Echoes (SG Atlantis Review)

Air Date: 04/20/07

Written by: Carl Binder

Directed by: Will Waring

This episode had great potential, but fell short due to the science behind sci-fi. Flying into the sun was not a popular move with science fiction afficionados at our usual sci-fi Friday gathering. My chemistry major-physics expert lunged at his head in throes of pain at the very notion of being so close to the sun during an extinction level event.

It would have been more plausible if a number of other possibilities had merged: the whales saved the planet; an ascended being saved Atlantis and the whales; or they got two more Z. P. M.'s.

Though it was fun to watch, as I love the series, this episode loses major science points for flying into the sun during a coronal mass ejection. This also begins a trend of Teyla not seeing a lot of action in the latter part of this season. Even though StarTrek IV has been criticized, it has been a fan favorite to enough people to warrant a collector's edition/director's cut. It would have been better even to nod to ST IV by having a sentient whale space fleet block the coronal ejection with a space whale song functioning as a shield.

The sun wasn't the only thing ejecting--in this episode, science was ejected out the window.

Science Fiction is a careful balancing of the implausible with the plausible.

Even though this is not a hardcore piece like something Isaac Asimov would concoct, it should err on the side of treating extinction level events as serious threats--especially considering the time period is Twenty-First Century Earth--even with Atlantean technology.

There were plenty of other ways to resolve this plot without compromising the science. Sure, people could still complain, but not nearly as much as they are complaining now. The science issue in "Echoes" puts this episode at a 1 on a scale of 5. I hate rating systems; if you are dedicated to a show, however, you watch, and to some degree enjoy, all of the episodes. The problem is that now I have to convince my friends that the show is worth another shot.