Gatecast 235 SGA Misbegotten

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Aug 162014
 

avatar2 After the battle against the Wraith Hive ships the survivors onboard the captured hive return to Atlantis and well it’s a bit of a surprise for those still in the city, then the complications arise when once again they choose to maintain the use of the retrovirus on Michael and the other Wraith who now exist in human form. An off world camp is created and thanks to their loss of memory the Wraith are told they are victims of a plague and are being quarantined for both their own good and their friends and families. Carson hopes to not only stablise the retrovirus but worse case get them to maintain the dosage of the drug themselves so they can live and not threaten any native born humans. Guess what, it doesn’t quite go according to plan and why should it, the course of action has failed before and is fundamentally wrong showing an arrogance that even the Ancients no strangers to hubris would be impressed with.

One of us dyes their hair.

One of us dyes their hair.

Misbegotten is a necessary episode in the story of the retrovirus and the beginning of the galactic threat which is Michael, come on who here actually think he died when they opened up on the planet from orbit. The episode overall isn’t that great but it has it’s moments most of which revolve around Michael once again played by Connor Trinneer although he takes a step back once on the planet showing his capability to be the master mind and lets others act and draw attention to themselves. We also get to see Christopher Heyerdahl in his Wraith makeup, surprising but maybe this was the impetus for Todd and there was some excellent acting and dialogue between Caldwell and Woolsey, two great genre actors doing their thing.

Many thanks to Jeff for joining us for Misbegotten and he will be back for more episodes in the near future, next week we’ll be joined by Brad for the SG1 episode The Pegasus Project which had issues thanks to Skype which is a shame since it’s a cracking episode. This weeks promo is for the Saturday B Movie Reel and thanks for the feedback on our Facebook and Google+ groups and as always lots of Stargate love on Twitter.

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Gatecast 233 SGA No Man’s Land

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Aug 022014
 

avatar Well here we are for the premiere episode of the third season of Stargate Atlantis No Man’s Land and we pick up after the two Wraith Hive ships double crossed the rather short sighted humans and set sail towards the Milky Way with the navigation data and specs on an upgraded hyperdrive, oh they also have McKay and Ronon just in case they get peckish on the trip. Meanwhile Weir is ordered back to Earth to face the consequences of her actions as once again the IOA flex their muscles after the fact but thankfully she has allies in the General and to a lesser degree Woolsey himself. The Daedalus and Orion are ordered to intercept the hive ships despite both being well under par but with Earth as the target there is no other option and the chase is on. As the battle is joined the Daedalus fires all it’s nukes and even though one gets through the Hive survives but as Major Lorne commanding the Orion engages he has to sacrifice his ships shield to route power to it’s drones but is successful is taking the hive down leaving the Daedalus to take on the remaining Hive with an epic stalemate the result but there is one last role of the dice.

Way to make an entrance

Way to make an entrance

No Man’s Land is a gem of a season opener, we just straight back into the drama of McKay and Ronon stuck on the hive but with the brains and brawn that won’t last too long and of course it helps Michael is helping John who managed to get a ride on the Hive when it entered hyperspace, it was a good choice to have his fighter damaged even though in reality he should be space dust but at least we get plenty of fun and games as the four of them are running around the hive ship avoiding some very upset Wraith. The orders to Caldwell and Lorne were epic, they had to engage the hives no matter what the consequences and the visual effects studios did the show proud with some stunning space combat and some even better set piece more refined slower moving shots, the spinning view of the Daedalus and the galactic background is to die for. Meanwhile we get more Woolsey and the IOA but that gives us a fantastic scene with General Landry and Elizabeth which once again shows she can act alongside anyone and has been criminally wasted on the show.

So the decision to use the retrovirus once again, granted not much option as life support on the Daedalus has failed but the consequences will be far reaching and maybe with mixed results for the this and the following seasons.
Many thanks to Brad for joining us even though he was tight on free time and thanks to **ECM** for the excellent five star review over on the US itunes site. Thanks for the discussion over on the Facebook group, chat over on our G+ page and as always the constant banter on twitter which concentrates on Stargate but can cover so many topics in and out of genre. This weeks promo is for Nutty Bites and next week we are back with SG1 for the episode Morpheus so we hope you join us for that and please feel free to get in touch, we would love to hear from you about any aspect of our show and more importantly Stargate:)

