Stargate: Atlantis (TV Series) Michael (2006) User Reviews

Great Episode

[youngerc-88820 · 9/10 · 21 December 2015]

{Contains Spoilers} This is a fantastic stand alone episode of Atlantis. The episodes focus is almost entirely on Michael and this is what elevates it above much of the rest of season 2. The actor does a really convincing job and it is very easy to get swept into his story. The normal characters becoming the antagonists makes this a unique episode, very cleverly done. It lays the foundations for the end of season finale and the Wraith returning to Atlantis.

The downside to this episode is how it fits in with the general ethos of the show. The Atlantis crew (for want of a better word) have a moral ambiguity here, they will do anything to defeat the Wraith. In other episodes they have a strict moral code they tend to boast about. Here that is all forgotten about and it makes Elizabeth Weir look like a complete hypocrite (not for the first or last time but this is perhaps the biggest example). Also it is very out of Dr Carson Beckett's character for him to have done this. They also seem to have rather assumed the success of this venture, otherwise why have Michael on Atlantis?

Probably the best episode so far

[sheila-85119 · 9/10 · 2 March 2021]

It was great because the viewer had no idea what was going on until it was revealed to Michael. Ronon played a significant role in the episode and his actions intrigued the viewer before the plot was disclosed. Another reason it was good was the fact that McKay only played a small part, always a bonus.

One of their best episodes but at a cost

[harveymarosehope · 9/10 · 3 January 2021]

So they transform a wraith into a human using Dr. Becket's retro virus. The acting is fantastic and they set up for a very intriguing super villain.

The problem I had was the ethics of all the characters we've come to love get a little muddy in that they've essentially decided to participate in biogical warfare. It's a really weird one-off in an otherwise morally upright group. It was an excellent episode, but you wouldn't recognize the characters.

Monster

[owlaurence · 10/10 · 1 August 2011]

If there's one episode in the whole Atlantis series you should not miss, this is it. On first viewing, it probably is the most astonishing episode of the whole; on second viewing, it gets even more impact when you know how many galactic tragedies and horrors will develop from this --a nice amnesiac young man waking up in the infirmary.

The plot picks up an arc that had been recently put aside: Beckett's attempts at creating a retrovirus to erase the non-human part of the Wraiths' DNA. To discover that his so-far unsuccessful attempts have finally paid off is major news in itself, but the way we discover it is absolutely brilliant. From the very first second, we empathise with poor Lt. Michael Kenmore, a former prisoner of the Wraiths, and we follow him in his efforts to learn exactly what the monsters did to him, why Ronon hates him, why he feels such kinship with Teyla and why he's being watched so closely. So we are as shocked as he is when he finally discovers the truth: that this nice guy with the innocent face IS a monster who days ago sucked humans lives out as a matter of fact. Needless to say, this monumental twist raises a multitude of philosophical questions: about good and evil, whether your degree of humanity/monstrosity is due to genetics or to your way of life; about who gets to decide what is "human" or "monster". And about a monster's right to be a monster instead of --a freak. Congratulations here to Connor Trinneer for a really stunning performance, both as a congenial human and a freakish semi-Wraith; his expression when he discovers the truth really, really made me hate those awful humans.

In the end of course, Beckett's experience falls short as Michael escapes. To the end we will never know whether he might have learned to be human after all, but in the process mankind has created its own worst Nemesis (this signficantly mirrors what the Ancients did aeons ago): Michael will be back with a vengeance, and will take a page out of Beckett's books to torment humans. As far as I am concerned, this episode marks a turning point in the series: there is Atlantis before Michael and Atlantis after him.

Good vs. Evil

[fig-75275 · 7/10 · 9 April 2021]

I really wanted to give this episode an 8, but I've dropped a star because there are a few moments that feel very contrived. There were definitely a few moments that made me think, "Seriously?", "Really?"

On the plus side, I like the way this episode essentially asks some deeply philosophical questions: what is good and what is evil? What is the difference? Do the ends justify the means? Are we doing the right thing? And so on.

On a lighter note, you will may also find yourself wondering why Trip is suddenly here on Atlantis and not in engineering on the Enterprise!

Is this the stupidest episode of the entire SGA series

[emspamm · 5/10 · 18 October 2013]

As the show is well finished and I'm currently working through a few episodes a night I absolve myself from providing a few spoilers.

While the production and acting by the whole cast is not in question what I do have to question is the whimsy of the direction and the script writers abilities to develop a long term story arc without throwing in anomalies like the Michael episode.

In the previous episode both Weir and Shepherd were getting heavy about the morality of the Genai's relatively "bloodless coo" that overthrew a nuclear powered war mongering leadership with intent to cause even more mayhem in the Pegasus galaxy. The same Genai that set them up and were ready to let their own people be sacrificed for the cause.

Now we find that nice Scottish chappie actually advocating a Dr. Josef Mengele type experiment on a non consenting Wraith. Not happy at just altering his form they steal his memories and even get the SGA psychologist to lie to her patient who is in her trust. There is no ambiguity who are the bad guys in this episode just the question how did it happen overnight. Hippocratic oath be damned!! The part of the Wraith was well played by Connor Trinneer and I can see why he got the role as Trip in Enterprise. His portrayal of someone without even an identity to call his own and who has become nothing but a lab experiment is played with sincerity all the way through.

The biggest hole in the story for me, because it was manipulated to bring season 2 to a climatic end was that they gave him access to Stargate Atlantis then decide when he justifiably kicks up his heels that they should put him off world at a secondary base.

Now what is their current defence against the Wraith, maybe the fact that they believe Atlantis has been destroyed? Wouldn't it have made more sense to have him off world at first and bring him to Atlantis only if the experiment worked. So instead of ending Michael and the experiment they give him minimal guarding and are surprised when he escapes with all their secrets in his head.

So after 40 episodes in I do have to ask myself did this episode intentionally take a harpoon to the head as the director assumed that goldfish were watching the show and that they would forget after a few episodes in series 3 how contrived this episode was?