Vengeance

DVD, Stargate Atlantis S3 (Vengeance)

I lamented seeing this episode in bright sunlight as, if there was any made to be seen in pitch black, late at night, this is the one. It's their version of 'Alien' (to the extent they even boff the metaphor right on the nose by having Sheppard actually make reference to the film, unwisely - subtlety is better), with perhaps a side order of the 90s 'Godzilla' (all those giant eggs with baby versions inside), and it deserves credit for its excellently shot visuals and the atmosphere of doom, leavened with deeply ominous music - it was quite grisly for the family friendly 'Stargate' franchise, not to say they never showed nasty stuff before, but this was a sinister and menacing oppression only to be furthered by occasional images of corpses, blood and dismembered limbs. The design of the horrible creatures seemed to be influenced by both the 'Alien' Xenomorph and the 'Predator' …well, Predator, along with bug DNA, and what we saw, worked - it seemed like they'd made actual suits rather than relying on CGI. Talking of DNA, that was one of the weak points of the story, the genetic science sounded completely bogus - what was it? Something about sucking the DNA out of a human host (or Taranan, whomever they were, I didn't remember them at all), then having to make sure the eggs were laid before said DNA was lost. It was along those lines and it sounded totally silly. Also dragging the episode down when they were doing so well with such a deadly atmosphere, was the addition of Michael, sad to say.

I like Connor Trinneer, of course I do, he was one of the best things about 'Enterprise' (bring Trip back, CBS!), and it was pleasing he found a new role as the recurring half-Wraith on this series, someone who was bound to show up again, and wouldn't you know, his name popped up at the beginning of this one. In some ways it would have been better to keep his involvement a surprise, except things didn't pan out as I was anticipating: I was expecting him to be the creature they track at first, maybe a mutated version, then since Ford was in the recap at the start, and with that title, I thought it could possibly be him returning to cause trouble again (especially as I don't recall what happened to him, did he live or die last time they met?). Then again, they also showed Dr. Beckett in that recap and he's clearly not coming back (they did that in the previous episode, too - is it to justify keeping Paul McGillion's name in the opening credits?). Hey, there's an idea: what if Michael and Ford joined forces? Anyway, it's not that I dislike Michael, and it was good that it wasn't about him mutating, it's just that he has another dull, despotic plan to create an army of blah-blah-blah, take over blah-blah, reap vengeance, etc. Couldn't there have been a more inventive motivation than that? I'm not saying it's not plausible or logical, but it's overdone in sci-fi and in what has been the best season of this series so far I didn't enjoy falling back on tropes to get us through to the end.

It seems it's going to be the story that plays out the season, too, historically not the series' strong point, either finishing up seasons or beginning new ones, if I recall correctly. Maddeningly there was a tiny moment of promise, when Michael shows some vulnerability while telling captured Teyla he needed to do these experiments in order to survive all the Wraith and human enemies - he's a hybrid, a freak, an outcast that no one will accept as he is, and this, as is usually the case, has made him bitter and megalomaniacal, unfortunately. They need enemies, I know that, but I felt they should have done better with Michael, letting us get to know him better - Teyla and McKay briefly discuss him (when she should have been silent and training all her senses on the door to be prepared for any intruder! I felt sure Mike was going to show up all of a sudden), and being the kindly soul that she is, she does hint at his being a person, someone who may have had family, who is trapped away from all people. But any attempt at understanding and acceptance is quickly swept under the carpet because this is a military organisation, it's not good to humanise your enemy (even if literally humanising him in the past was what they attempted to do).

All this goes to undermine the good work in traditional action sci-fi horror that they'd established - they even have a 'face hugger' with a bug let loose on Teyla as she's stereotypically strapped to a table while Michael reveals his evil plan - to the extent that Sheppard even comments on the ridiculousness of such tropes by referencing another film character! Aside from the visual presentation there are promising moments, such as continuing the budding semi-friendship, or at least growing mutual understanding between Rodney and Ronon as he gives him lessons in what looks like kendo, or some such sword-based combat discipline, anyway. Then there's the moment Ronon practically mutinies against Sheppard's order to stun Michael, angrily refusing. It's only an argument and we never find out if he'd have gone further than disagreement, but there was the chance to add dissension and rising tension between the characters to add to the stress of the situation (I always think of 'DS9' episode 'The Ship' as a great example of that), but there isn't time taken to do anything like that. So it just potters along back and forth between Michael and creeping around in dark passages and never rose beyond that, making it somewhat, and only lightly, a disappointment.

Maybe I expected too much - I was certainly thinking in a Trek mindset when they never even try to learn if this creature is sentient and just blow up all the eggs, sorry Rodney, 'pods,' without even making an effort to understand it or them, and that's a problem with the series, primarily because it is unmistakably militarily skewed. But then I took into account that this creature had already fed on a roomful of people, leaving a pile of corpses in its wake, and that was enough to see it was a deadly predator, not something that could be reasoned with. There's always a more intelligent story that could be told within the confines of this kind of story, if you're expecting it from 'Stargate' you're probably wasting your brain power. Truth be told, even Trek is all about the action and visuals now, so when I say 'Trek mindset' I refer to the past, back when Trek had something meaningful to say (other than 'give us yer money and we'll pump out some silly action sci-fi'). 'Stargate' never really aspired to more than action adventure, and in this case if it hadn't been for that pesky Michael they'd have gotten away with it, too.

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