User reviews

It's an alternate reality plot that lets Joe Flanigan show off Sheppard's coolness. But the best thing about this episode is the dark, driving soundtrack played throughout. From classic rock to crunch metal, it really paces the episode and it's over before you know it.

The episode is well written, well acted and well produced.

At first, I seriously thought about just skipping this one and moving to the series finale, but decided to watch it through and I was pleasantly surprised at how good, if different, it was.

I also liked how the other characters from the season show their alternate reality sides. From Woolsey, to McKay to Keller, they all show a different side. It leads you to ask yourself: "If I had made a different choice sometime in the past, how radically different would my path have been?"

Vegas is actually my favourite SGA episode, for many reasons.

First off, AU is a lovely trope that just isn't explored often enough even in sci-fi where it can almost be considered a canon trope. And using it so late in the show's run, when we already know the characters pretty well, makes it all the more powerful.

Second, the production is beautiful. You can tell that every shot has been considered carefully, and it shows because the cinematography - the editing, the colours, everything you never notice when it's there is wonderfully done. Every shot builds on the atmosphere - which is apparently supposed to be CSI Las Vegas meets The X-Files - and the stark contrast to the usual look of SGA delivers an even greater impact. This isn't just a nice, weird niche episode, this is the whole team that works on the show and loves the show going, "see what we can do".

Third, the score is just excellent, not just because after five seasons we finally got a Johnny Cash song and it fit.

Fourth, it works because it's the penultimate episode and as we get to see tiny details to the characters we haven't seen, we're forced to face that fact that this is it. You can let a show run out in the rush of an action-packed three-part finale, or you can take the opportunity to showcase the characters you've crafted one last time, from an unusual angle and without the adrenaline rush and dramatic plot twists.

(Fifth, this is truly John Sheppard's episode, and after five years he kind of deserves it.)

And finally, it's kind of crazy that a story that could very well be used as an introduction to the series is used in the penultimate episode, but it also makes a lot of sense to draw the viewer's attention to the fact that the main story, the story they've been watching for five years, is just one of many. The concept of alternate universes has been thoroughly explored before in the show, so it's a very smart, very meta idea to say "yes, this show is ending, and look, we're even giving you the normal kind of show finale that you expect, but consider what could have been, what could yet be."

'Vegas'~ Season five, episode nineteen

In the penultimate episode to SGA, we explore an alternate reality where Sheppard left the Air Force after his incident in Afghanistan and is now a world-weary detective in Las Vegas leading a rather bleak life wrought by addictive gambling and isolation from any friends or family. However, his life is set to change when he finds himself investigating a series of murders involving people who seem to have had the life sucked out of them (a la Wraith-style).

This is a unique episode because it moves so far away from the SGA that is featured in every other storyline and it is far more than a homage to 'CSI'. It grimly explores how the characters we have come to know and love could easily have walked a different path and become so unlike the people we see in the show, and how each have come to influence the others for the better. Just as we witness the emotionally dark depths Sheppard could have descended to without a team and the camaraderie he so enjoys, we also reflect on how pragmatic and cold McKay could have been if he had not learned the meaning of friendship.

It was a shame 'Vegas' came so late, as the show was about to end. It would have been nice to re-explore this else-world again. It was an adventurous piece of script-writing and this episode will definitely be a favourite among sci-fi fans like myself who appreciate insights into alternate realities.

I think this is THE best episode of Atlantis to date. Caught me by total surprise.

On reading other comments on thew web you'll either love it or hate it. I think it is fantastic!!!

The setting, the music (and im not even a rock fan) People say it is like CSI. hmmm, maybe but very very loosely based but this isn't about forensic science at all. This is a different john shepherd who hasn't had as much luck as he has in the Atlantis reality.Its nice to see how the star of the show may react given that we all owe half our chances to luck anyhow.

Shame there wont be another part to it. In fact shame they don't make a series around it.

As said, you'll love or hate it. Right up my street. I have now watched it 15 times and counting!!

A classic of alternate realities. I can only imagine that if more people had watched this episode (actually, this whole season), the series would have continued. Definitely not a stand-alone episode, though. This requires watching the episode of Rodney and his sister (name escapes me) where they create the original reality bridge. In any case, an excellent exploration of Shepard and McKay's characters. Well worth the watching, and one of the best of any series' episodes of "playing with the storyline." Very sad the series ended after this. The writers/producers demonstrated the creative levels they could achieve in this story.

This episode parodied and homaged the CSI franchise to death, including an appearance of bad-guys Frank Vincent and Steve Schirripa. I was upset that the usual Atlantis Title Set was used, they should have used another song by The Who.

The thing I loved about CSI was the little CGI vignettes showing how a particular victim is Murdered, how their heart exploded, etc. Only here, it's the result of a Wraith Feeding Frenzy. One particular Wraith, who is messing with Ionizing Radiation, making people sick around him- Unless he feeds on them and kills them outright.

