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    FAN REVIEWS: 'Enemy At the Gate'

    Visit the Episode Guide
    STARGATE ATLANTIS - SEASON FIVE
    EPISODE NUMBER - 520

    The team learns that a rogue Wraith has acquired several Z.P.M.s to power a formidable new hive ship -- and he is headed for Earth.

    VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >>



    GATEWORLD FAN REVIEWS

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    Last edited by GateWorld; 04 February 2021, 12:45 AM.

    #2
    One Ending is Another Beginning
    Overall the storyline was consistent with the Evolving storyline of the Wraiths Agenda to find a New Feeding Ground, since they had All awakened prematurely with the Stargate Team's arrival at Atlantis. A full circle, if you will. The quality of production was excellent as the level has increased over the years along with the present day evolving technology. The Acting was superb.
    I do feel there was room for a two hour program with all the events transpiring between both worlds and I would have personally liked to see this, but still the Episode delivered all the elements necessary.
    I do think that the Visual Effects could have gone up several notches. The Siege actually exceeds Enemy at the Gate at this. That multi-part Episode is my next favorite to Vegas. Vegas is a Milestone in the series, as far as I'm concerned. The Direction and Acting by Joe Flanigan/Sheppard was Superb. I really hope Joe doesn't go off and do a CIS type show. There are Way to many of them and its the same old song and dance, over and over and over. I never watch any of them anymore.
    I would have liked to actually have seen O'Neill in the Chair in Area 51 just escaping in the nick of time, or even not. As well, I feel T'ealc should have been flying a 302 as well as Mitchell. It could have been done, within a two hour program without overshadowing the Main Atlantis cast. I was glad to see Carter and Major Davis at least. I hadn't heard that the fine actor playing Hammond had passed this Plane in real life, but I'm glad that they Honored the Actor by honoring his character, that reflects on the Stargate Series Cast and Crew and Producers as well. It must be nice to be part of something so significant.
    How do you End a Mission, that in Reality is an ongoing mission. The Viewing of the Golden Gate was a nice touch. It was an obvious Icon of a Gate of significance as well as a thing of Beauty, the better creative quailities of humanity. As well, it was something Unique for the non-terrestrials, Ronan and Teyla and the other female character as well.
    I feel that a toast to Hammond by All the Cast of Characters of both teams and to the camera would have been a nice touch.
    Finally, Thanks Stargate Atlantis, All Cast, Crew and Production for Five Amazing years of incredibly tight-nit writing, production and superb casting, Direction and Acting. I felt very sad that it was the final episode. No, really.

    Comment


      #3
      The Series Finale of Stargate Atlantis can be summed up in one word: Rushed. While the episode prior (Vegas) was by far a master piece, showing the excellent acting skills of the whole cast, along with a peak of how brilliant and under handed the wraith can actually be, the Final Episode however seemed more pushed along and hurried.

      Within the very first 15 mins. of the episode it becomes apparent that while epic the episode should have been a two hour special. This can be seen many times throughout the episode as cliff hanger after cliff hanger is presented and solved within the span of 5 minutes. Precious and hard to find items such as ZPMs are located quickly and effortlessly. New forms of travel are presented and achieved with little to no effort. Key Ancient tech such as the battle chair are destroyed within minutes despite their importance in the series and simple battle options are completely ignored. For example sending in a small team to sabotage the wraith ship instead of rigging a Naquadah Generator to blow felt like an insult to viewers instead of logical choices. Even with all this perhaps the biggest "oh come on" moment in the episode is when Ronan is effortlessly killed and just as easily effortlessly revived to almost perfect health, an un-necessary plot twist. However all of these pale to the completely horrible tribute given to Don S. Davis (General Hammond) whose death is only briefly mentioned then pushed to the side. Even with Earth's destruction only a hair away this should have and could have been handled better. In fact Stargate has had more emotional tributes for characters that are merely leaving the series than they did for such a Veteran and prize as Don Davis whose acting and presence brought to life Stargate Command.

      However with all the above said 'Enemy At the Gate' was as mentioned still quite epic with audio, visuals, and makeup done far above normal Atlantis standards. There were several times throughout the episode when I absolutely blasted my sound system, or marveled at Todds amazing life-like makeup. Enemy At the Gate was while without a doubt rushed performed its task well. It alluded to the third Stargate series with a mentioning of a "Super top secret mission" and ended leaving the viewer satisfied and content. Atlantis is on earth where it can be studied and out of harms way. Earth now has a defense against almost any attack, all main characters remained alive, and it gave enough action to even satisfy Chuck Norris' appetite. And while it would have been nice to see more of the SG1 Team, this finale was for Atlantis, and did well to represent that.

