Stargate Atlantis Season 4 Episode 16

Plot: 0, Writing: 0, Excitement: 0, Sci-Fi: -1, Music: 8 (for trying to make something pitiful exciting.)





Wow, this is the first time I've ever turned off a Stargate Episode before it was finished. What garbage. I'd rather have one less episode and save the budget (although this budget was probably $50) for another. If you want people talking at each other, watch soap opera. With an entire new galaxy to investigate and no limit on what the imagination could come up with, this was such a disappointment. By the time the juvenile chat about who they'd 'do' if they had to came along, I was ready to throw up. This is a SCI-FI show! Create something interesting!! Keep our attention by intrigue, not character drivel!





Terrible.

I am not sure why this episode was made. Most of this season seemed important, or adventurous, or entertaining. But for some reason we get this episode that was nearly unbearable to watch.


It was unique in the main characters were Carter, Mckay and Kellar. Their characters are all similar, brains over brawns. But even with 3 of the most intelligent people of 2 Galaxies could not figure out how to get out of this stupid hole!


That's right, this hole was stupid. An old mining facility was building about 8 inches below the surface, and somehow it managed to get a small sink hole after years of being abondond. This episode was filled with silly unsuccessful attempts to climb 50 feet.

This is by far the best McKay episode I have ever seen. His character has gone so far from the snivling coward of the first season. To me the most powerful scene was the shot of McKay's hands after he had let Keller down into the tunnel. They were so scratched up and bleeding, and still he lowered Carter down. I feel sure that in season one he would not have even considered doing something like that. He was willing to sacrifice himself for others, and this is a great example of how Hewlett's character has evolved over the years.

Trio was a treat indeed. The Trio included Colonel Carter, Dr. McKay, and Dr. Keller. The three traveled to a world ravaged by devestating earthquakes, and is about to be utterly destroyed, to convince the people to relocate to another world. Everything goes horribly wrong though as the three fall into a hole and discover they are in an old Genii mining facility. Most of the episode takes place in this location. It starts to feel like they will never get out. They start talking and getting to know each other even more than they thought possible. It was fun to watch the interactions and out comes of conversations had. This episode was a little slow, but ultimately good, and a nice bread before all the action happens in the following episodes to end the season!

My friend and i were discussing the other day that while we enjoy the new Dr Who series we felt that something that was lacking was how he often solved problems with practical application like in the old days. I mention this because this episode of Atlantis summed up exactly what were looking for. Three smart people stuck in a situation with limited time and limited resources and have to think and try different methods to get out. Truley a great episode that can spark much debate later and during amongst friends on exactly how you would have got out of the situation I take my hat off to the writers here. what was clearly only supposed to be filler episode turned out to be a high class example of character perfomance and clever ingunity (probably missed spelt) more episodes like this could only improve the show. That said it does contrast nicely with the following episode with violence and action to the max. Thank god for this show.

Coming off a TRIO of uninspired shows…





We're given this little "character" story. Now, I'm okay with the character shows. Those are shows with minimal suspense and special effects but trap us in into quaint little scenes designed to illicit "character." But, we've lately just gone through "Quarantine" which did the exact same thing.





In this case, they've chosen to strand Rodney, Keller, and Carter in a mining room. Naturally, it could collapse at any moment and they need to work together to try and escape. Along the way, tidbits of character and character interaction are doled out. And, based on these three people, it can be entertaining. The absolute best part is where the young local boys find them and McKay indicates to Carter (and later Keller) that they should lift their shirts for the young kids. It's pretty subtle but very McKay and almost makes the entire episode somewhat worthwhile.





Ultimately though, the story is boring.

Three characters who haven't had a lot of interaction with each other so far trapped in a hole has got to be a challenge to write, but, considering no ongoing plots were forwarded and nothing earthshattering happened it was a pretty good episode. It can't have been easy writing all that and trying to not make it contrived. Some of it may have ended up that way, but largely I found (Trio) to be very fun to watch.





