Stargate Atlantis: 02-12, “Epiphany”
Rating: 
This episode felt similar to this week’s SG-1 for me. I guess it’s because of the romance factor, but it was also more or less a stand-alone episode. Unlike SG-1, however, Atlantis got it right.
Sheppard, McKay, Teyla and Ronon are off world together following an odd energy reading picked up by McKay. When they get to the source, they find only a covered entrance to a cave. The entrance seems to be shielded by some sort of force-field, so Rodney has the great idea to create “MALP on a stick” which is quite simply a camcorder on a stick, to investigate what’s behind the entrance. The recording indicates nothing out of the ordinary, so Sheppard decides to enter. Unfortunately the force-field sucks him in. Only at that point does the team pick up clues about what’s happening on the other side. They must rescue Sheppard before it’s too late!
There was a good bit of Rodney/Ronon interaction, which I found very refreshing. McKay is obviously less than thrilled with Ronon’s intellect and will spare no opportunity to make that fact obvious. This show is so fun and fresh, I can’t believe I’m saying it, but until they give Michael Shanks more air time on SG-1, Atlantis will be my favorite Stargate show.
Continue on for some thoughts about this episode. Spoilers inside! Do not continue if you haven’t seen it or don’t want to be spoiled!
Sheppard finds himself inside a large crater in which the Ancients surrounded with a time-dilation device, allowing time to pass at a faster rate. (We’ve come across time-dilation devices before in the SGverse, most notably to me was the Azgard’s failed attempt to contain the Replicators, allowing them to evolve to a higher level and create human-like Replicators such as Fifth). Unfortunately Sheppard is unaware that as hours pass for him, only minutes pass for his team, so he believes they’ve abandoned him. He leaves the cave to find a way to survive and finds a man running out of the forest, away from some “beast.” The beast is invisible and it seems hopeless to fight it. Shep’s back is torn open and the next time we see him he’s in a bed, being healed by a child.
Shep learns that the Ancients built this safe place for the remainder of their people to escape and learn how to ascend. The village’s current inhabitants are of a people who were close to ascending, heard about this place and sought it out. Many in the village have special powers, like the healing girl, because they are so close.
On the outside, Rodney realizes the severity of the situation and works quickly to devise a plan to rescue Sheppard. Unfortunately for Sheppard, hours on the outside pass by in months for him. During this time, he gets romantically close to a villager whose name I couldn’t figure out even though I watched the episode again for the sole purpose of learning her name. He also develops a relationship with the villagers and to a certain extent, tries to change the way they live their lives. They are constantly meditating on ascension instead of actually living. They also refuse to fight the beast. With Sheppard’s help, the village gains the courage to fight the beast and destroys it (just by thinking they can, apparently). This was the one thing holding them back from ascension.
The ending was kinda cheesy. I felt the writers spent too much time on John in the cave (why did he really feel the need to stay there for several DAYS?) and not enough time explaining what the beast is. From what I could gather, the beast simply turned out to be a combination of their fears. Weak and boring!
Overall though, this was a great episode. And Sheppard really should try sporting a beard regularly.
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crumblepie
Hi, I’ve been a member of blog explosion for a long time, but I’m seeing your blog for the first time and I love everything about it...the template, the reviews, the whole concept! I’ve already put you under my favorite blogs and I’ll be coming back for more! 
Lynda
Thanks crumblepie! It’s a brand new blog. Feel free to come back and share your opinions on any of the tv shows, movies or books reviewed.
"Life is not the amount of breaths you take, it’s the moments that take your breath away.”
private
Spoiler question:
if rodney was not going to destroy the dilation field, then how did they plan to escape??????
crad0012
Um, the acended people held the portal open for them?