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Gatecast 231 SGA Allies

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Jul 052014
 

avatar The Wraith Hive ship has entered the solar system and begins communicating with Atlantis, after some discussion they answer and find that Michael has revealed their existence to this ship and it’s Queen and they have a proposition. It turns out that as resources dwindle various hives are becoming more competitive for all manner of things including humans for good so the Wraith retro virus is very appealing as both a tactical weapon but a means to create more food and hive infrastructure. Of course there really isn’t much option but to agree to the deal but Elizabeth negotiates with the Queen in terms of intelligence distribution and technical information on the Wraith ships and systems which allows McKay to dig into the beam jamming code in the hopes of allowing that offensive capability to be returned to the Daedalus and her sister ships. The virus is weaponised and smuggled onto an enemy hive but is discovered and the “good” hive and the Daedalus flee but are both damaged and in return for the help to repair the hive Rodney and company are given full access to the Wraith database. A second attack on the enemy hive is put into motion but when the Daedalus arrives she is fired upon by both hives who then jump away, confusion abounds but they don’t know that back on Atlantis the Wraith have infected the computers and stolen all the gate locations including the Earth gate and the specs for the improved hyperdrive while wiping the contents of the Wraith supplied database.

Won't be laughing for much longer

Won’t be laughing for much longer

Allies is an excellent cliff hanger of a finale for the second season of Stargate Atlantis, it has a huge amount of excellent CGI combined with the ongoing great chemistry between the main and secondary cast and throws in humour, suspense and drama. We get a new Wraith Queen once again played by Andee Frizzell whose makeup and costuming gives a big hint to the Queens being an unique subset of Wraith society which makes a lot of sense given the species has insects as a base for it’s creation. It has to be said that we all knew it was going to turn out badly but no one can deny that it was wonderfully written and performed with the expected betrayal coming as a surprise and for the show a critical moment in the events in Pegasus.  So two Wraith Hives are on the way to the Milky Way and Sheppard is missing with the Daedalus damaged and the Orion a long way from being battle ready, lets not forget that the Ori are making mincemeat of Earth, Jaffa, Asgard and Lucian ships so who can save the day.

We didn’t get any feedback for last weeks episode but we did get an email from Misa Buckley with a review of the recent appearance of Cliff Simon in the US series “The Americans”, many thanks for that and Alan had a piece discussing the Free Babylon 5 campaign, lets not forget Brad for joining us for this episode of Atlantis, thank you sir and this weeks promo is for Under The Dome Radio which is back  the second season of the show and next week we are doing the first of this years wrap up show for the ninth season of Stargate SG1, we hope you join us for that.

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Cliff Simon guest starring in The Americans.

CliffSimon1
CliffSimon2

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Gatecast 229 SGA Inferno

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Jun 212014
 

avatar A cry for help from the planet of  Taranis has the team visiting the world which is the site of an Ancient outpost. It seems the ancients built an advanced defensive shield powered by geo-thermal energy to protect the base and the local inhabitants since the fall of Atlantis have used the facility although not to any great extent but with the rise of the Wraith and the ongoing culling the shield has been activated but there are consequences. Rodney while examining the systems realises that the continued full power use of the shield has strained the geo-thermal vents that supply the raw power and the super volcano is close to eruption and by close he means days which isn’t good. While Rodney is working with the alien scientist Norina the chancellor reveals the great secret of Taranis, the outpost was the home base for an Aurora class Ancient warship and it’s still there fully intact albeit currently unable to fly but hey Rodney is close at hand. As the super volcano becomes more active and Rodney finally convinces everyone that the imminent eruption is a global killer and part way through the initial evacuation the gate is lost as lava wells up from the ground leaving the team and the locals with no escape except for the Ancient ship and the hope that the Daedalus can reach them quickly despite it’s limited life support which means they could only take a few people on board as the inferno rages below.

Inferno (27)

Great view, from a distance.

Inferno has it’s flaws but at heart it’s a fun story making good use of the chemistry between Rodney and John and particularly the energy David brings to his role, he really makes the combination of genius and egotistical hothead work so well and add in the awkwardness around an attractive woman, no any woman just adds the icing to this episode. Strangely enough Norina (Brandy Ledford) does seem interested, it may be his intelligence rather than his character but it certainly knocks Rodney off his center where as John lays on the charm with a gusto. The special effects for the super volcano is fairly good, not fantastic but as we see with the “Orion” and Deadealus the CGI has really been perfected for more manufactured objects where as more fluid effects are at that time just a little beyond the scope of a tv budget. The natural scepticism of the Chancellor played by Kevin McNulty rings true but this episode is all about the dynamic of the main characters when under extreme pressure and in that regard we can’t forget once again Teyla and Ronon being paired up and facing death as they become stranded in a local village as the volcanic ash falls.

