Profile on David Hewlett
A profile of my favorite Stargate Atlantis actor, David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay). Yay! He says fans didn’t like the McKay character on SG1, but I loved him. I think that had a lot to do with David Hewlett’s performance. If I knew a guy like him in real life, on the other hand, I’d want to hurt him. His least favorite shoot? Duet.
Stargate Atlantis Stunts
Stunt Coordinator James “BamBam” Bamford tells us how stunts are done on Stargate Atlantis and how they ensure the actors are safe no matter what the stunt. Also, it’s just fun to say “BamBam”. Everyone agrees, Duet was hard to shoot. Dangling Hewlett by his leg with a fight going on in front of him was tough on everybody.
Audio Commentary for Critical Mass
Director Andy Mikita, actor Rachel Luttrell, Director of Photography Brendon Spencer. They love crossover episodes, and so do the fans. We also get a reminder that SG1 is “sanctioned” by the United States Air Force, which vets scripts, advises, and sometimes provides real equipment and personnel for use in the show. I always thought that was so cool. Rachel didn’t realize that the establishing shot of the SGC exterior is the real Cheyenne Mountain facility. LOL, the guy who places the hateable Cavanaugh is actually a really nice guy. He plays jerk ass so well, though. Oh wow, they’re right: Cadman’s military, so her hair should be up, not down, even if it’s sexier down. Oops. They also talk about the effort that goes into designing the show. I think that’s something viewers almost take for granted, but good design is how the viewers are taken out of their real world and plunked into the fantasy world of the show. And who knew Rachel was so critical of herself that she can’t watch the dailies? They also had to get her to make her voice less polished when she sang, since Tayla obviously would not be a professional singer.
Audio Commentary for Grace Under Pressure
Director Martin Wood, writer Martin Gero, actors Amanda Tapping and David Hewlett. Amanda and David introduce themselves, but we don’t hear much from them until a midway through the commentary. They needed a “cheap” episode, so they put McKay in the back of a jumper at the bottom of the sea. They threw Carter in to make it interesting. It worked. And how! However, they think they made us care about the Red Shirt before killing him off. I disagree. They explain how they made the jumper set shake, look like it was cockeyed, and take on water (they had a second jumper for water). They lit it with flashlights and McKay’s tablet until McKay figures out how to get the lights on in the compartment. It’s apparently very hard to light dark scenes. Amanda Tapping liked the pink outfit her character wore because it was nothing Carter would pick out for herself, another sign that she’s not the real Carter, she’s McKay’s version of Carter. I can’t believe they actually had Carter do that Finding Nemo “I speak whale” thing, but cut the scene. Can you imagine Amanda Tapping doing Ellen DeGeneres talking to a whale? Heehee. They got awkward thank you letters from fans about Amanda Tapping in her bra.
Audio Commentary for The Tower
Producer Paul Mullie and director Andy Mikita. They address the issue of reusing local Vancouver actors and how they have to wait a few years before using the same actor for another role. It’s fun to figure out which SG1 or SGA episode you’ve seen this or that actor in before. They also talk about locations and finding fruit and animals (or creating it) that look “alien”. Pity they don’t go through that effort where trees and shrubs are concerned. Apparently they had trouble costuming this episode, but the costumes helped the actors get into their roles. They also talk about how they try to make the aliens sound like they’re aliens, even though they’re speaking English: It’s all in the cadence.
Audio Commentary for The Long Goodbye
Director Andy Mikita, actor Torri Higginson, Director of Photography Brendon Spencer. They loved the old woman who played comatose Phebus. All she had to do was lie there, but when she wasn’t in the pod she would do song and dance to entertain the crew. Fun! They usual shoot an episode consecutively over the course of a week, but they had to keep coming back to this one to do pickups for at least a month. They love the lighting, which was supposed to be warm sunlight. Torri did most of her own fight scenes in this episode, rather than having her stunt double do them. It was also the first time she’d shot a P-90 and was a little intimidated at first, but by the end of the episode she was totally into it. They talk about how tricky it is to shoot in the dark. You need some kind of lighting, but very little so it still looks like everyone’s in the dark.
The animation is gorgeous, and narrator Nick Cave’s delivery is positively haunting. It’s noir at its animated best. It’s “The Cat Piano” by The People’s Republic of Animation (PRA).
