Well shame on me but I never put two and two together to realise than Jonathan Lloyd Walker who guest starred as Ta’Seem in the Stargate SG1 season ten episode Dominion not only guest starred on Continuum (three times so far) but also writes and story edits for the series. In the recent episode “30 Minutes to Air” Jonathan played Commander Bradley and also co-produced and wrote the episode and while I knew him on sight I never noticed his name in the credits during his tenure on the show. Jonathan has previously guest starred on Fringe, Smallville, RED, Flash Gordon, V, The Thing and Supernatural.
Ethon and the demise of the Prometheus thanks to the arrogance of Stargate command and their primary front line unit. When Jared Kane contacts Daniel and asks for help things begin to get complicated unfortunately the SGC can’t seem to see the pitfalls and despite the Ori having a strong presence on Tegalus via an satellite weapons system they decide to take the Prometheus, destroy the satellite and level the playing field between the rival and deadly enemies that are Rand and Caledonia. Daniel returns with Jared to open diplomatic talks but they are taken prisoner so when the cavalry arrives and find Daniel prisoner they pause which allows the satellite to fully activate and deploy it’s defence shields which were not present on the blue prints they had seen. The attack fails and the Caledonians retaliate causing severe damage to the Prometheus and with no way to convince the leaders then Earth and Jared are not acting in conjunction with Rand the Prometheus is destroyed with only a fraction of her crew able to beam down to the planet. When the smoke clears it becomes clear that Rand is only a heart beat away from being destroyed but Sam comes up with a plan to knock out the defence center which would give Cameron and Teal’c time to attack the satellite but when the EMP shuts down the defence center Daniel jumps in offering a diplomatic compromise which is agreed upon. It shouldn’t but does come as a shock when the Caledonian president spouting Ori dogma orders the attack to recommence causing the military leader to draw his weapon and in the confusion the president dies and the seriously wounded Commander calls the attack off.
Blaze of Glory
Well wasn’t this a major milestone in Stargate, the loss of the Prometheus is a game changer in many ways but the reason lies just as much in raising the stakes of the ORI threat as to sound economic production requirements as having two standing sets for the two types of battle cruiser is not cost effective. The writers and producers intend to make more use of the Daedalus class of cruiser starting with the new Odyssey and giving the Prometheus a farewell in battle serves to honour her and indeed her commander who stand on the bridge making sure as many of his people got to safety as possible. It was good to see Jared Kane again making the most of the continuity and weaving in the death of his wife who had a small but significant relationship with Daniel, the guest stars John Aylward and Ernie Hudson were stellar, both of them filled the screens and worked so well together.
Many thanks for the feedback for last weeks Grace Under Pressure via the chat over on our Facebook group and a voicemail from Brad, he also revised his homage to the Prometheus which you can listen to via the link a little further down the page. This weeks promo is for Tuning Into Scifi TV and next week we are going to be doing the Atlantis episode The Tower so we hope you join us for that but until then enjoy Ethon and please let us know what you think about our show and Stargate in all it’s glory.
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!
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.
Cameron is visiting an old friend who has a terminal condition, his friend Major Bryce Ferguson has been digging into the exploits of Cameron since their careers diverged and is very close to realising what Cameron has been up to since the battle over the Antarctic. The Jaffa high council is close to ratifying the move to a democratic system of government but some last minute changes of opinion by key pro-democracy supporters throws the plans of Bra’tac and Teal’c into chaos. They know that something is wrong and along with Daniel investigate those that have altered their votes and then Teal’c goes missing but Jaffa honour and integrity can not be as easily overcome as a simple change of opinion. Cameron racked with guilt over the accident which led to Bryce’s condition swings it so he can let Bryce live his memories of recent events thanks to the memory technology recently acquired from Galaran and bidding a goodbye Cameron joins the mission to rescue Teal’c from an old adversary.
A quiet moment.
