Loved, loved that Daniel finally made it to Atlantis and that Brad Wright made such an effort to incorporate Daniel's feelings and reactions not just into those little teamy interactions, but in driving forward the story. Also thought that for a story where Daniel and Sam were both playing to their strengths in the 2 'A' stories ( I didn't feel we had an A and a B this week, it all had equal weight) there was also room for Vala, Cameron, Rodney and Teal'c to shine. Nicely balanced. Great stuff!

Daniel

Loved our boy in this one. The arrival at Daniel Disneyland was beautifully handled, with the yummy focus on how thrilled Daniel was, all the emotions running through him, the excitement and the disappointment of the dire circumstances bringing him there, plus the by-play with Vala, Cameron and Sam. Very satisfying.

I liked all the smiles we saw during the Atlantis briefing room scene. Daniel was in the background for much of it, but he enjoyed the humour in the clash between Cameron and Rodney.

Also a nice little byplay with Cameron and the Daniel's Disneyworld beat. That was fun. We're still getting the annoying Jackson, but Cameron reached out physically to Daniel, urging him to both savour and get the job done. It was a nice 'guy' thing.

I'm not sure how to feel about how physical Daniel is with Vala. There were several moments in this story where he took her arm in what looked to be a pretty firm grip and steered her where he wanted to go. Vala doesn't object, but I don't know if I might. I've tried to think it through, the statement it might be making. Daniel believes strongly that Vala should be with the team, he was made responsible for Vala's conduct and he doesn't seem to want to lose her. He's not the most physical person – he's more open now than in season's past, but he's not the touchy-feely type. It's only with Jack and with Vala, but very different types of touch. I can understand him not wanting Vala to romp off and spoil the dream, and I can understand that she only allows his reasoned arguments to affect her when she doesn't have a stronger opportunistic moment, but I don't necessarily accept.

The contrast in style between Daniel and Vala was readily apparent in their interrogation of the Atlantis hologram aka Daniel's 5th Grade teacher aka Morgan La Fey. I once read a description for the movie "Kung Fu Hustle" that compared it's style to the beauty and grace of Hidden Tiger: a bull on rollerblades. That's what I saw with Daniel and Vala. Daniel is all graceful hidden crouching genius expertise and Vala is in your face gimme more diva, taking the straight line to what she wants. She really is more Jack than Jack!

Their clashing styles and banter made for fun viewing, even when they realised who and what they were dealing with in the hologram and it morphed into a confrontation with Morgan La Fey. I had to smile when Vala launched into the familiar Daniel/Sam riff of I know where you're going with this and then didn't. It was very funny the way Daniel didn't mince his words when she got it wrong.

The scene where Daniel had to convince Dr. Elizabeth Weir that the patronising hologram was in fact Morgan La Fey was classic Daniel. The poor man has done this so many times, he has the routine drilled down to ruthless efficiency. He didn't waste much breath arguing, he just pointed Elizabeth right at the corroborating evidence.

The inclusion of the Ascended Ancient Morgan was another interesting turn in Daniel's tortuous arc. Five years on from his ascension and three from his fall back to a mortal life, he seems more entangled, not less. I loved the passionate conviction he conveyed to Morgan, his sincere belief that the Ascended, the Others, could and should do more in the fight against the Ori, the fight for survival. It reminded me that Daniel is not a pacifist – he's a man who picks his battles. It was brilliant when he empathised with Morgan and we saw her soften right before he cut her down to size with "I want more." And it was great that Morgan picked up on that creepy riff from Season 9 where the Ori somehow knew Daniel was one of them. That she had been as affected by Daniel's speaking from the heart when he was ascended as we've seen so many others on the lower plane of existence was a neat way to keep this storyline intimate and personal to Daniel.

Daniel's arguments about the war, about how once the Ori had finished off mortals they'd come for the Others, was powerful and compelling. Particularly the part where he admitted he didn't know what that war would look like – he'd be dead. I think he very effectively shamed Morgan into open defiance.

