Post by Ahryantah on Jul 25, 2005 19:01:47 GMT -5
Review of the Stargate Atlantis episode "The Intruder," first airing on the SciFi Channel on July 22, 2005.
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Something happened that hasn't happened in a long while: I enjoyed SG-1's episode more than Atlantis this week. Not that Atlantis was bad, but it rehashed a bunch of old SG-1 plots, most notably "Entity" and "Tangent." It was fun, but it was also a retread. And it took place in a spaceship, so that I came away feeling like I had just watched an episode of Star Trek. And I hate Star Trek. It was only my love for the Atlantis characters that kept my interest.
So the team is coming back from Earth, and apparently it's been a couple months since "The Siege Part III." That clears up the timeline issues between SG-1 and Atlantis, anyway. For those still unsure: Weir, Sheppard, McKay, and Beckett use the ZPM to travel through the Stargate back to the SGC. Caldwell makes a slower return to Earth on the Daedalus. All of this happens BEFORE SG-1's "Avalon Part I." Sheppard gets promoted to Lt. Colonel, Weir lays the smackdown on Landry and Caldwell, and then they all board to Daedalus to go back to Atlantis. THIS is the trip that Daniel missed in "Avalon Part I," not the first trip where the Daedalus left to help defend Atlantis. That means this episode takes place AFTER the story arc started in "Avalon Part I." Like, way after. Like the events in next week's third part SG-1 episode have already taken place in the Atlantis timeline. Everyone with me now? Good.
So they're headed back to Atlantis, and how cheated did I feel when I realized that they had gone back to Earth, the one thing they've been trying to do since the beginning of the series, and we missed it? I was mollified somewhat by the flashbacks, but I would have preferred more of those and less "Okay, restart...no, didn't work. Okay, restart...no, didn't work that time, either."
So the plot: There's a Wraith virus in the computers, trying to sabotage the ship, kill everyone on it, and deliver the ship and all its information and technology to the Wraith. The virus is capable of adapting and evolving, and keeps hiding out in obscure places when the crew attempts to eradicate it. So basically it's the plot of SG-1's "Entity," only in space. Like I said, Star Trek.
McKay tries to fix the problem by restarting the ship's computers several times (seriously, by the time it got to four times it was just seeming ridiculous) but the virus is always one step ahead so that it manages to hide somewhere everytime the crew tries a restart. Its final hideout is on a rogue F-302, so Sheppard (and McKay, who accidentally goes along for the ride) takes another F-302 out to blow the infected one up. It works, the day is saved, hurray.
The story is interspersed with flashbacks to their time on Earth, which basically consisted of Weir's love life and some Sheppard angst. This was nice to see, but I wanted to know what McKay and Beckett got up to, too. Instead, we got three Weir flashbacks. It would have been nice to see some more balance.
I really liked the way the flashbacks were shot, in muted color and harsh light, and the transitions between the flashbacks and the actual episode were well done. Weir is starting to get on my nerves with what I call her "Raised Eyebrow Look of Confidence," but I have to admit that she totally put all those high-ranking military men in their place. Her whole, "Don't mess with me, I've got the President and the rest of the world's leaders on my side" speech was good, and it allowed Caldwell to show some more personality (did you see him smirking? He so thought he was going to made military commander in Atlantis). I have to admire Weir's balls, though I can't agree that Sheppard is the world's best military commander or even the best suited to command Atlantis. And I wonder how Sheppard thinks about remaining in charge, when throughout all of season one he thought the position was temporary, and acted sometimes like he wished he didn't have it? But one of the great things about this show is that the writers aren't afraid to have the characters be wrong and make mistakes.
But then Weir gets all upset at her former boyfriend, Simon (or as I called him, Narim-with-scary-hair), when he refuses to go to Atlantis with her because he is now dating someone else. Her hurt reaction had me rolling my eyes, though not in a bad, what-were-the-writers-thinking kind of way, but in a character-specific way. Because seriously, she left him to go to another galaxy, and then broke up with him over video letter. And now she's surprised he's moved on?
Meanwhile, Sheppard gets more angst when he visits Ford's cousin and she lays a guilt trip on him. Poor Sheppard.
McKay visited his cat or something. No one knows.
Highlights of the episode:
-The flashbacks, as I've already said.
-Hermiod continues to delight me with his general bitchiness, and this week we got McKay being bitchy right back. Also, Sheppard's quiet freak-out at Hermiod was amusing.
-McKay worrying about sunburn when in the F-302 with Sheppard.
-Caldwell getting more personality and being set up to butt heads with Weir. That'll be interesting to see developed.
-Teyla wasn't in until the very last scene.
Bad moments:
-What's with McKay and the slapstick comedy this year? Are they going to tone it down anytime soon? It's kind of not sitting well with me, though I'm not sure why.
-Really got tired of McKay saying, "It's the virus!" everytime something went wrong. Yes, we get it. You don't have to repeat it fifty times.
-Please, please, please tell me they're not trying for some kind of romance between Weir and Sheppard. We did this already with Jack and Sam, and it sucked then, too.
Couple more thoughts: I got the distinct impression that Weir mostly wrangled Sheppard's promotion with her contacts in higher offices, but that he thought the Air Force gave it to him freely. Wonder if he'll find out what really happened (Weir threatening Landry and Co. if things didn't go her way) and how he'll react.
Also, Weir took her entire senior staff to Earth? Which means Atlantis was basically left in the hands of Zelenka and Teyla for two months. This thought frightens me a little.
