Hello and welcome back fellow science fiction fans.
Boy do I have a treat for you. I would like to introduce you to a new and talented actor. He has been in episodes of two of my favorite series, Sanctuary and Stargate Universe.
I first came across this young gentleman while tweeting. And after a short time of tweeting back and forth, I come to find out that he has never done an interview of any sort – EVER!! Who is this person you may ask? Well his name is Mr. Brian McCaig! Brian discusses many great experiences including his time with James Bamford, Lou Diamond Phillips and acting friend mentor Gina Holden too!
Well with this being his very first one, he done an awesome job. I think I was more nervous then he was. Mainly because if you look him up on Google, there is not much out there on him.
Even his biography IMDb site has very little information, so as a clean slate if you will, I thought you would like to learn more about . A sure way to find out who this young man was and what his likes and dislikes are.
During our nearly one (1) hour chat with Brian McCaig, I arranged, with the help of Kenn of course of WormholeRiders News Agency and another team member, reporter ArcticGoddess1 we talked about number of subjects including his time in Stargate Universe during the 2011 episode “Alliances” where he appeared with MingNa and Lou Diamond Phillips.
We discussed his role on Sanctuary, as well as how he got his guest role on Stargate Universe. We learned a bit about Brian’s personal side of life things including his birthday, his favorite things as well as if he is single or not. I will leave that one for you ladies to actually hear from him!
We chatted as to how he chose Twitter to get his name out there as opposed to Facebook or MySpace. There was even a question I HAD to ask for all the women out there. And if you follow me on Twitter, you all know where I am going with this. But again, I will leave that question and answer to the audio interview you are about to listen too.
I hope you enjoy our interview with Brian McCaig as much as I loved doing it. And now without any further delay, may I present to you, Mr. Brian McCaig. 🙂
Thanks to Kenn for video embedding and many thanks to you for dropping by WormholeRiders News Agency for Mr. McCaig’s interview.
Please feel free to leave a comment below, click on the various buttons below to share this article around the Internet, or you can nab me on twitter by clicking on my avatar. Hope you liked the interview as much as I enjoyed helping to conduct it.
This is the last episode of season 3 from this very awesome and very cool series. The amount of talent and imagination that comes through each and every episode astonishes me as I watch each one. From the acting, to the special effects, even to the writers who help give us such ‘sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat’ thrill is nothing but amazing and brilliant. And imagine, it all started with webisodes. The shear determination alone to make Sanctuary what it is today is nothing less then total amazement.
The choice in people who plays each role equally contribute to the splendor and enjoyment each week. I can see why this show has such a big and strong fan base. Not just because of the awesome Amanda Tapping, but because each person brings a little of themselves into the characters they play, and thus make them so lovable.
Now onto the reason why you are all here.
With everything that happened from the last episode, we get a sense that something is definitely wrong with Hollow Earth. Abnormals who were living far underground for centuries, have now started to come to the surface. The cause has yet to be determined, but you can bet your bottom dollar it was not going to be something that Helen would have ever thought possible.
They were called for a meeting with a representative of the U.N. and a General of the U.S. Military. Not what Helen was expecting, but I guess she knew it was going to happen eventually. Of course the man in the General role was someone I least expected.
Every time I see this part in any episode, it amazes me that it’s all done by green screen. The whole room is in green. And knowing that, makes me appreciate the actors that much more. Not only do they have to remember their lines, and react like you would in any situation, but to do it all in an empty room. That in itself is WOW!!
Oh lookie who we got here. Yes, you got it. It is our lovable Col. Maybourne. NOT! Do not get me wrong, Mr. Tom McBeath is a brilliant actor, but is there a role that he did not play where he was just as snaky and ruthless as Maybourne? Though General Villanova is not much out of character then Maybourne! Both you want to knock up side the head. Even though with Maybourne, he lightened up towards the end. Maybe – no hopefully – in season 4 he would see that Villanova should have listened to Helen in the first place.
