Stargate Atlantis: Enemy at the Gate

By Wolfen Moondaughter

I know I’m terribly overdue with this, the final edition of this Stargate Atlantis recap-and-review column. Part of it is due to other commitments, of course (and the lure of other fandoms, like Underworld), but there’s also the simple fact of this being then end. I’m reluctant to say goodbye, coupled with the odd conundrum of not being satisfied enough with the finale to have been eager to watch it again. Creature of dichotomy, me.

Don’t get me wrong: I didn’t hate this Paul Mullie-penned episode. But even bearing in mind that it was intended to only be a season-ender, not a series-ender, it still wasn’t all that satisfactory from my view, being a bit lacking in the sort of character interaction that was the reason I watched the series in the first place, as well as there being a couple of plot points that made me rather unhappy and some logic issues that left me frustrated. It also felt very rushed, having too much story packed into forty-five minutes, and some of the story elements were a bit too convenient. Carson was rather wasted here, worse than in “Identity”, although I guess I should be glad he was there at all. (Poor Weir fans!) I will at least concede that the ep was exciting overall; I found myself worrying for the characters even though I’d seen a spoiler-shot of the end, with all of them together! And at least we saw Todd and Sam again! (And didn’t have much of Keller, although I feel bad for the Keller fans, and if not for McKeller I might even have been miffed at her lack). But “Adrift” did a better job of packing a lot of story into a short amount of time without sacrificing those great interactions between the characters, and “BAMSR” was a tremendous team effort while also being an epic moment in the series. “First Strike”, “Search and Rescue”, “The Prodigal”, and “Last Man” were also all better “event” episodes in my eyes.

As just an episode, “EatG” was, truthfully, pretty good; as the season-ender it was intended to be, though, it was mediocre, and as a series-ender, it unfortunately bites. Granted, it wasn’t actually meant to be that last, but even if we had another season, I think I would have felt a little let-down. Well, I do at least feel marginally better about it now than I did the night of the original airing; maybe it will grow more on me. At any rate, would that all show’s writing staffs would take the Mutant Enemy approach to writing: treat every season-ender as a series-ender.

5.20: “Enemy at the Gate”

The story opens with a night-shot of the city (the last we’ll get *sniff*) and Amelia announcing an incoming wormhole with a radio signal. (What, no Chuck?? Aw, maaan ….) Woolsey and Sheppard look on in shock as a surprisingly cheerful Todd appears on the viewscreen. He announces that his treatment was a success — and “excruciatingly painful.” “Yer just sayin’ that to make me feel good,” John replies. (Well, on the one hand, it’s hard not to love their little jibes, which could be arguably seen as affectionate, but on the other hand, I had hoped their next reunion would be friendlier, given the note that they parted on last time. *Sigh*) Todd informs them that he has resumed his former position as commander of the alliance, but adds that he’s had a “recent setback”, stepping aside to reveal his crashed shuttle. “Nice landing,” John quips; Todd reminds him that his flying skills had saved John and company not long ago, and John looks unhappily contrite. Todd informs them that this recent accident is the result of a betrayal from one of his underlings. (*Gasp* Oh no, don’t tell me it’s Kenny! I liked him!) Woolsey, with apologies for being blunt, asks why they should care. (Uh, how about the fact that you’re still hoping to disseminate that treatment? And he has saved your asses repeatedly, and therefore has proven himself to be a useful ally? Grrrr ….) Todd reveals that his betrayer has acquired a piece of ancient tech with which they are well-familiar.

A moment later, Sheppard and Woolsey are discussing the situation with Teyla, Ronon, and McKay, in McKay’s lab; from Rodney, we learn that the item in question is a ZPM. McKay and Ronon are skeptical about Todd’s story, McKay pointing out that ZPMs are hard to find and Ronon figuring that Todd is just hoping to use them to take care of the guy who betrayed him. Teyla concedes that Todd might have added the bit about the ZPM to his tale to get their attention; Woolsey argues that Todd knows they would discover the truth sooner or later, and has agreed to be in their custody for the interim. (So this conversation’s kind of wasted as far as downplaying the audience’s concerns, then, isn’t it? Woolsey could have just told us that from the beginning ….) Sheppard figures there’s something that Todd’s not telling them; Woolsey concedes that point but insists that this doesn’t mean he’s lying about the ZPM. (Ironic, I think, that they are always worried about Todd lying when he hasn’t actually lied to them even once. Granted, he was somewhat misleading about his intentions in “The Queen” but I can’t recall him ever actually uttering a falsehood, and the change in plans actually allowed them to better achieve their own goal. Yet despite his continued honesty and proclivity for following through on his end of the bargain even when he doesn’t have to, our heroes not only constantly assume that he’s lying but also have considered lying to and betraying him on numerous occasions! So are they assuming Todd will play them false simply because he’s Wraith, or because that’s what they would do in his shoes? Either way doesn’t speak too well of them — although I can’t fault them for being cautious, at least. It’s just that there’s a difference between wondering if someone is lying and assuming that they are.)

Rodney is a little freaked out by the possibility that Todd is telling the truth. (I love the expression on John’s face, how he takes Rodney seriously; he looks very worried, rather than annoyed, and doesn’t try to downplay or shrug off what Rodney’s saying as being alarmist or some sort of overreaction. He can be taught! Well, sometimes ….) “I mean, inefficient power generation is the Achilles’ heel of Wraith technology — it’s basically the reason for every technological advantage we have,” Rodney states, worried about the possibility of a ZPM-powered hive ship. (Okay, now that’s a valuable piece of information.) Woolsey grimly announces that it’s a threat that they can’t — and won’t — tolerate. Sheppard shares a bit of a hopeless look with McKay. (Awwww. Enjoy it, because it’s one of the few bits of anything that can be construed as McShep that we get this ep.)

Woolsey talks to Todd in an isolation room; Todd sits at a small table. Todd remarks flippantly that Atlantis has become a welcome respite from daily life. (Heee, I love how cheerful and amiable Todd can be. I mean, have we ever seen another Wraith be so happy or friendly? I guess the closest was the one who indulged in human food; human habits seem to agree with them ….) Woolsey asks if Todd means that Atlantis will be destroyed if they don’t help him. (Is Woosley asking if it’s a threat or if it’s just what will happen?) Todd gives a little shrug, making a non-committal sound. Woolsey sits down across from the Wraith (brave, considering what happened on the Daedalus) and starts questioning Todd. We learn that not all of the ZPMs Todd stole from the Replicator homeworld were destroyed at the cloning facility; Todd admits that he may have taken more than he let on, but won’t say just how many are left. (Didn’t we see three in the flashback in “Spoils of War”, and weren’t three destroyed in that episode? Of my memory is correct, then gee, isn’t that a convenient bit of retconning ….) Woolsey presses the issue; Todd remarks that the man wouldn’t be able to confirm the number anyway, “so what’s the point?”

Woolsey moves along, asking why the subject is coming up now when Todd’s had the ZPMs for a year. Todd explains that they had to make the ZPMs compatible with the hives, and that doing so took a while. Unfortunately for him, the scientist who figured it out turned on Todd. (Okay, I will admit that this does make me worried: with a ZPM-powered hive, Todd could get to Earth. and I have to concede that this may have indeed been his plan. Then again, he did go through with the treatment, which would have negated the need to feed, so it’s possible his interests were more diverse, preparing for all contingencies. He may even simply have wanted a ship that’s faster than those of his enemies. If he really was planning to go to Earth, it’s possible he was only doing it out of practicality, for the welfare of his starving species, considering that he was quite willing to consider an alternative and put himself at great risk to do it. We humans will ally and dis-ally ourselves with factions as our own needs warrant, after all, and we’re capable of being enemies in groups yet still friends as individuals. So I can see him still respecting — even liking, though they don’t always deserve it — Sheppard and company but still doing what he feels he must be done for his own kind. But even though I can understand it and couldn’t fault him for considering going after greener pastures, I’m still bummed by the prospect.) Todd impresses upon Woolsey the fact that the new hive is still in its early development; if they wait too long to destroy it, it will become unstoppable!