And then of course we had the crushing disappointment that's so often Daniel's lot in life when the Others pulled Morgan away and Daniel understood it meant they wouldn't help, and that humanity was in this fight alone. It was a nice echo back, if a horrible reversal in story terms, to his conversation with Jack last season, where he commented on the feeling he'd had that someone was always watching over them.

This storyline was intensely focused on Daniel, his history and his feelings, it was dramatic, powerful and immensely satisfying. Practically perfect in every way for the discerning Daniel fan.

Vala

Vala was an interesting mixture of cultural fish out of water and outsider looking in. I found her fixation on Daniel came across as a quite natural element of her character. He's changing her, she responds to him, she's in his life now. As in Morpheus, The Pegasus Project gave lots of little clues to the amount of time Vala is spending with Daniel off camera and this relationship they're building.

I loved her concern and defence of Daniel in the adorable opening scene where Cameron was describing how excited Daniel had been, staying up all night like a kid at Christmas. He wasn't being unkind, but Vala still jumped in to explain it was only because Daniel was worried sick about the success of the mission. She did much the same when they were having their 'moment' as Odyssey landed in Atlantis and felt Cameron wasn't giving sufficient weight to Daniel's role in the mission.

The St. Bernard/Chihuahua exchange between Vala and McKay in the briefing scene was very funny, as was Sam's wincing reaction to her giving the game away regarding McKay's expertise. It's fun to watch the irrepressible, incorrigible, irresistible force of Vala being Vala but also trying to be part of the team. She genuinely wants to be with Daniel, to be with the team and in the fight, but she's also genuinely concerned about her share of the booty and the souvenirs. It's such a refreshing change from any character we've had before. I can't wait to see how this plays out the rest of the season.

Sometimes her style clashes with the rest of SG-1, and tonight with the Atlantis team, but it was great to see it addressed as part of her arc – to be recognised and commented on by those she was working with. It's a hopeful sign of character growth to come.

Vala was very supportive during the information gathering exercise with the hologram, but in that completely bullish Vala way. That was familiar territory for anyone who's a fan of the Jack and Daniel friendship. She has a lot of charm, irreverence and determination to get her way, but is distinctly different from Jack, who Daniel gave far more latitude to. It's a sparky, prickly, energetic dynamic that lifts Vala and Daniel scenes, especially the ones where she was trying – as she thought – to keep Daniel on task.

She stuck up for Daniel again in the face of Elizabeth's scepticism over the true identity of the hologram and knew no hesitation throwing herself into the fight with him. It's also interesting to me that she doesn't resent it when Daniel tries to keep her on task too. Vala strikes me as a woman who's loathe to make the same mistake twice. She's out to learn from life, to do better, to get what she wants. She's open to experience in a way that's both inquisitive and acquisitive, and makes an exceedingly cool contrast with Daniel's consuming academic explorations.

In their very different ways, each is succeeding in keeping the other grounded.

Absolutely loved Vala's compassion and concern for Daniel when the confrontation got nasty and the Others intervened. We had another indication that she knows more of Daniel's history than we've been shown when she referenced his ascension and her understanding of the reasons he returned. I'm a complete Daniel/Vala fangirl, and was delighted to see her there to offer him genuine comfort for the hurt. She cares about him and I want it to show the way it did here. Just lovely.

There were some cute and funny beats for Vala in the background of scenes, for example where she blatantly and casually stole something from Radek Zelenka's desk as she was passing through the operations room, and then her cheery smile and wave when he retrieved it. Our Vala, she's a pistol :)

Cameron

Still loving the consistent characterisation of Cameron this year. I not only feel and see a better fit for him in the team, he's turned into a real contributor and is becoming quite the accomplished facilitator for his resident geniuses and Jaffa powerhouse. I was very happy to see the return to the man we first met in the beginning of Season 9, the one with the superlative career record, outstanding leadership qualities and the same respect/belief in the USAF hierarchy as Sam. This Cameron is just as capable, but seasoned by some experience under his belt.

