FAN REVIEWS: Vengeance

[GateWorld]

ATLANTIS SEASON THREE VENGEANCE EPISODE NUMBER - 319 The Atlantis team investigates the disappearance of one of their allies, only to find an old enemy engineering a race of powerful monsters. VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE > SPOILERS! PHOTOS! AND MORE!

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[Ebinia]

I thought this was an excellent episode for two main reasons. Firstly, it highlights one of the main reasons I prefer Atlantis to SG1 and love the show in general: mistakes with consequences. Secondly it is a classic sci-fi episode in both the look and content.

This episode focuses on mistakes made in the past, chiefly by Elizabeth Weir as leader of the expedition, but also by the whole of the senior staff that backed the Wraith experiments. There was much to be gained if successful so the mistake was not one of negligence, although perhaps overconfidence could be argued, it was simply a gamble that did not pay off. Having consequences for that mistake however is less usual in a TV show. Whilst making mistakes is a common occurrence in everyday life all too often a show makes their heroes invincible not only to enemies but to their own faults as well. This does not happen in Atlantis; from John awakening the Wraith, Rodney blowing up three-quarters of a solar system, Beckett enabling the development of a drug which ultimately kills a large portion of a planets population, to all of the Genii interactions, and much more. All actions were done with the best intentions but ultimately cause catastrophe for others. The Michael story line is the best example yet of the ongoing consequences; trying to fix the mistake of waking the Wraith, they make another mistake in creating Michael and each subsequent time make it worse when they continue to attempt to fix and make the best of it.

This episode was also highly enjoyable as a classic sci-fi / horror. The lighting, the atmosphere, the monsters, getting separated and surrounded, being captured and tied up. The way the monster was shot only in glimpses was very good, after all, the human imagination still far outstrips any SFX department. In a way it is an homage to the genre as so many parts reminded me of other great shows, films and books. The X-Files (Tooms), Alien, Predator, Starship Troopers, Dawn of the Dead, even Farscape (Irreversibly Contaminated) and 1984 (Room 101) and many many more. This for me is why the episode stands out from the other “Team” based episodes we’ve had recently.

Where the episode was let down is I think partly due to scheduling. Why have one episode in the dark followed by another?

The capturing of Teyla is another issue although on further reflection may just be the perceptions of the audience. After all, John was captured in Common Ground and Ronon in Sateda and nobody was complaining that they needed rescuing. Why is it that when a woman is in trouble people think that she’s just a plot devise to show our heroes in action? Not only that but by having Teyla in trouble it ties in with my earlier point of a ‘classic’ sci-fi type episode. She is also the character that has the closest ties to Michael and as actors have the best chemistry together.

The other issue I have with this episode is its name. To my interpretation vengeance is a deliberate act and I would therefore have liked to see Michael orchestrate their appearance on the planet rather than just attack them because they turned up. I guess it could also be argued that he knew they would turn up eventually given that he found the planet through details from their database but still, I’m not sure the title quite fits. His experiments were perhaps the act of vengeance but this was not really elaborated upon.

It is also a great shame that this episode could not have been used to kill off Carson.
His death in Sunday was pointless and completely accidental whereas if he had been killed by Michael then he, and others, would have been partly responsible for his death which would make for a much more interesting and darker storyline.

Overall I thought this episode stood out for it’s sci-fi content and the continuing Michael story arc. It did however have the potential to be more if Carson had been included so I give it 8/10.

[Rachel500]

I should say upfront that I’m not a fan of horror films. On the rare occasion my sister drags me to see one, I usually end up with my hand over my eyes or resolutely staring at the exit sign wondering how much longer the torture will last. Neither am I a huge fan of the Wraith retro-virus arc SGA has experimented with so it is with some surprise then that I found myself loving Vengeance. Wonderfully directed and well-written, Vengeance is filled with intrigue, tension and drama as it resurrects one of SGAs best villains, Michael.

Michael is a fabulous creation and the only good thing to come out of the whole Wraith retro-virus arc nonsense. Connor Trinneer has mastered his superb portrayal of the character, still managing to make Michael sympathetic and three-dimensional. The make-up and costuming is fantastic as Michael continues to be a strange mix of Wraith and human while he becomes less ambiguous from a character perspective as a villain. Just how dangerous Michael has become is well demonstrated in Vengeance; he’s building an army of bug people.

As always it is in a scene with Teyla that Michael’s emotions and thoughts are best revealed. There is a visible connection between the two characters that neither it seems wants but which exists. Trinneer and Luttrell have great chemistry and their scene is fraught with tension with Luttrell conveying an extremely frightened Teyla perfectly. There is a sense of disbelief that Michael will kill Teyla even as he releases the iratus bug yet that he does so drives home perhaps more than anything how Michael has changed; he will kill her not to feed on her but to experiment on her. Perhaps there is an underlying message that in picking up human ways of doing things, Michael is even more dangerous than as a simple Wraith.

What is extremely well done within the story is the whole sense of chickens coming home to roost for the Atlantis team; over their actions in going down the route of biological warfare and over their treatment of Michael. Here truly is the sense of karmic justice and Torri Higginson excels at the end of the episode in her scenes with Teyla and Sheppard as Weir acknowledges how the decisions the team made have led to Michael’s bug army and the deaths of their allies – her stunned shock with Teyla in particular is performed well and the scene is yet another wonderful demonstration of the friendship between the two women.

