I'm With Geek
  • Home
  • Geekery
    • TGH
    • Creative
    • IWGCast
  • Film
    • The Essentials
    • Hit Play/Hit Stop
    • Trailer Parks
  • TV
  • Games
  • Comics
  • Books
  • About
  • Our Team
  • Contact
  • Editors Blog

Atlantis "A Fate Worse Than Death" Review (Spoilers!)

4/13/2015

 
PictureBBC
by Helen Langdon

There’s a definite sense of sadness coming into this episode of Atlantis. It’s been four months since the season paused halfway through, and three months since the BBC told us that we’re not getting any more episodes. After these seven, there’s to be no more broad rewriting of Greek mythology on BBC One’s Saturday nights. And that’s disappointing, given how much better this season has been.

The “previously” section of this episode is pretty much essential – following her near-death experience, Ariadne decided to marry Jason. But, as we see in this episode, that’s not a popular move. Ariadne has a new military advisor with a distracting accent who’s fully set against it, and so the Oracle goes off to the woods to consult with the gods. And all is well! The gods have blessed Ariadne and Jason’s marriage! But that’s the answer Pasiphae didn’t want to hear, and so her ninjas kidnap the Oracle. 
PictureBBC
Cue face-off between the Oracle and Pasiphae, the two women who want to mother Jason in the traditional sense. While the Oracle’s making melodramatic gestures in her remarkably well-lit cell, Pasiphae’s getting to be bitchy in a way she hasn’t managed since the first season. All dramatic pauses and snarky comments, this Pasiphae makes for a far more fun villain than the woman moping for her son.

Now, on first watch a viewer may ask themselves, “Why didn’t they just kill the Oracle straightaway rather than dragging her out to the woods?” It’s testament to how much Atlantis has improved that this is explained neatly by pointing out that the gods will curse anyone who kills the Oracle. What’s the most obvious solution? Use someone already cursed! Like... Medusa!

PictureBBC
It’s great to see Medusa back – Jemima Rooper is always fantastic, the character’s a tragic one and she gives extra depth to Hercules, who’s occasionally in dangers of falling into one-note farce. It might have been nicer had her return been an actual surprise, rather than revealing Rooper’s name in the opening credits, but that’s just a small niggle. Especially as the episode did throw us a curveball by letting Medusa survive with her snakes removed – when was the last time a villain said “I shall end your misery” and didn’t mean “by killing you”? It’s exciting to think what this’ll mean for the next episode – will Hercules give Medusa up to save Jason? How will Medusa be traumatised by her time alone ended by murder?

From the plots to the acting, everything in season two has been pushed up a notch, moving away from plot-of-the-week towards more continuing storylines. Every action has had consequences: appropriately, given that the actions of the schedulers affected this episode’s quality. It feels like a middle-of-the-season episode rather than back-from-hiatus, heavily reliant on what went before and quiet and talky rather than bombastic and enthusiastic. Surrounded by more action-packed episodes, it would’ve made a lot more narrative sense.

It’s not “A Fate Worse Than Death” that Atlantis was cancelled, but it is a bad thing – the BBC are great at family adventure shows, and Atlantis was a worthy successor to that Saturday teatime slot.


Comments are closed.


    TV Editor: Graham Osborne
    Picture

    TV 

    Reviews on the best TV has to offer, as well as retrospective looks at the shows of yesteryear we miss so much. 

    Regular features include: 

    Have you seen...? - We take a look at TV shows you may not have seen, but should really check out?
    Retrospectives - We look back the shows that have ended.
    From the Trenches - Matthew Howe shares his hilarious experiences from the Trenches of the Media Industry.
    Catch it on Catch-Up - A run down of some quality TV that you may have missed first time around.
    Turn Off - The very worst that television has to offer.
    Doctor Who - The latest News, Reviews and features on the 50 year sci-fi giant!

