Gatecast 269 SG1 Unending

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May 162015
 

avatar The Odyssey with General Landry and SG1 onboard travel to the Asgard homeworld where Thor informs them that as a race they are no longer able to resist the ravages of time, their cloning technology has hit a critical juncture and with no future capability to sustain their forms and no way to ascend they as a species have decided to remove their world and themselves from existence. Their final parting gift to the humans who for the most part they accept as the Fifth race is the fruits of their technology, every scrap of data is incorporated into a core piece of tech which they retrofit to the Odyssey and for the first time a human ship has the full resources of the Asgard military. As it turns out pretty sweet timing as ORI starships jump into the system and as the Asgard world is vaporised the Odyssey engages the ORI and proves victorious and jumps into hyperspace for the return to Earth.

Little did they know but that was just the beginning of their problems, the ORI continue to harass the Odyssey and they come to the conclusion that the Asgard tech itself is somehow being detected within hyperspace but it can not be removed or powered down without a time consuming procedure which leaves then open to attack but something has to change. The next time the ORI attack the Odyssey has time to beam most of her crew to a nearby world which has a Stargate and then she retaliates but as the end looks to be drawing near and weapons fire approaches the ship Sam throws the dice and engages the time dilation field and to those on board time outside the ship seems to have stopped with the energy beam frozen just off the starboard bow. Sam continues to seek a solution to avoiding their fate if and when the time dilation field is turned off but she can not find a solution as the years and decades flow by and
they all grow old and then maybe just maybe…

Unending (26)

Well what do you know a very different type of story to wrap up the Stargate SG1 series, the writers knew they had to conclude some elements of the show and perhaps the Asgard leaving the picture was unexpected especially given the limitations that become apparent before the SGC even got to exploit the windfall. However Unending is an out and out character piece with the members of SG1 and their General, we watch them grow older and deal with the isolation and depression that comes with their circumstance and how they interact with each other, sometimes with surprising and emotive results. I’m still not quite sure if the finale is satisfying, it certainly has some very interesting scenes and no question the CGI as always blew your socks off but I think the fact that these characters return in The Ark of Truth gives the finale a much needed positive slant and for fans the warm embrace they were probably hoping for. A huge thankyou to Thomas who once again made talking about Stargate lots more fun, always a great guest and if you fancy joining us then get in touch and we’ll see what episode of Atlantis is open and sort out a time to chat over skype while watching the episode. Oh, I also included my short review of the Stargate SG1 novel “Murder at the SGC” written by Amy Griswold entitled , spoiler free:)

This weeks promo was for the SciFi Diner podcast an excellent show with lots of interviews and features, well worth a listen and thanks for all the support for our coverage of Stargate SG1, the two movies will be covered in due time and in the short term we have the Stargate Atlantis S3 finale next week and then the two wrap up shows. After that we jump into the fourth season of Atlantis and there are still episodes open if you fancy joining us on the show, check the schedule and get in touch.

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Gatecast 257 SG1 The Shroud

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Feb 212015
 

avatar Daniel was captured by Adria and now makes his return to the galaxy but he has been converted to a Prior of the ORI and is preaching Origin to a small community, SG1 are aware of this new non violent approach to gathering new worshippers but they are shocked to see that it is Daniel who is leading this new wave of spreading the gospel. They act quickly and beam him onto the Odyssey and immediately stun him and with the anti-prior device and begin to question him about his time with Adria and what exactly are his plans given only he has the specs to the device Merlin created to fight the ORI. Daniel claims this is all part of his plan and by convincing Adria that he has embraced Origin she would indeed change him into a Prior and the abilities that would give him would in turn be used to build and deliver Merlin’s weapon into the ORI galaxy but with the whole Milky Way at stake the SGC and the IOA are sceptical to say the least. A compromise is given with Daniel giving the location of the ORI starship and SG1 launch a raid to capture the weapon and finish it’s construction but as they battle for their lives it’s Daniel who escapes, kidnaps Jack, steals the Odyssey and rushes to meet up with Adria and the final act of his plan.

You can trust this face.

You can trust this face.

The Shroud is an excellent episode of Stargate SG1 with it’s action and drama all tied together with a number of what are talking head scenes but that’s all great character interaction and dialogue, if nothing else Richard Dean Anderson’s final episode of SG1 pays off big time as we get the old Daniel and Jack dynamic back as if the previous two years absence had never happened. In many ways it’s a gift to the fans, each member of SG1 at least those that spent most of the time with Daniel get to well interrogate and come to their own conclusions and while it seems very much like Daniel is Daniel the powers that be have certainly left enough of a hint that there is more going on. Of course as it turns out Daniel was not providing the whole story and we got the WTF moment when he finally met up again with Adria who then not quite got what she was expecting. The final scenes with the incursion of multiple ORI starships fit very well into the style of the later seasons of SG1 and the ORI arc, it’s a partial win at best and while the power of the ORI has a question mark against it the power of their believers is very real and here right now.

