Monday, December 9, 2013

Atlantis - A Boy of No Consequence


After stopping a spoiled aristocrat from attacking an old man on the street, Jason (Jack Donnelly) and his two friends Hercules (Mark Addy) and Pythagoras (Robert Emms) find themselves at the mercy of King Minos (Alexander Siddig) who decides to leave their fate up to Poseidon by sentencing them to survive the Bull Court. To earn their freedom all three must successfully leap the charging bull along with the other members of their team (Christopher ObiCiaran GriffithsEmily Taaffe).

Fearing both the hero and Princess Ariadne's (Aiysha Hart) feelings for Jason, which would ruin her plans to marry Ariadne off to Heptarian (Oliver Walker), the noble who Jason "wronged" earlier in the episode, Queen Pasiphae (Sarah Parish) turns to witchcraft to insure the young warrior never makes it out of the Bull Court alive.


After killing the Minotaur and saving Medusa (Jemima Rooper) from the Maenads, bull jumping is a bit pedestrian a task for our hero of destiny. The Queen's machinations add a little tension to the proceedings, but even with the ridiculous nature of Pythagoras and Hercules jumping over bulls (thanks to some sketchy special effects) we have no reason to believe any harm will befall anyone in this episode (including the young woman who betrays, and later helps save, Jason).

Given that the show centers around a city the set-up limits the kinds of adventures Jason may have (rather than allowing him to journey to various locales), and this episode certainly feels like the show blew its budget with the first two episodes. Also a bit perplexing, "A Boy of No Consequence" is the second episode that makes a connection between the water god and bulls (which seems strange seeing as the creatures don't spend much time in the oceans).

No comments: