Stargate Atlantis: Be All My Sins Remember’d
(S04E11) SPOILER ALERT!!! DO NOT READ PAST THIS LINE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE. I GIVE YOU FAIR WARNING.
Huh? What? Gah?
What the hell was that at the end of this week’s Stargate Atlantis? I’ll be honest, I didn’t see it coming. Oh, I thought something was going to happen as the scene shifted to the area that the Replicator planet once populated — I was thinking more along the lines like the nannites rebuilding the planet from scratch, like the Genesis Device from the Star Trek movie series. What I didn’t expect was a ship floating amongst all of the planetary debris. And I certainly didn’t expect the person sitting in the command chair to be someone fans thought dead as a doornail.
It was none other than former Atlantis administrator Dr. Elizabeth Weir. I really and truly thought that she was dead and gone. It was probably something that shouldn’t have even crossed my mind since the show I am reviewing here is a science fiction program. The question is, though, which Elizabeth is she?
Is she the one true Elizabeth? Since it was revealed in ’This Mortal Coil’ that the original Dr. Weir was killed maybe this isn’t the original. Of course, Shep and the rest of the Atlantis team could have been told a fib. If this isn’t the true Dr. Weir is it someone similar to the Weir from the previous episode? In other words, a Replicant created on another world. Well, since they created one of her already they may have had another Elizabeth ready to go in the wings. But, this one seems a bit darker in tone (from what I gathered in the five seconds I saw her on screen). I’m sure we’ll get more information about her as the weeks progress.
Gee, three paragraphs about a five-second scene at the end of the show…and I haven’t even talked about the rest of the 44 minutes and 55 seconds. For the most part I found this week’s installment of Atlantis to be interesting and a good close to the events that took place in the first half of the season. It tied in a good many loose plot points, pulled characters together, and gave the viewers some sense of closure (we think) that at least one enemy of humanity is finished (for the time being, at least).
It was good to see Jill Wagner as Larrin once again. She had such a good chemistry with Sheppard back in the episode ’Travelers’ that I was hoping the two would meet sooner than later. The same chemistry was there this time around as well. Sheppard definitely has a case of puppy love for Larrin. You can tell that just by the inflection of his voice and the way he speaks with her. Also, he seems to be a bit freer with the information when he’s around her.
Nice to see Sam Carter back on the show. I think this was the first episode where we really saw how tough an administrator the colonel could be after she stared down Colonel Ellis after he verbally lashed McKay. Ellis is not my favorite character; he’s a bit to brusque for me — thinks his poo don’t smell. Perhaps I’m still carrying over some dislike from when the actor (Michael Beach) played Jeanie Boulet’s husband, Al, on ER. McKay showed him, though, as he was able to defeat the Replicators almost single-handedly.
There were a few things that I didn’t like about this week’s episode. First was the way that the Replicators were eventually defeated. Not the part about massing their cells into one gigantic inert ball, but the whole thing about triggering the neutronium to cause an explosion to destroy the Replicator’s planet. To me, it sounded like a whole lot of techno-babble that was used in Star Trek: The Next Generation when there was no other way to get out of a situation. It seemed way to easy a way to end the storyline.
Another thing I didn’t like was the use of Fran. The whole concept of a Replicator, designed by McKay, that was reasonable and willing to work with the Atlanteans, was totally underutilized. Yes, it could have become something where Fran became almost like Atlantis’ Data, but I still wish we could have seen her for a few episodes more, at least.
A few other items from this week’s episode.
- This episode reminded me of similar ones from Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5. It was the concept of the alliance between different races that did it for me. Maybe that’s why I am comparing this week’s show to older science-fiction programs.
- There were some great visual effects this episode. The battle around the Replicator home world was really quite good and showed how far the industry has come with these types of scenes in only a few years. Another good effect was Shep’s jumper swerving all around the Ancestor ship in order to avoid crashing directly into it.
- Colonel. Colonel. Colonel. Colonel. The early scene where Colonels Sheppard, Carter, Ellis and Caldwell get together and introductions are made reminded me of some of those early M*A*S*H episodes where the Captain and Colonel introductions fly fast and furious.
- Teyla finally lets the rest of her team know that she’s pregnant. I’m not too sure how much we’ll see of the character now since Rachel Luttrell was actually pregnant during filming of the show (she gave birth to a son, Caden, back in October). I do know that she will be returning towards the end of the season.
Next week — The Replicator threat is over (for now), but that still leaves the Wraith.