This weeks promo is for The Rusted Robot Podcast a show hosted by Shawn and Brigitte which has news, interviews, reviews and just a lot of entertaining chat about all things that entertain fans of science fiction and geeky things in general, you’ll enjoy it. Next week we are going to be looking at the Atlantis episode The Tao of Rodney you know the one where Rodney gets super powers and then looks like his brain will blow up, good times good times as Lucius would have said, hope you join us for that. As always we would love to hear from you, feedback wise it’s a little quiet but Facebook and Google+ are ticking over and the twitter feed is a madhouse for all things Stargate.

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Gatecast 255 SG1 The Road Not Taken

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Feb 072015
 

avatar2 While Sam is doing an experiment in phasing technology as derived from the technology Merlin left behind and unexpected event occurs and she wakes in an empty lab only to find that things are not as they were, Major Lorne is the leader of SG1 and General Hammond is back in command of the SGC. After interrogation she convinces the General she is there by mistake and while their Sam has been lost they agree to help our Sam return if she in turn helps to prevent an imminent attack on Earth by the ORI by solving the energy generation problem they were working on. Alas that proved impossible so Sam expanded the phasing device to blanket the entire planet and fed with the energy output of the entire United States the planet vanishes and survives the ORI attack but now as a media darling and political pawn Sam is going nowhere.

TheRoadNotTaken (28)

The Road Not Taken is another example of the alternate timeline/reality plot often used in Stargate and it has to be said it’s used a lot because it tends to work very well given the technology and characters we know and love in the series. It’s no surprise that the ORI like the System Lords are front and center for a divergent story line and in this one the Earth has pulled back from the galaxy as a whole and stands alone having missed the opportunities for exploring Pegasus and other revelations that came from ongoing galaxy wide exploration. Of course the reveal of the Stargate during their conflict with Anubis certainly shook things up and that perhaps shows while the disclosure has to be done sooner or later it also has to be handled in a controlled and delicate matter to avoid the panic and civil unrest. Of course the twisting of democracy to give the US president almost limitless power has corrupted things and the use of alien derived tech to crush opposition only shows how broken this Earth is. On the upside we did find out that McKay married Sam and he does seem to be a far more balanced and straight forward individual and of course Hammond remains the military man with his feet firmly in the camp of serving the people not controlling them. Overall a good solid episode if you can ignore how some of the events came to pass, the explanation for the transfer of Sam to the other Earth is a little sketchy and they totally gloss over how she returned but hey still fun and Amanda got to play dress up and boy did she look good.

Thanks to Brad for joining us for the show and this weeks promo is for Nutty Bites, next week we are going to be looking at the Stargate Atlantis episode Irresponsible which sees the return of two fan favourite (or maybe not) characters for their final appearances in the franchise, hope you join us for that. In the meantime we would love to hear what you think about the show and maybe if you have the time a review/rating over on itunes or stitcher would be very welcome, Stargate Forever.

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Gatecast 253 SG1 Line In The Sand

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Jan 242015
 

avatar2 Sam has been experimenting with phasing technology based on the device Merlin has left behind and with the imminent threat to the people of P9C-882 SG1 are ordered to take the new technology and use it to protect the native population from the ORI. Alas nothing really goes to plan and the assault on the settlement begins and in desperation Sam and Cameron phase a single dwelling and have to watch as the ORI take their wrath out on the locals. Meanwhile Tomin has Vala onboard the ORI mothership in orbit and has been tasked with the process of converting her to Origin, assumption being that Adria has decreed her mother is not to be killed at least not by anyone but herself but the Prior much to Tomin’s displeasure interrupts the word of Origin to support the destruction of the settlement despite some now willing to bow down to Origin.

Plenty to go around boys...

Pointy!

Line In The Sand expands upon some of the Ancient technology the SGC have discovered and given that Merlin was designing such tech to face the threat of the ORI it seems only right and proper thousands of years later it comes to the rescue but while overall the victory went to SG1 the consequences did perhaps tip the balance back to a draw, lives were saved but many lost. That said as many suspected Vala does have influence with Tomin and perhaps her calm and controlled delivery of what is right and proper or more to the point unacceptable no matter the belief system provokes Tomin to confront himself and the Prior when the locals are targeted for destruction. A small victory perhaps but the seeds have been sown and maybe if Tomin can be swayed then so can many more and the united front the ORI appear to offer may start to crumble.

A good action packed episode countered with some great acting from Claudia and Tim, their scenes with quite intense and in a way balanced out the more casual dynamic between a wounded Sam and Cameron as they all watched and waited to see the fate of the local population and an excellent guest appearance by Aisha Hinds as Thilana. This weeks promo was for The Batcave Podcast and next week we’ll be taking a look at the Atlantis episode Echoes and we’d like to thank Brad for joining us this week and sending in the voicemail, very much appreciated. We’d love to hear from you if you have some thoughts on this or other episode of Stargate and of course we are always looking for a guest to come watch and comment on an upcoming episode of SG1 or Atlantis.

