Stargate Atlantis Rewatch: Critical Mass

Tayla says goodbye (photo from GateWorld.net)

Critical Mass

Story by – Brad Wright & Carl Binder
Teleplay by – Carl Binder
Directed by – Andy Mikita
Guest starring – Beau Bridges (General Hank Landry), Jaime Ray Newman (Lt. Laura Cadman), Ellie Harvie (Dr. Lindsey Novak), Ben Cotton (Kavanagh), David Nykl (Dr. Radek Zelenka), Bill Dow (Dr. Lee), Peter Flemming (Agent Malcolm Barrett), Gary Jones (Sergeant Harriman), Mitch Pileggi (Colonel Steven Caldwell)

WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND!

Summary
The team must race against time to disarm a Goa’uld bomb and find out who planted it before it destroys Atlantis.

General Impressions
I love Beau Bridges as General Landry. It was good to see him in this episode. And OMG, its Jaime Ray Newman (Lt. Cadman) who now plays Dr. Tess Fontana on Eureka! Now I know where I saw the actress who played Tess before.

OK, now that I got that off my chest, I’ll say I really liked this episode. It’s got great suspense and that thing Stargate is so good at where they solve a problem only to have a bigger one appear in its place. The B story of the old Athosian woman dying was good, too, and very moving. And boy can that Rachel Luttrell sing.

The Good
It’s so sad that Tayla’s people have a ceremony to celebrate someone dying of natural causes because of how rare an occurrence it is due to the Wraith. I wonder how many other cultures in the Pegasus galaxy have similar customs. Good for Rachel Luttrell being able to cry on demand. So many actors do the sobbing thing, the twisting up the face thing, but there are no actual tears. When Tayla is trying to convince the old woman to prolong her life with a pace maker, she starts to cry and there are tears. She really turns on the waterworks when the old woman dies.

I loved the scene where Dr. Lee is explaining how to relay a message to Atlantis. When he uses a 101 Dalmatians analogy he gets blank looks, but then he uses a Lord of the Rings analogy, and everyone nods and smiles with enlightenment…and so did I. I’m such a nerd.

It was also funny when Cavanaugh fainted dead away when Ronon stepped into the room to interrogate him. Cavanaugh is such a jerk. I can’t stand that guy. Just once I’d like to see Weir punch him. Just once. We, like Weir, are sure he’s the bad guy. He has motive, opportunity and know-how. Nobody likes him, and he doesn’t like anybody. He’s antagonized everyone and made himself easy to suspect. So naturally it can’t be him, right? Right. It’s not.

I also liked the way Weir bookends the idea of infighting. At the beginning of the episode, they’re all gloating over how cool it is that the Wraith are fighting each other. At the end of the episode, after foiling a plot that came from Earth, Weir wonders if we’re any better than the Wraith when it comes to infighting.

The Bad
I guess it was kind of obvious that it wasn’t Cavanaugh or Cadman who set the bomb, despite the focus given to them by Rodney and Weir.

The Awesome
Although I knew it wasn’t Cavanaugh or Cadman, I did not expect it to be Caldwell when I saw this episode when it first aired. That totally blindsided me, as did him having a Goa’uld symbiote. Nice job.

All that ramping up makes for great tension and drama. They solve one problem only to have a deadlier one appear in its place. And of course they take it right up to the last second before the day is, at last, saved. Meanwhile, Tayla is singing about death and rebirth in the voice of an angel.

Rachel Luttrell has the most gorgeous voice. She’s gorgeous, has a perfect figure, and a beautiful voice. No fair. Tayla singing over her dead surrogate mother, her people determined to go forward with the ceremony, is an almost surreal counterpoint to the imminent destruction of the city. I loved her sad song playing under the “we are all going to die” montage. Oh, and that dress she wears for the ceremony is so pretty.

Wonderful SFX with the Athosian village (exterior establishing shot and the interior of the old woman’s yurt). I love how it looks. I love it when they take the time to create civilizations that aren’t cookie cutter versions of Earth cultures, especially since this is in another galaxy. The matte extensions inside the city are really great shots, too. For an episode that mostly just takes place inside the city, there are a lot of great SFX shots.

Rating
9 out of 10 for great tension and Rachel Luttrell’s singing voice.