The Real World - Review
23/10/2008 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rachel500The Real World is the 6th episode in Season Three of Stargate Atlantis.
Review
Review
Having looked forward to this episode for a number of reasons; Weir-centric, written by Carl Binder, and not to mention the guest appearance by Richard Dean Anderson, The Real World does not disappoint. The story is tightly written, Torri Higginson delivers an outstanding performance and Richard Dean Anderson is as enjoyable as ever. The only area for improvement is the use of the rest of the Atlantis characters within the story and the resulting lack of balance.
Given the amount of focus on Weir, balancing all the characters was always going to be a challenge. The problem is not in having too much Weir. Indeed, although the story focuses just on Weir for almost half the episode, Higginson’s performance is so good that the rest are not missed. The problem is that even though the whole team is often present in the infirmary, these scenes are primarily used for exposition. This reduces the feel that the whole team cares about Weir and is working to bring her back even though they are.
This is reinforced by what the characters are given to do; Beckett constantly says they are losing; McKay is used too much as the objector creating the impression he’s detached instead of being tremendously worried about Weir dying. Teyla and Ronan are primarily used to ask questions or provide points of clarification within the exposition such as Ronan informing the audience the nanites were created to fight the Wraith, and so both feel as though they were barely present at all. All of this in contrast to Sheppard who is shown as the only person talking to Weir and being her touch-point back to Atlantis, the ultimate example of this being his entering the isolation tent to be with her.
The dialogue in these exposition scenes needed tweaking to balance it better. For example, instead of Sheppard working out Weir was fighting the nanites, perhaps Teyla could have made that leap or Ronan used to prompt Beckett’s idea. This would still have kept Sheppard as the singular representation of Atlantis in Weir’s fight with the nanites (as having a singular focus does keep the tension taut especially within the latter scenes) while providing a better balance. Indeed, the episode would have suffered a great loss of dramatic tension if this had been lost.
The story is a nicely rendered psychological thriller and various tricks of the trade are employed to help create tension. The musical underscore is used to emphasis Weir’s emotions; poignant piano segments which emphasis her grief, sadness and loneliness, and an almost growling sound to reinforce the creepiness and her fear. The use of colour and light helps set the mood; white and blue in the hospital scenes to emphasis the sense of isolation; the bright colours of its garden and Weir’s home as an emotional refuge; the darkness of the SGC underscoring the danger.
All add to the tension along with some good horror clichés including facelessness. This is used to represent not only the obscuring of Atlantis in Weir’s mind as it becomes a shadowy figure but also in the bathroom scene as Weir’s own impending loss of identity. All of these tricks are necessary because while the story is a psychological thriller, it cannot play too much with the audience who is never going to fall for the ruse Atlantis doesn’t exist. Instead, it uses all available tools and focuses completely on Weir’s emotional, psychological and physical reactions to the illusion to provide the tension to great effect.
The Real World is the first time in a long while that there has been a sense of dramatic tension in whether a character would survive. The cutting back and forth between Weir in the bathroom and Sheppard’s encouragement to her to begin her fight again help to invoke that tension while the physical flight from the hospital, and through the SGC, create additional urgency. The only let down is the moment between Niam and Weir. Perhaps a line from Weir before she walked through him to safety would have just added something to give it more punch. Still, it is not enough to detract from the rest which has the audience rooting for the character to win.
The story is very successful in getting the audience to care about Weir and a lot of this is done in the first half by stripping the character of her armour, in particular her position of control, and revealing her emotional Achilles heels; her relationship with Simon and her parents. It is in the scenes with her mother that Higginson’s performance shines most with Weir’s reaction to her father’s watch; that moment of breakdown is superbly done by Higginson but so too is Christina Jastrzembska’s reaction to it as Weir’s mother. The act of stroking Weir’s hair and the dialogue is spot on as a portrayal of a mother comforting a child. Beautifully done; it brings tears to the eyes. The use of the watch at the end is a nice touch to demonstrate how shaken Weir is that she needs that parental comfort again.
There is a nice dynamic between Higginson and Anderson who play their characters’ relationship as professional yet trusting. Anderson does a great job in playing O’Neill but not O’Neill. There is enough irreverence and O’Neill awkwardness to evoke a wave of nostalgia for the character, and the actor, and enough underlying creepiness to suggest the nanite threat O’Neill actually is. Equally, Alan Ruck turns in a great guest performance as the psychiatrist/attacking nanite.
