Episode 105 The Warrior

 Episodes  No Responses »
Oct 152011
 

  A Jaffa rebellion led by a charismatic former first prime of a fallen system lord (Imhotep) has taken shape and drawn the interest of Bratac and Tealc who in turn jockey for the SGC to recognise and aid the rebellion with weapons and other logistical support. SG1 visit the world with a sampling of weapons and aid to meet the man who has bought together remnants of various Jaffa factions including families and while the initial talks go well it soon becomes apparent that all is not well within this community.

The Warrior is standalone episode although naturally sits in the current arc describing the fall of many of the system lords and the fracturing of their Jaffa followers/armies as the power shift continues. On the face of it K’tano is everything you would want in a rebel leader being a strong orator able to give impressive speeches on the fly as well as work within a volatile audience as shown early on when his followers demand weapons and other resources. The fact that Bra’tac and Teal’c are enamoured with K’tano speaks volumes although that may be the case they have been waiting so for long for this step to be taken they were not even willing to admit to themselves the tactics and reality of this rebellion may not be what they would have championed.

Brothers in Arms

The Warrior was written by Peter DeLuise but based on a story created by Christopher Judge himself and why not write an episode which not only features your own character but his own story arc, it’s good for an actor to be looking to expand his characters narrative especially as too often Teal’s can just be “background”. What is surprising is how fast our favourite Jaffa fall under the “spell” of K’tano (Rick Worthy) even when he employs tactics which are boarding on insane given his resources in men and hardware but the promise of freedom blinds even the most wise. That said when the truth is revealed via a system lord no less which was a nice twist we see Teal’c at his avenging beast but ultimately it’s the usual Goa’uld arrogance that leads to the downfall of this rebellion (for now).

K’tano, watch me mommy I can fly..

The Warrior does have some positives in terms of production, they location is pretty and exploited to it’s full extent and rare for the show they have real interior shots with actual views of the outside of the tents rather then green screen it which has been the traditional way. The interaction of the real world and more controlled interiors adds a lot of texture to the scenes something which would be quite normal in a feature but stands out on a TV budget and while this show didn’t go overboard with CGI the location gate looked stunning as did the Tel’tak surrounded by mist.

The other very spectacular element of this episode is the integration of the unarmed combat discipline Mastaba which was based on the Brazilian art form Capoeira which combines agility, grace and flexibility something which may not be exactly native to the bulked up Jaffa but it does look spectacular.

Damn Sat Nav, where the hell are we?

Promo…

Links…

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Gateworld Interview with Julia Benson

 News & Media  No Responses »
Oct 102011
 

The Gateworld recently interviewed SGU’s Julia Benson aka Lt Vanessa James at a recent convention.

Click here to be taking to the “Brawn and Beauty” interview.

Episode 104 Fail Safe

 Episodes  No Responses »
Oct 082011
 

  The Earth is doomed yet again as a rogue asteroid hurtles towards the planet and we have days left to live, not even Bruce could swing this one unless Dean Devlin decided to use this plot for a theatrical remake. The Tokra are in no position to help us having been more or less wiped out last week and surprisingly the Asgard refuse due to the protected planets treaty and no proof this is not a natural disaster. As luck would have it the crashed Teltak on Revanna is flyable with a little work from the tech guys from Area 51 and the SGC and armed with a Naquadah enhanced nuke SG1 make their way back to Earth to destroy the asteroid before it’s too late. Then the fun begins as the ship is crippled leaving SG1 stranded on the asteroid along with the nuke and a 2 hour countdown then the discovery of the composition of the rock proves the Goauld are responsible and the explosion will take out the solar system. They’re doomed:)

Fail Safe is a stand alone episode but ties in at least in terms of consequence from the events in Last Stand as Anubis promised the System Lords he could remove the Earth from the galactic equation. The lack of help also reflects the demise of the Tok’ra as a power and casts a question over the Asgard who are bound by the treaty but again without Thor may not be as enamoured with us.

Things to do today, Die!