We see the Daedalus in hyperspace. Todd sits in a cell, where Sheppard comes to see him. We see that Todd is wearing a grey jumpsuit like the ship’s crew; John tells him he looks good. (*Snicker*) Todd asks, in mock-pouting tones, if they really had to remove his transmitter and make him wear such a “ridiculous outfit”. (Heyerdahl’s delivery is too, too priceless!) John points out that, after what happened last time on that ship, he can’t blame them. (I actually don’t fault them either — especially since Todd did ask for their help this time. It’s understandable that he would have to abide by their terms. And like John, I can’t blame them for being wary after last time.) Todd asks about a request he had to be on the bridge when they make contact with the other ship; John confirms that the request was denied, which Todd finds understandable. John lays the cards out on the table, so to speak, saying that when he’s dealing with Todd he feels like he’s got a live grenade in his pocket, waiting for something to go wrong because Todd didn’t tell them something. (I’m trying to think of an example of that, and I can’t. Does he mean when they got zapped by Todd’s men on his hive, back in “BAMSR”? Did that really turn out catastrophic? No, they woke up on their jumper, safe and sound. Now, Teyla has grounds for complaint, as Todd did throw her a bit of a curveball during their mission together, but otherwise when did anything ever go wrong specifically because Todd was purposefully withholding information from them, rather than just through a really unfortunate series of events? If John’s talking about the last time they met, Todd had no idea his ship was infected!) Todd starts to try to assure John that such won’t be the case this time, but John says to save it, saying that they’ve “been down this road before.”

John starts to leave, and Todd asks why John let him go last time if he feels that way. John replies that Todd kept up his end of the bargain (nice of John to notice), adding that he didn’t really think Todd would survive anyway. (Well, I would hope. if you didn’t owe Todd, you wouldn’t have just let what you considered to be a threat just walk away, then. I mean, look at where Woolsey’s assuming Michael was dead got you.) Todd gives an “Ahhh” of understanding. (It could just be me, but he looks a bit hurt and disappointed, not to mention miffed.) John goes on to warn Todd that if it looks like Todd’s trying to pull something, he won’t wait for permission, he’ll just kill the guy. (*Sigh* So much for that wonderfully positive note at the end of “Infection”. Well, at least John seems kind of sad and tired here, rather than bristly and sneering like he was in the aforementioned ep. Maybe he really is conflicted? Or maybe I’m just really reaching, heh. I don’t like feeling so disappointed in John; in a way, his behavior towards Todd is different and worse from when he’s cranky to Rodney; that latter, while annoying, is also oddly endearing. I wish the writers would stop having John do things that give Todd fans such reason to feel that way. Or else that they would have Todd actually do something bad, so he’s not so damn likable and warranted John’s hostility! *Snicker* Wait, no, don’t do that, guys ….)

Sheppard’s team arrives on the bridge; Sheppard asks Caldwell for a status update. (Yay!! I’m so glad Caldwell made it into the last ep!) Caldwell says that they’ve almost reached the coordinates, then notes that Sheppard’s team is geared up and asks if they’re going somewhere. Sheppard says that they want to check the situation out in a ‘jumper; Caldwell protests that this isn’t the plan, and Rodney points out (very calmly and reasonably) that they can go in cloaked. Sheppard adds that if they verify Todd’s claims, Caldwell can come in, “guns blazing.” Caldwell agrees, telling them to be careful. (Yes, Mom! Really, I love how things have changed between the team and Caldwell from great antagonism to a sense of family! Now if only things could work out that way for them and Todd ….)

Sheppard’s team’s ‘jumper reaches the hive, which Rodney confirms is a hive. Rodney also notes that it has significantly higher energy readings than normal; Teyla asks if it’s consistent with a ZPM, but he can’t say. (Yay for a team scene, but where’s the personality, the affection, the good-natured gibes, the Earth trivia? It’s all so straightforward and dry! *Pout* Well, kudos to Rodney for not being cranky, at least, and to everyone else for not yelling at him for not having all the answers.) Caldwell radios, asking for a status update; John tells him about the readings and says that they’re going in for a closer look. (Did we really need that verbal exchange? We were just told about the energy readings already, and that they were getting close was kind of a given, but even if we needed to be told that they were getting closer, John could have just said as much to his crew. Those wasted seconds could have been put towards some interpersonal stuff; it may not seem like much, but seconds can really add up after a while, and good interpersonal moments don’t necessarily have to be long anyway ….)

As they get closer, McKay notes massive energy output (which is different than just a massive energy reading I guess — otherwise that’s the third time in just a minute or so that we’re being told there’s lots of energy in the hive), and realises that the Wraith are using it to make the ship grow. (And we get to see some of Sheppard’s old spark — and therefore some livelier interaction — as he asks what the heck McKay is talking about at one point.) McKay gets into excited technobabble, explaining that previous hives’ hulls could only get so thick before they were too cumbersome and were torn apart by their own inertia when trying to turn; he adds that such is not the case with the ZPM. (Aroo? That sounds odd to me — shouldn’t a thicker hull alleviate that problem, rather than worsening it? If it were to happen at all, wouldn’t it be because the hull is too fragile? And why would a ZPM alleviate the problem? … There is a point in the technobabble where John cuts Rodney off, saying that he gets what Rodney’s saying and wants the man to get to the point. Part of me, as per usual, wants to point out to John that he did ask, and ask the man in turn what details would he like McKay to leave out. But from a writing standpoint, it sure beats the dry exposition of earlier. And while it’s not the heart-wrenching bonding moment that I crave most, it is at least the familial sort of banter that’s missing from much of the ep. This is actually what I’d call a good moment, where I can be both ruefully annoyed with the character and appreciative of the writing.) Rodney says that soon the hull will be impenetrable; John figures that just means they need to hurry up and destroy it.

There’s a warning beep from a console, and Rodney, very confused, announces that the hive is powering weapons. Ronon asks if the Wraith can’t see them; McKay assures him that they can’t, figuring that they must be running a test, when suddenly a shot almost hits the ‘jumper. (And they all wear the same, wide-eyed, incredulous expression; it’s kinda cute!) John, sounding muy annoyed, asks Rodney what the odds are that a test shot would nearly hit them; Rodney figures, with all the empty space all around them, nonexistent. (I beg to differ: if the cloak were still effectual, there’d still be chance that their position could be hit, the odds being exactly the same as for the shot going anywhere else in space where they aren’t at — it’s gotta go somewhere. But whatever.) John figures the ship can see them and turns the jumper away; Rodney figures that “they must have found a way to increase the sensitivity of their scanners.” The ship shakes as John muses unhappily that their being spotted has something to do with the ZPM. (Well, seeing that the scientist Wraith was smart enough to figure out how to interface the ZPM with Wraith tech where Todd couldn’t, and fix that whole hull-thickness issue, sure, let’s add scanning through cloaks to the list of convenient-for-the-story things this guy can do/ZPMs make possible. /Sarcasm. I wonder, can the Earthers pick up a trace of one of their own cloaked vessels? Could the Ancients?)

John apprises Caldwell of their situation, and Caldwell orders the Daedalus to move in. John announces that he’s going to drop the cloak since it isn’t helping. “Not to mention that you could fire back,” Rodney remarks in a tone that says he doesn’t understand why John hasn’t done that already; John tells him, only mildly irritated, “One thing at a time, Rodney!” (*Snicker* I’m going to miss that in some ways ….) We see the ‘jumper dodging fire, then take a hit and go into a tailspin. John announces that he’s lost control; Rodney, getting up to go to the back, says he’ll create a bypass. (Yay, Rodney, Man-of-Action!) “If they get a bead on us, Rodney, we’re dead,” John reminds him even as Rodney’s already getting to work. (Ah, even Captain Obvious appears in this ep! Well, McKay has said in the past that the pressue helps, so I guess I can’t complain. Personally, I think he just enjoys the attention from Sheppard. Mrow!)

The Daedalus arrives and blocks the shots the hive sends towards the ‘jumper, the cruiser’s own shields holding. Caldwell orders then to hit the hive; the shot hits the mark, but the damage is minimal. Caldwell gives the order to hit them with everything, but Marks reports a “massive energy build-up”, and we see a bunch of shots from the hive head for the Daedalus. (I freak a little, fearing that the beloved ship — and Caldwell — are goners!) The shields hold out for a while, but eventually fail, the ship taking heavy damage. Caldwell gives the order for evasive manoeuvres, saying they can’t take another hit like that. (Hey, shouldn’t that be Marks saying that? *Snicker* Not to mention Caldwell seems to have caught Obvious-itis from Sheppard ….)

Rodney announces that John should have flight control again; John asks about weapons, and Rodney tells him, “Not a chance!” (Thankfully John accepts it rather then yelling at Rodney.) Teyla notes that “something’s happening.” They watch as the hive jumps to hyperspace.

