Stargate Atlantis 02/18/2005 (S01E15) "Before I Sleep"

[Jonathan_S]

Hey, the time travel puddle jumper from SG-1 two weeks ago. (Well, ok, technically not the same ship, but Janus built the SG-1 ship as well).

Normally I dislike time travel episodes, but this one was well done. I liked the backstory about the original timeline results of getting to Atlantis, and how the ancients hadn't had to foresight to build in the failsafe to raise the city.

Plus this ties back nicely to the fact that two out of the three ZPMs were drained when the team got to atlantis this time.

Plus, 4 more chances to find a charged ZPM that nobody is using. That should have some interesting results in the next few episodes.

I do sort of wonder about the damage that last transport ship was taking, given that the massive system defence station discovered by Shepard three episodes back should have still been online. I would have thought it would have kept the Wraith futher away from the planet.

[super dave]

I enjoyed all of the "Back To The Future" references.

[shaunrose]

I enjoyed all of the "Back To The Future" references.

I liked how Rodney said not to get him started talking about all of the problems with that movie. Reminds me of some of the threads I've seen here!

[Anubys]

the banter between all the guys about how they couldn't hack it the first time and died was pretty good.

The old Elizabeth knowing about the birthday present that the young Elizabeth got from Sheppard was an error, though...unless you can assume that they wasted time telling the dying woman all that has happened since they got to Atlantis (which would be stupid)...

[MirclMax]

The old Elizabeth knowing about the birthday present that the young Elizabeth got from Sheppard was an error, though...unless you can assume that they wasted time telling the dying woman all that has happened since they got to Atlantis (which would be stupid)...

I don't still have the episode .. but as I recall it, the "old Elizabeth" just references their birthday (as things the "young Elizabeth" should just learn to chill and enjoy) .. not a direct reference to the birthday present. "Young Elizabeth" then makes a comment about Sheppard .. the presumption I had was that Sheppard wished the "old Elizabeth" a happy birthday as well.. and thus "old Elizabeth" knew what day she was back on.

Nothing seems "wrong" about any of that to me.

[newswatcher]

Still can't figure out why the consoles at Atlantis need to be tarp covered. Could it be that dusty there? Especially underwater (initially) and even after it has surfaced...

I did like this episode but they talk so fast (as they do on so many other shows like Numb3rs,
and expecially with Atlantis) that I am compelled to turn on the caption feature. Slow it down folks: is there a race here to see how many words you can fit into an episode?

[lordrichter]

Hey, the time travel puddle jumper from SG-1 two weeks ago. (Well, ok, technically not the same ship, but Janus built the SG-1 ship as well).

Despite evidence to the contrary, I believe that it is too coincidental that two puddle jumpers with time devices on them exist in two different times in two different universes. Sure he took his research material with him, but where did he get the puddle jumper to mount his new time device in?

No, there were 10,000 years for the "destroyed" puddle jumper to get to our galaxy, and I think it did.

It would not surprise me if he PLANNED to come back to get it, given the fact that he knew that the city would remain powered for 10,000 years.

It's not like Wehr would run into him...

[Kamakzie]

I really enjoyed the episode. I guess I am in the minority but I generally enjoy time travel episodes.

[atrac]

Is it just me or is Torri Higginson HOT!?!?! I like her a lot. And for some reason she reminds me of Debrah Farentino from "Earth 2." I'm not sure why though. Maybe it's the whole matriarchal aspect of both characters that are similar.

[bobbi]

My initial instinct had been that this was going to be lousy, since I figured out pretty early that the old lady was Dr. Weir, but I actually thought this was a great episode. Really well done, and a lot of fun to watch. Nothing deep, but nothing on Atlantis HAS been so far, so it's not like I expected that. :)

[jeepair]

I do sort of wonder about the damage that last transport ship was taking, given that the massive system defence station discovered by Shepard three episodes back should have still been online. I would have thought it would have kept the Wraith futher away from the planet.