Then we have Dr. Lillian Lee, played by the lovely Francoise Yip. This character I kinda felt bad for. I felt she wanted to side with Helen (Amanda Tapping), but because of her superiors and the General, she had her hands tied as such. I liked her as she knows the good work that the Sanctuary has done in the past. But at the same time felt that this was too much for just one place to handle. Even with all the other Sanctuary’s in the different places around the world, they still did not have the space to take in all these abnormals that was surfacing.
Then we are taken to the make shift camp that the military has set up. Which peeved Will (Robin Dunne) off as it looked more like a refugee camp then a sanctuary to help the new visitors.
They meet up with an officer who when Will offered his hand, he promptly shook it. Unfortunately, when Kate did the same thing, he ignored her. That to me shows that he is one hell of an arrogant, young, (insert bad word), pigheaded, cocky, oh and (insert bad word again). 😛
As the abnormals are being “escorted” into the gates to the tents that has been set up, one of the officers offer a giant creature a bottle water. Not knowing anything about this abnormal, it smacked the water out of the officers hand. Of course being surrounded by military, they went all up in arms with the guns all pointed and being very trigger happy. That is when Kate jumped in to stop a possible altercation. She told the officer that water is toxic to this type of creature. And with that said, she took it inside.
At this point, Will is not happy with the whole situation. They came to them looking for help and all they are getting is being treated like thieves. That was up until Will spotted someone in the line up heading inside the gates.
Hmmm. Now, where have I seen this guy before?? Oh dear lawd, it is Edge (Adam Copeland). Well he did make a great pain in the arse in the WWE. Makes one wonder if he will bring some part of Edge to this character in this episode.
This is a fun episode to watch. Not only am I a fan of Sanctuary, but I do love watching Wrestling. Call me names all you want, but I just like watching WWE, both RAW and Smackdown. But sorry Edge, my favourite is John Cena. LOL
This was a nice section of the show. Poor Kate was a little hurt by the fact that the abnormals there would not accept water from her, but they would from Biggie. It was then that Biggie told Kate that it is her that is the strange one to them.
Then Kate (Agam Darshi)looks over and sees a small table set up. She walks over and makes a comment about the lovely stones. She asks if she could see one of the stones and that’s when the gentleman informs her that they were from his home and all he could carry with him to remember where he came from. She went to lay it back down on the table. This is when he introduced himself to her as Garris (David Milchard). He told her that she could keep it. Kate told him that was fine, but he took it and put it around her neck and tied it in the back. It was a very sweet gesture, I thought anyway, and a nice way to break down the mistrust between the humans and abnormals.
Then of course once Kate walked away, smiling, Garris looks over and sees Thelo and his sidekick, Herusan (Fraser Aitcheson) looking over at him. Just like his alter ego, Thelo looks like he has a plan up his sleeve. And knowing that, it cannot be good.
Well this cannot be good. Sometimes it is Helen calls on John to help her in something or another. But when Druit (Christopher Heyerdahl) is the one who pays a visit, you can bet it is up to no good.
Now we cannot end off season 3 without bringing back Adam (Ian Tracey). And once he came into the picture, you had to know that he was up to no good again. He is one of the best played psychos that I can remember to date.
Helen gets a notion that something else is going on with Hollow Earth that is causing the abnormals to surface. She reluctantly goes with John to investigate. She is so furious with him for letting Adam stay alive, not just once, but TWICE! Really? Is John not looking for a death wish.
Of course, with John’s motive for keeping Adam alive this time, was purely out of love. Or was it? Not in Helen’s eyes. This line of thinking will come apparent little later.
This picture is one of the most brilliant special effects that I cannot imagine they surpassing. And I say ONE OF the most as there have been so many during the past 3 years of Sanctuary that it is hard to find only the one.
Interesting how Fallan goes to Thelo to ask for his help. It is apparent that Fallan wants to abide by the rules by the ‘surface dwellers’.
Unfortunately, Thelo has a different agenda.
On a side note though. I felt really bad for John when he and Helen were walking the tunnels to find Praxia. Only to find it destroyed. Helen was so furious that he would not think of the consequences of going back in time just so he could change things between the two of them.
