In this episode, a desperate No. 2 is driven to extremes, inflicting dangerous experiments on No. 6 to manipulate him through his dreams.
In this episode, the viewer is made complicit with No. 2 and his minions, who are also watching the Prisoner on a screen of their own.
In this episode, No. 6 meets a woman who convinces him she knows a way out of the Village. Stay for the closing credits, which bear an interesting difference from the standard sequence.
In some episode orders, this is placed as the second episode of the series. Do you think it serves better there than as the fifth episode?
I want to acknowledge that my last column infuriated more than a few folks. Some had some valid complaints, some were just too obsessed with Joe Flanigan’s gravity defying hair to listen to reason but this is a new column, the last column on Stargate: Atlantis (at least until the movie comes out!) and I have a lot to say and possibly more folks to piss off, so let’s get cracking!
First of all, I avoided “Brain Storm” for quite a while. Last column I expressed my distaste for episodes that focus simply on John Sheppard, well I also feel annoyance with ones that focus on the Rodney McKay/Jennifer Keller relationship. I just think that David Hewlett and Jewel Staite are much better actors than Flanigan so I can watch more easily through my annoyance. But I will again send up the question I have asked myself so very many times this season: Where are Ronon and Teyla? At least this episode we get a little something on where Ronon is, Teyla’s whereabouts are an unaddressed mystery.
McKay and Keller go to a super-secret science gathering where an unstable invention once again threatens lives. The highlight of the episode for me was the inclusion of Bill Nye, the Science Guy in the gathering of scientific geniuses. Not only does the mocking of his persona and scientific knowledge provide some of the biggest laughs of the episode but his facial reactions to the insults are hilarious. The relationship between Rodney and Keller seems exceptionally more unbelievable as time goes on, I don’t know what it is but the whole thing feels so pasted on. It’s almost as if the actors themselves are tired of the storyline or no longer care about it.
Conclusion — An overconfident scientist must bow to the genius of McKay, Keller almost dies but Rodney saves her which leads to the overconfident scientist claiming all the credit for stopping the horrific machine he invented in the first place. It, like many episodes this season, feels like filler and honestly in the last few episodes of the show altogether I expect a little bit better.
In the opening scene of Henry Selick’s stop-motion Coraline, a pair of spindly hands rips open and remakes a little rag doll. The matter-of-factness with which the doll is turned inside-out and reassembled is made even more unsettling in 3-D, as the doll’s stuffing bursts richly forth from every seam. By the time the doll makes its second appearance, as a gift to the quirky and lonely young Coraline, the sense of dread is palpable.
This episode literalizes the metaphor with a giant chess game played with human pieces. It’s important for No. 6 to know what part he plays and whom is on his side; and he thinks he’s got the game figured out.
The Prisoner is obviously a pawn, as he soon discovers. His approach in this episode suggests he thinks he can win over his captors through strategy. Do you think he’s going about his resistance in a logical way? Is he making the right moves, or does the Village have the edge?
A few months ago in an editorial, I asked why we don’t often see as many comments on our fiction as we do on our non-fiction. The answers, opinions, and suggestions our readers offered were very illuminating and much appreciated. Since that time we’ve seen a rise in comments on fiction (which makes us very happy!) and we’re working on other ways to engage readers. One experiment we’re trying is to collect Author Spotlights together once a month or possibly every other week. Though fiction that appears in each month is not necessarily related, I do feel that the pieces and their authors are in conversation — with you, the reader, and with each other, if only by accident of placement. These spotlights are a continuation of that conversation — I hope readers enjoy them and are moved to ask questions, make connections, and think about the stories in different ways.
News Flash! Winter Resorts Now Adapted to Elephant Use
ENRP, Austria –Winter Resorts have caved in to public demand and adjusted amenities to allow for future elephantine visits.
Elephant Rights activist, Voldenst Truh says: “It’s about time. Winter resorts should recognize the great good elephants can bring to a dying industry.”
