(S03E05) This Atlantis a classic scifi mind trip episode. Weir wakes up in a hospital room.... and she's told that she never left Earth. Things start looking a bit freaky when Jack's head goes on fast forward like a mad TiVo. Our Dr. Weir seems to be getting better and better in her mind trip. In fact, half the episode is devoted to just setting it up.
Back in Atlantis Weir is being scanned - something's spreading through her. Okay, she's been infected with nanites. (Yay! I thought the previous episode finished way too easy. Not that I think it's great to infect people with nanites.) As the doc works on a solution to the nanite infection, Shep encourages Weir to fight (In the chairless infirmary).
Here's where it gets interesting. Weir opens a door and finds an event horizon, as she's about to enter it she's grabbed by some orderlies. This little scene really illustrated the mental battle going on between Weir and the nanites. I think it's where Weir finally gets a real clue about what's going on.
Carson and McKay try to get the nanites out of Weir with a bit of Wraith tissue and an EMP pulse. It seems that the nanites have gone organic so the attempt failed to get them all. This part was uh... well just a bit goofy. To contain electromagnetic energy, you've got to have some shielding. Atlantis has been slipping into the trap of 'it's such super advanced tech that we don't actually have to account for science anymore' Yes, I'm being picky. I think that most 12 year olds know about Faraday cages at this point.
After this the episode really gets into classic mind trip mode. I loved that Shep was willing to jump into the tent to encourage her to beat the nanites. Sure it was stupid, but true hero stuff. (Personally I think he should've gotten a thank you kiss...) Thanks to dear ol' Shep, Weir faces down the nanites as they take showdown form.
Considering how many times scifi shows have done mind trips - (Star Trek especially) I think they did a great job with this one. Half of the episode is spent just setting up the mind trip. At one point I found myself questioning if Atlantis really existed. I thought that the techno-babble was pretty lame, as well as the whole 'the zipper keeps us safe' bit. Maybe the tech consultant was on vacation? Still, even with the tech short-falls, I was diggin' this one.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-20-2006 @ 1:23AM
Akbar Fazil said...
While it was nice to see some left over effects of the Pegasus Replicators (my money is still on them NOT being related in anyway to MikyWay Replicators) I was a little saddened that Atlantis has already gone back to the "it never happend, you are back on earth" idea. See Season 1 Episode: Home http://www.gateworld.net/atlantis/s1/109.shtml
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8-22-2006 @ 12:38AM
Gillian Film Girl said...
I totally agreed with everything that you said!
When the acting is this good and the story this compelling, (not to mention the fabulous directing by series newcomer Paul Ziller) The writers can be forgiven for keeping the techno speak simple and basic. After all what would we rather watch?
Tori did a bang up job with such a weighty role (and who cares if Science Fiction only has 12 stories that are continuously recycled?) She needs to get the Leo
It was nice to see Rick really listening as an actor-as he did in this role. He does drama as well as comedy, a rare quality indeed, and it was nice to see just what he added to this episode. In his first interview with Weir, he was so sincere! I really felt that HE felt that she was nuts! I was INTO the moment of the story!
As someone who studies actors (and film) I have to admit that I was a bit blown back by the acting chops of Tori and Rick! We see them usually in “easy roles” (or at least more stoic roles as the respective leaders of their bases,) and we forget what acting powerhouses they can be if given the right situations.
Paul Ziller did an amazing job! The camera work totally enhanced the story without distracting from it. SG-1 and Atlantis have an incredible camera department and almost everything that they do is not only first rate, it is simply amazing. Paul Ziller’s work had a lot of Dutch Angles and very fluid camera movement and reminded me somewhat of both Peter Woest’s (Director of Photography for SG-1 and one of the series directors) episode “Grace” and Amanda Tapping’s (SG-1 series lead and award winning director) episode “Resurrection”. And like those two episodes, there were many times when I had to remind myself to actually LOOK at the camera work…I kept getting sucked back into the story. Maybe when I’ve seen “Real World” a few more times I can analyze it in more detail.
Gillian
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8-25-2006 @ 11:24PM
isaac schinazi said...
Did anybody notice that Browder played an orderly holding down Weir at one point?
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