“If who I am now is so meaningless to you, that you would sacrifice it just to bed me in some other timeline. John, that’s not love.” Can you say Ouch? But oh so true. They have been through so much over the years, that you would think that John would just let it go and stop pursuing Helen. Maybe now he will.
I thought this was a very lovely scene. Kate had obviously changed from when we first met her. The ‘tough-girl’ image is gone. She no longer has to protect herself from people who might want to hurt her. Now she is apart of an awesome family who cares and looks out for each other. With Kate offering Garris a gift as a token of friendship, as well as from the fact that Garris had given her a gift from earlier, proves that Kate is a very caring person. She had proven that time and time again throughout this season. Makes me wonder what is in store for us in season 4.
Meanwhile, all hell is breaking loose in the camp that Will meets up with Kate and Biggie (Christopher Heyerdahl) to see what the devil was going on. That is when Kate tells Will that it was all over name calling. One of Thelo’s sidekicks called Kate a name that Garris took offense too, and that is what brought on this whole situation. I gotta give it to Garris though, standing up for a non-abnormal like he did says a lot about his character.
So Will decides to go and see Fallan, that is when Will realizes he is in trouble. With Fallan killed and Thelo & the gang just outside the tent, things are about to go very bad for Will. Will gets chased by Thelo and the boys until he is trapped at a dead end.
Awww. Poor Will. Knowing what is about to happen, he gives it his best. First he goes for a punch. But that did not do anything to Thelo. Then Will tries a head-but. That too is unsuccessful. Then he tried a few swings at Thelo, again, with no avail.
Then Thelo turned it around and got in a few punches and ended it with a clothes line. He should have done the “spear”. LOL. Poor Will, he should have had John Cena on the side to help him out. LOL. That is when Biggie and the other officers came to Will’s rescue. Biggie stayed to fight Thelo, as Will was escorted out. Of course his next concern was Kate. She was still in there somewhere.
Then back at the Sanctuary, something about this whole mess did not feel right to the guys. What was the whole point to the fight in the first place. Henry then tells Will that Druit came back with some info from Adam’s computers. That is when Henry told Will that the city was gone. And no doubt it had something to do with Adam and his weapon.
But… was it a weapon?
Will and Henry had to do the unpleasant task of having a chat with General Villanova and Dr. Lee. Something just did not feel right. That is when they discovered that this was all just a distraction from something greater. The real threat was coming. Adam’s invention was the cause of all this happening. Only problem was that Will did not have the proof that Dr. Lee was asking for.
That was until they lost the feed from the camp and when it did come back on, they were confronted with something they were not prepared for. Yep, you got it, Thelo and his thugs had taken over the camp and had hostages. One of which was Biggie. Not what they needed right now.
Of course the General wanted to go in all guns a blazing. Will wanted to go in calmly and try to talk to them. Though, do not think any amount of talking was going to persuade Thelo and his gang to back down and let their people go.
But it was too late. The Invasion has already began.
Meanwhile, Helen was working on the computers left behind by Adam, when the lights started flickering. Still not sure what to think, she continues on with her research. After the lights flicker a few more times, she does another search for Adam when John comes around the corner.
After some, with a bit more flickering, Adam finally comes into view. Though, not for long. Then he goes out of phase again.
Helen had tried to max out the power for the computers to bring him back. It worked for some time. Long enough for Adam to tell Helen the true reason why John let him live – yet again.
With John wanting to go back to the year to stop them from taking the source blood and Adam wanting to go back to the year to save his daughter, there laid the conflict.
In the end Adam seemed to have won. He compensated for the power and went out of phase again. Then John had an idea.
With him using himself to max out the power, he hoped to have stopped Adam from going back in time. But he was too late, the portal opened, Adam said his pleasantries in his egotistical manner and walked through.
This cannot be good. With Helen sent back in time, what effect will this have on her own self in that period? Will the future Helen experience tropic cascade failure because of having two of them in the one timeline? Think of SG1 – Point of View, when we had two Carter’s. That did not work out so well, did it?
