Mar 152014
 

avatar2 The team discover a portal on a remote ancient world and with no sign of danger John attempts to pass through but is dragged in and lost to the group. McKay discovers the mechanism and the consequences of using the portal and realises that if they don’t find a way to bypass the portal’s effects within a few hours they will never see John again. Meanwhile John is making new friends and battling a beast that has the capability to become invisible and seems to be immune to physical weapons and he’s emotionally hurt as well, he doesn’t understand why his friends have seemed to have abandoned him. The silver lining is that there is a particularly attractive woman who shall we say has designs on him and a much younger one with healing hands, a little meditation and a lack of a razor hardly seems a great trial.

MALP on a Stick

MALP on a Stick

Epiphany is an enjoyable episode of Atlantis, it really is an episode that benefits from a superb location and all the benefits of modern television production can bring. The CGI and wire/stunt work give some good action set pieces and also allows for the more quiet moments between John and the inhabitants of this Ancient world to really leave their mark. The desperation amongst the Atlantis personnel works well, it’s difficult for them to understand fully the consequences which I guess also allows for the key points to be explained to them and by extension the audience who are picking it up as the story unfolds.

She knows what happens next.

She knows what happens next.

The only real problem with the story is why Teer would even consider John as being ready for Ascension, yes we know he is a lot more intelligent than he lets on and has the courage and belief to face down his fears but I don’t we’ve had any indication ascended beings have anything like a normal life once risen. Lets not forget John is still a material guy, his living in the now one reason why the meditation aspects of the lifestyle proved to be a little more taxing for him:)

We got some feedback via Facebook and Google+ so thanks for that and as always lots of Stargate chat thanks to Twitter. This weeks podcast promo is from The Rusted Robot and next weeks show is the Stargate SG1 episode Ripple Effect and Thomas joins us for that, hope you tune in:)

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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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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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Jan 182014
 

avatar2 Infected after his encounter with the young wraith Ellia, John is slowly but surely losing his humanity as his DNA is rewritten to suit the needs of an Iratus hybrid. As his body changes so does his mind and despite himself he becomes a danger to his friends and the city itself and even with Carson and his team dreaming up wild solutions it doesn’t look good for him. Ultimately it’s his new form which allows Carson to gain the genetic material he needs to formulate a cure but it’s costs lives something John will have to come to terms with as will Lorne who commanded the mission and did what was required.

Conversion is a fairly strong episode in the second season and a good companion to the previous episode Instinct but it isn’t great mostly because the story demands a complete solution which is almost a reset at the end of the episode and Stargate stories always work better with consequences always being taken into account. That said we get some good interaction between John and Teyla and even better when he has to deal with Weir, there was always a possibility the writers would have paired either of these two strong women with John and in two different ways we see the potential. It was also fun to see Weir taking on Caldwell but you can’t really criticise him because he was right, maybe not tactful and considerate but that’s the military aspect I guess.

Now now, be gentle John

Now now, be gentle John

Perhaps one of the unintended highlights of the episode was John doing a passable imitation of Spiderman and then the intended light hearted view of Ronon being very cold and calculating when tracking down John which really showed us the differences between a Runner and the human contingent in the city.

They're there for John

They’re there for John

Conversion is worth watching when combined with Instinct, it has issues but we did have fun watching the episode and I think that always makes up for a lot of other issues. This episode of the podcast always includes a short review of the Stargate Atlantis novel “Brimstone” written by David Niall Wilson and Patricia Lee Macomber as well as some upcoming Stargate related birthdates.

Thank you to Brad for joining us on the show and as always a big thank you to everyone who has talked with us or contributed to any of our social media portals, we’re all part of the Stargate family. This weeks promo is for the new Star Trek Original Series podcast “Two To Beam Up” and next week we are back with the Stargate SG1 episode “Prototype” so we hope you can join us for that. Feedback would be greatly appreciated as would an itunes and/or stitcher rating/review, barring that enjoy the show and enjoy Stargate:)

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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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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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Aug 282013
 

I’m in the final season of my Deep Space Nine rewatch and a name popped up in the credits for the episode “Prodigal Daughter” that I recognised thanks to having seen quite a bit of his performance on Stargate Atlantis over the last month or so.

Please be in awe of Clayton Landey who under a ton of prosthetics plays the security officer Fuchida who rescues Miles from a beating by enforcers of the Orion Syndicate. It was a small role but I always get a buzz when I recognise actors in other series, in this case an earlier role before appearing as Colonel Dillon Everett in SGA.

