Stargate Atlantis: Doppelganger

By Wolfen Moondaughter
You may remember my mentioning the whole Zelekna-LSD issue in the last column: specifically, that he was using one and shouldn’t have been able to. I’ve seen the question asked elsewhere as well — and apparently answered in Joe Mallozzi’s own blog. (Darn it, I missed this when I was skimming it last week! Gimme a break, I had to get the column in. *Wink*) He revealed there that the device Zelenka used was an energy-detection-device similar to ones SG-1 has used in the past. Just thought you should know.

I also want to weigh-in on something else for a moment before I get to the episode commentary: namely, the complaints I’ve seen about Sam’s having gone on the rescue mission with Ronon. Now, I can understand why people feel that way, especially after Star Trek: The Next Generation drove home the notion that captains — or people in similar positions — should not go on away missions. But Sam is not an Air Force General, like Landry; she’s a Colonel — like Jack O’Neill was when he led SG-1 — in what is, at least in some respects, just a very large-partied away mission. Besides, as I’ve said before, Elizabeth was greatly uninteresting to me until she went on a mission of her own; I’d hate to see Sam get similarly boring!

Oh, and is anyone else finding the oh-so-addicting weekly Stargate Mission games to be really hard?? Maybe I’m just that bad at strategy ….

And lastly, a belated Happy Birthday to Chris Judge, Robert C Cooper, and Joe Mallozzi, whose birthdays were October 13th, 14, and 16th respectively.

4.4: “Doppelganger”

Our intrepid team trudges through a jungle. For once, Rodney is being enthusiastic (a fact that both Ronon and Teyla comment on) and everyone else is complaining. He insists he’d just trying to turn over a new leaf. (Whatever the real reason, it’s nice change of pace, as well as very amusing; I live for team banter like this!) John is skeptical of their being anything to find, and almost breaks the fourth wall when he says he suspects that someone in a warm, cozy room typing away at their computer sent them to the planet for their own amusement. (Brilliant!) Rodney asks if he really thinks Zelenka would do that; I love Ronon’s suggesting that Radek will get hurt if he did. (I guess Radek did have a reason to look afraid in “Adrift”!)

Love John’s answer of “42″ when Rodney asks, rhetorically, if the man knows how many gate addresses don’t have accompanying descriptions in the Ancient database. (For the two or three of you out there who haven’t read Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide series, “42″ is the answer to the meaning of “life, the universe, and everything”.) John really is a geek deep down, isn’t he? (Well, at least as far as sci-fi pop culture references go!) Of course paranoid, conspiracy-theory-loving Rodney (who seems to have completely missed the reference) thinks the Ancients left out a description on the planet on purpose — at least until John points out that they would only be hiding it from themselves. (I want to see Mulder’s “I Want Believe” poster hanging in Rodney’s room.) Rodney then suggests a much more sensible reason for looking into the strange energy reading: whatever it is may not have appeared until after the Ancients last visited. Teyla finally figures out why Rodney is so insistent that they keep looking; she asks if Rodney had a bet riding on the success of the mission. (He eventually admits that he does, with Radek.)

John steps in mud (for a second, I think he’s stepped in a turd or something), and, fed up, announces that the mission’s over. A collection if crystals on a tree light up just then — the source of the strange energy readings that drew Rodney out there in the first place. John says, “It looks like one of those toys you play with as a kid.” “A Commodore 64?” Rodney asks. “A triple-barrel shot-gun?” Ronon chimes in. (Why am I not surprised, Ronon? Of course, the correct answer is, What is a kaleidoscope? What do you expect from a man who loves Ferris Wheels?) Oh my god, Robert C Cooper (yes, he penned this ep), you have killed me with laughter, and the episode’s barely started!

John, enthralled, touches the crystal, and gets a shock that throws him back several feet. While Ronon and Teyla make sure John is okay, Rodney evinces his own brand of worry: the reprimand. He told John it gave off an energy signature, he should have known it could be dangerous — and now it’s drained, he killed it! “Seriously, why would you touch it??” Rodney asks John incredulously. John doesn’t know, he just did. (Gutter-minded McSheppers everywhere snort soda through their nose at this. Thankfully, I’m not drinking anything.) John wants to leave, and says he’s going to recommend sending a science team in to check it out. “I am a science team!” Rodney protests. (Heee, that’s got to be one of my all-time fave Rodney lines now!) Ronon grabs the back of his tac vest and drags him along. (Is anyone else reminded in that moment of a lion carrying an errant cub?)