Was that the same planet as the one Atlantis is on? I thought that was a different planet. The night was long and cold etc.

Nice to see some exploring of Atlantis going on.

[edhara]

The one thing that I had an issue with is the fact that I thought the Atlanteans were supposed to have ascended and disappeared, not left for earth never to return - which doesn't quite jive with what I understood from last week's episode. Or am I missing something?

[IndyJones1023]

Still can't figure out why the consoles at Atlantis need to be tarp covered.

They didn't. That was just an "Earth thing" Dr. Weir did. Coming from our timeframe and traditions, when she was closing up shop, so to speak, she naturally covered the consoles just as someone would on Earth who was boarding up a house. It's funny, because when they were showing the flashback of the team untarping the consoles, I too wondered why the Atlanteans would do that. Then, half an hour later, we see Weir tarping the consoles herself, a very Earth thing to do.

Is it just me or is Torri Higginson HOT!?!?! I like her a lot. And for some reason she reminds me of Debrah Farentino from "Earth 2." I'm not sure why though. Maybe it's the whole matriarchal aspect of both characters that are similar.

Ummm, I think it's just you. She's certainly no dog, but I wouldn't place her in the hot category. She absolutely reminds me of Farentino from Earth 2, however.

And my thoughts about this episode: wow! Really great writing, especially for a time travel/mini-clip episode. I couldn't tell where the new clips departed from the old ones. Very effective use, IMHO.

I also am loving the interplay between Sheppard and McKay more and more. Man, this show has great humor embedded within fun storytelling. Here's to 10,000 more years of Atlantis!

[wedgecon]

The one thing that I had an issue with is the fact that I thought the Atlanteans were supposed to have ascended and disappeared, not left for earth never to return - which doesn't quite jive with what I understood from last week's episode. Or am I missing something?

I don't think the full story on that has been revealed. The Altanteans of 10,000 years ago seem to already have been in decline for some time. I think the majority of the Atlanteans had already "Ascended" by then.

There are other questions such as why have the Asgard not ascended as they are almost as old as the Atlanteans? Is it because of their beliefs or mistakes they made such as cloning?

Also they have never revealed who the furlings are and what their role might have been. We know about the Nox and it seems some of them may have ascended but there are still some of them around also.

[newswatcher]

They didn't. That was just an "Earth thing" Dr. Weir did. Coming from our timeframe and traditions, when she was closing up shop, so to speak, she naturally covered the consoles just as someone would on Earth who was boarding up a house. It's funny, because when they were showing the flashback of the team untarping the consoles, I too wondered why the Atlanteans would do that. Then, half an hour later, we see Weir tarping the consoles herself, a very Earth thing to do.

Yeah, but she obviously wasn't on earth, which I think she knew. :)
Just seemed kind of strange since the city was under water when she originally
tarped them. I think she tarped them due to the construction that was taking
place on the set. Don't believe I said that! Anyway, I found it (the event itself,
the tarping) to be ludicrous. Maybe she wanted to protect the equipment from
water leakage. Or, maybe she didn't want to mess up the timeline for events to
follow 10,000 years later.

And yes, I've got the hots for Torri Higginson. Goes all the way back to "Storm of the Century." Very attractive lady. She could easily pass (except for height) for Sigourney Weaver's sister...

http://shimatsuno.de/atlantis/images/weir01.JPGhttp://www.stargate-atlantis.freeserve.co.uk/stargate_atlantis.jpg

A little trivia from imdb.com:

Has appeared in two different, completely unrelated productions which featured a character named Janus: "TekWar" (1994) and "Stargate: Atlantis" (2004).

[atrac]

http://torrihigginson.info/photos/gallery/Movies/1995_Jungleground/JUNGLE_GROUND-015.jpg

Hubba hubba!

[cheesesteak]

Is it just me or is Torri Higginson HOT!?!?!
I thought so this episode, too. I also wondered if anyone has ever seen her and Pierce Brosnan at the same time and place.

