TV REVIEW Stargate Atlantis 4.17 "Midway"

Written by: Carl Binder

Directed by: Andy Mikita

Rating:

The One Where: Teal’c escorts Ronon back to Earth for an interview with the IOA, and when the Wraith invade the Midway station they put aside their differences to defeat the common enemy.

Verdict: A great episode after the dullness of the previous few. The dynamic between Teal’c and Ronon is electrifying, fantastically well-played by Christopher Judge and Jason Momoa and enormous fun to watch. This may be yet another filler episode, but it gets the one thing right that the others have gotten wrong – it’s entertaining!

Trivia: This episode marks Teal’c’s first visit to Atlantis, and second appearance on the show. It was actually written as a “thank you” to Christopher Judge, whose first appearance (in “Reunion”) was done for scale because the budget was already so high.

Nitpick: A Wraith begins feeding on Teal’c, only to be suddenly killed in the process by Ronon. The last time we saw a Wraith die suddenly during feeding was in season two, when it fell into the ocean with Lt Ford and the shock caused it to flood Ford’s system with Wraith enzymes, mutating him. The same doesn’t seem to happen here.

Character: Whiny Dr Kavanagh returns, this time working on the Midway station, and it doesn’t seem like he’s changed much. You’d think he’d have left the Stargate program by now, considering how much he seems to hate it. Dreadful film taste, too – Pearl Harbor?

Best Line:
Ronon: "You say that a lot."
Teal'c: "What?"
Ronon: "Indeed."
Teal'c: "Do I?"
Ronon: "Yeah."
Teal'c: "…I had not noticed."

Leah Holmes