#this alternate reality is also sad because of the devastating blow to sheppard's quip pride

[rodneymckays]

stargate episodes that should have been, part 25: “ripple effect” but from the perspective of an alternate alternate atlantis where the bad sg-1 actually managed to steal the zpm. (this is a sad set of alternate realities, of course, not just because atlantis loses the zpm but also because only one of the cams on the prometheus loses their pants. but i digress.) the first half of the episode is the prometheus showing up at atlantis and the bad sg-1 doing a Heist. in this universe they have a vala with them and that’s why they succeed. she’s good at heists. so atlantis is clearly outmatched. (not just by vala’s heist skills but also because sam is slightly smarter than mckay and they have a teal’c.) they get the zpm, bad cam obliterates sheppard with a one-liner, and then they beam out before sheppard can retaliate. soon after, word reaches this atlantis that the wraith are returning. they worry because they don’t have a zpm anymore to cloak the city. but mckay has an idea: steal the zpm from ANOTHER other atlantis. (weir points out that this is Ethically Questionable, but what the hell. this is atlantis.) mckay comes up with some way to get to another atlantis that has a zpm: our atlantis. a team infiltrates atlantis and tries to steal the zpm, but our mckay and zelenka are running experiments on the zpm and manage to get a message out before ronon knocks them out. this sets off a general alarm, which causes the second heist of the episode to fail. probably because they didn’t have a vala with them. while weir is deciding what to do with the intruders, our mckay and zelenka come up with a solution to their problem and give it to the other mckay, so that they don’t need to take the zpm but everyone is saved anyway. :)

i would love an entire spin-off series of bad sg1 just so it could be a heist episode every episode, with vala taking point and kicking butt constantly. plus, her skills combined with sam's science and teal'c's everything...they would be unstoppable. they'd have a contingency plan for every eventuality!!

also, love how this concept leans into the sometimes morally dubious -ness of the Atlantis expedition. i love when the show gives the characters a chance to hash these things out with each other (like elizabeth and rodney's discussion about the ethics of dismantling the children planet's belief system in childhood's end) and i love that they don't always agree, or do the right thing for whatever reason.

that being said, i love a happy ending, so i'm glad zelenka and rodney came up with a way to help the altreality atlantis against the wraith. tho i'm sure they'd be disappointed in their counterparts for not coming up with it themselves. for once, an alternate reality story doesn't end in complete tragedy!