Trinity

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S2 (Trinity)

I needed a good one after the last few episodes had been merely passable, and though this appeared to be another mildly lacklustre story filled with techno-babbling science experiment and alien planets and names to try and keep track of, it turned into something much more before the end. A good title would have been 'Bumps In The Road' as the two plots running parallel show two people (or more in Rodney's case, but specifically two when you consider his and Sheppard's colleague status is upset), who betray trust, or trust in themselves too much, not considering their actions in the wider context, both ending on an uncertain note for what is a fairly comfortable franchise (that is until you get to 'Universe' where all the characters behave like this most of the time!). The best story is McKay's, but Ronon and Teyla's visit to an alien world to trade for something that will improve the crop yields is engaging in itself: Ronon strikes out twice when he interferes in Teyla's negotiation believing she was being treated poorly, she having to explain the art of negotiation is more complex than how he sees it, and she had things in hand.

Then when Ronon is thrilled to discover more of his people, thinking he was the last survivor of his ruined world, he uses her influence to arrange a meeting with his superior officer whom he promptly kills on sight for being a coward. However justified his actions might have been, at least in the eyes of the others working with Kell (in that they let him go free, showing it was common knowledge what a traitor to his own Kell had been), and Teyla even understand his actions, she knows the Stargate people would not approve and she fiercely condemns his use of her for his own ends. It's clear that as the two warrior outsiders, to some extent, they are drawn to each other, so Teyla's quite happy with him tagging along for an excursion, but she's not happy for him to carry his loose cannon traits into her carefully ordered world, especially as he seems to take orders from Sheppard quite effectively, so when she's in charge she expects the same consideration. But Ronon does what he thinks best, and in any modern series the secret between them of his murder of this man would come out to cause problems in future. This series isn't generally like that, though, so I wonder if it will return to cause animosity or issues as it should?

Ronon's not the only one who does what he thinks best to the detriment of the trust of others, with McKay putting himself on high one too many times. It doesn't matter how obnoxious he behaves to people, or how little he plays by the rules if he gets Weir and Sheppard a result, but if he fails then that's when the real trouble hits. The big deal is finding an Ancients' outpost on a planet with the blasted remains of at least one hive ship floating in orbit. They find out that the weapon these Ancients had developed is more powerful and energy efficient than even the ZPMs, and if they can harness it, it would make a show-stopping addition to the fight against The Wraith. If it sounds too good to be true it's because it is. The Ancients couldn't work it properly and it turns out it wiped out the inhabitants of the planet, too, but McKay is sure as sure can be that he can get it working. This after a power surge killed one of the team working on the project and putting its use in serious jeopardy from Weir. Caldwell steps in with a military interest, but it's Rodney himself who persuades Sheppard to trust him and go back for another attempt now that he knows what went wrong. But his self-importance puts them in danger too, when things don't go as he foresaw and they're forced to flee from the weapon, escaping through the Stargate only with the aid of Daedalus.

It's a humbling experience for him to be proved so wrong when he was so sure, and sets back his stock in the eyes of his superiors, not to mention the closest thing he has to a friend among the scientists, Dr. Zelenka, whom he outright insults and bulldozes over the concerns raised by him in good conscience. It's not a hardboiled 'Battlestar Galactica' ending where no one will trust him again, and I'm sure things will be much back to normal by next episode, but I wouldn't want it to be doom and gloom like that series and it was hard enough for McKay to realise he was wrong and admit it in his apologies. What made it stand out in comparison to the other episodes (aside from the season opener), was how high the stakes were, the moral equation when considering the death of a man in the experiment, and how scary the level of power of this thing is that it takes out a chunk of a solar system because it can't be shut down. The balance with the more personal story on the other planet Teyla and Ronon visit works well as a counterpoint, even if the set is clearly the 'medieval' set used a few times on 'SG-1' in the corresponding season. The military versus civilian angle worked well with Caldwell always there to provide a dissenting voice against Weir's authority, and it has a good blend of all these things to make it an important story that wouldn't have been out of place on Trek. Not sure where the trinity came into it, but whatever.

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