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When
the team follows up on a rumour of an invincible hero off-world,
they find that it's really just Lucius Lavin up to his old
tricks. And instead of finding a superhero, they find themselves
in a fight with Kolya and his men...
Irresponsible
is a sort of follow up episode to this season's Irresistible.
Richard Kind returns in the role of Lucius Lavin the loveable
rogue who likes to make himself sound more important than
he actually is. Once the team find that he has once again
managed to secure the devotion of the inhabitants of another
planet they assume the worst - that Lavin is once again using
his intoxicating drug to keep the villagers under his spell.
But, a quick medical examination soon puts a stop to their
concerns, until they realise that he's actually managed to
acquire a personal shield and that the villagers think he
is a super strong hero.
This
episode also sees the return of Robert Davi as Kolya, who
puts in another great performance. The action takes place
in the same location (although it's supposed to be a totally
different world) as the SG-1 episode Revisions.
The sad thing is is that it is so obviously the same location
(a run down theme park in Canada called Fantasy Garden World)
that it was a bit of a distraction.
Martin
Wood (director/supervising producer) and Michael Blundell
(director of photography) provide the audio commentary for
this episode. Wood points out many issues he has with the
episode - including continuity and poor plot developments
- as well as talking about what a nightmare the location was
to shoot in.
Zapped by a mysterious device that belonged to the Ancients,
Rodney winds up with superhuman powers. But things aren't
quite what they seem, and Rodney and the team must race to
ensure his safety...
Tao
of Rodney is a McKay based episode. And, as I'm a huge
fan of the character, I loved this episode. It was pretty
obvious that there was going to be a drawback to McKay's sudden
increased brain activity, and it wasn't too hard to work out
it was going to shorten his life expectancy. While there isn't
really much jeopardy in this episode - you know McKay's not
going to die - the gags keep coming thick and fast so that
you don't particularly care. There's also a rather touching
series of scenes as McKay accepts the inevitable and decides
to spend his last hours helping others.
Martin
Wood (director/supervising producer) and Michael Blundell
(director of photography) provide their second audio commentary
on this disc. They reveal how the donut effect was achieved
without the use of CGI, as well as explain that McKay heals
Ronon's Wraith scars so that the writers can have Ronon go
topless in future episodes.
The discovery of a simulator game that McKay and Sheppard
have been playing for a few years turns out to be real, and
they must now put their petty competition aside or pay the
consequences for inadvertently orchestrating a bloody war...
The
Game is yet another McKay based episode. When an off-world
team discover a country whose flag has McKay's face plastered
across the middle, Weir wants to know why. McKay and Sheppard
realise that the Ancient computer game they've been playing
for a number of years is not just a game, and that their commands
have been relayed to two nations who have been following their
commands. This
episode also co-stars Laura Harris (Dead Like Me, 24)
as the leader of McKay's country.
William
Warring (director) and Brenton Spencer (director of photography)
provide the audio commentary. They point out the extra who
appears after winning a charity auction and the fact that
the Zelenka and Lorne scenes, where they both get sucked into
playing another game, was added at the last minute as the
script was a little short.
The
Atlantis team discovers survivors from a civilisation who
are in suspended animation aboard a space station. As some
of the people awaken, it turns out that everyone on the station
might be destroyed, including Sheppard...
The
Ark is another strong episode with only one real drawback.
I really couldn't understand why the episode started by showing
us that Sheppard would later be trying to fly a vessel that
appeared to be breaking apart. This doesn't add anything to
the build up of the episode. It also spoils the episode, as
it's pretty obvious, once they are trapped onboard the station,
that he will eventually pilot the one remaining shuttle.
The
space station set is pretty impressive too - there are a few
long scenes where characters go from room to room just to
show off how huge it is.
Martin
Wood (director) and Mark Savela (VFX supervisor) provide the
audio commentary. They reveal the scene in which a Snickers
bar and bottle of water are clearly visible, and the fact
that Ronon's head wouldn't actually fit inside the space helmets.
Extras
on the disc include the four audio commentaries already mentioned;
Mission Directive: The Game Featuring William Waring
(13.5 mins look behind the scenes of The Game. Although
sadly there's no interview with any of the guest actors);
Look Inside Master FX Studios (18 mins featurette that
takes us behind the scenes at the company that provides the
prosthetic makeup effects - although we only see two of the
designs they've dealt with, this is still interesting); Photo
Gallery and Production Design Gallery.
So
far, this disc represents the strongest collection of episodes
in the show's fourth season.
Pete
Boomer
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