by Helen Langdon
Atlantis is off for a Christmas break and won’t be back until 2015, but before it went, it left us with a bit of an exciting episode, featuring the Grey Sisters (you might notice that their attribute of sharing one eye between three of them was nicked for the Fates in Disney’s Hercules), some man-eating birds (which were pterodactyls, honestly), and ending with a marriage proposal.
Atlantis is off for a Christmas break and won’t be back until 2015, but before it went, it left us with a bit of an exciting episode, featuring the Grey Sisters (you might notice that their attribute of sharing one eye between three of them was nicked for the Fates in Disney’s Hercules), some man-eating birds (which were pterodactyls, honestly), and ending with a marriage proposal.
Following last week’s shock ending, Jason and crew took the stabbed Ariadne back to Atlantis in an attempt to heal her. Which didn’t go spectacularly well, given that the main healer appeared to be the Oracle (released from her cave!) and all she really did was chant and do some hand-wavey mumbo jumbo. Even in a world with magic, you’d think they might do something like sew up the wound, but apparently not. Then there’s no aftercare, with Ariadne left solely under the care of untrained Jason, who falls asleep and doesn’t notice her bleeding to death on the same bed. Turns out the only thing that can heal her is Medea’s blood, so it’s off on a quest, where Hercules and Pythagoras must be left behind for Plot Reasons, and Jason can’t quite bring himself to kill Medea.
Considering last week’s episode was brilliantly action-packed, it’s great that the best moments of this episode are really quiet conversations where character shines through. Hercules is still the main comic relief of Atlantis, but there’s more to him than food jokes and cowardice. His conversation about love with Orpheus articulates what the audience has been feeling – Hercules says he’s in love with Medusa, but he hasn’t done much to help her. It’s great to see him wrestling with those questions onscreen, with the spectre of Medusa’s absence hanging over the series.
Part of the appeal of Hercules is down to Mark Addy’s acting, and it’s the mixture of veterans and relatively new actors which makes Atlantis so great. Take the scenes between Pasiphae and Jason in the cells, where Sarah Parish is absolutely phenomenal. She’s full of twitches and small movements as she tries to hide her true feelings towards Jason. It’s a tremendous performance as we see Pasiphae finally speaking to Jason while knowing his true identity, and the rejection she feels as he tries to kill her. The fact that she wants to poison him after being so keen on saving his life makes perfect sense for the character, who's proud and focussed on winning her throne. She might have given in to maternal feelings for a bit, but that was before she actually got a chance to talk to Jason. Which is great!
Part of the appeal of Hercules is down to Mark Addy’s acting, and it’s the mixture of veterans and relatively new actors which makes Atlantis so great. Take the scenes between Pasiphae and Jason in the cells, where Sarah Parish is absolutely phenomenal. She’s full of twitches and small movements as she tries to hide her true feelings towards Jason. It’s a tremendous performance as we see Pasiphae finally speaking to Jason while knowing his true identity, and the rejection she feels as he tries to kill her. The fact that she wants to poison him after being so keen on saving his life makes perfect sense for the character, who's proud and focussed on winning her throne. She might have given in to maternal feelings for a bit, but that was before she actually got a chance to talk to Jason. Which is great!
So, the first half of the season comes to an end with Ariadne and Jason betrothed, but the trailer for the 2015 episodes seems to suggest that it’s not going to be an easy ride to the altar. Medusa’s going to return! Aeson, Jason’s father, is back! Everyone’s crying! Medea and Jason are going to kiss, in accordance with the Greek mythology, which might lead to Medea killing their children!
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