DVD, BUGS S3 (Renegades)
The end of an era was marked with this episode. Not the end of the series, though it was originally only guaranteed three years by the BBC, but the input of the series' best writer (and co-consultant), Stephen Gallagher, and perhaps the series' best actor, Craig McLachlan. It's hard to comprehend that it's been almost twenty-five years since I first saw this, but it must have meant a lot because I recorded some audio on a cassette tape in the build-up to the episode, as well as the theme music. It also marks the end of when the series could be said to be great, as with decreasing budgets and less well executed ideas, not to mention a whole different Ed (in this episode he claims he's wearing a new jacket to change his image - little did he know!). But they threw everything into making this finale a slam-bang success, and it wasn't just the shocking cliffhanger that closed out the story, it's genuinely one of the strongest episodes of the whole series and sad that Gallagher had to leave to pursue his own projects, though he may well have contemplated returning if the series had gone on for a few more years. If the episode hadn't been up to scratch then the sudden disappearance of Ros wouldn't have been enough on its own to save the series for another year (the same trick was tried at the end of Season 4 with no result), but combine it with a terrific, if simple, story of a plot to resurrect Cyberax, arguably the team's most devastating villain, and the clamour was going to be too much for the BBC to ignore!
Talking of villains, the only missing piece is that they didn't bring back a deranged, mutilated Jean-Daniel as part of this story - it works superbly with Roland Blatty as the chief enemy, this man Ros was close to (she tells him he's no match for Beckett and he disinterestedly replies he might have been interested in such sentiments once, but not any more), that the team respected (okay, they never really respected him!), and liked, with all the knowledge and know-how of an ex-Bureau Chief, is the one they have to go up against, and not only that, but he's been transformed by Cyberax in his brain into a physically more powerful, intent zombie with singleminded purpose to fuse the surviving pieces of Cyberax back together. It's aliiiiiive! He does seem to be Borg-like in his superior strength and emotionless exterior, like a Terminator - it seems that franchise (all two films of it back then!), was an inspiration when we hear Ros' imaginative doom-laden speech about robots building weapons for a war humanity can't win, a scene that sends chills down the spine as Jan tries to hold onto the idea that part of Cyberax must survive in order to be able to fight the next such threat. Except there won't be a next time if Cyberax survives as Ros says so eloquently in her persuasiveness. It's the fight between the mentality of preserve and study compared with destroy at all costs because there's no other option, and Ros would know.
As I say, Blatty was one of the team's greatest threats, but what if JD could have appeared in some small way. Maybe we see Roland communicating with someone else, transmitting the codes to him, or reporting on progress. The cliffhanger is excellent as it is because you really are left with such wonder and concern for Ros, so I'm not saying it would have been improved if JD had walked into frame. But just imagine if, rather than the actual culprit, it had been JD and she had been convinced to work with him? What a story that could have been! It seemed like they were teasing us with the possibility in 'Fugitive' by saying his body was never found, and now the creation he tried to set free is the threat our team face, and then Ros is apparently kidnapped, what could have been better, and I don't see why Gareth Marks wouldn't have come back if they asked him. I wouldn't complain about this episode for lack of JD, however (maybe Season 4, but not this episode!), and instead Blatty has a couple of automatons alongside him, Sam and Jenna. They aren't quite as dispassionate as Blatty comes across so I'm not sure it had been completely decided how these 'Children of Cyberax' should act. Mind you, Roland does express some emotion sometimes so it's not that jarring, but the women do emote more for sure, whether it was Sam baring her teeth and charging about with a pole to batter her way out of the hospital (or whatever - seemed like they were each in some kind of secure facility), or Jenna eagerly building up to smash through the toughened glass cell.
