BBC
by Helen Langdon
Atlantis is getting bleak this week. Remember back at the start of the season, when the Oracle predicted dire things lay ahead for Jason if he found out his true parentage? He might find out at the end of “The Gorgon’s Gaze”, but he starts turning to the dark side a bit before that. Medusa still can't escape her guilt over killing the Oracle to escape her curse, and so to make amends, she makes a life-changing decision.
Atlantis is getting bleak this week. Remember back at the start of the season, when the Oracle predicted dire things lay ahead for Jason if he found out his true parentage? He might find out at the end of “The Gorgon’s Gaze”, but he starts turning to the dark side a bit before that. Medusa still can't escape her guilt over killing the Oracle to escape her curse, and so to make amends, she makes a life-changing decision.
We said that everything looked rather hopeless at the end of last week’s episode, and so it continued into episode nine. With Ariadne imprisoned in Atlantis, Pasiphae trying to get her coup legitimised and the heroes skulking about in the woods, that’s when Medusa decides that there’s only one logical course of action. Pythagoras should steal Pandora’s Box so that she can become cursed again, and then Jason should cut her head off and use it to kill Pasiphae’s army. Only sensible choice, really.
BBC
And the decision is made in one of Atlantis’s best scenes, as Pythagoras and Medusa shelter under a blanket together. Like we’ve said before, Robert Emms and Jemima Rooper are two of Atlantis’ best actors, and it’s rare that they get to share a scene together. It might still be slightly baffling that Medusa sees her only way forward as her own death, but you can believe that Pythagoras would go through with helping her.
Suicide by god-touched friend is a bit dark for a Saturday evening family drama, but that’s what “The Gorgon’s Gaze” was aiming for. As well as seeing Jason walk out of a cave holding Medusa’s severed head and a sword covered in her blood, we also got to see the suspended feet of hanging victims in the street, Delmos covered in blood after torture, and his stabbing by Pasiphae (although the sword used does somehow vanish, so maybe he absorbed it and will come back to life as a superhero! Maybe not – it’s not really that type of show, is it?).
Suicide by god-touched friend is a bit dark for a Saturday evening family drama, but that’s what “The Gorgon’s Gaze” was aiming for. As well as seeing Jason walk out of a cave holding Medusa’s severed head and a sword covered in her blood, we also got to see the suspended feet of hanging victims in the street, Delmos covered in blood after torture, and his stabbing by Pasiphae (although the sword used does somehow vanish, so maybe he absorbed it and will come back to life as a superhero! Maybe not – it’s not really that type of show, is it?).
BBC
Although amidst the surprising amount of gore, possibly the most nauseating thing was the use of shaky cam for one scene out in the forest. Does anyone ever enjoy the camera juddering all over the place?
But it wasn’t just the physical that got a look in this week – mental torture was also pretty well represented, with Medea tormenting Ariadne via a trippy magic scene, and Pythagoras having to break it to Hercules that the love of his life drugged him and went out to die. It was a very careful choice of words (she didn’t exactly “take her own life”, really), but possibly telling Hercules about Jason’s involvement would have caused more trouble than it was worth. More to deal with next week!
Is anyone else excited about John Hannah returning next week? Still a leper, still in the leper uniform (seriously, how come they all wear exactly the same clothing? Do the lepers of Atlantis all go to the same market stall? These are more questions that aren’t going to be answered by the end of the season, aren’t they?)
But it wasn’t just the physical that got a look in this week – mental torture was also pretty well represented, with Medea tormenting Ariadne via a trippy magic scene, and Pythagoras having to break it to Hercules that the love of his life drugged him and went out to die. It was a very careful choice of words (she didn’t exactly “take her own life”, really), but possibly telling Hercules about Jason’s involvement would have caused more trouble than it was worth. More to deal with next week!
Is anyone else excited about John Hannah returning next week? Still a leper, still in the leper uniform (seriously, how come they all wear exactly the same clothing? Do the lepers of Atlantis all go to the same market stall? These are more questions that aren’t going to be answered by the end of the season, aren’t they?)
RSS Feed
