could stop his friends and colleagues getting killed in the first place.

You hit the nail on the head. It was surreal. If Rodney's plan worked, from Sheppard's point of view and the audience's point of view, no harm done. He wasn't feeling a sense of loss, and neither was I.

Now, if that was the intent of the ep, then I would say that from one viewer's point of view, it succeeded.

I have no idea what the story's intent was. If it was a cautionary tale on the perils of 'gate travel, wow, it was great.

As an ep that could have played on my interest in the well-being of the characters, it missed its mark.

Had a great visual, though: Atlantis surrounded by sand. That should be a postcard or something. If they do build another BC-304, I think they should call it Phoenix. And one day I hope the Wraith known as Todd and Ronon team up like Teal'c and Ronon did in Midway.

[Jill_Ion]

It was likely that he found the situation somewhat surreal as well. If Rodney's plan worked he'd be going back and finding everyone still alive so he wouldn't be feeling the same sense of loss as someone stuck forever in the future when everyone he/she knew was long gone. Sheppard also had key information so there was always hope that he could stop his friends and colleagues getting killed in the first place.

I would have liked to have learned something about this future, though. The hologram Rodney had no idea what was out there in the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies so who knows what a successful time altering plan would change? Even if the hybrids were the only ones left it's possible that they could have outgrown their origins and developed a civilisation which made them worthy of being regarded as the Sixth Great Race.

I hadn't thought about it like that - Shep would find the situation surreal, but that makes sense (as much as surreality can!).

I really like your idea of the hybrids developing into their own civilization. Very cool!

[Mitchell82]

i disagree in the other season finales it was always whatever happens they are gunna resolve it somehow were as in this finale it was whatever they do they are guna fail which to me is much more exciting and interesting and a gives a bigger sense of danger

Agreed. The sense of danger in this one was more than "oh no we are so screwed." This time we see our main characters blown up and then a black screen. Really well done IMO.

[Mitchell82]

I thought "Allies" was a weak episode on the whole, BUT it did have my favorite cliffhanger ending...

The big music ratchets up, and the Wraith leans in: "... Earth."

McKay looks horrified.

Fade to black.

Agreed. The look on Mckays face is priceless and it also gave us alot of insight into the Wraith.

[fwupow]

The cliffhangar ending would have been awesome if I weren't so distracted by the astoundingly fake looking CGI of the building collapse. Maybe it's because I watched in high-def, but my suspension of disbelief came to an abrupt end as soon as that sequence hit the screen.

Something no doubt happened to Col. Sheppard while in stasis. A new enemy from 48,000 years into the future?

[Clem]

This might've been discussed already, but did Sheppard lose any years from this experience?

The last time someone was put in statis for such an extended amount of time, she came out looking a hundred years old.

And how exactly did Holo-Rodney buy Sheppard those last few years he needed? They were still a little shy of seven hundred weren't they?

[nx01a]

Weir was in stasis for 10,000 years. The same for the crew of the Aurora. Shep was in stasis for 700 years or so? Maybe he lost a year, but nothing major.
The solar panels, I believe, were used to supply the extra energy.

[patronus16]

The story for this episode was something of an enigma for me. As others before me have mentioned, there was very little "originality" in the story told here. We have time travel, we have the last man on earth is not alone, we have the death of major characters and we have a villain bent on revenge. That said, I am impressed with the sense of desolation that this episode brings forth, epitomized in holo-Rodney. While Sheppard is the one who is actually "lost", it seems that Rodney is truly the farthest from home.

The various ends of our main characters were, in my humble opinion, very appropriate and mostly fitting. I was a bit upset about Teyla's demise, which was done so in a sentence and a quick shot of her corpse, but, to be honest, could she truly have escaped Michael on her own? From Kindred 2 it was apparent that she was afraid to make any serious escape attempts for fear of harming her child. And now, removed from the Athosians again, surrounded by hybrids, perhaps even more hindered by her pregnancy, I don't think it unbelievable that she would succumb to her fate.

[Cloudmaster101]

I have one question about the writing..

Mckay says they had to abandon the city. They never show any info of "why" they needed to abandon it, because the city seems to remain completely intact other than the damage from the sand.