'Lifeline' (402) General Discussion

[Alan]

Wow! I really enjoyed that! Very satisfying conclusion to this 3-parter!

Definitely a well deserved 10 out of 10!

I can't wait for next weeks episode...Reunion!

[Matt G]

OK

1. Didn't have a problem with the Teyla leadership thing.

2. Did have a problem with the "Asuran job" part of the plot ending that soon, and conveniently McKay comes up with an insane plan. Rodney, you're deep in enemy territory, don't get greedy.

3. "Problems?" Nice one Liz! Probably her best ep for ages!

4. "Well you'd better take a picture...we're ready to beam up".

5. So officially Sheppard's still running Atlantis, fine.

Overall, had its moments but felt a little anti-climatic. Preferred Adrift.

[Promethius30]

I did like this ep not as much as adrift
I would give a 8/10

[Lt.Colonel John Sheppard]

LIFELINE was extremly good we finally got to see a replicator-controlled ship. problem is they will have to find another way to remodulated the ARG's so they can use them against the replicators. it was sad to see Sheppard leave Elizabeth Behind. i want to know what other two episodes she's in. i know the other 2 are this mortal coil and one other one i think it might be either spoils of war or be all my sins remember'd.

[Short Angel]

Lifeline was a good episode, and a great one for Weir because it is one of the first times we actually see her off world in the action. It was so sad to see what happened to the character though at the end, especially when, in my opinion, she had so much potential. Being a Weir fan, the end brought down the whole episode for me. I can't wait to see what other episodes she's in though.

[Matt G]

Weir's certainly been offworld in previous eps, particularly Progeny.

[Yeade]

Unlike "Adrift," I've only been able to watch "Lifeline" once, so my memory of the episode is a bit hazy. Please feel free to correct any mistakes I might make.

My general impression is that "Lifeline" was another episode I enjoyed. The ZPM heist did seem to go far smoother and faster than I expected. However, the Asurans strike me as too arrogant to consider the possibility of someone attacking their homeworld in any fashion, i.e. security was lax, Weir provided crucial back-door access to the system, and the Atlanteans had one of their occasional runs of good luck.

Naturally, just when the SGA folks start hoping everything will be all right, things go pear-shaped.

Well, I think the Atlanteans largely brought the end situation on themselves by staying to activate the Asurans' Wraith kill code. Their mission, I felt, depended on stealth and surprise, which can't possibly last when roaming around a city of Replicators, and Atlantis badly needed that ZPM, fast, so there was little excuse for delay. OTOH, the chance to set the Asurans on the Wraith was a once-in-a-lifetime sort and, if successful, would completely upset the strategic outlook of the entire galaxy. The best possible outcome, IMO, is that the two Pegasus superpowers would war with each other, taking the pressure off human forces that have been fighting both and creating a real possibility that the Wraith and Asurans would, if not wipe each other out, severely weaken each other, at which point humans might be able to wrest control of the galaxy from them. That would be fantastic for both Atlantis and all other Pegasus humans and, I think, it was worth the risk. Things that decide the fate of the galaxy usually are, lol.

I thought Weir was very impressive and found her view of the Asuran systems fascinating (wonder if Ancient technology users get the same effect?). I liked that there were limitations to what she could accomplish but also that she, by stint of her iron will and relentless drive to protect her people, could temporarily do more than, I suspect, she or anyone else expects. I'm not sure what will become of her now--there are so many possibilities! One issue I hope will be addressed is how the Wraith kill code affects Weir. Her nanites, though they give her access to the Asuran collective, seem to operate more or less independent of it. Given McKay's fiddling and Weir's unique situation, I think it's possible she feels no compulsion to kill Wraith or do anything despite the fact that her nanites originated from, IIRC, Niam. She's a sort of isolated system, and I wonder if the Asurans would in fact be very interested in her because she might be the key to their disabling the Wraith kill code and otherwise rewriting previously untouchable parts of their base code.

Um. What else? Thinking it over, I suspect Sheppard might've made his decision to leave McKay to watch Weir and possibly kill her out of residual feeling (anger? hurt?) about McKay activating the nanites in "Adrift." At least in part.

One of the things McKay didn't consider in "Adrift," IMO, is all that would happen if the nanites proved uncontrollable. Even if the nanites didn't contact the Replicators, if Weir had proved a danger to Atlantis and the people in the city, someone would've had to stop her. And Sheppard was likely to have been that someone. Instead of Weir dying of her injuries, McKay had, in essence, forced on Sheppard the possibility of being directly responsible for Weir's death--by his hand because, if she had proved a violent threat, he would've dealt with her personally, I feel. This impression hit me most strongly during Weir's awakening in "Adrift": Sheppard pulled his gun on her. He didn't aim it at her, but he had it ready in case he had to shoot her.

