That would be kind of absurd, they can't just let Earth be taken over...KnightsofRound

How is that absurd?  Are you 100% certain with an entity like the IOA there's absolutely no way Earth would cow to the Ori?  Don't just tell me they can't, tell me why.  Stargate is becoming too much like Star Trek's Next Generation where the good guys always win!  At the very least they're at the point where Earth isn't under any real, tangible threat, and having Earth fall to the Ori will accomplish two key goals:  First, it will allow closure to SG-1 by having a significant, compelling event take place at the end.  Second, it will transfer a major storyline from SG-1 to Atlantis, allowing that show to pick up the continuity as well as continue the storyline.  Fans will want to know what's going to happen to the Earth, and if they can take some of the characters over from SG-1 to Atlantis.  I think it'd help increase interest and viewership to Atlantis, and leave an opening for an SG-1 movie, where they could potentially free Earth and defeat the Ori.  I would prefer that to ending SG-1 with the Ori's defeat and making everything hunky-dory in our corner of the Milky Way.  It'll give Atlantis a stronger base, and more plotlines to explore, also making it more likely the show will survive longer. 

I think they should move Eureka before Atlantis. But not to Friday, bring Atlantis on Tuesday. And put ECW on Friday (If they have to keep that friggin' show).shockwave04

I agree wholeheartedly.  ECW can even stay where it is.  Run Eureka at 7pm CT, Atlantis at 8, and ECW at 9. 

As for how long it will last, I think they can get to 7 seasons if they pull a Deep Space Nine and take the Pegasus Galaxy into all-out war with the Wraith, and perhaps even bring the Ori into the mix.  Under the circumstances it wouldn't be beyond the realm of reason for the Ori to take control of Earth and have Stargate Command relocate to Atlantis and continue the fight from there.  Say what you will about Star Trek, like it or no, but the 7-season formula they followed with the three next-generation shows worked very well.  It should also be noted that DS9 started having the same troubles with ratings until they started the Dominion War story arc.  Once that kicked off it carried the show for the three full remaining seasons.  I think Atlantis is perfect for the same treatment.  If they're planning another show, I'd wait until the end of Atlantis Season 4 to launch it, so it can be part of the overall story arc if necessary and carry the franchise alone when Atlantis ends.

What a bunch of ********.  That is all I have to say.KnightsofRound

I agree.  That is a bunch of asterisks...

:D

My apologies if this is already posted elsewhere.  Sounds like Sci-Fi is going to be a butthead about the show continuing elsewhere.  Ugh...stupid.

http://www.gateworld.net/news/2006/08/mgm_considers_isg-1is_future.shtml

Wow...this episode outdistances SG-1 again, in my opinion.  I'd been reading on Gateworld that we'd get to see Kolya again, and as usual, the creep didn't disappoint.  I think it's good for a show if one of the main characters has a recurring nemesis, and the Kolya/Sheppard is perfect.  Kolya is the quintessential delusional tyrant hell-bent on revenge. 

Impressions:

I thought this was a well-constructed episode, right from the beginning when Kolya used that weird grappler to grab on to Sheppard.  Even though you had to know that Sheppard would survive, the tension in this episode, like in SG-1, was palpable from the beginning.  Using the Wraith as a torture instrument and sending the video to Atlantis was a nice, sadistic touch.  I think they went just a touch overboard with the distrustful attitude toward the Genii, but I do understand where they were coming from on it.  It's not like they didn't have reason to distrust Ladon, but Ronan was becoming a bit grating.  There isn't much to say beyond this, the plot was simple and relatively predictable (who didn't know that the Wraith was going to heal Sheppard at some point?) but as usual it was so well-written and acted that you couldn't help but stay riveted, even with the predictable nature of the script.

Characters:

How can you not love to hate Kolya?  Robert Davi plays the role perfectly as usual, and dang if he didn't escape again.  We also get to see exactly how much faith Sheppard has in his team, as well as the concern and care the Atlantis team shows for him.  Ronan seems to have learned what it means to be part of the team after the events of Sateda, and his character is both better and worse for it.  Better because he finally starts to feel like part of the team, worse because he still has that single-minded fury and distrust for just about everyone.  McKay was his usual self, though much less annoying for a change.  I like Carson Beckett quite a bit, but I think he's starting to get a bit too much screentime in my opinion.  Having him in on the assault of the wrong complex, when McKay shot the mouse, was a bit much in my humble opinion.  Weir continues to get better, more self-assured and at the same time tortured by the sometimes tragic decisions she has to make.  This will only continue to make her character better.  Teyla...well, as her shirt neckline continues to plunge with each episode, she seems to be shifting from a significant character that is an asset to simple window-dressing.  Very hot window-dressing, but still...Oh, and according to Gateworld, the Wraith was played by Christopher Heyerdahl, who also plays Halling.  Good choice, he did a fantastic job.

