2.8 The Madness Of Hercules As Jason languishes behind bars, the friends are divided. Hercules goes on the search for his lost love, the Gorgon Medusa, and must comfort her as she struggles with her actions. Seemingly cured, she’s the one person who can free Jason, but only by sacrificing her own life. With Ariadne unable to do anything to prevent the execution of her love, Cilix and Melas, two of her closest advisers, continue to push Pasiphae’s agenda, invoking the wrath of Poseidon and the people upon the young queen and driving her to act against Jason to appease the Gods. As the heroes fight their own emotional battles, Jason and Hercules find their worlds collapsing, but Hercules has a plan that may just save his best friend whilst still protecting the woman he loves, only to find himself captured and accused of treason! With those loyal to Pasiphae moving against Ariadne, the Queen is arrested, Hercules and Jason are on the run and only one person can save them all, but not before Pasiphae gets her heart’s desire. Again, Atlantis manages to be an engaging, if somewhat uneven, romp, covering many ideas in its 47 minute runtime, ending on a cliffhanger as Sarah Parish steals the scene with no words. Ken Bones is a commanding presence in this episode as the beleaguered Melas, whilst Mark Addy abandons much of the buffoonery that has sullied the character of Hercules as he must decide between his friend and his love. Elsewhere, Jack Donnelly gets the thankless task of spending much of his time behind bars and it feels like he’s a tad nonplussed considering his plight; it’s Addy, Robert Emms and Jemima Rooper who bring the humanity to the story. Without a doubt, Atlantis is in a better place than it was in series one, with a compelling story and confident performances. With only five episodes to go to the series finale, having been cancelled by the BBC, it’s a shame that it won’t get the chance to capitalise on this series’ success. Read Dave’s review of the previous episode, A Fate Worse Than Death, here. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