For the most part they do behave like mere puppets being controlled by an alien presence, yet there's also the suggestion that something of them still remains as when Cyberax is destroyed Roland thanks Ros and Beckett, then his head lolls back as he tells Ros 'no,' when she asks him to come back, as if he couldn't live without Cyberax, even if he was relieved to be free of it. The way it was concluded was so strong, the best part of the episode as Ros is forced to choose between her duty to Jan and Beckett's life, then when Jan sees she can't stand in the way of such a strong bond, it becomes between Roland and Beckett. I suspect Ros would have saved Beckett even if Roland had been his usual self and she'd had to make the same choice in different circumstances. Typical of Gallagher to find a plausible, realistic solution to defeat the plans of the villain, yet also so simple. It puts the writing of today that I see so often in sci-fi (I'm specifically thinking of 'Star Trek,' once so strong, now so awful), to absolute shame, where they prefer increasingly outlandish and fantastical resolutions to problems. The key to great drama is not to make the situation ever more epic but to make it ever more personal, and that's exactly what makes this episode sing. Yes, the chills of this dystopian vision of war with AI works brilliantly, and yes they also achieve a sense of scale in moments such as Roland crashing through a wall in a massive Caterpillar truck, but none of that has any meaning until and unless Ros must make a personal choice.
It wasn't too hard a choice, let's be honest - if it had been to allow Cyberax to live and Beckett will live, or destroy Cyberax with Beckett as the only way to defeat it, then that would have been even more dramatic, but it would also have stymied the series which relied on the interactions of the three main characters, and it couldn't have continued. Which is why perhaps it could have been Ed whose life was threatened, killing off him would have been a tremendous shock, as was originally planned at the start of the season. But I'm really just speculating, I wouldn't have wanted to see any of the three die, even though Craig didn't come back. It was necessary to write it as it was because this wasn't some standalone film, this was the culmination of a season's worth of dilly and dallying as regards Ros and Beckett, and it was pulled off well - I especially like how their coming together isn't some over the top Americanisation, all face-hugging and overly sentimental, it's a much more English attitude, some real affection and warmhearted understanding. It's just that I do feel sad we never got to have that group scene where they're all together one last time, but then if that had happened we wouldn't have got such a terrific shock ending. I wonder if McLachlan knew he was going to leave when they were playing these scenes and whether it was all designed to try and keep him onboard just as there were hopes to continue the story?
The story itself is fairly simple, it's just an episodic trip round to each of the four discs where the villains make their play to steal them and assemble the code of Cyberax. It's so believable that the authorities wouldn't have learned from the horror of this AI danger, but instead convinced themselves they needed to keep it for future reference, and even Jan says it's the key to artificial intelligence technology, a subject that has had increasing relevance in today's world. That's part of the scariness of the story, that rather than realise this is a path humanity shouldn't go down, much like nuclear weapons, whatever can be done, will be, while Ros is more practical about it all: destroy it and be vigilant so no one can make the same mistake again. I noticed the colours our team are wearing in this episode were generally more muted as if this is no time to be bright for such a dark mission, with Ros in a black suit and turquoise top, Beckett in suit and waistcoat with purple tie and light mauve shirt, and Ed in more naturalistic colours such as the tan jacket - it all takes place in daylight, but that doesn't make it any less of a daunting or dangerous prospect, and the direction sells this better than anything else: we see a distorted reflection of Roland as he stalks along a corridor, or similarly 'off' images of the others, and the camera tilts spookily as if to emphasise the off-kilter nature of what is happening. If it had been Season 2 it would have taken place in darkness, but it's at least as sinister that these half-human creatures are out and about in broad daylight as it would be to have them hiding in the shadows - it shows they'll stop at nothing to achieve their programming.
There was some question over the history of Roland's associates as both Alex and Ros seem to know them. Alex is understandable since she was an actual member of the Bureau of Weapons, though only in a small way, but when would Ros have had the chance to get to know any of Roland's people? Or was she just trying to play with Jenna's mind? The demises of the three are all equally dramatic, with Sam losing her mind and turning catatonic once her purpose has been fulfilled, a dreadful presage to what will happen to Roland, Jenna making a suicidal leap from high in the Bureau's offices, living long enough to pass the disc she's protected at all costs, to Roland, and then he himself, though blasted with a shotgun, is still 'alive' enough to sit up again and when realising the lead-lined roof of the church won't allow transmission of the completed Cyberax program, he pitifully tries to drag himself and the computer out of there. What he should have done was execute all three of his human opponents and then he'd have had leisure to crawl away, but Cyberax is inexperienced in the real world it seems. You think Beckett's going to kill him with the shotgun, but instead he blasts the computer, shutting Cyberax down for good, but also that which was keeping Roland alive. It's a sad end for a character that had been in the series since the second episode, 'Assassins Inc,' coincidentally the first written by Gallagher, so there's some nice symmetry with him creating the guy and killing him off in his final episode.