Clayton Landey

Clayton Landey

Aug 242013
 

Welcome to our first wrap up show for Stargate Atlantis, we have done a few in the past for SG1 and the format is pretty much the same but for this Brad joined us so it runs a little longer than the two person SG1 wrap up show we released last week and of course it includes the results of the SGA poll.

We hope you enjoy the look back at what turned out to be an excellent opening season for Atlantis and while there is no doubt it benefited from  the experience of the existing writers, producers and directors it quickly set itself apart with it’s style and take on some original and not so original stories. 

SGA_S1

Poll Results

Total Votes 79

  1. The Siege Part II ( 19 Votes )
  2. The Eye ( 9 Votes )
  3. Tied.. ( 8 Votes )
    • Before I Sleep
    • Letters From Pegasus
    • Thirty Eight Minutes

A huge thank you to everyone that voted in the Stargate SGA poll, it didn’t pull in as many votes as the SG1 poll which was mildly surprising but again we got a clear winner. It’s also interesting to see where the votes came from and they were spread around the world so a big hello to all our friends in the UK, Ireland, USA, France, Russia, Australia, Italy and Holland who voted:)

Next week we begin the ninth season of Stargate SG1 with the episode “Avalon Part 1” with a long time friend of the show Thomas so love to hear what you think about Stargate or the Gatecast past, present and future and the comments can be included in the show.

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Aug 102013
 

avatar2 As the inhabitants of Atlantis gate off world and the self destruct timer is engaged and incoming wormhole is a bit of surprise for it brings a fully equipped SGC military unit responding to the message sent a few weeks previously. Colonel Everett introduces himself and takes command reasoning that this is now a military not civilian situation but with John’s backing Weir regains her place at least to the point of being involved. The SGC has sent nuclear weapons to be used as space mines and more importantly a charged ZPM which was recovered from Egypt thanks to the fortunate events as told in the SG1 episode Moebius.

Alas and of no great surprise the Wraith detect the mines and reign down space rocks which detonate the mines and make the cities sensors useless leaving the way open for an air assault by hundreds of Darts, it’s repelled in a brutal fire fight but that was just round one. Teyla convinces the Colonel to let her people help to patrol the city as Wraith have been beaming down and thus a fully on battle for the city beings in the air and on the ground.
The only ace in the hole they now have are two atomic bombs secured by Weir from the Genii and in the hour of desperation John takes one in a stealth jumper to detonate inside a Hive and yes folks to be continued…

Google maps has improved.

Google maps has improved.

The Siege Part 2 is an epic season finale and cliff hanger for Atlantis. The arrival of the units from Earth was serendipitous to say the least but ties in wonderfully with Letters From Pegasus and Moebius. The  animosity from Everett is an interesting twist but maybe no one on Earth can fully understand the Wraith until the see them or experience them right there and then so leaving a man a friend behind from a military standpoint was the right choice and we know John made the right call. We also got to see the Colonel lighten up after his first brush with the Wraith and accept Teyla and her people’s help in defending the city and again Torri got some good dialogue to deliver proving that Weir has her place in the show when written well.

Pretty from a Distance

Pretty from a Distance

The special effects, set design and props for this episode are incredible, it’s hard to imagine that only a decade earlier this sort of spectacle was still impressive in the cinema and totally unheard of for television. While other big scifi tv franchises had their fair share of epic battles this combination of Earth tech and Alien tech was stunning and lets not forget the audio and sound effects used to compliment the graphics, everything has to work together.

Really looking forward to the third part of this trilogy in the season two premiere of Atlantis and the changes that come with this second season. A big thank you to Jeff for joining us once again and he will be with us for part 3 and thanks to everyone for posting and responding on the various social media portals. Next week it’s the Stargate SG1 wrap up show and the week after the Atlantis Wrap up show complete with poll results so please join us for that and pay a visit to Nutty Bites this weeks promo, a funny and geeky podcast hosted by our friend Nuchtchas.

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Jul 132013
 

Stargate Special Offer – News – Big Finish

20120503160646bfsg1-s3-slipcover_cover_large

Ordered a bunch of CD’s and I did like the postage contribution tag which I guess makes up for the pricing being the same for the physical media and the download.

This special offer ends Wednesday 17th.

