Episode 124 Paradise Lost

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Mar 172012
 

 Harry Maybourne pays Jack a visit at his home made more surprising because he is currently a wanted man with a charge of treason hanging over his head. Harry offers the gate address to the world Simmons stole the Prometheus to visit which he claims houses a cache of advanced weaponry and in return he wants a full pardon. It’s not that much of a shock the outgoing president agrees and Harry gets what he wants including a trip off world but it’s never that simple with Maybourne as we come to find out.

Trust me

Paradise Lost is a well produced and very nice looking episode but it’s not exactly action packed or overly dramatic. It does however make it up for this with an excellent score which is used to add the needed depth to long periods when there is little or no conversation between Jack and Harry.
It’s got to be said the Tom and RDA have excellent chemistry when they are together and this was the driving force behind the creation of Paradise Lost and while it is a standalone episode you can take more out of it if you’ve seen Harry’s history with Jack. If you haven’t then you may be in trouble because the only other significant guest star in the episode is Bill Dow as Dr Lee, it really is a Jack/Harry study in an unusual friendship.

Friends Forever

“You know, Harry, it’s not that I can’t believe you lied to me again. It’s that you lied to me again!”

This weeks promo is from The Scifi Diner and next week we’ll be covering Metamorposis. As always thanks for the feedback and if you have anything to say about our show or the episodes we cover then get in touch via email, twitter, contact form, facebook of G+.
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Episode 120 Prometheus

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Feb 182012
 

 Ambushed by a journalist Sam has to fend off questions about a top secret military project named Prometheus and when faced with disclosure a deal is done to allow the reporter access to the base with all materials held unto it goes public and they would have the exclusive. Of course it’s going to be a double cross by the US Air Force but they get double crossed first as elements of the NID take possession of the Prometheus and then demand the release of two very significant players. The SGC capitulate and then the bad guys steal the ship which came as a surprise since it really wasn’t ready to fly but it’s flaws help to save the day.

Lets make a deal

Prometheus sees the return of Frank Simmons and Adrian Conrad both under arrest for treason although Conrad being a Goa’uld is really a whole different ball game yet surprisingly the impetus behind the investigation into the project is from a true journalist perspective with it only be co-opted at a later date when not doubt the NID heard about the camera crews visit. The weakness in the narrative is of course the NID are not known for their ethical or moral core and thus would not be the type to die for the beliefs so suicide via a power core blast really didn’t make sense. Of course capitulating to terrorist or hostage takers demands is the norm in our society so perhaps even the .1% chance of losing Nevada was enough to risk losing the most powerful vessel created by the US.

All the grace of a brick

Of course when SG1 is involved the bad guys plans rarely work out and stealing an unfinished ship (which they did only as the opportunity arose) meant Jack and Teal’c could get on board rather easily but that surprise allowed them to take over a little too easily. That said Sam kicked ass both physically and intellectually and was probably the star of this episode despite John De Lancie delivering a wonderfully smarmy and moustache twirling performance. Prometheus is the first part of a two parter as made obvious with the final scene and the arrival of an Asgard starship commanded by the newly bodied Thor who saves the day yet than asks for some series help.

Not pretty but has potential

This weeks promo is from Tyrions Landing as we are getting close to the return of Game of Thrones and next week we watch and discuss “Unnatural Selection”. This weeks episode was constructed from 4 recording sessions spread over an evening punctuated by power cuts, it was not pretty.

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Episode 101 48 Hours

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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.

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Episode 98 Desperate Measures

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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.

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Episode 91 The Fifth Man

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Jul 092011
 

  Engaged in all out fire fight with some Jaffa SG1 beat a hasty retreat but Jack and Tyler are left behind unable to reach the gate. The rest of SG1 are desperate to return with more men but no one in the SGC admits to knowing who this Lt Tyler is and the question becomes who or what is going on. Until the truth can be discovered Jack is on his own which when you think about it is probably something he is well equipped to handle considering his background.

The Pyro guys had lots of fun

The Fifth Man follows a style that has been used often in Stargate with a very definite two story theme but with a strong link which keeps all the main cast members busy. Jack is in all out military mode which the rest of SG1 along with the SGC face the new political reality which comes from the character of Simmons who straddles military and civilian aspects. While both stories are strong it’s when the two merge we get an uber pyrotechnic and stunt filled episode which is a joy to behold whilst retaining some of the character and depth we are used to when SG1 meets new people. John De Lancie again is great as Simmons while Dion Johnstone usually seen under heavy prosthetics shines as Tyler proving once again Stargate does know how to cast it’s guest and supporting roles.

I’m sure I left SG1 around here somewhere..

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Episode 90 Ascension

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Jul 022011
 

Investigating an alien world with a devastated civilisation SG1 explore a city and find evidence of Ancient writings and maybe even technology. Sam mysteriously collapses and is told to take some time off and only then does she meet the mysterious figure who seems to be capable of some strange things or is he a figment of her stressed imagination. Either way the SGC investigate and that draws in the NID who as always take it one step further and maybe ultimately make all the wrong decisions.

Ascension is a solid Sam episode in which we get to see her home (believed to have been her Dads before he went Tok’ra) as well as her vintage motor underlining Sam’s status as far more than a career soldier. We also get a lot of background to the actions and motivations of the Ancients which are very different to what we have previously experienced via Oma Desala but set the basis for stories to come from both aspects. A new NID presence in the form of Simmons (John de Lancie) spells trouble as it’s obvious he is slicker and more devious than those we have met before, a reasonable face on the shadow organisation.

The secondary plot points tend to revolve around humorous aspects with Teal’c and Jack especially the Star Wars and Pizza scene:)

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