Atlantis: why is it always the same joke?
I feel that I should explain that I missed Atlantis three Saturdays ago, caught up, thought I’d post about it along with my reaction to the next episode, except, again, I failed to watch it live and only caught up with it on Saturday with no time to post or process (as the Strictly final and Christmas preparations were devouring my brain) and then I watched the latest episode live. Here are my thoughts on all three episodes.
Atlantis 2.4 The Marriage of True Minds
Mixed bag. I was disappointed that Telemon was shown to be working with Pasiphae, basically making him a retread of Ariadne’s last suitor. It diminished him too because obviously Pasiphae was using him on a promise, and his surprise that she (and Medea) turned on him made him a bit pathetic. So, although the vow to avenge himself on Medea and the fact he couldn’t kill Ariadne - I wish it really was because in the carnage he couldn’t take another life, but I suspect it was falling for her after one episode and a bit.
I was going to say that the epic sweep of this episode was great, because the desert shots were more epic than usual (but the night time fights made me grumpy) and the more intimate drama was only so-so, but it improved when they came across the pilgrims, who were so intriguing, until blind Orpheus did obvious seer stuff, that I am glad the episode ended on a cliffhanger - and a good’un, almost to the point where I wish they’d drop the teaser.
Goodbye, Dion. It became obvious that of the small band of survivors that he’d be off next. He got to play father figure a little for Ariadne, given the importance of fathers in this episode.
I wish (in an episode written by a woman, where we had snark about ‘other women’ existing, and Pasiphae and Medea were stronger minded than paid soldiers) that we’d had a bit more interaction between Ariadne and her maids.
But then, I wish that they’d developed Ariadne’s character sensibly. Suddenly she’s an archer? An excellent one. Oh-kay. Never been mentioned before, and handled really poorly (why not ask specifically for a bow and arrow instead of ‘a weapon’?) And it’s typical of the belief that a Strong Woman needs to be a certain type, when Ariadne’s got plenty going on with Duty versus Love, and her city and people’s needs and Pasiphae trying to kill her. They could concentrate on giving all that due attention (as with the last episode, I don’t know why she didn’t consult with the Oracle about Telemon. Sure, send an emissary, but use all available resources to help you make big life decisions). And it just seemed that there were obvious, sensible steps to make her safer - like not putting her on a white horse, having her wear the same clothes as her maidservants. Or after the ‘we must leave everything’ stupid decision - YOU WERE IN THE DESERT - have her change into some of the guys’ clothes. A WHITE PETTICOAT. I ask you. Although it got dirtied up by the end of the journey and helped me see what Ariadne was doing in those dark night scenes, that was basically fanservice (and not even gender-balanced - I’m not saying Jason had to be shirtless, but none of the guys took off their leather so this whole business about leaving everything behind was let’s get Ariadne into her petticoat guff).
Having said all that, I actually enjoyed some of Jason and Ariadne’s by-play. The way he kept forgetting she was queen (your majesty, surely, not my lady!?) and bossed her about, reminding her to eat etc and his response to their imminent doom being to wind her up now that Telemon was out of the picture made me smile more than most Jason/Ariadne interaction.
2.5 The Day of the Dead
So, Pasiphae’s response to being badly injured in a Necropolis where her enemies, son and ally are is to call up zombies.
That’s our baddie.
Another literally very dark episode, mainly by the numbers. For me, the best bits involved Pythagoras and Hercules; even though their patter is eminently predictable, it’s fun. Pythagoras was occasionally ruthlessly illogical, although he must have known Eurydice was bitten. Waste of the guy playing Diagoras, I thought, although bringing Dion back was effective.
Ariadne took several steps forward, and though I still remain of the view that the Archer Queen Strong Woman development was a bit much, as was the dirtied petticoat, I did like her volunteering to kill Eurydice and do what she’d ask her people to do. But all the pining over what Orpheus and Eurydice had ended up in a mushfest. (Basically, I compare Ariadne with Eddis and Attolia and she comes up so short. Ahem.)
And I could see what they were trying to do with Jason and Medea’s truce, but it was half-baked and clichéd. There wasn’t a lot of tension throughout the whole episode. When Medea remembered how to break the curse (why not mention that to Jason before?) which meant going to where Pasiphae fell, I reflexively went ‘fancy that’ but the show made nothing of it, and just had Hercules being boorishly mistrustful, Jason understandably trustful and the rest going along with it. The concept of being allies while there were still zombies, and not trusting her entirely should have occurred to Pythagoras, but as I said, his logic was only sporadic.