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Gatecast 244 SG1 Counterstrike

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Oct 182014
 

avatar2 SG1 are undercover on an alien world recently taken by the ORI and a now fully grown Adria makes an appearance, after a rousing speech which has the locals aka survivors cheering an energy wave is detected by the Odyssey in orbit, they beam SG1 onboard and watch helplessly as every living thing on the planet is vaporised. Meanwhile back at the SGC Bra’tac arrives to bring news of a new offensive against ORI held planets using the Ancient weapon at Dakara, the current Jaffa council have decided that sacrificing whole worlds to kill the ORI armies is a worthy trade off and with an ORI starship now abandoned the race is on to take control of it. As SG1 investigate the ship they find the bridge and the robes of a Prior which indicates they control the ship which negates the whole premise of the Jaffa believing they can take the ship and use it to fight the ORI but there is no trust and the two groups spend more time fighting each other. The surprise for both of them is that Adria thanks to her connection with Celestis is still very much alive and is perhaps the most advanced being in the galaxy at this time and she takes control of the ship and with the information gained from the “dead” Jaffa she sets course for Dakara to destroy the weapon. Bra’tac and Landry are being held by the Council and their leader Se’tak who is a little paranoid holds up in the bunker and activates the weapon when the ORI ship is in orbit, it kills his men but Adria is again untouched and she fires on the planet ripping apart the ancient technology while Landry and Bra’tac flee through the Stargate.

Counterstrike (33)

Counterstrike is a well written episode and delves into the use of a device the Ancients meant as a tool for creation (think the Genesis device from Star Trek 2) but to create it has to manipulate raw material so when used as a weapon the need to create is a by product and the destruction of in this case life forms becomes it’s sole purpose. Of course the moral and ethical dilemma is exposed when every the decision to sacrifice innocents and non-combatants to strike at actual military targets and we get plenty of opportunity to explore that. That said we don’t get a lot of insight into the limitations of the Jaffa decision, piece meal strikes will simply be giving the ORI enough time to eventually discover the technology and source of the weapon and the foolish belief the Jaffa could make use of an ORI ship given that we know the Prior are the key to their technology beyond hand weapons etc. Ultimately the strike against this planet was misguided and achieved little and does kinda indicate that conventional means will not defeat the ORI and even some out of the blue almost mystical technology may not even be a total solution, I guess even Daniel may be wishing on a star in his hope for Merlin’s weapon.

Thanks for the feedback for last weeks episode The Real World and thanks to those that voted in the poll, the results seems to indicate a very pro Elizabeth (Torri) camp within the Stargate Atlantis fanbase and like the character or not she really should have been given more to do or sidelined even more in the way of General Hammond, this middle ground didn’t seem to work for anyone. This weeks promo is for The BatCave Podcast and next week we are going to be covering the Atlantis episode Common Ground where John has a close encounter with an old enemy and gets even closer to a potential friend or at least respected enemy, should be fun. Thanks to Brad for joining us on this episode and given the hoops we were jumping through it didn’t turn out to bad but overall came in a few minutes shorter than normally, could have done with a bit of extra content (reviews, comments etc) yep that’s a hint:)

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Gatecast 236 SG1 The Pegasus Project

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Aug 232014
 

avatar The Pegasus Project is a Stargate SG1 and Atlantis crossover under the SG1 banner and finally Daniel Jackson gets to visit Atlantis and the rest of the gang come along for the ride apart from a certain Jaffa who has another mission to perform in the milky way. Daniel and Vala make use of the the holographic database and surprisingly get the answer they are looking for which is puzzling to Daniel since there should be no way that the database would have records of planets named after the fall of the city. While they puzzle this out Sam and Cameron on board the Odyssey fly to a black hole and seed a gate close to the event horizon and they hope by detonating a nuke it will cause the destination gate to jump it’s wormhole to the nearby Super Stargate created by the ORI, yes this is where Teal’c has gone too in a cargo ship.

TPP (21)

Big, Bigger and Freaking Huge!

The experiment fails but shows potential so they all stick around and try again but on long range sensors an ORI ship is detected and unbeknown to the Odyssey a Wraith ship is closing on them but so close to the black hole they can not see it coming so when it opens up they get caught by surprise. So Teal’c is playing hide and seek from an ORI ship and the Odyssey is running from a Wraith ship but as it closes in on the Black hole it’s systems start to fail and they are able to beam a nuke on board, it detonates and the energy also hits the gate and transfers through the wormhole and jumps to the Super Stargate whose kerwoosh destroys the ORI ship, two for one:)

The Pegasus Project is an excellent episode not only for combining the two shows but also ramping up the CGI and action to really keep the pace high and even when it’s talking heads the dialogue is sharp and witty making the most of the new dynamic between the two character groups, it’s hilarious as Rodney gets talked about, talked over and basically made fun of by well almost everyone. It was also interesting to meet another ascended being who is once again constrained within the limitations imposed by her people, we mention the Q but they seem to have a lot more leeway but more of the ascended when the ORI really come close to achieving their goals.