On that subject it's a shame we couldn't have Wence back for SSD since they do go to a facility belonging to that organisation, one of the big three of the series, or that's what I thought while watching. SSD was never actually mentioned in dialogue, you see it on the paper Ros miraculously recovers from the ashes, and it's much more militaristic than other SSD appearances, standard soldiers as the guards at this place rather than SSD agents - going over my notes from previous viewings I find it was actually the 'Secure Storage Depot.' It seems unlikely they'd have used those initials by mistake when SSD was so recognisable in the 'BUGS' world, so perhaps it was the SSD's SSD! It would have been nice to get a little more on that, but there was a lot to pack into this episode. For one thing we get the unceremonious end to the visual hallmark of the series: Beckett's Cherokee Jeep. It gets crushed beneath Roland's gigantic wheels as he makes his getaway and Beckett looks on with dismay. I'd have liked them to mention this event in some way, but again, there wasn't really time for it, but that vehicle had been in it from the first episode and was in almost every one (twenty-five out of thirty by my count!). It was so recognisable it was almost a fourth member of the original team, long before Jan and Alex came along. They'd already started bringing in other cars this season (on top of Ros always having her own sporty little number before), such as the Toyota Ed drives (which Beckett seems to use this episode), and the Grand Cherokee Jeep Ros had (which Ed drives here!). On that, it's a bit confusing as sometimes it's dark blue, sometimes dark green like the Cherokee and in this it could be black, unless it's just the light on the dark blue version. She's rich enough to have multiple vehicles, of course (she has a lovely new place where she allows Beckett to stay in this one - was that purple sofa from Gizmos?), but we never get to hear more about the team's motors.
It was certainly a rough episode for Beckett, losing his faithful Jeep, being kicked off the houseboat and then held hostage by the former Bureau Chief, but at least he got Ros in the end. Just a shame that brief moment of happiness would be followed by a season of misery and strife! And while this is McLachlan's final appearance in the series (unless there's a slight moment where we see him in the flashback at the start of Season 4), he really doesn't have enough to do, mainly once again trying to impress Alex or chatting to her, though they do get that moment up against Sam where she keeps her busy and he tries to shut down the computers. Maybe they should both have attacked as that would have been even more exciting, though it was very effective seeing Alex get smashed through a partition wall! I'm not sure Alex really got to shine in her debut year as much as I thought she did in memory, or from her first couple of episodes, she's often there to have things explained to her for the audience's benefit (such as a primer on Cyberax, the only Code Red file she couldn't sneak a look at!). I think they were far too concentrated on pairing her and Ed up when they should have focused on the team as a unit, and as much fun as she was she tended to detract from Ed's role. Jan was handled better as this mystery woman you're not sure whether to trust or not, with most episodes not featuring her heavily, yet 'Identity Crisis' providing a much more personal story and integration.
As a whole, the season was undeniably a success, but I do miss the more claustrophobic style of Season 2 with its concentration of technological locations and night scenes. Season 3 was definitely an attempt to get back to Season 1's more naturalistic presentation and less of the pure sci-fi elements that make 2 superior for me, and not just because that's the one I started with. It's been a great ride, however you look at it, and I see Season 4 as more of an addendum. A bit like the Bourne films after the initial trilogy, where it ended so well they better have something really good to justify continuing, and… oh, they didn't. But at least there is more, though increasingly as I've got older I've realised that more is generally not better. Less truly is more. And yet if given the choice would I really have turned down another ten episodes of the series, even if they weren't as good? Of course not! You need to see a series play itself out so you know there wouldn't have been much to miss with a Season 5, although even then, if they offered it, I'd have been there. With this being the final appearance of the original triumvirate I feel it only right to salute Ed, Ros and Beckett, Craig, Jaye and Jesse, and say thanks so much for what you brought to Saturday evenings in the 90s. And for those interested, by my calculations this episode marks one hundred and sixteen explosions, thirty-eight countdowns and fifty-six deaths. So there you go, roll on Season Houghton.
