The Daedalus Variations - Review
23/10/2008 09:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rachel500The Daedalus Variations is the 4th episode in Season Five of Stargate Atlantis.
Review
The Daedalus Variations is an original take on the well-loved Stargate standard of the alternate reality twist, and its classic format of the team getting into trouble and getting out of it again. The result is an episode with a well constructed story that delivers on special effects, action and teamwork but which never quite makes the grade as a classic itself.
It is a good story. The idea of the alternate reality drive; the concept of the team stranded on the Daedalus constantly shifting into different realities and having to deal with the challenges presented by each new reality on the way is a very good one. The flow from the arrival of the Daedalus, the revelation of the reality drive, the problems and solutions is done with elegance. It’s an original, well thought out and engaging plot.
The characterisation is spot on; all primary team members get a good outing – Sheppard gets to lead his team effectively and take risky actions; Ronon gets to fight bad guys; Teyla gets to demonstrate her intelligence and McKay gets to figure out new technology while worrying if they’ll make it.
More the characters act like a team; there are some really nice moments as Sheppard backs up Ronon, Teyla thanks McKay for his continuing efforts to get them home, Ronon reassures Teyla on her fears, and McKay and Sheppard banter along as usual. All four actors bounce off each other, ensuring the dialogue is backed up by non-verbal interaction. The looks the others share when Sheppard is praising himself are priceless. Equally the use of Chuck, Zelenka and Lorne is fabulous with Woolsey nicely mentioned in an appropriate way.
The story also nicely manages to shade the situation on the side of believability in regards to the characters’ knowledge and experience with the ship; Sheppard and McKay both shown to be completely conversant while Teyla’s newfound knowledge is neatly explained away even though she is still shown not to be a complete expert. Ronon’s ineptitude with the rail guns is realistic. I loved the moment where he bangs on the controls in frustration and Sheppard’s response and reference to Star Wars.
Credit has to go to Alan McCullough for the story just as a lot of credit has to go to the special effects department. Everything from the readouts on the monitors to the reality shift effect was well executed. My favourite segment has to be the opening of the bay doors with the puddle jumper dead centre; just a stunning shot which captures the imagination. The space battle was also great with the clash of the alien fighters against the F302s; a very edge-of-seat thrilling sequence.
The designers also outdid themselves in regards to the new aliens. The bright green weapons fire, the hulking soldiers, the ships. There is just the merest suggestion that this is that reality’s version of the Wraith with the facial make-up and dart-like fighters but enough of a difference that it feels different and suggests a completely new alien.
Yet, for all that is right with the episode, it feels like it never quite shifts into top gear. It’s good but it’s not brilliant. And it is very difficult to pinpoint and say why. Perhaps the answer is in the pacing of the story to some degree, perhaps in the nature of the challenges faced in each reality, or perhaps in the repetition of certain things that are beginning to irritate rather than enhance.
The pacing of the story is ever so slightly off. The story opens with the mystery of the ship’s appearance and the first challenge (the disappearance of Atlantis from the planet) leads to the discovery of the drive. There is little action; the engagement of the audience is with the mystery. It is not until the second shift when Sheppard engages with the alien ship that any kind of action begins. After that with the increasingly small amounts of time between jumps, the action does speed up almost to the point where it feels too rushed in the sequence between the Sun, the reengagement with the alien ship, and the jump home. While an attempt is made to balance between action and downtime, it just isn’t quite achieved in the final analysis.
Perhaps the challenges are not quite as epic as they needed to be either. While the story works with the challenges in that they provide a logical flow forward and back, it never truly feels like the team is in significant danger despite the alien ships, the red giant of a sun, the alien invasion into the Daedalus. The sense of danger is meant to be suggested by the discovery of their dead alternates but ultimately it never feels like no-one is going to make it home – and that means the story loses impact, loses excitement, loses tension.
Finally, while the mention of Teyla’s worry about getting home and her baby provide continuity, the focus is just starting to slip for me from continuity to irritating repetition; Teyla’s had a baby; he’s cute; she’s worried about going back to work – we get it already; can we move on? Equally, this is the fourth episode to end in the infirmary which if it was done deliberately from a series production perspective borders on irritating repetition, and if it wasn’t done deliberately smacks of lack of attention to detail.
There is a lot to enjoy, but ultimately, the episode has a classic feel without being a classic. It reminds me of SG1’s Fail Safe; an episode that is enjoyable, focuses on the team together in trouble and having to find solutions, and is definitely one of my Stargate favourites but which just isn’t epic. The Daedalus Variations is the same; an ‘A’ for effort; an ‘A’ for the idea and the story, an 'A' for the production in the main, but the combined end result as an episode is a solid ‘B.’
