This was one of those episodes that ended with me thinking, "Hmm, could've been more ..." And yet, then, the more I thought back on it, the more I liked it. It didn't really bowl me over with friendship stuff the way the last couple of episodes did -- instead, it snuck up on me and took me by surprise. This was very much a season 2-style episode, with a lot of neat stuff in it and yet a lot of unexplored territory for the fanfic writers. (Heh.)

Even though he wasn't featured all that heavily, this was definitely a "Rodney is cool" episode. (LOL ... yes, I think of them that way.) We got a lot of little, understated moments where Rodney showed how much more there is to his character than just the whiny side. Like offering comfort to the injured soldier instead of complaining. And his little hand-on-the-shoulder thing with Carson after they realize that the other guy is dead sent me into stratospheric warm-fuzzy territory. (Oh, and -- the pan to the dead soldier, who had bled to death while Carson was hallucinating? OWWWW. As painful as it was, that was one of those GREAT kick-you-in-the-face moments. Talk about a doctor's worst nightmare.) Then we got another cool-Rodney scene after Sheppard shot him. I loved that he didn't freak out, didn't blame anybody, just told Teyla how to stop the machine. THEN, after everyone is safe, we got the freak-out. "You SHOT me!" Hee ...

I admit (being the incorrigible little John-Rodney fangirl and whumper that I am) I was waiting the WHOLE EPISODE LONG for Sheppard to shoot Rodney. And yet, they did it so well, it was still shocking, because you get that moment of terrifying inevitability when you can see that Sheppard's about to shoot him, and get quick flashes of the reaction shots, and you're like, "Oh my God, Sheppard's shooting Rodney!" Nicely done.

And of course, we finally got the promised Sheppard backstory. What's funny about it, though, is that we didn't really learn a thing we didn't already know! We already knew he went behind enemy lines, against orders, to rescue a friend. Aside from the fact that this has now been confirmed rather than just implied, all that we really got out of this episode is that his friend didn't make it. It *is* highly likely that he was captured by the Taliban after that final scene, though. (And one thing that did amuse me to no end -- I've been assuming for ages that the "Sheppard has no sense of direction" thing in fanfic is a bit of pure fanon inspired by Sheppard and McKay getting turned around in the first Genii episode. But -- it's total canon now! Sheppard has NO sense of direction! Even *I* know the difference between east and west!)

My overall assessment of this one -- would have been a great Season 2 episode, but was kind of a middlin' Season 3 episode, which just shows how much this season has been spoiling us on the character interaction! Certainly a good one, though. And I anticipate NO END of tags for this one! The John whumpers have the flashbacks and the emotional trauma to keep them happy, while the Rodney whumpers and teamficcers have everybody stranded in the middle of nowhere, injured and waiting for rescue ... and then there's all the possibilities generated by Beckett's horrific scenarios. Oh yes, definitely looking forward to the tags for this one. I may even be compelled to write one. (But, fic-a-thon first. Must keep priorities straight.)