Review: Atlantis

Atlantis

BBC Home Entertainment

Street: 08.18

Atlantis is a medieval-fantasy show that comes from our friends across the pond. There’s gods that need appeasing and weddings to be planned in the second half of season two. Everything naturally goes awry and it’s entertaining enough. The show lacks a certain je ne sais quoi—it’s missing that special something that makes it great. The lack can be felt in a combination of the acting, the set design and the special effects. It’s not terrible by any means, it’s just not amazing.

The series is full of Greek gods, myths and historical figures Hercules (Mark Addy, Game of Thrones), Jason (Jack Donnelly, The Misfits) and Pythagoras (Robert Emms, War Horse) are our main heroes. The three are a merry band about to go through some serious rough times. Hercules is the heart of this show. Pythagoras (I had Trigonometry flashbacks when I heard that name) is the brains and the conscience, while Jason is definitely the brawn and the leader of the pack (vroom vroom). They’re in the service of Ariadne (Aiysha Hart), queen of Atlantis. Ariadne is no dainty queen or damsel in distress, she kicks ass with a bow and can hold her own in all the fights they encounter.

When the season resumes, Ariadne can’t fight her feelings for Jason any longer. She proposes marriage, even though Jason has no royal blood. The chemistry is a little off between Jason and Ariadne. It’s just not up to snuff. I did not for one second believe that they love each other—they’re about to get married, after all. Their love is even what sets some serious events into motion that rock the world. While it’s not necessarily believable, what transpires is worth watching.

The main threat of the show is Pasiphae (Sarah Parish), who is out for the throne and she does not pull punches this season with our heroes—the whole time I was asking myself “Jesus! Are these kids EVER going to catch a break?!” She’s wanted it through the whole series, but all of the buildup finally paid off this season—she is going to be Queen, dammit. She becomes seriously ruthless at the end, just to ensure she has what she wants. She has many a secret that all come to light and none of that turns out well for the good guys.

This season, they’re not afraid to kill off some important characters—maybe if they’d been braver earlier, the show wouldn’t have been cancelled after this season. The fans are upset, and with how the season ended, I don’t blame them. I may not have loved the characters, but it would be interesting to see how the writers get the heroes out of the scrape they ended up in. It was set up to be quite the adventure across the sea. It’s probably for the best—Atlantis is doomed in the myths, and maybe our heroes will escape the inevitable catastrophe. There was some foreshadowing—Poseidon was a little angry at the end of the season.

Atlantis takes a lot of chances in the second half of this season and some of them pay off. There are a lot of cool choreographed action scenes, betrayals aplenty and scenes that made me tear up. The behind-the-scenes featurette isn’t anything amazing and it seems like a lot of it was made before the second half of the season had even finished shooting. It’s more like a preview for the season you just watched, instead of a behind-the-scenes look at the show. The season itself is worth watching though, and the price is right. Be prepared for the cliffhanger that will never be resolved. –Ashley Lippert