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When members of the team show signs of an unusual infection,
it is discovered to be caused by a nanite virus, which induces
hallucinations and then death due to brain haemorrhage. Though
the team attempts to disable the nanites with an electromagnetic
pulse, they fail when the pulse is not strong enough. Can
the deadly technology be stopped before it cuts down the entire
city...?
Hot
Zone sees the Atlantis team in a race against time. At
stake are the lives of all onboard the station. While this
is not a very original story, its execution is flawless. There's
real tension in this episode and I loved the way that time
after time a solution would appear only to evaporate before
our eyes. This building up of hope and then flooding the viewer
with a wave of disappointment really takes you on a roller
coaster ride.
I
was also a little concerned to see that the producers are
already putting into place a race that will be more of a threat
than the Wraith. Look away now if you don't want a small plot
development spoiled... but it seems that the nanite virus
has been specially designed to wipe out humanoid species but
not by the Wraith. This now means that there is potentially
another threat to humanity waiting in the wings.
A
well plotted episode that doesn't disappoint.
The
Atlantis team visits a pre-technological paradise and requests
that they be allowed to bring refugees of Wraith attacks there
for sanctuary. The locals refuse, believing that the goddess
Athar has restricted their planet from colonisation by outsiders.
But when Sheppard invites Athar's high priestess back to Atlantis,
is he inviting trouble into their midst...?
Sanctuary
is an interesting episode. Just when it starts to take itself
a little too seriously the writers inject a little humour
to ensure that everything lightens up a little. This is very
welcome as the blossoming romantic relationship between Sheppard
and Athar's high priestess is a little unbelievable - it just
moves too quickly. I know that's how 45 minute episodes have
to work, but it still moves a little too fast.
McKay makes some spot on references to Sheppard behaving like
Star Trek's Captain Kirk (in the '60s TV series - not
the movies) - always getting the new alien girl. There is
also an amusing scene where, in the middle of a meeting, Sheppard
asks if he can be alone with their guest for a few minutes
- to which all in the room cry in unison: "No!"
Also
this episode really brought home to me how out of order McKay
is. He came across as more arrogant than usual and really
does need to tone it down a little. Are there really people
out there that just say whatever they think? Well, obviously
there are, but wouldn't they be disciplined a little more
in the profession McKay is in?
Even
though it's rushed a little, I still found this to be an above
average episode.
The
Atlantis team discovers a stasis chamber holding a woman who
appears to be over 10,000 years old. Excited by the possibility
that she is one of the alien race that built Atlantis, the
team decides to bring her out of stasis despite the risks
to her health. But everyone is shocked when, once reanimated,
the elderly woman identifies herself as none other than Dr.
Weir...!
Before
I Sleep sees Atlantis doing a Back to the Future
- a film that
McKay has issues with as he says: "Don't even get me
started on that movie," when Sheppard mentions it.
The
make-up effects in this episode are incredible and I was also
impressed with Torri Higginson's acting as an older version
of Weir. Normally, whenever someone is aged in this way (take
for example Julian Bashir in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's
Season
Three episode Distant Voices or any
of the actors that were aged in Back to the Future II)
they over act the ageing process. Not only that, but the eyes
usually give away that there is a energetic, young actor under
all those layers of rubber. That is certainly not the case
here.
Back
to the Future fans, as well as anyone who loves getting
their heads around time travel stories, will be in their element
here. A riveting tale from start to finish.
The Atlantis team travels to Dagan, a planet populated
by a people whose ancestors once worshipped a ZPM as a religious
symbol. But even as the team searches for keys to its whereabouts,
the Genii have learned of their activities on Dagan and planted
a sleeper agent amongst them. Now, with the Atlantis team
closing in on the location of the ZPM, the Genii close in
on them...!
The Brotherhood stars Robert Davi once again. The thing
I love about his character is that he is not your stereotypical
villain of the week. He is not a bad man at all, and is simply
trying to help his people by any means necessary. This is
not unlike the Atlantis team, who seem to have no problems
with stealing from other cultures.
There
is something of an Indiana Jones story being told here
too. There are certainly elements of Raiders of the Lost
Ark in the script. Some of the scenes openly pay homage
to that movie. Davi's character is very much in the mould
of Dr. Rene Belloq. And the scene with the Atlantis team trapped
in the underground chamber is very similar to the scene in
Raiders where Belloq stands above the Well of the Souls
with Indy and Marian trapped below.
There
is a very impressive time elapse scene. This episode starts
with the Brotherhood fleeing the city as it is under attack.
As they run outdoors you get to see a wonderful view of their
city. This view then rapidly ages to depict crumbling city
walls and buildings, and then the camera pans back to show
the Atlantis team inside the main building, thousands of years
later.
This
is certainly the best episode in this collection.
Extras
include Mission Directive featurettes for Before
I Sleep and The Brotherhood. These are 14 minute
extras that go behind the scenes of the filming of each episode.
There is also a 22 minute featurette hosted by David
Hewlett (who plays Dr McKay) - Behind the Stargate: Secrets
Revealed - Part 1. This is pretty interesting and very
funny and goes behind the scenes of both SG-1 and Atlantis.
I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how this series of
featurettes progresses.
There
was one annoying aspect of this disc - which has grated on
me for some time now with a lot of DVDs. Why do DVD producers
insist on putting trailers at the start of these collections?
Why not list them under additional features? Some DVD players
are unable to skip these - which must be very annoying for
anyone unfortunate enough to have to sit through them. It's
not that they are bad - they are actually quite interesting,
it's just that this is the sort of thing you expect when you
rent a DVD or video, not when you've paid £20 for it
- especially when it is the same collection of trailers on
each disc.
Pete
Boomer
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