Echoes - Review
23/10/2008 02:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rachel500Echoes is the 12th episode in Season Three of Stargate Atlantis.
Review
Review
After the exciting action of The Return II, SGA slows the pace with its next offering, Echoes. Relying on the mystery of the apparitions and the intrigue of the circling whale-like creatures to keep the audience’s attention, Echoes provides some lovely warm character moments, gentle humour and a long, slow slide to the actual threat to Atlantis. Perhaps the pacing is a little off and certainly the health issues caused by the whales create some health issues with the plot but overall this is an easy to watch and enjoyable slice of SGA requiring very little from its audience.
The episode is as languid as the ocean surrounding Atlantis and it washes over the viewer rather than drawing them in and sweeping them up in the action. Indeed, there is very little action until the last act when it becomes imperative to address the threat. What little there is with McKay and Sheppard’s jumper jaunt in the second act isn’t enough to disturb the meandering pace as scenes of discussion about both the whales and the apparitions take precedence with theories batted back and forth.
The mystery of the apparitions is well done. The theories put forth ranging from Teyla’s mental health to ghosts of the recently murdered Ancients on Atlantis trapped between planes are plausible enough to keep things interesting before the thread neatly intersects with the whale one and the truth is revealed. The story thread is enhanced by the special effects of the Ancients passing through people and appearing/disappearing and the make-up of the burns on the pilot which are realistic enough without sliding into the horror genre. Teyla as the character first able to see the ‘ghosts’ is also a good choice. The character definitely comes across as the most spiritual and her latent telepathic abilities provide a reason why she is the first to be affected. She is also the most balanced and least neurotic of Team Atlantis though and the audience is always aware that the suggestion Teyla is tired and seeing things while plausible is not likely.
Rachel Luttrell puts in a class performance as Teyla and it is a joy to see her get some front-and-centre screen-time, not least because of her ability to hint at the mischievous, fun and constantly thinking woman underneath Teyla’s calm exterior. Her scenes with Jason Momoa are particularly enjoyable from the meditation scene at the beginning, Teyla’s work-out with Ronon, his visit of her in the infirmary to the meditation scene at the end. These two have great chemistry as do Joe Flanigan and David Hewlett.
Sheppard and McKay drive the other thread of the episode involving the whales and two actors provide some laugh-out-loud moments between their characters; the scene in the infirmary is very funny as Sheppard derides all things Canadian before calling McKay by his actual name of Meredith as McKay is deaf to it but so too are the smaller moments; on the balcony with McKay pointing out the whale to Sheppard, the discussion about calling the whale Sam, their trying to sneak out of the infirmary together. The actors have built a seamless rhythm into their character’s back and forth that is wonderfully realistic and a lot of fun to watch.
It’s also great to see the other two regular characters not being forgotten. Weir and Beckett both have roles within the story and while neither is taxed with the material, Paul McGillon and Torri Higginson do a good job with what they are given and both of their reactions as they start to see the apparitions deserve a mention for being well-executed and believable.
If they are believable, unfortunately the plot device of the link between the whales and the deteriorating health of the humans is not. Allowing for a tremendous amount of artistic licence taken with recovery times for perforated ear drums, the proximity of so many of the creatures to Atlantis should have been fatal for most of the expedition given how badly Sheppard and McKay were affected in the jumper when they got close to a few. And given that they were, both characters remain surprisingly unaffected when the rest of the whales converge on the city. It also begs the question why they weren’t similarly affected by the whale during the Grace Under Pressure adventure but that’s a question for another day. The whales themselves are very much a danger to the humans yet once the main threat of the sun-flare is revealed, this seems to get quietly forgotten about in terms of the plot although it is used as a device to galvanise Sheppard into action.
The revelation of the actual threat, the timing of it; ‘it’s already happening’ and the intense burst of activity to get the shields raised on the Daedalus in time all feel a little rushed given the slow, molasses-like pace that precedes them, and having taken sooo long to get to the point, it all feels over far too quickly as the viewer is swiftly returned to the activities of the team in meditation and whale-spotting. The word anti-climatic comes to mind. The pacing of the episode is definitely off: there is too much exposition and musing; too little drama and action.