Stronghold has two very definite story lines which in the best tradition overlap more and more as the episode moves on, it was interesting to see that Cameron while getting the reward of being assigned to the SGC believes his friend would be in his place if things had gone differently. The ongoing political games going on at the sharp point of Jaffa government is something you would think they would not be prepared for but the seem to have picked up the back stabbing and power plays in the manner of the best of human politicians. Of course this particular turn of events is the doing of an outside force using Tok’ra technology and as always Ba’al does a bang up job of setting things into motion but thankfully for the Jaffa and the SGC the endgame fails in spectacular fashion. I have to say that the fire fight is an excellent example of a television budget battle sequence and again Stargate benefits from using practical effects where ever possible, CGI bullets and muzzle flashes still ruin scenes, you can’t be real blanks and pyrotechnics. When all is said and done it’s perhaps the simple discussion between Teal’c and Cameron that the episode will be remembered for, despite Cameron feeling he deserves nothing and that the job is the job we see that integrity and the desire to do the right thing no matter the consequences is the only way to live a life.
We got some nice feedback via Facebook and Google+ along with the usual ongoing chatter on Twitter, many thanks for all of that and continued support via retweets and other postings. This weeks promo is for the Star Trek podcast Two To Beam Up and next week we return to Atlantis for the episode Grace Under Pressure and the first appearance of a new guest host. We’d love to hear from you about anything to do with Gatecast and more importantly Stargate and we’d appreciate any reviews/ratings you care to give us so keep watching the show and listening to us blabber on about it:)
I saw this Stargate Steelbook Blu-ray advertised a month or so back and thought I had missed the chance to get a copy, it seems limited release is a genuine piece of marketing with some steelbooks but as luck would have it Zavvi opened up the pre-order a few hours later so click I placed an order. I arrived home yesterday and was a little puzzled at the package waiting for me but that turned to delight when this pretty little thing revealed itself:)
Intelligence is provided to the SGC that a explosive device has been placed on Atlantis by members of the Trust who have been infiltrated by remnants of the System Lords. The bomb is believed to be triggered by dialling the Earth address and the next scheduled contact is within hours, Dr Lee comes up with a solution to use a far long SG unit to pass on a message to the Daedalus who can then contact Atlantis without using the gate. Safe for the moment Atlantis breaths in but the secondary protocol is activated and a distress signal is sent out and noticed by two Wraith cruisers but more problems arise with the key to the destruction of the city lies with the ZPM which is needed to power the cloak to hide the city from the soon to arrive Wraith. The secondary story is Teyla themed, her friend and mentor the ancient Charin is dying and is worthy of an age of ceremony which is going to take place regardless of the threat of the bomb and the Wraith. Lets not forget Zelenka who was volunteered by McKay to visit M7G-677 the world populated by children, even the bomb threat wouldn’t have made that job any more appealing.
Cadman has Rodney whipped!
Critical Mass is good episode making full use of the benefits of a crossover in characters and standing sets, we get drama and humour from the SG1 side merged very well with the ongoing Atlantis dynamic including the return of a number of characters to have played well to the story and fans in earlier episodes. The threat to Atlantis was a little complex but no question it was clever but you do wonder if those behind the implementation were being painted as too clever, this level of complexity and intelligence didn’t really blend well with what we’ve known of the Goa’uld. That aside the musical and creative aspect of the story was a breath of fresh air and overlaid the more intense and dramatic bomb elements and of course lots of humour despite the circumstances.
A big gold star to Brad for his voice mail and homage to the Prometheus and Ethon and also for joining us this week, it’s always appreciated and thanks to everyone else especially Facebook contributors for the feedback. Love to hear any thing about Stargate and Gatecast via the usual portals so feel free to chat with us and if you have a minute a rating/review on itunes or stitcher would be most welcome. This weeks promo is for The Dune Saga Podcast which is taking a in-depth but entertaining look at the books within the Dune franchise both old and new and next week we are at the SGC with the episode Stronghold, hope you can join us for that.
Finally caught up with Supernatural by watching the latest episode “Blade Runners” which deals with the ongoing search for the First Blade and Cowley’s minor dalliances with the perils of humanity. The notable guest star for this week was our own Kavan Smith playing the mysterious Magnus who has the potential to be a strong ally in the battles to come, it doesn’t quite go to plan but then it rarely does:)
Kavan recently starred in Rogue and made a guest appearance on Almost Human and we all loved him in Stargate SG1 and Atlantis and then all over again in Eureka.