[IndyJones1023]

Be careful, ulkanda is a spammer.

[lordrichter]

They didn't. That was just an "Earth thing" Dr. Weir did. Coming from our timeframe and traditions, when she was closing up shop, so to speak, she naturally covered the consoles just as someone would on Earth who was boarding up a house. It's funny, because when they were showing the flashback of the team untarping the consoles, I too wondered why the Atlanteans would do that. Then, half an hour later, we see Weir tarping the consoles herself, a very Earth thing to do.

And a point for the editing team and writers in that the original Atlantis party did not take plastic off the consoles but they did show the "second" Atlantis party doing just that.

[zync]

It's funny, because when they were showing the flashback of the team untarping the consoles, I too wondered why the Atlanteans would do that. Then, half an hour later, we see Weir tarping the consoles herself, a very Earth thing to do.

Except that the 1st time there was no Weir to do the tarping, so the Atlanteans did the tarping originally, and Weir did it the 2nd time.

[BrettStah]

OK, this just came to me while reading this thread, and not while watching the episode. I'm guessing I'm forgetting/missing something that makes this seem like a really stupid question...

The Ancients find out (thanks to Dr. Weir's sudden appearance from the future) that Atlantis will most likely survive underwater for the next 10,000 years, right? So why the big rush to evacuate, and to (presumably) never come back? Seems to me that they should alter their plans, and just hang tight underwater, until the Wraith hibernate again.

[IndyJones1023]

The Wraith probably didn't bother with Atlantis once it was evacuated because there was no more food there.

[Amnesia]

How would the Wraith know whether or not there was food in Atlantis?

[ADent]

How would the Wraith know whether or not there was food in Atlantis?

Do you really need the Treknobabble explanation?

Take your pick:

- They hooked up a Tachyon field emittor and created a Gravimetric distortion so their sensor arrays could see into the water.

- They noticed nothing coming in/out of the place materially or via communication bands for awhile

- The sent some dude down in a diving bell and noticed the lights were off

[lordrichter]

No No No. You recalibrate the deflector array, then channel the warp drive directly into the deflector to generate a tachyon pulse that resonates in the frequency of life forms. Of course, this blows the deflector array and causes Beverly to be sucked into a transdimensional unstable warp bubble, but everything has side effects.

[IndyJones1023]

And don't forget, that could cause several crew members to reverse age back to adolescence.

[atrac]

How would the Wraith know whether or not there was food in Atlantis?

Or even more simply put, since the Atlantians ARE the food and they've left, then the Wraith would see that they are gone and thus the food is gone.

[IndyJones1023]

Or even more simply put, since the Atlantians ARE the food and they've left, then the Wraith would see that they are gone and thus the food is gone.

Uh, yeah, that's what I was getting at. To the Wraith, people are food. They like Soylent Green. No people, no food.

[Amnesia]

then the Wraith would see that they are gone
That was the whole question. If the Ancients just stayed underwater, would the Wraith know they were there?

[IndyJones1023]

That was the whole question. If the Ancients just stayed underwater, would the Wraith know they were there?

Why wouldn't they? A huge metalic structure under a mere couple hundred feet of water with not only a huge power signature but 10s of thousands of biosigns? Not only that, they were sworn enemies, so I think the Wraith would be actively searching for the home base.

[SparkleMotion]

Grrr! I missed this one due to conflicts. Worst of it being, Monk repeats a lot, but it had a higher priority than SG:A because it's an older show. :mad:

[danieljanderson]

SGA is on twice.

[SparkleMotion]

It didn't matter. Both timeslots were conflicted. (Bill Maher came off hiatus this weekend.)

[Rcrew]

I wondered the same thing, why didn't the Wraith enter the city. Wouldn't they have seen Elizabeth's biometrics?

If Atlantis wasn't secure from Wraith invasion, why would Janas feel comfortable leaving Elizabeth?

If Atlantis was secure from the Wraith, why were they in such a hurry to leave?