Thanks to Brad for joining us for this show, we had skype issues so we may have lost some of the discussion but I think I was able to fill in the gaps and keep everyone entertained, let us know if you disagree:)
Also check out Futura Memoratia by Jennifer Foehner Wells, I’ve been meaning to review the novel length piece of Stargate Atlantis fan fiction for a while and since they show ran short it was a perfect time.
Thank you to Mack for the feedback over on Google + and Brad over on Facebook, continued amazement how busy twitter is, lots of Stargate chat and news and well worth keeping an eye on, some great people making use of twitter to share all manner of things about Stargate. This weeks promo is for the Star Trek original series podcast Two To Beam Up and next week we are back with just the Atlantis crew in the episode “Irresistible” we hope you join us.

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Gatecast 232 SG1 Flesh And Blood

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Jul 262014
 

avatar The tenth and final season of Stargate SG1 begins with the aftermath of the disaster at the Super Stargate when the four ORI starships entered the Milky Way galaxy and wrecked havoc amongst the combined Earth, Asgard, Lucian Alliance and Jaffa fleets. Daniel finds himself trapped onboard an ORI ship luckily it’s the one with Vala onboard but also her husband and child, yes Adria is here and quickly going through the younger actresses before we eventually get her in her full glory later in the season. As the ORI fleet invade Chulak wiping out the orbital defence it’s Bra’tac who comes up with plan and by plan a last ditch effort to destroy at least one of the ORI after the weakness in their shields proved to be insignificant for a tactical advantage. Thankfully Cameron is looking at the bigger picture although obviously if this was Earth he may have been the one to embark on a suicide mission but many will live to fight another day and maybe just maybe a solution to fighting the power of the ORI channeled into starships and weapons will be found.

Daniel, so tempted no one would know.

Daniel, so tempted no one would know.

Flesh And Blood was an excellent season opener building on the very impressive season nine finale and introducing a genuine focal point for the season to concentrate on, having a character that represented the threat rather than multiple priors makes a lot more sense and of course good writing to take advantage of Claudia’s pregnancy at the end of the last season and exploit it in a good way. Once again Chulak feels the wrath of the bad guys although once you get the reputation of being a seat of rebellion and independence so then any conqueror is going to take notice:) Stunning CGI space battles which are  imaginative and compelling and there is some genuinely creative set design for the ORI ship marrying old and new styles as shown in the living conditions the ORI keep their worshippers in so lots of precedent and kudos to the three young actresses who played Adria in this episode, they all brought something to the part and gave Claudia a lot to work with which we all benefitted from.

Many thanks to Thomas for joining us for the season opener, he will be returning later in the season and thanks to Dan and Elisa for taking the time to send us emails, appreciated to a degree we can not express:)

This weeks promo is for SciFi Diner and next week we begin the third season of Atlantis with the episode “No Man’s Land” which Brad will be joining us for so stick around and don’t forget to let us know what you think of the show and if you have the time an itunes rating/review would be most welcome but more importantly enjoy Stargate and lets all keep the franchise alive and flourishing:)

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Gatecast 230 SG1 Camelot

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Jun 282014
 

avatar2 SG1 continue their search for the weapon mentioned by Merlin when as an Ancient he went against the wishes of his people to search a way to protect not only the Milky Way but the Ancients themselves. Arriving on a world whose address was given within the Mantle they discover a low technology community whose inhabitants call it Camelot and within one dwelling are the hidden treasures of Merlin including a holographic message, database and another Knight created as a guard to protect the knowledge from the unworthy. Daniel manages to access some of the data but has to sacrifice the machine to protect Cameron who is battling one of the Knights and even with another of the fables swords from the stone he is on the verge of failure before Daniel saves the day. The Odyssey takes SG1 to the location of a recently discovered Supergate with Jaffa forces already present standing guard, Teal’c leaves the fleet on a secret mission and Sam comes up with a means to dial the gate to the Ori galaxy to prevent an incoming wormhole but they are too late, the gate activates and four Ori starships arrive and the battle is joined. The Odyssey and the newly minted Russian 304 Korolev along with a number of Jaffa Ha’tak and Asgard ships engage the Ori vessels but the invaders have superior shields and fire power, Sam floating near the gate can only watch in horror as the first battle is easily won by the Ori despite Teal’c bringing 3 more Lucian Alliance Ha’tak to the party.

Guys, you need more ships!

Guys, you need more ships!

