Since her series, Sanctuary, was green-lit by SyFy at the end of
the fourth season of Stargate: Atlantis, Amanda Tapping had no choice but to
leave the show, ending an eleven year relationship with the Stargate franchise.
It turned out to be a good career move on her part, since--about halfway through
the airing of the fifth season of Atlantis--the formal announcement came that it
would not be returning for a sixth season. Thus Tapping, whose own dynamic
dark fantasy series has since been renewed for a second season, was
spared the unemployment line when production on Stargate: Atlantis came to an
end. But her replacement as leader of the Atlantis base proved to be an inspired
idea. Robert Picardo, best known by Star Trek fans as the Holographic Doctor
from Star Trek: Voyager, stepped in to take command as Richard Woolsey, a
character he originally created in Heroes, the two part episode that aired in
the seventh season of Stargate: SG1.
Picardo is a solid actor who often rises above the material he’s given to work
with, and his performance as Woolsey, the befuddled, by-the-book bureaucrat who
struggles with command, is very enjoyable--and the fact that Picardo even
manages to make such a dry character sympathetic is a testament to his acting
skills. The fifth season overall is just as good as the fourth, as the writers
wrap up some major storylines--yet it’s still got enough misses to not make it a
perfect home run. For instance, Michael Shanks’ Daniel Jackson pays a visit to
Atlantis because he’s found the hidden lab of a legendary scientist in the
marvelous First Contact, which introduces a forceful new villain. But the second
half of this two parter, The Lost Tribe, completely falls apart when the
identity of this villain is exposed, revealing plot holes galore along with
scenes of endless bratty exposition between Jackson and Dr. Rodney McKay.
First Contact/The Lost Tribe is a perfect example of the fundamental problem of
Stargate: Atlantis--which, at it’s best, was a fun, comfort-food series that had
flashes of brilliance. And yet, it would often stumble to the point where it fell flat
on its face. The marvelous Tracker, and the fun
Daedalus Variations are balanced
out by the insipid Brain Storm and the
unintentionally funny and lame Vegas--which rips
off, of all things, the dreadfully odious CSI.
(Note to future TV writers, if you MUST rip off something, at the very
least rip off something good.) And the gleefully hoary and entertaining
Whispers, with its fun horror movie-inspired theme, is balanced out by the overheated
Enemy At The Gate, which tries to end the series on
an epic note, but falls drastically short because of the need to keep the
storyline open for future DVD movies.
The acting is still very good, and was the only thing that held my interest
during the sub-par episodes. David Hewlett’s flawless performance as smug
know-it-all Dr. Rodney McKay was often a joy to watch--as was Jewel Staite, as
Dr. Jennifer Keller, whom the producers had wisely made a series’ regular this
year. Jason Momoa did wonders with nothing but grunts and hard looks as his
warrior man Ronon Dex, and Christopher Heyerdahl was remarkably good and ominous as
the recurring Wraith villain Todd. And despite the uneven quality of the
episodes themselves, the Atlantis DVDs are among the best in terms of special
features, and the fifth season is no exception in this regard. So it didn’t run
as long as its far superior predecessor, Stargate: SG-1. So it wasn’t in the
same league as other SF series like Firefly or the recent
Battlestar Galactica.
The imperfect Stargate: Atlantis, when it was good, was still vastly
entertaining. And that’s as good as an assessment that any TV series can hope for.
--SF