The other element I loved was Cameron revealing himself to be very much a one-team man. He thinks what Daniel does is fantastic and we've seen him getting excited and enthused by Daniel just being Daniel, we've seen his respect and admiration for Sam doing what she does, and his relentless determination to impress Teal'c. Where SG-1 is concerned, Cameron is a total fanboy. That clearly doesn't translate ;)

I was surprised to see him so – is hostile too strong a word? – to Rodney McKay. Especially when McKay has the level of crush on Sam that Cameron himself has on Daniel, Sam and Teal'c as the legendary SG-1. The walls went up and we had this 'You are not MY scientist' vibe from Cameron, who was as protective as could be of Sam, her person, her intellectual property and her pre-eminence on the mission. It was even more than a question of trust in the unkown if annoying quantity of McKay. Cameron did everything but pee down Rodney's leg; he was the bristling alpha dog circling. The citrus threat was hilarious. Surprising, yes, but a lot of fun.

Even more fun was the opening scene where Cameron chose to rouse Daniel from his post-excitement exhausted slump with tickling and a sing-song coaxing back into consciousness. Scrumptious team moment.

Sam

I loved Sam in this as much as I loved Daniel in this and thought her plotline was as much of an A story as Daniel's. I adored that gorgeous moment when they were approaching Atlantis and she just knew something was off with Daniel. Her gentle shoulder nudge and question made me wish just one more time this was the romantic relationship the show had gone with. Sam and Daniel can be lovely together.

Sam was a tremendous amount of fun in this one, lighting up the screen with her own sparky, prickly, energetic dynamic with Rodney. Their competitive one-upmanship is just a joy. I can't get enough of it. I love how they complete one another's thoughts and sentences, constantly interrupt and argue, battling for the upper hand. Neither of them gives an inch and their combined brain power must scare the pants off everyone in shouting distance.

The scene where Rodney told Sam about her saving his life in the sinking puddle jumper was a standout. Rodney's gratitude, Sam's cautious acceptance of something nice from this source, then her sudden realisation she *was* as much his fantasy as his saviour, and his instant admission of the truth were hilarious.

The other thing I like is that Sam's negativity – a fun element of her character – comes off as the ravings of a reckless, cockeyed optimist compared to Rodney.

Sam is being written wonderfully this season. More, please. Much, much, much more. As I said in a previous review, she's a lovely lady to be around and when she's bouncing and snapping with energy as we saw in this story, she's even better.

Teal'c

The Big Guy might have been separated by a galaxy from the rest of the team, but he was still with them. His interchanges with Cameron were fun, especially his undisguised annoyance at being kept waiting for several hours. Not the quality life experience our favourite Jaffa has come to expect.

I don’t know about him being more human these days, but he's certainly more Teal'c. He's revealing facets of his personality and emotions that in the old days, that stone face gave away no hint of. I like to think it's an expression of trust and personal freedom he didn't have the luxury of in the darker days. I see these as the true shackles of slavery he's thrown off.

We had some nice beats here on the trust Teal'c places in Sam and Cameron. He didn't hesitate to follow their instructions. It spoke well to the growing connection between all the members of this settling team.

I thought it was a very nice touch that Teal'c took a desperate situation and completely turned it around. He didn't just back away when told, he used the manoeuvre to lure an Ori ship to its impressively CGId destruction. He did indeed win a great victory. But then, he usually does 

Never, ever enough Teal'c!

Plot, pacing and that other stuff

Brad Wright is an excellent writer, and this was a good one. He found really great ways to keep both storylines focused personally on Daniel and Sam, ways that drove forward the plot, without it ever feeling forced or excluding the characters they were interacting with. The Pegasus Project is one of the best team stories we've seen in a long, long time and I didn't see it put a foot wrong. Both storylines were exciting and dramatic, hit all the right character notes, and the pacing, the intercut between one story and the other, worked well to raise the stakes and the tension. Both Rodney and Elizabeth were good and natural fits in their story roles and with the team. It worked on the level of a team episode, in allowing Daniel and Sam to shine, and in moving forward the overall arc of character and show. It was all nicely put together. Very nicely indeed! An excellent episode in every respect.

As to the question of Merlin's weapon, I begin to wonder if it's not technology at all ;)