      Comment


        #4
        Eatg was a culmination of what the ptb had been giving us all season, a show that has run out of ideas and lacks direction. It was chocker block full of action, and sped ahead at an incredibly fast pace but it lacked any kind of real tension or danger. One Souped up Hive Ship is a threat to a planet that houses billions of people, and one which has a considerable armoury !!. This alone took away any real feel of danger and this card has been played too many times now for it be effective.

        Earth is not some backward little planet that can only fire drones at the Hive Shep, it is a massive planet with technology to match the Wraith, but yet we are meant to shiver in our boots with fear at the implication of a Hive Ship making it's way to Earth.

        Too many convenient plot devices were thrown in, and one begins to wonder why Todd continues to help the Altanteans when all he suceeds in doing is putting his life in danger. Great special effects and visuals don't make up for character moments and due to the rushed nature of Eatg these moments were sadly lacking. If there is a lack of warmth and genuine feeling between the characters then that in turn is passed on to the audience, and diminishes our attachments to them. Sheppard offering to sacrifice himself has been done too many times now and again the impact has been lost because it has been overdone...in fact as much as I hate anyone dying, I thought it would have been fitting for Sheppard to have actually died in his second suicide attempt rather than been miracoulsy saved at the tenth hour, and it would have been worth it if we seen some genuine emotion from his team.

        The complete lack of reaction by his team was offputting. No attempts to talk him out of it except for Rodney's half hearted one. If Atlantis hadn't arrived when it did would he have just walked away to his death without so much of a "sorry to see you go", by his team. Time was ticking but a tiny moment or an anguished look wouldn't have gone amiss. But the ptb did attempt to give us that jaw dropping moment by killing Ronon, only to nullify it a moment later by resurrecting him. Personally I feel they shouldn't have bothered. We did get a moment of forced grief if you can call it that by the team with Ronon's death, but it all too suddenly seemed to revert back to business as usual seconds later.

        The chair being distroyed seemed way to easy and convenient. Wouldn't it have been housed in a bunker waaaay below ground. And I'm still wondering how the Wraith knew exactly where it would be. Maybe I missed out on that explanation because I was engrossed in the space battles. The episode just seemed a rehash of previous things that had happened in the course of the series, but with bigger and better explosions and more characters shoved into the episode. But I came to realisation that I just didn't really care all that much if any of them were killed because they don't seem to either.

        The finale was a display of visual effects but the characters were just like little pawns playing in a game without any real emotion or depth. No one really gets time to spend with anyone so very little building of relationships in season five. The only focus seemed to be on the Rodney and Keller relationship, and the final scene on the balcony just seemed to hightlight how fragmented the team had become. Rodney is off to side and the emphasis was on his relationship with Keller and not on the bonds he had created over a 5 year span with his team. They stand next to each other but there is no real warmth or family feel coming from any of them.

        Besides the lack of family feel during the last season, the penultimate episode of the series ignored the bonds that had formed between the team and concentrated on action and special effects. They did indeed succeed in this aspect, and on one hand Eatg was a fairly entertaining and visual episode, but on the other it was just a crammed disjointed, cliched episode with too many plot holes. On my first viewing the fast pace of the episode did prevent me from noticing these gaping plot holes and this probably was the intention of the writers, bowl us over with the pace and speed of the episode and we won't notice how conventiently it was all put together.

        Atlantis landing in the ocean and supposedy in the San Fransisco Bay area would have caused a tsunami and yet somehow we are to believe that no one noticed this little side effect of a huge city landing in the ocean.

        The chair being conveniently obliterated by 2 darts, why not just send a nuke through the gate and blow the Hive to pieces without Sheppard needing to offer to sacrifice his life once again.

        So if I'm happy to believe everything the writers have given us without question and take Eatg on face value I can say it was a reasonably entertaining episode, but somehow the glaring plot holes and the lack of character moments are preventing me from finding this episode anymore than mediocre and very disappointing. I hoped to see SGA go out with a bang and see some unexpected and exciting developments. I also hoped to see the team share some genuine moments of friendship and not stand like stiff carboard cutouts with some forced little shippy moments dedicated to Rodney and his love. It leaves me with a feeling of wanting to move on now and leave the Stargate Francise behind because it seems to have deviated too much from the show and characters I loved.
        Last edited by bluealien; 10 January 2009, 06:34 AM.
        sigpic

        Comment


          #5
          It's hard to tell how much of this series finale was conceived after the decision to cancel the series. Is that final scene on the balcony something that was always on the page, or was it a last-minute addition to give the fans a sense of closure? Was Atlantis always intended to crash back to Earth as a cliffhanger?

