I see that the average mark for this episode is not very high; I don't know why though, because I found it really entertaining, while not essential to the series as a whole. Once again, Atlantis revives two people who were encapsulated for so long that their bodies are all but dead (just as in Before I Sleep or Aurora). This time, though, those people turn out to be a couple wishing for one last moment together to say goodbye (hence the title). This can be done thanks to a system allowing those lost souls to borrow someone's body for a few hours (Duet anybody?). Since romance is hardly what Stargate specialises in, I thought this was a nice change of mood, and it was amusing to watch everybody's reaction, especially Weir's and Sheppard's immediate desire to help even at their own expense... so I really did not expect it when the other shoe dropped and the "couple" suddenly went for each other's throat. I think this is the only deliberately misleading title in the whole Stargate series.
So instead of romance, you get a good old lockdown situation, with the added difficulty that this time the culprits "are" Weir and Sheppard, so killing them is out of the question. We only learn a bit about Phoebus and Thalen, only enough to understand their motivations, and the fact that while they won't go out of their ways to kill bystanders, everything goes where the other one is concerned. But their various bluffs and threats mostly serve to show the relationships between *our* characters. Through Thalen, we learn how much Sheppard cares for Ronon and Teyla; Ronon prefers to shoot first, but will trust "Sheppard" too fast (and based on rather flimsy reasoning), and Teyla is cautious and rational, even willing to kill her friend to save more lives. Sadly, once again Rodney plays a purely technical part here, his personal thoughts remain unexplored. Finally, this situation is also a great opportunity for Caldwell to finally redeem himself after Critical Mass (not that we liked him much before that).
So all in all, this is a very good episode: it adds the plot that I thought Duet lacked, and uses the body-snatcher device to put the characters in situations where they show other aspects of themselves. The fact that we know from the beginning that the threat is only temporary makes the action much less suspenseful, but it is still rather well-paced and coherent with the characters' personalities, and there are some really amusing moments in here.
So instead of romance, you get a good old lockdown situation, with the added difficulty that this time the culprits "are" Weir and Sheppard, so killing them is out of the question. We only learn a bit about Phoebus and Thalen, only enough to understand their motivations, and the fact that while they won't go out of their ways to kill bystanders, everything goes where the other one is concerned. But their various bluffs and threats mostly serve to show the relationships between *our* characters. Through Thalen, we learn how much Sheppard cares for Ronon and Teyla; Ronon prefers to shoot first, but will trust "Sheppard" too fast (and based on rather flimsy reasoning), and Teyla is cautious and rational, even willing to kill her friend to save more lives. Sadly, once again Rodney plays a purely technical part here, his personal thoughts remain unexplored. Finally, this situation is also a great opportunity for Caldwell to finally redeem himself after Critical Mass (not that we liked him much before that).
So all in all, this is a very good episode: it adds the plot that I thought Duet lacked, and uses the body-snatcher device to put the characters in situations where they show other aspects of themselves. The fact that we know from the beginning that the threat is only temporary makes the action much less suspenseful, but it is still rather well-paced and coherent with the characters' personalities, and there are some really amusing moments in here.