Camelot is a fantastic season finale, we get a very good combination of location work at the village known as Camelot and of course John Noble guest starring which was and still is quite an achievement,  Katharine Isabelle also guest stars in the episode and it was a nice idea to have one of the local young women seemingly the strongest and most competent fighter despite tradition giving that role only to the men. It was a pity they didn’t have Valencia fight the Knight rather than just draw the sword from the stone and throw it to Cameron to do the day and then he only survives thanks to Daniel. In a full 180 we then have the other half of the story dealing with the very high tech side of the franchise, lots of very impressive CGI work and full use of the standing Daedalus (redressed) sets and the Gou’ald sets not to mention throwing in an Asgard just to spice things up a but. The battle once joined looks stunning and it is rather disturbing to see how easy the Ori cut through the lines of the defenders and are so strong they can casually leave survivors behind who can then spread the glory of Origin.

Thomas joined us for Camelot the season 9 finale of SG1 and we thank him for spending some of his day off work with us, not always easy arranging a time to bridge the USA, UK and Finland over Skype but we can always get it done and we are rewarding with good conversation, the same applies to our other guest hosts both previous, current and future:) We got some feedback for last weeks Stargate Atlantis episode Inferno over on our G+ and Facebook page as well the always busy Twitter so many thanks for that and touchwood we get to hear your thoughts on Camelot. This weeks promo is for the Resurrection Revealed Podcast which deals with the recently aired ABC series Resurrection a show I only just watched and thoroughly enjoyed and the podcast just added icing. Next week we are going to be discussing the Stargate Atlantis season 2 finale “Allies” and Brad will be joining us for that, we hope you all join us as well.

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Gatecast 228 SG1 Crusade

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Jun 142014
 

avatar Vala returns to the SGC although only her mind and she takes great delight in occupying Daniels body especially when her first port of call is the mens locker room. Anyhow when Sam realises what is happening and they get to debrief Vala (no not in that way) and she tells them of her appearance in the ORI galaxy in a small village, her friendship and romance with a native of that world and ultimately the bombshell that she is pregnant. If that wasn’t enough to drop on SG1 and the General she then reveals that the ORI ships are ready to go and filled with soldiers ready to fight and die in a religious war against the inhabitants of the Milky Way. Oh and in the meantime the Chinese have made their play for access to the Russian Stargate currently leased to the US.

The Will of the Ori

The Will of the Ori

Crusade marks the return to Stargate for Claudia Black and yes she was heavily pregnant at the time and that worked so well with the story the writers created around her return, the consequences of this story will play out in the tenth season but for now the structure of this episode allows Vala to take center stage without putting too much pressure on Claudia although there was no question that she was giving 100% with the scenes in the village and her acting opposite Tomin played by Tim Guinee. Once again the standing village set is redressed to provide a unique location without requiring huge investment which allows for strong guest actors including Tim as mentioned and of course Michael Ironside who can tick another genre show off his to act in list:)
I really enjoyed Crusade, Claudia was excellent as was Tim and the whole weaving of the Ori story which was basically clips/flashback and exposition was delivered to the viewers in a entertaining and fast paced manner, the threat of the ORI is now really becoming clear and puts pressure on the SGC to handle the local political fall out after the games the Russians were playing and the threat given that the ORI have proved to have weapons tech far in advance than even the Asgard.

Many thanks for the feedback this week and our Facebook, Google+ and Twitter have been very active and lets not forget that we are on a very gratifying number of listener lists over on Stitcher, wouldn’t say no to another itunes review though:)

This weeks promo is for the Sci-Fi Movie Podcast and next week we return to Atlantis for the episode Inferno with our guest Thomas once again joining us for an episode he asked to do a while back, hope you can join us for that and don’t forget we are keen to get more voices on the show, why not get intouch and join in watching and talking about an episode of Stargate SG1 season 10 and Atlantis season 3.

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Gatecast 212 SG1 The Fourth Horseman Part 2

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Feb 222014
 

avatar As Gerak serves the will of the Ori it is left to the remaining Jaffa who see the threat to their hard won freedom to rally against their leaders. In a desperate all or nothing move they offer Gerak and the council a simple choice, reject Origin or slaughter thousands even millions of free Jaffa who are offering no direct resistance. As trouble is approaching over Chu’lak the SGC have deployed their anti-prior device and captured a servant of the Ori and taken a blood sample with the hope it will lead to a cure for the plague sweeping across the globe. However Orlin who is rapidly losing his mental capability fails in his task but when asked by Gen Landry for one last effort he travels to the Sodan world and faces down the Prior who reveals the intentions of the Ori in the Milky Way, convert the peoples and then strike directly at their former brothers and sisters now known as the  Ancients.

Together they are Strong

Together they are Strong

The Fourth Horseman Part 2 is an excellent conclusion to this two parter, both of the main stories are wrapped up well with suspense and a significant emotional aspect which is one area where Stargate always does well. The sacrifice of Gerak after his face to face with Teal’c was an exception scene for both actors and huge praise to the simple yet oh so effective locations and props which helped to set the scene. Orlin played by Cameron again worked well within the story, his grand gesture in return to human form ultimately paid off but not in the way he intended, it was perhaps a little cop out to have the boy surviving and shades of the episode Learning Curve but The Fourth Horseman is at the end of the day about the hope that can now be drawn for a minor victory in this grade endeavour.