    Email: tv@imwithgeek.com

    Categories

    All
    12-monkeys
    Adventure-time
    Agent Carter
    Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
    AKA Jessica Jones
    Alex Doust
    Almost-human
    Amazon Instant
    Amazon Studios
    American Horror Story
    Arrow
    Atlantis
    Avatar The Last Airbender
    BAFTA
    Banshee
    Bates Motel
    Batman
    BBC
    Ben Mapp
    Beth Rogers
    Better Call Saul
    Big Bang Theory
    Black Mirror
    Boardwalk Empire
    Breaking Bad
    Bring Back...
    Britta Lundin
    Broadchurch
    Callum Armour
    Catch It On Catch Up
    Catfish
    Catherine Wignall
    Chasing Life
    Childhood Tv
    Christian Kern
    Christmas
    Community
    Companion Faceoff
    Constantine
    Cookie N Screen
    Cookie N Screen
    Coupling
    Critics Choice Awards
    Cuckoo
    Cucumberbananatofu
    Daniel-franco
    Daredevil
    David Tennant
    Detestable Tv
    Dexter
    Discworld
    Doctor Who
    Doctor Who
    Downton Abbey
    Dracula
    DVD
    E4
    Elementary
    Emmy Awards
    Essentials
    Family Guy
    Fargo
    Father's Day
    Finale
    Firefly
    Flash
    Friends
    From The Trenches
    From The Trenches
    Galavant
    Game Of Thrones
    Game Of Thrones
    Gemma Williams
    Gemma-williams
    Georgia Thompson
    Girls
    Gloria Danielsmoss
    Gloria Daniels Moss
    Gotham
    Graeme-stirling
    Graham Osborne
    Graham Osborne
    Gravity Falls
    Grimm
    Halloween
    Hannibal
    HAPPYish
    Have You Seen
    Have You Seen...?
    Hayley Charlesworth
    Hayley-charlesworth
    Hbo
    Heather Stromski
    Helen Fulton
    Helen Langdon
    Helen Langdon
    Heroes-reborn
    Hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy
    Homeland
    House
    House Of Cards
    How I Met Your Mother
    ICYMI
    In Memoriam
    Inside-no9
    Interview
    In The Flesh
    I Survived The Zombie Apocalypse
    IZombie
    Jack Edwards
    James Morgans
    Jamie Kennett
    Jane The Virgin
    Jenny Mullinder
    Jo Johnstone
    Josh Crooks
    Julia Lawson
    Kim J Osborne
    Laura Weaver
    Leah Stone
    Leah Stone
    Legends Of Tomorrow
    Liam-bland
    Liam Murphy
    Mad Men
    Mahesh Subramaniam
    Marvel
    Matthew Battles
    Matthew Howe
    Max Bosshart
    Melissa Haggar
    Melissa Haggar
    Michael Wilkinson
    Monty Python
    Movies In Motion
    National Towel Day
    Netflix
    New Tricks
    No Spoilers Please
    Once Upon A Time
    Orange Is The New Black
    Orphan Black
    OUAT
    Outlander
    Paul Costello
    Paul Robert Scott
    Phineas And Ferb
    Quiz
    Red Dwarf
    Retrospective
    Ripper Street
    Robbie Jones
    Robbie Jones
    Scott And Bailey
    Scream
    Sense8
    Shakespeare Day
    Sherlock
    Sherlock Holmes
    Sherlock Week
    Sleepy Hollow
    Sons Of Liberty
    Spin-Out!
    Star Trek
    Star-wars
    Star Wars Rebels
    St Patrick's Day
    Supernatural
    Teen Wolf
    Teen Wolf
    The 100
    The Box Set
    The Flash
    The Following
    The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air
    The Hour
    The Leftovers
    The Musketeers
    The Musketeers
    The Office
    The Originals
    The Originals
    The Simpsons
    The Sopranos
    The Spider
    The Tomorrow People
    The Vampire Diaries
    The-vampire-diaries
    The Walking Dead
    This-week
    Timmy Time
    Tomas Keavney
    Tom Sams
    Trends-in-tv
    True Blood
    True Detective
    Turn-off
    TV Awards
    Tv Intros
    Tv-intros
    TV Teaser
    TV Teasers
    TV Teasers
    Twin Peaks
    Valentine's Day
    Veep
    Verushka-byrow
    Vikings
    William John
    William John
    Witches Of East End
    Wizards Vs Aliens
    Wolfblood
    Xavier Gonne
    You Should Be Watching

    Archives

    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.