Caldwell discusses the matter with Sheppard’s team a bit later, wondering why the hive didn’t finish them off when they were “dead in the water”; Teyla posits that that’s why the hive just left, because the ship was no longer a threat. Caldwell figures that doesn’t fit with the Wraith; Rodney points out that the hive is still in development and suggests that the battle “maxed them out.” (But wouldn’t the jump to hyperspace take more energy than destroying the Daedalus? Well, I suppose they were afraid another human ship would come along any moment. Hey, here’s a thought: why not ask Todd for his insight? I mean, why’d you bother bringing him on board if you’re not going to ask him stuff?) Caldwell muses that he’d hate to meet with them when the ship is done, if that’s the case. Sheppard, taking care of his weapons (nice touch!), says that they need to get back to the city, then asks after the state of the hyperdrive. Caldwell replies that “it could be days, or even weeks” before they can go anywhere. (Put McKay on it! From the look John and Rodney are exchanging, it’s like Rodney’s saying telepathically, “You want me to? …” *Snicker*) Marks comes in, announcing that they have something. (Wow, he walked instead of using the comm! Well, maybe he was just in the next corridor already.)

They go to the engine room. Rodney is dismayed to find Kavanagh, who has been reassigned there. (I’m glad to see him back for the final ep — to bad Peter Grodin is dead. Note: the end credits have changed the spelling of his name to the proper one, Kavanaugh, which makes me wonder if his spelling was truly a goof all those times before or it’s jus a goof now. I’m going with what I’m used to.) Kavanagh explains that they picked up a weak sub-space signal, which they wouldn’t have seen at all if he hadn’t been monitoring the sensor. (Oh, if you hadn’t been doing your job, you mean? Or was that actually not what you were supposed to be doing and you’re defending the fact that weren’t doing what you were supposed to be? *Snicker*) Rodney realises aloud that it’s Wraith code; “Obviously!” Kavanagh replies. (Okay, Sheppard, if anyone deserved to be smacked upside the back of the head, it’s Kavanagh. Go ahead. *Grin* Nah, poor Kavanagh, being made a tool to make exposition funny ….) Kavanagh goes on to say that there’s a “residual radiation” in the message that he’s never seen before, and it’s making the code difficult to decipher. (That sounds odd to me, but I guess it’s like magnetic interference when trying to pick up a phone signal ….) Rodney has seen it (and he’s civil about it, not snooty), saying how he encountered it when he met Rod, and again on “another Daedalus“. (Love John’s awww, maaaan expression of consternation in the background, when he realises what Rodney’s talking about!)

Rodney explains that it’s a message from another reality; Caldwell is a bit thrown by that. (*Snicker* Poor guy, that had to sound odd; apparently he didn’t read the report on the events of “The Daedalus Variations”.) McKay explains that a Wraith must have sent a signal in another reality, and the act of sending it created a rift that sent it into other realities like theirs. (In other words, Rodney read the script for “Vegas”. *Snicker*) Ronon asks what it says. (Yay, something for Ronon to do!) Rodney tiredly tells him to give him a second and, ordering Kavanagh to move (love Kavanagh’s expression at that*snicker*), does something to the computer. The computer spits out some data, eliciting an “Oh, great,” from Rodney and a worried (but nice) “What is it?” from John in turn. (I choose to see it as a tiny McSheppy spark. Gotta take it where I can get it at this point.) Rodney reveals, in a small voice, that it’s the coordinates to Earth.

We see Rodney, John, and Caldwell walking through the ship. John asks if Rodney thinks that the hive picked up the signal; Rodney says yes, figuring that that’s actually why they left so quickly, as they have been waiting for that intel for years. (Interesting; I was under the impression that Todd already knew the location; if he did, I guess he didn’t share it with anyone. If he didn’t, then perhaps he wasn’t planning to go to Earth after all. Or else he figured he would get that info sooner or later. For that matter, why was that hive in such a hurry? It’s not like any other hive could beat them to it, even if they did pick up the signal — no one else has a ZPM-powered hive! They’ve been waiting years; they can’t wait a few more minutes to be sure their enemies are dead?) Caldwell says that he’ll have Atlantis radioed as soon as their communications are back up, and then Atlantis can relay the message to the SGC. Rodney gets an idea, asking how many ships they have. Caldwell says they have the Apollo and the Sun Tzu. (Aroo? I don’t remember the Sun Tzu! I wonder at this point about the Phoenix, but that’s answered later. Anyway, why wouldn’t Rodney already know this? I guess he’s too busy with science-y stuff to keep track?) John asks about the Odyssey; Caldwell explains that it’s on a super-sekrit mission. (Conjecture is that this is set-up for the next SG-1 film, but if that’s so, then either Sam won’t be in it, which will suck because O’Neill is supposed to be in it prominently, or else maybe SG-1 will have to rescue it. And can I just take a moment to say how bummed I am that Vala won’t be in the next film?) Rodney says that two ships will have to do, then.

He explains that he suspects that the hive ship will have to drop out of hyperspace for hull repair at some point (again, I can only figure they didn’t stay there to do it because they feared the arrival of other Earthers), so he’ll use the data they collected in the ‘jumper to “extrapolate” where it will do that. ( …. HUH? How would any data you learned about the ship tell you when and where the commander will order them to drop out of hyperspace? Even knowing the longest they could stand to be in hyperspace, you can’t extrapolate information like that from what you have — the commander might have them drop out sooner than need be, he may have then change directions and/or jump in and out several times — there’s way to many unknown variables to tell something like that! It would have made more sense to simply say they’re probably making a bee-line for Earth and might drop out along the way somewhere, so send the ships along that trajectory and hope for the best ….) Caldwell balks, worried that Rodney might get it wrong. Rodney insists that he won’t, saying that they can’t afford to wait; they need to beat the ship to Earth, because if the hive gets that far, they may be fully adapted to the ZPM by then. Caldwell gives his consent.

In Atlantis, Chuck announces the arrival of the Daedalus. (Yay, Chuck!!) Sheppard’s team is beamed down to the control room. (For a minute, I’m confused, but I quickly realise that this must be several days later, after the ship is prepared, as Woolsey seems to know what’s up already.) Woolsey informs them that no other Wraith ships seem to be heading to Milky Way. Rodney says that he figured as much; he thinks the hive only picked up that weak signal from the other reality because of their improvements to their sensors. (Well, that’s convenient. But even if the other Wraith ships could pick up the signal, it would take them years to reach Earth without a ZPM-enhanced ship anyway, right? The other Rodney said as much in “Vegas”! So what’s the worry?) Then they learn the bad news from a message sent via subspace by Ellis, on the Apollo: his ship and the Sun Tzu both took heavy damage, while the hive was pretty much unscathed, and it will take his ship (which now also has the Sun Tzu‘s crew aboard) a month to even reach a ‘Gate. Now there’s nothing to stop the hive from reaching Earth. (Good tension!)

Later, we see Rodney catching up to John in the hall. He tells John that he’s been thinking. John, sounding cranky and continuing on his way, says that he has been too. Rodney follows, saying that he’s realised that they actually have another ship. (I figure the Daedalus is probably helping out the other cruisers, and may be pretty damaged still itself.) “I know, we’re standing on it,” John replies. Oblivious to John’s lack of interest in the conversation, Rodney excitedly agrees, saying that there’s just one problem; “ZPMs,” John replies, eyes ahead. Rodney agrees again, saying that they’d need a “full compliment.” “Where do you think I’m headed, Rodney?” John replies tiredly, leaving the flummoxed astrophysicist behind. (Awww. I love how they’re on the same wavelength — it’s something of a nice callback to “First Contact”, when they both got the idea to fly the city away from the threat and left poor Zelenka standing there clueless because they seemed to be reading each other’s minds rather than saying everything. I wish this had been as friendly and excited of an exchange as the other one had been, back then, but I can understand why John was so grim, having to ask Todd for help. Still, it’s kind of sad that that was about as McSheppy of a moment as we get in this ep but wasn’t all that friendly. And made Rodney look a bit dorkish/clueless. Oh, look at John, he’s quicker on the uptake than Rodney, not having needed his friend’s expertise; imagine how annoyed people would be if Rodney flew something better than John! And John gets to play at being a sacrificial hero later — twice. And he comes up with two plans of attack. It’s hard to make a main character seem like a Mary-Sue, but they’re coming dangerously close here, like with McKay in “Brain Storm”. Well, at least Rodney got to show off his smarts in other ways this ep.)

