Hive Ship Archives

Gatecast 292 SGA The Seed

Nov 142015

A month after the events at Michael’s complex the new head of the expedition in Pegasus arrives via the Daedalus, Mr Richard Woolsey beams down and makes an awkward introduction, it doesn’t bode well. Dr Keller it sees is having some health issues and awakes at her desk to find her hand covered in goo but dismisses it, she is still looking into reviving Carson and when Woolsey is informed of her progress he simply states that at some point you’re going to have to gamble, her research pays off as Carson is unfrozen and the new drug injected into his system stabilizes it, things are looking up. The next morning Teyla is worried the no one has heard from Jennifer and when they access her room they find her in bed with some sort of alien growth covering part of her body. Carson tries to surgical remove it but it reacts and threatens the health of Jennifer so all they can do is attempt to divine its source as it looks like something Carson had seen Michael working with.

Things are going from bad to worse as this organic hybrid material spreads across her bedroom and buries itself into the structure of the city tapping into local power sources to increase its growth, as it approaches one of the main ZPM power conduites the question is posed in terms of sacrificing one for the benefit of all especially after Radek is attacked by a tentacle when investigating it’s growth in a support tunnel deep within the city. Carson identifies a virus in Jennifer’s system sourced from work undertaken by Michael however it does look like it was an accidental exposure and Carson has developed a counter agent but it has to be injected directly into her flesh and to get there someone has to get past the alien growth which they now know is a baby Hive ship.

Can Jennifer be saved, who will risk the gauntlet and has this been a good first week in the job for Mr Woolsey?

The Seed is considered (or so it seemed to me) to be a victim of some great episodes around it, in many ways it has the feel of an early season episode with a gimmick of the week and ultimately no real consequence but to be fair they are allowed to not hit the proverbial home room with every episode. For fans of Carson the episode pays off, a good example of his talents and commitment to his patients and of course John and Ronon get to do the hero thing, not demanding it has to be said but well produced as is the whole episode. The commentary on the DVD/Blu-ray goes into some of the issues with so much use of visual effects and practical elements for the alien growth and is well worth a listen and despite some negative opinions it was still a fun episode.

Thanks to Brad for joining us for this episode, we had some technical issues but didn’t lose any of the recording which is always the silver lining. We got some feedback over on our Facebook page so thanks to Brad and Steve for that. This weeks promo is for Generations Geek the father/daughter all things geek and genre podcast and next week we are taking a look at the third episode of the final season “Broken Ties”.

Don’t forget we also have the ongoing poll for your favourite ten episodes of Stargate SG1

Promo…

Generations Geek

Links…

Stargate SG1 Poll…

Poll Daddy

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Gatecast 190 SGA The Siege Part 1

Episodes No Responses »

Aug 032013

As the fleet of Wraith Hive ships and cruisers close on the Atlantis star system Rodney and two others take a jumper out to the Ancient satellite with the intent to repair the weapon and then spring a surprise on the Wraith when they enter the system. Rodney draws the short straw and has to don the space suit and re-route some energy conduits but the attempt is a success and the satellite drawing power from a generator is armed and ready. Meanwhile back on Atlantis after failing to locate a suitable new Alpha site Bates is found seriously beaten, with their previous animosity Teyla is the prime suspect but after scanning the DNA remnants on the wounds Carson identifies that presence of a Wraith in the city and so the hunt begins. Bob the Wraith is captured and John interrogates him rather aggressively with no practical results as to why he sneaked into the city or his plans once the fleet arrives and arrive they do. Grodin is alone on the satellite and is successful in taking out the first hive ship but the fix fails and the weapon loses power leaving the other two hives to rip the satellite to pieces as Rodney and Miller watch on from the cloaked jumper.

The Siege is a trilogy of episodes bridging the first and second seasons of Stargate Atlantis.

This is a big story and you can understand why a couple of the previous episodes were bottle shows, the amount of money spent on the sets and CGI would have been significant and while Part 1 isn’t all action there is enough flash and bangs to make you happy with a good bit of drama with Teyla and Bates and then Grodin.

Knife through butter

In all honesty when you watch part 1 you always have to ask yourself why is everyone so confident, it’s not as if full coverage of the star system with multiple weapon satellites prevented the fall of the city ten thousands year previously and while I suppose you could say it’s pure hope and maybe desperation but you do see much in the way of believable worry or trauma. Ok we get a little shock when the satellite is taken out and they lost Peter but Weir as a commander should takes it in her stride and it was good to see Rodney willing to go into the line of fire to attempt a rescue of his colleague. It’s also worth mentioning the use of sort of red shirts and the introduction of a new character who you would assume would be the sacrificial goat of the story, a nice twist.

Ok, who hit Bates?

We got a nice discussion going over on the Facebook group for last weeks episode, plenty of back and forth on twitter and even a +1 and share over on G+ so that’s always rewarding but there can never be too much feedback and listener interaction so in that respect feel free to get in touch about our show or Stargate. We’ve put up the episode list for the next 10 months or so just to make it easier for anyone to find an episode they fancy joining us for and then it can be reserved and closer to the date a time can be arranged along with the bits and bobs required to make the recording possible:)

This weeks promo is from The Book Cave a resource dedicated to the more pulp side of literature, lots of author interviews, news and discussion so if like me you like that sorta thing pay them a visit.
Many thanks to Jeff for joining us for this episode and he’ll be back for part 2 next week. The following two weeks after that will be the domain of the two wrap up shows which include the results of the listener polls.

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