My mom is almost 80 years old and doesn’t have a computer. Nor does she want one. Most of her friends don’t have computers, either, and so they have no convenient way to access the internet. They are understandably pretty frustrated when they want information about something and are given a URL instead of a pamphlet or a conversation with a human being.
The latest infraction came from T-Mobile, which provides my mom’s cellular service. T-Mobile is trying to save money and lower its environmental impact by doing away with paper statements. I applaud this move, but then I haven’t received a paper statement from them in years. I get my statements via email, and my bills are automatically deducted from my checking account each month. Easy-peasy. Then again, I have a computer with an internet connection and have for more than a decade now (not counting the office). Now, my mom could agree to have $1. 50 tacked onto her monthly charges in order to continue to receive a paper statement, but apparently $1.50 is too much to pay for her convenience. I’ll be handling her T-Mobile statements and bill paying from now on, which is fine. I can do it faster than she can.
As if that weren’t enough, now her church has gotten her knickers in a knot. Apparently, the Lutheran church is going to let gay people be ordained (“non-celibate homosexuals” is the terminology they used). The pastor announced this development one Sunday, noting that his church would not follow suit, and if the congregants wanted more information they could find it on the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s website. My mother and her friends were ticked. She called me to have me look up the news item and print it for her.
Now I read on Rotten Tomatoes that movie listings might not be printed in newspapers anymore. This is the way my mother finds out when and where the movies she and her girlfriends want to see are playing. She’ll have to call me if movie listings disappear, or hope one of her friends has a computer with an internet connection. I’ve told her she can use the computers at the public library in a pinch (if I’m not available), and I’ll be happy to show her how to access the internet on them. She insists it would be too much trouble, and she’d only forget what I showed her.
I endorse any effort to reduce our impact on the environment. And it’s not like T-Mobile (for example) isn’t providing a way for those without an internet connection to receive their billing statements. But I think they might make allowances for senior citizens, maybe offer them a special deal in which they don’t have to pay for paper statements by virtue of their age. Maybe if they provide their AARP membership number, or something. I just think it’s unfair to penalize someone for not wanting to own a computer. It’s not like she uses her cell phone all that much, anyway. Mostly, she just checks her home answering machine when she’s out, or uses it when she’s babysitting my niece at their house, since they’re totally cellular over there (as am I).
I think this situation will only get worse and more frustrating for my mother and others like her in the future. I’m happy to help, and it’s really no trouble for me at all, but I just think it’s not fair. Not everyone has easy access to the internet, and to assume that all or most people do isn’t right. It’s fine for me, but for people like my mom it’s infuriating.
I’m taking a break from writing Stargate Atlantis reviews. In fact, I’m taking a break from blogging for at least a few more days. I’ve started a new job (YAY!), and my brain and circadian rhythms are trying to adjust to the new schedule. Meanwhile, I’m pretty tired in the evenings. Once I get used to my new routine I’ll get back to reviewing Atlantis and perhaps even some of the books I’ve been reading. I have a Conan the Barbarian anthology and The Jane Austen Book Club awaiting me.
That’s right: Conan the Barbarian and The Jane Austen Book Club. I am nothing if not eclectic.
Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter) one of only 2 women to direct a Stargate episode. Ever. (Photo from GateWorld.net)
I was reading this post in the archives of Feminist SF–The Blog! about the lack of women writing and directing science fiction shows on TV. Two of the shows author Ide Cyan cites as lacking in females behind the cameras are Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis. In her post, Ide lists two Atlantis episodes written by women and one SG1 episode directed by a woman. That sounded a little short to me, so I dug deeper to see what the real tally of women writing or directing Stargate episodes is.