He used to smoke 4 packs a day!

He used to smoke 4 packs a day!

We’ve included some feedback for last weeks show and of course a few of the more notable Stargate related birthdays for the upcoming week and also a book review of the novel Houdini & Lovecraft, The Ghost Writer written by Ron Wilkerson. This weeks promo is from our friend Nuchtchas with her show Nutty Bites and next week we are looking at the Atlantis episode The Hive which is it’s conclusion to their mid-season two parter. We’d love to hear from you about anything Stargate and/or Gatecast related including the opportunity to join us for an upcoming episode, let us know if you are interested and we’ll see what can be arranged:)

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Gatecast 210 SG1 The Fourth Horseman Part 1

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Feb 082014
 

avatar2 A recon unit return from an undercover mission on a planet which is being visited by a Prior of the Ori, the men soon become ill and reveal one of them was touched by the Prior during a religious service and in hindsight it was easy to see the Ori knew who they were and used them to carry a plague back to Earth to decimate the heart of the potential resistance in the Milky Way.  As Sam investigates the possibility of developing an anti-prior weapon based on the knowledge they gained from the scans of Khalek back on Dakara a Prior is working his magic on Gerak who is embracing the concept of enlightenment which is worrying Bra’tac and Teal’c. Orlin returns to the corporeal world as a young boy, his explanation being the younger brain would be more adept at retaining the knowledge required to cure the plague but it’s a one way trip, for Sam and her world he is willing to sacrifice everything. Gerak is showing some resistance to the demands of the Prior but is then taken to Celestis and when he returns it seems the Ori now have a key player for the invasion of the galaxy.

TFH1 (44)

That can’t be good.

The Fourth Horseman Part 1 is an excellent episode in it’s own right let alone the first half of a two parter, with a restricted tv budget and resources the producers manage to convey the potential disaster of a global pandemic and the galaxy wide ramifications as the Jaffa nation could become a de facto army for the Ori.  It’s almost brutal watching Gerak a man driven by the desire for power see the Ori as both a means to an end but also maybe some sort of personal fulfillment in the spiritual sense, you do believe that he believes in their message despite knowing what the Ori are willing to do to anyone that does not bow down to them. There is hope of course, Sam and Dr Lee have come up with a way to disrupt the energy being channeled to and by a Prior but it has to be tested so a visit to the Sodan is called for and they may not be an easy challenge in itself.

The Brains Trust

The Brains Trust

The return of Orlin was a bit of a surprise and his new look took some getting use too, there was some logic behind it but as we learned in the commentary the idea was to have Sean Patrick Flanery return as the character but he was unavailable and the writers earned their money with young Orlin and making it work with the acting talents of Cameron playing  a big part.  Oh and lets not forget the return of the late Don S. Davis as General Hammond who filled in at the last minute when General Jumper was unable to film his cameo, it was great to see Don who appears again in part 2.

Thank you everyone for the feedback on last weeks show and continued support via Facebook, Google+ and especially Twitter. There’s a little news and birthdays included in this weeks show and next week we return to Atlantis for the first part of their two parter “The Lost Boys” which sees the return of a season 1 regular. This weeks promo is for the excellent Tuning Into Scifi TV and as always feel free to get in touch with us for any reason, we’re all family within the shadow of the gate.

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Gatecast 206 SG1 Babylon

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Dec 142013
 

avatar2 SG1 along with support from SG22 are on an alien world in search of the legendary warriors of the Sodan who are a group of Jaffa who were the first to break away from their System Lord masters many thousands of years earlier. They chose not to interact with their former brethren and live apart and slowly fell into the tales and legends of the remaining Jaffa but new information encourages the SGC to search them out. The team are ambushed and while under fire Mitchell is wounded and taken by the Sodan who are unable to retrieve one of their own wounded who was captured when SG22 joins the fight. Cameron is taken to the Sodan village where he is trained to a standard which will give him a fair chance during an honour fight a consequence of drawing Sodan blood but is troubled when he sees that the Sodan are falling under the spell of the Ori. Meanwhile at the SGC the captured Sodan is questioned and they attempt to prove to him that the Ori and their Prior’s stand for everything the Sodan rejected so many generations ago.

Where'd they go?

Where’d they go?

Well what can you say about this episode that doesn’t sound like I am sucking up to the producers, writers, director and cast? Not a lot because the episode looks fantastic, the new location village is movie quality and the music haunting and doesn’t suffer from the comparison to The Last Samurai even though the plot is similar. We have some excellent guest stars as well with Tony Todd, William B. Davis and the brothers Jarvis W. and Jason George all of who really add depth and value to the episode. The story opens up the Jaffa element of the show which has for many been a dying arc and both elements of the story work very well together.

