I don't think that the show was going in that direction at all. But I kinda like it as an alternate "what if?" idea -- something a little different than John spending the episode alone on an abandoned space station talking to a computer. (I loved his scenes with holo-Rodney ... but, technically, that's what it was!)

Sam's death was the one that sent me over the emotional edge. I was doing fine up to that point! But it was just ... if a death scene can be gorgeous, hers really was.