Stargate Atlantis Rewatch: Suspicion
Tayla makes a tough choice. (Photo from GateWorld.net)
Suspicion
Story by Kerry Glover
Teleplay by Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
Directed by Mario Azzopardi
Guest Starring Paul McGillion (Dr. Beckett), Dean Marshall (Bates), Christopher Heyerdahl (Halling), David Nykl (Dr. Zelenka), Ross Hull, Boyan Vukelic (Stackhouse)
WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND!
Summary
When too many off world missions are attacked by Wraith to be a coincidence Dr. Weir suspects a spy, and suspicion falls on the Athosians.
General Impressions
Although I hated seeing the Athosians ill treated, I loved how the core mystery in this episode played out and the way it pays off the attention given to Tayla’s necklace in the pilot episode when Sheppard finds it in a cave. They made a big deal out of him finding it, her being happy to see it again, and him putting it around her neck. We don’t hear another thing about it until this episode when we find out why it was important.
Man, I hated Sergeant Bates. When Stargate writers want to write a bad cop, they really go over the top with it almost to the point of cliché. However, Bates is somewhat vindicated when he makes McKay examine Tayla’s belongings for technology too advanced to be Athosian. He was a jerk, but it enabled the mystery to be solved and the Athosians to be cleared.
The Good
The mystery of who was tipping off the Wraith about Sheppard’s team’s missions. This worked extremely well. It didn’t show the expedition in a very positive light, especially with Bates jumping to conclusions and suggesting extreme solutions when there was no proof the Athosians were revealing mission plans to the Wraith. The Athosians’ outrage is expressed very well by Halling and Tayla. When a continent is discovered by Sheppard and Ford, the Athosians’ insistence that they be allowed to leave Atlantis for the continent is believable. They feel unwelcome and refuse to continue to be treated like enemies and prisoners.
Tayla’s decision to continue to live in Atlantis and work with the people from Earth was clearly a hard one for her to make. When she tells Halling about her plans you can see how difficult it is for her to do, and him to accept, though he doesn’t try to stop her or openly condemn her for it. Christopher Heyerdahl manages to convey his disapproval and disappointment entirely with his expression and his eyes. He’s a very subtle actor. Rachel Luttrell manages the same thing. It’s a very touching scene.
The shot of the curvature of the planet and the new found continent is beautiful.
The Bad
Actually, not too much bad for this episode, but here are a few sort of bad things:
Way too bad cop Sergeant Bates. I know there are probably real people who really act like this under these circumstances. And he’s military, so maybe he’s trained to naturally suspect outsiders and civilians (I wouldn’t know, having never served in the military). Still, it seems a bit too heavy handed sometimes. However, having said that, it allowed for Sheppard to be equally blind in his support of Tayla, and Weir to hold the saner middle ground.
I didn’t understand why the necklace would have been among Tayla’s belongings if no one had indicated they thought it was a suspicious device and that she should take it off. It’s convenient that it was among her stuff so McKay could solve the mystery, but she’s had this thing on day and night since the pilot, so why would she take it off now? Would its removal be demanded if she’s under arrest?
Why did we capture a Wraith and bring him to Atlantis again? Ah, right. He’s a Chekhov’s Gun that will go off two episodes hence. But we don’t know that yet, so, like the removal of Tayla’s necklace, we’re left to wonder what his significance is.
Chekhov's Necklace (Photo from GateWorld.net)
The Awesome
Playwright Anton Chekhov said, “If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.” Tayla’s necklace is Chekhov’s Gun. I love the way the suspicion drills down from a group to an individual and finally to an object, the necklace that got its own scene in the pilot. In the pilot we’re very clearly shown where it lies in the sand, then we get a good look at it when Sheppard picks it up and shows it to Tayla. We get its backstory from Tayla then Sheppard puts it around her neck. Tayla fondles it a bit before they get on with the reason she brought him to the cave. (Speaking of fondling, I failed to mention this in my review of the pilot, but after he puts the necklace on her, Joe Flanigan lets his hands glide straight over Rachel Luttrell’s breasts. So he gives her jewelry then cops a feel. Nice.)
The reveal that the necklace only started attracting Wraith after Sheppard found it was great. Not only are the Athosians and Tayla cleared of suspicion, and not only is the necklace not just a general sort of tracking device, it’s a tracking device that’s designed to identify people who can use Ancient technology. It activated only when Sheppard picked it up. Nice job, hero. And we wouldn’t have figured that out if Bates hadn’t been a jerk, stolen Tayla’s belongings and forced Rodney to examine them. Scary thing we learn from this: The Wraith know how to make ATA (Ancient Technology Activation) gene-sensitive technologies, meaning Wraith are incredibly smart.
Rating
9 out of 10. Great tension between the characters. Loved the emotional moment between Tayla and Halling (seriously, I could watch Christopher Heyerdahl act all day). Loved the solution to the mystery and the way it was solved, except for the unanswered and unasked question of why Tayla removed a necklace she’d been wearing in every scene since the pilot. Also, bad cop doesn’t have to be so heavy handed all the time.