Well...this one was...very interesting.  Morena Baccarin (you may know here as Inara Serra in the awesome show Firefly) was fantastic as Adria, and strikingly beautiful to boot, even with those weird eyes. 

Impressions:

Good plot in this episode overall.  I wondered when the Jaffa Nation would get poopy enough to use the Dakara weapon, and I am getting a bit angry with the continual ineptitude of the Jaffa leadership in general.  How is it only Teal'c and Bra'tac are reasonable and intelligent enough to understand the big picture when dealing with their enemies while the entireity of the Jaffa Nation embraces the cold brutality and sense of entitlement that permeates the culture?  Will they become a new enemy in the near future?  Good question, depending on whether any of them made it off Dakara.  Is it possible they become like the Lucian Alliance?  It may not matter if the Ori continue kicking @$$ across the galaxy.  The episode as a whole was very depressing and very, very "heavy."  It certainly looks bleak for the Milky Way at this point, and it appears SG-1 is developing the "edge" that seems to make Battlestar Galactica so popular.  I recognized the actors playing Se'tak and Bo'rel, but I can't think of their names at the moment, and it looks like the producers have continued to find very good guest stars.  This was also a very tense episode, and the tension seemed to remain after it was over, at least for me. 

Characters:

Vala continues to develop, and her relationship with Adria is definitely something to exploit.  She does this very well, and to a point it succeeds.  The weight of being the mother of the Orici clearly weighs heavily on her, as she does not seem to have as many quips as usual.  Daniel continues to be a pivotal character, now even more so with Adria's revelation that the Ori "have plans" for him.  It seems in this episode the rest of the team takes a bit of a secondary role to Vala and Daniel, and I wonder if this will continue.  I think Mitchell keeps getting better and better, and has finally started to assimilate himself into the team as the leader.  Carter really had no significant role in this episode, but I do wonder how the heck she can patch that Dell XPS laptop (neat how the "XPS" logo was lit up on the computer but the "Dell" brand symbol in the middle was blanked, yes?) into just about any alien ship she runs across.  Landry, though, is someone I'm not sure I can get used to just yet.  I like him in most episodes, but it seems he lacks Hammond's talent for knowing when to be diplomatic and when to be a harda**.  He's becoming grumpy constantly, without change, and while I understand the weight he must be carrying due to the Ori threat I think they need to give him a bit more of an even personality instead of the constant gruffness. 

Sidenote:  Carter mentioned that Langara was one of the worlds who have gone Ori.  I have to wonder if this means we'll see Jonas again soon.  I certainly hope so.  But at the same time I hope he's still an ally.  I'd hate for him to show up at the SGC one day as a Prior.  I sincerely doubt that will happen, but I've been wrong before.

It's getting good, though...too good to go on a six-month hiatus if you asked me, and certainly to good TO BE FREAKIN' CANCELLED!

I have to agree with Shockwave on this one.  You cannot simply dismiss Seasons 8 and 9 because you didn't like them, they're an important part of the continuity.  As one of the significant minority who actually likes some of the new characters, I'd rather that not happen.  For those of you who keep saying "The show went to crap when Jack left and they should bring him back!" you forget one tiny little detail:  RDA wanted to leave, which is what prompted the jokes about "mailing it in that last season" so it'll be kind of hard to bring him back when he doesn't want to come back, and frankly if we get the same super-ditzy Jack we got in Season 8 I don't want him, sorry.  I think they'll be able to find a network to carry it for at least one more season, and if they do (like TNT or Spike, maybe) they'll have a whole new audience.  It'll be interesting to see how the syndication numbers look for the late-night reruns on various networks.  I wouldn't be a bit surprised if one of those networks gave SG-1 a test-run at least. 

I think the bottom line is SG-1 finally wore out the storyline for the most part.  Remember when (for those who know a bit about Star Trek) Deep Space Nine started to sag in the ratings a bit around Season Four?  Then they started the Dominion War and everything changed.  SG-1 needed something like that and then end with a bang, but they didn't do it.  Love or hate the series, but the seven-year formula Star Trek followed with the three Next-Generation franchises is a very good model to follow in that (aside from Voyager ending up on UPN and none were ever "prime-time") they all hit slow spots then ramped it up for at least two seasons before they ended.  SG-1, unfortunately, won't get that chance, and now the end is going to feel both rushed and incomplete.  A couple of TV movies, Babylon 5-style, might help tie things together though.

While I don't agree with Sci-Fi's assessment of the ratings (I always heard a 1.3-1.6 share on fairly obscure cable was pretty GOOD) I do have to admittedly respect their decision to end their involvement of the series before it tanks.  As for Atlantis, I'm starting to like it a bit more, and after The Real World, I'm almost to the point where I like Weir.  I think Atlantis will carry the flag quite nicely, to be honest.