Occassionally, very occassionally, you sit down to watch an episode of Stargate and are taken completely by surprise – such was the experience delivered by Stargate Atlantis’s seventh episode of the fifth season – ‘Whispers’. From the very opening Whispers was, well, damn scary. The Stargate team, or rather, Dr. Beckett and Lt. Col Sheppard and a whole new Stargate Team consisting of only women, stumble onto one of Michael’s laboratories, where genetic experimentation has created a race of creatures left behind because even Michael himself couldn’t control them. They are held in stasis pods but a local, attempting to find his missing wife, inadvertently releases them…just before dark.
Without going into the detail, Whispers outright succeeded in delivering A-Grade horror sci-fi – in fact, it delivered the equivalent scarey factor usually left to movies like 28 Days Later and Legend with a little The Ring thrown in for good measure; the only exception being that the alien creatures in Whispers also have a few other nifty tricks up their sleeves, like oozing fog from their necks! Read the rest of this entry »
Whilst Stargate Atlantis continues to herald some of the best science fiction television around, it is sad to say that the fifth season of this brilliant series will be its last. Yes, that means the current series, on air right now, is the last. The 100th episode of the series will be its final episode, titled ‘Enemy at the Gate.’
There is, however, a silver lining on the Atlantis cancellation rainbow. The Sci Fi Channel have announced that a two hour Stargate Atlantis movie will be produced following the end of the fifth season. The movie will premiere on Sci Fi after which MGM will release it to DVD.
It seems the Stargate SG1 movies have been successful such that Atlantis will now follow in SG1’s footsteps. This is good news in totality, for it means that fans can expect more Stargate SG1 and more Stargate Atlantis in the future. Read the rest of this entry »
Stargate Atlantis continues it’s run of excellent episodes with it’s latest instalment, The Shrine. In the Shrine, the Atlantis team find themselves stuck on top of a stargate in a flooded valley, freezing cold and awaiting help. When they finally make it back, Dr. McKay has fallen ill. It turns out that a parasitic organism has burrowed into his brain, the symptoms of which are memory loss and, ultimately, death. With little time to live, McKay’s sister is summoned from Earth to say goodbye.
This episode was quite emotional, and the acting ability of David Hewlett was quite honestly superb. The symptoms of the parasite in his brain emerge in a similar fashion to the symptoms of alzheimers disease. In my youth, I watched my grandmother slowly deteriorate from alzheimers disease and I can say from experience that Hewlett’s performance was on the money and, for much of the episode, kept me flashing back to the experiences with my Grandmother. There is one scene in the episode where McKay who, though losing his memory, jokes by calling Sheppard the wrong name. They both laugh, and this reminded me of my real life experiences – alzheimers, though sad, can often lead to humorous forgetful moments. Read the rest of this entry »
Originally (and still) a major Stargate SG-1 fan, I must admit I was a little disappointed when the first season of Stargate Atlantis began to unfold. Although I had waited for it with eager anticipation, for some reason it just didn’t seem to hit the spot. Now, it is without question that I say Stargate Atlantis is currently the best science fiction show on television, and is the most entertaining sci-fi show currently in syndication. Yes, I know Battlestar Galactica takes the sci-fi cake, but its not currently on TV…
Episode 5 of Season 5 is the latest episode in this brilliant series, titled ‘Ghost in the Machine.’ If you don’t want to read spoilers, you probably shouldn’t continue from here. The episode begins with the Atlantis team losing power in their Puddle jumper and being placed in a seemingly disastrous position of burning up in the atmosphere of a planet as they helplessly drift down. Suddenly, without their own intervention, power is restored and they are able to return to Atlantis. Soon after the same power failures begin on Atlantis, before they realize the consciousness of their previous commander, Doctor Elizabeth Weir, has somehow taken control of Atlantis’ computers. This is bad, because Weir is a Replicator. Read the rest of this entry »