One again many thanks to Thomas for joining us for Inferno and this weeks podcast promo was for Flash Pulp an excellent source of short form pulp themed audio productions, many thanks for the feedback over on Facebook, Google+ and of course Twitter and next week we are going to return to SG1 for it’s season 9 finale “Camelot”, hope you join us for that and don’t forget we are keen to get people on the show for S10 of SG1 and S3 of Atlantis, please get in touch if you are interested as hopefully as times passes the episodes will be allocated:)

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Gatecast 227 SGA Michael

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Jun 072014
 

avatar Lt. Michael Kenmore awakes not knowing who he is or how he came to be but is constantly reassured by Teyla and other Atlantis personnel that he was a member of  a unit attacked by the Wraith and was taken prisoner, upon rescue he was treated but is now suffering from amnesia. As he recovers in body and mind everyone treats him well with the exception of Ronon who is openly aggressive but Michael is unaware of anything he has to done to cause such behaviour and his curiosity is peaked. After suffering from a couple of nightmares Michael goes to the infirmary and as Carson sleeps he discovers the “kenmore” calendar and DVD records with his name on, on playback they show nearly two weeks of surveillance and Michael himself strapped to a bed ultimately screaming defiance as it’s revealed as the days go back to be a Wraith! Despite this revelation and learning of the retro virus he remains reasonably calm but eventually snaps after being confronted once again by Ronon and a minor war breaks out and a guard is killed, Michael is captured and taken to an off world base but uses his mind powers on Teyla and together they escape through the Stargate to a Wraith world but they are now being tracked by fellow Wraith with John and Ronon not far behind.

Quiet Contemplation

Quiet Contemplation

Michael is the opening episode to a long running if not overly used arc (for now) dealing with the consequences of using the retro-virus, yes the one that caused so many problems last time and you have to ask yourself if this is sort of some “ethically” acceptable method of genocide because when you get down to it the Wraith as they developed are going to be wiped from the face of the Pegasus galaxy. If you want to put it more simply then the very basis of this plan is awash with deceit and deception and from that would anything really good come to fruition? Now for the plus points, fantastic to see Conner Trinneer fresh from his four years on Enterprise returning to the scifi genre and handling a well written role and as we know a lot more to come but the challenge of more prosthetics is ahead, Rachel also got to push her character as well with some well written scenes between Teyla and Michael again a dynamic which they will exploit over the rest of the show. We had a couple of guests this week, given Conner was joining Atlantis we got Adam and Paul from the Star Trek Enterprise podcast Previously in The Alpha Quadrant to join us for the episode and we think a good time was had by all, let us know what you think and pay a visit to PITAQ and it’s host network Trekmate.

This weeks promo is for the Star Trek podcast Two to beam Up which is looking at the original series and next week we are going to be watching the Stargate SG1 episode Crusade and we will be joined by Thomas.

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Gatecast 217 SGA Critical Mass

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Mar 292014
 

avatar2 Intelligence is provided to the SGC that a explosive device has been placed on Atlantis by members of the Trust who have been infiltrated by remnants of the System Lords. The bomb is believed to be triggered by dialling the Earth address and the next scheduled contact is within hours, Dr Lee comes up with a solution to use a far long SG unit to pass on a message to the Daedalus who can then contact Atlantis without using the gate. Safe for the moment Atlantis breaths in but the secondary protocol is activated and a distress signal is sent out and noticed by two Wraith cruisers but more problems arise with the key to the destruction of the city lies with the ZPM which is needed to power the cloak to hide the city from the soon to arrive Wraith. The secondary story is Teyla themed, her friend and mentor the ancient Charin is dying and is worthy of an age of ceremony which is going to take place regardless of the threat of the bomb and the Wraith. Lets not forget Zelenka who was volunteered by McKay to visit M7G-677 the world populated by children, even the bomb threat wouldn’t have made that job any more appealing.

Cadman has Rodney whipped!

Cadman has Rodney whipped!

