Richard Dean Anderson
It’s the daddy of them all, happy birthday to Richard Dean Anderson born this day Jan 23rd 1950.
He brought us McGuyver then eclipsed that with Jack O’Neill under the Stargate banner, thanks for everything RDA it’s been great and looking forward to you continuing to dip into TV now and again.
Stargate Birthdays (22nd Jan)
Two Stargate alumni celebrate their birthdays today (22nd).
From SG1 we have Michael Kopsa who played two roles in the show the first as a news anchor in the episode “There But For The Grace Of God” and then General Kerrigan in “Proving Ground” and “Prodigy”.
We then have Jennifer Spence who played Dr Lisa Park in 36 of the 40 episodes of Stargate Universe.
Episode 116 Shadow Play
A delegation from Kelownan arrives to discuss the possibility of an alliance despite the events which led to the death of Daniel Jackson, Jonas Quinn stealing some Naquadria and then turning his back on his home world. The three visitors a scientist, soldier and diplomat ask the SGC for military aid in exchange for more of the Naquadria as their nation is now the target of a new alliance between the two other states on their world and war is imminent. With technology similar to our 1940′s they face overwhelming odds in terms of man power and strategic aircraft and their only ace in the hole is a Naquadria bomb whose power rivals any of the SGC’s most modern enhanced nukes. Jonas enters into discussions with his former mentor Dr Kiernan who claims an internal resistance is looking to overthrow the current government and with similar movements with the Andari and Tiranian nations with the goal of peace and prosperity.
Let the party begin.
The SGC have a big decision to make, they know that giving the Kelownan’s even some basic military technology aimed at defence will eventually be used in an offensive manner and they show some mature restraint given our worlds oft used policy of arming societies with weapons well beyond their means and suffering the consequences.
Shadow Play is a merging of two proposals/stories aimed at given Jonas more background as well a homage to the movie “A Beautiful Mind” and it does that but falls a little flat despite a stellar guest performance from Dean Stockwell as Dr Kiernan. You could even argue it’s very much in the vein of a Trek morality tale and in many ways that would be correct, it’s a little more subtle but the message is certainly relevant when you look at the state of our world.
Love the classic Laboratory.
The episode is also interesting as Jack seems to be channelling Daniel at times, granted he has an aversion to the Kelownan’s due to their betrayal of Daniel so he’s never going to be waving the flag in support but he seems well into sync with the Tollan/Nox attitude of limited or no technical assistance beyond basic humanitarian. Overall an interesting episode with some some top notch casting but more of a drama than an action piece with some wonderfully moody lighting.
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Etched Glassware
MC Etching
If you fancy your own custom etched glasses then this is the place for you and here is an example of their work with various Jaffa glyphs etched into some scotch glasses.
Episode 115 Abyss
Jack now blended with the Tokra Kanan is innjured and captured whilst attempting to escape for a system lords secret research facility. The Tokra consider Kanan and by default Jack as being lost in action but the SGC are not prepared to give up so easily and demand access to all the mission data from Kanan’s spying. Meanwhile Jack is being systematically tortured and then murdered by Baal who uses the sarcophagus to revive him and then a miracle happens. Daniel in his ascended form visits Jack to offer comfort and solace with an offer to help him ascend as that is the only direct help he can offer as the Ascended are not allowed to interfere. The search for Jack continues but time is running out, there is only so much of Jack that can survive the multiple visits to the life giving sarcophagus.
Time to wake up Jack
Abyss is a fan favourite and easily demonstrates how well Jack and Daniel have evolved their close and rewarding friendship, it’s made more evident because we have been denied this interaction after Michael Shanks left the show and as of yet Jonas’s character is still under development. The Tok’ra back story once again highlights the divisions between the SGC and their weakening resistance against the System Lords but it’s a nice idea to have Jack’s ethics and personality drastically effect the reasoning of Kanan who probably was a very direct and decisive operative willing to sacrifice anyone regardless of any personal feelings.
Pure evil but with style
The production of this episode is once again top notch, some clever movie making is used to create the visuals and tight writing and direction required to make the most of the intense dialogue between Jack and Daniel and Jack and Ba’al.
To put it simply Abyss is the highlight of the season so far.
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Dark matter #1 – Dark Horse Digital Comics
It’s finally released, the first issue of Dark Matter is out. The scifi story created by Stargate writers/producers Paul Mullie and Joseph Mallozzi.
Episode 114 Nightwalkers
A desperate call for help has Sam leading an investigation into the death of Dr Richard Flemming a former employee of Immunitech a concern with links to Adrian Conrad and may have had access to Goa’uld research. Finding evidence of a conspiracy a more indepth look into the town reveals some strange behaviour by the inhabitants and a startling discovery and double cross.
Studying, Jack is notably absent.
Nightwalkers is an unusal SG1 episode, it’s style is different to the bulk of the series and it’s also the first episode Richard Dean Anderson does not appear in which may have been the impetus to try something new. The direction and photography is reminiscent of the X-Files and includes homages to a number of offbeat shows and noir features and boasts some nice costuming and a strong guest cast.
This can't be good, pretend we're not in.
The episode does offer up a fine supporting cast and ultimately it is rewarding even though it’s not high on any viewer popularity list but it starts the ball rolling on one of the pivotal events of the series which we will be covering at the appropriate time.
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Paul McGillion
Sharing the 5th of January as their birthdate is Paul McGillion who starred on Stargate Atlantis as Dr Carson Beckett and continued in the tradition of the franchise in bringing us well respected Doctors and in Scifi in general. His performance helped make Beckett a leading role in the show thanks to the positive fan response from the pilot.
Many happy returns Paul.
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