SG1 return to the SGC unexpectedly but during their debriefing some of their knowledge of events is out of sync with what we know and then the gate is activated and another SG1 returns. Confusion is the order of the day until it dawns on the General that the first SG1 are not really “his” unit but the same people from another reality, this is made clear when more SG1 units begin to turn up a few with team members who have long since died in this reality.
Multiple Samantha Carters come up with a potential solution and our SG1 along with the first unit head out on the Prometheus towards the black hole they believe is at the root of the problems. Then the fun begins…
Face Off !
Ripple Effect was intended to be a bottle show making use of all the existing standing sets with limited expense on outside talent, as it turned out having Teryl and JR reprise their roles couldn’t have been cheap and there is no getting around the complexities of body doubles, split screen and the rapidly progressing motion control camera techniques for having multiple versions of the same character on screen at the same time. As it’s been said the story may have been sacrificed to the altar of technical achievement but if you believe that is the case then maybe the guest stars and yes the production quality more than makes up for it, this time. I’ll admit seeing Janet and Martouf again put a great big smile on my face and having the variants of SG1 using a lot of the older costumes and props were well worth the admission price. I’m not sold on Cameron in his undies but the dressed in black “bad” SG1 were fun and at the end of the day they were
doing pretty much exactly what any SG1 would do if their Earth was in danger.
Thank you to everyone that tweeted and posted on Facebook and Google+ over the last week, Epiphany didn’t set the groups on fire but no question that MALP on a Stick was well received. Kudos to Brad for once again recording a voicemail while on the road, always appreciated as is any feedback in any form especially ratings and reviews over on itunes and Stitcher. This weeks promo is for The Sci-Fi Movie podcast and next week we return to Atlantis for the episode Critical Mass.
Enrico Colantoni reprising his role as Keith Mars in the new Veronica Mars movie, such a pity we never got to see more of his character “Burke” in Stargate SG1. IMDB
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
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.
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:)
SG1 visit the planet Galaran who are part of the Asgard protected planets treaty with the former Systems Lords. With little support coming from the Asgard who have their own issues the Galarans have opened up talks with the Earth for mutual trade and information exchange offering a memory technology which could train anyone with any skill in a matter of days rather then months or even years. Impressed with the demonstration Cameron gets close to the head scientist a Dr Reya Varrick and after going home with her is found the next morning with her dead and a belief he killed her. Complications arise when it becomes evident that his memory has been tampered with and despite the Galarans looking to sweep the crime under the carpet Cameron insists on an investigation.
Do you really trust him?
Collateral Damage is a rather dark story, quite brutally shot although the rather clever way to shoot the attack and it’s consequences mitigated a lot of the violence which probably got it past the Scifi channel censors at the time. The technology offered has it’s benefits that is for sure but is so open to exploitation for all the wrong reasons it’s almost to dangerous to have access too as clearly demonstrated by the events in this episode and for those that recall in the premiere of Blakes 7 when memories are tampered with to secure a conviction for political means by the powers that be. This was an out and out Cameron episode and Ben performed well both in the one on one with Reya (Anna Galvin) and then opening up Cameron’s character with part of his background good and bad all of which put him where he is today. Loved the guest appearance by Ian playing his dad and we’ll see him again and of course William playing the Emissary always delivers.
Superb lighting
This weeks promo is for the Scifi Diner podcast and thanks to Brad for the voicemail and the chatter across our social media portals, we can’t thank you all enough for joining us as we enjoy everything that is Stargate, well apart from Infinity which I actually tried to watch via Amazon Prime this past week. Next week we have the Atlantis episode Epiphany and as always plenty of SG1 and Atlantis episodes that we could do with a guest to join us and we still have an opening for the Atlantis wrap up show we’ll be recording in about three months.
Neil Jackson gave a great performance as the enigmatic Mr Dillinger in the recent episode of Person Of Interest called “RAM” a rather important episode within the mythology as it tied together a lot of the events covered in the series. It’s also good to see Neil getting some good guest roles on major US series after the recent success this side of the pond.
Robert Knepper one of the most consistent actors on television (and movies) turned up on this weeks episode of Arrow “Time of Death” playing the iconic William Tockman aka Clock King. Robert graced Stargate Universe in a recurring role as Simeon in it’s second season and as always stole every scene he was in.
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 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.
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.
