The Last Man

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S4 (The Last Man)

Other than the last few minutes, which followed the pattern you'd expect for a season-ending cliffhanger, this was quite different to what I was expecting. It's pretty much a standalone story right in the middle of this big 'Save Teyla' arc, which leads me to wonder if they felt forced into treading water regarding the story maybe they felt the need to have a cliffhanger. Because they could have resolved it if this episode had been following on from the previous episode. Instead, it's a very science-fictional story that reminded me of the finale to 'SG-1' in that it was its own thing. I wonder if they knew they were getting a Season 5 or not, and if that played into their decision here as it could have morphed into a conclusion to the series if they weren't going to make more. As it was, although I generally warm to these high-concept ideas I felt fairly certain it was all going to turn out alright and have no real bearing on the ongoing story. Of course it has one major effect: that they're able to find the location Michael took/will take Teyla to have her baby, so it was a long-winded way of pulling that solution out of the hat, though as we see, it didn't end too well for them as they activate a boobytrap which collapses the building around them, leaving them in who knows what situation.

Sheppard's sudden leap into a future Atlantis buried in sand forty-eight thousand years in time was the kind of story I've seen done in Trek (I think especially of 'The Visitor' as one of the best ever episodes anywhere), and 'SG-1,' but never as a season finale. In one sense it was brave and bold, but it also has the downside of an impression of lacking purpose. We see in flashback all kinds of strange and sad endings for the characters: Teyla's gutted after her baby has been removed; Carter dies in a final stand after she's got her own ship (the Phoenix - I know she ends up a ship's Captain in 'Universe' so it'll be interesting to see if it was the same one...); Ronon finds himself going down with the unlikely ally of 'Todd' the Wraith as they blow up one of Michael's major facilities; and Rodney quits the SGC and ends up with Jennifer Keller, who then dies of complications from the Hoffan virus, and then spends the rest of his life working out how to reverse what happened when Sheppard went through the 'gate and ended up so far into the future. His old age makeup as a hologram was good (ironically, Robert Picardo as Wolsey, best known for playing a hologram, becomes the boss of Atlantis - I was really hoping he'd play another hologram!), and it was eerie that it's just Sheppard and this aged version of someone we know in the long abandoned shell of the city we know so well, the kind of story that might have worked better in the middle of a season rather than as a seeming stopgap between serials, and a convenient solution to their problem.

I don't judge it too harshly, it did provide some stirring moments such as when Carter stands alone on the bridge of her ship as she rams into an enemy vessel, or Ronon and Todd finding common ground as they prepare to die for the greater good. McKay's brainy sister even has a small cameo as she tries to help with his calculations, and of course it's always good to see Dr. Keller, who I feel should really be bumped up to main cast for the final season. It's been another standout year for the series after the first two were variable, and like Season 3 they found a good mix of stories and events. In retrospect the addition of Carter to the main cast didn't work as well as I'd imagined it would, and as I've said many times I don't think the character is best suited to command, but more as tech backup, dependable support, like McKay, the one to get us out of jams (a shame Zelenka barely gets a cameo as he brings McKay a drink and barely see him, though that's sort of the joke). The chemistry wasn't quite right and it made me feel that actually I'd have preferred Weir to stay and for Carter to be a recurring character drafted in from time to time - honestly she wasn't in every episode anyway so I'm not sure it would have made that significant a difference.

Going back to this episode, I wasn't entirely convinced that Sheppard's absence would have allowed Michael to take over the entire Pegasus Galaxy, but I do understand that it's more about the lack of information on where Teyla was being held, which had a knock-on effect that our people couldn't stop Michael carrying out the completion of his hybrid experiments in time, leading to him getting the upper hand, but it was still all a little hard to believe. I also wasn't clear on how putting Sheppard in stasis for several hundred more years would enable him to go back, but I assume it was something to do with when the phenomena would affect the Stargate again. Maybe? I should have paid more attention to the technobabble! It wasn't a bad episode, but ultimately came across as largely inconsequential and while fun to see alternate futures for the characters, I wasn't completely convinced by it all. Especially Lorne, and no disrespect to him, ending up as General over the SGC! No matter, nothing that happened in this episode can detract from the quality of the season overall and I will look forward to getting back into it soon, probably much sooner than later since I don't have anything to review between seasons now that both 'SG-1' and 'Smallville' are all done and dusted...

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