Critical Mass

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S2 (Critical Mass)

I must say, I'm impressed. They've hit a seam of success with the series, and this is another one that works. It works because they've been able to build up a set of characters here, on Atlantis, tap into the 'SG1' pool on Earth, and those on the Daedalus between. There are more than enough suspects for who could be a human agent working for the Goa'uld, one that has planted a bomb, or that's what they think at first, but then it becomes the city itself as the bomb when the ZPM will become overloaded, at least I think that was the idea. The exact details don't really matter because they throw just about everything into the pot and masterfully manipulate us so that you could never guess who the bad guy is. It would be too obvious for Colonel Caldwell to be the man, and I suppose because of that he made an excellent choice. Because I don't necessarily credit the writers with being able to be revolutionary or particularly intricate in their plotting it actually worked in their favour. I was thinking it could be Cadman and then they bring her up as a suspect early on - that could mean they're deliberately discounting her too early, but then Kavanagh is the obvious choice and they often do the obvious in 'Stargate.' For a moment I even suspected Hermiod the Asgard aboard Daedalus (why did they never make a spinoff series set aboard her?).

It couldn't be the main cast because that would be way too far out of the series' purview, and it couldn't be the familiar faces back at Stargate Command because they were out of the picture around halfway through the emergency, if not before. That should have been the clue, because Caldwell effectively disobeys his orders to stay in position in case the SGC needs to relay further intel to Atlantis, and instead he doesn't wait for confirmation to head to the city. I was surprised General Landry wasn't furious with him! It was good to see Landry, even if it was a bit of a culture shock to suddenly be back in the concrete and metal environs of the SGC which is such a visual contrast to Atlantis' colourful, glass-featured surrounds, but if I was watching the two series' as intended, I'd be seeing both shows simultaneously, one of each per week. I prefer to concentrate on one at a time, and with all the characters and places being injected hurriedly into the story I was finding it hard to remember who was who and what season of this series corresponds with which season of 'SG-1.' But it was a nice muddle, I liked having to keep up with all these faces I knew. It would have been even better if SG-1 itself could have got involved (there is but a reference to Colonel Carter), we haven't really had a proper, full-on crossover yet, and with only Season 2 and 3 of 'Atlantis' to work in it's got to happen soonish, if it's going to. This episode showed how well interlocking the lore can work.

As I said, I'd have liked a little more reminder of who's who and what's what, maybe using Ronon who could stand in for the audience since he didn't even know what a Goa'uld was (I think I got that one figured out…), but it didn't harm the episode, and they did a fine job of upping the tension with each 'shap,' to coin a term from 'DS9.' I found it curious that they squeezed in a B-story with Teyla having to deal with the dying, and death, of an old woman called Charin whom I couldn't recall if she'd been in it before, but must have by the amount of closeness and affection between them, the only person Teyla looks on as family. I wonder what it must be like for an old actor (and I'm sure she wasn't as decrepit as she seemed - it is called acting, after all!), to play out something that's potentially in your relatively near future. Then again, anyone could die at any time (cheery thought, I know), it's not exclusive to the aged, but when you are old it must have some added resonance. Maybe it's helpful? The other thing with that side story was seeing an actual Athosian ritual of the Ring, as I think it was called. There didn't seem to be much to it other than putting rocks round the dead body as a symbol of the Stargate of their ancestors, and Teyla sings a song, so it appeared to be a way to mourn or celebrate the person. Did the actress really sing? According to the end credits she did and it was called 'Beyond The Night.'

It very much reminded me of 'The Lord of The Rings' films with their close association with music and singing, which was fitting since Dr. Lee gets the best laugh in the episode when he uses the analogy of the lighting of the beacons to explain how they'll piggyback a message to Atlantis using the Daedalus (when none in the briefing room get his Twilight Barking '101 Dalmatians' reference!). 'There's no time to argue about morality,' says Caldwell, tellingly, or some similar sentiment, but they do have a little time for that at the end, so it was a well rounded episode: Weir suitably guilt-stricken that she allowed her personal dislike of the troublesome Kavanagh to push her into allowing Ronon to beat the needed access code out of him, erroneously as it turned out. I wasn't happy with the idea of having the new tough guy working over a suspect on the basic evidence that had been found, but it was very 'Stargate' that, although it cuts away from the scene where Ronon enters Kavanagh's room ominously and purposefully, later we see that he didn't get a chance to pummel the guy as he fainted with fright! It's humorous and gets them off the hook of having one of their main characters unjustifiably beat another crewmember, especially when he looked like he was going to relish it. I know that post 11th September American TV responded by throwing harder decisions and harsher actions into its dramas, with '24' famously using torture, 'Enterprise' doing a whole season mirroring a terrorist attack that changed how the characters behaved, and no doubt other series' did the same kind of thing. Effectively they played up to the terrorism and allowed it to change things, to give freer rein to emotional outburst and going with the gut rather than building evidence or thinking things through.

To be fair to this episode they did pretty well for the most part, Rodney, as ever, coming into his own as the brain-box reacting to each escalation. And there was escalation: the problems on the city become much worse with the approach of two warring Hive ships that stop they're quarrelling when a distress beacon is activated by the Goa'uld, so we're on a countdown until the city has to cloak, leaving it more open to power surges and destruction. Having the Goa'uld play a part made for more fun, and the rationale had sense: they don't want The Wraith getting to our galaxy so the best way to prevent that is blow Atlantis out of the water (just like avoiding the Dominion in 'DS9' by taking out the Wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant). The pieces of lore were nimbly juggled, and it was fun to see all these characters while not losing the focus of the story and allowing time for Teyla's personal moments. As I said, impressive. I hope the series continues to progress in this way - even having Zelenka off-world on a planet of children to keep him out of the suspect game, because you could never believe he'd be the traitor. Caldwell you could, because of all the opposition between he and Weir, and it was fortuitous that she stood up to him when he wanted to have the questioning on his ship. My only disappointment is that we won't have that any more, although I'm not sure if Caldwell was in control or was a victim of the Goa'uld inside. Inevitably for someone that doesn't follow 'Stargate' fanatically (which would seem obvious from the fact I'm only now, in the last ten years, watching most of it for the first time), a few things slipped my mind: like the floppy-haired guy at the SGC, couldn't remember his name. Couldn't remember exactly what The Trust were (a group of people that act against the Goa'uld, or was it that they were breakaway Goa'uld?), but I reiterate that it didn't matter, I picked up all the detail I needed to enjoy it, and enjoy it I did.

***