Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Finding out what irritates in an otherwise accomplished piece

When an episode is as accomplished as Tabula Rasa, it is difficult to find what it is that causes the slight feeling of dissatisfaction after the credits roll. Great direction, good acting and an overall polished production quality surrounds the episode; the core of the story is an original plot with a lot of wonderful stand alone moments that develop the characters and provide the all-important team feel. But, and there is a but, while the whole gives the illusion of a great episode, it masks the familiar devices and gaping plot hole that causes the whole to come undone.

Most of the plot holes are dealt with within the unravelling of the story during the flashback sequences; the varying times that each individual falls prey to the symptoms, the reasoning why Lorne and his men prowl the corridors rounding up people, why some hang onto some pieces of information while others are lost – all of these are cleverly dealt in the flashback elements which provide the explanations and do so in a way that is subtle. This is clever writing as is the weaving of the subtle sociological study of a military regime and citizen rebellion into the sub-text.

In fact, the entire story idea is great; a Pegasus Galaxy disease that the Milky Way expedition is susceptible to is a wonderfully Stargate-y story. Simple yet brilliant given that it is a realistic scenario. The memory loss complication provides an opportunity to sneak a peek at the characters at their most vulnerable, stripped of their usual outer armour. Carter and McKay’s interaction, stripped of the professional rivalry, shows what a great team they can make when they work together; Ronon’s persuasion in convincing Sheppard to trust him provides a real buddy-buddy moment; Teyla’s patience in dealing with McKay shows her belief in him. Teaminess seeps from the screen. It’s great to see the character interaction both between the regular team and their wider community of players including McKay’s girlfriend. Once again this season, the audience is given an opportunity to care about the characters.

While all the cast turning in accomplished performances, Jason Momoa and Rachel Luttrell shine as their characters are provided with the opportunity to save the day. Teyla’s unique combinations of warrior, leader yet compassionate human being are beautifully showcased by Luttrell especially in the scene with McKay and the fight with the soldiers. Ronon is quickly becoming the character to watch; Momoa brings depth to the Satedan demonstrating his softer side when taking orders from Teyla yet demonstrating his own protective leadership with Sheppard – even when shooting him. In a story that is mostly told from McKay’s perspective, these two are not only given an opportunity to shine but stealthily steal the show.

Yet for all that is great about the plot, the gaping hole is a big one; why, if you were aware you were going to lose your memory, wouldn’t you do more to leave yourself information and support? You’ve organised food and blankets so why wouldn’t you also, knowing people are going to forget their names, provide everybody name tags? Why not record an audio message telling people what happened and have it on a continual loop playing throughout the city? Given that everyone in the expedition is supposed to be crème de la crème and, more importantly, intelligent, it is frankly unbelievable that more wouldn’t have been done to mitigate the impact of the memory loss other than McKay’s video message, arm writing and Sheppard’s photo before the situation becomes as dire as that shown in the ‘present’ scenes. The lack of such mitigation suggests the expedition team are stupid which they’re not and while people do make mistakes, this is not a believable mistake for the characters to make – especially when they are shown to do some mitigation; it’s an irritating plot hole that is glossed over in order to tell the main story.

As a result, the whole plot is without foundation and therein lies my own dissatisfaction with the episode; I dislike a plot that relies on the characters being stupid and I cannot suspend my disbelief this extra step that they were all so quickly overcome with memory loss that these things weren’t thought about. Because of this, I just cannot engage with the story. Add to that the familiar use of the ‘start with dire situation in the present and flashback to the past to tell story’ device and that this is the third episode in a row to provide a ‘oh no’ moment when suggesting the loss of a character only to reveal said character safe and well, and my irritation factor was high.

However, the fact that it took me a whole twenty-four hours from watching Tabula Rasa to identify why I was dissatisfied is largely due to just how accomplished the episode is, if one side-steps the gaping plot issue and familiar devices, and that is largely down to the acting, fantastic direction and production quality. The different visual effect of the dark, scary present contrasted to the warm, reassuring colours of the past; the camera shots particularly in Teyla’s fight with the soldiers, the special effects of the city in the dark; all enable the story to be told in a way that flows, and the pacing is perfect.

In conclusion

Indeed, so much is right that I really want to overlook what makes me irritated; I can overlook the present/past device because it does work for the story; I can overlook the ‘oh no’ moment because it is admirable that the producers have successfully brought back a real unpredictability to a character’s fate. But, alas for me, I cannot overlook the gaping plot hole which could have been so easily dealt with and, while I admire the quality of this episode on so many levels, I cannot honestly say that I liked it.