*****
Friday, 13 May 2022
This Mortal Coil
DVD, Stargate Atlantis S4 (This Mortal Coil)
Blew my theory out of the water. I hoped they were at some point going to succeed in rescuing Elizabeth Weir, whether she'd ultimately die in that attempt or they'd bring her back to the fold as things were before I hadn't pinned down, but I was fairly optimistic we'd see her again. But we don't. Instead we find out she died months back, but Torri Higginson gets a way of some sort to say her goodbyes by playing a biological clone created by a faction of the Replicators who'd been influenced by Nium, if I was following correctly. Rather than some nefarious plan to replace the command crew of Atlantis with replicas it seems they were more concerned with studying humans in order to find a way to ascend as The Ancients did. Yes, it does go a bit deep into the lore, much like 'SG-1' used to do, but while I didn't warm to the episode quickly, as a few stories have proven, give them time and I find myself drawn in and affected by the end. In this case the predominant feeling was great sadness: that these clones of Weir, Sheppard, Rodney, Teyla and Ronon were ultimately doomed, if for nothing else than a TV series can't put up with duplicates of the main characters running around somewhere. I'd have loved it if some of them had survived and we'd had some of the actors playing two characters, at least for a few episodes, but that's probably too much to expect for 'Stargate.'
As it was there was some delight in seeing the pairs interact, though I'd have preferred if the Teylas had been more comfortable with talking to each other as she tends to be so empathetic and accepting - also, was the clone-Teyla also pregnant or did the Replicators not have data that up to date? Naturally there were some flaws with the idea of duplicates, in the same vein as the previous episode dealt with curing cancer: they can replicate a perfect version of Atlantis, all working, Jumpers, and even human bodies, but they can't create a ZPM? That's a little hard to accept! It's also a little hard to accept how quickly the standard dramatic convention in this scenario (and Trek prepped me many times over!), was followed, i.e: killing off all trace of the duplicates before the closing credits. If only they could have allowed for some ambiguity that they might have survived… I know the real reason must have been to finish Weir's story for good, which only makes the story even sadder. I'm both pleased that we did get one last story with her in it, but disappointed they've cut off that avenue of hope. There's nothing to stop the Replicators recreating the team again in future, of course, but that would cheapen our heroes if we kept seeing duplicates, as if they weren't special.
It's hard to believe that all five of them were happy to play decoy when they didn't all need to be on the Jumper, but it was purely for story reasons that they sacrifice themselves neatly. What could they have achieved with two McKays? Or two Ronons? He at least was finding it difficult to adjust to the idea that he had any less right to the life on Atlantis than the original did. But I suppose his honourable nature took hold. It was nice to see how far he's come in the fact that he's not really happy to have nicked Sheppard in the stick fight (though I don't know why the cut didn't heal instantaneously like everything else in the episode!), or that he's so familiar with McKay when they're on their own. It's really nice to see how these characters have all bonded and it only makes it more tragic that they learn they aren't the real ones. It very much reminded me of 'Whispers' from 'DS9' and 'Course: Oblivion' from 'Voyager,' but as both Trek and 'Stargate' franchises have borrowed from each other over the years it wasn't a problem, other than this episode trying to live up to the high bar set by those episodes. I thought it was going to be more of a paranoid story where the team were going to realise everyone's been taken over, or they're actually captured and living out a scenario (รก la 'The Search,' also 'DS9'), but it played to the series' strengths rather than being something else and rapidly moved from one situation to the next, since I never felt the paranoid atmosphere materialised strongly.
