Re: 4th Season Stargate Atlantis - The Last Man - 5 star poll - SPOILERS

Anim8rFSK wrote:
> In article <fqtuu3$2gd$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, "Bill Plenge" <B_Plenge@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> wrote:
> 
> 
>>George Avalos wrote:
>>
>>>"The Last Man"
>>>3-7-08 SGA
>>>
>>>5 stars (Hicks)
>>>
>>>0-1 stars (Burke)
>>>
>>>-George
>>
>>1 -- only because I can't give lower.
>>
>>Loathed it -- need every player in the NFL to give it a sufficient
number of 
>>thumbs down.
>>
>>Why?
>>
>>Everyone always gripes about time travel, magic beans and resets.  This 
>>episode has them all.   Tthis whole episode was one big reset.  The
cliff 
>>hanger was OK, but it's a season finale so it was expected -- nothing
new 
>>there.
>>
>>More details on this episode after spoiler space.
>>
>>
>>S
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>>P
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>>O
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>>I
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>>L
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>>E
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>>R
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>>S
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>>P
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>>A
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>>C
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>>I
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>>N
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>>G
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>>
>>The plot was so ludicrous it could've been a comedy.  Rodney makes a
plan to 
>>get Shepard back from 48,000 years in the future.  Come on -- Rodney has

>>well demonstrate his inability to do anything that doesn't screw up in a
few 
>>years or sooner ...
>>
>>The multigate trip between galaxies via a gate macro -- busted by the
wraith
>>Reactivating the replicators code to attack the wraith -- that went
well, 
>>they started eliminating the food source.
>>His lockdown program that couldn't differentiate stellar activity from a

>>biohazard.
>>
>>And those are just examples from this season!
>>
>>The one consistancy was his tendency to miss little details.  (Oh No,
the 
>>sun will be a red giant 200 years before Shepard is out of Stasis!)  I'm

>>sorry, those little things add up to make this plan unbelievable. 
Already 
> 
> 
> I didn't folow that at all.  Wasn't it "odds are it might take that long

> to get just the right flare" meaning it might be tomorrow and it might 
> not ever happen?  And then these figures aren't affected at ALL by the 
> fact the sun is turning into a red giant?

After he was activated and took some readings of the star I would assume 
that the Rodney AI would have adjusted his calculations for that 
variable. For all we know the red giant may have the right type of flare 
every week instead of every 700 years.

> 
> 
>>the planet was experiencing dust storms -- makes it kind of hard for
solar 
>>energy to power the ****elds as planned when it's blocked by sand storms.


I didn't think the solar panels were powering the ****eld alone.  I 
though they were using them to take some of the load off of the naquadah 
generator so they could extend its' life by about 100 years.

> 
> 
> And Shepard runs out in to the dust storm because he's impatient.  What 
> was the rush to get him into stasis, just because he's hungry?  And 
> since when don't they carry candy bars any more?

I guess Shepard ate them while he was on the other planet waiting for 
his Genii contact.

> 
> 
>>During the "Dust Bowl" of the 30's in the US midwest the dust storms
were so 
>>thick they were called black outs and they'd last for days -- these were

>>much less severe conditions then the red giant would have produced..  A 
>>volcano or meteor impact could kick enough dust up to block the sun for 
>>months, though it would only need to block it long enough for the
****elds to 
>>fail for a few seconds, and even if the ****elds powered up again when
the 
>>sun returned Shepard would revive in an Atlantis sans atmosphere.  Gee, 
>>maybe they should've put an evironmental suit on him before he went into

>>stasis -- this way if the ****elds did fail he could still make it to the

>>gate.  Though he might deplete the suit digging his way to the gate it
seems 
>>a reasonable precaution.
> 
> 
> And as long as you're in the stasis room, how about asking 'whatever 
> happened to Carson Beckett?'?  (I thought he might still be there, heh)

As for why Shepard didn't ask about Beckett, I guess the writers didn't 
want to drop any spoilers for next season.  So maybe the Doctor was 
there, or in another stasis room.  Or maybe the SGC took his frozen body 
back to Earth when they abandoned the city.

> 
>>Of course Shepard makes it back, and he has a magic bean!  Rodney told
him 
>>where Teyla was found.  So off goes the Atlantis team to get her back 
>>earlier then they did in the time line Rodney's hologram was in.  She's
not 
>>there and it's a trap -- big surprise.
> 
> 
> And the trap is to drop a Wraith cruiser and COLLAPSE ONE BUILDING.  
> Don't these people have nukes?  

We haven't seen the Wraith use nukes up to this point in the series. 
For all we know only the Earthers and the Genii are the only races that 
use fission weapons in the Pegasus galaxy.

> 
>>If we look at this episode in terms of changes to civilization over
time. 
>>48,000 years ago there was no known civilization on our planet, almost
all 
>>of the earths civilization evolved in the last 10-15,000 or so years. 
>>Imagine what our civilaztion can accomplish in another 30,000 years if
it 
>>doesn't destroy itself first.  There's a good reason the wraiths didn't 
>>pillage the undefended Atlantis shown in the future of this episode --
it 
>>was obsolete, the wraiths had surpassed it's abilities 20-30,000 years 
>>prior.  They don't need the gate system, they've surpassed it.  Look at
just 
>>the last 300 years in long distance travel on our own planet, 1800
travel 
>>was the typical walking speed of a horse (or wind powered boat if you
could 
>>travel by water), by 1900 trains, by 2000 jets were the norm.

Actually I assume that Micheal and his followers had killed off the 
Wraith eons before Shepard arrived in that future.  As to what happened 
to Michaels decedents, who knows?  That wasn't mentioned in the episode.

>>
>>I also think that Rodney's arogance would've had him program his
hologram 
>>with a younger appearance.  He has shown signs of vanity in the past.

I guess the AI program had to use what was recorded into it, which was a 
Rodney McKay who qualifys for AARP.  And for all we know McKay may have 
moved past caring about his appearance in his selfless 25 year quest to 
save Shepard and change history.

>>
>>The one redeeming aspect I found in this episode was the oppurtunity to
give 
>>the cast noble deaths.
> 
> 

Our heroes have to go out like heroes.

ALV