Saturday, July 19, 2008

Digg This --> Stargate Atlantis: Seed Reviewed



Paul McGillion returns to revive his Dr Carson Beckett character after Dr Keller brings him out of stasis. After Dr. Keller fails to report a strange "goo" she came in contact with in her lab, a few mornings later she fails to show up for work. The team overrides the security on her quarters to find her infested with a mysterious web of tendrils. Carson recalls seeing such a thing when he was forced to work in Michael's Lab.

This prompts a quarantine of all the personnel who were on the planet for the rescue when Michael's lab collapsed, including LTCol Carter who is back on Earth. Consequently, they all test positive for the same things affecting Dr. Keller. Dr. Beckett tries to surgically remove the tendrills, but doing so directly affects Dr. Keller's vital systems. So they must find another way to eradicate it.

Mr. Woolsey is not happy about allowing Dr. Beckett to lead the fight to overcome this infestation, since he is not actually a part of the Atlantis Team. But he knows he's the only one capable of beating it. Meanwhile, the infestation spreads outside the isolation room and gets in the power systems. Attempts to extricate it are met with force.

Dr Beckett eventually finds a cure that works positively on the other members, but the real challenge is how to save Dr. Keller. Mr. Woolsey, not being a trained military commander, is hesitant to expend resources and risk the security of the entire expedition to save someone that may be beyond saving. It's only through the unique ability of LTCol John Sheppard to disobey orders, and play by his own rules that allowed the team to save Dr. Keller.

At the end of the episode, Carson goes back to Earth to be debriefed by the IOA. Mr. Woolsey is coming to terms with life in Pegasus Galaxy where playing by the book may get you or someone else killed. He and Sheppard share a moment in which he questions his own ability to deal with such uncertainty. Sheppard, who is recovering from being injured rescuing Dr. Keller, appropriately shakes his hand and says "welcome to the Pegasus Galaxy!"

Enough of the synopsis. I liked the story. Earlier in the episode when they tried surgery, we knew that wouldn't work. What would they do for the rest of the hour, right? But unlike real life, ever little crisis on Atlantis turns into a complete meltdown. That's what our heroes do, and do quite well. This episode even adds a bit of dramatic flare with Dr. McKay in quarantine making comments about the "B" Team taking to ball on this one.

This Woolsey character... Can't we kill him off? This is the same person that was hired by Senator Kinsey to bring down the SGC. Somehow, he has hung on to some kind of power, as a consultant, to become part of the IOA, and now he's in charge of the greatest expedition ever undertaken by mankind. All I can say is Bob Picardo must need the work because he's a square peg in a round hole on Atlantis.

Which leads me to the next thing I despise about whole story. How in Gods name does a handful of representatives on Earth think they have ANY authority to decide or control what is going on in another galaxy? They don't freaking' own Atlantis. The whole premise is wrong. Maybe after 11 years Stargate needs some new writers and producers, this story's going nowhere fast.



Regards
John Crawford

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Umm... The Atlantis expedition only exists with the IOA's oversight. The USA and other countries are primarily interested in building new spaceships. The IOA funds and controls the Atlantis project. They haven't put a purely military commander in charge yet! That's why they think they have authority to decide or control what is going on in another galaxy, because they do. They always have. They do own Atlantis. They have full authority over the project. The writers made this clear pretty early on.

jecrawf2 said...

I'm not arguing the facts. I just think it's a huge load crap. Even if it's fiction, or science fiction in this case. I think it slants the whole storyline, and not for the better. That's ok, though, I can write negative as easy as positive about a show. That's what we critics do right?