First Strike

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S3 (First Strike)

Throughout, you're wondering what's going to go wrong, what cliffhanger ending are they going to leave us with this time, and it was a good one: floating in the middle of nowhere, the city of Atlantis has little power left before the shield will deactivate and all the atmosphere will flood out into space, killing them all! It was a much different episode than I expected, I thought it would have something to do with renegade Wraith Michael, as the previous episode seemed like setup. Or maybe it would be more Wraith coming for them, or both. But I never thought of the Replicators as the likely opposition after they were defeated earlier in the season. David Ogden Stiers even has a cameo as his Replicator character, Oberoth, whom we saw disintegrate previously. From his credit I assumed we'd see a lot more of him than just the misjudged attempt at diplomacy from the optimistic Dr. Weir - even in that petition for communication the Replicators use it as a chance to attack by sending a virus through, but I'm glad she tried, even if it was a fruitless effort. Things are further shaken up by the arrival of a new ship and a new commander, someone Weir doesn't have a rapport with. I suppose they had to bring the USS Apollo and Colonel Ellis in as Colonel Caldwell had become too cosy with our people and Weir knows how to deal with him. Ellis is even more down to business than most military commanders, so despite their differences it was gratifying to see he and Weir exchange respect at the end after all the spikiness.

Stargate Command has ordered a first strike (hey, that's where they got the title from!), on the Replicator's planet as the Daedalus apparently flies by there on every trip in order to keep tabs on any activity, and a good job they did, because it's been spotted that they're building a fleet of 'flesh and blood' (physical materials rather than Replicator tech), ships for a presumed attack on Earth. Best thing to do is blast 'em, though there are some slight qualms with Zelenka and McKay (as great as ever in their double act), considering sabotaging the efforts they've had to be involved in, ultimately deciding they don't want to be responsible for the Replicators turning up to take out the city. Turns out they did, sending a cunning weapon in the form of a Stargate embedded in a rudimentary satellite ship that can fire a sustained beam to attack the city, at the same time the beam itself powering the 'gate. I loved hearing about the lore with the reiteration of the Stargate's usual automatic shutoff after thirty-eight minutes, except in exceptional circumstances where enough power can keep it running indefinitely, which McKay reminds us was something the SGC faced in the past. Makes me want to go back and re-watch that series from the beginning (which I will once I've reviewed the spinoff films), and ties it comfortingly back into the 'Stargate' world again.

Not that it's comfortable for our characters who can do little but rely on the boffins for a plan to prevent Atlantis' destruction. The Apollo can't do much as it already sustained major shield damage on first activation of the 'gate weapon, so they come up with the plan to sink Atlantis beneath the waves as they've done before. The idea is that the water will dissipate some of the beam's power, thus buying more time to come up with a more permanent solution. My question would be what about the pressure of the water? If the shield is having to push back the deep pressure of all that volume of water wouldn't that put it under more strain? Maybe the shields can deal with water in their sleep since the city was designed for that, I think that would have to be the answer. The other question is why they couldn't just fly around underwater so that the weapon didn't know where they were. Granted, it's likely more manoeuvrable than them in comparison, from its much smaller size, but isn't there any underground caverns they could hide in? Maybe not for something so huge. I presume the Replicators could track the city otherwise how would they know where to fire, in which case didn't they detect the asteroid that was being pushed into place to block the beam? If they'd easily moved around it then that would have meant less drama as the plan wouldn't work so it just had to be that way. And I had in the back of my mind that Ellis could be a Replicator agent, along with his whole ship, but nothing that convoluted occurred.

The asteroid was a good idea, but I thought they were going to try and fling it at the satellite ship, building up momentum so the force was significant, but then its shield may well have simply shattered the asteroid on impact, so I can give them that. I loved how all the different parties were doing their bit to try and solve the situation, in contrast to the episode's beginning which featured examples of people trying to escape their responsibilities: Dr. Keller, Beckett's replacement, unhappy with the position she's been put in, having a crisis of confidence and needing reassurance it won't be for much longer (it never twigged that when Weir says she's happy to have her life in Keller's hands they were setting up exactly that for the end!), while both Rodney and Sheppard aren't taking their admin duties seriously. Though McKay may complain and constantly (delightfully), admit to not even knowing the underlings who work with or for him, he and Zelenka are still the brain-boxes that the city's survival relies on, and though they bicker, it's always a joy to see them work together. It's been a good season for McKay, but it's been a good season for most of the characters, the mix was right. Ronon has a wry observation that he needs to get into science since he has no help to give in situations like this, as if it was a comment by the writers that without physical goals the warrior characters are essentially useless.

For the most part, however, this has been a good season and certainly the best, not relying too much on the monsters of The Wraith, nor the recurring villainy of others, while still dealing with such things here and there. It's the writing for the characters as a team that has really worked well and I only hope that continues as the series boldly strode into its place as the only 'Stargate' series in production, as 'SG-1' had been concluded. One thing I can say for this episode in particular is that they excelled in their effects work: usually I don't care for what CGI shots look good, the drama and interplay between characters infinitely more important to a story, but the deployment of Horizon, the warhead delivery system, in the attack on the Replicator planet was terrific as we're given a lengthy view of its trajectory through the atmosphere culminating in the ignition of the warheads themselves, like something out of a good space film. The music, too, was noteworthy - I couldn't place what it reminded me of, but it was something good, I knew that. The effects had the power to play into the emotion of the moment, most keenly felt as the city submerges and Weir watches the wall of water pushed back by the shield slowly enveloping them. Most evocative. What was most important, though, was that they had a problem to solve, and like 'Star Trek,' they put their expertise together to do it, and that's what impresses me about, and draws me to, sci-fi.

When you add in the traditional civilian versus military angle which Weir experiences as she battles the authority of Colonel Ellis, the episode finishes out the season strongly. Things could have been more severe, as Sheppard's loyalty never really comes into conflict, and for it to be a truly great episode it needed that extra plunge into the depths of moral issues. That Weir actually considers resigning when all this is over shows how much of a toll constantly being second-guessed by the SGC and other organisations has taken on her own sense of purpose, but I loved that Teyla was there as the voice of reason so she didn't fly off on a tangent and fall into that rabbit hole - a scene where Teyla showed exactly the kind of unique capability she has, to be reasonable, not a quick-tempered reactor, something you wouldn't necessarily expect in a warrior woman, more like the qualities needed in a Jedi! Teyla, sadly, has been very underused this season, each part of her character cut off, whether that be the natives, the Athosians, who no longer reside on the planet, to her warrior status being taken by Ronon, and she's definitely been the one to suffer, so they showed they could still write her well. When Elizabeth's taken out in that shock, surgically precise explosion as a sliver of the beam just got through before the shield could reestablish, it was a tough moment. I didn't think they'd kill off another character so soon after Beckett's death, but you never know and it would be a real disappointment to lose any of the characters at this stage. I doubt she will die, but it was a well played scene and I can't wait to view the next season.

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