Like Star Trek, The Six Million Dollar Man, Buffy The Vampire
Slayer, and other successful genre shows, Stargate SG-1 has produced the
inevitable spin-off series. Stargate Atlantis takes place on a planet in the far
off Pegasus Galaxy, which is the home of the fabled, submerged city of Atlantis--where
it landed after it flew away from its original home here on Earth in
Antarctica. Got all that? It helps if you’re a fan of Stargate SG-1, with its
dense, rich mythology, from which the Atlantis storyline shoots off to
eventually form its own elaborate narrative. SG-1’s Richard Dean Anderson and
Michael Shanks reprise their roles of Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson,
respectively, in Atlantis’ entertaining pilot episode "Rising". When the
location of Atlantis, as well as the means of getting there, are revealed in the
old Antarctica site, Stargate Command assembles a special expedition consisting
of scientists and military personnel from several countries, all under the
command of Doctor Elizabeth Weir (the very likeable Torri Higginson).
Using the Stargate on what might turn out to be a one way trip, Weir and her
team arrive in the darkened, empty city of Atlantis--only to have the place
automatically come to life when it detects their very presence. When the shield
can no longer hold back the water, a failsafe program built into the city’s
computer instinctively brings it up to the surface of the ocean, saving the
Atlantis expedition from reenacting the fate of the Titanic passengers. But just
when things start looking pretty hunky dory for our intrepid crew, they realize
that there’s not enough juice in their Stargate to send them back home to the
Milky Way Galaxy, which means they’re stranded here. And as if that wasn’t bad
enough, the Atlantis boys ands girls must also contend with the Wraith.
A race of vampire-like aliens with bluish skin and a very nasty attitude, the
Wraith consider humans to be nothing more than a delicious delicacy who are best
served raw. Instead of fangs, the Wraith are armed with some sort of soul-suckers
in the palm of their hands, which they use to drain the life-force from a victim.
Colonel Sumner (played with steely coolness by T2’s Robert Patrick), the
military leader of the expedition, becomes one of the Wraith’s first victims,
leaving the job open to Major John Sheppard--who, as played by Joe Flanigan, is
something of an idiot. I’m not sure if Flanigan is trying to capture the
easy-going, lackadaisical demeanor that Richard Dean Anderson played to
perfection as O’Neill on SG-1, but Flanigan’s performance as the "cool,
rebellious military leader" just falls flat for me. Frankly, I'd have
preferred it if Robert Patrick had remained. His Colonel Sumner was a more
harder-edged (and a far more believable) military commander who would have made
a great foil for the dovish Weir.
The rest of the cast is rounded out by Rainbow Francks (a.k.a. Rainbow Sun
Francks), who is given the thankless role as the "young buck" military officer
Lt. Aiden Ford; the charming Rachel Luttrell, who manages to shine in the role
of the "warrior woman/local guide" Teyla Emmagan, and Paul McGillion, who is
very good as the compassionate Dr. Carson Beckett, the chief medical officer of
the expedition. David Hewlett is very funny as Dr. Rodney McKay, the resident
scientific genius whose knowledge, and self-confidence, knows no bounds--and, as
mentioned before, Torri Higginson is very appealing as Weir; she effectively
portrays a decent woman who is sometimes overwhelmed in her struggles to deal
with events of epic life or death proportions.
While many of the first season episodes were uneven and succumbed into lame SF
clichés (the characters often stand around speaking senseless techno-babble
instead of taking action; and, despite being in another galaxy, nearly every race they meet are human beings who speak perfect English) the writers are shrewd enough to remember their history; slowly
building up an epic story arc with each new episode, which ultimately leads to a
massive Wraith assault on Atlantis by season’s end. The handsomely packaged DVD
set comes with a great set of special features, which include audio commentaries by the cast and crew on selected episodes, as
well as several well-made "making of" documentaries that look at the behind the
scenes making of several episodes, in addition to a first season overview with
co-creator Martin Gero, and a very funny tour of the set by
directors Peter Deluise and Martin Wood, and much more. It may not be in the same league as the
re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, but Stargate Atlantis is still a fun romp,
as long as you don't take it too seriously.
--SF