What struck me most was the tragedy of it all, you knew it was almost impossible that these people were going to survive and for a while I was expecting a complete 'Course: Oblivion' where there's the poignancy of the true characters never finding out who these people were or that they even existed. It can be said that such an episode is pointless in that it plays no part in the ongoing story or the lives of the characters, as if it was all a dream that only the audience knows, but that sense of poignancy and the nature of reality, death and loss can be a powerful source of drama. In this case they didn't go with poignant, but they did add another piece to the ongoing arc, for the Atlantis team can now track all Oberoth's ships in the galaxy. But of course the real reason for the story is to provide some sense of closure on Weir. It looks like my hopes for her to rejoin Atlantis and resume her post after a brave rescue, are dashed, but at least she got to walk in the woods one last time with John Sheppard, as hard as it was for him to get his head around it. I'd have much preferred if even this 'false' Weir could have returned with them, but at least they spared some time for the issues of doubles and the meaning of life had a chance to sink in, plus I don't know how that would have affected Carter's position - who, by the way, has been noticeably absent for a couple of episodes now, they could definitely use her better, I feel. But otherwise, still doing good, series, still doing good…
***
Blew my theory out of the water. I hoped they were at some point going to succeed in rescuing Elizabeth Weir, whether she'd ultimately die in that attempt or they'd bring her back to the fold as things were before I hadn't pinned down, but I was fairly optimistic we'd see her again. But we don't. Instead we find out she died months back, but Torri Higginson gets a way of some sort to say her goodbyes by playing a biological clone created by a faction of the Replicators who'd been influenced by Nium, if I was following correctly. Rather than some nefarious plan to replace the command crew of Atlantis with replicas it seems they were more concerned with studying humans in order to find a way to ascend as The Ancients did. Yes, it does go a bit deep into the lore, much like 'SG-1' used to do, but while I didn't warm to the episode quickly, as a few stories have proven, give them time and I find myself drawn in and affected by the end. In this case the predominant feeling was great sadness: that these clones of Weir, Sheppard, Rodney, Teyla and Ronon were ultimately doomed, if for nothing else than a TV series can't put up with duplicates of the main characters running around somewhere. I'd have loved it if some of them had survived and we'd had some of the actors playing two characters, at least for a few episodes, but that's probably too much to expect for 'Stargate.'
As it was there was some delight in seeing the pairs interact, though I'd have preferred if the Teylas had been more comfortable with talking to each other as she tends to be so empathetic and accepting - also, was the clone-Teyla also pregnant or did the Replicators not have data that up to date? Naturally there were some flaws with the idea of duplicates, in the same vein as the previous episode dealt with curing cancer: they can replicate a perfect version of Atlantis, all working, Jumpers, and even human bodies, but they can't create a ZPM? That's a little hard to accept! It's also a little hard to accept how quickly the standard dramatic convention in this scenario (and Trek prepped me many times over!), was followed, i.e: killing off all trace of the duplicates before the closing credits. If only they could have allowed for some ambiguity that they might have survived… I know the real reason must have been to finish Weir's story for good, which only makes the story even sadder. I'm both pleased that we did get one last story with her in it, but disappointed they've cut off that avenue of hope. There's nothing to stop the Replicators recreating the team again in future, of course, but that would cheapen our heroes if we kept seeing duplicates, as if they weren't special.
It's hard to believe that all five of them were happy to play decoy when they didn't all need to be on the Jumper, but it was purely for story reasons that they sacrifice themselves neatly. What could they have achieved with two McKays? Or two Ronons? He at least was finding it difficult to adjust to the idea that he had any less right to the life on Atlantis than the original did. But I suppose his honourable nature took hold. It was nice to see how far he's come in the fact that he's not really happy to have nicked Sheppard in the stick fight (though I don't know why the cut didn't heal instantaneously like everything else in the episode!), or that he's so familiar with McKay when they're on their own. It's really nice to see how these characters have all bonded and it only makes it more tragic that they learn they aren't the real ones. It very much reminded me of 'Whispers' from 'DS9' and 'Course: Oblivion' from 'Voyager,' but as both Trek and 'Stargate' franchises have borrowed from each other over the years it wasn't a problem, other than this episode trying to live up to the high bar set by those episodes. I thought it was going to be more of a paranoid story where the team were going to realise everyone's been taken over, or they're actually captured and living out a scenario (รก la 'The Search,' also 'DS9'), but it played to the series' strengths rather than being something else and rapidly moved from one situation to the next, since I never felt the paranoid atmosphere materialised strongly.