Fail Safe comes along with some very tasty CGI and matt/green screen work, yes the scenes with Jack and Teal’c in suits (very good suits) walking in slow mo on the asteroid are difficult to make realistic on a TV budget but the rest looks fantastic. I assume the lack of significant guest stars and no location shooting meant more of the budget could be put towards the CGI work required to make this episode work despite splurging cash on the last episode especially. While it is a standalone episode there are certainly threads worth following in terms of the Asgard, Tok’ra and Anubis which shows the writers are on their game so close to the season finale.

I can see my house.

Promo…

Links…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Episode 103 Last Stand

 Episodes  No Responses »
Oct 012011
 

  Trapped in the rubble of the Tokra base the last few survivors flee the invading army intent on denying them access to the chemical/biological weapon which could cause the downfall of the Jaffa armies the System Lords rely on. Meanwhile Daniel continues his undercover role within the System Lord Summit but he’s getting careless and surrounded by enemies one mistake could be his last. Last Stand is the conclusion to the double header which deals with the fate of the Tok’ra or at least the majority of them and there ability to be a significant threat to the Goa’uld who themselves may not realise the mistake they are making be not banding together to resist the return of one their number.

Business first

Daniel is playing a very dangerous game by delaying the release of the poison but he always had a soft spot for women and especially those he had or does care for so can’t really kill Osiris without the option of first releasing Sarah from it’s grasp. It doesn’t help that in Danny mode he talks too much raising the suspicions of another Lo’taur who in a quite independent act goes to Yu can informs him of his concerns. Of course it all falls apart but this is plotonium as it drives Daniel and Jacob towards Revanna in an effort to help SG1 and the Tok’ra. SG1 along with Elliot are escaping the Jaffa and heading towards a communications device and fortunately evade capture and eventually meet up with the returning Daniel and together trapped with no help for escape Elliot offers up a solution.

Might have said the wrong thing!

Last Stand is an excellent episode, Michael Shanks and Anna-Louise Plowman get to show their chemistry together and it’s this story which does kinda dominate the episode although the remaining SG1 with Elliot plays well with some angst and a logical and fitting act by Elliot. Some interesting choices made in what not to show and you can really see where all the money was spent and being Rob C Cooper has it’s uses when pushing through your own vision of a sequence:)

Bandits on your Six

Promo…

Links…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Episode 102 Summit

 Episodes  No Responses »
Sep 242011
 

  The Tokra have been busy developing a new weapon and delivery system just in time for a major conference of the remaining System Lords. Using the drug which is derived from the substance the Reol people use to influence the minds of other (Fifth Man) Daniel is volunteered to go undercover as Lord Yu’s personal servant and at the appropriate time use the weapon wipe out the ruling class of the Goauld. Meanwhile the location of the Tokra base on the planet Revanna has been discovered and a huge Jaffa force besieges the base and block the gate forcing SG1 and the last survivors of the Tok’ra to fight for their lives. All that aside both SG1 and Daniel get a few surprises on their respective missions which are left unresolved and leads into the second part of this double header.

Summit is the first part of a two parter, it’s written by Joseph and Paul but the second part of the story was written by Rob indicating that major arc implications are in play and yes the seeds of a new main arc are sown as the Systems Lords and the SGC face some stark realities. The episode is jam packed with good stuff, every cent spent is clearly evident on screen from the top notch CGI to the beautiful sets and costuming it really is a feast for the eyes.

Home from Home

With two significant stories being played out it would be easy for both to suffer but surprisingly they both hold their own although it had to be a two parter as so much happens from both perspectives and then of course the stories do overlap and the implications continue to appear for the rest of the season and the next. It was good to see Elliot so soon even though his character was a last minute substitution for Martouf when JR Bourne was not available but keeping Lantash the Tok’ra was inspired allowing Sam to have some solid screen time and act above the tech nerd or soldier. The loss of the Tok’ra as major players came as a surprise especially with the rise of Anubis but just as we lost Apophis there will be those that come along to fill the gaps.