Though I miss Carson, I love Keller. She's got a naievete about her that makes her a good source of humour in certain situations, but she's always ready to jump in with medical expertise. Like in (Quarantine) she proves that she bores easily and talks to whoever is in the area to try to keep her mind occupied. Her game of 'Who Would You Rather' was brilliant, since, when Sam was on SG-1 she never really got the chance to have many girl-friend moments, especially not in the field.





Rodney was typical Rodney, though he did revert a little bit toward the Rodney McKay he was when he was just a guest on SG-1 once in a while. His assurances to Sam that they would have got what they wanted from the kids if she had flashed them rivalled with his frantic comparing of attributes between Keller and Sam. He could have easily got out of being the one to climb on top of the crates by saying that he was heavier than Sam and Keller and that since Keller had a thing with heights Sam was the logical choice, but instead he chose to point out one of his character flaws which is kind of endearing about him.





And Sam... It was great to see her back out in the field, something we haven't seen much of since her first episode as commander of Atlantis. All season there have been things that I find myself saying 'Sam should be able to take care of that' but I guess now that she's in charge of the City she has a different set of responsibilities and fixing the crisis of the day isn't really her job anymore--especially since it would take away from the acts of the original leads. Her insistance that she remain clearheaded after breaking her leg was very similar to her reaction when Cameron Mitchell (Ben Browder) tried to give her morphine after she was shot by a Prior's staff and the Ori were bearing down on them in the SG-1 season 10 episode (Line In the Sand), making that part of the episode classic Carter.





I could have done with some more Joe Flanigan, but the fact that he went through a meeting with a superior officer while sucking on a sour lolly pop was too funny for me to care about the fact that he disappears before the title credits even begin.

Filler yes is that bad no since it was a fun episode all the way through. This character study disguised as an escape from danger did a great job of showcasing three of the main figures. Mckay hopefully learned to take a step back and not try to be the hero brain of everything. Sam got to do something which is rare since her arrival on Atlantis. Nice reminder of the character we came to appreciate from SG1. Keller for once wasn't the weakest person in the room which doesn't say much for the neurotic Mckay and at the end we have her and Mckay becoming an item. Not a great episode and nothing happened but I still don't understand why so many people felt the need to harp on this point and not just enjoy a harmless filler episode.

Totally predictable episode that in the end offered nothing. First it looked there might be character development, then it looked there might be some running around and action on not so abandoned mine but no - there was nothing except big crates that were not good enough to climb up. There was some little thing to MacGyver out a way to the surface but in the end, it does not work, as always. Just that kind of - I had idea, and then, oh it failed episode. Some little talk, nothing at all, in the end. They really hadn't had no major storyline development for so many episodes.

This episode is great because it has everything I like in an episode. It has a problem that everyone tries fixing in their own unique way for example Jennifer's beer inspire attempt, Rodney's catepult, and of course Sam's grappling hook. It also has character development which I like more than anything when I write my books, plays, and such. Then the whole endding portion helped me write my own episodes for the series of Stargate Atlantis. As my final notes for my review I want to finish what I started out saying and that my reasoning for a 9.8 is that I like Jewel Staite and Amanda Tapping and David Hewlett.

I was apprehensive about this episode, but it was very nice giving Carter and Keller some screen time. I know Carter had 10 years on SG-1, I've been watching Stargate since Children of the Gods, but since coming over to Atlantis she really has taken a back seat. It was also nice to have a break from Sheppard, Teyla and ROnon. I like them, I really do, but Sheppard has taken centre stage for most of this season, so it's nice ot have an episode or two where he hardly appears, let alone has a small impact.





Rodney was good, especially with the rope scene and him struggling to hold on while his hands were bleeding. It was nice to see a side of his character we do not really get to see. And the ending of the relationship with Katie Brown was also handy because I did not really like her character. The scene with Rodney and Keller at the end was also nice because he just didn't have a clue what was going on.





People can complain about this episode, about the complete lack of an appearance of a Stargate, the lack of space battles, the lack of Sheppard and Ronon etc., and the focus on Keller, but at the end of the day the show is about several characters, and if a space ship and a stargate play a big role in every episode then it lessens the effect of space ships and stargate as a whole.