What struck me most was the tragedy of it all, you knew it was almost impossible that these people were going to survive and for a while I was expecting a complete 'Course: Oblivion' where there's the poignancy of the true characters never finding out who these people were or that they even existed. It can be said that such an episode is pointless in that it plays no part in the ongoing story or the lives of the characters, as if it was all a dream that only the audience knows, but that sense of poignancy and the nature of reality, death and loss can be a powerful source of drama. In this case they didn't go with poignant, but they did add another piece to the ongoing arc, for the Atlantis team can now track all Oberoth's ships in the galaxy. But of course the real reason for the story is to provide some sense of closure on Weir. It looks like my hopes for her to rejoin Atlantis and resume her post after a brave rescue, are dashed, but at least she got to walk in the woods one last time with John Sheppard, as hard as it was for him to get his head around it. I'd have much preferred if even this 'false' Weir could have returned with them, but at least they spared some time for the issues of doubles and the meaning of life had a chance to sink in, plus I don't know how that would have affected Carter's position - who, by the way, has been noticeably absent for a couple of episodes now, they could definitely use her better, I feel. But otherwise, still doing good, series, still doing good…
***
Miller's Crossing
DVD, Stargate Atlantis S4 (Miller's Crossing)
It went up and down in my estimation, but they got me, and they got me twice, and as well as that it succeeded in subverting expectations on more than one occasion and concluded with a happy ending, though with a morally dubious solution at best. That was really the only place in the story where everything was too of why couldn't they use some other large animal for the Wraith to feed on, or even someone like Teal'c, if he still had a symbiont that is - I just didn't see why it had to be a human. But that was the convention, as was the villain of the piece. My feelings on Earth-based stories in 'SG-1' were always mixed: I liked the idea of them, seeing our people in their natural (or alien), habitat, and sometimes they could pull it off (quite enjoyed that one where Teal'c becomes Erica Durance's neighbour), but a lot of the time it became typical spy games with a bit of fish out of water on the side, or political not-very-thrillers. But I've got to say it was great seeing Sheppard and Ronon walk down the famous ramp at the SGC, hang around in place and, for the latter, wear an ill-suited suit to 'blend in.' It was just one of those great moments of bringing the two branches of 'Stargate' together, and honestly it could only have been bettered in that sense if Teal'c or someone had shown up - I've always wanted to see him and Ronon square up, but I doubt it'll ever happen. Still, we did get a scene with Teal'c this season and they'd kept the SGC sets up so you never know!
It really wasn't that much of an Earth-based story, it was wisely more concerned with the personal, in McKay and his sister who we'd seen in Season 3. The direction the story took was clever, being an ally, a medical tech company that had some access to alien technology with the mandate to research advancements for us, who goes rogue and has a very strong motive to seek the McKay siblings' enforced assistance. Steven Culp sells this man who is willing to give up his high-powered job and life for the curing of his terminally ill daughter (most famous to me for playing Major Hayes in 'Enterprise' and for being Riker's replacement as Commander Martin Madden in the final 'TNG' film, or was it just the deleted scenes, I can't remember?). It was all a bit 'Earth-based stories' at first, what with Agent Bennett and this company taking the McKays hostage, but it soon became more than that. I didn't really like or dislike his sister being injected with the nanites, but it was the obvious step to amp up the drama, making it more personal for our man Rodney (or Meredith as sis will insist on calling him!), and similarly it made total sense that Culp's guy would end up sacrificing himself for both his daughter and the sister, but at the same time it wasn't doing anything particularly unexpected in either case.
It doesn't necessarily have to do things unexpectedly to be entertaining, and it largely achieved that. There was a part of the episode early on that it didn't move anywhere very fast, you've got Bennett and Sheppard looking through boring files in order to deduce what company could be behind all this, but even there we get a great scene where Walter bores our Ronon in the Mess with his paltry tales of wrong forms which is about as exciting as it gets for him, but it's just terrific to see him doing the same old stuff that he always did on 'SG-1.' In a way I feel it's a shame he never got upgraded to a main cast member, but then he was supposed to be a sort of joke, no offence to the character, but just one of those people we contrast the 'true' heroes with: likeable, does his job, necessary, but secretly wishing he was more important, until things get bad and then he's glad other people are there to do what they do. But anyway, he's exactly the kind of character you want Ronon bumping into. I will say that the episode was completely different to what I expected: I was running the name Miller through my mind, but I didn't get it until they started talking about 'she' and Rodney needing 'her' help and then I remembered 'McKay and Mrs. Miller' and it slotted into place, but then I was still thinking about all that and enjoying the gentle humour and wondering where the story was going to go, assuming sis would be coming to Atlantis, and then things turn really shocking and brutal, masked men in black breaking down her bedroom door and taking her at gunpoint!
