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Aaaaah, the season's over! *snivel*
CANON APOCAFIC! :D :D :D
(Actually, it's totally a canon version of "Freedom's Just Another Word ..." -- only with a fix at the end!)
And I loved it, from the creepy, wonderfully SF feel of abandoned, sand-covered Atlantis, to the way they carried the season's plot threads forward to an apocalyptic finish, to all the death scenes, which actually made me cry a little bit (especially Sam's) and that almost never happens for me, to Sheppard's expressions and his interactions with holo-Rodney. Poor, poor Rodney, the last one of the original group, devoting his life to creating a timeline where it didn't happen. Between his comment to Lorne about things not going so well on Earth, and the way they scaled back their Atlantis operations, obviously Earth is having its own (unspecified, fill-in-your-own) problems. Technically, Jennifer was right that he ought to move on, in a sane rational universe where time travel isn't possible ... I suppose you could easily create that as an alternate fork in this timeline. Though obviously, it's a good thing he didn't -- and I was thinking during her goodbye scene that an obsession with something scientific is probably exactly what Rodney does need to get him through the loss of his friends and his wife/girlfriend/partner and Atlantis itself. Though maybe not a 25-year obsession ...
Apocafic for the win! :D
(Here's an interesting thing to mull over, though. We never found out how Rodney died, which is understandable since the hologram wouldn't know, but ... something that occurred to me at the end is that there is absolutely NOTHING in the episode to prove that it wasn't the real Rodney, in Ascended form, pretending to be a hologram, kind of like the one in "Pegasus Project". We never saw how Rodney died, we never saw what his "Eureka!" moment of inspiration actually was, or how he got to Atlantis after talking to Lorne, and we have no way of knowing that what he told Sheppard at the beginning about the hologram setup wasn't just to throw off Sheppard's curiosity. Maybe he came back to Atlantis just to use the Ascension machine again. We just don't know!)
Anyway, I really loved it and I was SO glad to be completely unspoiled -- I didn't know a thing about it, so everything was a surprise, and I got that pleasantly cool spine-shivery feeling from apocalypse-Atlantis that is one of the things I love the most about science fiction. (They really should have checked to see if their sun was within a few thousand years of going red dwarf when they first landed on the planet, though, wouldn't one think?) I don't mind the "fix" at the end because, well, it was very obvious as soon as the situation became clear that they would fix it. I wonder if this was planned as the series ender back when they didn't know if they'd be picked up for a fourth season, because it could have then tied up (rather sloppily) in the last act and capped off the series .... I'm glad they didn't go that way, though; as a series ender, it's a little too much like Unending, really.
I'm deliberately not thinking too much about the cliffhanger, because -- it's such an h/c scenario, but I expect there probably won't be anything like that (no doubt they'll dig themselves out at the start of next season and carry on) ... so, not so much of a cliffhanger, really, compared to the ones they've had in the past! I just don't want to get up my hopes for h/c and emotion-filled reunions and then be disappointed. But ... wonderful episode, I loved it -- a great finish for the season.
Off to see what other people thought.
CANON APOCAFIC! :D :D :D
(Actually, it's totally a canon version of "Freedom's Just Another Word ..." -- only with a fix at the end!)
And I loved it, from the creepy, wonderfully SF feel of abandoned, sand-covered Atlantis, to the way they carried the season's plot threads forward to an apocalyptic finish, to all the death scenes, which actually made me cry a little bit (especially Sam's) and that almost never happens for me, to Sheppard's expressions and his interactions with holo-Rodney. Poor, poor Rodney, the last one of the original group, devoting his life to creating a timeline where it didn't happen. Between his comment to Lorne about things not going so well on Earth, and the way they scaled back their Atlantis operations, obviously Earth is having its own (unspecified, fill-in-your-own) problems. Technically, Jennifer was right that he ought to move on, in a sane rational universe where time travel isn't possible ... I suppose you could easily create that as an alternate fork in this timeline. Though obviously, it's a good thing he didn't -- and I was thinking during her goodbye scene that an obsession with something scientific is probably exactly what Rodney does need to get him through the loss of his friends and his wife/girlfriend/partner and Atlantis itself. Though maybe not a 25-year obsession ...
Apocafic for the win! :D
(Here's an interesting thing to mull over, though. We never found out how Rodney died, which is understandable since the hologram wouldn't know, but ... something that occurred to me at the end is that there is absolutely NOTHING in the episode to prove that it wasn't the real Rodney, in Ascended form, pretending to be a hologram, kind of like the one in "Pegasus Project". We never saw how Rodney died, we never saw what his "Eureka!" moment of inspiration actually was, or how he got to Atlantis after talking to Lorne, and we have no way of knowing that what he told Sheppard at the beginning about the hologram setup wasn't just to throw off Sheppard's curiosity. Maybe he came back to Atlantis just to use the Ascension machine again. We just don't know!)
Anyway, I really loved it and I was SO glad to be completely unspoiled -- I didn't know a thing about it, so everything was a surprise, and I got that pleasantly cool spine-shivery feeling from apocalypse-Atlantis that is one of the things I love the most about science fiction. (They really should have checked to see if their sun was within a few thousand years of going red dwarf when they first landed on the planet, though, wouldn't one think?) I don't mind the "fix" at the end because, well, it was very obvious as soon as the situation became clear that they would fix it. I wonder if this was planned as the series ender back when they didn't know if they'd be picked up for a fourth season, because it could have then tied up (rather sloppily) in the last act and capped off the series .... I'm glad they didn't go that way, though; as a series ender, it's a little too much like Unending, really.
I'm deliberately not thinking too much about the cliffhanger, because -- it's such an h/c scenario, but I expect there probably won't be anything like that (no doubt they'll dig themselves out at the start of next season and carry on) ... so, not so much of a cliffhanger, really, compared to the ones they've had in the past! I just don't want to get up my hopes for h/c and emotion-filled reunions and then be disappointed. But ... wonderful episode, I loved it -- a great finish for the season.
Off to see what other people thought.
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My thought is that maybe somehow Rodney was able merge himself into Atlantis' computers...or at least his least his mind.(most likely at the cost of his own life) That was why after a few minutes HoloRodney kept saying "we" did this or we did that. ) And that was why he was so emotional when he was telling the tales - it wasn't just information he was programed to know - they were actual memories.
I was not as thrilled about the episode as some people, but I enjoyed it. I liked how Sam and Ronon went out fighting (I would have liked to have seen more of Teyla, but I know why we didn't see as much of that as I would have liked). I loved the imagery of the scene with Michael and the Wraith Queen's head.
And given the bleak outlook and the lost of all his friends I could see Rodney giving up. True he is not one to normally give up, but given the particular set of circumstances in the that timeline I could see it happening. Rodney is just not the sort to "fight city hall" as it were. And that what was needed here. As far as he was concerned Woolsey and the IOA had made up their minds and there was nothing he could do to change them.
And then becoming obsessed with this project. That was also something I could really see happening. And Jennifer could as well...which was why she tried to make Rodney promise not to let that happen.
The best part was the last few minutes. Rodney's expression when he realized just what was going on "It's a countdown..." and then everything going straight to hell. I am looking forward to what happens in Season Five.