John is looking forward to a supply visit to an offworld science operation when his jumper is fired upon, he loses power and the ship is drawn into the cargo hold of a huge unknown vessel. John is dragged into a cell and physically abused and questioned but a guard, a woman then enters and it seems they had been planning on capturing a member of a race they had heard were actively attacking the Wraith using the technology of the Ancients. Larrin the commander of the vessel explains that her people live on ships and travel the stars always one step ahead of the Wraith but time and resources are slowing eroding their fleets and she needs someone capable of using Ancient technology because she has found herself an Aurora class starship which needs just a little bit of work. John plays along but when he gets to the bridge and at the command chair he applies a little acceleration without the inertial dampeners throwing the three other crew members into the walls and knocking them unconscious, John activates the hyperdrive and escapes from the traveler fleet but John has to relinquish control when Larrin threatens to turn the radiation shields off but he has sent a message towards Atlantis. Alas it’s the Wraith that finds them first and the ship comes under fire, the two Traveler men are killed when the bridge is destroyed and then John destroys the Wraith cruiser but not before three Wraith board the ship from a dart. There is then a running battle between the two groups and the last Wraith drains almost all the lifeforce out of Larrin, John gets the drop on him and offers him freedom if he brings Larrin back to health, the Wraith does and flees the ship. The Traveler fleet arrives and John is once again in a cell but he offers Larrin an opportunity to work with Atlantis in the future which would benefit her people more than one single ship and when McKay and company come a calling then find John has been left behind with a tale to tell.
Travelers is an episode which opens up the fourth season by adding a technologically advanced race that thanks to it’s nomadic beliefs has kept itself well under the radar of Atlantis and more importantly the Wraith. Of course as Larrin (played by Jill Wagner) says without the industrial support of a planet based economy their fleets have slowly been reduced in capacity even to the point where whole populations have had to be left on planets. Their find of an Aurora class Ancient warship would not only give them more living space but open up some technology options but without the gene it’s useless hence the capture of someone from the people that are fighting Wraith with Ancient tech. Of course the episode is also an opportunity for Joe to carry the story which he does very well but no question Larrin is his equal in intelligence and guile as well committment to her people, it’s that similarity between the two that allows the resolution of the episode to be fairly positive. Ultimately Travelers is a fun episode and well constructed and as you may know the Traveler culture will play a part in the seasons larger storyline and we will get to see Larrin again so happy days:)
This weeks promo was for Continuing Missions a Star Trek Voyager podcast which will be looking at the novels set within this part of the Trek franchise, the first episode aired a few days ago with a look at the Jeri Taylor novel Mosaic. Next week we are going to be taking a look at the sixth episode of this season of Atlantis “Tabula Rasa” and we are going to be joined by Jeff. As always thanks for the support over on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook and a big thank you to everyone that actually listens to the show and shares the episode information, truly appreciated:)
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Michael Cram
Michael played the role of Silas in the Stargate Atlantis episode Travellers, he has also been in Nikita, Missing, Repo Men, Arrow, Flashpoint and Rookie Blue. IMDB Twitter
Cecil Hoffman
Cecil played Sarah O’Neil on the Stargate theatrical feature, she has also appeared on ER, LA Law, Wideguy and Tombstone. IMDB
Neal Acree
Neal composed music for Stargate SG1, Atlantis and Universe as well as creating music for Sanctuary, Witchblade, World of Warcraft, 6 Bullets and Falcon Rising. IMDB Official Twitter
Jerry Penacoli
Jerry played the Genii warrior Heiron on the Stargate Atlantis episode Harmony and he has also appeared on JAG, Galaxy Quest, Days of Our Lives. Jerry also hosts and is a correspondent on Extra and other media shows. IMDB Twitter President Interview
Robert Knepper
Robert guest starred on Stargate Universe as Simeon in six episodes of the show and has had starring and guest starring roles in Heroes, Mob City, Prison Break, Carnivàle, Arrow, Chicago Fire/PD and Cult. He currently stars as Empresario Buckley in the miniseries Texas Rising. IMDB Twitter
Colin Corrigan
Colin appeared once on Stargate SG1 as the team leader in Lifeboat and then guest starred on three episodes of Atlantis as Rivers (The Prodigal), Human (Misbegotten) and a guard (The Storm). He has also been on Smallville, Sanctuary, Psych, Battlestar Galactica, Arctic Air, Once Upon A Time and Arrow. IMDB
Camille Sullivan
Camille guest starred in the Stargate Universe episode Visitation playing Val, she has also had recurring roles on Red Widow, Shattered and Rookie Blue as well as guest starring on Intelligence, Big Sound, First Wave, Taken and Hellcats. IMDB Twitter Official
Gianna Patton
Gianna played a nurse in the Stargate SG1 episode The Changling and she has also appeared on Huff, Jake 2.0 and Andromeda. Somehow Christopher Judge also convinced the model/actress to marry him and they now have a daughter Chloe. IMDB Twitter
Blu Mankuma
Blu guest starred as Sheriff Knox in the Stargate SG1 episode Nightwalkers and voiced Stargate Infinity. He has also been in Dead Like Me, The X-Files, Forever Knight, MacGyver, Smallville and Fringe. IMDB Behind The Voice Twitter
Don Stark
Don played the dinner owner/cook “Sal” in the Stargate SG1 episode Memento Mori and previously starred as Bob Pinciotti in That 70’s Show as well as guest spots on Supernatural, Viper, Castle , Deep Space Nine and Star Trek First Contact. He has also voiced characters on Father of the Pride and Spider-Man. IMDB Behind The Voice
Frida Betrani
Frida appeared in three episodes of Stargate SG1 playing Lya from the Nox (The Nox, Pretense and Enigma). She has also been on Millennium, Just Cause, The Net and Northwood. IMDB Twitter
The team are investigating a very dense jungle/swamp world and John is certainly not a happy camper but Rodney makes a discovery of some crystal like structures that are emitting energy, John is still not impressed but for some strange reason reaches out and touches one and is thrown across the ground. Dazed and confused that take the now “dead” crystal and return to Atlantis where Dr Keller gives him a clean bill of health but as he leaves John touches Teyla and we see a surge of energy pass between them. That night Teyla has vivid and disturbing dreams about the Wraith, her father and John when he was infected by the iratus virus which makes breakfast with him and friends a little awkward. What ever returned to Atlantis via John having affected Teyla takes a bite out of Keller who is unable to save Teyla from giving birth (through her stomach) of an alien bug and Ronon who dreams of an empty Atlantis and then running from an enemy, Major Lorne is convinced John is a replicator and then Dr Heightmeyer dreams of being on the ledge of the tower and Teyla and John are with her, Teyla attempts to help her but John intervenes and the Doctor falls and soon after her dead body is found in her bed.
