Unveiling the Mysteries of Stargate Atlantis
This TV series, which began as a spin-off of SG1, quickly managed to become a completely independent series, and one of the most interesting and successful of its kind. Much is owed not only to the characters of the main team but also to the setting.
It is the lost city of Atlantis, with all its mysteries, its very advanced technology, and the discoveries our team makes about its builders and its history. The city is truly fantastic with its technology that can hide it at the bottom of the sea and make it re-emerge.
The discovery of its mysteries, which happens gradually, is masterfully handled. The plot unfolds with Dr Weir finding a secret base in Antarctica abandoned by the Ancients, who are the original Stargate builders, and after finding the eighth Stargate symbol, the team sets off on a one-way journey to the distant constellation of Pegasus in search of the city of Atlantis.
They manage to get there with the Stargate, but the ZPM, which is the city's power source, is about to run out and this results in the disappearance of the city's protective shield, which is currently submerged. Here begins the adventures of our team, which is made up of scientists and military personnel.
Dr. Elizabeth Weir leads the expedition, flanked by Dr. Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Dr. Carson Beckett, who are soon joined by Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex. Scientists Weir, McKay and Beckett are protected by the Militia, commanded by Major Sheppard with the help of Teyla and Ronon.
This series has a new, very fearsome enemy, the Wraith. This species forced the Ancients to leave the Pegasus galaxy. They feed on the life energy of living beings and therefore maintain thousands of human-populated worlds as a source of food.
The civilisation of this race seems to be centred in enormous hive ships. They can clone themselves and so have become numerous in a short time.
The Ancients, who are a very ancient race that once inhabited Earth and the other planets of the Milky Way, were decimated by the vastly superior wraiths, and having fled to Earth with their city, they passed on the legend of Atlantis and their unique gene to the Greeks.
Very few humans on Earth still have that gene that allows them to use the technology of the Ancients. Among them is Major Sheppard.
The Athosians are humans from the planet Athos. Teyla Emmagan is the leader of this population and joins the team from Atlantis. Her peculiarity is to sense the proximity of the Wraith by picking up their telepathic communications.
Teyla therefore proves invaluable for this power of hers. Other enemies are the Asurians. Similar to replicants they have human features, however, and were built by the Ancients to fight the Wraith.
The Asurians were isolated on a planet for thousands of years. When the humans made contact with them they thought they had finally found the Ancients. Instead, they found fearsome enemies who tried several times to attack them. Their technology is the same as that of the Ancients.
The various seasons unfold with stories of war, friendship, loyalty and courage. Our subjects are a well-knit team and the whole thing is very well narrated, also hinting at the character and values of our protagonists.
There is a lot of suspense in each episode, but everything is masterfully diluted by dialogue that is sometimes very funny, by McCoy's delusions of protagonism, by Ronon Dex's extraordinary strength.
Each main character has his own characteristics, his own principles, but integrates very well with the others. It is a series to watch, which never bores and which has truly intriguing twists and turns.
