Stargate Atlantis – Outsiders

Sci Fi

(Season 5, Episode 12)

As we count down these last remaining episodes of Atlantis, episodes like “Outsiders” should be expected. It’s time to start looking back at the past and wrapping up some loose ends. And so we find ourselves being called back to the Hoffan drug of “Poisoning The Well.” It seems that the Wraith have decided just how to deal with the drug, and it’s not an unexpected decision. That’s not to say that the episode was predictable. The story brought with it some complicated morality questions, and at least one of the answers was rather unexpected.

This one took me a little while to really get into. I was happy to see Beckett return, and the return to the Hoffan drug story, but the underlying story in the village wasn’t the most original. The evil force assuring the population that if they hand over the wanted party they’ll be left alone has really been done a lot. It made it pretty obvious that someone would be cutting their own deal.

Because of that, the initial talks among the elders concerning what to do with the Balarans didn’t do a lot for me. I started coming on board when Sefaris (G. Michael Gray) started talking about a deal of his own. As soon as he mentioned the man of great value hiding in the village, it had to be Beckett. While obvious, it signaled that business was about to pick up.

You could certainly argue that being imprisoned on the hive ship brought its own dose of familiarity. I was ok with that though, because it really was a treat to see McKay and Beckett together again. The short time there covered the full spectrum. There was the comedy of the two of them jammed into the cockpit together. And, of course, McKay’s brilliant solution to their escape problem. The best bit of it though was Beckett putting his foot down with the Wraith, gambling everything on his results, and the drug actually working.

Sci Fi

Meanwhile, back on the ground, we get to that unexpected answer I mentioned at the beginning. You knew Elson (Joel Polis) was going to want to protect the Balarans because it was the right thing to do. And you knew Jervis (Sean Tyson) was going to sell them out in a misguided attempt to protect himself and his family. The part I didn’t see coming was Sheppard blowing up Jervis and all of his men. Is that really the punishment that fits his actions? Was there no other way to go about luring the Wraith into the mines? You could see how doing it weighed heavily on Elson. It’s an interesting development where Sheppard is concerned, made all that much more interesting given the previews we saw for next week’s episode.

It’s not one that’s going to go down in the SG annals as one of the can’t miss Atlantis entries, but certainly worth the time. I was left with a couple of nagging questions, however. First, did anyone else find it odd that Teyla didn’t sense a whole group of Wraith walking into the town? And second, what happened to Novo (Agam Darshi)? Given how close she was to Beckett, it struck me as strange that there was no followup with her after the first group of Balarans was dropped off. All things considered, I’d call it a good episode.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Oct 18, 2008 @ 10:00 EST5EDT