          I personally believe that the return to Earth was always on the books, and that we should be pretty damn happy that it was. Normally the seasons end with a cliffhanger, and ending the series that way would have been a shame. This choice makes it seem like the series has come full circle (recalling that "The Rising" began with the Atlantis taking flight in the distant past).

          Of course, none of the long-term issues are resolved. This eliminates one particular problem by taking down the only Wraith ship with a ZPM. But Todd's alliance has fallen apart, the Wraith are still marauding the Pegasus Galaxy, and now one of the major human powers has flown the coop.

          It's not hard to imagine that repairing and refining this "wormhole drive" will factor into any future return to Pegasus, and might even factor into the impending launch of "Stargate Universe". With the SGC and Atlantis in such close proximity, I also can't help but wonder if this was meant to facilitate some future character cross-pollination. With Area 51 gone and the defense of Earth now a rather big problem, Atlantis is going to be at the center of a great deal of attention.

          Keeping Todd around was a great choice. Keeping Ronon alive may not have been. As much as I like the character, he hasn't been given much in the way of development of late. The producers only seem willing to take out major characters when they want to toss a cast member out of the franchise airlock, and this would have been a stunning change of pace. Hopefully the eventual TV-movie will give Ronon more to do to justify his survival.

          As series finales go, this did pull out most of the stops. Sheppard and McKay had their usual moments of brilliance, the supporting cast was strong as ever, and Woolsey gave a rousing command performance. (Who would have guessed that Woolsey would be a better leader than Carter?) It was great to see some old, familiar faces here at the end. Some items felt a bit rushed at times, and this would have worked better as a two-hour finale event, but they did a great job with the time and resources available.

          Perhaps the best thing I can say about this series finale is that it was much better than the series finale for "Stargate SG-1". That finale was simply frustrating; this episode did a nice job of bringing the series full circle while pointing to the future. Frankly, I feel there's more potential in further Atlantis adventures, considering how the two "SG-1" DVDs have covered off most of the lingering plot threads of that series. Hopefully it won't be a long wait before we discover what the future holds for Team Atlantis.


          John Keegan
          Reprinted with permission
          Original source: c. Critical Myth, 2009
          All rights reserved
          Link: http://www.criticalmyth.com

          Comment


            #6
            A season finale is always a hard thing to judge but combine it with being the 100th episode and the series finale and it almost becomes impossible. Sentimentality is so mixed up with a wish list of expectations; a great story, action, drama, and a happy conclusion for the characters that we love. Enemy at the Gate makes a fair attempt at delivering a season finale and at delivering a showcase 100th episode, but ultimately, like so many shows where the timing of cancellation results in a restricted timescale to respond, it fails to deliver a satisfying series finale even if the story provides a fortuitous conclusion.

            As a season five season finale, the episode does provide a rousing finish even if the story is far too stand alone despite its tenuous connections to Be All My Sins Remembered, Vegas and Infection. The linkage is too fragile to suggest a true arc although provides a nice sense of continuity. While it could be argued the heart of the story - the Wraith attacking Earth and the Atlantis team saving it – is the overall theme of the series, unfortunately it just doesn’t compensate enough as the lack of the episode being the climax to an arc is the main weakness of the plot.

            The idea of the Wraith building an uber-Hive by marrying their technology with the ZPM is a clever one and establishes a clear threat to the Atlanteans and Earth. It is a shame that this wasn’t the basis of the season arc where the idea of the Hive could have been seeded earlier, perhaps Sheppard being warned by Todd, working with him to find the Hive, and ultimately just as they find it, it receiving the data burst from the other reality. As it stands, the audience is subjected to an episode where too much time is spent in the set-up and where we have to accept huge swathes of time pass between various scenes leading to an issue with pacing; plodding in some places, breakneck speed in others.

            The other main issue with the story in that regard is the sudden mention of *new* stuff and information; Todd’s ZPMs, the Sun Tzu, the wormhole drive, Carson’s newfound confidence with the Chair, Ronon’s romance with Amelia and let’s not forget the Odyssey’s secret mission – so secret that even a threat from the Wraith doesn’t justify it’s call back to Earth despite its being laden with Asgard technology. All of these things could have been worked into previous episodes so they made sense in this episode. While I give props to the production team for improving their overall arc-building skills with the arcs they chose to highlight this season (Michael’s demise, the Wraith feeding experiment, and the McKay-Keller romance), this story almost ruins all that hard work as I wonder why they didn’t realise this story could have made a great over-riding arc in amongst the others this season (or perhaps replacing the Wraith one).