Critical Mass is good episode making full use of the benefits of a crossover in characters and standing sets, we get drama and humour from the SG1 side merged very well with the ongoing Atlantis dynamic including the return of a number of characters to have played well to the story and fans in earlier episodes. The threat to Atlantis was a little complex but no question it was clever but you do wonder if those behind the implementation were being painted as too clever, this level of complexity and intelligence didn’t really blend well with what we’ve known of the Goa’uld. That aside the musical and creative aspect of the story was a breath of fresh air and overlaid the more intense and dramatic bomb elements and of course lots of humour despite the circumstances.

A big gold star to Brad for his voice mail and homage to the Prometheus and Ethon and also for joining us this week, it’s always appreciated and thanks to everyone else especially Facebook contributors for the feedback. Love to hear any thing about Stargate and Gatecast via the usual portals so feel free to chat with us and if you have a minute a rating/review on itunes or stitcher would be most welcome. This weeks promo is for The Dune Saga Podcast which is taking a in-depth but entertaining look at the books within the Dune franchise both old and new and next week we are at the SGC with the episode Stronghold, hope you can join us for that.

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Gatecast 213 SGA The Hive

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Mar 012014
 

avatar2 The strike team are captive of the queen of the hive ship and as John is questioned by her good self and a second hive arrives, John is returned to the cell and with some well hidden knives thanks to Ronon and Ford they trigger the release mechanism and make a run for it. Meanwhile Rodney takes a huge dose of the enzyme and fights his way out of captivity and returns to Atlantis and with the Daedalus at hand returns to rescue his team. As they roam through the hive they rescue some cocooned prisoners but their freedom is short lived, John and the woman Neera are separated from the group and he learns a little about her life and when the Wraith culled her world. Time is pressing though, the enzyme is leaving their systems and Kanayo who has been on the drug longer dies which does not bode well for Teyla and Ronon. John is brought before the queen once again and he convinces her he is a Wraith worshipper sent to infiltrate the hive by a rival queen, suspicions aroused when John in a dart makes his escape and starts firing on the other hive a full scale conflict erupts with the Daedalus an onlooker.

The best computer game, ever!

The best computer game, ever!

The Hive is an excellent conclusion to this two parter, we get some very good action both with the stunning CGI space battle but also great stunt work around Rodney’s escape and the hand to hand battles on the hive ship. It’s an interesting twist to have humans willingly follow the hive, while it seems reasonable for some humans to do this I don’t really see what they Wraith get out of it, maybe the Queen who stands alone sees some form of companionship through them which she doesn’t get from her “drones”.

Any time, any place, any where.

Any time, any place, any where.

When we look at these two episodes they served the show well in allowing Ford to return and for the expedition to take some steps forward in what they learn about the Wraith all of which will pay off later in the series to various degrees of success. The enzyme and it’s value is finally put to bed, while short term there are definite plus points and in time with research it could prove a valuable drug but for now the side effects and limitations can not be ignored.

Thanks to everyone who chatted with us via a online portals, always great to talk to fellow Stargate fans and in that respect if you fancy joining us for an episode get in touch and we’ll sort something out. This weeks promo if for Pulp Audio Weekly a very geeky and humourous podcast and next week we are going to cover the SG1 episode Collateral Damage, hope you can join us.

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Gatecast 211 SGA The Lost Boys

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Feb 152014
 

avatar The team is captured and taken off the world they were exploring by a group of unknown men, they awake inside a cavern and their nemesis if you will is revealed in the form of Lt. Ford who then goes onto to explain how he escaped from the Hive ship when he willingly jumped into a culling beam to escape being captured by Sheppard. The team are now being dosed with the Wraith enzyme as Ford believes only by seeing for themselves what the drug will do can the damage be repaired and he can be forgiven and accepted by those he once considered family. The first mission proves to be a success but from a technical standpoint very amateurish but John plays along hoping that the goal of destroying a hive ship with the use of a recovered Dart will provide a means to escape back to Atlantis.