I think that this episode was very good. Not the best this season, but still brilliant.

I was actually shocked to the core while I watched this because it weirded me out how much I enjoyed this episode. It was so basic. Just three people trying to get out of a huge hole. I found the interaction between the characters amazing and Rodney never fails to make me laugh. I practically wet myself when he told Carter to lift up her top in order for a couple of young boys to go get help, and then when she reused he looked at Keller hoping she would volunteer. Oh and when he was trying to dig himself out of thehole he'd just made after saying Carter had a nice body and not Keller. I kept shouting STOP MCKAY. Great episode.

I've been extremely disappointed with Atlantis this season, and this episode is the perfect example of why.





a) Carter's character has lost all of her spunk and intelligence, etc. When she was on SG-1, she solved much more difficult and painful problems than the one presented in this episode (figuring out how to climb out of a hole in the ground), but suddenly she's always asking McKay what to do, and comes across very bland and dull.





b) Bland and dull really are the words I would use to describe this episode (and so many others this season). For one thing, just a few weeks ago we had an episode involving being trapped in a small space and trying to figure out a way out. Additionally, this was just plain boring, with less than thrilling dialogue. If there are many more episodes where the majority of time is taken up with trivialities like the whole "Clooney or Pitt" discussion, I may actually stop watching, unfortunately. I realize that these discussions were probably intended as "character development", but in my opinion, they're developing the characters to resemble silly teenage girls. I half expected a game of Truth or Dare or MASH to come up next. So, in summary, very disappointing, from a series I used to love.

The past few seasons of "Stargate: Atlantis" have fallen into a despairing pattern. The first half of each season is packed with solid plot and character development; the second half is far more episodic and tends to concentrate the least successful episodes together in one lackluster run. "SGA" is hardly the only such victim of the Sci-Fi Channel scheduling curse: "SG-1" and "Battlestar: Galactica" have both experienced the same inexplicable pattern.





As diverting as this episode was, it was also relatively self-contained and had very little to do with the rest of the season. There's some hint that it connects to McKay's character arc, particularly his recent problems with Dr. Brown, but such moments are fleeting. Most of the episode is a matter of waiting for the inevitable escape, which proceeds at a surprisingly slow and plodding pace.





Carter, Keller, and McKay all get their chance to offer a clever solution to the problem, avoiding the possibility that Carter would show up McKay in a crisis situation. It's just as surprising that Keller managed to hold her own; with a little more luck, her solution might have been effective. In the end, however, none of those solutions resolve the problem; instead, at the last possible moment, a solution presents itself.





I'm of two minds regarding that resolution to the crisis. On the one hand, it keeps all three characters on a level playing field, because none of them succeeded. Unfortunately, that means that the writers had to resort to a massive plot convenience to ensure that the characters would survive. And since there was absolutely no chance that any of the characters would die, there was little or no tension.





In the end, this was an example of a failed "bottle show". While the characters were in crisis, none of the character exploration that usually comes with a good "bottle show" was present. Carter was just as bland as she's been since taking command of Team Atlantis, and McKay was slightly less panicked than usual (perhaps a minor step up from "Quarantine"). Keller got some much-needed screen time, but other than possible interest in McKay, the long-term gains were minimal. The result is an episode that feels unnecessary.

Did you notice: The dirt falling down shouldn't have made the box more unstable. It already has been on top of this cube so its weight already had made an influence! So all cleaning of the doctor was for nothing ;)


Nevertheless it was definitely interesting watching what these guys were building. Especially the beer trick ^^


I also think that the kids were quite funny. First two kids interested in what was going down there. Leaving.. After some time four of them were looking at them talking about their lost/won bet =P


Yeah well, enough written here. 100 words should be reached by now.





Anyway, if you find some grammar mistakes, feel free to tell. I'm German and am interested in speaking English correctly.

