Atlantis has received contact from the Daedalus, seemingly adrift in space. What’s odd is that the Daedalus is already due back to Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. Obviously, this warrants an investigation; Sheppard, Rodney, Teyla, and Ronon head over on a puddle jumper to do just that.
The episode reveals its scenario very early on, but does so in a rewarding way. Even if it may be obvious that the Daedalus came from a parallel universe, the way writer Alan McCullough and director Andy Mikita properly pace it and build it up in a way that hooks the viewer in. The viewer can piece the puzzle together very quickly, but feel satisfied knowing they were right.
The varying amount of different parallel universes that the alternate Daedalus teleports to lives up to the episode’s title. Every universe that the team travels to is distinctive and memorable. For instance, in one universe, the home system’s sun has expanded into a red giant much earlier than in the home universe. In another, the Atlantis Expedition is at war with an alien race that the main characters are meeting for the first time. The introduction of a parallel version of the team that arrived but already perished is a visually effective way to drive home the stakes: how fatal this situation actually is.
How Rodney figures out his solution (and why it takes him so long to do so) is not only in character, but also makes him feel more human. Rodney explains in the episode that in order to solve the problem he had to think like the opposite of himself—how he wouldn’t always do it. After all, even a smart guy like Rodney can make mistakes every once in a while. (I guess he’s been learning his lesson ever since destroying most of a solar system, am I right?)
“The Daedalus Variations” introduced a new alien enemy whose exact identity is left a mystery. At first, they are introduced as just an alien threat that causes a nuisance for the team en route through the alternate realities The most we know about them comes from this short encounter, shown as physically strong and extremely militaristic. They may seem like generic sci-fi villains on the surface, but that is because the episode was presented from the main characters’ point of view. I wonder if the creators of Atlantis had any plans to further explore this new alien race in a possible sixth season of the series, had Season 5 not been its last.
Although this episode takes place predominantly on the alternate Daedalus, it makes great use of spectacular sci-fi action and special effects. In the exterior shots of the Daedalus, the CGI effects do a vivid job at displaying the various universes it travels to, and especially distinguishing each from one another. The first fight scene, wherein Ronon engages in hand-to-hand combat with an alien soldier, is very intense and sells how dangerous they are in person. All of the gunfights between Sheppard, Ronon, and the enemy alien soldiers are just downright entertaining to watch, and they add tension to when Rodney and Teyla are trying to revert the ship back to the home universe.
“The Daedalus Variations” is really good Stargate Atlantis. It is a worthy throwback to the show’s classic formula, at its finest, during the final season. I would actually recommend this for newcomers, as it offers the best kind of standalone episode. It’s not important to the overall story, but it’s more than entertaining enough to succeed as just pure sci-fi action entertainment.
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