Stargate: Atlantis 2.1: "The Siege: Part III"

Written by Martin Gero
Directed by Martin Wood

In which the arrival of the Daedalus helps Atlantis repel the Wraith’s initial attack, but the situation gets much worse when they send reinforcements and something goes wrong with Lt. Ford…


Before I go any further, I just have to have a moment of silence for the first season opening theme. I’m not sure why SFC decided to chop it down and remove the inspiring and memorable music, but I suspect it had something to do with adding commercial time. (Networks do silly things like that and pretend it doesn’t matter.)

I liked how it started right where it left off, and for the most part, the transitions were seamless. In fact, I was left wondering if the entire first act hadn’t been the original final act for the first season finale. Bear with me…wouldn’t that have actually been a logical place to end the series, if SFC had pulled a “Farscape” on it? It’s like the rest of the episode was somewhat tacked on to the original ending. I didn’t think it was bad, but there was a slight different feel to it after the first act. Very strange.

I think the addition of the Daedalus to the series will be a good thing. “SG-1” was always introducing new technology to the mix as the series went on, and having something bigger than a puddle jumper around is going to come in handy. It also adds an “outside” military presence to the series, which ought to play nicely against the group led by Sheppard. There are now several groups with very different levels of experience with the Wraith and the status quo of the Pegasus Galaxy, and that ought to be fun for the writers to play with!

I’m not sure what to think of Mitch Pileggi’s role yet. Supposedly it’s only going to be a recurring role, which I think would be unfortunate. For one thing, the man needs work! But he also needs a chance to get out of the chair and develop more of a personality. He’s something of a cardboard cutout right now, which is all right for an introduction under such circumstances, but his motivations need to be clarified.

The battle against the 12 Hive Ships was a great showcase for the special effects, and I’m glad the situation wasn’t resolved so easily as suggested. The final solution is also a mere delaying tactic, though. The writers make it sound like Ford is the weak link, and that his presence beyond Atlantis is likely to break the illusion. But that ignores the fact that they run around from planet to planet all the time! Aren’t the Wraith going to find evidence of their continued presence anyway?

I buy the fact that the Wraith would see the explosion and assume that the city was destroyed in a moment of spite. (I’m not sure why the Ancients would have failed to attempt a similar tactic, but there we are.) But the thing with Teyla and her little telepathic connection to the Wraith comes across as too convenient, especially after how difficult it was for her at the end of the first season. For that matter, in a few scenes, Teyla was a little “off”, like in the scene with McKay in the first half, so maybe that’s why I didn’t buy it completely.

This thing with Ford ought to be interesting. It’s about time they gave him something to do. He was probably my least favorite character from the first season, and frankly, he could have been the first major casualty, and I wouldn’t have minded. Now, though, he ought to be trouble for the team, and his ordeal might serve to explore more about the Ancient/Wraith connection.

I love the Daedalus! I thought the Prometheus kicked some serious butt, but this ship is even more massive and formidable. I love it when the writers actually think about how the shields and weapons work, and keep the technobabble to a relatively low roar by using established concepts and playing them out. By using and removing the one quick advantage of having the Daedalus around, the writers keep it from becoming too convenient a plot element.

As season premieres go, it was pretty good. It had a lot to cover, and it did that and more. I didn’t see Ford’s thing coming at all, especially since problems like that typically get resolved. I hope that this is a sign that the writers will continue to “up the ante” and keep the episodes from becoming too self-contained. The first season had a nice balance of dropping information about the mythos into each and every episode, and I’d love to see that continue.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 9/10