Carter is certainly much smarter than how she acted in this episode. How does she go from "Don't open the red door as it was dangerous" to giving up on the other door then going back to the red door? Also when McKay was swinging the rope, shouldn't Carter and Keller have been standing to the sides rather than right in front of him? Good thing at least they were staring at him and not the ceiling otherwise it would've been a gory end for Carter. Also is it just me or did Carter have a 'Xena like' moment when she successfully tossed the hook up twice.


Also it seemed all of a sudden they just trashed Zelinka or implied it by Keller referring to his "sniffing her hair" and Carter, as McKay inferred, resented being stuck with Zelinka in the transporter room for 3 hrs.





Finally, the only thing that saved this episode was McKay didn't go drooling over the thought of being with Sam for an extended moment of time. And actually had more of a 'ship' with Keller. [I know it wasn't a real 'ship' and just a drink, but saying at least between Carter and Keller, McKay went with Keller.] So thankfully McKay isn't like he was in SG-1 being totally in love with Sam for her physical atributes. Though the scene where he asked Sam to show her boobs to the kids was absolutely hilarious

Forget the fact that the trio (Keller, Carter & McKay) managed to get themselves stuck down a mine-shaft with potentially lethal gas pipes all around them, and the threat of impending doom brought about by near hourly earth tremors, where the hell did they manage to find all that stuff from to enact their miraculous escape? This episode was ok for a filler, all things told, but it did remind me somewhat of when the A-team would get trapped in an empty barn somewhere and still manage to find a car, some protective armor for it, all the weaponry you could ever want and some camouflage creme to boot.





Not a bad effort, but let's try and keep original.

Okay I think its the last filler in this season. /And it was just enough!/


From Quarantine until now...


I cant even write 100 words about this episode...


So McKay, Carter and Dr. Keller went on a mission, but they fell in an abandoned Genii mining facility. They have to escape fast, because of the earthquakes, the whole place is gonna collapse. They have only a few hours to do that, with no help, or tools...


So with a few boxes, rope, etc they try to figure it out how to escape...


Another character developement.


The next chapter will be good I think. "Tealc is back!" :)

The problems with this episode started early and continued throughout. For instance, why did Carter and Keller both approach the hole after McKay fell through? Carter should have known to crawl forward alone to assess the situation and then one of them could have gone for help. And is the viewer really supposed to believe three people fell 20 to 30 feet -- two of them head first! -- and came away with nothing more than dirty faces? And what about our brilliant scientist Samantha Carter underestimating the combined weight of three adults and a big pile of dirt by a hundred pounds and having to have this pointed out by McKay? Completely unbelievable. Keller thought to scrape the dirt out but they never thought to toss out the broken crates? Please. There were mine shafts visible on the other side of the chasm but it never occurred to them they might be a way out? "We should have thought of that" said Carter. Damn right they should have!





In a script riddled with problems, the single most jarring note -- the kind that makes the viewer snap out of the show's flow and go "now wait a minute" -- was the apparently pointless trashing of the character Radek Zelenka. Everything seen or heard about Zelenka until "Trio" indicated he was a sweet little man and an excellent scientist. Now the viewer is suddenly supposed to be believe he is "creepy" and generally disliked? Nonsense.





Though, in fairness, it should be noted there was some very clever -- and occasionally funny -- dialog, the truth is "Trio" was the worst Martin Gero script ever.





Grade:


Acting, Directing, Production: A


Writing: D+





Overall Rating: 7/10.

Like I said this was an exceptionally directed episode with superb acting by all involved. As many have notated already this episode did not do much to forward the story, but that was a welcoming opportunity for me! The three get trapped in an abandoned Genii mining complex and have to get out. The room they are in is about to collapse in a great shaft beside it, due to the extra weight that they just brought in. The episode centered just on them trying to get out, no stupid side stories. The three make a number of attempts and that was the best part for me, one would think that with the limited number of supplies they have there won't be any attempts at all. Superb character builder, and no other Trio in this particular situation would have been more entertaining to watch. We need more episodes likes this!