Overall, this episode had good character moments, but that's about all that stands out about it.
I give it 7 out of 10.
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Something happened that hasn't happened in a long while: I enjoyed SG-1's episode more than Atlantis this week. Not that Atlantis was bad, but it rehashed a bunch of old SG-1 plots, most notably "Entity" and "Tangent." It was fun, but it was also a retread. And it took place in a spaceship, so that I came away feeling like I had just watched an episode of Star Trek. And I hate Star Trek. It was only my love for the Atlantis characters that kept my interest.
So the team is coming back from Earth, and apparently it's been a couple months since "The Siege Part III." That clears up the timeline issues between SG-1 and Atlantis, anyway. For those still unsure: Weir, Sheppard, McKay, and Beckett use the ZPM to travel through the Stargate back to the SGC. Caldwell makes a slower return to Earth on the Daedalus. All of this happens BEFORE SG-1's "Avalon Part I." Sheppard gets promoted to Lt. Colonel, Weir lays the smackdown on Landry and Caldwell, and then they all board to Daedalus to go back to Atlantis. THIS is the trip that Daniel missed in "Avalon Part I," not the first trip where the Daedalus left to help defend Atlantis. That means this episode takes place AFTER the story arc started in "Avalon Part I." Like, way after. Like the events in next week's third part SG-1 episode have already taken place in the Atlantis timeline. Everyone with me now? Good.
So they're headed back to Atlantis, and how cheated did I feel when I realized that they had gone back to Earth, the one thing they've been trying to do since the beginning of the series, and we missed it? I was mollified somewhat by the flashbacks, but I would have preferred more of those and less "Okay, restart...no, didn't work. Okay, restart...no, didn't work that time, either."
So the plot: There's a Wraith virus in the computers, trying to sabotage the ship, kill everyone on it, and deliver the ship and all its information and technology to the Wraith. The virus is capable of adapting and evolving, and keeps hiding out in obscure places when the crew attempts to eradicate it. So basically it's the plot of SG-1's "Entity," only in space. Like I said, Star Trek.
McKay tries to fix the problem by restarting the ship's computers several times (seriously, by the time it got to four times it was just seeming ridiculous) but the virus is always one step ahead so that it manages to hide somewhere everytime the crew tries a restart. Its final hideout is on a rogue F-302, so Sheppard (and McKay, who accidentally goes along for the ride) takes another F-302 out to blow the infected one up. It works, the day is saved, hurray.
The story is interspersed with flashbacks to their time on Earth, which basically consisted of Weir's love life and some Sheppard angst. This was nice to see, but I wanted to know what McKay and Beckett got up to, too. Instead, we got three Weir flashbacks. It would have been nice to see some more balance.
I really liked the way the flashbacks were shot, in muted color and harsh light, and the transitions between the flashbacks and the actual episode were well done. Weir is starting to get on my nerves with what I call her "Raised Eyebrow Look of Confidence," but I have to admit that she totally put all those high-ranking military men in their place. Her whole, "Don't mess with me, I've got the President and the rest of the world's leaders on my side" speech was good, and it allowed Caldwell to show some more personality (did you see him smirking? He so thought he was going to made military commander in Atlantis). I have to admire Weir's balls, though I can't agree that Sheppard is the world's best military commander or even the best suited to command Atlantis. And I wonder how Sheppard thinks about remaining in charge, when throughout all of season one he thought the position was temporary, and acted sometimes like he wished he didn't have it? But one of the great things about this show is that the writers aren't afraid to have the characters be wrong and make mistakes.
But then Weir gets all upset at her former boyfriend, Simon (or as I called him, Narim-with-scary-hair), when he refuses to go to Atlantis with her because he is now dating someone else. Her hurt reaction had me rolling my eyes, though not in a bad, what-were-the-writers-thinking kind of way, but in a character-specific way. Because seriously, she left him to go to another galaxy, and then broke up with him over video letter. And now she's surprised he's moved on?
Meanwhile, Sheppard gets more angst when he visits Ford's cousin and she lays a guilt trip on him. Poor Sheppard.
McKay visited his cat or something. No one knows.
Highlights of the episode:
-The flashbacks, as I've already said.
-Hermiod continues to delight me with his general bitchiness, and this week we got McKay being bitchy right back. Also, Sheppard's quiet freak-out at Hermiod was amusing.
-McKay worrying about sunburn when in the F-302 with Sheppard.
-Caldwell getting more personality and being set up to butt heads with Weir. That'll be interesting to see developed.
-Teyla wasn't in until the very last scene.
Bad moments:
-What's with McKay and the slapstick comedy this year? Are they going to tone it down anytime soon? It's kind of not sitting well with me, though I'm not sure why.
-Really got tired of McKay saying, "It's the virus!" everytime something went wrong. Yes, we get it. You don't have to repeat it fifty times.
-Please, please, please tell me they're not trying for some kind of romance between Weir and Sheppard. We did this already with Jack and Sam, and it sucked then, too.
Couple more thoughts: I got the distinct impression that Weir mostly wrangled Sheppard's promotion with her contacts in higher offices, but that he thought the Air Force gave it to him freely. Wonder if he'll find out what really happened (Weir threatening Landry and Co. if things didn't go her way) and how he'll react.
Also, Weir took her entire senior staff to Earth? Which means Atlantis was basically left in the hands of Zelenka and Teyla for two months. This thought frightens me a little.
Overall, this episode had good character moments, but that's about all that stands out about it.
I give it 7 out of 10.
