Well, this is just all kinds of disappointing, and a little surprising. Season five of Stargate Atlantis will be the end of its run on Sci Fi. That's a surprising bit of news considering that ratings are actually up for season five, compared to season four. Unfortunately, the economics of making the show are catching up with it. As the show goes beyond season five, salaries go up, and the exchange rate bonus of shooting in Canada isn't what it once was.

It might mark the end of the series, but we will hear more from our friends in Atlantis. The network has ordered a two hour movie and says the show will live on as a network franchise. I'm not sure if that means they hope to do more movies, or they are just confirming that they will continue to fill out the schedule with copious SG-1 and Atlantis reruns. The movie will be written by Atlantis showrunners, Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. As you would expect, there are no details about casting or the story at this point.

(S04E04) Last week, Rich commented on the previews for this episode and asked where have we seen that before? It's a fair point, because the dream device is something that has been used again and again in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror genres. I'm OK with that though. Much like episodes where we get to see two characters both narrate previous events from their own point of view, what I like about dream episodes is that they often give us a chance to see characters in a way that we wouldn't normally see them. We got a bit of that here with the evil Shepard.

Of course, the dreams weren't the only part of the episode that felt familiar. Carter made reference to when O'Neill was knocked unconscious by an energy being that took on his appearance. That's from the season one Stargate episode "Cold Lazarus." In an interview with Gateworld, writer/director/producer Robert C. Cooper called it an homage. That's a good way to put it, as you can see if you go back and look at the scene where O'Neill touches the crystal. That video is after the jump.