As well, other things come to mind as to what the possibilities could come from this. Will Helen find Adam and stop him from saving his daughter? If caught, how will this Helen explain a handgun that has not been invented yet? If Adam does save his daughter from death, what will become of the Sanctuary as we know it? So many thoughts and ideas that it is exciting to see how season 4 will play out. And that in itself, makes me very excited to want to watch to find out. And I hope you feel the same.
I like to thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts and analysis on this awesome episode. Please do leave a comment, or you can nab me on Twitter. Stay tuned for the fall when I and my team will be back to write up more of our thoughts on this fantastic series.
We include the full episode below courtesy of Syfy via Hulu! Enjoy!
Please feel free to leave a comment below, click on the various buttons below to share this article around the Internet, or you can nab me on twitter by clicking on my avatar. Hope you liked reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Sorry for the delay in posting this Sanctuary episode review for those fans in the US, but as I am in Canada, I did not get to see this awesome show until Friday night. And as I am not one for posting spoilers for people to complain about. Even though some people do not mind them, I thought it best to wait until us Canadian’s at least had a chance to see it.
Sorry for those of you in the UK and that part of the world where you still have to wait until June to see, but you guys are in for a real treat when you do.
Now, onto my thoughts…
Well I must say that watching the beginning of this episode made me think of the ending of the movie DOOM. Where it makes you feel that you are the one in the show. This was so cool how the camera made me feel that I was the one frantically getting dressed and walking into the room to meet up with the rest of the gang. Kudos to the effects department on that one. It was brilliant.
And it carried on into the infirmary where Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) and Henry Foss (Ryan Robbins) are in Hazmat suits. I thought to myself, ‘please let him not have something growing out of his head.’ And after Helen had taken a sample of Will’s blood, she was a little reluctant on letting Will see himself. Henry was unsure as well, but with Helen’s approval, Henry past Will a mirror and that is when you see what all the concern was about.
Scales??? I was like, ‘oh goodie, Will is going to turn into a fish.’ LOL. Of course you can see the honest to goodness concern on the face of Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping). And with everything they have been through together, she was determined to solve this. And knowing Helen like we all got to know her these past three and half years, she was very protective with her team.
Then a little while later, Helen comes back in the isolation room she put Will into, only this time with no hazmat helmet on. So,, NOT contagious, that is good news.
Not knowing what this was or how he got it in the first place was puzzling to say the least. But as Will had loads of time on his hands apparently, Helen could not help but make light of the situation and prop a box of files on the bed next to Will. I guess he was behind on his work for Helen like I find myself at times. LOL
And again with the effects of you only hearing Will’s voice behind the camera. And I LOVED the way the camera “blinked” as if you or I would blink our eyes. That was just to wicked if you ask me. And what I had to give a chuckle at was with the cute little wink she gave Will, along with a smile, and then left him to the huge stack of files in the box. Poor guy.
Though, I felt bad for Will. He was finally allowed out of his room and found the gang, Henry, Kate Freelander (Agam Darshi) and Big Guy (Christopher Heyerdahl – I swear, I have to find a better name for him), talking about him with the way they tried hard not to look at him.
But the best part of that scene was when Kate was all serious and wanting to ask Will a question. Will being so understanding with his ever changing appearance, told her to go ahead, to ask him anything. That is when she popped the question. “Any way you can save us 15% or more on car insurance?” LOL. Well I never laughed so hard, and the look on Kate’s face was priceless. What a cute smile. 🙂
Of course, Will was not impressed. And the expression you can hear from his voice was so funny. “Geiko? Really?” Well I just cracked up laughing again. And the best part was that the Big Guy bust out laughing too.
This whole episode was so awesome. Looking around through Will’s eyes. I think that this episode was the best by far with the effects and camera work. It could not have been easy to make this one, and hopefully if someone from the cast reads this, they can tell how they done it.
But what makes this show stand out was how much the characters have grown more and more as a family. With Will changing into something we were not too sure of until last minute, it really tested Kate. She confided into Henry that she had never dealt with anything like this before. I felt for Kate, she has grown so much throughout this season. What an amazing actress. Well, they all are awesome in their own ways.