Here’s a run-down of female writers and directors in Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis and the up-coming Stargate: Universe (as mcuh as GateWorld.net knows about it):
Stargate SG1 episodes written or directed by women:
Season 1 (22 episodes)
Emancipation: written by Katharyn Powers
Brief Candle: teleplay by Katharyn Powers
Thor’s Hammer: written by Katharyn Powers
Fire and Water: teleplay by Katharyn Powers who shares story credit with Brad Wright
Enigma: written by Katharyn Powers
Season 2 (22 episodes)
Thor’s Chariot: written by Katharyn Powers
Family: written by Katharyn Powers
Sepent’s Song: written by Katharyn Powers
Season 3 (22 episodes)
Learning Curve: written by Heather E. Ash
Foothold: written by Heather E. Ash
Pretense: written by Katharyn Powers
New Ground: written by Heather E. Ash
Season 4 (22 episodes)
Crossroads: written by Katharyn Powers
Beneath the Surface: written by Heather E. Ash
Season 5 (22 episodes)
Rite of Passage: written by Heather E. Ash
Season 6 (22 episodes)
Smoke and Mirrors: story by Katharyn Powers
Metamorphosis: story by Jacqueline Samuda and James Tichenor
Season 7 (21 episodes)
Resurrection: directed by Amanda Tapping
After season 8 they hung the “No Girls Allowed” sign outside the SG1 offices, apparently, so let’s look at Stargate Atlantis, which premiered in 2004 (coinciding with SG1 season 8):
Stargate Atlantis episodes written or directed by women:
Season 1 (20 episodes)
Poisoning the Well: written by Mary Kaiser
Home: directed by Holly Dale
The Storm: story by Jill Blotevolgel
Letters From Pegasus: some of the excerpt credits go to Jill Blotevolgel and Mary Kaiser
Season 2 (20 episodes)
Instinct: written by Treena Hancock and Melissa R. Byer
Season 3 (20 episodes)
The Game: story by Holly Henderson and Don Whitehead
And that was it for the women. The last two seasons of Stargate Atlantis had no women writing or directing. Ouch!
Stargate: Universe won’t air until October, so details are still sketchy on who did what, but GateWorld has directing credits (at least) on most of the episodes of the inaugural season. Guess what? No women. Now, some of the episodes don’t have writing credits listed, but I’m a regular reader of Stargate writer Joe Mallozzi’s blog and don’t recall him mentioning any female names attached to scripts (but I’m going from memory).
Final tally:
Out of a total of 10 seasons and 213 episodes, SG1 had 17 episodes written by women and 1 episode directed by a woman. That’s just 8% of the entire series written or directed by women.
Out of a total of 5 seasons and 100 episodes, SGA had 5 episodes written entirely or partially by women, and only 1 episode directed by a woman. That’s 6% of of the entire series written or directed by women. I counted the “excerpts” credits as partial writing credits. Without that, it’s 5%.
I think there are going to be 20 episodes in the first season of SGU. No women, so 0%.
Average for all three shows (so far): 7% out of 333 episodes, assuming SGU gets 20 episodes in its first season, and I’m not mistaken about what Joe Mallozzi said on his blog about the writers.
Caille Wray (Ming Na): the first openly gay character on Stargate (Photo from GateWorld.net)
And yet, SG1 and SGA provided some strong female characters who weren’t stereotypes. Colonel Samantha Carter, Dr. Janet Frasier, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, Dr. Jeannie Miller, Dr. Jennifer Keller and Tayla Emmagan, anyone? From what we know about SGU so far, it looks like the trend will continue. I’m especially interested in Ming Na’s character Camille Wray, who is the first openly gay character for the Stargate franchise. There were rumors of other gay characters, but they were never outed on the show. Camille is in a long-term, stable relationship (she’s married)–in fact, hers is the most stable relationship on the show, according Joe Mallozzi and others.
Back when SG1 was airing, it bothered me that we didn’t see women other than Carter and Vala coming and going through the gate on SG teams. Atlantis rectified that a bit, even going so far as to having an episode with an all-female team. The male characters don’t make any comments about it. It’s the leader of the female team who jumps to the conclusion that Colonel Sheppard thinks she made a bad call by choosing all women for her team. Of course he’d know who was on her team, being the Chief of Security on Atlantis, but he still looks a little surprised. According to the show runners (in season 5 DVD commentaries), one of the characters on that team, Alecia Vega, was gay, but she got killed in a later episode. However, on the season 5 DVD extras you can see the scenes that were cut for time, including one of her asking Dr. Jennifer Keller for a date. Major Evan Lorne was also supposedly gay, but that might just be rumor.
I would also have liked to see more people of color going through the gate. There were main characters who were POC on both Atlantis and SG1 and there will be some on SGU. There was Teal’c (Christopher Judge) on SG1, and Lt. Aiden Ford (Rainbow Sun Franks), Tayla Emmagan (Rachel Luttrell) and Ronon Dex (Jason Momoa) on Atlantis. On SGU, we’ll get Mater Sergeant Ronald Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) and the afore-mentioned Camille Wray (Ming Na). And then there are the recurring POC characters like Bra’tac (Tony Amandola) and Apophis (Peter Williams) on SG1. So there’s some representation there.
