It really is brilliant at times but its last season had too many boring episodes and it has a very slow start.
Sg-1 is one of my absolute favorite shows, i think the concept is genious and the characters are amazing so years later after always wanting to see this series i gave it a go.
The pilot was great, the villians were very intimidating, their style was super cool. After finding out what they really were i was a bit disappointed but that was ill-placed, they used the concept very well and we got a lot of real moral dilemmas from it and a sympathetic understanding of this evil race.
Like i mentioned it starts off slow and i was really thinking they could have just sg-1 do these eps by fitting the story into their world but it definitely grew on me as it took on its own thing especially with its main villain species, there are some really really excellent episodes focusing on the uniqueness of the villains plus ofcourse good stand alone ones.
If you like ridiculous sci-fi, great space villains, likeable characters, a lot like a lot of survival type episodes (i like them and sg-1 has a lot too but woah atlantis has way more i think) and are ok with fast forwarding or doing other things while the boring ones play give it a go.
What i liked a lot 1. Characters especially Non-military characters I love the characters of sg-1, Teal'c and Daniel's development kicks off immediately and Jack has a tragic past plus the sarcastic hero thing. I like Sam a lot but she is too much of a Mary Sue and her addition to Atlantis doesn't make much difference tho i was excited for it. I mention these characters because you don't have instant characterization in Atlantis, so don't expect those big personal stakes except for Tayla's. Let's talk about Atlantis now Rodney is definitely the best, he is a stark contrast to Sam but way more realistic, i mean ofcourse he is an arrogant, narcissist and a bit of an incel really. He can be really annoying and unlikeable but that makes his character arch that much better. I wasn't a fan of Weir initially but she grew on me and they managed to capture her experience very well, i mean she is in a crazy position and they potray her self-doubt, worry and fear well while still maintaining her cool diplomatic character. Something we couldn't see on Sg-1 with leaders because she is not military and the almost sickening military adoration being toned down was definitely better. Atlantis was able to do much more with medical characters because well they are off world anyway, we get two main doctors that are good characters and again their fears and worry is relatable. One of best things about the last season was the blonde doctor. I even really liked Mr. Woolsey(i think that's the name).
2. Took actual risks with the characters Don't want to go into spoilers so all that can be said is that they really took some of the characters and gave them heartbreaking turns and as much as that hurts sometimes its done well.
3. The villain species Lots of different facets were explored, again spoilers is of significance but i just can say they did well with many of the ways they encountered the villain and their physiology and their abilities. Two of the people in this become good villains for the most part, especially one of them, the other just gets a plot that becomes weaker.
4. Alantis The main technologically advanced stuff that happens on the show comes from exploring the city itself, with hidden mysteries galore.
5. Fun standalone eps and some great plot points Alternate realties, temporary powers, paradoxes, all the works.
6. Some of the other antagonists A military type man from another world and then some other type of secondary antagonists (spoilers so can't say) were good tho i didn't like the military world as an antagonist much.
What i didn't like too much 1. Not much diverse aliens, too many of the same worlds Now i can't blame them for it in the writing kind of way just for the result being boring, the galaxy doesn't have many advanced races for a reason so while it is boring its necessary for the writing. So we see a lot of primitive worlds, one of the main antagonists is a 1950 military world which was well...i have mixed feelings about that world. I was going to give up on the series but they made the villain of the world good and mid 1st season episode is hella good because of it but still i just was not liking these worlds.
2. Some characters are just ok The main character John is just ok, he is the typical hero but nothing special, Ronan's entry was great but was a stagnant character for the most part. I like Tayla but there was just something annoying about her, the goody two shoes my people my people perhaps.
3. A lot of boring filler and stretched out plot endings Last season had too much boring filler, the series starts off slow too with a lot of filler, the plot is not always bad but sometimes they stretch it out too much to the point it stops being fun, sometimes taking 3 episodes to solve it basically stretching stuff out. One ep is just a zombie slasher ep, the worst.
4. Not many specific villains and come in late The species is the main villains which makes them all just blend in so we don't have that one great villain that bad guy for a long period, we have particular ones at some point just for an episode which are great, then we get 2 main ones which makes it better.
5. No resolution It got cancelled before tying things up. Apparently there is a comic tho.
All in all i would recommend it if you love startgate sg-1 and are thinking about watching Atlantis.
What i liked a lot 1. Characters especially Non-military characters I love the characters of sg-1, Teal'c and Daniel's development kicks off immediately and Jack has a tragic past plus the sarcastic hero thing. I like Sam a lot but she is too much of a Mary Sue and her addition to Atlantis doesn't make much difference tho i was excited for it. I mention these characters because you don't have instant characterization in Atlantis, so don't expect those big personal stakes except for Tayla's. Let's talk about Atlantis now Rodney is definitely the best, he is a stark contrast to Sam but way more realistic, i mean ofcourse he is an arrogant, narcissist and a bit of an incel really. He can be really annoying and unlikeable but that makes his character arch that much better. I wasn't a fan of Weir initially but she grew on me and they managed to capture her experience very well, i mean she is in a crazy position and they potray her self-doubt, worry and fear well while still maintaining her cool diplomatic character. Something we couldn't see on Sg-1 with leaders because she is not military and the almost sickening military adoration being toned down was definitely better. Atlantis was able to do much more with medical characters because well they are off world anyway, we get two main doctors that are good characters and again their fears and worry is relatable. One of best things about the last season was the blonde doctor. I even really liked Mr. Woolsey(i think that's the name).
2. Took actual risks with the characters Don't want to go into spoilers so all that can be said is that they really took some of the characters and gave them heartbreaking turns and as much as that hurts sometimes its done well.
3. The villain species Lots of different facets were explored, again spoilers is of significance but i just can say they did well with many of the ways they encountered the villain and their physiology and their abilities. Two of the people in this become good villains for the most part, especially one of them, the other just gets a plot that becomes weaker.
4. Alantis The main technologically advanced stuff that happens on the show comes from exploring the city itself, with hidden mysteries galore.
5. Fun standalone eps and some great plot points Alternate realties, temporary powers, paradoxes, all the works.
6. Some of the other antagonists A military type man from another world and then some other type of secondary antagonists (spoilers so can't say) were good tho i didn't like the military world as an antagonist much.
What i didn't like too much 1. Not much diverse aliens, too many of the same worlds Now i can't blame them for it in the writing kind of way just for the result being boring, the galaxy doesn't have many advanced races for a reason so while it is boring its necessary for the writing. So we see a lot of primitive worlds, one of the main antagonists is a 1950 military world which was well...i have mixed feelings about that world. I was going to give up on the series but they made the villain of the world good and mid 1st season episode is hella good because of it but still i just was not liking these worlds.
2. Some characters are just ok The main character John is just ok, he is the typical hero but nothing special, Ronan's entry was great but was a stagnant character for the most part. I like Tayla but there was just something annoying about her, the goody two shoes my people my people perhaps.
3. A lot of boring filler and stretched out plot endings Last season had too much boring filler, the series starts off slow too with a lot of filler, the plot is not always bad but sometimes they stretch it out too much to the point it stops being fun, sometimes taking 3 episodes to solve it basically stretching stuff out. One ep is just a zombie slasher ep, the worst.
4. Not many specific villains and come in late The species is the main villains which makes them all just blend in so we don't have that one great villain that bad guy for a long period, we have particular ones at some point just for an episode which are great, then we get 2 main ones which makes it better.
5. No resolution It got cancelled before tying things up. Apparently there is a comic tho.
All in all i would recommend it if you love startgate sg-1 and are thinking about watching Atlantis.