Back in the infirmary, Keller says John’s perfectly healthy, and warns him not to go touching strange things anymore. John thanks Teyla for keeping him company and, patting her on the back, assures her that he’s fine. There’s a strange flash of light when he touches her, but neither of them notices. He gives her a thumb’s-up, telling her to get some sleep. Teyla has a strange look on her face, kind of a wry, almost-creepy smile, when she says goodnight back, after he’s already left. Hmmm. Is she just amused, does it have something to do with the crystal, or does this have something to do with the crush she talked about with her friend back in “Sunday”? (I hope not, I was kind of hoping it was Carson or Ronon that she was crushing on. While I can definitely understand it, I just never did get into the idea of John/Teyla.)

That night, Teyla dreams that John’s come over to her Athosian tent for dinner — and likes her cooking. (She’s a terrible cook, in case you’ve forgotten.) “I knew you two would eventually hook up,” Ronon says in a funny call-back to his mentioning that theory to John in “Sunday”. (I assume that he reiterates it here because the entity came from Shep’s head first, seeing as she was not privy to that conversation.) Teyla denies it in a way that sounds, to me, like she’s baffled by the idea, rather than in a nervous cover-up sort of way. (Or maybe I’m just hoping.) Rodney says he’d getting a strange energy reading just as he walks around Sheppard (her subconscious apparently recognises that Evil!Sheppard is connected to the crystals). John speaks her fears aloud, saying Carter doesn’t trust her (but that he does … hmmm), and that she’s been different since her encounter with the Wraith queen that took her over (doubtless she fears she’s been compromised somehow, or could be taken over again). She hears her father call her name, sounding like he’s being attacked, outside. Before she can leave, Iratus!Sheppard (from “Conversion”) comes in and attacks her. She wakes up gasping and shaken.

The next morning, she’s telling Rodney and Ronon about the dream. Rodney tries to out-do her, but Ronon won’t let him share his story (spoilsport!). John arrives, and Rodney informs him (in a fashion reminiscent of a tattle-tale, but not gleeful — it’s just that the Rodney can’t not share what he knows) that Teyla had a dream about him. Teyla is irritated that Rodney said anything, and says the dream was more of a nightmare. Shep asks if he was a dashing hero saving her from a Big Bad Monster. (Yeah, it’s really starting to look like John/Teyla FTW. Sigh. Ah well, I’ll live.) Ronon informs John that, actually, he was the Big Bad. Teyla leaves, complaining of a headache.

John asks the boys if she’s mad at him, complaining that he can’t control what’s in her dreams. Rodney begs to differ, saying his father read him Moby Dick when he was only seven, and it gave him nightmares about being eaten by a whale for weeks. “They haven’t stopped, have they?” Ronon says, more of a statement than a question. “No,” Rodney confirms. Fantastic comic timing there, guys! And great call-back to “Grace Under Pressure”, where Rodney was sooo sure that the whale-fish that ultimately saved his life was going to eat him! (Funny, though, you’d think his fondness for the animal that saved his life twice would go a long way towards alleviating that nightmare ….) Oh, fun bit of trivia: this experience is loosely-based on a real-life event from Cooper’s own childhood, involving his father taking him to see Jaws ….

Teyla tells Heightmeyer about her dream, worried about how it’s made her feel differently about John, wondering if she has some subconscious issue she needs to resolve. Heightmeyer suggest that, if there’s “something real” going on between her and John, she needs to get out into the open (like romantic feelings?), but otherwise not to let it bother her. (Kate Heightmeyer now has red hair, like Katie Brown! Isn’t the similarity in names enough??) Teyla elaborates that this nightmare was worse than any she’s ever had (and it sounds like she’s had some doozies), so bad that she’s afraid to go to sleep. She sees Keller next, who says she seems fine physically and gives her some sleeping pills. She grips the woman’s arm in thanks. (Oh yeah, she’s definitely victim number two, even if there was no tell-tale glow this time).