The Lost Boys is the first of a two part episode and allows the show to bring back Rainbow for a very meaty guest starring role and goes on to dig deeper in to the merits of the Wraith enzyme and of course the ethics in harvesting the drug from the Wraith which begs the question who are the monsters praying on sentient beings now? It was a little disappointing how easily the team were originally captured but SG1 also had that problem at times but we did get some nice dialogue and action with the team dealing with Ford and his band of merry men who had achieved much in learning the ways of the Wraith. It’s understandable that both Ronon and Teyla would be seduced by the extra power and capabilities the drug gave them, they are both warriors and protectors were as McKay didn’t benefit as much, yes he gets stronger as we’ll see in the second part but it doesn’t accentuate his intellect which is his reason for being.

I told you I would be back

I told you I would be back

The Lost Boys as with many two parters suffers as it’s a vehicle to build the story which is going to be paid off in the second part but for all that it’s an entertaining episode and we get plenty of action and even some good Weir / Lorne dialogue and how great to see him with the viewpoint of what do you expect from Sheppard’s team, they are not punctual or by the book.  It is without any doubt a very clever and well written episode to bring Rainbow back into the show and what’s more we get him again in the next episode of Atlantis with more of the same but raised a notch or two.

Foreplay Ronon Style

Foreplay Ronon Style

This weeks promo is from Flash Pulp and next weeks episode is the conclusion to the Stargate SG1 two parter The Fourth Horseman Part 2. Thanks for the feedback and again a very busy twitter feed, if you want to get in touch with us then please do so, always interested in chatting about Stargate and our podcast of course speaking of which if you would like to join us then drop us a line and we’ll sort something out.

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Gatecast 209 SGA Aurora

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Feb 012014
 

avatar2 The cities long range sensors detect an Ancient vessel in deep space where it has lain dormant since the Pegasus galaxy was abandoned by the ancients prior to the sinking of the city. The Daedalus is tasked to investigate and Weir insists that her team go along for the ride as they have more experience dealing with Wraith technology and Caldwell reluctantly agrees. They destroy a Wraith ship which is near the “Aurora” and when beaming over they find the crew in suspended animation although it seems their minds are active within the ships computer perhaps a way to maintain sanity and health for long periods of hibernation. John enters the system to talk to the crew but they’ve forgotten it’s simulation and are busy working on hyperdrive improvements to allow them to return to Atlantis with key information which could turn the tide of the war. McKay discovers that a Wraith is also in the system and when John figures out who it is after continually being arrested and imprisoned the captain and crew finally realise what has become of them and despite the loss of the tactical information they embrace the end and take two Wraith cruisers with them in a fiery display of destructive energy.

Aurora (14)

Aurora is a cracking little episode, we get to see an ancient warship which is a rather dull design but perhaps it’s functionality is the key for the mass produced vessels in a similar way to the puddle jumpers. The set design however of the interior looks very nice, the bridge is classy looking and once again we see the ancients as being a lot more like us they we were originally led to believe. The butting heads between Weir and Caldwell continues with perhaps an undercurrent of attraction at least from Caldwell, I think he admires Elizabeth’s strength even when it’s aimed at him. MacKay has a lot of fun with his own close encounters and a pleasing role for the delightful Pascale Hutton.

We don't a viewscreen!

We don’t need a viewscreen!

This weeks shows was just Alan and Brad as a last minute change of schedule meant I couldn’t record on the night which was a pity as I liked this episode. Anyhow we hope you enjoy the banter between the two of them and thanks for the feedback and especially Captmacksto and Island Sirene who left us 5 star itunes reviews.
The promo this week is for The Book Cave and next week we return to SG1 for the The Fourth Horseman Part 1 and as always we appreciate feedback in any form and if you fancy joining us for an show then please get in touch:)

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Gatecast 205 SGA Instinct

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Dec 072013
 

avatar On an unnamed planet with a space gate the team investigate a possible Wraith presence which has been terrorising the local village population for many years, it’s referred to as the “Daimos”. As the team hunts the Wraith in the local woodland they discover a young female and track her back to her home which turns out to be a laboratory set up by a local resident to research the feeding system of the youngster in the hopes of removing the need to drain life force from humans. It turns out he rescued the child from the wreckage of a crashed Wraith ship and while there have been incidents of feeding she is fairly “clean” and that the recent attacks were by another Wraith and the discovery of a body soon after proves she did not feed on that human. Carson visits the world to evaluate the research and foolishly reveals the existence of the retro virus which based on the Iratus bug and is designed to strip away the alien elements of the DNA and leave only the humans parts. Ellia the young Wraith girl over hears them and takes the drug but it has the reverse effect causing her to lose control and attack pretty much anyone she sees including the man who has been her “father” for years and yes it does end badly but for quite a few people.

