Irresponsible

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S3 (Irresponsible)

Kolya's ignominious end appeared to be the point of this entire episode, as well as bringing back philandering conman Lucius, both characters who had been important to the series, though Kolya was obviously the big one since he'd played a part in several stories. It wasn't that long ago that Lucius first appeared, in 'Irresistible' earlier in the season, so I suppose I should have guessed from the title that this was a sequel. I can't wait to see what other 'Irre' title they think up for his inevitable third appearance. But much like his first episode, this wasn't quite up to standard and featured a bit too much running around instead of interesting themes, such as Lucius learning to actually be a hero. The moment when the rogue Genii duck him in the barrel to force him to capitulate, despite the Ancient shield he has, suggested a chance when he could have proved himself more than he is. But didn't. And actually that didn't make sense to me, because if he's shielded and they can't get through it, how can they apply force to him at all? And even given that, why didn't he just beat them up when they held him? It didn't make sense, but then you think more about it and it makes even less sense: how can those women give him massages if he's got the shield activated? I assumed he turned it off at times like those, but it was a bit too much of a plot device more than a believable device.

I suppose I can buy it overall, since the first attack where he really defended the village from a group of marauders was most likely taking them by surprise, whereas he's allowed stories of him to grow. Kolya wouldn't have any concerns over dealing with someone as stupid and self-serving as Lucius and you could tell he had the measure of him as soon as they met. It was fun to pit two of the series' villains or semi-villains against each other, but it was a shame Lucius never did learn a lesson. I suppose the lesson is that people like that who are so twisted and able to lie, cheat and steal against others at any moment for their own gain, would never learn a lesson, unless it was the hard way. And his function isn't to be a fully rounded individual, it's just to throw a spanner into the works of the ordered, fair-minded Atlantis team and give them a different challenge. That said, it was disappointing how simple the story was in the end, merely Kolya wanting revenge on Sheppard (were they always such nemeses for each other?), they meet, have a standoff and Sheppard draws faster. It was a forgettable finish for a character, whom although I wasn't particularly keen on, had to be admitted that he was one of the most important recurring characters. You'd think if they were going to kill him off it would be more dramatic or mean something in story terms rather than just meeting up at some alien village.

It must be said, the village was beautiful, as were the rooftop shots of it. I imagine it was a set they built, it may even have been used before (much like the Medieval set that had been recycled quite a few times on both 'SG-1' and this - perhaps it was even part of that?), but it certainly seemed to be outdoors and was sizeable and well shot so that the colours and brightness made it a pleasure on the eyes. No wonder they spent most of the episode running around inside it. Except that meant there wasn't really much to the episode - sure, you can take the message of standing up for yourself and learning to fight, not relying on others to fight your battles for you, as the simple villagers had been doing, but it was all rather obvious and uninspired. If they really do bring Lucius back I'd like it to be for a more meaningful reason, though I suspect it would merely be for comedy purposes once again. It does suggest the qualities of long seasons - I would assume his first episode went down quite well so they probably reacted to that and brought him back, showing up the drawback of short seasons and total serialisation which doesn't allow breathing room during the production.

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