            Where the story does excel is in the action sequences; the attack of the new Hive on the puddle-jumper and then the Daedalus, the dart-302 dogfight, the Hive and Atlantis duking it out in Earth’s atmosphere. There was tension and drama; the action was well-paced and visually stunning. The shot of Atlantis rising to stand between Earth and the Wraith is incredibly powerful and intensely symbolic; great CGI.

            The episode also provides some great character moments; Sheppard and his suicide run with his heartbreaking goodbye in the dart bay, Ronon’s death and defiance when he’s brought back to life, McKay’s and Teyla’s reaction to Ronon dying, all their reactions in being reunited on the Hive, Woolsey’s commanding presence in the fight, Sam’s calm authority on the ground. All of it is nicely sewn together. As a season finale, it ultimately doesn’t do a bad job, nor as a 100th episode.

            I’ve always sat in the camp that believes the milestone episodes should be epic tales and Enemy at the Gate does have story potential – Atlantis travelling back to Earth to save it from a Wraith attack – to be epic although ultimately not all this potential is realised in execution because of the lack of build up. The episode also nicely guests many of its recurring characters; Beckett, Sam, Zelenka, Lorne, Todd, Kavanaugh, Caldwell, Ellis, etc, although disappointingly Weir and Ford are not mentioned in some way. Importantly, Don S Davis’s wonderful Hammond is remembered.

            However, if it works as a season finale (with what would have been a great set-up for season six), and just as a 100th episode, as a series finale, it doesn’t feel enough. Perhaps because it fails to fully highlight the ‘endings’ for the characters; Teyla and her baby seem forgotten and while the rest get something (Woolsey’s strong leadership, Beckett’s confidence in the chair, McKay and Keller finding love, Ronon finding a home, and Sheppard, unlike his Vegas counterpart, having his team to save him from killing himself on yet another suicide mission) it’s all buried by the focus on the action. For me this has been Atlantis’s main flaw as a series: its characters and their journeys are generally subtext and yet it is when they take centre stage that the show excels such as in Before I Sleep or Sateda or Common Ground to name but a few.

            I am sad to see Atlantis disappear from its weekly TV serial format. While there is at least one movie to look forward to, I can’t help feel that it still had great potential to tell more stories. Enemy at the Gate nods at that potential; it is an epic story on an ambitious scale delivering action and drama. Yes, it had its flaws and works more as the season finale and 100th episode it was intended to be than the series finale it became, but there is synergy. In the first episode Atlantis left Earth and in the final episode, it returns. Even if this isn’t the ultimate end for Stargate Atlantis, for this TV serial version, it provides a satisfying conclusion.

            Bravo to all involved for five years of entertainment.
            sigpic
            Women of the Gate LJ Community.
            My Stargate Fanfiction. My LiveJournal.

            Comment


              #7
              The final episode of Atlantis was bittersweet.

              “Enemy at the Gate” was an example of what Stargate has always done best - lots of action, adventure, character moments and drama. It had its life and death situations, life and death choices and the heroic actions of the characters as they struggle to persevere.

              The episode was fast paced, and sped through a good, though somewhat intricate story. The plotline for the story picked up from the end of “Vegas”, when the Wraith sent a signal to alternative Universes disclosing the location of Earth. This was an inventive way of tying the two stories together while still having two episodes that could stand alone. Most importantly it gave a plausible reason on how the Wraith discovered the location of Earth and the means to defeat its defenses without much additional screen time.

              The drawback of the episode is that there was so much going on that it felt as if the viewer was being rushed from scene to scene and plot point to plot point. The scenes were very tightly cut and there was a lot of quick exposition needed to tie plot points together. Instead of giving the viewer a feeling of completeness, the episode left one with a feeling that there should have been more; that there were pieces that should have been seen or explained but weren’t. Overall the rushed pace of the story and plotlines left the impression that at times the story was over the top and the problems/issues were just too easily and conveniently overcome.