And most annoying of all, for such an evolved race, why does one person seem to be completely in charge with no discussion?

[LlamaLarry]

Maybe the Wraith melt in water like the Wicked Witch. ;)

The shield was still at full strength when they left Atlantis, maybe the darts just cannot match up and the larger ships can't handle flying in the water?

The whole deal with the darts destroying the ship in what looked like close proximity to Atlantis' planet and then leaving was baffling.

[Austinj]

I'm of the opinion that the wraith DO in fact melt in water, salt water to be specific. Remember the bug that attacked Sheppard and attached to his neck, sucking his life? They speculated that it was related to the wraith in some way. Then they poured salt on it, then water, and it went nuts, and they thought it was some kind of defensive reaction to the salt water. In which case, sinking the city in an ocean is a pretty darn good defensive measure. But I guess that doesn't answer the 'Why leave in such a hurry' question.....

[digdug]

The Atlantians left in such a hurry so we could get on with the episode....

[marrone]

I guess once they left, the Wraith then went into hibernation? Then all the ancients went to Earth? What happened to them after that?

What about the previous episode where they found that semi-ascended ancient on the planet which she was forced to defend? Where did she come from?

-Mike

[danieljanderson]

What period would earth have been in when they arrived? Was is 10,000 years ago?

[Jonathan_S]

Was that the same planet as the one Atlantis is on? I thought that was a different planet. The night was long and cold etc.

Nice to see some exploring of Atlantis going on.It was a different planet. Same solar system. (The puddle jumpers apparently don't have a hyperspace engine. They can only go FTL by going through a stargate).

I thought the point of that satellite (orbital battle station? :)) was to defend the approach to Atlantis. Thus I would have assumed it would have had enough range to cover from where it was back at least where ground based defences on Atlantis could reach. So I thought it should have been firing at the Wraith ships, even though it was in orbit near another plannet.

[cheesesteak]

One thing SG: Atlantis doesn't have going for it, The Wraith ain't bleep. They're like the Jaffa on steroids.

[Rob Helmerichs]

It was a different planet. Same solar system. (The puddle jumpers apparently don't have a hyperspace engine. They can only go FTL by going through a stargate).
Different solar system. They went through the Stargate to another that was orbiting above Ancient Girl's planet.

[whitson77]

I was really disappointed with this. I thought it was boring and slow.

[Jonathan_S]

Different solar system. They went through the Stargate to another that was orbiting above Ancient Girl's planet.I was talking about the giant orbital station thing from three episodes back, "The Defiant One" where at the end Ford takes out a wraith with an orbital strike from a puddlejumper. Not the energy discharge the Ancient Girl pulled off in orbit around her world in the last episode "Sanctuary"

The planet from "The Defiant One" is in the same solar system as Atlantis, although it is currently 'on the far side of the system'. Don't know how it would have been positioned 10,000 years before, planetary orbits being what they are :).

[Anubys]

I think they said that their weapons are far superior to the Wraith's but that the Wraith make up for that with superior numbers...

[marrone]

I think they said that their weapons are far superior to the Wraith's but that the Wraith make up for that with superior numbers...

Should have made more of them!

Hopefully they can find some of these weapons on Atlantis. I'm sure they could.

Since everything else (except the ZPMs) worked after 10,000 years, surely the weapons would.

But it looked like, in Sanctuary, that Sheppard was taking out some wraith ships in his little puddle jumper (which was built 10,000 years ago, at minimum) so obviously the wraith ships aren't that tough. It seems the wraith are tougher than their ships!

-Mike

[Warren]

I am about a year late to this thread. So Elizabeth stayed to move the ZMPs around even thu the guy installed the fail safe (atlantis rasing out of the water) So how come Elizabeth still had to stay? The city would have risien when they got there even if the zmps where dead.

[marrone]

My only guess is that they only wanted to drain one ZPM at a time, to make it last. But surely they could do that in software.

Been a while for that episode...that was a good episode.
-Mike