Stargate Atlantis - "The Prodigal"

I've added a disclaimer on spoilers to the top, but I'll repeat it here-- I'm not going to give out any spoilers of anything that hasn't aired yet, but I will spoil anything I review. Mostly because I assume I'm always the last to see everything.

So in other words, if you haven't seen this episode yet and don't want to know the ending, stop reading now.

(Vice versa, I would appreciate it if no one gives me spoilers for anything. You may find it very exciting who the next Doctor is going to be and are just BURSTING to share it with someone, but I don't want to know until he debuts on screen. I'm lookin' at you, BBC.co.uk.)

Okay, having said that, I'm going to jump straight to the ending of this episode, since it was the most poignant part. I'm speaking specifically of when Tayla kicks Michael off the ledge.

On the one hand, as a parent, I can totally relate. If someone had threatened my child over and over and I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he would keep threatening my child as long as he was alive... well, I can't honestly say that I wouldn't feel that was what I had to do to protect my child.

But on the other hand... these are the good guys. Our heroes. Yes, yes, it's more realistic and makes for more gritty storytelling. But it's also sending the message to my child, "It's perfectly acceptable for the good guys to kill the villain after he's defeated." I like my heroes to not just be realistic, but better than realistic, to inspire me to something to live up to.

And, as long as we're on the subject of being realistic, I know the real reason Michael was killed was because Stargate Atlantis is ending soon, and all the loose ends need to be wrapped up. (Oops, did I just break my own rule?)