PS: I wish they showed them meeting those kids at the end, so that Mackay could tear them a new one.

Just like "Quarantine," I thought "Trio" would be a pointless episode at the beginning, but I ended up enjoying both episodes a lot.





McKay was hilarious when he kept trying to convince Carter to flash her you-know-whats to the boys to get them to find help. "No, Rodney! I'm not going to!"





Like some on the forum, I too was slightly disappointed that Carter found the rope. Or at least by the fact that she couldn't rummage through the locker for a couple more minutes before finding the rope. (You'll have to watch the episode to understand. And it helps if you're a guy. ;) )





I wasn't aware that the Keller and Ronon relationship from "Quarantine" didn't work out. Maybe they realized that the only reason they almost kissed was because of the shared crisis situation they went through, and that they don't really have anything in common.





McKay has shown a lot of character development since the beginning of the series. He never went on missions before. He didn't really know how to fire a gun or chase down bad guys in the field. His attempts at wooing Carter on the SG-1 series were pathetic so his relationship with Katie was a marked development in his social skills. He actually admitted that he could be arrogant, something I doubt he would have done two years ago. And he has even shown something like compassion on a couple occasions, such as when John lost a relative. (Of course, Rodney still doesn't get along with children very well, as we saw in this episode and in "Harmony." I wouldn't mind if he didn't develop in this area because his interactions with children are pretty funny. "Listen you little brats! I'm in control here!")





I think Keller was just asking McKay out to the bar as a friend. I don't think there was anything romantic in the request. They had just been through a tough situation together and Rodney did save her life. It's natural to want to hang out together afterwards as friends. I don't think Rodney is her type, and she understands that too. She won't let that prevent her from developing a non-romantic relationship with him though.





While there was nothing eye-opening about the story, the humorous moments helped to carry the episode. If I had to point out a flaw, it was the frequent falls of Carter. She fell from a height of over 25 feet at least twice without suffering any serious injuries. It was only on the third fall that she finally broke something. Apart from that, I found the episode entertaining and funny, and I learned more about the characters too. Not a bad way to spend an hour for a sci-fi viewer.

A very dull and slow episode.





Coronel carter, rodney and the doctor get trapped in a cave when they go to a world to negotiate they're relocation.





The cave his an old mine built buy the genii a long time ago.





The episode is all about the three of them getting out there before the hole thing collapses.





nothing new happens, some minor jokes between the three of them and rodney's not being very manly like ronan.





in the end they all got away and rodney goes with the doc to have a beer.





This kind of episode like this and quarantine are an attempt to supresse the absence of Tayla and trying to incluide a little bit more of doc's caracther in to the show and more specificly in to the group.

I'm surprised like this so close to the end of the season...





I did nothing to advance the story arc and didn't provide any startling revelations about the charcaters... Unless you consider Keller's inability to choose a guy and stick with it startling...





I don't see where this is going... First there's Ronin, which I thought was kinda cool since she was not an obvious choice as a match for him... then that came and went away and now McKay?





Maybe I am just biased because I liked McKay with Katie (I thought it was sweet)... but I am not buying that Keller would be interested in Rodney, ever!





Besides it never works in a series to have two main characters date... Stargate SG-1 would have died a slow death if they had ever hooked up Jack and Sam...





Hopefully the last four episodes will get us back into the action! =)

Okay... SGA is starting to get...weird. An episode like this should not have happened because it is NOT what was promised. According to the spoilers and previews, this episode was to provide character insight. I noticed very little.





Its one thing to have these 3 trapped in a situation where they must work together to get out, but more could've been done. I could've seen less "Clooney or Pitt" and more interaction between McKay and Carter. McKay and Carter have this love/hate thing that works when its on, and it could've been done more in this episode. That could've left Keller in the middle to kind of play negotiator and help these 2 work out their issues, because whether TPTB play it up or not there is a LOT of "issues" between McKay and Carter.





Now it was nice to see McKay risk his life like that for Carter and Keller. Hopefully this may be the one thing to serve as a catalyst for change in the character, since none of the other "close shaves" have not done so.