Jun 222013
 

avatar2 After the discovery of three Wraith Hive ships heading towards Atlantis the expedition sends
out a jumper to intercept the fleet and to gather reconnaissance data in the hopes of finding
a weak spot. Of course the original Atlantians were unable to fight off the Wraith so there
is little hope for the survival for the city and it’s single ZPM but we humans are a stubborn
bunch and that may just save the day.
John and Teyla observe the Wraith fleet and are shocked to see the three huge hive ships
along with smaller cruisers and hundreds of darts engulf the planet and with the gate engaged
they are unable to escape and have to cloak and watch the planets people be culled.
Meanwhile back on Atlantis McKay has created a compression algorithm to allow the bulk
of the discovered Atlantian database to be sent back through a 1.3 second duration
wormhole and just as importantly personal messages to friends and family. We see a number
of personnel record messages, some formal, some casual, some full of themselves but they
all open up the respective characters.
When John and Teyla return to Atlantis with a handful of survivors the final task is for John
to record the message about the death of Colonel Sumner and then the message is sent,
maybe the first and final call from Pegasus to the Milky Way.

Party Time, Wraith Style

Party Time, Wraith Style

Letters from Pegasus combines the action and drama with the very dangerous covert mission
to observe the Wraith fleet with the talking heads fun and games back on Atlantis, for me there
is really no separating them in terms of quality and entertainment, both are excellent for very
different reasons. It was interesting to see the military aspect of John’s training come out when
it came to choosing between saving Orin and his family and reporting back but Teyla wasn’t
made at him too long. It was also fun watching everyone record their messages especially
Kavannagh who still has not forgotten being dressed down by Weir and maybe McKay after
all he posturing offer up a simple message to his sister about the value of family.

So Close...

So Close…

We got a little Facebook feedback and some twitter interaction during recording of which we
are thankful for, the same for Jeff who joined us for this episode. The audio quality is a bit
hit and miss as volume levels were variable and it picked up a little echo on occasion. This weeks
promo is from The Saturday B Movie Reel and next week we are back with part two of the
Stargate SG1 episode Reckoning.

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Have Closed, the results will be in the respective wrap up shows.

May 192013
 

Oh yes Ben Cotton who plays Kavanagh they guy we all love to hate on Stargate Atlantis  made a guest appearance on last weeks Defiance “The Serpent’s Egg” as Diago a travelling salesman who may have had a murky past. Ben has recently appeared in Alcatraz, Arrow, Bates Motel and Arctic Air.

BenCotton_Defiance

May 142013
 

Christopher Heyerdahl made his requisite guest starring role on Vegas in the episode Unfinished Business playing Cal Sprouse which aired May the 3rd on CBS. Alas the series has been cancelled after one season and now I’ve only the season/series finale left to watch and it’s a bit of a shame, Vegas had an excellent cast and production quality.

ChristopherHeyherdahl_Vegas

Official CBS Site

May 112013
 

avatar2 During a routine recon of a world with a space gate the jumper comes under attack by Darts which are subsequently destroyed by a powerful energy based weapon seemingly from the planet below. The team land to investigate but find only a primitive agricultural based culture with no obvious technology but in their midst is a being who is believed to be the intermediary between them and their supreme being.
Is there an advanced being protecting this world either technology or spiritually based is the question and upon returning to Atlantis the answer will be revealed.

Timeshare Opportunity

Timeshare Opportunity

Sanctuary is an entertaining story but not that original, we’ve met Ancients who while not freely operating in the galaxy do have influence in the physical world, Oma Desala and Orlin have appeared in SG1 and in this case Chaya Sar is the first Ancient the expedition have direct contact with. As with the other instances it’s a case of Chaya Sar breaking the rules of her people and being punished with banishment and the eternal care of the people she broke the rules to protect. It’s a clever idea and punishment and also explains why she took the risk to appear to John and the rest of the expedition, for all her many charges Chaya is lonely and the chance to return to the City was too much to resist.

Well hello there

Well hello there

Sanctuary throws up some good shippy moments as John does his best Kirk impression and Rodney points it out so once again the franchise grounds itself in our world by referencing scifi pop culture rather than ignore some obvious comparisons as others show have done. While we can place the episode in the overall framework of the Ancients storyline it is standalone which is a pity, I liked Chaya and Leonor who portayed her but perhaps it was the right decision, any action she took in aid of Atlantis would have brought disaster to her planet.

We got some feedback via our facebook this week and an audio message from Brad, thank you everyone keep it coming it’s great to read or listen to peoples views on our show and more importantly Stargate. The promo this week is from Trek News and Views a friend of Gatecast and next week we return to Earth for the SG1 episode Full Alert and the return of Kinsey.

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Mar 162013
 

Just wondering if our listeners have a preference to how we handle the upcoming two parter on Stargate Atlantis The Storm and The Eye so here is a quick poll which will run for a week.