Inquisition

 DVD, Stargate Atlantis S5 (Inquisition)

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. I thought we were past this old habit of 'Stargate': the dreaded clips show! Seeing the words 'Excerpts by...' had come to be less ominous as occasional flashbacks were not uncommon, and a full clips-based 'extravaganza' seemed to have become a thing of the past. I'd rather they simply make one less episode rather than keep slavishly to a quota and force one out that relies on showing bits of old episodes in some loose approximation of a story, but as they go, this wasn't terrible. It's not good, but when you throw in as many big effects shots as you can, and manage to give us at least a semblance of an interesting story, it's not the end of the world. And I can look on it as a bright side that it's an easy review to write because not much happened! If they had a little more ambition they could have dispensed with flashbacks entirely and simply given us a good courtroom drama, but I think either the writers aren't confident in their ability to craft stories that don't include any action, or they think the audience wouldn't be able to cope with that. Despite the fact that the series all 'Stargate' was modelled on ('TNG'), had plenty of excellent, dramatic and moving such plots, as did its spinoffs.

A courtroom drama can really get to the heart of something, and in this case there were genuine points to be explored about humans coming into the Pegasus Galaxy and just unilaterally making decisions that the relatively primitive human populations already living there just had to live with. It was a bold move by this new Coalition to kidnap the team and put them on trial, but also foolish because they'd have created another enemy at a time when, as Wolsey said, they'd need them. It could be suggested the point of this episode was to catch the audience up to speed, or remind them of the major events of the series in preparation for an all-guns-blazing showdown in this last half season. Perhaps they'll be bringing back Ford and Michael, Todd and the Genii, Replicators and Weir all in one big melting pot on one side or another. If that is the case then it served a purpose at least, other than as a money-saving exercise to keep to quota, but even so I'd have happily listened to earnest arguments and the twists and turns of court intrigue rather than resort to clips. It did at least give Wolsey a stand upon which to demonstrate his skills as a legal expert and orator in the courtroom, even if in practice it's not exactly sweeping, impressive grandiloquence or irrefutable pinpoint logic. It is still a sci-fi action adventure series and was never likely to transcend out of that, unlike Trek (which has descended into the kind of basic approach of this franchise!).

The idea of the various disparate planets and groups banding together to form a Federation, as Wolsey says (which was quite surreal - I'm sure they did that on purpose as a tribute to Picardo's Trek background, odd to think he's more likely to come back in new Trek than 'Stargate' ever getting off the ground nowadays, as back then it seemed like Trek's day was over and 'Stargate' was flying high...), was a good one. I'm not sure how believable it was that they immediately went against Atlantis, but on the other hand if the Genii were behind a bid for power then it's not that surprising, and there's been plenty of people they've encountered over the years that didn't always welcome them openly. Sheppard did his best to defend the position, but when you think about it, maybe the galaxy would have been better if they hadn't got involved, and instead of thinking that because they'd dealt with the threats to their own universe in the Goa'uld and the Replicators, they could deal with the Wraith, maybe they shouldn't have got involved. But that's not their way, and rightly or wrongly, they did get involved and did much good. There might be a genuine call for them to account for certain things, as they do tend to do what's best for them, though amidst what works for others, it's a very modern series - it's not merely altruistic, but also for their own benefit. Which makes sense, but in today's world of trying to dredge up history in order to make recompense for perceived wrongs we do seem to be moving towards a more critical opinion of those that get involved and no doubt that does colour perceptions of what Stargate Command could or should do, the same as the Trek Federation and Starfleet.

There I go off on another topic, there was more to write about after all, but that's because the episode itself is rather basic. It did start so well, too, though knowing the title before it came up I guessed something bad was going to happen to the team, so it wasn't a surprise. I'm sure the same device of accusation by another race had been used before, I feel like 'SG-1' did that at least once (though they were guilty of multiple clips episodes!), O'Neill trying to defend their position. Wolsey was in his element here, though, and it's good to see him get his dues, though again, they're shown to be just as 'crooked' as those who were trying them, by bribing and cajoling. It may have been true that these were the only ways to 'win' in this case, but it's still not that great a lesson: once you know the game you can win at any cost. Being shrewd is advisable, but it also smacked of dishonourable conduct. Still, it wasn't really about the outcome, of course they were going to succeed, it was about filling time, and in that regard it could have been better. Although it did make me want to go back and see the series from the beginning again once I'm done. But I'd have done that anyway! And I was right about Ford coming back. In a way.

**