Oh yeah, I should do some disclosure here: I’m a straight white female, but I pick up on lack of diversity on the shows I watch, and it bothers me that there’s so much of it.
In summary, it looks like the Stargate folks took a stab at having women writing stories for them then bailed on the idea for whatever reason. In spite of this, they still manage to write some female characters that I’ve liked and even admired. So, Stargate show runners, if by some miracle you read this, please give some more women a chance to write and direct, OK? I love you for creating some of my favorite shows, but I’d like to love you more for giving my fellow female writers more opportunities. And, hey, maybe awesome SF writer/consultant John Scalzi wouldn’t mind having one of the women from this list or this list joining him for those advising duties. They could tag team. It would be fun.
The Ancient warship Aurora (Photo from GateWorld.net)
Aurora
Story by Brad Wright & Carl Binder
Teleplay by Carl Binder
Directed by Martin Wood
Guest starring Mitch Pileggi (Colonel Steven Caldwell), Bruce Dawson (Captain), James Lafazanos (Wraith), Pascale Hutton (First Officer), Ryan W. Smith (Crewman)
WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND!
Summary The team finds a derelict Ancient ship whose crew is in stasis and living in a virtual environment, but Sheppard’s team isn’t the first to find them.
General Impressions
This is yet another episode about which the GateWorld guys and I disagree. They gave it 2.5 stars out of 5, but I really liked it a lot. I like the idea of finding a derelict Ancient warship with actual living Ancients still aboard. The virtual environment concept is also used well and is one that gets used again in future episodes. I share the team’s enthusiasm about finding this ship and its crew—what an opportunity! This is our first chance to see how Ancients lived before they abandoned the Pegasus galaxy and either died off or ascended, not to mention (hopefully) getting our hands on one of their warships. Then there’s the technology the ship possesses. All that makes it so painful when the crew of the Aurora sacrifice themselves and their ship at the end.
The Good
Nice design on the Aurora, especially the deterioration and aging. It looks great. I also liked the design of the stasis/VR pods and the shiny-new-looking ship Sheppard and McKay find in the virtual environment. It’s so bright and blue. The Ancient’s uniforms were nice, too, but did the first officer’s uniform have to be sexy? Why wasn’t her uniform like everyone else’s? Oh, right: Sci-Fi babes always dress sexy, especially the military ones. Or the native ones. Apparently, Tayla’s people not only mastered fire long ago but they also mastered the push up bra.
Here we get another example of how intelligent and resourceful the Wraith are, with one of them getting into a stasis pod and not only entering the virtual environment but controlling it, keeping the Ancients from remembering that what they’re experiencing isn’t real. Not your run of the mill enemy. It was very brave of Rodney to unhook the Wraith from his stasis pod without having any back up handy.
The Bad
Still with the clash between Weir and Caldwell. Getting old. Very old.
Oh, geez, does Sheppard have to make a pass at every hot chick he meets? Seriously? This sort of thing drove me nuts with the original Star Trek.
Caldwell, McKay? Wraith aren’t “psychic”, they’re “telepathic”. Psychic means you can see the future and the past with the power of your mind. Telepathic means you can communicate mind-to-mind, which is what the Wraith do.
Nice stalling on Tayla’s part, but why didn’t Caldwell ask the obvious question: “If ‘magnetic shielding’ was supposedly messing with Rodney’s radio, why wasn’t it messing with Tayla’s and Ronon’s, too?
OK, by now I’m trained to ignore the aliens speaking English thing but “communiqué” is a French word. Yes, I know it’s commonly used by English speakers and has been for centuries, but still…it’s French.
The Awesome
I don’t think anything else tops the heroic sacrifice of the crew of the Aurora. This quote from the Captain is heart wrenching: “We longed for nothing more than returning to Atlantis, to raise a toast to home and victory. We may not return home, but we’ll do whatever we can to ensure that victory.” The quiet, subdued, sad music under the Captain’s final speech to his crew was just right, keeping the focus on the speech. I cried. It was so moving. Definitely a Crowning Moment of Awesome for the crew of the Aurora.
Rating
9 out of 10. Interesting premise, nice look at Ancient tech, and a heroic ending.
