TVSquad

(S04E03) In this week's episode of Atlantis Ronon meets up with a group of his fellow Satedans and decides to join up with them to continue to fight the Wraith. However, it seems that his 'friends' are not the freedom fighters that they once were.

Now, where have I scene this plot before? Maybe with Teal'c on Stargate SG-1 or Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation or Andromeda or SeaQuest or any other science fiction show that has been made over the last 30 years. Heck, pick any show featuring a character out of the element and there is bound to be an episode where they decide to rejoin lost friends and colleagues, then realize that the grass was really greener where they had originally come from.

The fact that this age-old plot was used in Atlantis is not why I'm angry, though. If this was used during a later episode I would have been okay with it. What's making me angry is that it was used so early after the events of the previous two shows, relegating Colonel Carter's introduction as Atlantis' new administrator as the B-story.

I may be sentimental here, but the changing of the guard in Atlantis should have been a fairly momentous occasion. Here's Carter, 10 years with Stargate Command, assuming leadership in one of the more important positions of the whole program, and she barely gets any screen time. Gosh, when Worf transferred over to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine he got a two-hour season premiere out of it!

What also made me angry was Ronon's reaction to Carter not more than a few minutes after she assumed her duties. Yes, Ronon isn't one to make nice-nice with administration, but he didn't even give the colonel a chance to prove her argument when he asked if he could bring his old friends to play with him in Atlantis. Then, he really smartens up the conversation by saying that Weir would have allowed his partners to come to Atlantis. Really? Weir was a very good leader and I don't know if she would have just taken the word of Ronon to allow these guys into her city, especially when it was on a brand new planet that the IOA didn't want the Wraith to know about.

Aarrrggghhh! It was all very frustrating. In his blog Executive Producer Joseph Mallozzi said that this would be a character-driven episode with lots of action. I felt that most of the action was limited to the very end of the episode. There were actually a few moments where I dozed off for a bit. All of the excitement that was displayed in the first two episodes of the season just fell flat in this episode. All in all, it could have been done better.

While my overall feeling about the episode was negative there were a few moments of interest:

• Teal'c saying good-bye to Samantha shortly before she took over her position in Atlantis. I liked his line about undomesticated equines not keeping him away from visiting Carter. Nice bit of continuity as well, as we saw the streak of gray in Teal'c hair, meaning that this scene took place after the events of SG-1's season finale.
• The awkward moment you knew that was coming between Sam and Rodney because of their, you know, unrequited lust for each other. Yeah, McKay is going to be distracted for awhile.
• Elizabeth hasn't been forgotten. One of the first things Colonel Sheppard asks Carter about is when they will be rescuing Weir from the Replicator planet. Sam acknowledges that something should be done, but only with a plan in place. This hopefully means will see a return to Elizabeth's story sometime later this season.
• Continued mentions of the Replicator-Wraith war. So far, it looks like the Replicators are beating the stuffing out of the Wraith. What fun is that for the viewer, though, if the Wraith get defeated. I can see the war turning badly for the Replicators somewhere down the line.
• Mark Dacascos played the role of Tyre this episode. I'm sure many of you know him from such martial arts movies as Double Dragon and Cradle 2 the Grave (I felt a bit like Troy Mcclure writing those lines); however, he is now known as "The Chairman" on Food Network's Iron Chef America. Since Tyre was the only Satedan to survive the fight with Ronon at the end of the episode I'm guessing that he'll be back.
• Speaking about the fight, it was best action sequence of the episode, and quite bloody as well. Man, one of the Satedans slashing another across the throat next just because they shouldn't have been using weapons in the fight . . . that was just cruel.

Next week it's body possession and people living their nightmares outside of sleep. Hm, now where have I seen those plot lines before?