A nice welcome from the locals

A nice welcome from the locals

Instinct is the first part of an unofficial two parter and stars Jewel Staite as Ellia under quite a bit of prosthetics yet as they said it did allow them to consider her for a larger role later in the series and yes she auditioned for the part. The episode itself is beautiful to look at, there is some superb locations used for the show and the set locations were seamless as was some creative editing to get around a few minor production issues. Jewel really performed well under all the make up as did John Innes who played the local villager who rescued the young Wraith, they had great chemistry. It was interesting to see how difficult a time Ronon had in just accepting the Wraith and it was quite dramatic when he nearly lost it in the lab. Overall it was a good ensemble episode with no one main cast character standing out which allowed the guest stars to shine which was important to the story and while it doesn’t get rave reviews I think the episode worked well and leads very nicely into the next episode “Conversion”.

McKay has a way with women

McKay has a way with women

Many thanks for all the feedback on Google+, Twitter, Facebook and this website for both Ex Deus Machina and the Doctor Who special, next week we should have the SG1 episode “Babylon” then a bunch of bonus episodes over the seasonal holidays. We will have more details as and when so for now enjoy the show, send us feedback and if possible an itunes/ stitcher review/rating would be most appreciated:)

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Gatecast 201 SGA Condemned

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Nov 022013
 

avatar While exploring a new world the jumper lands at a small encampment where quite quickly the team are fired upon by primitive weapons, an aircraft arrives and gives aid and the team follow the aircraft to it’s base and a meet a fairly advanced society. Upon returning to the gate the jumper is fired upon once again and sustains damage and the team even with Ronon along are taken captive by the prisoners who inhabit the small island that contains the Stargate. Rodney is then encouraged to fix the jumper or one of his friends will be executed but that’s beyond even his talents however he is with some prodding able to enable the dialing computer.
Meanwhile Weir and her escort arrive on the world and open negotiations but the lack of results in recovering John and his team and the suspicious behavior of the Magistrate and the revelation that the prisoners some guilty of very minor crimes are going to be fed to the Wraith breaks down the talks and Weir and her team leave the city. Everything comes to a head when Wraith cruisers arrive above the island and the crippled jumper launches a drone which causes extensive damage and while a second fires on the island Weirs cloaked jumper dials the gate and allows John, Ronon, McKay and Teyla to escape.

We may have a problem

We may have a problem

Condemned is an interesting episode and explores a solution to the Wraith problem which is unique at least in terms of a society making this decision and keeping it working for generations. Of course the supply of hardened criminals will dry up if the deterrent is that strong so as minor criminals are sentenced to the island the society itself becomes driven by compliance and obedience to dogma rather than a free thinking and living world. The island itself is now very much a dog eat dog entity, those sent there that are truly violent easily become dominant but it’s hard to see how they really got so well armed with limited resources but if they failed to bring down a jumper then that would be the story over very quickly.
The episode was wonderfully shot though, the island location looked very nice and different to a lot of what we’ve seen before and the stunt work for the fighting was exception again seeing Ronon let loose really dispels a myth that a big man can not be lightning fast and versatile in his fighting technique. It was also a show piece for Teyla as Rachel has perfected her action performance and it was only really John who was the comic relief but done so well with the stick and his knee. Again we see evidence that Rodney despite a huge streak of self interest does consider his companions more than worthy of his commitment and maybe even sacrifice, as Torrell says the way to motivate him is to threaten his friends.

Look who is is coming for dinner

Look who is is coming for dinner

Alas the end result is just an average episode despite the performances and production, that says more of the strength of the show and it’s second season rather than the story by Sean Carley and script by Carl Binder or the direction from Peter DeLuise. This weeks promo is from Trek News & Views a Star Trek podcast from our friend Colin and part of the Trek.fm network of shows, next week we will be back at Stargate Command and dealing with the Ori as they make their first major move in the episode Beachhead, hope you join us for that. If you want to get in touch with us or leave us a rating/review on itunes or stitcher we would be very grateful, till next week and watch that final step.