Dude looks like a Lady

Yu’s behind you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Promo…

Links…

My ass is toasty!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

StarGate Online Auction

 News & Media  No Responses »
Sep 212011
 

The latest live online auction of Stargate props takes place this October 1st at 10am PST.

Propworx once again with Stargate Artifacts are using Liveauctioneers to power the online/live process so it’s open to all. A grand total of 168 props are in the auction and there will even be some from Stargate Universe.

 

 

 

 

You can download a free PDF version of the catalogue here.

 Posted by at 6:08 am

Episode 101 48 Hours

 Episodes  No Responses »
Sep 172011
 

  A running firefight against Jaffa forces and a narrow escape from their aerial fire opens the show but then Tealc disobeys an order and turns to fight and the delay in entering the gate results in him not returning to the SGC. Unable to risk redialing the planet due to the computer throwing up some error reports leads to the discovery of what exactly happened to the wayward SG1 member and then the NID and Russians get involved thus over complicating everything.

Over compensating much?

The episode opens with a bang well a lot of very big bangs and you can tell the sequence costs a ton of cash and it pays off, few episodes of any show opens this well and then we get the small surprise we causes Teal’c to turn and fight. A disappointing end to Tanith it has to be said but we do have quite a few Goa’ulds running around the place so losing one who may have been a busy actor at the time is not that critical as we find out in the next few episodes. It was quite surprising Simmons pretty much put his cards on the table knowing the bind the SGC were in and the introduction of McKay was most welcome, easy to forget how young Rodney was on his first appearance and how soul grating his persona was:)

Overall the episode does suffer for being very talkie with a lot of exposition and tech talk with Sam and Rodney, Simmons and Hammond, Jack and Maybourne, Daniel/Davies with Chekov and it really does suffer for it. Yes some of the conversations are very interesting and Jack and Harry have good chemistry but for the most part the lack of actions knocks points off this episode even though we do get jello.

A choice of flavours

48 Hours looks an expensive episode and has a lot of solid guest stars so certainly not a filler episode for budget reasons and it has some pivotal arc aspects embedded into it perhaps due to Rob Cooper being the writer but it’s hard to get over the slower pacing and information overload.

Promo…

Links…

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Favourite SG1 Season 5 Poll

 News & Media  No Responses »
Sep 102011
 

Yes it’s that time of the season again and we need your votes for your favourite episode of the fifth season. The results will be used in the season recap episode due to be recorded in a couple of months.

 Posted by at 10:52 am

Episode 100 Proving Ground

 Episodes  No Responses »
Sep 102011
 

  Jack is supervising the training of some new recruits in mock battles and tactics and isn’t too happy with their performance even taking into account they are not combat veterans being straight from the academy. Complications arise when a foothold situation occurs and Jack is forced to kill a number of men and gets wounded himself and with only the four cadets he has to infiltrate the SGC and save the day. Proving Ground is a rip roaring fast paced episode, there is simply no let up in the action and suspense as we are drip fed the information along with the recruits which maintains the suspense and mystery. Twists and more twists add depth and flavour to the episode along with the bonus of recurring characters which always pays off.

Evil Sam, hmmm could be interesting.

Hailey and Elliot are two well developed characters but it’s a shame that Scattergood and Grogan were marginalised a little but with only 44 minutes to play with there was only so much that could be done especially as they still had to fold the regular cast into the story which they balanced out very well. It has to be said for Sam and Daniel in particular their roles while small yet full of humour and even Teal’c who had even less screentime had at least one laugh out loud moment.

Duck! Too Late…

The best acting and writing of the episode was certainly RDA doing both the disciplinarian and fatherly figure role and managing to inject the humour of who gets shot and how hard it will hurt, lots of fun but then when required very very dark especially near the end.  To lighten things up the episode ends on a scene that has you smiling which pretty much makes you wonder what Elliot’s future is and we don’t have to wait long to find out.