John goes into Todd’s room and tells him that things didn’t go according to plan. Todd asks if John’s holding him responsible; John points out that things went sideways, as they tend to when Todd’s involved. (Uh, more like as they tend to when you are involved, John — there’s been plenty of missions where things have gone bad without Todd. And other than the mission in “The Queen”, when precisely have any missions gone wonky because of Todd? More like in spite of!) “You gonna tell me that’s a coincidence?” John asks. (Ah, so I guess he figures Todd wanted the hive to destroy each of the Earther ships, one by one, to clear their way to Earth. Which would further explain why they just left the Daedalus dead in the water rather than destroying it, if they didn’t want to kill their leader. If that is indeed the case, maybe they feared he was aboard one of the other Earther vessels, and that’s why they didn’t destroy them either? Seems like a pretty risky plan, though — the ship he was on still could have been destroyed by accident, and rendezvousing with the Earth cruisers to attack them only to leave them intact seems kind of pointless.) Todd leans forward, arms outstretched menacingly on the table, asking if John’s going to carry out his threat.

John sits down, unfazed. He tells Todd that if he gives them the location of the other ZPMs the Wraith had mentioned to Woolsey, it might improve his situation. (Good handling of that, introducing us to the fact that Todd has several ZPMs earlier in the story yet finding a good reason at the time for him to not say anything back then, so that it could be a bargaining chip now.) Looking vaguely amused, Todd asks if he’s “supposed to be enticed by this offer.” John deadpans a “no”, saying that he’ll probably kill him anyway, but he figures Todd might want to get back at the Wraith who betrayed him. (So do you believe in Todd or not, John? Because if Todd was lying and intended for the cruisers to be destroyed, as it seemed you were insinuating, then why would he be wanting to get revenge on the other guy? He would have been in league with him! Well, maybe this is John-speak for if you want to prove me wrong, to prove that you didn’t lie, here’s how to do it ….) Delighted, Todd tells John that the man knows how to talk to him, and starts laughing. (Actually, it was Rodney who first approached Todd with such a sentiment, back in “Miller’s Crossing”; I wonder if John knew about that or if this is just another example of John and Rodney being on the same wavelength? … Anyway, while I have to appreciate any scenes with Todd, at the same time? This Sheppard talking with Todd alone thing is getting repetitive, with no real forward movement for either character. And it’s also more time John spends apart from his team, which makes it all the less welcome for even a season-ender.)

We see Lorne come through the ‘Gate, bearing ZPMs. (Yay, Lorne!!) Woolsey is surprised Todd came through for them; John suggests maybe he’s “turning over a new leaf.” (While I’m happy to hear John be more positive, if Todd actually were doing that, then they wouldn’t have found the ZPM, since he’s always fulfilled his side of the bargains before. Grrrr.) “Or maybe they’re gonna blow up when you plug ‘em in,” John warns as Lorne starts to head off to bring them to Zelenka. (*Sigh* I should have known. Still, after what happened with Camulus and his unstable ZPM on SG-1, I can’t deny that there’s some reason to worry. But if they could tell it wasn’t safe on SG-1, they should be able to tell here, and should realise that Todd would realise that they could and would check first. So even with evidence of good faith, John still stays where he is, so to speak, rather than moving forward in his relationship with Todd — he’s a stubborn ass in the donkey sense of the word.) John goes to head for the Chair room, when Woolsey informs him that he’s actually being sent to Earth so that he can operate their Chair, in case they can’t get the city to Earth in time. (Excuse me, but why would you have arguably the best pilot and strongest gene-carrier you have go to the stationary chair, when you already have a gene-carrier as strong as him, O’Neill, there? Was this all done so that John could get a big spotlight and to give Carson something to do in the process? It’s too contrived, and I’d rather that John wasn’t separated from his team like this anyway. I like the idea of flying the city to Earth, and Earth being under threat from the Wraith, but not so much under these circumstances.)

John arrives at the SGC, where he’s greeted by Sam. (Yay, Sam!! …. Since this was intended as a season-ender, I think this ep should have been planned as a two-parter, with maybe the last scene as the cut-off and this scene as the start of the next season — which would have become a movie instead, with plenty of time for interpersonal stuff.)

We see Rodney in the Chair room, talking to Zelenka on the radio. He asks who’s flying the city; Carson comes in, saying it’s him. Rodney is incredulous, saying that Carson must have a higher CIA — Chair Interface Aptitude — than he’d thought. (Especially after all the trouble Carson had in Antarctica! Hmm, I wonder what Lorne’s is? I believe Lorne’s is “fake” like Rodney’s, but while Carson’s is strong, he’s not really a pilot and Lorne is! John had a hell of a time landing the city himself, and it’s not like Carson has had any practice-time flying the city! But no, let’s just throw believability — well, that which is within the show’s internal logic, anyway — out the window and have Carson do it, just for the sake of having John go off on his own. Well, and maybe have Carson break his character’s boundaries in an exciting way and get to be a hero too. When we aren’t laughing at the absurdity of the idea of Carson trying to fly the city in the first place, which I liken to the idea of animals driving vehicles in comedies like Over the Hedge, that is.)

Rodney is surprised when Carson reveals that his gene is the next-strongest to John’s, saying he’ll have to look into that; Carson gives him a sarcastic thanks for the vote of confidence. (It’s funny: I would suspect Rodney of being jealous, but I didn’t actually get that vibe — it feels more like genuine scientific surprise, probably do to the aforementioned lack of success on Carson’s part in Antarctica. Somehow it’s simultaneously disappointing and yet comfortingly familiar to have this duo’s last real moment together in the series be so flippant. I guess it comes down to, in scenes like this and the John problems I mentioned earlier, the fact that on the one hand it’s a display of the characters we fell in love with, but on the other hand it seems like they didn’t grow much as people when they behave in such ways. Which I suppose means I should be happy that Carson’s going to fly the city and be a hero and just overlook details like when did he develop such control of his gene as would allow him to do this? I mean, I don’t deny that he’s become much braver thanks to his ordeals, but earning bravery doesn’t give you mad skillz that you never had before. Getting over my fear of falling wouldn’t suddenly make me Tony Hawk on a skateboard ….) Rodney tells Carson offhandedly (and a little insincerely) that he’s sure the man will do fine. Carson settles himself somewhat nervously into the chair, and it lights up. Woosley gives the order for the shield to be raised and tells Beckett to take them out. Carson squints in concentration, but everything seems to go smoothly.

Back at the SGC, John and Sam walk and talk down a corridor together. We learn that Landry’s off taking care of something in DC (awwww), so Sam is in charge (yay!). We also learn that she’ll be the commander of the next ship — the name of which has been changed from the Phoenix to the General Hammond, as the dear general had a heart attack in canon. (Even now, I’m getting chocked up again. What a lovely tribute to Hammond’s late portrayer! I’m very appreciative that his passing was addressed and memorialised within the show. And I appreciate that Sheppard, who as far as we can tell had little contact with him, seemed sad about it all the same. Poor Tapping, you can see her get a little teary-eyed at the end there.) John asks if McMurdo is next for him; Sam says not exactly.

Sam leads John into the control room and introduces him to Major Davis. (I’m told that Davis really should have gotten a promotion by now. I know nothing about such things, but it’s nice to see him again, and Walter too. Now where’s Daniel, Vala, Mitchell, and Teal’c? Yeah, I know, budget and time constraints — I guess we have to assume that Mitchell, Daniel, and Vala are stuck on a mission offworld and that Teal’c is either with them or with the Jaffa. I just can’t imagine then not having a presence during such a crisis if they’re actually there at the SGC — especially Mitchell, since he’s military ….) Sam and Davis show John a monitor and reveal that the hive ship is orbiting our moon. Sheppard is discouraged — it wasn’t supposed to show up for weeks yet. (All the more reason why Rodney’s calculations earlier shouldn’t have worked.) We learn that the hive is just hanging around at the moment; they figure that it’s finishing its ZPM upgrades. (I guess the hive decided to wait with that after getting attacked by the other ships. Which again proves that Rodney’s calculations shouldn’t have worked if they were able to wait this long to finish the job.) John figures they need to strike first, and asks about their F-302s. (Uh, Sam didn’t think of that? Why is John doing Sam’s job? I mean, yes, he’s the star, but come on, even O’Neill had to answer to Hammond, and John’s addressing Davis as if Sam’s not even there. I realise he’s a rebel, but I thought he had more respect for her than that, that he had matured some — and that she was smart enough to come up with such a plan on her own if it was so feasible!) Davis says they have some F-302s at the ready, but adds that they aren’t outfitted to take on a hive ship; Sheppard asks how long it would take to get them fitted with nukes. Davis, looking to Sam, says it could take some doing in a way that suggests it’s a good idea. Sam pauses in thought for a moment, then nods; Davis hurries off to take care of it. John asks if the F-302 pilots have any experience fighting the Wraith; instead of answering, she starts to say that this isn’t why she brought him to Earth,. He cuts her off, saying that he can just sit in the Chair and wait, or he can take the fight to them, and asks her what she wants him to do. (Oy, that tone smacks a little of insubordination, doesn’t it?) Sam doesn’t reply.

