(Season 5, Episode 19 – “Vegas”)
With the next to last episode of a series, you would be within reason to expect that this is where the rubber meets the road. Any time that needed to be filled has been, and now the team back at HQ can settle in to wrap up the series. That’s what we got with “Vegas,” but in a very odd way. I’m pretty comfortable saying that this was the strangest episode of Atlantis to date. And that’s strange in the good way, not the eye-rolling, WTF, way.
If you have been following Stargate news at all, this one has been operating under the title of CSI: Atlantis for some time now. With that in mind, the setup didn’t really come as a shock. I was still surprised by how far they took the idea though. There were a ton of elements here that gave it a very CSI, and very un-SG, feel.
To name a few – the flashbacks to the crime, the sunglasses, strange camera angles, extreme lighting, the reveal of the corpse, internal effects shot, freeze frames in the poker game, the musical interludes, hanging out with the M.E. It all came together rather well, setting the episode apart from the rest of the series. Aside from it being interesting to see Atlantis in this new light, the fact that this was all taking place in an alternate reality made the strange new look work that much better.
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The whole alternate reality bit did initially give me pause. I believe I’ve mentioned the rule of the Dr. before. Essentially, it’s my philosophy that the only one that should go messing about with time, and alternate realities are an extension of that, is Dr. Who. For everyone else, it seems that it all too often leads to a morass of contradictions, or a meaningless episode where none of it ‘really’ happened.
It can be fun, but it’s often left as just an empty space. And fun/empty isn’t what one is looking for with the series finale right around the bend. Fortunately, the bullet was dodged on that one with the ending. As Zelenka and McKay ponder what it means that the wraith message was sent to alternate realities – and land on “They could be in a lot of trouble.” – the title of the big finale starts to make a whole lot of sense. This isn’t just an empty, one-off installment. Wheels are in motion, and there will be consequences.
Getting back to the story in the alternate reality, there was a lot to like. Among the bits that stood out for me were the “Beautiful People” segment, where we see the Wraith preparing to go out amongst the public, and the “Solitary Man” section where Sheppard makes his decision.
Of course, it was fun to see Agent Woolsey, F.B.I., and to once again raise the suspicion that there isn’t a reality where McKay and Zelenka actually get along. And I’ll never complain about more Todd, but ultimately, this was a Sheppard story. It was going to sink or swim based on him, and it really worked for me.
Sheppard has never exactly been the happy go lucky, pie in the sky, character. AR Sheppard though, was a whole new brand of dark. It was fascinating, and could have stood up to a longer run, had time permitted. From solving the case he wasn’t meant to, to taking the money and running, to doing the right thing and saving the day, it was a solid story.
The only part that didn’t really do it for me was the poker game. I suppose it was to give us that authentic Vegas feel. And they tried to amp it up with the guys from The Sopranos (Steve Schirripa, Frank Vincent), and a couple professional poker players (Todd Brunson, Roy Winston). But if you are going to try and give us dark Sheppard, degenerate gambler, don’t have him hold his cards like a four-year-old who just discovered the wonders of Go Fish. Admittedly, part of my annoyance with that scene could be the fact that I loathe The Sopranos. Either way, small gripe.
At the end of the day, “Vegas” was not at all what I would have expected for the next to last episode of the series, but I’m pretty happy with it. It was different, offered up one last big showcase for Joe Flanigan, and set the stage for what should be a big series finale.
A few other odds and ends:
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jan 02, 2009 @ 22:02 EST5EDT
Great review. At first I was a bit anxious about this episode but Cooper and Flanigan pulled it off nicely. Vegas was a unique character study of a John Sheppard who never found the Stargate program. A loser, a gambler, a crooked cop and yeah, ultimately, a hero. A total WTF what if. One of the best episodes of a rather uneven McKellered season.
The episode started out as a WTF, and quickly turned into a FTW for me. Loved it.
I’m not a fan of CSI, and I forgot this was going to be the CSI-like episode, so the entire time I was like WTF. Although that was a nice ending, I probably won’t watch that episode again unless I’m forced to. It was super thick w/ the CSI wasn’t it? I don’t watch much CSI, I’ve seen maybe 5 min of CSI in my life, but they don’t do that the entire time do they? The music, the angles, the flashes? Do they?! Because that’s so annoying! I hated that. I guess it’s a matter of preference.