OK, so onto more of parts that stuck out to me…
Then Will discovers he’s got a new super power. SPIDERMAN! Yes, he tested it by climbing up the wall of his bedroom. Though, I felt bad for Kate. Bringing in his tray for him to eat and finding him almost up to the ceiling. I think I was laughing at a lot of places throughout this episode.
Of course with the word getting to Henry, he went to Will and asked him to help him out. I think he just wanted to see Will go up the wall. It was funny though. Because as you watch “yourself” climb the wall, you can hear Henry on the floor, “that’s so cool”.
The help that Henry needed from will was to change a light-bulb. Henry obviously could not reach it. And now with Will and his new “talent”, he figured this was the only way to get it done.
So Will went and done it. Well how could anyone refuse a face like that? LOL Doesn’t he look cute? 😀
Unfortunately, we find out that Will cannot be around sunlight. He dropped to the floor. Off to the infirmary again. Although, Henry felt bad that he learned that there was a switch to lower the chandelier to change burnt out bulbs. 😛
This shows how awesome the make-up artists are. Will is changing and it is cool to how we are shown little by little of his progress.
Of course, later when Will and Kate are having a touching moment, we see his reflection through the laptop screen. Kate told him that Alley was asking about him, but she told her that he was not feeling well. He was appreciative. I do not think that he would have wanted to tell her on the phone, or in person for that matter.
This next picture is one of many pictures that we got to see of the awesomeness of Sanctuary. I would love to work in a place like that. I would make a great secretary and seeing to the files and putting them organized. 😉
But with Will changing, he is not allowed to go on a mission with the gang. Instead he is left behind. But it was not long before the Big Guy comes to his room and tells him he has something to show him. I was a bit scared and intrigued as to what this secret could be. Then we are let inside.
Biggie opens the door and lets Will go in first. The room had a sitting area with shelves and shelves of bottles of whiskey. Yes, WHISKEY! A guy after my own heart. It is my preferred drink right now. But anyway, they were accompanied by someone who is no stranger to the TV screen.
Yep, it is none other then our own Stargate tech guy – Chuck. So with a few drinks, they had a great time, kicking back, having a laugh. Of course the boys were telling Will that once the gang gets back, they give a play by play of what happened out in the field. It was funny to see how Will and Biggie looked at each other as they watched Henry and Kate be so hyped telling the story. I giggled at the expression on Biggie’s face, and Henry & Kate’s enthusiasm.
This picture of Kate being with Will when his hands have morphed in a way that he cannot get a grip on anything anymore, that Kate helps him by feeding his meal to him. Although, from this picture she looks a little flirty, but when you see the actual show, you will see just how much she truly cares for Will.
Unfortunately little later, we find that cause Will attacked Kate (partly cause he could not speak anymore), they had to put him in those isolation boxes where Helen usually keeps the rest of the adnormals that is taking up residence there. Each one took a moment and said their good-byes. Kate, unfortunately, could not muster the words. Bless her.
Morphed Will looking around his new room, thinking of a way out.
Of course Helen finally gets the answer she’s been waiting on, and makes up a cure of sorts, but when Kate and Henry goes to get Will, he is gone. Or so they thought. Morphed or not, Will still knew how to trick people. He had tore off a heating grate up by the ceiling, letting them think he got out. When Kate turned around to only see Will there behind Henry. She did not get the warning out in time when Will hit Henry. Then knocked out Kate, and ran out the door.
Luckily, they were able to track him, and got him back. Helen went to visit Will, who was back in the infirmary yet again, to see how he was feeling. With his voice still a little sore from the morphing, he was now back to his usual charming self. Well with a little bit of trace abnormality left on his face. But he was back to being his gorgeous self again.
