When it comes to science fiction conventions you can always tell the difference between those panelists who are newbies and those who are veterans. As soon as the panelists for Stargate Atlantis took their seats you could tell that they were all seasoned veterans of the convention universe. They were relaxed, had fun with each other, and had fun with the audience. Combine those elements together and it makes for an entertaining hour and gives you a sense that they are talking to you...despite the 4000 other people in the hall.

There weren't many new bits of information that came from this panel that hadn't already been mentioned during the Robert Picardo phone conference a few weeks ago. Yet, there were still some interesting pieces of information about the stars, the writers, and some behind the scenes items. You can read some of these after the jump.

(S05E03) I have to admit, when I saw in the previews last week that we were getting a Ronon episode, I wasn't exactly excited. I figured it would be another stand alone episode, probably ok, but I don't usually think of Ronon as a character to carry the big load. Having now watched "Broken Ties," I'll say I was pleasantly surprised. Jason Momoa took advantage of being given the A-story and delivered his best performance to date. And along the way we got a little more background on Woolsey, and some answers to Teyla's burning question.
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(S05E02) And with that, season five has begun. I've really been looking forward to this episode for the simple fact that it would give us our first look at just what kind of leader Woolsey is going to be. There are certainly a lot of things coming in season five, but that one, more than any other, has the ability to really affect how the season is ultimately received. We got that first look, and it was an interesting one. Along the way, we also caught up with our old friend Dr. Beckett. And Dr. Keller got to step out of the background (and climb into bed) for a pretty big story of her own. We'll get to all that, after the jump.

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• Stargate: Atlantis (Joe Flanigan, Robert Picardo, Brad Wright, Jewel Staite, Chris Sanagustin)
• Sanctuary (Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, Robin Dunne)
• Battlestar Galactica (Tricia Helfer, James Callis, Katee Sackhoff, Michael Trucco, Ron Moore, David Eick)
• Eureka (Colin Ferguson, Sallie Richardson-Whitfield , Joe Morton, Jamie Paglia, Charlie Craig, Tony Optican)
• Ghost Hunters (Robb Demarest)

I was pretty excited when our friendly neighborhood FedEx guy dropped off the envelope with the promo package for season five of Atlantis. And I remained so even after my DVD player balked at reading the disk. It just served as a fine example as to why it's not geeky to have a computer connected to your television, it's just handy.

As the disk started up I was thinking it would be a good idea to do an early look post about where things look to be heading in season five. Unfortunately, Sci Fi only sent out the first episode of the season, and it's not telling us much of anything about season five, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The episode plays like S04E21 right up to the last scene, where season five begins to take over. Given where we last left our friends in Atlantis, that was probably to be expected. More, including some minor spoilers, after the jump.
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