After a few huge episodes, presumably with a large price tag attached to each, the writers switch to a “bottle show” format. As always, the purpose of a “bottle show” is to isolate characters in a stressful situation, pushing them to the psychological brink. Not every “bottle show” delivers on that promise; in fact, some examples for “Stargate: Atlantis” have faltered in the past.
This time, however, the writers focus on four key interactions, and all of them manage to advance character arcs in a meaningful way. An unexpected crisis, precipitated by the characteristics of the planet itself, traps the crew in quarantine. McKay is locked in with his girlfriend Katie, on the brink of proposing. Sheppard is locked in with Teyla, who looks like her pregnancy advanced months in a single episode. Ronon is locked in with Dr. Keller, and Carter is locked in a transport tube with Zalenka.
McKay is a character full of flaws, and quite often, the writers dwell on them for laughs, granting him success to keep him viable. In this situation, the writers place him in the classic “bottle show” scenario. He literally has no solution to the problem and no resources to work on such a solution. As a result, his pessimism and anxiety simply boil over, clashing with Katie’s more measured response in the process. The tragedy is that McKay’s hope for engagement is undermined by his overwhelming negativity; it’s a rare moment of defeat for the character, and one of the better plot threads in the episode.
In contrast to the setback in the McKay/Katie relationship, Ronon and Dr. Keller start out at odds and find themselves attracted to one another. It’s hard to tell if this is just a momentary acknowledgment of physical attraction, brought on my circumstance, but it was certainly unexpected. Ronon has little respect for psychological or emotional weakness, and Dr. Keller has little patience for mindless violence. I’m not sure if this is a relationship that would work in the long run, but it’s far less predictable than a Ronon/Teyla romance would have been. (Then again, who in their right mind would resist Jewel Staite?)
Speaking of Teyla, her pregnancy seems to have progressed quite a bit in this episode, perhaps owing to the wardrobe choice, and the discussion with Sheppard over her role on Team Atlantis comes to a momentary head. Whatever his thoughts might have been previous to her recent revelation, he is in full-on protective mode with her now. For her own part, Teyla is accepting that her role must change, even if those changes are hard to quantify at this point.
Carter’s subplot seemed to be designed to highlight her technical prowess, though I’m not sure it worked as intended. As a character, Carter has been adrift this season, filling in the relatively minor role of administrator when needed and staying out of the way when not. While I agree with the notion of keeping Carter out of the Super Genius role as much as possible, it would be nice to explore her reaction to the change in duties.
The best part of the episode, aside from McKay’s unfortunate breakdown, was Sheppard’s climb up the side of the tower. I imagine most of the budget for the episode came down to that one sequence, and it was worth the time and effort. It gave a character-driven episode a bit more kick, and in the end, made a good episode even better.