In this alternate CSI-Atlantis Timeline, John Sheppard is a loser who works as a detective in Vegas. He is a good detective, but he follows no rules. "A Solitary Man" as the Johnny Cash song says. In fact, he probably bopped "Lady Heather" on the side, when William Pederson wasn't doing it. John has been following a series of odd murders with tenacity.

In CSI, we usually get to see the Detectives talking to Coroners and the like, as the story progresses to reveal how a particular murder was accomplished. Same thing happens here, this iteration of Sheppard runs into a new Coroner, "Dr. Keller" - And she shoves some false info on him in an attempt to give him a bum steer.

Of course it didn't work, it had the opposite effect, bringing him right to the murderer's door. And if you thought the Strip Strangler was bad, this guy's even worse.

Unfortunately, this ain't really CSI, it's Stargate, and John just bumbled into a world o' hurt! A gaggle of Black Unmarked SUV's cart him away to where a calm and rational sounding Rodney Mackay gives him the lowdown- And a starved Todd the Wraith tells him his Future - And also how to find the Wraith in question.

In the end, maybe it worked out for that universe, but what effect will it have in the Atlantis 'Verse? This was a new direction for Stargate stories, we did not see it end here, this type of story was also used in Stargate Universe, in fact that whole show was done a lot like this one "novelty" episode. I was surprised that SGU was canceled quickly, there was a lot of potential.

But this one episode was the key that unlocked the creativity gates. Robert C Cooper himself directed it.

I can see why there are mixed reviews for this episode. It's a bit slow and bizarre at the beginning, but the conclusion is worth the wait.

I was pleased to see that Rodney was a better man in this alternate reality. He was still constantly belittling Zelenka, which is getting very very old now, but at least he came across as being more serious and professional. His conversations with Sheppard were a definite highlight of this episode. Todd's cameo was good too.

I'm a huge fan of this series. Having only come across it in the past year, I've watched most episodes many times and loved them all, but Vegas felt a little bit special. The actors/characters in a different setting, the music and the dialogue all contributed to a very satisfying watch and a great intro to the final episode of the whole show. One thing - I was left wondering what John Sheppard did next - perhaps the writers could enlighten us? A great five seasons, wonderful actors and a show I know I'll watch periodically when I need to escape day to day life. Thanks, all of the people involved.

Although "Vegas" originally aired as the penultimate episode of Stargate Atlantis, I truly believe it works much better as the actual ending of the series. After "Enemy at the Gate," where Atlantis returns to Earth and the main storyline wraps up rather abruptly, "Vegas" offers something entirely different: a more introspective, stylized, and emotionally resonant experience.

This episode feels like a standalone film set in an alternate reality, but it's rich with symbolism. The lonely, worn-down version of John Sheppard we see here, facing off against the Wraith in the Nevada desert, serves as a powerful metaphor for sacrifice and the endless struggle-even across different universes. There's a bittersweet tone that, oddly enough, gives the series a deeper and more reflective conclusion.

Watching it as an epilogue, after the official finale, creates a unique and meaningful ending. I highly recommend it to any fan-it's a different kind of farewell, but a deeply satisfying one.

Each and every episode since S04E01 has been either garbage or slightly below average... but mostly garbage. The Ghost in the Machine and Vegas are 5/5 shows with nice production values and sensible script. The inevitability of Sheppards fate/demise is awesome.

I don't know how this got so many high ratings. It's a bad homage to/knock off of CSI. Down to the cut aways and establishing shots, and the entire filming style. The ONLY element of the whole Stragate Atlantis universe is the presence of a Wraith (on an alternate Earth). It turns out the entire episode takes place in an alternate universe (Col. Shepherd is a police officer instead of in the military) - as stated in the synopsis.

It was just a very odd "artistic" choice that, for me, did not translate well. I don't know if it was a different writer/director, or if they wanted to take a chance and try something different since it was so close to the end of the series, but I didn't care for it at all. Even compared to the rest of the latter part of the series, which felt rather lackluster, I just thought it was cheesy and poorly executed. Apparently some people did enjoy it, so... it could just be me.

Very disappointing. Where is the story? Where is the team? Did Brockheimer join the exec producers? I absolutely adore the whole Stargate franchise and I forgive the sub-par episodes here and there but this is terrible. The soundtrack is the equivalent to a monster truck, feels like they are compensating if you know what I mean. I like to fall asleep to the Stargate (and Star Trek), but this episode is so jarring, I always have to skip it. I can't even have it on in the back ground, it's so disturbing. I get they wanted to pay homage so the CSI shows, but maybe try CSI in Pegasus first. Just no.

As the penultimate episode of the series, I was expecting a big two part build up to a satisfactory conclusion. If this had been shown part way through a season, I could have accepted it. This is a crime program in an sf series. Star Trek has done parallel universes much more successfully. Waste of an episode. Had hoped they would have developed the "friendship" between Todd and John. Program could have worked as the pilot to a spin off. Dreadful,dreadful, dreadful. Nice Rolling Stones soundtrack at the beginning. Ridiculous ending.