A sleeping Keller gets an emergency call. When she gets to the infirmary, she learns that Teyla was in the mess with Sheppard when she started having abdominal pains. Keller says she prescribed some Ambien — did Teyla take any? Apparently not. (Hellooooo, product placement! But of course they couldn’t have it be something Keller gave her that made her sick, which I would think would be a common fear for a doctor, if they’re going to name-drop like that. Don’t want people thinking that taking that pill will implant them with a chest-burster, after all. *Wink*) When Keller goes to examine Teyla, we see that something is moving under the Athosian woman’s skin. Her belly bursts open, killing her and revealing a big, winged bug-monster within. John looks excited, like a kid, as he asks, “Can you believe this?” Then Keller wakes up in a cold sweat.

Keller heads to the infirmary and snags some Ambien for herself from a medical supply cabinet. When she turns away from the cabinet, she’s scared half out of her wits by Ronon, who seems to have come out of nowhere. He’s actually looking a bit evil (or lecherous?) as he apologises for startling her. (The scenario still seems kind of dream-like too, making me question everything — just like a good horror story should!) Sheppard explains that they were sparring, and he got in a lucky shot; Ronon’s head is bleeding. “It’s the middle of the night!” she points out. “Maybe for you,” Ronon says. (Soooo … he and John spar in the middle of the night a lot? *Cough*) Keller tells Ronon he’ll need stitches, to which he replies he must have taught John too well. (I am much amused! Do you think they were playing that weird game from back in “Sunday”?) Ronon tells Sheppard that he doesn’t need to stick around for him, but he wants a rematch tomorrow, which Sheppard unhappily agrees to. As John leaves, Keller watches him go, clearly remembering her nightmare. Misinterpreting her expression, Ronon tells her that John’s not seeing anyone, and he can put in a good word for her; she assures him she’s not interested. (Seriously, Ronon, what is with your interest in John’s love life? And anyway, as much as I always pictured you with Teyla, there’s definitely some chemistry between Keller and you, here. Uh-oh, looks like Wolfie’s found a new ship ….) Keller tells him to lay down, so her work will be easier, and he complies.

Next we see him, he’s exiting the infirmary, though it doesn’t take a genius to figure out he fell asleep on the table. (So much for it not being the middle of the night for him.) He looks around, scowling; where is everyone? (Ah, asleep, maybe?) He goes to the Control Room; no one there either (okay, here there should be someone). “Is anyone there?” he calls out. He starts running around, getting panicked. Well of course Ronon’s greatest fear would be being alone again, after being a Runner for so long! I really feel for him here, like I did in the end of “Reunion”. He races back to the infirmary, but the door opens to an outdoor scene. Warily, he steps outside. Wraith stunner blasts hurl towards him, and he’s on the run again. He meets up with Sheppard, who hits him over the head. (And there’s his other fear, I’m sure: being betrayed again by someone he trusts like family.) When he comes to, we see that he’s bound and gagged in a grave, and that Sheppard is burying him. He wakes up in a panic, startling Keller, who’s still stitching him up. He apologises, saying he was having the strangest dream.

The next day, Keller’s telling Teyla, Rodney, and Ronon them about the bug bursting out of Teyla in her dream, and John’s creepy reaction, “like it was the coolest thing ever!” Ronon remarks that it “sounds like that movie …” — Alien, Keller qualifies. Teyla says Sheppard speak of it often (like in “Vengeance”!) She goes on to explain that, after telling a friend about the nightmare the film had given her, her friend has stuck a snake in the cadaver she’d been working on. Rodney then launches into a story of how he hadn’t seen the movie until he was a teen, when he took a girl on a date to see it, figuring she would curl up against him in fright. Teyla makes a great remark about Earth culture having some strange rituals. (Much as I love the boyo, I’m wondering how the socially-inept Rodney managed to swing a date. He’s mentioned dates before, too — and seems to have a comment to make about the girls’ breasts every time. I’d wondered in the past if he’d been making them up, but given how this story turns out, now I doubt it ….) He goes on to say that he eats when he get’s nervous (“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Ronon quips. *Snort* ….), so when the chest-burster popped out, he puked up all the snacks he’d consumed, all over the girl. “I’ve got to see this movie!” Ronon says with a grin.