For me, this story provides a real sense of addressing the morality of what the team did with Michael, their mistake of experimenting with the Wraith retro-virus and in allying with the Wraith that has been missing in the arc to date. Another stand out scene is one between Ronan and Sheppard when Ronan questions Sheppard’s order to stun Michael not kill him, expressing how the time has come for Sheppard to face the fact that the retro-virus was a mistake. Joe Flanigan is in good form but Jason Momoa excels.

The story also gives Ronan an opportunity to spend time with McKay. The opening scene with Ronan trying to teach McKay some fighting skills is wonderfully done and very humorous. In fact despite the brilliant tension and drama, there is a nice sense of humour interweaving throughout the story from that opening scene to Ronan’s constant disappearance to the exchange over Weir sending back up (‘if you feel the need’; ‘I feel the need’) to the use of C4 and Sheppard and Ronan’s discussion on the plan to use the Wraith dart (‘I was going to suggest blowing it up but your plan is better’). It makes the character moments sparkle and helps lighten what is otherwise a very dark story.

The story is incredibly well-written by Carl Binder; it is well-structured and builds the tension throughout. The initial intriguing mystery of why their friends have not responded, the deserted settlement, the tunnels and the mysterious life-form, all help to engage the viewer. The revelation of Michael and his plan is well done; each scene between the characters extremely carefully crafted in terms of dialogue. The pacing is great. If the story and the episode feel a little like a homage to the Aliens film mentioned, it is a loving homage which attempts to emulate the strengths of the film rather than repeat the clichés.

Andy Mikita deserves a mention as director for creating such a tense, dramatic piece. The tension in the episode largely comes from the visual shots which focus tight on the characters’ reactions and the action pieces where visual effects of smoke and lighting are used to create the sense of confusion and panic, to obscure the view of the bug creatures which makes them all the more scary. The set design helps invoke the creepy atmosphere as does the musical underscore. It’s all very well done and I definitely jumped in places.

If I have one criticism with the story, it is with the sending of the Marine team as back-up. While necessary to allay Weir’s fears via the transmission from the hapless Lieutenant to prevent a rescue and create more of a sense of danger for the team, the plot device screams ‘red shirts’. Indeed when Weir uttered the great words, ‘I feel the need’, I happily tagged on the end of it ‘to send red shirts to be killed so the main cast is kept untouched.’ It was perhaps a tad too obvious that the brave Marines would die but it is a minor quibble in what is a great episode.

Every aspect of the show excels itself from make-up and costume to lighting and effects, to acting, directing and writing. It lacks the character development of a Sateda or a Common Ground but it deserves to be considered in the same category of excellence. This is accomplished story-telling at its best and I definitely wasn’t looking for an exit sign.

[entil2001]

The second half of this season of “SGA” has been riddled with apparent homages to well-known science fiction staples. This is at least the fourth such episode, and the second in which Sheppard actually points out the film that the show is emulating. This does have a lot of similarities to “Alien”, but the nice touch here is that the episode actually has long-term implications. That has been rare, especially in terms of McKay’s character development.

This time, it’s the return of Michael, who has somehow survived after being blown to all hell in “Misbegotten”, a turn of events that is never explained. In the end, it doesn’t really matter: this is a story about consequences. Everything Michael does in this episode, and will do in the future, is the consequence of the decision to experiment on him at the end of the second season. When it comes to the list of questionable decisions under Weir’s tenure, that has to be near the top of the list.

Michael is now creating Super-Wraith, which is a major problem. Just about the only good thing about them, at this point, is their somewhat mindless state. They attack and follow Michael’s orders, but they don’t seem to coordinate very well. Ronon and the others discovered at least two basic methods of killing the Super-Wraiths, and that was under less-than-ideal conditions. The real problem was a question of numerical superiority; there were too many to kill.

If the Super-Wraith were to act like the more familiar version of Wraith, complete with intelligence and the desire to feed rather than kill, the situation would be a lot more terrifying for Team Atlantis. As it is, they’re dealing with their own version of “Alien”, which is bad enough. The tension made this a good episode to watch, but for me, it all came down to the confrontations with Michael and Weir’s recognition that this is largely her responsibility.

It highlights what had been a major undercurrent of the series and what may finally be coming into the forefront: the question of whether or not Team Atlantis has been a good thing for the Pegasus Galaxy and, for that matter, the Milky Way. The awakening of the Wraith, the issues with the Genii, the unleashing of the Asurans, Michael and his new legion of Super-Wraith, the list goes on. Sooner or later, authorities on Earth are going to hold someone accountable.

This episode introduces an element that could bring a sense of cohesion to the fourth season, if it’s utilized well. Michael and his legion can now be added to the list of Pegasus Galaxy enemies: Wraith, Asurans, and the Genii. With so many enemies, the writers have more than enough opportunity to choose a couple of them and develop an arc that will be satisfying. After all, “SGA” will soon be the only series on the air, and the stakes will be raised.