Stargate Atlantis - "The Storm" / "The Eye" (TV Episode Review #26)

A massive cyclone is headed for Atlantis.  This storm is, as Sheppard puts it, as big as North America—which means that Atlantis has to work fast if their expedition is to survive.  Also, the Genii are lurking around the corner, thus setting the stage for the first siege Atlantis is subjected to on the show.  For the characters, this is literally a recipe for disaster.  As a story, it all works out really well.

“The Storm” and “The Eye” deliver fully on their concept’s potential.  Driven by tension and suspense, it relies on the looming threat of the oncoming storm to drive its drama.  It also takes advantage of its science fiction elements, such as when Rodney and Zelenka plan to modify Atlantis’s energy routing system to protect the city from the storm.  In “The Storm”, every precaution that Atlantis takes to defending itself from the storm—from Teyla, Beckett, & Ford aiding the Athosians to Sheppard’s mission to shut down the grounding stations—every little moment just adds more weight to the conflict in the long run.  “The Eye” expands upon the conflicts that “The Storm” built up, and thus it heightens the stakes successfully.  The Genii are interwoven into the narrative successfully, as well.  They have a valid reason to target Atlantis during its storm, and their path crossing with that of Atlantis feels natural.  Plus, when their commander, Kolya, learns about the city’s safety measures, he hatches an even better plan.

The two-parter makes an effort to humanize the Genii, to a certain extent, with the characters of Kolya and Sora.  “The Storm” actually marks Kolya’s debut, and while he is relatively more reserved here, he is already showing signs of the cruel and ruthless villain that he would become infamous as in later episodes.  Robert Davi is already selling Kolya as a cold-hearted brute who uses the ends to justify the means in the name of his people.  He acts according to what suits his interests best; for one, he is diplomatic only when he needs someone alive to get a task done, and uses lethal force when he feels like it is necessary.  As for Sora, her motives and evolving personality are properly built up over the course of both episodes.  She naturally reacts to the Genii’s losses the way anyone who is this loyal and patriotic would—just look at Sora’s reaction to when she hears that so many of the Genii men are being killed.  Erin Chambers did a phenomenal job channeling Sora’s grief, rage, and survivor’s guilt in this episode.  I am surprised she did not have a bigger career outside a few notable recurring roles on TV.

All the while, the main characters make do with the oncoming disaster in keeping with their personalities.  For example, when the Athosians are being evacuated in “The Storm”, Dr. Beckett shows understandable agitation and anxiety while Teyla has to stay cool in order to keep things under control.  Lt. Ford shows his loyalty to helping Atlantis, even when he and his team are incapacitated in Part 1.  It is especially really fun getting to see Ford and Beckett throw a lot of banter at each other in the middle of the disaster and all the action, especially in “The Eye”.  David Hewlett is absolutely on fire as Rodney, who is showing his progressive agitation with how more and more dire this scenario is getting while trying to carry out his part of his own plan.  He also gets to show his more stubborn side when confronted by Kolya and acts defiantly in the name of protecting Atlantis.  This is one of the first times on the show where Rodney acts with true bravery.

In “The Storm” and “The Eye”, you don’t see the hurricane destroy that much in its path, because extended sequences of CGI action and destruction is not the plot’s focus.  Still, the CGI renderings of the typhoon, both from above and in proximity, are just gorgeous to look at—they look almost like matte paintings.  The sound mixing is actually pretty solid.  The loudness of the thunder gets across just how massive the storm is, even if the thunder kind of drowns out the actors’ voices in the sound mix a couple of times (although they do yell loudly enough over it to be heard clearly).  My favorite visual effect in “The Storm” & “The Eye” is a subtly slow-building practical effect: the amount of heavy rainfall when the typhoon starts coming.  The pouring water, dark lighting, and the occasional flash of lightning blend so well on a Puddle Jumper’s windshield and on the sets of Atlantis itself and the CGI backgrounds to make the storm look more real.  It simulates real weather so well, and visually gets across just how powerful the storm is better than any exposition ever could.

As Stargate Atlantis’s second two-parter, “The Storm” and “The Eye” are just excellent.  They balance out tension and drama so well at such a fast pace, and also succeed in their effort at characterizations with both the heroes and the villains.  It makes for two of the finest hours of Stargate Atlantis’s first season, if not the series as a whole.