Supergate Archives

Gatecast 230 SG1 Camelot

Jun 282014

SG1 continue their search for the weapon mentioned by Merlin when as an Ancient he went against the wishes of his people to search a way to protect not only the Milky Way but the Ancients themselves. Arriving on a world whose address was given within the Mantle they discover a low technology community whose inhabitants call it Camelot and within one dwelling are the hidden treasures of Merlin including a holographic message, database and another Knight created as a guard to protect the knowledge from the unworthy. Daniel manages to access some of the data but has to sacrifice the machine to protect Cameron who is battling one of the Knights and even with another of the fables swords from the stone he is on the verge of failure before Daniel saves the day. The Odyssey takes SG1 to the location of a recently discovered Supergate with Jaffa forces already present standing guard, Teal’c leaves the fleet on a secret mission and Sam comes up with a means to dial the gate to the Ori galaxy to prevent an incoming wormhole but they are too late, the gate activates and four Ori starships arrive and the battle is joined. The Odyssey and the newly minted Russian 304 Korolev along with a number of Jaffa Ha’tak and Asgard ships engage the Ori vessels but the invaders have superior shields and fire power, Sam floating near the gate can only watch in horror as the first battle is easily won by the Ori despite Teal’c bringing 3 more Lucian Alliance Ha’tak to the party.

Guys, you need more ships!

Camelot is a fantastic season finale, we get a very good combination of location work at the village known as Camelot and of course John Noble guest starring which was and still is quite an achievement, Katharine Isabelle also guest stars in the episode and it was a nice idea to have one of the local young women seemingly the strongest and most competent fighter despite tradition giving that role only to the men. It was a pity they didn’t have Valencia fight the Knight rather than just draw the sword from the stone and throw it to Cameron to do the day and then he only survives thanks to Daniel. In a full 180 we then have the other half of the story dealing with the very high tech side of the franchise, lots of very impressive CGI work and full use of the standing Daedalus (redressed) sets and the Gou’ald sets not to mention throwing in an Asgard just to spice things up a but. The battle once joined looks stunning and it is rather disturbing to see how easy the Ori cut through the lines of the defenders and are so strong they can casually leave survivors behind who can then spread the glory of Origin.

Thomas joined us for Camelot the season 9 finale of SG1 and we thank him for spending some of his day off work with us, not always easy arranging a time to bridge the USA, UK and Finland over Skype but we can always get it done and we are rewarding with good conversation, the same applies to our other guest hosts both previous, current and future:) We got some feedback for last weeks Stargate Atlantis episode Inferno over on our G+ and Facebook page as well the always busy Twitter so many thanks for that and touchwood we get to hear your thoughts on Camelot. This weeks promo is for the Resurrection Revealed Podcast which deals with the recently aired ABC series Resurrection a show I only just watched and thoroughly enjoyed and the podcast just added icing. Next week we are going to be discussing the Stargate Atlantis season 2 finale “Allies” and Brad will be joining us for that, we hope you all join us as well.

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Resurrection Revealed

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Gatecast 202 SG1 Beachhead

Episodes No Responses »

Nov 092013

Nerus who is reputed to be the intelligence behind the technical achievements of Baal offers his services to the SGC to aid in the repulsion of the Ori who have taken a Jaffa world and are using it’s Stargate for as yet purposes unknown. Nerus convinces the SGC that the gate is going to be a beachhead into the Milky Way for a full scale invasion rather than the odd Prior here and there so the Prometheus is sent armed with a Mark 9 Naquadria enhanced nuclear weapon aka Gate Buster. What amounts to SG1 beam down to the planet and address the Prior hoping for a peaceful solution but then Gerak and the Jaffa fleet arrive and open up on the planet from Orbit and faced with no peaceful solution the bomb is armed and they beam out. Upon detonation the energy shield surrounding the gate expands to cover the entire planet and then the light bulb flickers into light and Sam realises that the Ori needed the extra energy and Nerus had been in cahoots with the Ori. Things really take a turn for the worse when the planet starts to shrink and once again Sam figures out that this super stargate being built will be powered by mini black holes one at either end. In the panic that follows only Vala comes up with a solution and risks her life to prevent the completion of the gate and when it’s destroyed no trace of her can be found.

Beachhead is an excellent episode of SG1, it not only offers up a very good story but backs it up with some good stunt set pieces and outstanding CGI work both on the planet and in space, the studio work doesn’t let the episode down either and all parties bring their “A” game. It was a nice twist to find out that Ba’al isn’t the mastermind he implies to be, it does make sense that there are Gou’ald who like human scientists do all the hard work but are not in command. It also makes sense that he would come to Earth looking for sanctuary, the SGC have proven to be a major player in the galaxy but the twist also proves perfectly reasonable. Nerus like all Gou’ald is arrogant and power mad, believing he could use the Ori is as a conduit to his own rise in status does explain his actions and of course the character is played wonderfully by Maury Chaykin (1949–2010).

You can trust me

We finally see Sam back at the SGC full time and we even get a unheard phone conversation with Jack which was funny and well any reference is a good reference. This episode also spells the end of Vala’s arc during this part of the story and she went out saving the Prometheus the ship she stole not so long back and in doing so pretty much left everyone feeling maybe just a little guilty. It is a little disappointing because the basketball scene we get early on really does show how well the team have meshed with laughter and casual ribbing of each other.

Looks familiar

Beachhead is an excellent standalone episode as well as a starting and ending point for a number of story arcs, it really does shine as being a standard bearer for what Stargate is all about both in story telling and production, design and values. This weeks podcast promo is for Tuning Into Scifi TV and next week we pay a visit to Pegasus for the Atlantis episode Trinity in which Rodney lets his ego lead him around like a little puppy with disastrous consequences. We would love to hear from you about anything Stargate and we’re always on the look out for a guest to join us for an episode of SG1 or Atlantis, itunes and stitcher ratings/reviews are most welcome and if nothing else enjoy the show and tell a friend:)