So that is my thoughts on this episode. I hope you all enjoyed the read and especially enjoyed watching the episode for yourself. In the meantime below is the extended promotional trailer for “Wingman” tonight on Syfy and Friday on SPACE CHannel
Thanks for popping by WormholeRiders News Agency and reading my thoughts on this episode. Please feel free to leave a comment below, click on the various buttons to spread this article around, or you can nab me on twitter by clicking on my avatar. Hope you liked reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Welcome back to yet another awesome episode of this fantastic series, Stargate Universe.
Okay, when I was told that this was the best Varro (Mike Dopud) episode to date. I simply HAD to request that I write this review. Though I am not writing this review to score points (I do not feel I need to).
Now do not get me wrong, I love the entire cast of Stargate Universe, however I am a big fan of Mr. Mike Dopud! And well to be perfectly honest with Varro in leather in The Hunt– OMG!! Why on earth would I or anyone pass that up? 😛
Again, if you have not seen this episode, one question – WHY THE HELL NOT?? Or for that matter, ALL of them. But anyway. this episode focuses on a several interesting story lines. The Hunt does have focus on the Varro character and his future with the crew of the Destiny. However there is also Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) who continues in being conniving – no big surprise there. The episode includes Sgt. Ronald Greer‘s (Jamil Walker Smith) new outlook on life. Then there are new and interesting creatures to blow our minds!
And I apologize if I seem to have more Varro pictures in this report then anyone else. It just cannot be helped. After all, this is more of a Varro-centric episode. Though I will have others in here too. And I might jump around a bit, so I hope you still enjoy the read.
I must say the location where they filmed The Hunt episode is awesome. I have never had the pleasure of venturing over that far west in Canada, but when I eventually do, the locations where Stargate Universe is filmed is definitely one place I will want to go and visit.
Besides the gorgeous scenery, you cannot help but be in awe when you see the new alien animals created by Mark Savela and his visual effects team . One of which Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith) and Sgt. Greer decided to try and hunt down to take back to the Destiny for food. Hey, nine plus months on the ship with no fresh meat? The crew certainly needed some steaks!
Of course, The Hunt does not go without dislike from Dr. Lisa Park (Jennifer Spence), she is a vegetarian. Dr. Park voiced her opinion on the matter in no uncertain terms. A good doctor, she did so not for the fact that she does not eat meat, but that they were on an alien planet and she did not know if the dear-like creature was going to be safe to eat at all.
In the end, Lisa leaves with a “not cool” and heads back to the camp they have set up.
And the fact good ole’ Dr. Rush lured Eli (David Blue) and Adam Brody (Peter Kelamis) to an unopened and unexplored section of the ship, Rush knew that their curiosity was going to get the best of Eli. Especially when they opened the door to a room full of stasis pods. Everyone knows that Eli wasn’t going to just open, look around and then leave. Which was what Rush told them to do.
Leaving the stasis pods reluctantly, Eli started getting fed up that Rush seems to always call the shots as to what is important to check out and what to leave. So going against Rush’s “orders”, he turned around and went back, with Brody running to catch up with him.
Of course with Rush back in the main bridge, he could see that Eli could not help but to go back to the room. I was thinking that there was no way in hell that someone was going to actually get in a pod voluntarily, so by being the sneaky little snake, Rush had Eli and Brody fall for his trap.
Then we have Varro stepping up and asking Lt. Scott to let him and his team go to the planet and help in the search. Scott I find is a character that cares for his teammates that much that he would do anything to keep them safe. Or for that matter, if he could, he would take their place.
Of course the best moment is when Varro and his team met up with Young and his and start on the tracking of where this new and dangerous creature has taken TJ and the other officer.
But what I found to be really touching was when Col. Young (Louis Ferreira) got injured and Varro went to his side and convinced him that he is a liability to the mission. Young knows that Varro will do whatever it takes to get TJ back. So stepping aside (sort to speak), Young issued Varro a gun so Young could go back to the Destiny.
Varro and Greer have their moments as well. Varro heard what happened to Greer not able to take the shot at the deer-like animal. So to Varro he needed to find a way to kick Greer in the arse and get back to his usual loving self. LOL
Of course with Greer having had a near death experience, he did not feel like his usual, shoot now – ask questions later. Instead he felt himself questioning everything he has ever done. Suddenly he was afraid, but he knew that could get him in trouble or the very least a liability to everyone on the ship.