Having had a particularly tiring day at work and with the beginnings of a headache not caused by a whale, I was rather pleased at the opportunity to switch my brain off and simply watch the episode unfold. It required little from me and I was happy. A different day and a different mood and the word boring might apply to Echoes despite the fact that the character moments evoke a nice warm fuzziness, the humour the odd chuckle. While it may not be a stand-out episode, it was enjoyable and very easy to watch, and I look forward to curling up with a mug of cocoa and rewatching it on a rainy Sunday afternoon sometime in the future.
The episode is as languid as the ocean surrounding Atlantis and it washes over the viewer rather than drawing them in and sweeping them up in the action. Indeed, there is very little action until the last act when it becomes imperative to address the threat. What little there is with McKay and Sheppard’s jumper jaunt in the second act isn’t enough to disturb the meandering pace as scenes of discussion about both the whales and the apparitions take precedence with theories batted back and forth.
The mystery of the apparitions is well done. The theories put forth ranging from Teyla’s mental health to ghosts of the recently murdered Ancients on Atlantis trapped between planes are plausible enough to keep things interesting before the thread neatly intersects with the whale one and the truth is revealed. The story thread is enhanced by the special effects of the Ancients passing through people and appearing/disappearing and the make-up of the burns on the pilot which are realistic enough without sliding into the horror genre. Teyla as the character first able to see the ‘ghosts’ is also a good choice. The character definitely comes across as the most spiritual and her latent telepathic abilities provide a reason why she is the first to be affected. She is also the most balanced and least neurotic of Team Atlantis though and the audience is always aware that the suggestion Teyla is tired and seeing things while plausible is not likely.
Rachel Luttrell puts in a class performance as Teyla and it is a joy to see her get some front-and-centre screen-time, not least because of her ability to hint at the mischievous, fun and constantly thinking woman underneath Teyla’s calm exterior. Her scenes with Jason Momoa are particularly enjoyable from the meditation scene at the beginning, Teyla’s work-out with Ronon, his visit of her in the infirmary to the meditation scene at the end. These two have great chemistry as do Joe Flanigan and David Hewlett.
Sheppard and McKay drive the other thread of the episode involving the whales and two actors provide some laugh-out-loud moments between their characters; the scene in the infirmary is very funny as Sheppard derides all things Canadian before calling McKay by his actual name of Meredith as McKay is deaf to it but so too are the smaller moments; on the balcony with McKay pointing out the whale to Sheppard, the discussion about calling the whale Sam, their trying to sneak out of the infirmary together. The actors have built a seamless rhythm into their character’s back and forth that is wonderfully realistic and a lot of fun to watch.
It’s also great to see the other two regular characters not being forgotten. Weir and Beckett both have roles within the story and while neither is taxed with the material, Paul McGillon and Torri Higginson do a good job with what they are given and both of their reactions as they start to see the apparitions deserve a mention for being well-executed and believable.
If they are believable, unfortunately the plot device of the link between the whales and the deteriorating health of the humans is not. Allowing for a tremendous amount of artistic licence taken with recovery times for perforated ear drums, the proximity of so many of the creatures to Atlantis should have been fatal for most of the expedition given how badly Sheppard and McKay were affected in the jumper when they got close to a few. And given that they were, both characters remain surprisingly unaffected when the rest of the whales converge on the city. It also begs the question why they weren’t similarly affected by the whale during the Grace Under Pressure adventure but that’s a question for another day. The whales themselves are very much a danger to the humans yet once the main threat of the sun-flare is revealed, this seems to get quietly forgotten about in terms of the plot although it is used as a device to galvanise Sheppard into action.
The revelation of the actual threat, the timing of it; ‘it’s already happening’ and the intense burst of activity to get the shields raised on the Daedalus in time all feel a little rushed given the slow, molasses-like pace that precedes them, and having taken sooo long to get to the point, it all feels over far too quickly as the viewer is swiftly returned to the activities of the team in meditation and whale-spotting. The word anti-climatic comes to mind. The pacing of the episode is definitely off: there is too much exposition and musing; too little drama and action.
Having had a particularly tiring day at work and with the beginnings of a headache not caused by a whale, I was rather pleased at the opportunity to switch my brain off and simply watch the episode unfold. It required little from me and I was happy. A different day and a different mood and the word boring might apply to Echoes despite the fact that the character moments evoke a nice warm fuzziness, the humour the odd chuckle. While it may not be a stand-out episode, it was enjoyable and very easy to watch, and I look forward to curling up with a mug of cocoa and rewatching it on a rainy Sunday afternoon sometime in the future.