We see Atlantis soaring through subspace. (Pretty!! And with some nifty celestial music for the occasion.) Teyla and Ronon answer a summons to Woolsey’s office. Woolsey says he’s giving them a chance to reconsider their decision to accompany them to Milky Way, explaining that they can drop them off at a Stargate-bearing planet before they get past the border of Pegasus. (Which makes me wonder: are Torren and Kanaan on board? What about the rest of Teyla’s people? She did say in “The Seed” that she was hoping to bring them back into the city; did any of them come back?) Teyla shakes her head and starts to answer, but Woolsey interrupts, saying that his people tend to easily forget that her and Ronon’s priorities are not always the same as Earth’s. (A really lovely sentiment, Richard. Now let Teyla talk, okay? ‘Cause I feel she’s really been short-changed this season and deserves every last moment to say and do things that she can get.) Teyla sighs and gives Ronon a look. Woolsey finishes by saying that they can’t ask her and Ronon to risk their lives for a war that isn’t theirs. (That doesn’t even make sense — the Wraith would be stronger than ever if they take over Earth and if that new hive is allowed to exist, so even if they weren’t friends, helping the Earthers is in the best interest of the people of Pegasus.) Ronon points out that everyone on the base has done exactly that in Pegasus for the last five years. (Which isn’t entirely true either, if one looks at it as the Earthers taking responsibility for waking the Wraith.)

Teyla thanks Woolsey for his consideration but assures him that it’s not necessary; Ronon promises that they aren’t going anywhere. (This seems like something of a nod to one of my all-time fave scenes on the show, when John, Ronon, and Teyla said goodbye to each other in “The Return, Part One”, albeit a different end. It may not be as sweet or as deep, since it’s so much more formal and they haven’t really known Woolsey for that long, but I like it anyway, particularly the air of Oh, those sweet but silly Earthers, aren’t they cute? that Ronon and Teyla have, as well as the fact that the Earthers are being shown as considerate for a change. Well, somewhat — they are taking away the only defense Pegasus has. But it’s with good reason, and technically they have just as much right to it — and arguably more need of it for the moment — as the people of Pegasus, seeing as it came from Earth originally.) Woolsey whispers a choked up little “Very well.” (Awww.)

Sam and Davis find Sheppard in a hangar bay, helping with the F-302s. (I highly suspect that this scene is a nod to the X-Wing bay scene in Star Wars: A New Hope.) John announces that they’re almost done, but Sam informs him that the retrofit took too long. While the hive is still maintaining its orbit, now there’s a wave of darts headed towards them. John asks where their target is; Davis explains that the original transmission told the Wraith that the Chair was in Area 51. Sheppard tells them to evacuate the base and they’ll hit the Wraith from Antarctica when they go to attack. After an awkward pause, Sam apologises, saying she that was going to tell John something sooner; Davis leaps in, explaining that, due to some treaty violation, they had to move the Chair recently. John asks where, and Sam reluctantly tells him that it’s at Area 51. (What is up with all the feet dragging? Other than the tension-building, I mean? It doesn’t make any sense, from the characters’ perspectives, for them to not have told John sooner or even be reluctant to tell him now! At first, it even sounded like Davis was saying that the Wraith had the wrong location! This isn’t a time for them to beat around the bush!)

With John in the cockpit of an F-302 and Davis talking to him from the control room, we get some military babble as the F-302s get into position to engage the darts. (Query: why is John wearing a mask? He doesn’t wear one when using an F-302 in space, like in “Intruder”, so I don’t understand why it’s necessary here. I’m not saying it’s wrong, though — I’m asking out of genuine confusion and curiosity and an assumption that there is a legitimate reason, not sarcasm.) We see a dogfight for a while, intercut with scenes with Sam and Davis. Davis remarks to Sam about how outnumbered their guys are, saying that they won’t be able to keep all the darts from getting through. Sam soon warns Sheppard that two darts have gotten through, and Sheppard orders someone names Riggs to go with him after them. (Again, I sense a Star Wars homage — Riggs = Biggs. And I suddenly feel like Rodney should be in the back seat of Sheppard’s F-302, being Artoo to John’s Luke. Never mind that usually Rodney is Luke and John is Han.) Riggs announces that there’s a couple of darts on their six; Riggs gets blown up. (Just like Biggs! I half expect John to say “I can’t shake him!” aaaany second now …. Oh, by the way? Homage-to-Star-Wars-ness is not a bad thing in my book, so don’t think I’m complaining.) John gets hit and starts falling to earth.

Davis notes how fast the two darts that John was tailing are going; Sam realises that the darts are doing a kamikaze run. The darts slam into the facility, erupting in a fireball. (That seems rather excessive, but I guess they had good reason to want to be absolutely sure they knock the chair out. Still, after how lackadaisical they were about the cruisers, it’s a little surprising ….) John, looking woozy, struggles with his F-302 and pulls out of a nosedive at the very last second. (It seems a bit of a cliché and a gimmick, looking at it now, and I knew they couldn’t kill John off, and yet I couldn’t seem to stop myself from falling for it and being worried about him anyway! So it may have been gimmicky and clichéd, but it still worked, still made for nail-biting excitement!) Looking at a column of smoke rising from the building, a dejected John asks the SGC if he’s seeing what he thinks he’s seeing; Sam tells him that it was a good try, but there were too many of them — the Chair is gone. (!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like I was worried about the wrong thing! I never expected that the Chair would become a casualty!)

John suddenly flies his F-302 steeply into the air; when Sam asks him what he’s doing, he replies faintly (possibly just due to the Gs he’s pulling) that he has an idea. Davis says Johns heading into the upper atmosphere; Sam pointedly orders John back to base. Sheppard says he’s still got a nuke and intends to finish the mission. (Now this is more reasonable for his character, going off and doing his own thing against orders, instead of him barking orders out of turn at others. Still would rather that he be with his team, though; besides, haven’t we seen him do the fly off on a suicide mission with nukes thing in “The Siege”? Well, I guess there’s some difference — and therefore some merit in retreading that territory — in that he almost risks his team this time with his plan, first unawares and then intentionally.) Sam insists that he doesn’t have enough fuel to make it to the hive; John posits that, having gotten what the commander wanted, the hive will come to them. Davis supports this, saying that the hive has changed course. John says that he’ll establish orbit and then cut everything but basic life-support, so he’ll be undetected until it’s too late for the hive. (Okay, so the hive can pick up a very faint signal and detect a cloaked vessel but can’t detect your life-support systems or just plain old see you?) Sam argues that one nuke won’t be enough to destroy the hive. John agrees that it wouldn’t from the outside; he plans to fire up at the last minute, soot his way in through the dart-bay doors (why wouldn’t those be as impenetrable as the hull?), and detonate it inside. (Oddly, annoyed as I am about John being on a suicide mission yet again instead of with his team, I cannot deny that this bit has me chocked up, especially with the soft and grave nuances to John’s voice. And yet again, I find myself worried despite how I should know better.) Sam says she can’t ask John to do it; he insists that he’s volunteering and points out that Earth is defenceless without the Chair. Sam can’t argue; John goes into radio silence.

Atlantis drops out of hyperspace early, a calm but annoyed Rodney informing an alarmed Woolsey that they’re only on the edge of the Milky Way, not even close to Earth. Woolsey asks why they dropped out then; Rodney starts to say something snide and catches himself. He looks to Radek for a response, but Radek throws his hands up, not knowing either. Rodney concedes that they aren’t sure, clearly struggling to keep his annoyance at being questioned — especially about something he’s actually still trying to determine himself — in check. (Good boy, Rodney.) “Look, the hyperdrive hasn’t been operated at full power in over ten-thousand years. It’s not surprising there are a few glitches,” Rodney elaborates somewhat crankily. Woolsey asks if he can fix it; Rodney points out that he has to figure out what’s wrong, first, and leaves. Woolsey orders Zelenka to recalibrate the ‘Gate for their new position, so that they can dial Earth and apprise them. (I’m actually very happy that they address that particular issue — it’s good continuity and shows that the tech is well thought-out, at least in this regard.)