They did it again to me later on when Sheppard and the team come to rescue the hostages, it was out of the blue as you're so wrapped up in the scene, so good job there. In 'SG-1' the villainous human would have been the sole focus and it would have been much more standard, but then it becomes this desperation to save McKay's sister (I can never remember her name!), offering up himself as Wraith food to make it happen - again, I expected him to have some of his life taken away, maybe get some grey hair, but not enough to do serious damage, but no, Sheppard makes an executive decision and piles on the guilt at Culp's character so he'll volunteer. It was a questionable course of action, but it was also the obvious one: we have this character who we don't need to see again, whose life and career is ruined so why not give him an out, a way to make up for what he'd done, regardless of the best motives he did it from. I wonder what Sheppard would have done had he refused to do the honourable thing… Sheppard really did seem like he was going to go as wrong as he could to make this happen, and that's not a trait you expect to see in a 'Stargate' character, a sign of the changing times perhaps (it certainly changed by the divisive 'Universe'!). It was too easy and it was very close to being completely unacceptable, made marginally palatable by the situation of the character and his willingness to make amends. But still…
I wonder what the plan is with this Wraith as he's become a sort of pet now, whom they've fed and used to achieve their ends - he did at least provoke a strong scene for McKay where he goes through all the arguments he can make to get this creature to sort out the coding. But they must have some larger goal in mind, and will it have something to do with getting Weir back? I hope she only wanted to leave to make a film or something like that and is still going to return before the end of the season (or series?). There's obviously the usual nostalgia factor of seeing the good old SGC at Cheyenne Mountain Complex in all it's ugly concrete 'glory,' and a thrill to have our 'Atlantis' characters go there as if that world and those characters from 'SG-1' are still going along as they had done before. It's lovely to get that sense of continuation which I know extended even to the 'Universe' episodes. While I was uncertain about the qualities of this episode its sum added up and without being a case of needing to win me over (although I don't think Rodney is quite as interesting when he's with his sister), it wrong-footed and occasionally impressed me (playing with the idea of curing cancer could have set a dangerous precedent, but they deftly sidestepped that one), so adding another link to a chain of good episodes. Just how long can the run go? (The record on the series is five consecutive successes in Season 2). And I'm glad it was nothing to do with the boring Trust!
***
It went up and down in my estimation, but they got me, and they got me twice, and as well as that it succeeded in subverting expectations on more than one occasion and concluded with a happy ending, though with a morally dubious solution at best. That was really the only place in the story where everything was too of why couldn't they use some other large animal for the Wraith to feed on, or even someone like Teal'c, if he still had a symbiont that is - I just didn't see why it had to be a human. But that was the convention, as was the villain of the piece. My feelings on Earth-based stories in 'SG-1' were always mixed: I liked the idea of them, seeing our people in their natural (or alien), habitat, and sometimes they could pull it off (quite enjoyed that one where Teal'c becomes Erica Durance's neighbour), but a lot of the time it became typical spy games with a bit of fish out of water on the side, or political not-very-thrillers. But I've got to say it was great seeing Sheppard and Ronon walk down the famous ramp at the SGC, hang around in place and, for the latter, wear an ill-suited suit to 'blend in.' It was just one of those great moments of bringing the two branches of 'Stargate' together, and honestly it could only have been bettered in that sense if Teal'c or someone had shown up - I've always wanted to see him and Ronon square up, but I doubt it'll ever happen. Still, we did get a scene with Teal'c this season and they'd kept the SGC sets up so you never know!