Typical. This whole set-up could have been done a lot better.
Presumably Pasiphae regained enough strength to get away. (Is Medea her daughter? Or niece? Or was the ‘related by blood’ thing a lie Pasiphae told her to get her on side? But the sorcery would suggest not. And it would be nifty if she was related to Jason.)
2.6 The Grey Sisters
As I said, I watched this between the Strictly shows and not that long after catching up on the last episode, so it was more of a breather than a thing deserving of attention in its own right.
It had occurred to me that the fact that Medea hadn’t struck a killing blow might be telling i.e. that she didn’t really want to kill, because we’ve seen she can fight and she’s seen Pasiphae manage it with non-main characters. But then there was the curse, and really I’m trying to assign character motivations to something that was mainly done for plot and manpain.
I did enjoy the grey sisters of the title, and would have even if they hadn’t been so right about Jason being a pretty boy and a stupid boy. .
Medusa referencing, yay! I wanted to give Hercules a little more latitude than he gave himself over that, as a lot has happened, but yeah, he hasn’t really tried as hard as all that to rescue her (Medusa deserves better).
Lots of familiar so-so elements - running through the forest, typical banter, typical pining and the mystery of Medea and her connection with Jason being hammered out.
Pasiphae’s special pleading was nuts. While Ariadne hasn’t always shown signs of being a good queen, and yes, her father seized the throne, she doesn’t seem liable to have such a murderous reign as some wannabe queens who just want their son to forget everything they’ve ever done and love them.
I want to deconstruct the proposal, because I felt that Ariadne was asking qua Ariadne (in as much as she really can be just a girl asking a boy...) so it felt almost jarring that Jason was referencing her being the queen, even though she is, and what it all means. But then, I still don’t care about them as a couple as much as the show does.
That priest who came along with the Oracle was a welcome returning face, and it looks like the next episode is going to bring all and sundry back (MEDUSAAAAAA!!!!).
I can’t be the only one reminded of the Cliffs of Insanity by the way they got into the temple, can I?
I don’t think this series so far has shown the improvement the programme-makers claimed would take place. I didn’t expect it would materialise, but watching two episodes in one day just confirms it.
This entry was originally posted at http://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/147799.html.
Atlantis 2.4 The Marriage of True Minds
Mixed bag. I was disappointed that Telemon was shown to be working with Pasiphae, basically making him a retread of Ariadne’s last suitor. It diminished him too because obviously Pasiphae was using him on a promise, and his surprise that she (and Medea) turned on him made him a bit pathetic. So, although the vow to avenge himself on Medea and the fact he couldn’t kill Ariadne - I wish it really was because in the carnage he couldn’t take another life, but I suspect it was falling for her after one episode and a bit.
I was going to say that the epic sweep of this episode was great, because the desert shots were more epic than usual (but the night time fights made me grumpy) and the more intimate drama was only so-so, but it improved when they came across the pilgrims, who were so intriguing, until blind Orpheus did obvious seer stuff, that I am glad the episode ended on a cliffhanger - and a good’un, almost to the point where I wish they’d drop the teaser.
Goodbye, Dion. It became obvious that of the small band of survivors that he’d be off next. He got to play father figure a little for Ariadne, given the importance of fathers in this episode.
I wish (in an episode written by a woman, where we had snark about ‘other women’ existing, and Pasiphae and Medea were stronger minded than paid soldiers) that we’d had a bit more interaction between Ariadne and her maids.
But then, I wish that they’d developed Ariadne’s character sensibly. Suddenly she’s an archer? An excellent one. Oh-kay. Never been mentioned before, and handled really poorly (why not ask specifically for a bow and arrow instead of ‘a weapon’?) And it’s typical of the belief that a Strong Woman needs to be a certain type, when Ariadne’s got plenty going on with Duty versus Love, and her city and people’s needs and Pasiphae trying to kill her. They could concentrate on giving all that due attention (as with the last episode, I don’t know why she didn’t consult with the Oracle about Telemon. Sure, send an emissary, but use all available resources to help you make big life decisions). And it just seemed that there were obvious, sensible steps to make her safer - like not putting her on a white horse, having her wear the same clothes as her maidservants. Or after the ‘we must leave everything’ stupid decision - YOU WERE IN THE DESERT - have her change into some of the guys’ clothes. A WHITE PETTICOAT. I ask you. Although it got dirtied up by the end of the journey and helped me see what Ariadne was doing in those dark night scenes, that was basically fanservice (and not even gender-balanced - I’m not saying Jason had to be shirtless, but none of the guys took off their leather so this whole business about leaving everything behind was let’s get Ariadne into her petticoat guff).
