The Brotherhood

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S1 (The Brotherhood)

All that effort for nothing! McKay, always a sucker for a pretty face, is hoodwinked by, or lulled into a false sense of friendship with, Allina of planet Dagan where a ZPM was hidden by a brotherhood of monks long ago. So they go off and do some genuine archeology: digging and whatnot, so much so, poor Rodney's tired by the end of it all, then discover an underground chamber. So far, so good, and very 'Stargate,' but then they add in Kolya of the Genii, returning to grab what they're looking for, this potentially full ZPM which he still thinks can be used with Genii technology. And not a moment too soon for the city of Atlantis, since the B-plot is of a Wraith dart that flies in and scans the place before self-destructing and transmitting its intelligence to its big brother ships, so the attack is only two weeks away! And in the scouting sweep we sadly lost a Jumper and two men, one of which, distressingly for 'BUGS' fans, was Markham, Joseph May's character (unless there's more than one soldier with that surname - we don't actually see him). Shame, as I hoped he'd continue to be a recurring character, in the same way as Dr. Zelenka and Bates have become regular faces. But the important thing is that what everyone feared and expected to happen now has an immediacy to it, so they really need that ZPM, any ZPM, and fast!

It was all McKay's fault really, and I'll digress here to say I think he might have become the standout character of the series - he's certainly not bland as some of them are, and has proved invaluable on numerous occasions. And once again here, he plays hero quite well, solves the monk's puzzle, and even has time to be surprised and impressed by Sheppard letting slip that he passed a Mensa test. In fact, it was Sheppard who solved the final piece of the puzzle, but then he was highly motivated at the time with the threat to his life from Kolya and his men, as well as the 'Indiana Jones' anti-tampering device in the chamber which killed the first, brash Genii that rashly attempted to activate it before McKay had explained the risks. I thought it would turn out to be something that only someone with Ancient genes would be able to bypass, but it was actually a number puzzle as Sheppard correctly surmised. By the way, how did Ford wake up so quick from the Genii dart? I also felt it wasn't the best course of action to kill one of Kolya's men when he was so much at a disadvantage, lying on the floor, surrounded. But in his defence he did a good job with the element of surprise, and would have bought his team a few seconds, and at least they didn't sneak up on them because of the kerfuffle. I also felt he and the others, Teyla in particular, worked well in the fight scene, showing some good moves in the balance of power to win the day over Kolya's gang.

The episode itself is strangely uneventful in some ways, it's mostly people working on puzzles, trying to crack the Potentia code (the name the monks gave to the ZPM). But back to Rodney and it being his fault: he let slip to Allina his people's true origins, egged on by the others that she was interested in him, and so letting his guard down. Or did he do that before they egged him on? Either way he told her that they came from Earth and have only lived on Atlantis a matter of months, and I thought as he said it that it wasn't the best time to be so transparent - she'd already stood up to her fellow Sudarian who warned that these outsiders would take the Potentia away, and made it clear that it belongs to Atlantis. But knowing they were squatters, regardless of any other connection, that's when she turned and confided in her assistant. I thought it was a bad move, but the episode went on for a long time after that and I forgot the scene, but Allina was just playing along after that and never intended to let them have it. Kolya was a mere inconvenience, and as pleasant as it was to beat him again, he was more of a device to provide some danger to what was essentially a simple search. Not that simple, but it wasn't like they were escaping traps in the deeps, or exploring down into the forbidden depths.

The episode wasn't bad, I felt quite sad for the last of the monks at the beginning, seeing them sucked up by Wraith ships, and then a good time-lapse CG shot of the passage of time before we pull back to find the Atlantis team working on the riddle in the present day. I also liked the monks singing in the soundtrack, and Robert Davi was an effective enemy, if much reduced in power compared to his aborted attempt to take over Atlantis for the Genii. Sadly, Colm Meaney isn't seen, but his character, Cowen, is mentioned. Beckett gets to do something beyond complaining and doctoring, his rare Ancient gene necessary to get an extra Jumper in the air to combat the Wraith scout, going up with Bates, who isn't the most reassuring presence! I also liked Sheppard shown to have actual intelligence, unlike O'Neill who was always happy to leave the brain work to his team, and McKay continues to be a sympathetic character. With all the positives I still come away from it with the impression of it being a wild goose chase: Kolya's defeated and warned off, the ZPM is found, only for Allina to tell them it will be hidden on another world so no one will find it. If the next few episodes are going to follow this trend we'll be visiting each of the addresses alternate Elizabeth Weir gave them in 'Before I Sleep,' probably finding one at the last moment. If the series is predictable…

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