The Most Underrated Sci-Fi Show of the 2000s is Now on Prime

Summary

• In the '00s, television was filled with all kinds of sci-fi series, and one of the most popular franchises was Stargate.
• Stargate Atlantis in particular stands out for its approach to storytelling and how progressive its fandom was.
• The series is now available for streaming on Prime and other services.

The sci-fi genre has long dominated television thanks to The Outer Limits and Star Trek, but it was not until the 00s that showrunners created many new original settings and opened new chapters in sci-fi history. Stargate is a prime example. It's not the most talked about franchise in 2024, unfortunately, but back then, fans of stories that deconstructed typical space opera tropes instantly loved both the original 1994 movie and the shows that followed. Most notably, Stargate Atlantis, also known as SAG, which told the story of Earth's conquest of Atlantis and clashes with warring alien civilizations.

When the show aired, it brought a new wave in the development of sci-fi fandom, and the SAG fanbase itself, despite the franchise's rather problematic ideas, gave rise to a more progressive and definitely more creative approach to character writing. All of this makes Stargate Atlantis a worthwhile option to watch, especially considering that all seasons are now available on Prime Video!

Is the Show Still Relevant in 2024?

30 years after Roland Emmerich's original Stargate was released in 1994, the galaxy-hopping franchise that celebrates the bravery of American soldiers (and sometimes scientists along with diplomats) hasn't aged well. Stargate Atlantis is a quintessential pop-culture representation of the militaristic rampage under the Bush administration.

Brave elite forces of Earthlings (Americans, to be precise) defending scattered human communities in various corners of the universe and actively pursuing possession of occupied new lands and technologies - well, such a narrative doesn't look good in 2023.

Nevertheless, even by today's standards, SGA almost immediately attracted an incredibly progressive fandom, which sometimes overanalyzed the show's plot a bit too much, while at the same time providing a fair amount of reflection on the show's characters and plot holes, which ended up being fixed more effectively by fanfic creators than by the writers themselves.

The Atlantis fandom was also no stranger to queer ships. Yes, television had already embraced fandom fantasies, from the original Star Trek to Xena, from Buffy to Supernatural. And yet, for all the militaristic conservatism of the setting, SGA stood out for its passionate and rather progressive fanbase.

Moreover, before the advent of streaming services, television in the '00s had arguably one of the best formats for airing sci-fi series: multiple seasons of about twenty weekly episodes. This length (and SGA contained exactly 20 episodes in all five seasons) and regularity allowed the writers to develop the plot at a fairly rapid pace, while paying no small amount of attention to the dynamics between characters and various subplots, both dramatic and comedic.

How Can You Watch It?

As we mentioned at the beginning, all five seasons of the iconic sci-fi show are now available on Prime! The service offers a 30-day free trial (during which you might just be able to binge through the entire SGA), after which it charges $14.99 per month, or $11.58 per month if you sign up for the $139 annual plan. Students can subscribe for just $7.49 per month.

In addition to Prime Video, the show is also available on Hulu. After the 7-day free trial, the cost is $7.99 per month for the ad-supported plan and $17.99 per month for the ad-free plan.

But that's not all, the icing on the cake for sci-fi fans might be that you can legally stream Atlantis for free on Pluto TV! The only downside is that the service is ad-supported, so the viewing time will obviously be a bit longer. Still, it's a great option for those who don't want to overpay.