Stargate: Atlantis (TV Series) Before I Sleep (2004) User Reviews

"Before I Sleep"

[allmoviesfan · 9/10 · 23 April 2024]

Off the top, it's hard not to agree with the vast majority of previous reviews: "Before I Sleep" is the best episode of Stargate: Atlantis so far. Good acting, a good script and an original story that was very engrossing. The forty-two minute episode flew by.

Sheppard figures out - somehow - that it is Dr Weir's birthday and presents her with a token to mark the occasion. Then, when patrolling through a laboratory, the Atlantis crew find a woman who has been frozen for thousands of years. The big surprise? That person is a time-travelling Dr Weir, who hails from an alternate timeline, where the Atlantis mission didn't quite happen as it did in this timeline.

Season 1's Apex

[bnevs18 · 10/10 · 23 October 2014]

I was surprised to see this at only an 8.0, putting it only marginally above the mean. This is one of the series' great episodes. The vessel that is Science Fiction is often used to simply have fluff and explosions, this is the proper use of Sci-Fi: To take a different look at life and characters. The issues at hand are what would you do to save those that you care about, and is your life your own? The best stories use Sci-Fi to look at life's great subjects from a different angle. Not only all this, but we get our first glimpse of the Atlantians and their politics; which will come up many times in the future. It also explains some convenient plot holes (how the city rose in the Pilot), you have to wonder if the writers had this story already in place when they started the series.

An emotional episode

[ariyasakul · 10/10 · 13 September 2020]

I am doing yet another Stargate rewatch and I have to admit that this might be my favourite episode of the entire Stargate franchise. Firstly, I love that it focuses on Elizabeth. Even though, she is a somewhat polarising character among the fans, she has always been one of my favourite Atlantis characters. I admire her warmth, sense of duty, and courage. Secondly, this episode explores the themes of mortality and non-linear time. For an empathic viewer, some of the scenes might become quite emotional. At one point Sheppard says to Elizabeth, 'Your own mortality staring you right in the face. I can't imagine how you must be feeling.' And he is absolutely right! It makes you think about what's going through the women's minds as they look into each other's eyes: perhaps a mixture of fear and pride, for Elizabeth; and feelings of incomprehensible sorrow and accomplishment for Alt-Elizabeth. However, it's the last scenes in Alt-Elizabeth's "then" that always get me. 'And then I was alone. I set the city to slumber...and began my long journey home.' In these moments, she becomes their guardian angel; a silent, invisible hero, who sacrificed everything so that today's team could see and experience everything that hers could not. So all in all, a fantastic episode

Best one yet

[foster_baxter · 10/10 · 25 August 2020]

For me, this is the best episode yet. Seeing how Elizabeth went back in time was great. It was interesting to discover this was actually their second trip to Atlantis. I really enjoy John and Rodney's banter.

Good but...

[sheila-85119 · 5/10 · 9 February 2021]

I don't care if an episode doesn't move the story forward. Stand alone episodes are fine. I would never refer to an episode as a "filler". However, I found this episode rather irrelevant in the great scheme of things and a tad depressing. Glad I watched it though.