Ok this was our 100th episode and while an episode a week (more or less) has meant it’s taken a while to get here it’s been a lot of fun and to celebrate that we’ve run a email competition for the listeners and we had 8 entries (not bad but should have been more) and the winner was Daniel Waller. Thanks to those that entered (Abby, Thomas, Adriana, Luke, Miles, Stephen and John) and I’m sure we’ll do this again and no doubt inflation will require a higher price tag prize:)

Great framing of a deep Jack

Promo…

Links…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Episode 99 Wormhole X-Treme!

 Episodes  No Responses »
Sep 032011
 

  Wormhole X-Treme! is a television show in production which tells the story of 4 intrepid explorers who travel through a circular device which houses a wormhole, show creator is one Martin Lloyd aka Marty who the SGC met a year or so back and discovered he was an alien along with others of his race living on the Earth. The SGC are willing to let this show be made as a double bluff, it automatically debunks many potential claims that the Stargate program is real but then a ship is tracked moving in the solar system and identified as being Martin’s mothership so Jack goes undercover at the tv studio to make contact.

Sweet Ride

This of course is the 100th episode of Stargate SG1 hence spoofing themselves in truly a cheesy manner and for the longest time I really wasn’t over impressed with this celebration of all things Stargate but truth be told I’ve taken a lot more from it this time around. The antics on set with the 4 actors playing parodies of SG1 along with all the cameos from the production staff and yes the basic story which concludes the Martin Lloyd story arc (for now).

Anyhow not only do we get all the in-jokes and spot the crew games but the filming using the real studios and back lots adds much to the flavour of the episode and again building on previous characters/stories tends to work more often than not. We also get an expansion of the NID in relation to how they co-exist with the SGC, lots of interesting stuff to come there with Agent Barrett.

Mind the Dead Bodies

Is Wormhole X-Treme! a fitting celebration of the 100th episode of Stargate? Well yes it is but maybe the blend of the spoof and the main story wasn’t as neat as it could have been and maybe that was why I wasn’t keen on this episode for so many years but it does pay off if you commit fully to getting every reference and homage out of it.

Thanks to Adriana and Thomas for joining us for this cast, it was a lot of fun.

Emote to the tennis ball people!

Promo…

Links…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Episode 98 Desperate Measures

 Episodes  No Responses »
Aug 272011
 

  An assault on a Russian convoy and the capture of a Jaffa gets the ball rolling and leads to the kidnapping of Sam while she is off duty. Jack does his own investigation working around the limitations of his status in law enforcement but being more open to the unusual he takes as gospel the eye witness who claimed to have seen “ninjas”. They rope in Maybourne who as it turned out may not be involved with Sam but certainly played a part in the whole situation but can Jack trust him or even put any faith in Simmons another aspect of the NID who have proven to be dodgy to say the least. Finally the truth is revealed and in essence it’s an old tale of those with power and influence plus a ton of cash willing to do anything to survive but with this case some good intentions which went out the window when others started making the choices.

Stargate kills Russians.. a lot!

Desperate Measures is a pretty good addition to the NID/Political arc of the show which is beginning to make it’s presence felt. As the series goes on we get a lot more of this sort of complexity between competing factions on Earth (human and maybe not so much) and in the case Conrad while not really being a bad guy puts the pieces in place so when his direct influence is removed the desires of others (the doctor, girlfriend, NID) take over and well it doesn’t end well.

Danny is the MAN

It’s always good to see Harry Maybourne and of course Colonel Simmons is as greasy as always and a seriously creepy Doctor almost overloads the episodes with potential bad ‘uns even before we get the girlfriend who puts common sense to one side or the humans willing to kill for money. When you think about it then it’s pretty much a good example of how corrupt and depraved elements of out world are and how easy it could be for the Goa’uld and others to insert themselves.