But again, as I guess everyone so far has said, the ending sort of saved it for me. Well it didn’t save the episode, but it saved itself from being categorized as a waste of an episode.
Oh Brett, also you said, “suspicion that there isn’t a reality where McKay and Zelenka actually get along,” which is a funny observation but wasn’t there one episode where alternate McKay stepped into our reality to warn us about the problems the McKay energy machine (made by McKay and his sister in our reality) was causing in alternate McKay’s reality? And that alt-McKay was super nice and friendly and gregarious? I’m pretty sure that alt-McKay got along with the alt-Zelenka in his reality, must have been mentioned in passing when alt-McKay talked to our Zelenka.
So rest assured, there was at least one reality where they got along. I’m just glad it isn’t ours :-)
*POST AUTHOR*
That’s a good thought Usama. I didn’t think about “Rod”, from “McKay and Mrs. Miller”, when I wrote that, so I had to go back and look at it. Rod may get along with the alt-Zelenka, but it’s not certain. He doesn’t actually mention it, but does say, “my Sheppard is a know-it-all, my Teyla is hard to talk to, and my Ronon is… well, actually those two are pretty similar.” So, for now, I’m going to choose to believe that alt-Zelenka is overbearing and constantly putting Rod down. Rod is just too nice to say anything about it. ;)
Great review. Quite honestly, since I detest mob movies and gambling stuff, I didn’t notice if Sheppard was holding the cards correctly or not, but do agree on that scene. This episode was a wonderful showcase for Joe Flanigan, and gave us a “what if” glimpse into what could have been Sheppard’s life – miserable, for the most part. I thought the music score fit very well, even though I’m not a fan of Marlyn Manson, leave it to a Wraith to find kinship with that musician ;) The Johnny Cash score at the end cinched it, although I’d love to think that McKay sent out a chopper to find Sheppard and they rescued him at the end (hey, one can dream).
I thought the whole episode was WTF, however from what I have seen of Atlantis this season it’s not just this episode.
The teenybopper in me is just damned happy that Joe Flanigan looks as hot in street clothes as he does in his other gear, because I NEED him to find success elsewhere. Maybe some suits watched and thought, hey! This guy would fit right in. Fingers crossed!
Oh, fantastic episode. Loved both AR Sheppard and McKay, and Todd is just so…deliciously evil and mysterious.
What a fun romp through scifi land, westerns, mobsters flicks, CSI and its spin-offs, and Vegas.
Sob, sniff. I’m SOOOO going to miss new weekly Stargate Atlantis episodes after January 9. At least I have the promise of a made-for-TV/DVD movie to look forward to. And Stargate: Universe.
And…please note all producers and costumers for future scifi series — forget the snazzy (but mostly boring) military scifi uniforms. Blue jeans, boots, and tight shirts are fine for our main characters. Yowza!
For me, this is probably one of the very best eps the franchise has ever produced.
From the camera work and lighting to the brilliant acting and superb musical score, I was glued to the screen the entire time.
And the ending – I cried and cried. Although I am hoping against hope that they actually rescued Shep…
JF was incredible, hope he gets picked up by a major network.
All the guys, including the Wraith were hot in this one, there is nothing at all I didn’t like.
Vegas rocked. Loved the different feel, the energy, the shooting style, the perfect soundtrack, the setting and mostly Joe Flanigan’s portrayal of a very different, very dark John Sheppard. Flanigan carried this with very little dialog instead using body language, facial expressions, the soundtrack and the scruffy, rumpled look of a very hopeless, despairing Sheppard. Excellent direction and story by Rob Cooper, who is the only writer who seems to understand the Sheppard character. The ending, with Solitary Man playing, just about killed me. Just broke my heart. I prefer to think that Rodney and the SGC rescued him, but just didn’t make the final cut. I can’t bear the death of any John Sheppard. I hope the network executives saw this and have Joe’s agent on speed dial. Would love to see Joe Flanigan in a weekly cop show with that scruffy, low voice, rogue persona. Hot! Kudos to Rob Cooper and Joe Flanigan for an awesome episode.