TV Meview 9.12.2008

Gosh! Doing these TV reviews is positively cathartic!

I was about to dismiss an evening in front of the telly this Tuesday in favour of a return to Sims 2. Much more drama there, I thought.

Sat at the dining table at the other end of our room Stargate Atlantis came on the tv and I felt no desire to go and watch it. It didn't help that this was another episode of the interminably boring 'wraith become human' saga that was trotted out. It kind of opened my eyes to what ultimately leads this sort of show in need of a reboot.

When you get such a small group of people going up against the kind of odds that the Atlantis crew do, week in and week out, always coming out on top, then they start to gain a mythical status.

Nothing can touch them and the type of adventure that would challenge us mere mortals would come across as a minor distraction to them.

Therefore the obstacles the Atlantis team now face each episode have become more and more epic in scale, such as finding some sort of redemption for the wraith. They are now benevelont gods. And as usual whenever we imperfect humans try to convey some kind of altruistic concept we make it so bland and devoid of life and excitement (is that what we really think totally good people are like?) we make it totally uninteresting.

Maybe that's why I liked the episode last week. It was relatively small scale and focused about the problems between people and showed character.

Once Stargate had finished I was quite prepared to stay at the table but in order to propose engagement to Titania Summerdream but my longsuffering wife reminded methat Survivors was coming on.

This programme has now become the highlight of my week in the absence of any new Fringe episodes until the new year. Another strong episode saw our band go their separate ways as it looked like they had found a place to settle. Abby went off chasing a rumour of children on a nearby estate (not the kind of estate I thought it would be!), Greg and Anya stayed back at the house to wait for Abby whilst the rest of the gang went off to the new community we first saw in the last episode.

As usual nothing goes according to plan and Abby is attacked by a group of boys as she tries to rescue a mysterious stranger from their untamed wrath. Greg and Anya are attacked by another group of Foragers and Anya shows her strengths as she resists and turns the tables on them. Meanwhile, all is not as it seems in paradise and the high standards of the community make them wary of the newcomers as they don't all quite fit into this fledgling society. One incident in particular shows the true colours of a couple of the cast that I'm sure we'll need to bear in mind for future episodes.

Upon Abby's return Greg looks forlorn as yet another opportunity for him to open up to her about his obvious feelings for her are thwarted yet again.

There are only two episodes left of this series now and I can't wait to see what happens next. Will they lose or gain anyone else before the finale. Is there a betrayal on the cards? Surely this has got to get a second series?


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Now playing: Kenny Larkin - Morph
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