This episode, overall, was a mixed bag to me. It could have been way better and went in a much more confrontational manner than it did. Sure, there was some confrontation, but not enough, given that you have McKay and Carter trapped in the same room. That could've been somethng to see but the writer failed in making it what it could and should be.





But, this season is somewhat static, and given the news about season 5, I can see why this show is doing episodes like this. Everybody keeps changing way too fast and keeping the plots together in arcs must be interesting given that the cast will change soon--again.

I enjoyed this episode. The combination of people were good, with Keller being easy going, McKay being tight, and Carter in between. But it was Mckay's weirdness that made things fun and entertaining, and the interactions between the three worked out well. The two women really got a dose of McKay's conversational style. Here are some thoughts:





McKay and Keller? What happened to Ronon and Keller? Not that I'm much into this shipping thing, but I actually prefer McKay and Keller - it seems more natural to me. Keller seems out of place because of her childhood experience, but she's no more out of place than Rodney in the social department!





Everything is a contest to McKay. Honestly though, he's not alone in that line of thinking.





Keller's bar trick thing was a nice try. I don't know how realistic this or especially the cannon thing was, but I'll just accept them.





What Carter said about being stuck with Zelenka did sound somewhat inappropriate. Even if she didn't mean it to be that way, I'm not sure she likes him a whole lot.





McKay's idea to show Sam's "features" to the kids was hilarious, so inappropriate and McKay-like. Luckily Carter knows McKay well enough and wasn't as offended as she could've been.

This episode is much like other Stargate filler episodes. It seems like there are more of them in this season. You know the kind, minimal amount of sets, just a few characters, trapped in a small area... You could technically skip this one and not miss any important storylines. That aside, it doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable. Trapped in a mining facility underground, McKay, Carter and Dr. Keller try to work together to find a way out. This episode relies heavily on the script and there is a lot of funny jokes between the three characters. I actually found myself laughing quite a few times. I think some people are getting annoyed with McKay but this episode actually made me like him more. I would like to see more episodes centered around the Wraith, etc. but along the way if we see a few episodes like these, that's fine by me. It's still Atlantis.

Story (3.1):


I don't know what is happening to the writers of the stargate atlantis, but this series is geting worse from episode to episode.


This is again filler episode, so nothing new on Wraith or Replicators.


Again I am realy disapointed, because there are again just three characters from Atlantis. Episode cannot be good with so little characters.





Production (3.3):


The most of the episode is happening in this room under ground, so there is not realy much to see.


Part where Carter is throwing rope out of the hole in the ceiling is filmed realy bad.


The only good thing I saw in this episode is that the characters were well played.





I hope they start filming some good episodes, because this ain't going anywhere.

This episode was definitly not a favourite of mine, it was unoriginal and nothing of any consequence happened.





Baisicly Sam, keller and rodney (trio) are stuck when they fall through the roof of an old abandoned Genii mining facility.


This specific scenario has been done before many times, many different ways on many different shows.





I hate to say it but Mckay is starting to grate on my nerves. He was much more interesting as the peasemistic, argumentative, panicky hypoglycemicly prone scientist.


In this episode and quarantine hes been more like a shovenistic lazy git.





While this episode did have its moments, i was wondering how many times they could fit in carter falling from different heights.





This episode was rather boring in that there were no usual plot twists or added bonus's that usually crop up along the way.

I really thought this episode would be another boring filler episode but I was so wrong! Even though it wasnt the usual kicking bad guy butt episode it was still very good! Although I didnt like the ending cause now it seems that Dr.Keller and Dr.Mckay are a item and in Quarantine Dr.Keller and Ronon were going out so I didnt get that part but the rest of the episode was very good! I think they should have shown more Mckay and Carter together like them talking or getting to know each other more...Like at the end I think it would have been nice to see Mckay go to Carter and talk to her...Maybe tell her that he wouldnt have been able to handle loosing her or something like that! At least have him tell her that hes happy she is alright! But anyway this was a awesome episode!