In Review: Atlantis – The Grey Sisters

Synopsis: It’s not looking good for Ariadne as her life hangs in the balance, but Jason finds his guilt is to much to bear, and vows to do all he can to help his Queen.

Review: After the last couple of weeks of episodes that were below par the writers have hit back with an episode that unravels some more of the shows mythology and tucks into some much needed exploration of Jason’s relationship or lack thereof with Pasiphae.

With Ariadne’s life hanging the balance Jason, Hercules and Pythagoras set off on a quest to seek the advice the three blind witches known as the Grey Sisters – and the scene in which Jason and the sisters meet is taken right out of ‘Clash Of The Titans’. We even have Jason throwing the all powerful eye at them once his business is complete.

The three sisters tell Jason that he needs to get a sample of Medea’s, which is the vital ingredient need for a potion to heal the dying Ariadne.

So off the gang heads to Pasiphae’s hideout, but along the way Hercules gets hurt and Pythagoras has to stay with him, which leaves Jason on his own to seek out Medea and get some of her blood.

When he sees Medea Jason finds that he cannot kill her due to feeling some strange connection to her, which is something that will no doubt be explored as the series progresses, but those like myself who know the mythology will be fascinated to see how they get there.

As apposed to killing Medea Jason knocks her unconscious and draws some of her blood only to be captured just as he is making good his escape.

What follows is an intriguing conversation between Pasiphae and Jason. Pasiphae tells Jason that she feels that Ariadne is a weak leader for Atlantis and points out that she is not the only threat to the kingdom, but the most interesting moments in this exchange is when she asks Jason about his parentage. For the first time we see Pasiphae’s cool visage begin to slip as she struggles to wrestle her emotions down when Jason says that his mum died after he was born and that his father never really talked about her. In fact toward the end of this exchange Pasiphae very nearly tells him the truth. It’s pretty powerful stuff and Jack Donnelly has to lift his game in order to receive his lesson in how to act as Sarah Parish pretty much walks him through it, but to his credit he manages to stay with her throughout.

The episode wraps up as Jason is rescued by Hercules and Pythagoras who have scales a mountain to get to the castle.

The end of the episode sees Ariadne on the mend and proposing marriage to Jason. An invitation that he accepts, but judging by the teaser of what is to come it could well spell much more unrest for the doomed city as Pasiphae will be looking to put an end to the union by whatever means.

For me this episode had a lot of drama, but I couldn’t help but get the feeling that the only reason Hercules and Pythagoras where in this was to rescue Jason at the end. Hercules gets a brief bit of character development in a scene where the recently bereaved Melas gives him some perspective about his love for Medusa, which could mean that we’ll get to see her pretty soon.

Thus far as character development goes for the key players. This is among the best episodes of the season and after two weeks of not particularly caring to much. This episode was the boost that I needed, but I think the question we all need to be asking is just how long will Ariadne’s reign last?

Truth is the vital ingredient that has been missing from the show for weeks is more Pasiphae and her inclusion in this story raised the bar.