Keller asks if it seems weird to anyone else that they’ve all had bad dreams with Sheppard as the central figure — Teyla adds with John not acting like himself. Rodney chimes in that he hasn’t, and when Keller asks if he’s had any bad dreams of late, he launches into another story about a dream he’ had just the other night, in which Carter had invited him over for dinner. Teyla protests that maybe they shouldn’t be hearing this, and Keller adds that they were talking about bad dreams, not delusional male fantasies. (Hah! The woman’s fitting right in, isn’t she?) McKay continues his tale, revealing that dinner had turned out to be Lemon Chicken (with him, of course, being deathly allergic to citrus). Then Carter told him she was promoting Zelenka over him (gracious, his dreams are transparent!) … and then he was eaten by a whale. Keller and Teyla goes on about the strangeness of the dreams: the fact that Keller had hers right after talking to Teyla, and Ronon having one while Keller was working on him. I like Keller, she’s one smart cookie!) Ronon shrugs it off, though, not seeing what the big deal is. (Or maybe he’s just not wanting to admit how much he was shaken by it, being Mr Tough Guy?) Words cannot express how much I love this whole sequence, just a bunch of friends hanging out, chatting. I don’t care that it doesn’t really move the story enough to justify the amount of time spent on it; I like that it felt like we were all hanging out there with them. It reminded me much of my college days, or hanging out in the break-room with my co-workers.

Keller shares her concerns with a sympathetic Carter, adding that the weirdness started happening just after Sheppard touched the crystal. (Yes, very smart — and it also makes perfect sense for her to have made the deductions; they didn’t come out of nowhere!) Someone interrupts them, telling Carter that there’s a security matter going down in the atrium.

A barefoot Major Lorne’s got Sheppard at gunpoint, telling everyone they need to hit the Colonel with an ARG because he thinks the man is a Replicator. (Hmm, I wonder how he came in contact with Ronon. Sparring?) There’s a circle of people around them, a number of them with guns trained on Lorne. Heightmeyer is trying to talk him down. Sam arrives, and suggests they comply; John’s upset, thinking she believes Lorne. She reminds him that it won’t hurt him, but it might convince Lorne to put the gun down. Lorne can hear her, though, and jumps to the conclusion that she’s a Replicator too. He waves the gun at her, and gets stunned by Ronon’s blaster. (Man, it’s a lucky thing that being stunned didn’t make the Major pull the trigger!)

Heightmeyer questions Lorne, which is in a circular chamber, from a room up above him; she can see him though a glass wall. Keller, Carter, and Sheppard are there. We learn tat Lorne was under the influence of the entity while sleepwalking. Sheppard protests again that he cant control what people dream. Sam goes into “relating past experiences” mode, and shares the story of when O’Neill was impersonated by an alien crystalline being that he’d touched (SG-1’s “Cold Lazarus”). I can see how her “when I was in SG-1″ stories and “I’ve seen similar stuff before” attitude might annoy some fans, but a) it’s relevant, b) it would be stupid not to apply ten years worth of experience to current problem-solving, and c) it’s counterbalanced nicely with Heightmeyer pointing out the fact that Carter herself was inhabited by an alien entity once, which Sam seems embarrassed to be reminded of. (It does seem a little off-topic, though: Sam wasn’t talking about possession, just an alien crystal entity. Maybe it’s just the way Kate said it ….)

John questions the thing’s motive: Keller suggests fear, then apologises, saying she’ll shut up. Sam says no, it’s not a stretch, they just need proof. Keller goes through what happened again, thinking aloud, and Sheppard points out that he was the one who touched the crystal in the first place, but he hasn’t had any dreams. Heightmeyer conjectures that the entity might have imprinted his image onto itself. (Gee, Kate, kinda like what Sam was saying happened in O’Neill’s encounter? And again, her inflections are weird.) Keller suggests the thing’s influence may be limited by touch, so Sam orders that everyone who’s been in contact with Lorne be isolated, adding that if it is an alien entity, they need to figure out how too detect it. (And really, it’s good that she’s not automatically assuming it is, even if we know that it is.)

Sam, John, Teyla, Ronon, Keller, Rodney, and Heightmeyer convene in the meeting room. Rodney refuses to sit at the table with the rest of them, staying as far away from Sheppard as possible. (You know, I can’t really blame him ….) Sam outlines what safety protocols they’ll be using. Ronon doesn’t get what all the fuss is, saying they’re just bad dreams. (Question: why is Ronon there? He’s not a commander of any kind, nor a doctor. Actually, that goes for Teyla, too: she’s the leader of the Athosians, and the Athosians aren’t in even on the same planet anymore ….) Sam explains that they may have an alien among them who can posses people and jump bodies at will; Kate elaborates that it seems malicious, with the Sheppard copy having the earmarks of a sociopath. John asks Teyla if he had a goatee. (Heeee! Wait, Mirror!Kirk didn’t have a goatee, John — are you saying you’d be Spock? I think Rodney would beg to differ ….) Heightmeyer goes on to say the thing could get more and more dangerous; John asks if she means like Freddy Krueger. (I bet he kicks ass at Trivial Pursuit!) Rodney thinks they’re being ridiculous; they have no proof of anything. Despite siding with Ronon, though, he seems pretty scared when Sam says she’s sending him back to the planet to investigate. He suggests a science team may be more qualified; Ronon reminds him, with a companionable pat on the shoulder, that he is a science team.

Well, at least Rodney gets back-up — there’s a team with him, including Zelenka. There’s a funny exchange about their bet: Rodney says Radek lost because there is definitely something there on the planet, and Zelenka argues that he’d said something of value, which the crystal does not qualify as. (I love the way David Nykl delivers his lines here. Also, yay for Zelenka getting out of the city for a change!) They find the depleted crystal as well as a new one, and decide that comparing the two could be useful but harvesting them could be dangerous. So of course Rodney shunts the task off on poor Zelenka. (Truth be told, though, I think if Rodney really thought there was a risk even with their hazmat suits, I think he would do it himself — using the excuse that anyone else doing it would probably kill them all in the process. And underneath his cowardice, there’s the message that he trusts Zelenka, if he’s willing to let the man do marginally-dangerous things.)

Back in the lab, Zelenka and Keller explain to Keller what they’re trying to do with the samples: keeping them in non-conductive containers, they want to calibrate the handheld sensors to detect the entity’s energy signature in people, hoping to do so before it might hop bodies. Zelenka also points out that they don’t know if the entity is sentient; Rodney thinks there’s sufficient evidence. (So much for his being the skeptic!) Radek snaps his fingers, a la Rodney, saying he has an idea to calibrate the city-wide sensors to help in the search; Rodney makes fun of him. Keller, meanwhile, is getting enthralled by the crystal, but Zelenka stops her from touching the container — better to be safe than sorry. She says she was overcome by the desire to touch it; Rodney says, a bit subdued, that they think that’s how it “ropes in its victims.” Yay for another Zelenka scene! (You know, he and Keller have nice chemistry too. Ooh, I know, let’s have domino crushes! Have Zelenka crush on Keller, Keller on Ronon, Ronon on Teyla, Teyla on Sheppard, Sheppard on Elizabeth … No, no, I kid; keep your tomatoes to yourself!) There’s a bit of repetitive exposition in this episode, but I don’t mind, as it’s delivered well, with a lot of humour, and each reiteration usually has something new to add.

Zelenka scans Lorne, under Rodney & Sam’s watchful eye: no sign of the entity. Sam and Rodney realise that, if it can travel through conductive material, it could travel through the city’s power conduits and be in anyone. (Which may or may not explain how it got into Lorne. We might ask why it didn’t do it before, but then, maybe it had no reason to, or maybe it didn’t even figure it out that it could do that until it was in Lorne.)

Teyla finds Heightmeyer standing on a balcony railing, terrified and pleading for help. Is she sleepwalking too, I wonder? Teyla tries to help, but Evil!Sheppard won’t let her. (And isn’t it funny that this is the second time she moves to help someone but he stops her?) I realise then that, though this scene seems to be from Teyla’s perspective, it’s really Kate’s dream. (Does it strike anyone else as funny that Heightmeyer’s nightmare deals with heights?) Kate falls. (And we get a cool shot of the fall from her point-of-view. Not something I’d ever want to experience first-hand, though.)

Keller arrives at Kate’s room. Kate is sleeping, and a somber Teyla stands beside her bed, saying quietly that she can’t wake her up. Keller checks Kate’s vitals, and announces that the woman is dead. (Teyla couldn’t tell that? Well, that would explain why she didn’t do CPR. Or maybe Kate died right before Keller go there. For that matter, why doesn’t Keller do CPR?) I’ve seen a number of people express the concern that the whole “die in a dream, die in your sleep” thing is supposed to be a myth, but really, I buy it in this instance. I mean, it stands to reason that if you got scared enough, you could have a heart attack in your sleep. And besides, we are talking about dreams induced by a malevolent energy form — that has to factor in too, especially since Teyla and Keller both said it was worse than an ordinary nightmare. Now, is it just me, or did it almost seem as though Teyla had gone into Kate’s dream? Her telepathy’s not supposed to work that way — it’s just supposed to work with Wraith, because they commune with each other in such a way. And yet … since she is human, doesn’t it stand to reason she might use it to commune with her own people? It would certainly explain the state of shock she seems to be in, if she really saw Kate fall.