It really wasn't that much of an Earth-based story, it was wisely more concerned with the personal, in McKay and his sister who we'd seen in Season 3. The direction the story took was clever, being an ally, a medical tech company that had some access to alien technology with the mandate to research advancements for us, who goes rogue and has a very strong motive to seek the McKay siblings' enforced assistance. Steven Culp sells this man who is willing to give up his high-powered job and life for the curing of his terminally ill daughter (most famous to me for playing Major Hayes in 'Enterprise' and for being Riker's replacement as Commander Martin Madden in the final 'TNG' film, or was it just the deleted scenes, I can't remember?). It was all a bit 'Earth-based stories' at first, what with Agent Bennett and this company taking the McKays hostage, but it soon became more than that. I didn't really like or dislike his sister being injected with the nanites, but it was the obvious step to amp up the drama, making it more personal for our man Rodney (or Meredith as sis will insist on calling him!), and similarly it made total sense that Culp's guy would end up sacrificing himself for both his daughter and the sister, but at the same time it wasn't doing anything particularly unexpected in either case.
It doesn't necessarily have to do things unexpectedly to be entertaining, and it largely achieved that. There was a part of the episode early on that it didn't move anywhere very fast, you've got Bennett and Sheppard looking through boring files in order to deduce what company could be behind all this, but even there we get a great scene where Walter bores our Ronon in the Mess with his paltry tales of wrong forms which is about as exciting as it gets for him, but it's just terrific to see him doing the same old stuff that he always did on 'SG-1.' In a way I feel it's a shame he never got upgraded to a main cast member, but then he was supposed to be a sort of joke, no offence to the character, but just one of those people we contrast the 'true' heroes with: likeable, does his job, necessary, but secretly wishing he was more important, until things get bad and then he's glad other people are there to do what they do. But anyway, he's exactly the kind of character you want Ronon bumping into. I will say that the episode was completely different to what I expected: I was running the name Miller through my mind, but I didn't get it until they started talking about 'she' and Rodney needing 'her' help and then I remembered 'McKay and Mrs. Miller' and it slotted into place, but then I was still thinking about all that and enjoying the gentle humour and wondering where the story was going to go, assuming sis would be coming to Atlantis, and then things turn really shocking and brutal, masked men in black breaking down her bedroom door and taking her at gunpoint!
They did it again to me later on when Sheppard and the team come to rescue the hostages, it was out of the blue as you're so wrapped up in the scene, so good job there. In 'SG-1' the villainous human would have been the sole focus and it would have been much more standard, but then it becomes this desperation to save McKay's sister (I can never remember her name!), offering up himself as Wraith food to make it happen - again, I expected him to have some of his life taken away, maybe get some grey hair, but not enough to do serious damage, but no, Sheppard makes an executive decision and piles on the guilt at Culp's character so he'll volunteer. It was a questionable course of action, but it was also the obvious one: we have this character who we don't need to see again, whose life and career is ruined so why not give him an out, a way to make up for what he'd done, regardless of the best motives he did it from. I wonder what Sheppard would have done had he refused to do the honourable thing… Sheppard really did seem like he was going to go as wrong as he could to make this happen, and that's not a trait you expect to see in a 'Stargate' character, a sign of the changing times perhaps (it certainly changed by the divisive 'Universe'!). It was too easy and it was very close to being completely unacceptable, made marginally palatable by the situation of the character and his willingness to make amends. But still…
I wonder what the plan is with this Wraith as he's become a sort of pet now, whom they've fed and used to achieve their ends - he did at least provoke a strong scene for McKay where he goes through all the arguments he can make to get this creature to sort out the coding. But they must have some larger goal in mind, and will it have something to do with getting Weir back? I hope she only wanted to leave to make a film or something like that and is still going to return before the end of the season (or series?). There's obviously the usual nostalgia factor of seeing the good old SGC at Cheyenne Mountain Complex in all it's ugly concrete 'glory,' and a thrill to have our 'Atlantis' characters go there as if that world and those characters from 'SG-1' are still going along as they had done before. It's lovely to get that sense of continuation which I know extended even to the 'Universe' episodes. While I was uncertain about the qualities of this episode its sum added up and without being a case of needing to win me over (although I don't think Rodney is quite as interesting when he's with his sister), it wrong-footed and occasionally impressed me (playing with the idea of curing cancer could have set a dangerous precedent, but they deftly sidestepped that one), so adding another link to a chain of good episodes. Just how long can the run go? (The record on the series is five consecutive successes in Season 2). And I'm glad it was nothing to do with the boring Trust!
***
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