The hive approaches. Davis tells Sam that it’s almost reached Earth orbit and has begun scanning them. (Poor Sam — as military, she’s somewhat prepared for friends to die, I suppose, but even with training it’s got to be harder to handle knowing that a friend is about to die, especially if you feel some responsibility for them being there. Nice angst!) Sam asks if there’s any word from John; Davis says not yet, but he doesn’t figure that the hive will meet up with him until another twenty minutes. (And why would they hear from him? Why would he break radio-silence when it could alert the enemy? Unless he’s supposed to radio a goodbye right before detonation? If it wouldn’t alert the enemy, why maintain radio silence in the first place?) Davis starts to say that if John fires up his engines too early — “The hive will send darts to intercept,” Sam finishes. (Nice way to show Sam’s knows what she’s about yet still clue in the audience, just in case we didn’t figure that out for ourselves.) Walter approached (yay, Walter!) and informs them that they were trying to dial the Alpha site to evacuate some IOA delegates (what about everyone else that would go to the Alpha site in a crisis?), and discovered that they can’t get a lock — to anywhere.

In Atlantis, meanwhile, they’ve opened a ‘Gate to Stargate Command, and Woolsey is radioing them; Amelia reports that while their own comm is working, there’s no response from the SGC. McKay then announces, sounding disturbed, that he’s picking up an energy reading coming back to them through the ‘Gate — and it’s like readings one would pick up in a hive. (Hmm. I can see how that would work, since they can get radio waves trough the ‘Gate, but have they ever picked up anything that way before? Seems to me that it would give them advance warning of a lot of things without even needing a MALP, like radiation ….) Woolsey protests that they dialed Earth. Rodney and Radek seem to come to a realisation at the same time. Rodney remarks that the Wraith always try to prevent victims from dialing out, and since they couldn’t dial in this time, they must have a gate on board their hive. (Wow. I realise Rodney is smart, but that’s pretty convenient that such a thing occurred to him, and so quickly, even more than his construing what happened with the Wraith signal and his being able to extrapolate where the hive would show up ….) Radek explains that when two ‘Gates are in direct proximity, the default ‘Gate is usually the one activated when people dial in, but Pegasus ‘Gates trump those of the Milky Way. (Aroo? That’s a new detail, and an awfully convenient one. What precisely is the reason for that? Is it just because the Pegasus ‘Gates are the newer model? I mean, what reason would the Ancients have had for making them that way?) Rodney mentions that they’d had that problem at Midway, having had to make a workaround so that the Pegasus ‘Gate wouldn’t always take precedent. (Ooh, that answers a question that never occurred to me before but should have, about being able to use two gates so close together! Hell, I don’t even really understand why they needed two ‘Gates there! Anyway, it would have been nice if they’d mentioned it back then, so it wouldn’t seem so tossed in for convenience’s sake now. And in case people didn’t get what all that means ….) Woolsey asks if Rodney means that their ‘Gate now leads directly onto the hive ship. (Wow, that actually seems incredibly boneheaded on the part of the Wraith. I guess they figured the humans would just blindly stumble on in — and they have good reason to think that, true. But don’t they think that a lack of response from their own people would make the Earthers suspicious? Enough that they might eventually figure it out and send, oh, I dunno, a bomb in? Of course, if the Wraith had their own iris, that’d be another story ….)

Our guys send some grenades through, and the drones waiting on the hive side look down at the rolling items in confusion. In Atlantis, Rodney wonders if that cleared the way. Ronon says there’s only one way to find out and, blaster in hand, walks through, with Teyla, Rodney, and Lorne following. (Uh, actually, there was another way — you could have sent a MALP. But then, why are you even going in? Why not just send a nuke, or, barring that — although I think maybe that’s something they should always have a few of in the city, considering how useful they’ve proven in the past — a big array of explosives through? Well, I guess they might figure that people from the SGC might be inside somehow — although their guys probably would have heard Woolsey and radioed back on a secure channel. Anyway, I would have at least gone through in a ‘jumper, for some added protection.) Lorne radios back that the guards at the ‘Gate have been neutralised and that they’re moving on. The ‘Gate closes.

Woolsey remarks to Zelenka, grimly, that he should have sent more marines (which is what I was thinking); Zelenka assures him that what’s needed here is stealth if they’re going to “sabotage key systems”. (Do they seriously not have something with enough explosive power to destroy the hive interior that they could send through?? I mean, if John could come up with nuking it from the inside himself, it makes no sense to me that they wouldn’t try to do the same! Once again, is John smarter than Rodney?) Woolsey says he just doesn’t like sitting around not being able to do anything. (He sounds like Ronon! *Snicker*) Zelenka then informs him that there is a possibility they can do something, telling Woolsey about a technology that the Ancients had abandoned due to instability and power requirements, but which Rodney had been working on an adaptation of for quite a while. He says it’s a wormhole drive that works similar to the ‘Gate and would allow them to travel across a great distance in mere seconds, but adds that being even slightly off in the calculations could be “very bad.” (Wow! How convenient again! Rodney has been working on something that could instantly solve their problem, and yet we’ve never heard talk of before, despite the fact that time has always been of the essence, so it’s a possibility that really should have been pitched earlier, even if Woolsey shot it down initially because it was so dangerous. Well, at least it was Rodney’s idea, so Zelenka’s not showing him up, yet at the same time, this still allows Zelenka to partake in the glory. That, at least, pleases me.)

John starts his F-302 up and flies off.

On the hive, Ronon leads the others through the corridors, McKay beside him with eyes on a little handheld device. (What is that? It looks more like a video game than an LSD …. I can appreciate the dramatic aspect of having John doing what he’s doing, and I do like Lorne, but I really don’t feel right about John not being with his team. Also, this mission in and of itself would have made more sense if there were something they needed to fetch on board the ship, like if Todd had told them of something, or they were after the ZPM.) Some drones happen upon them; Ronon shouts “McKay!” and shoves him out of the way, while Rodney is still tapping away at the device. (What the hell, is he trying to text John on a crackberry? *Snicker*) Cue shootout; Rodney shoots half-blindly with his Beretta while messing with his device still. Ronon asks if there’s another way around; Rodney takes his eyes off the device for just a split-second to tell Ronon he thinks so. (Damn, that’s some focus Rodney’s got!) Teyla tells them to go; she and Lorne hold the enemy off while a half-crouching Rodney goes with Ronon, following the Satedan while telling him, “This way!” (*Snicker* I love how Rodney leads from behind.) Ronon and Rodney get jumped by a couple of drones. Ronon thinks he’s taken care of his own attacker and moves to the one trying to feed off of McKay, when the other stabs him in the side from behind. Rodney, blinking and dazed, stares now in shock. (I scream.)

John fires a missile into the hive’s bay door and follows the missile in.

Teyla arrives and shoots the remaining Wraith. (Yay, Teyla! You finally got something pivotal to do!) Rodney cries out Ronon’s name and hurries over to him. Ronon’s breathing hard and sputtering up blood, back arched in pain. Despairing, Rodney tells Teyla as she hurries over that Ronon’s been stabbed in the lungs and is bleeding out. Ronon tells them to go; Teyla insists they aren’t leaving without him. Ronon shudders and then is still, eyes wide; clearly, he’s dead. McKay and Teyla are stunned, but Teyla reacts quickly when more drone arrive, nearly whacking a ducking McKay with her gun as she moves to fire on them. Lorne helps from the other side. In a quiet moment, Lorne hurries Teyla and Rodney out of there. We’re left with a parting shot of Ronon with his eyes rolled into the back of his head. (And I spend the next few minutes freaking out until I remember the spoiler shot of the final scene, with Ronon in hospital garb. I have never been so happy to be spoiled in all my life!! At any rate, his death is a beautiful but far too short of a scene, and we missed out on what could have been a stellar moment between John and Ronon. Also, this would have had a lot more impact if this had happened earlier in the episode, and we had gotten to see the others struggle with their grief for longer. Could you imagine if this had been a two-parter, ending with a moment like this in the first part, and we’d had to wait all summer, like with what happened at the end of “First Contact” or “Last Man”? Especially if they had managed to keep mum about whether Momoa was coming back? Ahhh, missed opportunities ….)

