The Game

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S3 (The Game)

As much as I like Rodney, and I do, he's by far the best character on the series, it didn't seem fair to give him another episode right off the back of last week's 'Tao of Rodney,' as that's what seemed to be happening when we find out some unknown planet has a flag with his face on it. But he wasn't becoming the new Seven of Nine and hogging all the best story-lines, this was a McKay/Sheppard two-hander all about a strategy game they'd been playing on and off, apparently for a couple of years - I'm not sure how feasible that is, since they weren't as good pals earlier in the series and generally had much more to think about than an alien version of 'Settlers.' The setup is good, but as often happens, it feels like the audience is way ahead of the crew when it appears obvious that the innocent little game they were playing was taking place in reality on this planet thanks to the Ancient satellites in orbit. It wasn't quite as I imagined, they weren't having immediate effect on all that happened, which makes it a little different to the typical real-time strategy games of old, perhaps more 'Sim City' than 'Age of Empires,' a general effect on a playing area than minute and instant alteration. The design of the game was okay, simple enough that you can allow Sheppard was able to play it, but detailed enough to give Rodney a satisfying challenge (and it was amusing that he gave the women the same haircut as Samantha Carter!).

It's not as simple as a challenge between the pair of them, and this is where the episode fell down for me, in that even though they were well aware of the Godlike powers of influence they'd exhibited on these people, they were still bickering and complaining about each other as if it was still a personal reflection on them what each village did. I've said it before, but they are very far from the 'Star Trek' crews, as this would be one of the most potent Prime Directive scenarios you could imagine, that they'd actually already had influence on development and society. I don't know what the right thing to do was when they found out what they'd done, but as soon as they had they shouldn't have been treating it so casually and lightly. It was a very serious matter and yet it's written quite jokily until the point where they simulate what real war would be like and prove the point to both sides that it's not something you want to aim for, it's a last resort when no reasonable action can be followed. Earlier, Weir, who claims to have some experience brokering peace, shows that she's all mouth in this case, as she fails to even get them off to a start. And even when McKay and Sheppard still have some sway they aren't very good at using it so that their people take matters into their own hands and while not locking them up or doing anything to them, don't seem to pay much attention! I think the writing was at fault because it makes them all look very inexperienced and naive in their dealings as if they've never come across alien civilisations before.

Practically powerless to control their respective villages, even though they had done so so effectively before, they show their hand and let both sides know that they're not all-knowing oracles, but mere men and that it was a game to them. Honesty may be the best policy, but in this case they just went in feet first without considering the implications might be of sharing this knowledge. It may have been less ethical to exit as soon as they realised what they'd done, perhaps do more recon before showing themselves to the people, and then they'd have had the option of continuing to use the machines to send instructions and broker peace through that method before telling their peoples they were now going to leave it to them, before giving them last pieces of advice on how to be fair and diplomatic. But then there wouldn't have been so much conflict, unless the peoples had refused this advice and continued to escalate regardless and then they could have gone down and revealed themselves. It shows up the flaws of the militaristic approach of the Stargate programme, that they are too gung-ho and quick to step in and get their hands dirty when from so many adventures they should have learned that it's better to tread lightly and carefully around unknown cultures until they get the measure of them. Then if they still want to meddle at least they'd have better understanding of what they're dealing with.

If the ethics are somewhat up the spout for the sake of drama and comedy, the episode itself isn't a bad one. They use the old Medieval set once again because it was built to be used, and it's not a bad idea to bring in this Ancient device, yet another hidden room on Atlantis they discovered and which had some power of some kind. And the B-plot, if something so slight can be called that, with Zelenka and Lorne paired up for their own game, showed that those characters had a bit of potential as they were quite fun together (mind you, Zelenka works in most situations and I hope they keep using him more), but it never went anywhere other than showing that the urge to power is widespread, and even with the best intentions initially, going in and forcing your ways on a people can lead to all sorts of problems. That it began because they saw a need they could fulfil shows that their hearts were in the right place, but the introduction of advanced technology into the hands of those who haven't developed it on their own and are therefore not yet ready for it through learning by trial and error, mistakes and successes, leaping to a new level without all that, shows that it can be very dangerous, making people arrogant and feeling superior to others, misusing that tech to further their selfishness.

That could actually be seen as a bit of a wakeup call for the whole franchise since that's their whole mission: to seek out new technology with which to better defend Earth and their allies. And as in this microcosm of this episode we've seen the flaw in 'Stargate' itself: how many times have politicians, leaders, or factions shown that contemporary humanity would only abuse greater power if it had access to it. I think they made that point without even realising it! Oh, and I was thinking the title had already been taken by 'SG-1,' but in reality that was 'The Gamekeeper,' even if 'TNG' had done a better episode with the same, unimaginative name as this episode. 'Atlantis' is entertainment, but it doesn't always give itself the credit of giving its ideas the full care and attention they deserve, leaving it a fun story, but one that held much more depth, of both cerebral and emotional connections that weren't exploited. Game over, this time.

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