A Jaffa is found dead in the middle of some woodland and when Gerak is questioned he is evasive and not to put too fine a point on it lies which along with the investigation into a missing CEO of a military contractor causes alarm bells to ring in the SGC. Since they know some members of the Trust were taken by a system lord and returned to Earth to provoke a world war they reason that elements are still active and have plans for Earth. This is confirmed when one particular system lord makes an appearance on television as the new head of the said company out lining his plans for the future and it becomes clear the Jaffa have been operating on Earth searching for Ba’al and have taken the missing CEO. Ba’al contacts the SGC and simply asks to be left alone but kinda ruins the mood by telling them of a bomb he has planted somewhere in America, leave him alone and he won’t destroy a city. As both the SGC and Gerak’s people converge on the location of Ba’al using Jaffa and the symbiote poison the Prometheus has located the device in Seattle and Sam is on site but with no possible way to defuse it the Asgard beaming technology is employed leaving not only a big hole in the ground but some major PR spin to be done. Teal’c returns to Dakara but Gerak turns the tables by offering up a captured Ba’al and then executing him in front of the council, his position is secure as the new leader and Teal’c returns to the SGC and then they reveal that Ba’al has been working on cloning technology and there could be more than one of him.
Smooth Operator
Ok I know cloning could be considered a little too obvious a solution for killing off a major character of recent seasons and still having him around but in the episodes to come it proves to be a damn good idea and works very well. Ex Deus Machina itself is a lot of fun, fast paced and entertaining with all the main characters used well and good use made of the recurring characters. We had some issues with the use of the beaming technology to remove an office block but while it may be possible on that scale it seemed to defy the logic of the show which had been set out.
Behind You…
Due to Alans ongoing education we had some scheduling issues so as Brad was ready and willing I recorded this show with him since with the christmas break in recording coming up I needed a couple more shows in the can. Last years use of bonus shows to keep a weekly release ongoing proved to be a good idea so we’ll do the same this year, not quite sure when these bonus shows will be released but I think you’ll enjoy them. Many thanks to Brad for once again earning yet another gold star and thanks to everyone that left feedback on Facebook, G+ and the main website, thanks as always to all the support on Twitter as well which is a treasure trove of Stargate passion. This weeks promo is for the excellent geeky podcast Nutty Bites and next week we’ll be back with Atlantis for the episode Instinct which marks the first appearance in the franchise for Jewel Staite.
Promo…
Links…
- Ex Deus Machina IMDB
- Ex Deus Machina Wiki
- Cliff Simon
- Peter Flemming
- Barclay Hope
- Sonya Salomaa
- Louis Gossett Jr.
- Kendall Cross
- Chilton Crane
- Simone Bailey
- Gardiner Millar
- Martin Christopher
Mentions…
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Yes it would have been good to see the steps Ba’al took to survive the fall of Anubis and the rise of the free Jaffa, as they often say show not tell and yeah that’s a great shirt:)
Oh, I don’t know, I think Cliff’s natural voice is quite powerful. Or am I thinking sexy. It’s definitely that, heh.
EDM is one of my favourite episodes, as it introduces Baal’s clones and also gives us an insight to how the Jaffa are dealing with freedom. After so many generations enslaved, that isn’t an easy path and Garak’s preference of might against Teal’c’s for diplomacy highlights the problems.
Meanwhile the Trust are cementing their powerbase under the leadership of Baal. It’s interesting that Ka’lel says that the System Lord “escaped after Dakara”, because that’s not entirely true. If we recall the start of Threads, Baal faces the wrath of Anubis, who plans on wiping out the universe in a move worthy of Davros (sorry, fandom crash). I really wish we’d seen what happened that made Baal drop everything and flee to a little backwater planet. But then, the bad guy dynamics always interest me more than the good guys.
Despite that complaint, EDM gives me Cliff Simon in a snazzy suit, a building that’s a bomb and *that* t-shirt. Because if you’ve plans to take over the world, you gotta start with an embroidered polo top. 😀