Getting back to "Lifeline," I think Weir had by now shown that she wasn't going to attack anybody. So, Sheppard left the task of shutting down her nanites and killing her to McKay in his, perhaps subconscious, desire for McKay to understand and take one of the possible personal consequences of his actions in "Adrift."

I, er, can't think of anything else right now.

[meem]

Personally i was a little disturbed by this episode, ok so I'm a huge Torri / Weir fan so I'm bias but the apparent ease by which they left her behind (I know they had no choice but they seemed so fine with it - Sheppard had mentioned in a previous episode that he would die for her, what happened??!!!)

And then the fact they just acted as though she was dead afterwards, packing up her stuff etc. I know John mentioned that it wasn't over, but come on, everyone acted as though it was no big deal. I always feel a little let down when something like this happens, so much for loyalty, team spirit and friendship!!

[Achaja]

The best episode untill now! Very very interesting plot and so much action, great ideas! 10/10 points

[Mitchell82]

Lifeline was a good episode, and a great one for Weir because it is one of the first times we actually see her off world in the action. It was so sad to see what happened to the character though at the end, especially when, in my opinion, she had so much potential. Being a Weir fan, the end brought down the whole episode for me. I can't wait to see what other episodes she's in though.

It was an extremly good episode and Weir finally became interesting.

[brooksyy]

I loved the scene's where they were landing the city. that was really well done.

However, I think that they should have aimed to steal 2 or 3, ZPMs then they wouldn't have power restraints and could do basicly anything, even as Rodney said in Season 2 "A ZPM, is a ZPM who cares where it came from, two is better than one, and three is better than two. with 2 we could probably fire up the star drive and fly the city around"
John: Really?
Mckay: No, but still.

I really think, that they should have got more than 1 zpm, got back to Atlantis, landed the city and then used one of the 2 ZPMs to install on the Apollo to increase shields, go back and finish the job.

[GATE FOOL]

I'm gald weir finally got to do something and not just sit around and say good luck on your mission, come back safely. She will b missed though.

[John W]

I thought this was an excellent episode and a neat conclusion to this three-parter.

As I said in my review for "Adrift", I really love seeing Sam Carter and was really happy when I learned she's joined the cast of "Stargate Atlantis" for this season. I was surprised both her and Doctor Lee have had their own seperate role in these two episodes though, although for good reasons. BTW, I smiled when I noticed Sam's still got her SG-1 patch on her jumpsuit. It's also cool that she's now been promoted to a full Colonel. I know she now outranks Sheppard, but as an SG-1 fan too I also wondered if she now outranks Mitchell too. I guess we'll maybe find out in "Stargate: Continuum", assuming he hasn't been promoted too.

As a fan of CGI, I thought it was awesome seeing yet more excellent visuals in this episode, from the Asuran city to Atlantis landing and then a new visual of the sky around Atlantis on it's new homeworld.

I was surprised the Apollo doesn't have the upgraded Asgard weaponry yet when it took on the Asuran ship in this episode. I guess maybe it'll get that sometime in the future.

Finally, I come to Weir's departure. I thought she had a great farewell and some really gutsy lines as she single-handedly took on Oberoth in a battle of will-power. I don't know if I'll miss her, especially since I prefer Sam. But she was still a good character and it's been refreshing to see a character who can be strong yet vulnerable at the same time. I recently rewatched "Lost City", in which the character was introduced (albeit with a different actress) and think the character's certainly been on a big journey from that episode to this one.

[Orion25]

Great episode. I liked how Weir turned the tables on Oberoth and how it was interpreted in visuals. I really thought the team was captured. There were so many highlights as everyone have mentioned (I'm so far at page 4, will continue reading). I've been wondering, when Sheppard was in the chair room after landing Atlantis, he looked like the effort took so much out of him or was this his show of relief since they've overcome difficult odds? Then, I've seen this same expression/ reaction again when he was in the chair room of an Aurora-class ship in "Travelers". Did he find out that he had some limits when interfacing for longer periods of time with Ancient technology or was he still unnerved by the connection? I wish we can read the actual script.

[Laura Dove]

Andreas just posted 54 promo pics for "Lifeline"! I absolutely adore the ones with Weir and Oberoth standing in the blue light. Hurry, the entry will remain public for 2 days only.