Nice swords dude!

Nice swords dude!

Well we can’t talk about this episode without mentioning quite a few references to Star Trek, the fight and it’s result hark back to Amok Time and even Cameron comments on the fact by calling Jolan “Bones” yet as always it’s done with a huge nod to the audience which makes it fun and not cheesey in any way.
We can also overlook the Tom Cruise connection, the stranger in a strange land is not a new story idea and it’s done in two ways within this episode both of which pay off but not to the level I think many of us would have hoped for.

This is the final regular episode of Gatecast in 2013, the next four episodes will be bonus shows which feature subjects which are not Stargate but have very definite ties to the franchise and we will be begin with the Seaquest episode “Vapours” which has the DeLuise clan in attendance. Many thanks for the feedback, we got some good chat over on the Facebook page and as always twitter has been busy and we are still seeing some nice business being done over on our G+ page. We would love to hear from you and there are plenty of SG1 and SGA episodes that await a guest host so if you fancy doing a show with us check out the schedule (Tab at the top of the page) and get in touch and we’ll see about sorting out a date and time. We know given enough notice that recording with guests from far flung locations and timezones is quite possible so don’t let that worry you either.

We have a couple of promo features in this episode, first up is HEXED: Sisterhood of the Supernatural and then Michael Clark’s new project Visionary Trek, check both of them out:)

Happy holidays, enjoy the show and stay safe.

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Gatecast 202 SG1 Beachhead

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Nov 092013
 

avatar2 Nerus who is reputed to be the intelligence behind the technical achievements of Baal offers his services to the SGC to aid in the repulsion of the Ori who have taken a Jaffa world and are using it’s Stargate for as yet purposes unknown. Nerus convinces the SGC that the gate is going to be a beachhead into the Milky Way for a full scale invasion rather than the odd Prior here and there so the Prometheus is sent armed with a Mark 9 Naquadria enhanced nuclear weapon aka Gate Buster. What amounts to SG1 beam down to the planet and address the Prior hoping for a peaceful solution but then Gerak and the Jaffa fleet arrive and open up on the planet from Orbit and faced with no peaceful solution the bomb is armed and they beam out. Upon detonation the energy shield surrounding the gate expands to cover the entire planet and then the light bulb flickers into light and Sam realises that the Ori needed the extra energy and Nerus had been in cahoots with the Ori. Things really take a turn for the worse when the planet starts to shrink and once again Sam figures out that this super stargate being built will be powered by mini black holes one at either end. In the panic that follows only Vala comes up with a solution and risks her life to prevent the completion of the gate and when it’s destroyed no trace of her can be found.

Beachhead is an excellent episode of SG1, it not only offers up a very good story but backs it up with some good stunt set pieces and outstanding CGI work both on the planet and in space, the studio work doesn’t let the episode down either and all parties bring their “A” game. It was a nice twist to find out that Ba’al isn’t the mastermind he implies to be, it does make sense that there are Gou’ald who like human scientists do all the hard work  but are not in command. It also makes sense that he would come to Earth looking for sanctuary, the SGC have proven to be a major player in the galaxy but the twist also proves perfectly reasonable. Nerus like all Gou’ald is arrogant and power mad, believing he could use the Ori is as a conduit to his own rise in status does explain his actions and of course the character is played wonderfully by Maury Chaykin (1949–2010).

You can trust me

You can trust me

We finally see Sam back at the SGC full time and we even get a unheard phone conversation with Jack which was funny and well any reference is a good reference. This episode also spells the end of Vala’s arc during this part of the story and she went out saving the Prometheus the ship she stole not so long back and in doing so pretty much left everyone feeling maybe just a little guilty. It is a little disappointing because the basketball scene we get early on really does show how well the team have meshed with laughter and casual ribbing of each other.

Looks familiar

Looks familiar

Beachhead is an excellent standalone episode as well as a starting and ending point for a number of story arcs, it really does shine as being a standard bearer for what Stargate is all about both in story telling and production, design and values. This weeks podcast promo is for Tuning Into Scifi TV and next week we pay a visit to Pegasus for the Atlantis episode Trinity in which Rodney lets his ego lead him around like a little puppy with disastrous consequences. We would love to hear from you about anything Stargate and we’re always on the look out for a guest to join us for an episode of SG1 or Atlantis, itunes and stitcher ratings/reviews are most welcome and if nothing else enjoy the show and tell a friend:)

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Gatecast 200 SG1 The Powers That Be

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Oct 262013
 

avatar2 Vala volunteers to travel with the rest of well sorta SG1 to a world that has been visited by a Prior, it turns out that she stayed on this world disguised as Qetesh. No one should really be surprised that her real motive was to reclaim a bunch of treasure she had acquired but Daniel is convinced that only the truth of the false gods is capable of combating the threat of the Ori who themselves are false gods. Of course after learning the truth the people immediately imprison Vala for crimes against them and while Daniel is defending her the Prior arrives and makes his position very clear. After he leaves the people start to fall ill and nothing Dr Lam and her team can do can cure the disease, even the healing device is only a temporary measure and when it push to comes the natives of the world bow down to the Ori and the Prior cures them all. Just before he turns to leave he stares at Daniel and tells him to relay this story to anyone that will listen and then walks away.