Promo…

Links…

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Stargate Universe – Complete Season 1-2 [DVD]

 News & Media  No Responses »
Aug 232011
 

Stargate Universe – Complete Season 1-2 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk:


Not an overly attractive price at £56.99 but MGM are doing a Paramount/CBS number on SGU fans in terms of pricing and of course what is totally unforgivable is the lack of a Blu-ray boxset or even a season 2 Blu boxset. In this day and age and with this production the lack of a HD offering barring broadcast and itunes is simply not on and well surely giving the customer what they want is preferable to making pirated options more attractive?

Episode 97 2001

 Episodes  No Responses »
Aug 202011
 

  A visit to the world of Volia (P3A-194) gives SG1 the opportunity to meet a highly advanced race known as the Aschen who control a confederation of worlds who share resources and technology and are very open to having Earth involved. Thanks to the vagaries of time travel/alternate reality the SGC are unaware that they have had dealings with the Aschen before and the cost of dealing with a race who were manipulating the Earth into ultimately culling 99% of her population. Overjoyed with the prospect of gaining access to weapons and defence technologies plus medical tech in exchange for our gate databases and experience there is not a descenting voice but caution first and once the layers are peeled back things begin not to make complete sense.

SG1 with Ambassador Faxon

2001 is the sequel of sorts to the earlier 2010 although I guess again with time travel it may be the prequel but either way once again the expansion of existing characters and situations pays off and we get an interesting and fun episode with humour, some angst and fun bad dudes who themselves do a passable Laurel & Hardy:)

In many ways the Aschen show us what is possible when you think long term and have a decided technological advantage over another people. The cause of the “plague” which wrecked the Volian people is left cloudy but from what we know of the Aschen it’s not unlikely they seeded the world and then came to the rescue, you have to be impressed because without losing a single Aschen life they eventually took over a world and turned it into a bad basket to feed their own people not the few thousand farmers left on the planet.

Feed the world, well not this one…

It was good to have Joseph Flaxon return to the show as the character when married to Sam in 2010 seemed to have been doing all the right things as a partner (allowing for the global conspiracy of silence) and we see the chemistry straight away. Surprisingly it’s also obvious that he gets on well with Jack who is not always welcoming to people fostered onto him let alone someone who take a shine to Sam but I guess the face Sam seemed to like him tempered Jack’s interaction. Mind you Jack once again was the first to voice doubts over the prospect of an alliance and it didn’t help that Kinsey got himself involved and Jack tends to oppose anything that Kinsey supports.

That’s the Jack you don’t mess with.

Promo…

Links

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Episode 96 Between Two Fires

 Episodes  No Responses »
Aug 132011
 

  Whilst paying respects at the funeral of Omac a leader of the Tollan people SG1 are invited to return to Tollana and discuss the acquisition of advanced technology something which has always been denied them before. Narim the doomed guy who quite fancies Sam (and the feeling is returned to a certain degree) is concerned as the change in his worlds policy feels wrong even more so when it is said Omac’s death was the catalyst.

You know Jack is thinking “mines bigger”

As it turns out the council offers the Earth a big honking space gun capable of orbital firing and taking out ships but one wouldn’t be enough we would need at least 38 plus redundancy but surprisingly in return for the mineral Trinium that’s what they will give them. As all the alarms bells start ringing the investigation into the death of Omac indicates he may have been murdered and a widespread cover up is under way but the ultimate purpose is still unclear until the discovery of what the Trinium is being used for and who is responsible for the change in policy.

Rather nice work place

I’ve said it before but I personally enjoy episodes which build on previous outings as it’s a pay off for not only being a long term fan but it all adds depth to a series, everything can become important or explored. Narim of course has been circling Sam on and off since “Enigma” with Garwin Sanford playing the role to perfection so it’s was mildly disappointing the episode ended how it did. Of course this episode isn’t just a call back to the Tollan but the Goa’uld make their presence known and mix in the effects of the protected planets treaty with the Asgard we get a fairly deep episode. All in all it was very good, some nice character work, good mix of plot points and excellent CGI/Matt work not only for a TV show but for a production period.

Promo…

Links…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

 Older Entries  Newer Entries