              The character moments, though there were too few of them, were touching and appropriate for the show’s finale. The scene in which Woolsey gives Ronon and Teyla the opportunity to leave Atlantis before it heads to Earth in which they steadfastly state not only their loyalty to Atlantis but the fact that they consider it their home was touching. It was certainly a moment that brought the characters full circle from their beginnings on Atlantis. Also the scene between Carson and Rodney as he is getting ready to take control of the chair and of course the scene where Carter tells Sheppard that the Phoenix was being renamed for General Hammond. It was a nice and fitting acknowledgment to General Hammond/Don S. Davis and the fact he is gone.

              Perhaps because it was the last episode it felt as though there were character moments that were missing. The McKay and Sheppard friendship has been constant and evolving for Atlantis’s five seasons. There was none of the classic McKay-Sheppard banter that has made their relationship so fun. Also, since Sheppard was responsible for first making friends with Teyla and making her a team member it seemed there should have a friendship moment between these two also.

              One has to wonder if these questions of rushed story and missing character moments would have felt as inadequate if this was only a season finale rather than a series finale. In some ways it feels as if this story and the series in general could have been better served by a two part finale episode rather than one that felt abridged.

              A very satisfying aspect of the episode is that most of the characters really got a moment to shine – to really display what was best and most beloved about each. The down side of this is that the writers did seem to over play into the stereotype of how some of the characters were portrayed. For example, Ronon fighting the Wraith to the death and Sheppard taking it upon himself to volunteer for a suicide mission. But even this in a way felt satisfying since these are attributes many viewers have come to love and expect from the characters. What was particularly nice was that the episode started with the team fighting the Wraith together in the jumper, they then separated but in the end found themselves fighting the Wraith together on the Hive. If the Wraith were to be defeated and the Hive destroyed, it felt good and appropriate to see them achieve that together as a team.

              The acting was exceptional. As always Joe Flanigan did an outstanding job. One scene in particular that stands out was when Woolsey told him he would be returning to Earth to man the chair. One could see first the confusion in his expression and then the realization that he would have the primary responsibility to protect Earth. Also the scenes between him and Christopher Heyerdahl as Todd were well written and acted.

              The ending scene with the cast looking out the Atlantis balcony onto San Francisco Bay felt a bit forced, even contrived, but seeing that it was the last episode it also felt somewhat satisfying. One could almost sense a feeling of sadness and uncertainty among the characters that this was both an ending and a beginning to the Atlantis story, but it also felt that it wasn’t just acting on part of the actors but rather the real emotions being felt by the cast – for the very same reasons.

              “Enemy at the Gate” attempted to bring the Atlantis story as well as the characters full circle. In some ways it succeeded in other ways it fell short. In some ways it was a satisfying ending for fans in other ways it left a feeling of emptiness- of scenes and story left undone. The episode was both an ending and beginning, but mostly it was just a bittersweet ending leaving one with dreams of what might have been.
              Last edited by EdenSG; 22 February 2009, 06:51 PM. Reason: spelling

              Comment


                #8
                Enemy At the Gate

                So this is it, this is what it's all come down to. The 100th episode, the season finale and unfortunately the final episode of Stargate Atlantis. It has a lot of things, one being this would be the one which would set up what could be an epic two parter that would of lead us to the 6th season, one being the milestone and one which is done differently than any other 100th (or 200th) episode out there. See normally the 100th episode would of been comedic (like "Wormhole X-Treme") but with this, they aim to put so much action in there that you be pumped up for days.

                They also aim to work their magic here; it's kind of like a kitchen, the best of the best all in one room, combining ingredients in the way they know how. A touch of space battles here and there, special effects, possibly action in the hive, a bit of death, a bit of sacrifice, a bit of conflict, and even a spice of character here and two. I'd imagine the writers would possibly want to make this the best of the best, a true collaboration featuring everything they've done up to this point but they keep on adding and mixing the ingredients in a way that it gives an almost sour taste, what's worse is that they overcooked the stuff leaving it to taste even worse and yet TPTB do not care, they keep adding and adding all while the fans complain, scream out and faint from a distance, even managing to cry out a tear here and there. Everything you know about Stargate Atlantis is there, sort of like a greatest hits but none of it seems to form a coherent plot; this is evident by the premise which seems like a fan wrote it. You have an "epic ZPM hive powered ship", "a hive finally coming to Earth", "space battles", "Daedalus", "Earth Battles" and "Atlantis coming out to defeat that hive ship", all things that sound cool and yet there's a lack of focus to it; the fan must of been thinking about how awesome the hive us, how awesome the crew are, and how awesome the battles are and they decided to focus about how awesome it is, there isn't any natural reason for these things to exist in the first place, it's as if they popped out of thin air in order to give Atlantis the huge threat they need to justify this episode and as the episode goes on, it gets even odder with sudden appearances of technologies that haven't even been mentioned who's sole purpose is to make those awesome moments happen. I can understand when a fan gets all giddily about this stuff but there has to be a reason for an "epic ZPM hive" to exist, there has to be a purpose to the overall plot that they get into, otherwise it just seems insubstantial.