A losing battle

A losing battle

The Powers That Be is a very strong episode and really nails down what the Ori and their Priors are capable of doing along with the propaganda use of their actions both positive and negative. As with the Gou’ald the SGC and Earth are once again faced with very powerful beings but until the System Lords the Ori powers are at a level that does seem to be a step away from technology based thus enforcing the belief they have god like powers or are indeed gods themselves. It doesn’t hurt that the Priors for the time are preaching only the positive and backing it up, any opposition has a very difficult time to hold up examples of the Ori’s deceit or complicity and words are just words.

Get used to losing guys!

Get used to losing guys!

It was very interesting to see the former Administrator turned Prior arrive in the Milky Way, it was bad enough random Priors were appearing but his appearance had to be response to Daniel being on the planet, it certainly underlines how manipulative the Ori are at least until force is required to quell the dissenters. Greg Anderson who plays the Prior does a wonderful job with the writing his is given, by keeping some level of humanity (not seen in the other Priors) he is all the more threatening and competent. The use of the disease/plague is also a call back to the ultimate demise of the non-ascended ancients, you wonder if before they fled their home galaxy their conflict with who would become the Ori left a little seed which generations later removed them from the physical plane. This episode does a great job of opening avenues for the story to travel down.

Thanks for everyone who has been posting and using the Facebook, Twitter and G+ sites as well as regularly visiting this main website, it’s rewarding to see people making use of our efforts and the feedback we get is great. In that regard we got some discussion about Duet over on Facebook and continued chatter on Twitter about pretty much everything Stargate. This weeks promo is for the new Dune podcast which will be covering the entire literature aspect of the franchise on a monthly basis, the show hosts included Scott from the Scifi Diner podcast so you may be familiar with his voice:)

This was our 200th episode and it includes the results of the recent competition, they will be published on the site and other portals when everyone has been notified but we want to thank everyone for entering, at best there is a prize at worst you got to puzzle over four Stargate themed questions:)

Brad once again got up early and recorded with us, we had a lot of skype issues but we stood firm and got the episode recorded. We are still looking for more guests to come on the show, the schedule is rather sparse for the next few months so if you fancy joining us for an episode (SG1 or SGA) then get in touch and we’ll sort something out but until then take care everyone and don’t forget where you left the gate.

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Gatecast 196 SG1 Origin

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Sep 282013
 

avatar2 Daniel and Vala are still in the bodies of Sallis and Harrid and are faced with the heart of Origin in the city of Celestis. Daniel is able to divine some of the underlying teachings of the culture and uses the information to gain an audience with the leader in physical world called the Doci. He verbally duels with the Doci and eventually the Ori themselves inhabit their vessel and talk directly to Daniel, they now know that their old enemy who fled to the Milky Way are hiding trillions of souls ready to be exposed to Origin. Back in the Milky Way a Prior emerges from a Stargate and begins to preach Origin to the local population, Cameron invites the Prior to the SGC where along with the new Jaffa leader Gerak the Prior offers the inhabitants of the galaxy guidance and a path to enlightenment. Daniel and Vala now returned to the village are visited by Fannis who reveals the Ancient communication stone control device and Daniel is able to warn the SGC about the threat just before a Prior descends upon them and once again the fire pit is a flame but no escape for Sallis and Harried or Frannis, the first victims in the war between the Milky Way and the Ori.

The Doci and a Prior

The Doci and a Prior

Origin as with the first two parts of the trilogy was written by Rob C Cooper and seals the foundations of the main story that will drive the final two seasons of Stargate SG1. A stellar cast of guest stars taking key positions adds so much depth to the story which certainly helps to smooth over the miss steps as SG1 is reshaped. Julian Sands gives a very dry performance as the Doci but is perfect for the role and Louis Gossett Jr steals every scene he is in which is no mean accomplishment alongside Beau Bridges. It was certainly a little dark to lose the three natives of the Ori galaxy but underlines how black and white the view of the Ori is, worship or die but you do have the choice.

Some choice

Some choice

A busy time on Facebook, lots of feedback for last weeks show which was very pleasing and twitter as always was awash with chatter, the Stargate community over there is really great to read and interact with. Brad was stellar in this show, once again making time to fill in the gap with Alan settling into his new life in Finland and since we’re coming up to our 200th show there is a little competition information in the show, every listener invited to enter including any guest and co-hosts:)

This weeks promo is from Hexed The Sisterhood of the Supernatural and next week we are back in Pegasus with the episode Runner and the introduction of one Ronon Dex, the ladies go wild:)

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