Apr 122014
 

avatar2 In Grace Under Pressure McKay along with Captain Griffen test fly a recently repaired puddle jumper when an engine malfunctions causing them to crash into the ocean between Atlantis and the mainland. The jumper quickly sinks and soon it’s transponder signal is lost to the scanners in the city and as they sink deeper the integrity of the ship itself is put to the test. Ultimately the damaged screen shatters and take the heroic Griffen to his death leaving McKay trapped in the rear compartment desperate to find a solution to the dilemma of limited power and life support and little chance of being located by his friends. It’s not long before the head wound and conditions have McKay hallucinating but in a twist he envisions one Samantha Carter who points out is the one person smarter than he is and coupled with his attraction to her perhaps understandable why his mind when down that path.

It's me baby!

It’s me baby!

Meanwhile back at the city John and company are devising a rescue plan based on some grappling hardware and the belief the jumpers were always intended to double up as submersibles. However Zelenka and his people have to jump through hoops to try and calculate a approximate position for the search to focus on but eventually John and Radek fly to the rescue and do a passable Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea impersonation but with clocking shields being used as physical shields the opposite of when the city re-tasked it’s shielding systems. Mckay continues to have lively discourse with his version of Sam and soon comes to understand decisions she is making are those of his own logical mind trying to keep him alive but eventually the jumper is almost flooded and hang on is John’s voice an hallucination and if he opens the rear hatch will he drown but does he have a choice?

Grace Under Pressure is in many ways a bottle show despite money being spent on bringing in Amanda and the use of the large waters tanks to simulate ocean conditions, it is perhaps to the credit of all involved such a complex story was told and told well. Yes we’ve seen the lone survivor having to deal with a crisis before on SG1 and the threat of drowning in a downed spaceship again SG1 but this take on those core elements works very well. David is one of the few television actors who could pull off such intensity and claustrophobic story both with humour and drama as and when required.

I want to thank Philip for joining me for the show, it took some organising but the recording went by without a hitch, he has recorded with me before on the episode Trio (an experiment) which again went well and will probably be used as our take on that episode of Atlantis. Big thanks to Misa and Dan for the feedback and a nod to Brad for the recordings which will be used in later shows but for now that’s this show wrapped up and as always we want to hear from you and if you can a review/rating on itunes would be most appreciated.  This weeks featured promo is for The Book Cave Podcast a show covering mainly pulp publications (books, magazines and comics) with author interviews and next week we are going to be looking at the SG1 episode Ethon.

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May 042013
 

avatar As rogue system lords retreat into previously exploited regions of the galaxy the Tokra inform the SGC that one world is soon to be retaken and that is where they left Harry Maybourne to live out his days, obviously he has an in depth knowledge of the Earth and the SGC so SG1 pay him a visit. It isn’t that much of a shock to find Harry has become the King to this small community thanks to his ability to translate Ancient writings which foretell future events, by saving the population from a flood he earned their thanks and the belief he is a seer and thus worthy of their almost worship like devotion.

It’s Good to be King is the final tale in the Harry Maybourne journey from being a highly suspicious military and intelligence officer with links to the NID and other devious goings on through a time as a rogue operative almost mercenary until eventually aiding Jack and the SGC albeit with a few bumps in the road. Despite the objectionable state of affairs on the planet it seems that Harry has overall been a very positive influence on the community and maybe he’s finally found his place in the galaxy.

So do you fancy being the Queen?

So do you fancy being the Queen?

The added bonus of this story is that once again we get Jack putting on his glasses and strapping on the P90 and going off world and like it or not Jack and Harry have great chemistry and the humour comes through with flare and style. The discovery of the Ancient puddle jumper and the time device lays the groundwork for the season finale as well as tieing into the Atlantis storyline in “Before I Sleep” which works wonderfully. Sam, Teal’c and Daniel all contribute well to the episode despite not being the focus of attention and the two main guest actors perform well in their roles.

Hi, I'm Jack.

Hi, I’m Jack.

A huge thank you to Adrianna and Thomas who joined us for this weeks show, they will return and thanks to Brad who sent into some audio feedback. For the second month running we’ve seen a small bump in downloads so a big thank you to everyone who has been listening both old and new. This weeks promo is from The Holodeck a Star Trek podcast from the Trek Mate family and next week we return to Atlantis for Sanctuary. We would love to hear from you about “It’s Good to be King” or “Sanctuary” and Stargate in general, feel free to use any of the various portals/sites or this websites options for feedback and if you fancy it an itunes review would be most welcome:)

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