Yay! Super Ford's back! (Photo from GateWorld.net)
The Lost Boys
Excerpts written by Robert C. Cooper
Written by Martin Gero
Directed by Brad Turner
Guest starring Rainbow Sun Francks (Aiden Ford), Kavan Smith (Major Lorne), David Nykl (Dr. Radek Zelenka), Aaron Abrams (Kanayo), Paul Anthony (Jace), James Lafazanos (Wraith), Andee Frizzell (Hive Queen)
WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND!
Summary Super Ford returns and forces the team to help his Wraith juice-enhanced gang blow up a hive ship. (Part 1 of 2)
General Impressions
This episode and the next deceived me into thinking we’d get a lot more Super Ford throughout the series, but no. Just these two episodes then Normal Ford appears in a flashback in the first episode of season five to guilt trip Sheppard. Oh well.
This episode explores drug addiction and how far friendship and loyalty can be stretched before breaking. The team still want Ford to come back to Atlantis with them and be cured, and Ford even expresses a desire to go home at one point before revealing it was all a trick. He wants Sheppard to trust him but everything he does ensures that Sheppard won’t trust him. He’s completely misguided.
The Good
Ford’s recap of how he got off the Wraith ship. It’s cool and creepy at the same time. The way his gang chains up the Wraith and keeps them for their supply of the enzyme is just like the way Wraith keep humans prisoner to feed on later. Creepy parallel.
I honestly couldn’t stand Ford after this episode. Everything he did to Sheppard’s team was disgusting and evil. You don’t force drugs into people’s systems. You just don’t. It’s a horrible violation, and I found it very hard to watch when Ford’s guys were forcing injections on Tayla and Ronon. That’s the visceral reaction the writers were surely going for, but if they weren’t it was definitely a happy accident. Strong emotional audience reactions are good.
I believe I’ve mentioned previously just how much I love the design of the Wraith ships, especially the darts. If I could have any small ship from the Stargateverse it would be a Wraith dart. I love how they look like they’re made of bone, and the gooey sound the cockpit canopy makes when it’s raised and lowered. I’d love to know what it’s made of and how it does that. It always astonished me that the expedition never tried to find a way to adapt the culling beam technology for their own use. Imagine how useful it could be for transporting people and materials. If nothing else, I can’t believe they never commandeered a bunch of darts just to have that technology, if for no other reason. Wraith tech might be inferior to Ancient tech but it’s still pretty advanced and like nothing our team has.
The Bad
I didn’t like this episode that much, yet I can’t put a finger on what made it drag for me.
The Awesome
Crazy puppy Super Ford. The contrast between his need to be accepted by his former comrades and the evil of him forcing the Wraith enzyme on them is incredibly disturbing. When he tells Sheppard he wants to go home it’s just so sad—until he reveals later that he was lying in order to trick Sheppard. I sympathize with him but at the same time hate him for what he does to his former team. Ronon and Tayla fighting each other over food then trying to convince Sheppard that the enzyme is a good thing erases most of the sympathy I had for Ford. Rainbow Sun Franks was awesome.
I think Super Ford is interesting and could have had a great journey as a character if they hadn’t put him on a bus after the next episode. He could have turned up a few more times, finally got dragged back to Atlantis and maybe Earth for detox and then fought to get accepted back into the Stargate program, though he would more likely have faced disciplinary action and been banned from returning to the Pegasus galaxy. It would have been interesting, but no. Put on a bus. Pity.
Rating
6 out of 10. The exploration of drug addiction and the way it changes a person is interesting but doesn’t really carry the episode. Rainbow Sun Franks, on the other hand, does.
Sheppard gets yet another temporary girlfriend (Photo from GateWorld.net)
The Hive
Written by Carl Binder
Directed by Martin Wood
Guest starring Rainbow Sun Francks (Aiden Ford), Aaron Abrams (Kanayo), Kavan Smith (Lorne), Jenn Bird (Neera), David Nykl (Dr. Radek Zelenka), Mitch Pileggi (Colonel Stephen Caldwell), Andee Frizzell (Hive Queen)
WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND!
Summary Sheppard, Ronon and Tayla are trapped with Ford and his gang on a hive ship after their mission to destroy it goes wrong. (Part 2 of 2)
General Impressions
A lot of people like The Lost Boys better than this episode, but I actually liked this one better. It didn’t drag as much as the other one seemed to when I was watching it, probably because this episode has more action in it. Ford becomes progressively more of a jerk, almost making me glad they put him on a bus after this episode. This episode also wraps up the drug addiction thread, showing various members of Sheppard’s team and Ford’s team going through withdrawal and eventually being free from the enzyme.
