Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Leaning into the cliché

The hero getting kidnapped by a beautiful woman? As Jack O’Neill would say that would be a cliché and we all know how Jack feels about those…me, on the other hand, well, I don’t mind the odd cliché if its done with some style and panache. The question is whether Travelers is really a story that delivers with that style and panache or whether, in the final analysis, it doesn’t get beyond the cliché. For me, the problem with Travelers is that it never seems to resolve that question despite the great special effects, acting and direction.

 The cliché is certainly milked for all its worth; Larrin’s dress in the first act of leather bodice-style top and trousers (reminiscent of Vala’s if slightly more restrained), the hiding in a closet together, the sexual innuendo which peppers the dialogue, the use of feminine wiles to lower Sheppard’s guard and grab the gun. Even the main plot doesn’t move beyond the core cliché of Sheppard being at the mercy of the beautiful alien woman; it’s the central theme, and lest we forget, it’s brought up repeatedly in dialogue.

With all the boxes ticked on the cliché check list, does Travelers ever move beyond it? There are hints that it does make an attempt; Larrin is quite demurely dressed once on the Lantean vessel; the closet scene nods at the cliché but the motivations of the characters are clearly to stay hidden from the Wraith rather than being enraptured with each other; the dialogue is often delivered mockingly rather than teasingly; and the use of feminine wiles…OK, so maybe that one lives on in cliché-land.

The cliché is also used to drive the action within the main plot in a clever way with Sheppard’s and Larrin’s escalating power battles and mind games enabling the escalation of the action; the kidnap of Sheppard, the flight of the Lantean ship, the subspace communication, the Wraith attack, the working together briefly to defeat the greater enemy before once again re-engaging in the power struggle with each other. This works very well.

The special effects incorporated within the action sequences are all very good; the fight with the Wraith ship and its destruction very good in particular; the sequence with Sheppard stood with only the force shield between him and space spectacular. My only complaint is that the new alien ships seem very similar to Earth ship design and I fear I’m going to have trouble distinguishing them in future.

The sub-plot also allows for the more serious theme of the ‘nobody gets left behind’ to be revisited. The brief scenes on Atlantis with McKay, Teyla and Ronan – and additionally Lorne in the jumper scenes – allow the bond between Sheppard and his team-mates to be showcased. The absence of Carter helps with this even if the audience is momentarily left wondering in the Atlantis scenes where she is.

The sub-plot provides a more serious undertow for the action within the main plot and gives the episode a subtle tension. It is this that allows the viewer to feel the desperation of the Atlantis team when they see the ships leave and believe for an instant that they’re too late; that they’ve lost Sheppard. Excellent direction helps to set this up along with the story where there has been enough belief incorporated in Larrin’s character being capable of taking Sheppard with her that the viewer is left momentarily wondering if she has. However, here is possibly the weakest part of the plot for me; why does Larrin actually let Sheppard go? I wasn’t convinced that Sheppard’s ‘argument’ was enough to convince her.

With the sub-plot effectively ‘finding and rescuing Sheppard’ and much of the action centred around Sheppard, there are clear comparisons with Season 3’s Common Ground. There are nods to that episode throughout threaded through the plot; Sheppard missing in action, beaten and tortured, an alliance with an enemy to defeat an enemy, the giving of life by a Wraith, Sheppard honouring a deal with a Wraith. However, these elements are hidden by the triviality of the cliché in contrast to the seriousness with which these very same elements were presented within Common Ground.

From an acting perspective, Joe Flanigan is not as tested in Travelers as he was with Common Ground but he does a great job once again in demonstrating a Sheppard who is a thinker and strategist, clever in his solutions and a very capable soldier; whose failing might be allowing himself to occasionally get distracted by a pretty face when his guard is down. His acting during the Wraith giving life scene is fabulous with the character’s discomfort and remembered angst clearly shown on his face and his body language. As his counterpoint in the action, Jill Wagner does a reasonable job with Larrin. She’s solid throughout and excellent in displaying the moments of vulnerability when faced with the Wraith.

In conclusion

Yet, despite the acting, special effects and underlying themes, as a viewer it doesn’t feel to me that the episode ever does elevate itself beyond the cliché. It’s a great romp; the action is enjoyable, the dialogue snappy and amusing in places, good tension in the final denouement but…and there is a but, it just doesn’t take itself seriously enough to deliver the cliché with enough style and gravitas that the viewer can get beyond it. Still, as clichés go, this wasn’t entirely all bad and indeed, there is a lot to enjoy if the viewer doesn’t over-think it and simply enjoys the ride. In the end, this seems to be recognised even within the episode itself with the final scene played for humour and clearly a nod to the audience that this was the cliché of the hero getting captured by a beautiful woman.