Sam informs the city of Heightmeyer’s death and the continued need for people to stay in their quarters. (I am a bit sad about Heightmeyer, but not overly so, even if I think the need to kill off known characters — as opposed to incidental “red shirts” — is clichéd, even unfounded.) While she speaks, we see Teyla in her quarters, looking stone-faced, and John in his, looking a little like he did when Keller had told him Elizabeth was likely going to die or be severely impaired. For all his insistence that he can’t control other people’s dreams, I think he feels responsible, and not just for having touched the crystal (like he could help it), but because this thing is promoting terror with his own face. When Sam finished her speech, Keller tells her she did well under such awful circumstance; Sam is grateful.

We see Sheppard lying awake in his bed, with his booted feet dangling. (Maybe next season you can get a big-boy bed, Colonel!) He gets to his feet and moves to leave. Teyla’s at his door; he says he was just about to go see her, but wasn’t sure she’d want to see him. She hugs him, wordlessly; he can’t quite bring himself to lay his hands on her back (possibly because, thanks to the cut of her shirt, it’s bare, and that would feel too intimate. So the question is, did she seek him out because she needed him (and as a friend or more?), or just because she’s insightful enough to have figured he would be wallowing in guilt? (Perhaps if she’s as psychic as I ruminated, she’d even sensed his grief!) It’s a tender moment, regardless of the nature of their bond. I really feel for Sheppard the most, though; she may have been the one who lost a dear friend, but his eyes really get to me. (Checked out Mallozzi’s blog after writing this: Rob Cooper did a guest stint there to answer fan questions, and revealed that there had actually been more to the scene, which got cut. Teyla and Sheppard did talk in his room, and she basically told him Heightmeyer’s death wasn’t his fault. Just thought that might interest you. Although I’m guessing a good many of my readers already read Joe’s blog ….)

Zelenka tells Sam he thinks he’s got the city-wide scanners properly recalibrated and pinpointed the location of the entity. She asks who it’s in. Then we see Rodney walking into the round room, asking first what Zelenka needs him for, then, before the man can ask, what’s up with the rubber room. Zelenka only apologises, but Rodney’s a smart guy and knows exactly what Radek means. The camera pans up to Sam & Keller watching from the observation deck. They confirm the entity is in Rodney.

Sheppard comes in, looking tired. “It’s in Rodney?” he asks in a small voice, looking down at his friend, who is looking back up at him. I melt into a puddle of goo. (Okay, it may have been the John/Teyla show up to this point, but it’s McShep all the way, from here on out! Woo-hoo! I’d apologise for my enthusiasm, but I already said in the first edition of this column that I make no apologies for being a die-hard McShepper. So yeah, I’m going to squeal fangirlishly. I’ll keep it in the parentheses, at least.) Sam explains that the rubber room should keep the entity from passing through the walls; Keller sounds a bit triumphant as she says that if they’re right, they have the thing trapped. Sheppard worriedly points out that this won’t help McKay much, seeing as the entity kills people in their sleep. (Awww, look at him; he could care less that everyone else is safe when Rodney’s still at risk.) Sam agrees that they need to find a way to get the thing out of him. Rodney’s voice comes in over the intercom — he’s already a bit tired and needs coffee. John gives him a small nod and a tight smile. (Guh!) Keller says she can give him something to keep him awake, but only for so long before there’s a risk of pulmonary failure (particularly since McKay is already hypertensive, I would imagine.) Sam’s a little been there, done that, bough the t-shirt (in a reference to SG-1’s “Morpheus”).