It becomes clear an entity is able to move between people and subject them to their darkest nightmares maybe to take sustenance from the emotional energy and hormones created or maybe just for giggles however they determine that Rodney is it’s current host and they trap him in an isolated room and step into the dream using alien technology and together John and Rodney fight the creature in their dreams complete with clowns and whales.
Doppelganger is certainly a pretty episode, we get some good cityscape shots and some very creative work to enhance the dream sequences be they stylised or simple. It certainly a clever idea and maybe not the primary reason for this story in that we learn quite a bit about the characters or at least which fears are at their core, Ronon for example now fears being alone and the betrayal from people he has placed his faith in. It was also clever to have a character death and Dr Heightmeyer was established and Claire Rankin had given a performance that meant her characters death would twist the knife, it also ratcheted up the tension which an episode like this relies on to work. As for the final scenes with John fighting John they were very well do (lots of behind the scenes on the DVD/Blu-ray) and again when push comes to shove Rodney can develop a backbone made out of steel.
This weeks promo is for the Dark Matter podcast Because We’re Dangerous and next week we are going to take a look at the episode “The Travelers” and I make no bones about being quite pleased, a big fan of Jill Wagner. Many thanks for the Stargate chat over on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, again thanks to Ian for the itunes review and please feel free to get in touch with us and let us know what you think about our show and of course Stargate in all it’s forms.
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Rae Allen
Rae played Dr Barbara Shore in the original Stargate feature film, she has also been in Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Soap, NYPD Blue, Reign Over Me, The Fearing Mind and Grey’s Anatomy. IMDB
Saul Rubinek
Saul was the main guest star in the classic Stargate SG1 two parter Heroes, he played the documentary film maker Emmett Bregman and I don’t think anyone could have portrayed that character any better by displaying the character’s integrity in a believable fashion. For fives years he played Artie in Warehouse 13 and has guest starred on Fraiser, Eureka, TNG, Psych, Leverage and Person Of Interest. IMDB Twitter
Alan Ruck
Alan appeared just the once on Stargate Atlantis as Dr Fletcher in the episode “The Real World”. He is one of the most recognised actors on tv and movies having starred in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Fringe, Spin City, Bunheads and was the Captain of the Enterprise B. He is currently playing Alex Myers in The Whispers. IMDB
Terry David Mulligan
Terry played the Secretary of Defence David Swift in the Stargate SG1 season 1 episode The Nox. He has also appeared in 21 Jump Street, Millennium, The Outer Limits, Defying Gravity and Supernatural and now hosts Mulligan Stew and Tasting Room Radio. IMDB Official Twitter Tasting Room
Aleks Paunovic
Aleks guest starred three times on Stargate SG1 and Atlantis (Shaq’rel in Redemption 1&2 and Rakai in Reunion). He has appeared in Battlestar Galactica, Arctic Air, Flash Gordon, Psych, iZombie, The 100 and Hell On Wheels. IMDB Twitter Official
Bradley Stryker
Bradley guest starred in three episodes of Stargate Universe (Air 1, 2 & 3) as Curtis and also appeared on Fringe, Psych, Angel, Smallville, Arctic Air, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, Supernatural and Red Widow. IMDB Twitter
Soon-Tek Oh
Soon-Tek played Moughal in the first season Stargate SG1 episode Emancipation. He has had a long career in television which includes roles on Babylon 5, MacGyver, Airwolf, M*A*S*H, Hawaii 5-0, Magnum and Charlie’s Angels. IMDB Behind The Voice
Mar Andersons
Mar played Major Green on two episodes of Stargate Universe (Air Part 3 and Earth) and appeared on three episodes of SG1 (Bob on Wormhole X-Treme! and Point of No Return and an Air Force Officer on Avalon Part 1). He has also guest starred on Supernatural, Shattered, Masters of Horror and The X-Files. IMDB