We also learn yet another new thing about the Wraith: Some humans serve and even worship them. We also learn that the Wraith have turned against each other, something our heroes can exploit.
The Good
A Wraith Queen who’s actually kind of pretty. Nice hair, nice gown. They’re all played by the same actress (Adee Frizzell) with a different make up job, but this time she looks good for a Wraith. Oh to be so tall and willowy. She even has a disco audience chamber with lasers. Groovy.
I love it when Rodney gets brave. The lengths he’s willing to go to to save his comrades is inspiring and sometimes pretty funny, but what was he thinking taking so much enzyme all at once? He’s not Ronon, after all. Still, Badass Kung Fu Rodney is awesome: “And that’s what happens when you back a brilliant scientist into a corner!” Then he’s just plain crazy after that. David Hewlett really is a fantastic comedic actor.
I kind of like the idea of Wraith worshippers. It adds a layer to the relationship between humans and Wraith beyond predator and prey and fleshes out Wraith culture beyond culling, feeding and monologueing about how their going to cull you and feed on you.
The Bad
I knew Neera was a spy for the Wraith almost as soon as we met her. Good for John for realizing it, too.
I’ve never understood why impacts to the Deadalus’ shields would cause sparks to fly on the bridge. It’s one of those things that people who nitpick the science in movies and TV always pick on. They also pick on the notion that you can hear things in space, like exploding ships, or that passing ships have a Doppler effect just like they would in atmosphere. I know kabooms are more dramatic, but it doesn’t work that way in reality.
And just once, can we not have the “there’s no way anything could have survived that” moment followed by the miraculous survival of our heroes? Does it have to be like that every single time?
The Awesome
David Hewlett, yet again. Rodney is brave and funny and tortured in turns, and Hewlett is amazing. His drug-crazed Rodney and detoxing Rodney are awesome.
Rainbow Sun Franks as Super Ford, even if he doesn’t have as much screen time in this episode as in the previous one. He really seems to relish playing crazy.
The space battle between the two hives, especially the thousands of tiny darts flying around them like gnats, and the explosion of the two ships was really amazing.
Rating
8 out of 10. Action, drug addiction, and a big space battle.
Hey, look: It's another John Sheppard Temporary Girlfriend (tm)! (Photo from GateWorld.net)
Epiphany
Story by Brad Wright & Joe Flanigan
Directed by Neil Fearnley
Guest starring Chad Morgan (Teer), David McNally (Avrid), Nicole Muñoz (Hedda), Scott Miller (Pilot)
WARNING: SPOILERS ABOUND!
Summary Sheppard gets trapped in a time-slipped community of people working toward ascension.
General Impressions
Ascension has been a plot point on Stargate since season three of SG1 when Daniel Jackson meets an ascended being named Oma Desala. The Atlantis expedition met an ascended being in the first season. Now Sheppard meets a group of people trying to figure out how to ascend and who believe ascending is his only way out of the time-slipped valley. Meanwhile, he gets a girlfriend who’s had visions of him since she was a little girl and waited for him, but then she ascends.
The idea of a valley where time flows differently is as old as stories of Faerie and probably older even than that but it’s still a decent story telling device.
The Good
M.A.L.P. On a Stick(tm) cracked me up. As did Rodney referring to Ronon and Tayla as “Conan” and “Xena”.
Those Ancients really were amazing. Not only could they invent a time traveling jumper, they could set up an entire valley to operate on different time than the rest of the planet, giving the people inside the field ample time to work out ascension. Not only that, but they also set it up to have its own day/night cycle and climate. It was nice of them to leave it for anyone who wished to pursue enlightenment. And I couldn’t help but notice how similar it was in look and feel to the planet where the team found that ascended being in the first season. You know, another of Sheppard’s temporary girlfriends.
I also liked that the villagers didn’t turn out to have a sinister secret, nor were they attacked by the Wraith. The only threat to them was one generated by their own fears and it was part of the journey to enlightenment. The creature was real enough but only had as much power as the villagers’ fear gave it.
Loved the costumes in this episode, even if they were monochromatic. They were all light and comfortable-looking.
