Home

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S1 (Home)

McKay gets all excited by the energy field of a foggy planet the team visit, and it turns out, due to the Stargate drawing power from this weird mist, it has the potential to power the eighth chevron so they could dial a wormhole back to Earth! That on its own would be a worthwhile story to pursue - it would be great to see what Teyla makes of our own green Earth, and how would Weir, McKay, Ford and Sheppard use their time to revisit their old haunts? We may never know, as sadly, it turns out to be a ruse by non-corporeal entities. I know, that old one. It's not a bad concept - it wouldn't have been in so many TV series' if it was, but it's also something you could describe as a little tired unless some new angle or vibrant and thrilling approach could be achieved. Neither is true, they merely play out their fantasies slowly becoming aware that all is not quite as it should be (as Sheppard said, "The dead guys were a dead giveaway"). I must admit I genuinely thought they would be doing something like this, probably thanks to watching 'Stargate Universe' and having them traverse the galaxies through the use of Ancient tech stones enabling day trips if wanted. 'Atlantis' doesn't give the impression of being quite as far away ('only' one galaxy distant rather than many!), and I'm not sure it had even sunk in that they were stranded due to lack of power in the Atlantis 'gate, I thought they just had no need to return yet.

As you'd expect from a 'Stargate' there's plenty of wry humour (McKay returning to his pad, pressing the answer machine and finding zero messages, for example), and the characters aren't un-engaging. It's also fabulous that they availed themselves of Don S. Davis to return as General Hammond (although I thought he'd moved on to other projects by this time, and O'Neill was in his seat - this is supposed to run concurrently with Season Eight of 'SG-1' I believe, so Hammond shouldn't have been in command, but that may have been just another mistake from the aliens). Shame it's not the real Hammond, or the real Walter, or Sergeant Harriman as he identifies himself - is that his real name? Had it been revealed before? I can't remember, but it was fun to see our (new) people walking the corridors of the reassuring, but ugly, Stargate Command. I wouldn't say we got a whole lot of character development, with John Sheppard picking up on something being wrong quite early, Rodney's expected slobby lifestyle, and the already difficult position for Elizabeth, feeling guilty she left boyfriend Simon, and now guilty she can't get back to her expedition team. Oh, and Teyla gets to go clothes shopping, so there's a big development for her… Amusing how Sheppard reacts to her boring love of shopping!

One thing that did prove slightly innovative was the revelation that each character (apart from Teyla and Sheppard, as Teyla was included in his fantasy since she has no memories of Earth to draw from), is seeing things from their own unique perspective. So even though Weir and McKay believe they're the ones who came through the 'gate, they don't actually meet each other, but a fake version who tells them what the aliens want. There was very little mystery, I must say I prefer it when things become sinister in these situations, and the team have to fight to regain a sense of reality, but in this they slowly develop a dawning sense of falsity until the alien in Hammond's guise admits the truth. They explain they can't live like this, and it's irrelevant anyway since their bodies are dying from lack of sustenance, so Hammond agrees to let them go because they promise not to visit again. It just so happens the mist the 'gate draws its power from is the aliens, killing many of them each time it's activated (why did the Ancients do that, and if not their fault, how did the mist creatures end up being 'attached' to the Stargate?), and obviously they're not going to kill millions of beings just to make contact with Earth or send someone home. The aliens can read their minds so this convinces them to let them go (although won't using the 'gate to return to Atlantis just kill more?), promising they won't return, and Hammond in turn promises that this is their reality, not another fantasy realm. McKay confirms it by being really hungry.

I like the discussion at the end that they wouldn't knowingly put alien lives in danger, and it does become a nice Trek-like conclusion, but at the same time it does come out as rather pat. On the other hand the writing must have been quite subtle as I picked up on several slightly odd character interactions, like Sheppard and Hammond or Teyla, and maybe Weir and Sheppard (actually, I think that was back on Atlantis, so maybe it wasn't such good writing - did they actually return to Atlantis the first time or was that illusion? They must have, as Weir wasn't on the original mission). Lieutenant Ford gets stuffed again, with barely any appreciable role, just a backseat part to proceedings - I actually thought this might be how they were going to drop this character, when I still believed they were back on Earth, or were about to go, I thought they'd send him and then it wouldn't be possible for him to return again. Not that I want to see the back of him, but I increasingly get a sense that he might be a character that didn't last long, for no reason other than everyone else has more strongly defined roles.

I think from the disappointment they didn't actually get to visit home I'd have to give it only an average rating, in line with most of the episodes of the series I've seen (and passably enjoyed), so far. Also for the fact that it was too easy to get out of, with little jeopardy apart from a few seconds when the alien had made his pronouncement that they'd have to spend their remaining lives in fantasy land. I do give it points for skirting a discussion of the validity of the Atlantis mission, with Weir concerned over an increased military bent, and finding reasons to support the humans that are in the Pegasus Galaxy, since they awoke The Wraith early and still have a standing mission to seek out new technology, plus the opportunity to get to grips further with the Ancient city makes it an invaluable place to continue exploring. It's always a bit of an issue with these advanced aliens that have no trouble reading or manipulating the minds of their human captives, yet don't realise that these same minds won't accept captivity and/or don't pose a threat because they're honourable. Or maybe it's wilful ignorance and they prefer to play the game their way.

Whatever, I can't say it wasn't fun in parts (with McKay's greatest line ever: "Bing, tiddle, tiddle, bong"), and even a fake visit to Earth was appreciated, but as with most of the episodes so far it could have gone further and has yet to find its groove. But it's the first season, and they're long form seasons, and I was reflecting as I watched that watching a series like this, counter to the modern trend towards short, snappy, serialised seasons, it's not so much about the story as in visiting this familiar world and its inhabitants - with a regular dose there's something reassuring about that, which a more intent-driven, sophisticated and highly compact approach doesn't have: whether the episodes stand out or merge into each other or what has come before, it's nice to enter a world you can spend as much time in as possible.

**