Infection

 DVD, Stargate Atlantis S5 (Infection)

First thought was it would be a haunted house episode with the team creeping around a seemingly abandoned Hive ship getting picked off by infected Wraith, pretty much a zombie film (or see 'Impulse' on 'Enterprise'). But then they left so there wasn't the tension which was there initially. And then they went back so maybe it was what I thought it was. Except it turned more into a disaster film where things just keep getting worse. Whatever theme the story took I found it to be a bit depressing: nothing goes right! They discover the gene treatment Dr. Keller developed actually ended up harming the Wraith who were put through it, Todd isn't very helpful and is probably going to die soon, and even McKay, usually so dependable in a crunch, can't seem to keep the disintegrating Hive ship together. I also felt like the characters were remarkably slow to put the facts together: there's a virus or something within these Wraith, the ship's organic... How difficult can it be to see the connection when the ship is restructuring itself on the fly? I know we have the advantage of knowing the episode title, which rather gives away the nature of the situation, but with all the experience these people have had over the last five years, well, you'd think they'd be a bit quicker on the uptake.

Add to that I've never been particularly keen on the production design of Hive ship internals, all those 'organic' parts look like a filming studio with drapes hanging around, akin to something out of the original Trek (see Balok's ship in 'The Corbomite Manoeuvre'), only with higher resolution. With modern lighting techniques and plenty of smoke it can be forgiven, it's not like it ruins episodes whenever they go there, but I'm just not keen on all that and to have a story take place almost entirely aboard such a location doesn't inspire confidence. Was it another budget-saving operation as they limped to the finish line? On the positive side it was nice to have the whole team together for once, minus Wolsey who was back on Atlantis, but is part of the episode. In a few recent episodes I've wished we had the team working together and here we do, so that's good, and even Major Lorne is there. I do wish there had been more integration of the team, as we do see snatches of moments like the soldiers running around blasting unmasked zombie Wraith grunt soldiers (which we'd never seen the faces of before, so that was new), and Rodney characteristically throws hissy fits when Sheppard wants him to fix things, then comes up with the solution, but I didn't feel that familiar, comfortable teamwork where everyone's doing what they do best. It was much more of a scramble to survive than a professional success.

I also felt there was a bit of moralising missing: I know the Wraith are the enemy, a deadly enemy, but they were lightly discussing genocide, and while they perhaps deserve it since they have no qualms about killing off, or worse, using for food, their own enemies, I feel like our heroes should be better than that, but then that's always been one of the things that differentiates 'Stargate' from 'Star Trek,' it's much more about soldiering than diplomacy or keeping to a certain code in dealing with the enemy. At least Sheppard kept his word, talking Wolsey into letting Todd go, but if he is dying anyway why wouldn't he stay there and be treated? Keller said it could take months to work out a solution from the data she'd collected and I can't see Todd wanting to hang around in custody merely to save his life. Heyerdahl certainly succeeded in injecting intensity into the role and no doubt he'll be back before the end to pay off Sheppard's giving him his freedom back. There was one scene I thought noteworthy, and that was Todd and Keller discussing the differences between them, compassion, how soldiers and doctors have different roles and methods but are both trying to save lives. It had promise and was more the kind of thinking I'd like to explore than merely running around shooting things.

That's what the series always was, at heart, just like its forbear, so it's hardly surprising, but I had felt that, with Season 3 and to some degree 4, things had developed. This could easily have been an early seasons story, it didn't really develop anything further, which is a shame and maybe a continuing sign that they knew things were going to be wrapped up and just had to get the episodes out. Not that I'm criticising or saying it was bad, only that it doesn't quite have that extra level I was almost coming to expect of the series. Although it was a standalone adventure, stuck on an alien ship and trying to escape, it also relies on the ongoing story, and so there wasn't a great deal of a sense of completion and tying things up. You can't always have that, but I want to see things close out well on the series. And maybe this was an opportunity that wasn't quite reached, for all the pleasure in having the cast together. That said, the last part where they're heading towards a crash-landing on the planet, was good, though even there we don't see the impact on the characters, just an external view, which was effective, but maybe we could have intercut with our people being thrown around as suddenly the next thing you know is Sheppard sitting comfy in Wolsey's office as if it was just another day!

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