This is a weird episode. You would expect it to pick up right where The Kindred left us, holding our breaths. Instead, it begins with Sheppard coming home to Atlantis only to find it long dead, buried in sand, and learning that a solar flare has just sent him to a very far future, where McKay's virtual doppleganger is waiting to help him get back home. Fun though time paradoxes may be, one might be forgiven for not giving a damn. I mean, this is the season finale, so why the (apparently) disconnected plot? What about rescuing the *very pregnant* heroine from the clutches of the mad alien scientist?
Watch on. Actually, this episode is all about raising the stakes (to galactic proportions, no less), and about making Teyla's rescue possible in the first place. As "Rodney" tells Sheppard the end of his story, we realise that we just don't want to go there. I like the idea that, this time, the enemy is so clever that without this major cheat, nobody has a chance against him. And even though most of the "flashbacks" included in The Last Man won't ever come to pass (or will they?), they tell a lot about our favorite characters, even more about Rodney himself. So to all intents and purposes, this episode is sort of "The Season You Don't Want To Happen" --but in a good way.
And to make the episode even better, instead of ending with Sheppard successfully coming back to his own time, the episode goes on to show how Atlantis immediately capitalises on Sheppard's new information and... discovers that even help from the future might not be enough against Michael. Don't you just love those last-minute twists?
Watch on. Actually, this episode is all about raising the stakes (to galactic proportions, no less), and about making Teyla's rescue possible in the first place. As "Rodney" tells Sheppard the end of his story, we realise that we just don't want to go there. I like the idea that, this time, the enemy is so clever that without this major cheat, nobody has a chance against him. And even though most of the "flashbacks" included in The Last Man won't ever come to pass (or will they?), they tell a lot about our favorite characters, even more about Rodney himself. So to all intents and purposes, this episode is sort of "The Season You Don't Want To Happen" --but in a good way.
And to make the episode even better, instead of ending with Sheppard successfully coming back to his own time, the episode goes on to show how Atlantis immediately capitalises on Sheppard's new information and... discovers that even help from the future might not be enough against Michael. Don't you just love those last-minute twists?