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Gatecast 199 SGA Duet

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Oct 192013
 

avatar A visit to a known inhabited world once again reveals the Wraith have decimated the local population and quite recently, while returning to the Stargate a lone dart arrives and beams up McKay and Lt Cadman.
John with no option orders the ship destroyed and luckily the hull remains pretty much intact and it is possible to access one of the the stored patterns, McKay is beamed out and they hope with his talents along with the science personnel in the city they will be able to retrieve Cadman. Of course nothing is that easy and when McKay awakes he is shocked to discover that he is sharing his mind with the consciousness of Lt Laura Cadman and once they convince Carson of this fact no end of fun and games ensue including a date for Mckay with Dr Katie Brown with Carson in tow, three bodies and four minds, oh the fun that could be had.

Plenty to go round

Plenty to go around

Duet was written by Martin Gero and introduced Dr Brown and Lt Cadman, both characters especially Cadman should have had more time on the show but both added greatly to the stories and regular cast arcs the show was offering at the time. No apologies were made in regards to paying homage to the Steve Martin movie “All of Me” and David was really allowed to go to town playing the two people inhabiting the one body helped to a huge extent by having Jaime on the set to read her lines and show how she would react to the everyday events. We also got some great back and forth between McKay and his science team and the “b” story with Ronon was entertaining as well, everyone loves the gun range scene. Nothing really needs to be said about the smooch:)

Don't say a word

Don’t say a word

We welcome Adam for his first appearance on the podcast, he lives in the US and once again we had to juggle time zones but we got it all recorded and I think we all had a good time. Thanks for the feedback on Facebook and the chat on twitter, Stargate is all the more better for the community it has generated around itself. The fourth and final question for our 200th episode competition is in the episode so email in the answer and any of the previous answers to the first three questions if you haven’t done so. The drawing will be done next week and announced in the 200th episode which will be the Stargate SG1 “The Powers That Be” which Brad joined us for.

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Gatecast 197 SGA Runner

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Oct 052013
 

avatar Major Lorne and Dr Parrish are investigating a high solar radiation world and come across the body of a Wraith with it’s gland removed, believing they are finally getting close to finding Ford teams go to the world and begin a search hoping they can reason with Ford and not take decisive and fatale action to protect the city and expedition. However there is another man on the planet, a Runner who was first captured and then released by the Wraith to provide sport or maybe to fine tune their skills on the ground, either way he complicates the mission after taking John and Teyla prisoner.

It turns out Ronon Dex is seeking information on who these people are and their relation to Ford who had shot him earlier and also as it happened saved him from a Wraith and as all the parties involve dance around each other the Wraith darts turn up and once again Ford is lost to his former family but maybe they’ve found someone else with more of a stake in taking on the scourge that is the Wraith.

Industrial grooming required

Industrial grooming required

Runner written by Rob C Cooper is a rip roaring action piece set on this very alien looking world, ok the trees are still trees but it seems alien with the filters they use to colourised and saturate the look of the HD filming. The introduction of Ronon Dex played by Jason Momoa is done very well and over laps with Fords appearance with real style, also good to see Major Lorne move over from SG1 to Atlantis and the first visit to the show by Jonathon Young a respected character actor who went on to a recurring role on Sanctuary.

A little help?

A little help?

We didn’t get a lot of feedback for last weeks episode or the first week of the 200th episode competition but thank you to everyone who took the time to get in touch, always appreciated. This weeks promo is from Aaron’s Scifi Dig podcast and next week we welcome Alan back for the SG1 episode The Ties That Bind. We would love to hear any thoughts on that episode and any other and of course we want lots of entries for the competition so listen to the clues and figure out the answer and then drop us an email. We have a couple of signed Cliff Simon CD’s and we are gonna throw in some gift certificates, unoriginal I know but useful to let prize winners choose their own goodies:)

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Gatecast 195 SGA The Intruder

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Sep 212013
 

avatar2 The Daedalus is returning to Atlantis without the ZPM so it is well into the third week and the passengers are a little bored despite the events which led to their return to Earth and renewal of their charter to continue the exploration of Atlantis and the Pegasus galaxy. A body is discovered which at first looks to have been an accidental death but things don’t add up and during the investigation another crewman dies at the hands of the ships technology. McKay discovers a Wraith sourced virus infecting the ships core systems which has the ability to adapt and survive numerous attempts to remove it,  it calls for help and denies the ship the use of it’s hyperdrive engines leaving them stuck in the middle of nowhere.