The Bad
Plenty of clean-shaven men in the cloister, but none of them could loan Sheppard a razor? Joe Flanigan looks like he dragged himself out of a gutter after an all-night bender with that beard.
I am so tired of everyone on this show being pretty, even the guest stars. Perhaps beauty is a prerequisite for ascension.
The Forsythia bushes hurt my belief in this as an alien planet even more than the recognizable species of Canadian trees. We had Forsythia bushes planted along the property line of the house I grew up in, so, despite the fact that our property also backed up to a forest full of the same kind of trees in this episode, it’s the Forsythia bushes with their bright yellow flowers and childhood familiarity that ruined the illusion for me.
The Awesome
The very idea of a sanctuary inside a time dilation field is interesting. A nice, safe place that the Wraith can’t get to, allowing the inhabitants to focus on ascension. It’s idyllic, filled with wildflowers and surrounded by beautiful mountains and always has a perfect climate (no thunderstorms, which Sheppard had to describe to them). It’s like a Buddhist retreat, right down to the loose-fitting cotton garments and vegetarian food. The contrast between Sheppard and the villagers is striking: They meditate, socialize, and tend their crops. Sheppard falls asleep during mediation and spends his morning jogging. They’re focused on the spirit, while he’s still focused on the body. They’re ready for ascension, he’s not, yet he’s the one who realizes that what they need to do in order to ascend is stand up to the monster.
The team for once doesn’t try to make off with the valley’s power source, except for Rodney, as usual. Then again, the ascended villagers didn’t give them much of a choice.
The establishing shots of the valley and its planet from the air are beautiful, as is the valley itself. It’s so peaceful.
Rating
8 out of 10. Interesting premise, beautiful sets and props.
Road to a Dream with Martin Gero
No, this isn’t the story of how Stargate Atlantis came into being. It’s a tongue-in-cheek documentary about writer Martin Gero’s attempt to be an actor and play Dr. Beckett’s “younger, handsomer, smarter” brother. He does the most horrible Scottish accent ever. All in good fun.
Audio Commentary for Aurora
Director Martin Wood, Co-Producer Peter DeLuise. These two get technical about how scenes were shot, use of visual effects, and trivia about the actors. Things I learned: They got real chess champions to play the two guys playing chess at the beginning of this episode; Martin Wood doesn’t like cuts in a shot, Peter DeLuise likes them; Jason Momoa’s head is huge and didn’t fit in the EVA suit helmet; Joe Flanigan kept the New York Times with him on set, even in the stasis pod; they love David Hewlett and Mitch Pileggi…a lot.
Audio Commentary for The Lost Boys
Writer Martin Gero, actors Joe Flanigan and David Hewlett. These guys had a lot of fun with this commentary. They even called the actor who played Kanayo while doing the commentary and interviewed him. They really like this guy (he’s a friend of Martin’s). They also hate montages. They, like the viewer, are in awe of the effects shot when Sheppard flies the dart into the hive ship.
Audio Commentary for The Hive
Director Martin Wood. Commentaries are usually best with more than one person so they can play off each other, but Martin Wood does a good job on his own of explaining how and why things are done in this episode. He’s really informative, going into some detail about the idea of everybody going into drug withdrawal. If this guy taught a class in film school, I’d take it, even though I have no interest in directing. He’s a really good lecturer.
Audio Commentary for Epiphany
Director Neill Fearnley. Mr. Fearnley is nowhere near as dynamic a speaker as Martin Wood. His slow voice and cadence and the fact that he’d go for long stretches with no commentary don’t help, either. I couldn’t listen. He kept losing me.
My mom is almost 80 years old and doesn’t have a computer. Nor does she want one. Most of her friends don’t have computers, either, and so they have no convenient way to access the internet. They are understandably pretty frustrated when they want information about something and are given a URL instead of a pamphlet or a conversation with a human being.
I’m taking a break from writing Stargate Atlantis reviews. In fact, I’m taking a break from blogging for at least a few more days. I’ve started a new job (YAY!), and my brain and circadian rhythms are trying to adjust to the new schedule. Meanwhile, I’m pretty tired in the evenings. Once I get used to my new routine I’ll get back to reviewing Atlantis and perhaps even some of the books I’ve been reading. I have a Conan the Barbarian anthology and The Jane Austen Book Club awaiting me.
