Stargate 10x03 "The Pegasus Project"

[oceana]

I LOVED this episode. I don't care if the action was kind of "meh" and some of the dialogues were even more "meh", and poor Teal'c was so underused that I contemplated writing the Society Against The Underuse of Make-up Wearing Jaffas for a while.

I loved it anyway, because it has Daniel in Atlantis! Daniel in Atlantis! Daniel in Atlantis! Daniel.., okay, I'll stop. But look at him! He almost cries when he sees it for the first time! OMG Daniel in Atlantis!



Okay, to understand what Atlantis really means to Daniel, you have to know a few things the show didn't tell you. Not in text anyway. The Atlantis expedition was planned when Jack was still frozen in Antarctica. That was also the first time Daniel thought about going to Atlantis. He always believed they were going to get Jack back alive, but he knew that if he didn't, there wasn't much keeping him on earth.

Then Jack came back and was promoted, and while Daniel still dreamed about going to Atlantis, there was no question that he'd stay on earth with Jack. Atlantis pretty much looked like a one-way trip back then, and since Jack didn't want to come, or rather wasn't offered to come, they would not have taken the risk of losing each other again. But things change, and when Atlantis turned out to be just a short, three weeks hyperspace trip away, and Jack was offered another promotion, this time to Washington, Jack and Daniel decided to go seperate ways for a year or so. Daniel would have fun on Atlantis, relatively save since he wouldn't be a member of an offworld team. Jack would be save in Washington, practising pencil-throwing and sarcasm for his retirement. Then Daniel would return, retire from offworld travel himself, Jack would retire, they'd move in together, buy a dog (Labrador, not a beagle), and voilá, happiness made in the O-Neill-Jackson home.

Which in itself should have told them that their plan would never work.

It wasn't just Vala, though she was the one who physically kept Daniel from going to Atlantis. But she was only a part of the changes that happened. Jack, bored by Washington and the lack of chances to shoot honkin big space guns, became increasingly sarcastic. And Jack being Jack, he hid his worry for Daniel, who was now despite their plans still a member off an off-world team and got into even more dangerous situations than usual, behind his sarcasm. And you know how it is when your lover lives far away: you are so intent on spending the little time together as quality time that the there is usually no time for anything that resembles yourself. And in a relatioship that was never easy to begin with, the increased stress from not seeing each other, annoying each other as much as possible, worry, jealousy and the need to hide...things just fell apart.

So here they are now, Jack in Washington, Daniel having a great time with Vala and Mitchell. They never "officially" broke up, just like they never "officially" were together. Daniel doesn't ask what Jack has been up to when Jack calls him late at night and says his name, and nothing else. Jack doesn't ask why the BDUs he finds in Daniel's bedroom aren't his usual size, and he tries not wonder if the name tag he will find inside is female or male. But sometimes, Daniel cannot help but wonder what things would be like if he had gone to Atlantis.



So, now that we've established why Atlantis means so much to Daniel, let's get back to the episode. The episode in which Daniel goes to Atlantis!!!

Thanks to Cameron, who wakes him up and calls him sunshine, and my traiterous Daniel/Cameron shippy heart couldn't have jumped more than it did right then. Then I noticed that Cameron also knows that Daniel was awake all night, and no, logic does not tell me that Daniel worked all night. Logic tells me that the Odyssey has many hiding places and dark corners and that Cameron gets bored at night.





Cameron and Vala could not be more adorable with their twin behaviour. Look at their hands!



And then we see Atlantis. You gotta admit that Atlantis looks pretty cool, no matter how often you've seen it. The funny thing is that until this moment I didn't realize that this was the Atlantis episode. I've read about it in spoilers, but the title "Pegasus Project" only made me think of Pegasus B and then I got all distracted by the idea of Rodney having sex with Daniel and Cameron, possibly with Sheppard watching. Anyway, squeed when I realized that this was the episode.










The Rodney/Cameron/Daniel sex ideas got some visual ads by the helpful people of the SG writing team, who placed Rodney between Daniel and Cameron. They may as well give us crack. And then they place jealous Sheppard on the other side of the table, who is flirting with Rodney in front of everyone. Only Rodney doesn't notice and is trying to impress Sam.



Cameron unashamedly shows what an SG-1 fanboy he really is ("P3W-451, if memory serves.") and Daniel should not be allowed to wear green BDUs ever again. Only black for him from now on.