The Intruder is a good bottle type show making full use of the new Daedalus standing set which is a modification of the original Prometheus set. This isn’t a cheap show though, there is extensive CGI work use to create the space shots and combat scenes plus some top notch matt work to show us the large landing bays complete with ships and forcefields in play. We also have the lead guest star ( Mitch Pileggi ) being made full use of and Beau Bridges appearing in flashbacks so the episode was making the most of the resources available to the producers at the time. In story terms they don’t try to hide the similarity to the SG1 episode Entity and it’s discussed at length within the shows commentary track but there are enough changes to make a much better story and overall a better episodes.

Humans, who needs 'em.

Humans, who needs ’em.

The Intruder is an episode which maintains the pacing of the second season as defined by The Siege trilogy but allows for a breather with it’s use of flashbacks all of which lays down some solid groundwork for the changes that are coming to the story. The flashbacks were also a nice addition and spell out how they affected Elizabeth both in her success job wise and the failure of her relationship, in both cases they were strong scenes for Torri.

Note to designers, polarised glass.

Note to designers, polarised glass.

This weeks promo is from The Anomaly Podcast, an excellent show which is hosted by Angela and Jen and has it’s own supplemental show, both of which are worth checking out. Brad joined me for this weeks show as Alan was in the middle of his move to Finland and sorting out his classes and his new home, next week Brad will be back with the SG1 episode Origin. We appreciate all the activity on the media portals especially the Facebook group which is generating some good discussion and Twitter which is always fun when talking to the Stargate community.

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Gatecast 193 SGA The Siege Part 3

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Sep 072013
 

avatar2 The second season of Stargate Atlantis kicks off with the arrival of the Daedalus just in time to rescue John from his suicide run on a Wraith Hive ship, the nuke detonates and removes the hive from orbit and then the Daedalus zeroes in on the second hive and once that is destroyed the cruisers make a run for it but the Darts make a beeline for the city. McKay with the ZPM struggles to power up the city shields as the darts get closer and yep he saves the day. Colonel Caldwell says hello and Ford is found in the water with a dead Wraith attached to his chest, it seems the venom used to prolong a victims life for feeding kept him alive but there have been consequences.

Long range sensors detect another twelve hive ships heading for the planet and John convinces Weir and Caldwell that with the tactical advantage of the nukes and beaming technology thanks to the Asgard and more importantly Hermiod the fight should be taken to the Wraith. The Daedalus lies in wait and as the Wraith fleet emerges from hyperspace, two hives are nuked but the others respond with new countermeasures forcing the Daedalus to retreat and once again the city has to defend itself. The remaining ten hives take position in orbit above Atlantis and open up with their main weapons, the shield protects the city but with only one ZPM it will not last long and a crazy idea is formulated.

We have visitors

We have visitors

Rodney and Radak remove a cloaking system from a jumper and splice it into the cities systems and with Teyla broadcasting the intent to destroy the city to protect Earth a nuke is detonated, the shields protects the city from the initial blast (which also disrupts sensors) and then the cloak is engaged to make it appear as if the city has been destroyed. The Wraith scan the planet but can not find any sign of the city and begin to move away but Ford now changed by the venom in his system raids the infirmary, threatens Carson and John before stealing a jumper and fleeing the city.

Phew, The Siege Part 3 for an episode that isn’t as big on action as the season one finale certainly packed in a lot of story and character elements and not only wraps up existing story lines but begins to lay down those that will work their way through the second season and beyond. There was a very good moment between John and Landey, respect shown by both men and resolves any doubts over John’s decision to put Colonel Sumner out of his misery which always hung over his command, it pays off in the next episode and as the character grows.

The CGI in this episode is stunning more so because three separate groups were responsible including the newly minted inhouse group who will be taking over much of the very expensive effects work any self respecting scifi show requires to make it shine. It was also great to see Hermiod back again in full puppet mode  which really allows for good interaction with the actors and one or two fun moments, an irritable Asgard is fun:)

What did he say?

What did he say?

All in all the season opener was a great start to the second year of Atlantis, the show is moving on and now both Carson and Radak will grow as characters, Ford is taking a step backwards but will return and exploration free of the immediate Wraith threat will allow for stories that couldn’t be told at the close of the first season.

Thanks to everyone who posted via twitter, facebook and google+ and we would sure like to hear from anyone with comments on our show and Stargate in general. This weeks promo is from Colin’s Trek News & Views podcast and next week we are back with Avalon Part 2, hope you can join us.

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