January 6, 2009
Not the End
So this is my last Atlantis blog and I can say, without a doubt, it has been a great experience working on the show. Christine Mooney, formerly the costume designer on SG-1, stopped by yesterday and remarked on just how special this place is, and she's right. There's a reason Stargate has been so successful - it's the people. Starting right at the top with the creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, the Showrunners Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, the other amazing writers, the talented directors, and all the other amazing people who work on the crew, this is an incredible group of talented people. Lucky for us Stargate will go on, even though Atlantis won't continue as a television series.
I sat down with Paul Mullie today, who wrote the finale for Atlantis, entitled "Enemy at the Gate". Paul told me that when the writers came up with this final episode, they didn't know at the time it would be the last episode. However, because it is also the 100th episode of the series, they had always wanted it to stand on its own, so the story wasn't planned as a cliff-hanger. As you probably all know, cliff-hangers are de rigueur for season ending episodes so the viewers will anticipate the beginning of the next season. Also, cliff hangers are a good way to deal with actors who are in the last season of their contracts; for example, you put all the characters in a big explosion, and if the studio can't come to terms on a new contract for some of them, well... I know it sounds harsh, but it would be even more harsh to you viewers to write a character off the show off-screen after the fact.
Paul didn't want to give anything away, but he did say the writers had always wanted to bring the Atlantis series full circle, and Paul said you could try to figure out what that means. Another hint: this episode picks up off the end of episode 519, "Vegas".
In writing the episode, he said there was lots of "shoe leather", a writer's term meaning there was a lot of backstory to take into account. For example, a number of old characters return, such as Major Davis, and existing characters like Sheppard don't know this character, so they had to address that. Also, this episode is plot-heavy and action packed. The VFX budget was over half a million bucks, making this one 2nd to Daedalus Variations for the most VFX dollars spent on an episode this year.
By the way, this episode is dedicated to Don S. Davis, who recently passed away. Don played General Hammond on SG-1 for years. In addition to a dedication card at the end of the episode, the writers also honored Don's passing by writing into the episode the off-screen passing of Don's character, General Hammond. It is a fitting tribute and done in a very classy way, as I'm sure you will agree when you see it.
I tried to get some information from you about the upcoming Atlantis movie, but, although they've already got a story line in mind, Paul was understandably tight-lipped. He did tell me he and Joe are excited about writing and producing the DVD feature, and they're pleased this isn't the end for Atlantis.
Thanks to you fans for five great years!
Posted by Alex Levine at 7:21 PM