He also looks incredibly smug when his new boyfriend shows off to Rodney.


Still looking smug.


Also, Sam and Vala have secrets. I admit that I was never a big friend of Sam/Janet, simply because I don't think that Sam would ever take the risk, but if anyone can get her to, it's Vala. If she wants Sam, that is. I'm sure there are endless fun scenarios to be created with Sam and Vala. Sadly, I have read none of them yet.


John, otherwise regretfully absent from this ep, is very protective and territorial. It's not what he says, it's in his posture.Just like the lemon thing is more of a reminder to McKay to behave himself than anything else. And Rodney: "We are actually... quite close." Why doesn't he come right out and say it? He really doesn't have a good pokerface.

Random pics of Atlantis looking cool from above:





The events on the Odyssey aren't really all that interesting. Rodney is cute when he tells Sam about his hallucinations, while Sam, well, whatever that face is that she is making, it's not a Sam face. Seeing them fly so close to the black hole made a wee bit nervous, seeing how I have, unlike them, watched Andromeda and know what happens when you do that sort of thing.
It also makes me slightly nervou when they throw Stargates into space like that, but I tell myself that we are unlikely to run out of Stargates anytime soon. I hope.



Cameron sounds like Sheppard when he says "Which is cool" to the gate, which is why Rodney checks out his ass a second later.




Apart from that, the outcome is predictable, so just a few things about that story line:
- the lemon thing was very cute. I atually found myself writing things like OMG THE CUTE!!! a lot in my notes while I watched this ep, but I thought I'd try to be a bit more civilized here, for all our sakes
- Seeing Teal'c all alone so close to the supergate made me a bit uncomfortable. It's Teal'c, we know he is invincible, but still, he's all alone there. Poor Teal'c. Also, most boring episode for CJ ever.
-Loved that Zelenka was in the episode too. They really do love us, don't they?
- Ori ships are cool and they can sing! They sound a bit like a gregorian monch choir!
- Wraith ships are cool, too, but they can't sing.

Lemon!


Hello, Ori ship!




The interface storyline was a bit more entertaining, especially because I didn't see it coming at all. Which is even more stupid because I thought "heh, she looks like an ascended being the way the light shines on her", and then she turns out to be an ascended. Well, can't see everything.
- Vala is adorable and I want to kiss her and lick her and do nasty things to her if she tells me to
- I get all turned on when Daniel is smart like that.
- I am not too convinced about the whole ascended interface thing, but I take it she only came there when she felt it was important? I mean, she wouldn't just wait around Atlantis all day to see if someone wanted to find the nearest loo, would she?
- So, if Merlin came to Atlantis when he was ascended, and that girl is there, does that mean that Daniel came to Atlantis as well when he as ascended? Because Daniel, in Atlantis, before everyone else! How cool would that be?
- Loved how Weir can't hide that she thinks both Vala and Daniel are crazy. You'd think she was used to that kind of behaviour by now. I guess she was clinging to the hope that there are some normal people left on earth.





I want Daniel on Atlantis so badly! Now they've given us this taste of how it could be, and I want it so badly! How can I ever watch go back to the boring Ori storyline if Daniel could be exploring the Pegasus Galaxy? I think I'll have to reread all of Pegasus B to satisfy my SG-1/SGA crossover love.

Very cool episode. There was so much more in there, things that I hope will be explored later. Like Vala's comment to Daniel: "I think I understand why you came back, I wouldn't have liked the company either." If it only were that simple. I think Daniel is just beginning to understand what he was like when he was ascended, and his return wasn't as easy as this. I don't like the idea much that the ascended aren't helping, but i was a bit touched by Daniel standing there, all alone in Atlantis, knowing that they are in this alone, and by "they", he mostly means SG-1 and himself. Well, Daniel, it's not a real SG season if you haven't saved the universe at least once. And who knows, maybe they will remember that they once ascended a whole planet. And once they do, they will not be able to pretend that there are no ascended who want to help earth.

Here's the scene where our hero would have kissed Vala, if he wasn't thinking about Jack.


Here's Vala looking kissable:


Let's hope the rest of the season stays as entertaining as this episode.


Also, Atlantis lacks beaches. That more than anything should have told them that the ancient weren't perfect after all. Still, pretty, especially at night: