Flight

Good Friends
Full episode can be found here.

Dr Keller is trying to get another village to agree to evacuate to Atlantis, but requires a little assistance, Seeking help from John and Samantha, she notices the camaraderie between the two. Samantha is too busy with the Travelers and Refugees to assist, but John is drafted into giving her an escort along with some Marines due to recent ambushes by the Genii. John is critically injured when he falls into the Genii Mining facility when escorting Dr Keller to the village there along with some Marines in case of Genii Ambush. Dr Keller falls in as well and she has to treat him for giant splinter that has drilled into his gut. The marines fall back to Atlantis to get help.

Asuras
Rodney meanwhile on Asuras is put through the final stages of his torture Oberoth finally breaks the last of his defenses and accesses all the knowledge Rodney unlocked with his nearly ascended brain. It proves so much that Oberoth begins to overload from the vastness of it. All appears doomed for Rodney when an Aurora appears above the skies and starts raining drones down on the capital city.

Of all people, Elizabeth Weir arrives in a last ditch effort to save Rodney. She and her renegade faction of Asurans set the ZPM network to overload, and her final action is giving Rodney enough coherence to survive before she throws him through the Stargate to “Proculus” Chaya Sar’s planet. Elizabeth knows that she’ll never be accepted on Atlantis because of her replicator form, and dies in the ensuring blast that annihilates Asuras.

Ronon is given a new team of Marines at Samantha's request (Captain Alicia Vega, Sergeant Dusty Mehra, Lieutenant Dan Drake.) and the Daedalus has been mostly repaired and sent back into action against the Wraith. Both groups succeed against the overwhelming odds, though Daedalus ends up taking another beating and needing a full refit back on Earth.

Daniel Jackson is sent to Atlantis to help with the translation of the Ancient Database as well as artifacts. Samantha greets him warmly and Daniel takes a shining on Teyla and her work with the Refugees.

Interspersed between all the stories are flashbacks from Samantha and John’s POV of their last night in Washington DC

The "Date"
John decides that no matter what he’s not going to leave Atlantis, and after some hard deliberation and checking a newspaper, ends up asking Samantha to go out with him to a Carnival seeing as it could be their last night on Earth. She hesitates, but in the end agrees to go.

Flashbacks in chronological order:
 * Going to a carnival and winning a bunch of toys including a large Panda Bear
 * Going on a Ferris Wheel at night and Sam figuring out why he loves it,
 * Renting a pair of motorcycles and tearing DC up.
 * Going to a 5 star restaurant (and creating havoc) as well as John admitting to Samantha that he’s donated most of his money to the base in the form of relief supplies,
 * Dancing after buying new very expensive clothes so they don’t get kicked out of the restaurant,
 * Buying a ridiculously expensive crystal chess set that caught both of their eyes.
 * Having a second more filling dinner at a bar and grill.

By the end of the night, both are much closer as friends and Samantha is worried about John’s intentions, When he shows no impropriety, Samantha invites him in to play a game of chess and chat. They bond over old missions, funny stories, and eventually, Samantha asks him why he wears his armband.

John is reluctant, but feeling that Samantha is trusting him more than most people, he takes it off and reveals a tattoo of a Bessel Function underneath. He explains that it’s a constant reminder that he originally wanted to be an aircraft designer, but ended up in the Air Force after taking flying lessons in college. He wears the armband as a reminder that things don’t always turn out the way he expects them to.

Samantha is moved by his admission to her that as far as she knows no one else knows. When he goes to clean his knuckle wound, she falls asleep in front of the chess set (they were playing on her bed in the hotel room) John tucks her in, and gives her a small kiss on the temple as a goodnight before heading to his own quarters.

Back in the Saddle
The Marines with Keller and Sheppard get to Atlantis and Samantha doesn’t have any teams to go and rescue them. So she and Daniel suit up and with a few medics, leave Larrin in charge of Atlantis to get the Traveler woman to trust them as she goes to rescue John and Jennifer.

Once they get them back to Atlantis, everyone is relieved that John’s going to be okay. Larrin and Samantha have a chat and Larrin suspects that Samamtja and John are more than friends. Samantha denies it and explains the Frat Rules, and Larrin scoffs at them saying it’s a ridiculous notion but then again the Travelers are a completely different society. She then accuses Samantha of breaking those rules since she obviously cares about Sheppard. Samantha can’t really deny it and pushes it out of her mind as well as sidesteps the issue

While Larrin and Samantha are chatting, Mila tells John about the Wormhole Drive. John realizes the potential and tells her and Radek to keep it a secret. Samantha comes to see him and they have a little no-words needed moment where John thanks Samantha for suiting up and rescuing him.

The episode ends with Sam admitting she was still awake when John kissed her that night in DC and she kisses him back in the same way as a friendly gesture for him to get better.

Notable Quotes
“Think you can handle one negotiation?”

''“Uhh… negotiating with alien settlements is not what I joined the air force for…Oh alright… can I take a Jumper at least? Right… I’ll just get our gear ready…excuse me…”'' - Sam asking John to cover her negotiation and then giving him continual comical refusals. “Wha…oh my…no… no oh god…this… this isn’t…”'

''“You shall give me what I want! You will not resist me for long!”''

“Wh…why?” - Talia watches once more as Rodney resists Oberoth's probing, and can't find an answer to Rodney's pleading question. “You like Ferris Wheels?”

“Uhh... yeah… I guess so…You... didn’t come here just to ask me that... did you?” - John asking Sam to accompany him to a carnival, and her surprised reaction. “I’m sorry Daniel… we don’t have any teams that can go out now and…”

''“Say no more. Let’s go.”'' - Samantha preparing to go and rescue John and Jennifer, with Daniel offering his assistance.