John radios the SGC, telling Sam that he’s made it inside and is about to arm the nuke. She tries to tell him he doesn’t have to do this, but he cuts her off, asking her, his voice almost a whisper, to tell Atlantis goodbye for him. (*Sob!!!* Well, if we can’t have much team stuff in this ep, at least we have some great angst!)

We hear John’s radio message again, this time watching Rodney and the others as they hear it on their own radios. McKay goggles at the mention of a nuke. After John’s line about saying goodbye, he radios Sheppard, back and tells him to stop; Lorne passes him a pistol in the meantime. Rodney explains that they’re on the hive and repeats that John shouldn’t do what he’s about to do. Pained, John explains that the hive’s about to attack Earth so he doesn’t have much of a choice. (Poor John, it’s so much worse knowing that his friends will die too. And of course I’m glad this conversation is between John and Rodney — it could have been Teyla or Lorne, and that wouldd have been fine, but I treasure every second between .John and Rodney) Rodney insists that John wait until they reach him, saying he can rig a remote detonator. John points out that they can’t get off the ship anyway. Rodney tells him that’s where he’s wrong, then and points the way to Teyla and Lorne. (At first I wonder why John can’t just fly them back out the way they came — well, aside from there not being much room in the cockpit of the F-302 — but I guess the door probably healed itself. Maybe he doesn’t have enough firepower left to shoot their way out again? Or maybe there’s not enough fuel to get them far enough away from the blast ….)

Woolsey lets Keller, in the infirmary, know that they’re about to use the Wormhole drive and that might find them in the middle of a combat situation, so she needs to be ready. (Um, in case people get knocked into consoles or what? Because if Atlantis gets hit hard enough in space to cause life-threatening damage, I’m thinking the hull will be breached and you’ll all probably be dead. Still, it’s right to have Keller in the final ep; no matter how I feel about how her character was used this season, a prominent secondary character like her deserves to have a scene in it just as much as Woolsey, Lorne, and Zelenka. In fact. I feel sorry for her not getting anthing to do, not even aiding Ronon.) Keller asks what will happen if the drive doesn’t work. Woolsey hesitantly admits that they will probably all be vapourised instantly. Looking horrified, Keller says, “Oh. Okay.” (Well, what else can you say in a case like that? Kudos to her for not having a meltdown!)

Coming stealthily around a corner, John is ready to fire on drones and finds Rodney, Teyla, and Lorne, all just as ready. He remarks that they’re the last people he expected to find there. (Really? I would have thought that, if you were to find any humans aboard, those three and Ronon would have been the most likely, and Walter and Dr Lee would have been the last. *Snicker*) McKay says “Same here!” (Same as in that John is the last person you expected to see, or that you agree that you’re the last person John should have expected to see? Heheheh ….) Rodney then tells him to give him a minute and hurries over to John’s F-302. John asks Teyla and Lorne where Ronon is; they don’t answer. He asks Teyla specifically; she shakes her head and tells him she’s sorry. (Why does she seem more like he’s just asked where a non-familial member of the team is, a red shirt? Like she’s sorry for John’s loss but it’s not touching her personally?) John is stunned. (Alas, all we get to enjoy is a brief moment of him looking like a kicked puppy, rather than truly savouring any angst over the idea of such a loss. This is a prime example of how this story was too rushed.)

We see Ronon gasp back to life — he’s been reverse-fed-upon by Kenny! (Aww, Kenny, why’d ya turn on Todd? Well, if you turned on him and aren’t actually working on his orders. And to think that I hoped you weren’t one of the ones killed by the treatment!) Kenny tells Ronon that he’s bound his wound and restored his life, and in return wants Ronon to answer a few questions. (A lot of people have been scratching their heads over how Ronon was brought back to life when he was dead. So I offer this explanation: Think of lifeforce as water and the body as a glass. You don’t need to have any water in the glass first in order to fill it, you just have to make sure no holes are in it. Kenney bound Ronon’s wound, so he has no holes. It also doesn’t need to be the same water that was originally in the glass; Kenny poured lifeforce from his own personal store into Ronon, rather than Ronon’s original lifeforce. There has been plenty of precedent for this with the reverse-feedings we’ve already seen with the Wraith-worshippers. Not to mention Larrin looked pretty decimated — as in completely dead — in “The Travelers”, and they brought her back to life. So biologically-speaking, this is, I feel, perfectly in-keeping with canon. And I can see Kenny’s wanting to know how many people are on his ship as being a good enough reason to resurrect Ronon — he can always take the lifeforce away again. So while one can argue that this, too, was too convenient, I found it to be a nice twist — albeit one I felt stupid for not seeing coming — that put an aspect of canon to creative use, even if Ronon’s death itself wasn’t as well-used as it could have been. Sidenote: I love Ronon’s sarcastic little “That was real nice of you …” to Kenny. I remember Kenny and Ronon sharing a moment of sorts in “The Queen” — I wonder if some small part of why Kenny saved him was because he kind of liked Ronon back then and thought he might make a nice pet, like that other Wraith had tried to do in “Broken Ties”. Ronon does seem to attract their fascination, doesn’t he? *Snicker*) While Kenny tries and fails to get what he wants from Ronon, Davis reveals that the hive’s finished it’s scans; Sam figures that they’ll hit military targets, then the power grid (to panic the masses), then launch darts.

John and the others arrive where Kenny has Ronon pinned, and take the Wraith out. John kneels beside Ronon, asking, “How ya doin’, Chewie?” (Awwww! It’s an awfully short moment, but at least it’s a really sweet one!) “You were dead!” Rodney says, astounded, while John and Teyla help him up. (What an awful feeling that would be, thinking you’d mistakenly left a friend for dead! Don’t feel bad Rodney, you couldn’t have known he’d be brought back to life! Although I think you guys should really look into adapting the whole reverse-feeding thing as a way to heal people. Maybe Teyla could do it!) John points out that they’re all going to be dead if they don’t hurry; he passes Ronon off to Lorne, who half-carries the Satedan while John hurries on ahead and Teyla watches their six. (Well, at least they get to share this part as a team!) Davis reports that the hive is powering its weapons up. Sam asks John for a status update; he tells her that they have Ronon and are on their way to the ‘Gate. (Did she even know he was gone in the first place?) She asks how much time they need; fiddling with his device as he walks, Rodney replies, “Five minutes to get there, five minutes to recalibrate the DHD for local coordinates.” (I wonder about that at first, but realise that the hive probably saw no need to bother doing that themselves.) Sam, looking despondent, tells John that she’s sorry but they’re out of time. (But I thought you said he didn’t have to do this!) John, equally despondent-looking, slows to a stop and tells Rodney to give him the detonator. Rodney protests that they’re almost there and hurriedly changes the time for the recalibration to two minutes. (I don’t blame Rodney at all — some of us just aren’t cut out for self-sacrifice ….) John says “Rodney” warningly, with a firm look; Rodney hits a few buttons and reluctantly hands the device over. Lorne looks pretty despairing now too, and even Ronon looks quietly accepting. We don’t see Teyla’s too well, far in the back, but she seems grim and resolved. (And is probably thinking about how Torren will have to grow up without her.) John hesitates himself, apology in his eyes as he braces himself. He winces as he moves to press the button.

Sam radios him to wait, saying that they’re detecting another ship. We see Atlantis come u between the hive and Earth. (We didn’t get to see them go through the wormhole, though. *Pout*) Woolsey signals Carson, who then uses the chair to fire drones at the hive. (Well, he’s certainly come a long way from nearly killing O’Neill and Sheppard in the first ep. I guess it’s poetic in a sense, coming full circle for him. Still not thrilled about it.) Sam fills John in on what’s going on, and he realises this gives them all time to get to the ‘Gate; they scamper off. The hive fights back; Amelia tells Woolsey that the shields are down to seventy percent, and he tells Beckett to keep at it. John’s team reaches the hive’s ‘Gateroom; John tells Rodney to get to work, and Rodney says he’s on it. (Like he needs to be told, John? Eh, who am I kidding, I’m going to miss that .…) Wraith drones attack in the ‘Gateroom while the battle between the ships rages on. Atlantis starts to get pushed by the fight into Earth’s atmosphere; it strains the shield further. Woolsey asks Carson if he can change their course; Carson says there’s only enough power to either keep firing the drones or change the course, asking which it’s going to be. (Oh, interesting parallel between him and John — that sounds a lot like the conversation had with Sam earlier!) Woolsey tells him to keep firing. (It’s too bad Sam hasn’t tried radioing Woolsey. I mean, if Atlantis crashes into Earth, even into the ocean, it could kill as many people as the hive could have killed in that ten minutes that Sam and John weren’t willing to wait! The hive’s about to be destroyed anyway, but of course Woolsey doesn’t know that. If he did, maybe he would have Carson quite firing and fix the course! Well, at least the tension’s good.)