Having said all that, I actually enjoyed some of Jason and Ariadne’s by-play. The way he kept forgetting she was queen (your majesty, surely, not my lady!?) and bossed her about, reminding her to eat etc and his response to their imminent doom being to wind her up now that Telemon was out of the picture made me smile more than most Jason/Ariadne interaction.
2.5 The Day of the Dead
So, Pasiphae’s response to being badly injured in a Necropolis where her enemies, son and ally are is to call up zombies.
That’s our baddie.
Another literally very dark episode, mainly by the numbers. For me, the best bits involved Pythagoras and Hercules; even though their patter is eminently predictable, it’s fun. Pythagoras was occasionally ruthlessly illogical, although he must have known Eurydice was bitten. Waste of the guy playing Diagoras, I thought, although bringing Dion back was effective.
Ariadne took several steps forward, and though I still remain of the view that the Archer Queen Strong Woman development was a bit much, as was the dirtied petticoat, I did like her volunteering to kill Eurydice and do what she’d ask her people to do. But all the pining over what Orpheus and Eurydice had ended up in a mushfest. (Basically, I compare Ariadne with Eddis and Attolia and she comes up so short. Ahem.)
And I could see what they were trying to do with Jason and Medea’s truce, but it was half-baked and clichéd. There wasn’t a lot of tension throughout the whole episode. When Medea remembered how to break the curse (why not mention that to Jason before?) which meant going to where Pasiphae fell, I reflexively went ‘fancy that’ but the show made nothing of it, and just had Hercules being boorishly mistrustful, Jason understandably trustful and the rest going along with it. The concept of being allies while there were still zombies, and not trusting her entirely should have occurred to Pythagoras, but as I said, his logic was only sporadic.
Typical. This whole set-up could have been done a lot better.
Presumably Pasiphae regained enough strength to get away. (Is Medea her daughter? Or niece? Or was the ‘related by blood’ thing a lie Pasiphae told her to get her on side? But the sorcery would suggest not. And it would be nifty if she was related to Jason.)
2.6 The Grey Sisters
As I said, I watched this between the Strictly shows and not that long after catching up on the last episode, so it was more of a breather than a thing deserving of attention in its own right.
It had occurred to me that the fact that Medea hadn’t struck a killing blow might be telling i.e. that she didn’t really want to kill, because we’ve seen she can fight and she’s seen Pasiphae manage it with non-main characters. But then there was the curse, and really I’m trying to assign character motivations to something that was mainly done for plot and manpain.
I did enjoy the grey sisters of the title, and would have even if they hadn’t been so right about Jason being a pretty boy and a stupid boy. .
Medusa referencing, yay! I wanted to give Hercules a little more latitude than he gave himself over that, as a lot has happened, but yeah, he hasn’t really tried as hard as all that to rescue her (Medusa deserves better).
Lots of familiar so-so elements - running through the forest, typical banter, typical pining and the mystery of Medea and her connection with Jason being hammered out.
Pasiphae’s special pleading was nuts. While Ariadne hasn’t always shown signs of being a good queen, and yes, her father seized the throne, she doesn’t seem liable to have such a murderous reign as some wannabe queens who just want their son to forget everything they’ve ever done and love them.
I want to deconstruct the proposal, because I felt that Ariadne was asking qua Ariadne (in as much as she really can be just a girl asking a boy...) so it felt almost jarring that Jason was referencing her being the queen, even though she is, and what it all means. But then, I still don’t care about them as a couple as much as the show does.
That priest who came along with the Oracle was a welcome returning face, and it looks like the next episode is going to bring all and sundry back (MEDUSAAAAAA!!!!).
I can’t be the only one reminded of the Cliffs of Insanity by the way they got into the temple, can I?
I don’t think this series so far has shown the improvement the programme-makers claimed would take place. I didn’t expect it would materialise, but watching two episodes in one day just confirms it.
This entry was originally posted at http://shallowness.dreamwidth.org/147799.html.