Sam and John move to Weir’s old office (funny that Sam calls it that — does she use a different one, I wonder?), and Ronon and Teyla join them. They discuss the situation and their options. John wonders if there’s some way to reason with it. Sam fears that it would want to take this last opportunity to kill a host. John wonders if it has survival instincts: will it die if Rodney does and it has no one to jump to? Teyla suggests they offer it the chance to go home. Sam suggests that they hypnotise Rodney and get him to make the offer to it in a waking dream state; Teyla seconds the notion, saying Rodney’s managed to get into a meditative state before. John’s more skeptical, pointing out that Rodney had been genetically altered at the time. Ronon says, “I’m sorry … what?” I think he’s just not getting the science until he says “You want McKay to ask this thing to leave?” The others concede that man has a point, considering Rodney’s not exactly the bravest of men, and this thing is scary and manipulative.

Sheppard wishes there were a way to send someone else in there with him, and asks Sam, with all she’s seen (see, they’re taking advantage of her experience! It’s not her being Super!Sam), if she knows of anything that can do that. She has that look that says she may have an idea, and walks off wordlessly. Ronon asks what’s going on, truly confused this time rather than skeptical. Sheppard says he thinks he’s about to see a side of Rodney he never wanted to. (I’ll just refrain this time from cracking the obvious joke. You know I’m thinking it anyway.) Teyla says it doesn’t have to be him, but he argues that it was his bad idea. Ronon asks what again. (Oh, I love you, you big galoot. I guess you needs to brush up on that science more. *Wipes a tear of laughter away*)

In the rubber room, Rodney and John are lying on beds, with a bunch of equipment around them. In the observation room, Sam is explaining to Ronon and Teyla about the virtual reality technology that survivors of a holocaust had been using (SG-1’s “The Gamekeeper”, and can I just say how happy I am that they’ve found a steady way to make references to the other show?). They’ve adapted it here so that they can tap into Rodney’s subconscious, but she isn’t sure how well the computer will be able to interpret what it finds for John. “I’m just hoping that the two of them will be able to interact somehow,” Sam says. (You and me both, lady. *Cough*)

Looking uncertain, Rodney asks if John is sure about this (“Nooot really …” — love the way Flanigan says that) and then confesses, in a small voice, that he’s pretty messed up. (Awwww! Woobie!) “You’re tellin’ me,” John replies. (Um, is John saying yes, he knows Rodney’s screwed-up, or saying he’s just as screwed-up himself?) “Thanks,” Rodney says awkwardly. “I haven’t done anything yet,” John growls. “For trying,” Rodney expounds, adding a little crankily, “And don’t say I didn’t warn you.” (So married! Of course I’m totally in love with everything from this bit onwards ….)

Rodney’s rowing a boat in the rain, with the city a looooong ways off and a whale in the water nearby. Evil!Sheppard, wearing his BDUs, tells Rodney to give it up. “Oh, way to help out!” Rodney snaps, apparently not realising that this is the entity. The real John, wearing that lovely black fleece of his (*wipes drool away*), has Rodney’s back — literally! Sitting behind him, he tells Rodney not to listen, reassuring him that everything will be okay (and being all-around supportive in a way he seldom is in the outside world, alas), even as the other Sheppard continues to be condescending. Rodney believes he needs to get back to the city to survive. Evil!Shep says he’s gonna die, while John continues his “Don’t listen to him,” schtick. Rodney snaps that he should help him row, and, in the way of dreams, suddenly John is rowing, right beside him. (I think I have a terminal case of the warm fuzzies.) John remarks that the dream isn’t so strange; Rodney points behind him, to a clown sitting in the front of the boat. Apparently clowns are on John’s list of scary things as well. (Between Poltergeist and It, I’m in total agreement.) Evil!Shep promises death again, but John insists that he can’t really hurt him. Cue them getting swallowed by the whale. (Actually, I have to admit, it’s a pretty scary-looking scene! Well done, CGI team!)

Regarding Rodney’s recurring nightmare itself, here’s a thought: if his father was the one who read him the story in the first place, and his father was a mentally-abusive jerk (as some things Rodney has said, particularly in “McKay and Mrs Miller”, suggest), does the whale really represent the way his father’s words made him feel small and powerless? (Or is this just wishful thinking on the part of my inner angst-fiend?)

John awakens to Keller using the defibrillator paddles on Rodney, to no avail. She announces that Rodney is dead. Of course John is dreaming it, but he hasn’t figured that out. Oh, the look on his face! We see the expressions on the other’s faces too, on the observation deck, which might make viewers think it’s not a dream. But when a stunned Sheppard walks, dazed, down the hall (ooh, Flannigan, you pulled this off beautifully!) and the others — Teyla, Ronon, Sam, Jennifer — start saying that he’s a lousy friend and that he basically killed McKay, there’s little question. And then there’s none, when he spots the doppelganger, whom he shoves through a wall.