Under fire, John growls at Rodney, asking if he’s done yet. Rodney announces that he’s done it and is dialing the Alpha site. The control room of Atlantis is filled with sparks; Amelia announces that the shields are about to collapse and can’t take another hit. Sheppard’s team makes it through the ‘Gate, John setting the detonator and leaving it on the DHD just before he goes. The hive explodes. (I’m glad that task was still left to John and his team to do. Too bad Teyla and Ronon couldn’t have played more integral parts the way Carson and Zelenka did, like maybe Ronon killing Kenny himself or Teyla getting into a power-struggle over control of the hive. Hell, it would have been nice if they had gotten the ZPMs with Lorne, since he got to come with them, here ….)

Sam radios congratulations to Atlantis, but Woolsey warns that they still have a problem, namely that Atlantis is falling and Carson can’t do anything about it. Sam asks if they have enough shield power for reentry; Zelenka throws up his hands, shaking his head. Woolsey tells Sam that they’re about to find out. We watch as Atlantis shoots towards the Earth like a meteor; Sam tries to hail them but they don’t respond. Walter informs Sam that it seems several commercial vessels are reporting that a giant fireball is streaking across the sky. (Yeah, I’m guessing a lot of people are seeing that. Doesn’t the SGC have anything that would let them see Atlantis?) Sam tries again to reach the city again, twice more — finally, Woolsey radios back, saying it’s nice to hear from them again. (I should feel relieved and happy, like everyone in the SGC, but these disaster-movie sorts of moments seldom do anything for me. Odd that I was afraid for John and Ronon earlier, but didn’t feel too worried here; maybe because we’ve already been through a similarly-tense moment in “Lifeline”, and it was done better in that?) We see Atlantis flying through the sky. (What, they didn’t even land yet? And how are they going to keep the Stargate program a secret now?) Woolsey warns that Carson is going to try to land the city in the Pacific Ocean, saying that they might want the navy nearby, as “it’ll be close.” (Here’s an idea: how’s about you have John ‘Gate back in from the Alpha site, since the Atlantis ‘Gate would take precedent over the SGC’s, and let John do it?) Davis announces they can track the city now and project where it will land. Sam tells Walter to get her the president, so she can tell the man that Atlantis is coming home.

We see John talking to Ronon in the infirmary; John informs his friend that the city is damaged enough that they won’t be going anywhere for a while. Ronon asks if John really thinks they’ll be able to take the city back to Pegasus. John promises to get his friend home. “This is my home,” Ronon replies. (Awwww. Momoa’s delivery there is just beautiful. This does bring up an intriguing dilemma; with the Chair gone, Earth might very well insist on keeping the city, which once belonged to there. But Pegasus needs it more, and the Ancients arguably wanted it to be there. And what about Teyla? Where did her people end up, and where would they — and she — want to be?) Amelia approaches, asking if she’s interrupting. John seems a little surprised to see her. He looks back and forth between her and Ronon a few times; Ronon is smiling enigmatically. Getting the hint, John excuses himself, looking as baffled about this as he tends to look about McKay and Keller. Amelia, somewhat nervous, tells Ronon she heard that he died and came back to life; he says there’s still some things he needs to do. She grins and asks him if he’s up for taking a walk; he says he doesn’t see why not. She’s pleased; there’s something she thinks he should see. (I don’t have a problem with Ronon/Amelia, per se — they’re not a bad match — and there was some small set-up for it in “The Prodigal”, but this still feels kind of tacked-on, especially with no other hint of it between that episode and this one. I would rather this scene had been a bonding moment betwixt Ronon and the rest of the team.)

John comes into Todd’s iso room. Todd cheerfully greets him, pointing out that Earth was saved because of his ZPMs. “That’s right. The question is, what would happen next time?” John replies. (Uh-oh. So much for gratitude. Well, I guess there is grounds to lay some of the blame for the whole situation at Todd’s feet, for seeking to create that hive in the first place. But then the same can be said for all the inventions the Ancients and the Earthers have created that have gone wrong and cost lives.) Todd asks if there’s going to be a next time; John says nothing. (*Sigh* So much for my hope of peace and understanding. Heaven forbid we should scare off any chance of meeting an alien lifeform by how we treat aliens in our fiction ….)

Amelia leads Ronon out on a balcony, where Woolsey, Carson, Rodney, Teyla, Rodney, and Keller all stand, looking out on the Golden Gate Bridge. (I’m sorry, but there are some people who should be in this scene more than Amelia: Zelenka and Lorne for sure, and Sam. Hell, even Chuck should have dibs before Amelia!) Keller asks if anyone can see them; Woolsey explains that they activated the cloak before getting too close, adding that the area is under naval quarantine. (Too close? I’m thinking Atlantis could be seen from pretty damn far away! And what about aircraft — no planes spotted saw the city before the cloak was activated? They couldn’t have the cloak on when the shields were up!) Sheppard strolls out, remarking, “Oh, so this is where everyone went, huh?” We see Rodney looking bummed; Keller nudges him, asking him if he’s okay. “I’m alive,” he replies unenthusiastically; she rolls her eyes, smiling. “And I’ve got you — what else would I need?” he adds mushily, putting his arm around her as they look at the bridge. (Ugh, it’s like a scene from a bad pulp novel. And that’s last line we get from him? Well, I hope the McKeller shippers are happy. And I do have to concede something in Keller’s favour. See, there was a spoiler shot that showed Keller pulling away from Rodney in the group shot, her hips and head both as far away as possible, rather than snuggling up to him like she is here. I had been very displeased with that picture, because her body language said she was repulsed, but she does seem to be enjoying contact with him here. And even the eyeroll didn’t bother me so much seeming more affectionate. Probably because she didn’t chastise him for a change, heh. I am bummed that Rodney is so far away from John, though, and that he seems to be standing off a ways from his team to be with Keller. Mallozzi posted a clip from the filming on his blog, from another angle, and it seemed like Rodney and John shared a glance as John walked out. I console myself with that little look — even if I might seriously be reaching and he was really looking at Teyla; it’s hard to tell. Also, the clip shows Ronon giving John a cute hug towards the very end.) “Nice view,” Sheppard remarks; Woolsey agrees. The camera pulls away for a group shot. (And Rodney is looking down the line, probably wondering about Ronon and Amelia. *Snicker* Well, I can pretend he’s trying to see Sheppard; I have a friend who I think is pretending he’s looking down at Carson, way on the other end. Hey, we’ve got to get our kicks out of that parting shot somehow. At least the music is stirring.)

Well, there’s really not anything more for me to say that I haven’t said already. I do still want to see the movie — perhaps in some ways now more than ever now, in the hopes that I’ll be better satisfied. Again, not saying that I hated the ep. It’s just that I want to be able to look at the end and say “That was fantastic!!”, not simply “It was okay.” But even though I can’t end this column on quite the high-note I wished for, I am grateful to the cast and crew for making me think, for giving me something to be passionate about, for all the good times I’ve had in the fandom, and the good friends I’ve made because of it. And I especially want to thank David Hewlett and Joe Flanigan for creating one of the most enthralling relationships in fiction!

And now, after having done detailed recap-review columns for six TV shows, I think I’m going to go into “retirement” from the ongoing TV column scene for a while and concentrate on original fiction. But don’t worry, you’ll still see me dabble in entertainment journalism here and there, even if I’m a bit less verbose. And I’ll probably still be doing my Tart Time Machine column (a different sort of column from this one) over at Sequential Tart for a goodly while. I want to thank Pink Raygun for giving me space to vent my spleen and squee my heart out. Happy viewing, everyone!

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Wolfen Moondaughter is on the editorial board for the comics industry webzine Sequential Tart, for which she has written since late 2001. She’s an artist, too, having done spot illustrations for Dragonlance, among other things. In her spare time, she’s a rabid fanficcer/fanartist. See more of her work at her site, Wolfen’s Webworld.

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