Review
The Daedalus Variations is an original take on the well-loved Stargate standard of the alternate reality twist, and its classic format of the team getting into trouble and getting out of it again. The result is an episode with a well constructed story that delivers on special effects, action and teamwork but which never quite makes the grade as a classic itself.
It is a good story. The idea of the alternate reality drive; the concept of the team stranded on the Daedalus constantly shifting into different realities and having to deal with the challenges presented by each new reality on the way is a very good one. The flow from the arrival of the Daedalus, the revelation of the reality drive, the problems and solutions is done with elegance. It’s an original, well thought out and engaging plot.
The characterisation is spot on; all primary team members get a good outing – Sheppard gets to lead his team effectively and take risky actions; Ronon gets to fight bad guys; Teyla gets to demonstrate her intelligence and McKay gets to figure out new technology while worrying if they’ll make it.
More the characters act like a team; there are some really nice moments as Sheppard backs up Ronon, Teyla thanks McKay for his continuing efforts to get them home, Ronon reassures Teyla on her fears, and McKay and Sheppard banter along as usual. All four actors bounce off each other, ensuring the dialogue is backed up by non-verbal interaction. The looks the others share when Sheppard is praising himself are priceless. Equally the use of Chuck, Zelenka and Lorne is fabulous with Woolsey nicely mentioned in an appropriate way.
The story also nicely manages to shade the situation on the side of believability in regards to the characters’ knowledge and experience with the ship; Sheppard and McKay both shown to be completely conversant while Teyla’s newfound knowledge is neatly explained away even though she is still shown not to be a complete expert. Ronon’s ineptitude with the rail guns is realistic. I loved the moment where he bangs on the controls in frustration and Sheppard’s response and reference to Star Wars.
Credit has to go to Alan McCullough for the story just as a lot of credit has to go to the special effects department. Everything from the readouts on the monitors to the reality shift effect was well executed. My favourite segment has to be the opening of the bay doors with the puddle jumper dead centre; just a stunning shot which captures the imagination. The space battle was also great with the clash of the alien fighters against the F302s; a very edge-of-seat thrilling sequence.
The designers also outdid themselves in regards to the new aliens. The bright green weapons fire, the hulking soldiers, the ships. There is just the merest suggestion that this is that reality’s version of the Wraith with the facial make-up and dart-like fighters but enough of a difference that it feels different and suggests a completely new alien.
Yet, for all that is right with the episode, it feels like it never quite shifts into top gear. It’s good but it’s not brilliant. And it is very difficult to pinpoint and say why. Perhaps the answer is in the pacing of the story to some degree, perhaps in the nature of the challenges faced in each reality, or perhaps in the repetition of certain things that are beginning to irritate rather than enhance.
The pacing of the story is ever so slightly off. The story opens with the mystery of the ship’s appearance and the first challenge (the disappearance of Atlantis from the planet) leads to the discovery of the drive. There is little action; the engagement of the audience is with the mystery. It is not until the second shift when Sheppard engages with the alien ship that any kind of action begins. After that with the increasingly small amounts of time between jumps, the action does speed up almost to the point where it feels too rushed in the sequence between the Sun, the reengagement with the alien ship, and the jump home. While an attempt is made to balance between action and downtime, it just isn’t quite achieved in the final analysis.
Perhaps the challenges are not quite as epic as they needed to be either. While the story works with the challenges in that they provide a logical flow forward and back, it never truly feels like the team is in significant danger despite the alien ships, the red giant of a sun, the alien invasion into the Daedalus. The sense of danger is meant to be suggested by the discovery of their dead alternates but ultimately it never feels like no-one is going to make it home – and that means the story loses impact, loses excitement, loses tension.
Finally, while the mention of Teyla’s worry about getting home and her baby provide continuity, the focus is just starting to slip for me from continuity to irritating repetition; Teyla’s had a baby; he’s cute; she’s worried about going back to work – we get it already; can we move on? Equally, this is the fourth episode to end in the infirmary which if it was done deliberately from a series production perspective borders on irritating repetition, and if it wasn’t done deliberately smacks of lack of attention to detail.
There is a lot to enjoy, but ultimately, the episode has a classic feel without being a classic. It reminds me of SG1’s Fail Safe; an episode that is enjoyable, focuses on the team together in trouble and having to find solutions, and is definitely one of my Stargate favourites but which just isn’t epic. The Daedalus Variations is the same; an ‘A’ for effort; an ‘A’ for the idea and the story, an 'A' for the production in the main, but the combined end result as an episode is a solid ‘B.’