Back in the real world, it’s déjà vu as Keller uses the defibrillator on Rodney. This time, though, it works. They tell him he was in cardiac arrest, and that the entity is now in Sheppard. Back in the dream realm, John beats himself up — or rather, the doppelganger is beating him up, taunting him. (There’s some splendid split-screen work here — I don’t envy them special affects team having to deal with the reflected lights bouncing all over the place!) In the real world, they deliberate on whether to wake Sheppard, whose heart rate is dangerously high but whose situation could be made worse if they wake him. Rodney quietly tells them to hook him back up to him. (*Squee!* Besides my obvious delight over the line itself, of course I’m proud of the boyo — told you he’s brave when it really matters and will do the right thing to save others!) In the dream world, John’s thorough thrashing continues. The doppelganger tells him it’s his fault Heightmeyer is dead, then, much more forcefully (seeing as it hurts John that much more), adds that it’s his fault McKay is dead.

“I’m not dead,” Rodney says, walking up behind the doppelganger. Evil!Shep backs Rodney against the wall, but Rodney’s not afraid. He even looks a bit evil himself as he gleefully informs the entity that they know electricity is its weakness; that’s why Rodney is still alive, because of the defibrillator. Lightning envelopes the doppelganger — we’re shown that, in the real world, it’s John’s turn with the defibrillator, of course. In the dream world, John grabs the entity while it’s dazed, spins it around, and uses the momentum to toss it through the gate. There’s a little back-and-forth, with Rodney and Jphn trying to determine if each other is the real deal. “This is weird,” Rodney says. “You’re tellin’ me …” John replies (in a nod to that scene just from before they went under). Looking around, Rodney remarks that he expected more hot girls; “Yeah!” John says, sounding perplexed and disappointed. (Maybe you don’t need hot girls, John, just Rodney. *Wink*)

In the real world, the crystal that was darkened by Shep’s touch is now glowing with entity’s return. Rodney and John wake up and look at each other, shaken. (Someone posted an ep recap, saying that the expression the boys are wearing looks like they are both thinking Did we really just have dream-world sex? I couldn’t have put it better myself! Best of all, the notion will likely never be negated by canon! The possibility will always be plausible, since dream-world time doesn’t have to move in sync with that of the real world!) Whether you’re a McShepper or just like them together platonically, you have to squee: this was a great example of their whole “saving each other” thing (well, even if it was really Keller both times, but still, the intent was there) and how much they care about each other. I mean, look at how relieved they were that the other made it out alive! That was a beautiful, beautiful moment. (And a friend tells me she thinks this episode has made her officially a McShepper!)

They bring the crystals back to the planet. When other crystals start lighting up around them, they’re more eager than ever to get out of there.

That night, in the mess hall, John sits reading. (There’s a gorgeous view of the city out the massive windows beyond him; it reminds me very strongly of one of my fave views in Chicago.) Teyla joins him, saying she couldn’t sleep. Then Rodney shows up with a tray, sitting next to John, starting to say he thought he’d have a late-night snack but getting interrupted by John, who says he couldn’t sleep either. Then Ronon, Keller, and Sam show up as well. (Rodney pulls his tray towards him a bit when Ronon sits down — Ronon should have tried to steal something …) Thus ends the ep with one of those quiet, communal moments in the mess that I so love.

I am a very sated fangirl.

Check back in two weeks (as I will be out of town and netless next week, alas) for my thoughts on “Travellers”!

Wolfen Moondaughter is on the editorial board for the comics industry webzine Sequential Tart for which she has written since late 2001. She’s also written for Newtype USA, contributed to Andy Mangel’s book Animation on DVD, self-published a novel (Memory of the Brightwing), and one of her short stories, “Chase”, is due to be published soon as the title story in an anthology from Wapshott Press (under the pen name Anastasia Witchazel). She’s an artist, too, having done spot illustrations for Dragonlance, a few panels for Barb Lien-Cooper’s webcomic series Gun Street Girl, and private commissions. In her spare time, she’s a fanficcer/fanartist. See more of her work at her site, Wolfen’s Webworld.

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