The Real World is wonderfully acted, directed and produced. It has at its core a well-written script which fully explores the frailties and strengths of one of Atlantis’s characters even if it doesn’t quite manage to balance the rest. The addition of Richard Dean Anderson’s Jack O’Neill just adds the proverbial sublime cherry on the top of this great cake.
Given the amount of focus on Weir, balancing all the characters was always going to be a challenge. The problem is not in having too much Weir. Indeed, although the story focuses just on Weir for almost half the episode, Higginson’s performance is so good that the rest are not missed. The problem is that even though the whole team is often present in the infirmary, these scenes are primarily used for exposition. This reduces the feel that the whole team cares about Weir and is working to bring her back even though they are.
This is reinforced by what the characters are given to do; Beckett constantly says they are losing; McKay is used too much as the objector creating the impression he’s detached instead of being tremendously worried about Weir dying. Teyla and Ronan are primarily used to ask questions or provide points of clarification within the exposition such as Ronan informing the audience the nanites were created to fight the Wraith, and so both feel as though they were barely present at all. All of this in contrast to Sheppard who is shown as the only person talking to Weir and being her touch-point back to Atlantis, the ultimate example of this being his entering the isolation tent to be with her.
The dialogue in these exposition scenes needed tweaking to balance it better. For example, instead of Sheppard working out Weir was fighting the nanites, perhaps Teyla could have made that leap or Ronan used to prompt Beckett’s idea. This would still have kept Sheppard as the singular representation of Atlantis in Weir’s fight with the nanites (as having a singular focus does keep the tension taut especially within the latter scenes) while providing a better balance. Indeed, the episode would have suffered a great loss of dramatic tension if this had been lost.
The story is a nicely rendered psychological thriller and various tricks of the trade are employed to help create tension. The musical underscore is used to emphasis Weir’s emotions; poignant piano segments which emphasis her grief, sadness and loneliness, and an almost growling sound to reinforce the creepiness and her fear. The use of colour and light helps set the mood; white and blue in the hospital scenes to emphasis the sense of isolation; the bright colours of its garden and Weir’s home as an emotional refuge; the darkness of the SGC underscoring the danger.
All add to the tension along with some good horror clichés including facelessness. This is used to represent not only the obscuring of Atlantis in Weir’s mind as it becomes a shadowy figure but also in the bathroom scene as Weir’s own impending loss of identity. All of these tricks are necessary because while the story is a psychological thriller, it cannot play too much with the audience who is never going to fall for the ruse Atlantis doesn’t exist. Instead, it uses all available tools and focuses completely on Weir’s emotional, psychological and physical reactions to the illusion to provide the tension to great effect.
The Real World is the first time in a long while that there has been a sense of dramatic tension in whether a character would survive. The cutting back and forth between Weir in the bathroom and Sheppard’s encouragement to her to begin her fight again help to invoke that tension while the physical flight from the hospital, and through the SGC, create additional urgency. The only let down is the moment between Niam and Weir. Perhaps a line from Weir before she walked through him to safety would have just added something to give it more punch. Still, it is not enough to detract from the rest which has the audience rooting for the character to win.
The story is very successful in getting the audience to care about Weir and a lot of this is done in the first half by stripping the character of her armour, in particular her position of control, and revealing her emotional Achilles heels; her relationship with Simon and her parents. It is in the scenes with her mother that Higginson’s performance shines most with Weir’s reaction to her father’s watch; that moment of breakdown is superbly done by Higginson but so too is Christina Jastrzembska’s reaction to it as Weir’s mother. The act of stroking Weir’s hair and the dialogue is spot on as a portrayal of a mother comforting a child. Beautifully done; it brings tears to the eyes. The use of the watch at the end is a nice touch to demonstrate how shaken Weir is that she needs that parental comfort again.
There is a nice dynamic between Higginson and Anderson who play their characters’ relationship as professional yet trusting. Anderson does a great job in playing O’Neill but not O’Neill. There is enough irreverence and O’Neill awkwardness to evoke a wave of nostalgia for the character, and the actor, and enough underlying creepiness to suggest the nanite threat O’Neill actually is. Equally, Alan Ruck turns in a great guest performance as the psychiatrist/attacking nanite.
The Real World is wonderfully acted, directed and produced. It has at its core a well-written script which fully explores the frailties and strengths of one of Atlantis’s characters even if it doesn’t quite manage to balance the rest. The addition of Richard Dean Anderson’s Jack O’Neill just adds the proverbial sublime cherry on the top of this great cake.
