TV Review: Stargate Atlantis 5.14 – The Prodigal

Posted by Kevin Carr (kevin@filmschoolrejects.com) on November 8, 2008

Stargate Atlantis

Stargate: Atlantis, SciFi, Airs Friday 9/8c

Episode: “The Prodigal” (Season Five, Episode 14)

Synopsis: Michael (Connor Trinneer) manages a surprise attack on Atlantis, infiltrating the control tower and taking the city hostage. While he schemes to destroy Atlantis and take Teyla (Rachel Luttrell) and her baby with him, Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and Rodney (David Hewlett) attempt to take back the tower. Meanwhile, Ronon (Jason Momoa) and Woolsey (Robert Picardo) also try to take out Michael and his gang of Wraith/human hybrids.

Review: It’s clear they’re getting ready to wrap this particular series up, considering how they’re trying to bring closure to different storylines. Michael has been a thorn in the sides of the Atlantis team ever since Dr. Beckett tried to convert him from Wraith to a human. Michael has also been the bane of the Pegasus Galaxy’s existence by starting a plague and sabotaging the regular Wraith power structure.

I’ve always enjoyed the Michael stories because they strike at the core of the series – the fact that the Atlantis team pretty much makes their own problems. Michael is the ultimate outcast, unable to live among either Wraith or human. He’s a tragic character because of his utter loneliness, which is so powerful and moving to him that he literally creates his own breed of people to keep him company.

In this episode, we see Michael at his most desperate, and his most vulnerable. He’s still bent on revenge against the Atlantis team for making him what he is, and he is still reaching out to Teyla, secretly hoping that she would join him. After all, she was the one who showed him the most compassion when he was first created. But the thing he underestimates is her strength of resolve as a mother. In this sense, when you get to the end of the episode, it was great to see that the Stargate: Atlantis showrunners don’t pull their punches.

The rest of the cast falls perfectly into their stock roles. Sheppard is the perfect leader, ready to sacrifice himself. Rodney is the consummate complainer, but is always able to make things work. Zalenka isn’t as clueless as Rodney thinks he is. Teyla still kicks ass, even with a baby in her arms. Woolsey is a stuffed-shirt, but he’s quickly warming up to his team. And Ronon loves to beat the holy hell out of anything Wraith. (Oh, and Ronon gets a chance to be turned on by a strong woman who can kick ass as well as Teyla can.)

Up Next: Rodney unlocks a lost civilization, while Sheppard is kidnapped by Koyla (Robert Davi), whom he had killed in season three. Hmmmmmmmm…

For more coverage of your favorite shows, check out the Control Freaks Archive.

Did you watch Stargate: Atlantis this week? If so, feel free to discuss below.


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  • Hi, Kevin.

    Thank you for your review. However, I respectfully disagree with you about Michael being a "tragic character." He lost his right to be "tragic" when he decided to exterminate thousands of people/Wraith in his bid for vengeance -- against both the humans and the Wraith.

    Team Atlantis gave Michael an opportunity to become something more than what he was as a Wraith -- granted, the Wraith were created by the Ancients to be a weapon against the Replicators, an idea that totally went south.

    But when confronted with the fact that as a Wraith (who are part human and part Iratus bug), feeding on humans is basically cannibalism, Michael was NOT interested in what was ethical or right, he just wanted to be a Wraith again, having human sushi for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

    And then when the Wraith wouldn't accept him back as a changeling, they too became his victims.

    Todd, the Wraith, was a prisoner of the Genii for many years. Yet, he had enough strength of character to realize that Sheppard was right -- by teaming up, they could escape. And instead of killing Sheppard, he gave Sheppard back his life vitality complete.

    Since then, Todd is yes, still a Wraith, but a Wraith capable of being honorable, logical, and capable of reasoning.

    To call Michael a "tragic character" would be akin to calling to Adolph Hitler a "tragic character." Both are NOT tragic -- both were equally guilty of denying their responsibility for their own actions and seeking to lay the blame on anyone but themselves.

    Morjana
  • Hi Morjana,

    Thanks for the feedback. I always am eager to hear what you have to say about my Stargate coverage.

    I do want to clarify that I called Michael a tragic character, not a tragic hero. He's not a hero at all, but one of the more formidable villains in the Pegasus Galaxy. He's tragic because he suffers at the hand of his own tragic flaw, and that flaw is his vengeance and ultimate lonliness. He desperately wanted to be Wraith again and was rejected.

    Like you said, instead of doing the right thing, he lets his lonliness and vengeance get the best of him and does the awful, evil things. It is his inability to make peace with himself and others that is his undoing. This is not a defense of him or his actions, but a look at how he makes his own fate (albeit a bad one).

    So, I'm not saying that Michael is a hero or a good guy, or honorable in any way. He is just tragic.

    Does that help make it clearer?
  • Ba'al
    Terrible episode. A vital storyline that involves Michael and Teyla's baby is ended by simply pushing the bad guy off a ledge!?!?!
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