                Sense of scale.

                Luckily, the entire crew is here and they manage to portray themselves well though their dialog is bad. Barely any of it is dynamic and entrancing, it's all "there's this thing out there", "we gotta go destroy it", "go, go, go" which fits into the mood of the episode but makes them all into generic shells that serve to the fans whims. It felt awkward watching them in action, sure they worked as a team but this is a far cry from when they were first portrayed in Season 1. There are certain times where the going gets serious, various officials talk to each other, try to remind them what's at stake but those times feel generic, Woosley is brought down heavily not seeming like the diplomatic, good-minded leader we saw for most of the season and instead seeming like a guy sprouting out catchphrases and speeches as if he was in a 60's drama and Sam... Well let's just say that she fares better but there isn't much to her that shows her as the character we all know and love and she ultimately showcases why she was insubstantial in Season 4. Certain traits do remain but we get what the fan thinks of the character; hysterical yelling combined with a workman mentality, rugged voice with an action mentality and some catchphrases... It's nice to see some of the characters have some personality but ultimately it's just a small tidbit that helps our characters keep afloat, barely. There are odd discrepancies between the minor characters who appear; Todd is established at the beginning but than forgotten in the middle and only brought up at the end, it's a problem because he's the one who started the plot in the first place; even then he has devolved into a joke, showing no wiseness and doing the wisecracking and sarcastic voice that definatley suggests antagonism (which Sheppard runs to the ground pretty quickly); and Keller, she's barely even mentioned appearing in only 3-4 scenes. Whether it's good or bad is up to you but I feel disappointed she didn't appear more.

                The plotting of the episode is tight in order to fit every one of those aspects transitioning quickly from one to to the next. You may recognize the good times when you see the Daedalus in action with it's shield being hit, you may feel nice when you see the crew roam the hive ship with guns blazing, you may even get a sight out of seeing two ZPM's; it's a reflection of those moments that make up Atlantis, the one the audience has come to grow and love over the past 5 years but it seems like these moments don't contribute to the plot much thus having the result of lessened impact. Daedalus not able to come back, eh on to the next one; Ronan dieing, we'll revive him. The chair being destroyed? meh. Sheppard sacrifing himself, you get the picture... It is nice to see these moments, the kind of emotion that we would get from them; there hasn't been a time when we saw Ronan die and well, we get that here and we even get a sense of Atlantis being a truly powerful city but what reason is there to make us really care about what happened. There hasn't been much from what we could gather of Season 5 that could constitute as a buildup, they tried to make two enemies in the form of Todd and evil Asgard but they never panned out; even the beginning of the episode is ridiculously anticlimactic starting off with the exact details of what this episode is. Without stakes, we're left watching scene after scene of what constitutes as nothing and what happens when there's nothing, we know exactly what's going to happen. They do attempt to appease the Stargate fans with pivotal moments such as Beckett on the ancient chair and every Stargate cast member you can think of (including SGC) but there isn't anything to this attempt and that's evident when we're forcing ourselves to look to "Rising" just to give Beckett credence and leaning solely on the excitement that our favorite settings/characters are here.


                Sense of awesomeness. Or the jitters...

                This wasn't meant to be the series finale, this was meant to parlay it into a 6th season or more likely the telemovies which never happened for various reasons. When you see Atlantis crashing into the ocean of Earth, you get the feeling that there's supposed to be more to it than just that, (it seems like the writers changed this to seem like it was the end) the various fallacies, loosed ends, unfinished storylines. At this point in time the SGA writers wrote themselves into a wall they can't get out of but those fans should of deserved a proper closure for all of their faithfulness. Anyway... This season series finale ends up a bust. With no proper buildup there's no stakes which leads to the episode going in awkward directions that ends up more like a fanscript than an actual episode. It's admirable that they wanted to put the greatest moments of Atlantis into one episode but when it's put together in a mess like this, it makes us want a regular episode in return; regardless of the occasion. It's a real pity so to speak, one filled with tons of depression, it's just shocking to see such a show get ended like this. Shame if you've invested in it those 5 years.

                2.0/10
                Back from the grave.

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