In Short:	A Stargate, a team of intrepid heroes and the lost city of Atlantis: what’s not to love?
Recommended:	Hell, yes!

WOOLSEY:	Nothing renews your appreciation for the military like the threat of invasion from life-sucking aliens.
	-- "Misbegotten" (03.02)

If my relationship with Stargate SG-1 was love at first sight, my relationship with its spin-off, Stargate Atlantis, was a slow burn. I’m more appreciative of it now than I ever was during its time on air. However, hindsight being clearer than initial impressions, as it often is, Stargate Atlantis had a lot more going for it than simply its Stargate pedigree. But I maintain some of my original complaints remain valid.

The major complaint that I had about Atlantis was about team chemistry. Despite the fact that the pilot episode, “Rising” (1.01/1.02) was very good, I felt there wasn’t enough chemistry between the cast in the first half of Season 1 to get me engaged. I felt that SG-1 had achieved instant chemistry and was hoping for the same. In rewatching Atlantis, I admit I was unfair because there was chemistry; maybe it was slow to build, but it was there. For me though, the optimum Atlantis team is the one that came together over Season 2, but really gelled in the early part of Season 3: Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), McKay (David Hewlett), Teyla (Rachel Luttrell), Ronon (Jason Momoa), Weir (Torri Higginson), and Beckett (Paul McGillion). Unfortunately, having achieved the optimum team that is, of course, when they killed off Beckett.

The chemistry situation was not helped by the ever-revolving door on the cast of characters: Season 1 regular Lieutenant Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks) was dropped like a hot potato at the beginning of Season 2 and replaced by Satedan warrior Ronon; the aforementioned Beckett departure happened in Season 3; expedition head Elizabeth Weir was controversially removed in Season 4, being replaced by SG-1’s Sam Carter (Amanda Tapping), only for bureaucrat Richard Woolsey (Robert Picardo) to replace her in Season 5; also along the way, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jennifer Keller (Jewel Staite) was introduced to replace Beckett, who was himself later resurrected as a recurring clone. Whatever the reasons, whether business related, actor initiated, or story prompted, the result was a continual shift in team chemistry and, unsurprisingly, fandom getting downright cranky with every change.

That is a real shame because the cast, in any of its formations, was a one which, given stability, could easily have continued for the same number of years that SG-1 enjoyed. Joe Flanigan always gets credit for being hot, but never truly gets enough credit for the performance that he put in as Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, leading the show for all five years. When Flanigan was given material to stretch his acting muscles, he certainly delivered: “Conversion” (2.08), “Common Ground” (3.07), and “Vegas” (5.19) are all testament to that. He also managed to convey a lot of hidden depth to Sheppard despite a dearth of in-story exploration about what made Sheppard tick for the majority of those five years. Much the same can also be said about David Hewlett, who had the unenviable task of making the arrogant and irritating Rodney McKay, previously seen and hated on SG-1, into a sympathetic character that the existing Stargate audience wanted to root for instead of punch. His performances throughout were excellent, but his tour de force has to be award-nominated “The Shrine” (5.06). The McKay-Sheppard dynamic was one of the most successful of the on-screen relationships; abrasive, funny and touching in equal measure, both Flanigan and Hewlett played off each other well. If Atlantis was sometimes accused of being the McKay and Sheppard show by some fans, at least the dynamic was an enjoyable one.

But in truth Atlantis wasn’t the McKay and Sheppard show and the others definitely deserve equal credit too; Rachel Luttrell delivered a consistently good performance as Teyla; Jason Momoa shone when Ronon was in the spotlight in episodes such as “Sateda” (3.04); Torri Higginson excelled as Weir in episodes such as “Before I Sleep” (1.15) and “The Real World” (3.06); and Paul McGillion made Carson Beckett such a fan favorite that he inspired the successful Save Carson campaign. And, despite their brief stints in Atlantis, Amanda Tapping, Jewel Staite, Rainbow Sun Francks, and Robert Picardo delivered quality work nevertheless. Further, the main cast were ably assisted by a great supporting cast in the shape of David Nykl (Zelenka), Kavan Smith (Lorne), Mitch Pileggi (Caldwell),  Christopher Heyerdahl (Todd), Chuck Campbell (Chuck), Sharon Taylor (Amelia Banks), among many others.

The Atlantis crew also deserves credit for the work they put in over the five years. From costume to make-up to lighting to music to special effects, the production quality of Atlantis was usually very high and garnered a number of award nominations, from Emmys to Leos. If there was the occasional stumble (the set design for “Irresponsible” [03.13] comes to mind), it was more than made up for the brilliance of when they got it right. The special effects in particular deserve to be highlighted for the storm in “The Eye” (01.11) and “The Storm” (01.12), the space battle in “Be All My Sins Remembered” (04.11) and the destruction and flight of Atlantis in First Strike (03.20). Not only was there a consistently good product, but at times, Atlantis excelled itself venturing into creative experiments that elevated the episodes from entertainment to something special, usually with Robert C. Cooper at the helm as director and writer: “Sateda” (03.04) and “Vegas” (05.19) being the obvious examples.

But my second major complaint was always about the writing. Too often, for me, the stories in Stargate Atlantis seemed to be plot-driven without respect for how the characters would genuinely react. The prime example is the retro-virus arc (turning the Wraith human). Admittedly, it did produce the fantastic character of Michael (ably played by Trek veteran, Connor Trineer) but given the two characters behind the creation of the retro-virus (Beckett and Weir) were the two characters most likely to argue against biological warfare it made little sense. That the initial ideas behind it were humanitarian in nature were never truly explored enough in-story, especially with Weir, to give credence to the character motivations. Additionally, new characters such as Keller fell foul of inconsistent characterization (confessing to little social skills in “Quarantine” [04.13] only to be introducing McKay and Sam to bar games in “Trio” [04.16]).

That’s not to say there wasn’t some good writing and some greatly engaging stories. Every season had its highlights. I loved “Before I Sleep” (01.15), “Epiphany” (02.12), “Tao of Rodney” (03.14), “Miller’s Crossing” (04.09) and “The Prodigal” (05.14), and a host of other episodes. Atlantis episodes are even among my top 10 favorite Stargate episodes ever, across all three series. And if there was one thing Atlantis excelled at, it was humor. In rewatching, every episode practically, (OK, so maybe not the very serious ones), has included at least one wry exchange between the characters that has had me laughing out loud.

There’s no doubt that Stargate Atlantis carved out its own place in Stargate-land. Indeed, I can’t help thinking that Atlantis had the potential to have eclipsed the success of its predecessor if only it had been granted stability in the cast and some better quality in the overall story arcs. Five years is a respectable run for any show but even now, almost two years after its cancellation, I can’t help feeling greedy and wanting more.