Atlantis series 2 episode 6 review: The Grey Sisters

This review contains spoilers. 

2.6 The Grey Sisters

Let’s recap this week’s action.

Jason is infuriated and hunting down Medea for her attempt to kill Ariadne. As he chases her through the forest, he’s unable to catch her and threatens instead to kill her.

After chasing down but failing to capture Medea, Jason makes it clear that he will kill her but, with the Queen’s life in danger, he, Hercules and Pythagoras return to Atlantis, passing Ariadne into the care of The Oracle.

As Hercules drowns his sorrows in food, he discusses the loss of Euridice with Orpheus, the elder intent on retrieving his love… even if it means a trip to Hades. “Where there’s love, there’s always a way,” he says, cryptically.

Though it appears that the Queen may be recovering, it soon becomes clear that there are darker things at work. The attempt to save Ariadne is stymied by a cursed blade that even The Oracle can’t undo. She does, however, have a suggestion.

Thus, Jason, Hercules and Pythagoras go in search of the cure, encountering the three Grey Sisters and nearly being eaten alive by carnivorous birds. As Jason attempts to storm a stronghold, leaving Pythagoras to tend to a wounded Hercules, he crosses paths with Medea, securing a sample of her blood before falling foul of Pasiphae and coming far too close to discovering the truth.

The Grey Sisters was yet another strong episode in the second series that saw equal parts character development and trekking through wilderness.  There was plenty of action in the latter half of the episode and plenty of emotion in the first. The final scenes – Pasiphae and Jason, Jason and Ariadne – marked a shift in Pasiphae’s character and set Atlantis for an impressiver second half, as long the momentum keeps going.

With Jack Donnelly’s much more heroic portrayal of Jason continuing, he gets to balance a range of emotions with his man of action presence. Nowhere is his performance better than when he’s verbally sparring with Sarah Parrish’s Pasiphae as they pick apart each other’s motives, before discussing Jason’s past in a wonderfully emotional exchange. Mark Addy and Robert Emms are great to watch as they flit from despair to humour to jeopardy.

The inclusion of The Grey Sisters, wizened old hags with deformed faces and a shared eye (complete with optic nerve), is a rather disturbing touch. With almost Shakespearean malice, they warn Hercules of his future whilst being rather creepy. 

Overall, it was another well paced episode that shows Atlantis to be a capable dramatic action series, well written, acted and directed with an intriguing storyline that is developing well with each passing episode!

Read Dave’s review of the previous episode, The Day Of The Dead, here.

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