The pivotal point to his enlightenment was when he was having a chat with Lt James (Julia Benson). She did not understand how someone like Greer could go from wanting to kill everything or anyone who got in his way, to a guy who started thinking of what his actions could cause.
I think Greer has grown a lot this past few episodes. Learning to live with a group of terrorists who wanted to take the Destiny from them is one thing, but then turning around and putting in a good word for Varro. Which leads to Varro’s freedom aboard the ship.
Although, like Varro tells TJ, he doubts very much that if he had to confront Greer about it, he would deny it. So it does show that Greer is lightening up and getting a bit more trustworthy. Least I hope so.
Then we have Tamara Johansen (Alaina Huffman) in the cave trying to calm down the young officer with her. He was freaking out that he did not want to be some creature’s dinner. She had to step up and whip him back into fact – no one gets left behind. Same sentiment as SG-1 and Atlantis. That I found was awesome to see them carry some aspects from each of the previous series, into this one. Very nice way to tie them all together.
I found this next sequence of pictures so awesome. Finally we get to see the connection that have obviously has gotten stronger between Varro and TJ. When she came to visit him in his room to inform him that he was a free man, he smiled and said “I know”.
As I watched this I said, “Well it’s about bloody time!” Then with him looking at her.
And she looking at him.
Then he walks in closer and reaching out for her to draw her near.
With their lips just about to touch, do we finally get contact?
OF COURSE NOT!!!! Young had to beep at the door and F*** it all up. I never wanted to go through the TV so badly then at that moment.
But the look on Young’s face as Varro left to join the rest of them for their version of a BBQ, he then realized what was about to happen AND what he lost.
I am sorry, but I do not feel bad for Young at all. If he had been there for TJ when she lost their baby, maybe that would have bonded them closer. But I think, as does TJ, that Varro would have been the better choice in the end anyway. And who would pass Varro up? A man in leather!! Can you say HOT!!
The best way to end this episode was to have Varro carve the meet in the end sequence. That I found was an awesome gesture to have him included into the rest of the crew.
However, what I did not know was that Varro is left on his own now. Something that Mr. Dopud had pointed out in the interview you are about to listen too at the end of this report. The rest of Varro’s Lucien Alliance members are all gone from one thing or another. But I guess we can take comfort that he’s got TJ there for company. Something in fact I believe has brought them together, they both lost loved ones. TJ her unborn baby, and Varro his wife.
Besides the fact that this episode was full of Varro — and in LEATHER!!! But it had a lot of interaction between Rush with Eli and Brody, Young and Varro, even Varro and Greer moments. And especially Varro and TJ. Whatever it is with this episode that makes you love it, it’s definitely well worth watching. This has been an awesome journey, one that I hope will come back in the future.
Until we meet again below is a treat I have for you. An interview I had with Mike Dopud the aid of WR_Systems (Kenn) from WormholeRiders with an amazing actor from SGU. I hope you all enjoy this little — well, far from little, it’s an hour long — interview. This interview gave me butterflies ten minutes before it actually happened. And with this being my first time interviewing someone, I was worried that I was going to trip over my words. But this awesome actor made it easy to relax and to get the job done.
I have been thinking up questions for this for a while, even googling him for hints or ideas as to what to ask. I must say, coming up with the questions was somewhat the easy part. But when it came time to actually ask them is when I got nervous.
We chatted about his previous role in this episode that you just finish reading about. As well as his other projects he has had the opportunity to do, one of which was Exit Strategy. Though, in saying that, I may have given away who this actor was that I had the honor of having a chat with.
However, once everything was said and done, and we had signed off, that is when I remembered one other question that I forgot to ask. I am sure that I will get to ask it on twitter.
So without further adieu, I give you, Mr. Mike Dopud.
Thanks for stopping by WormholeRiders News Agency this review of Stargate Universe and our interview with Mike Dopud.
Please feel free to leave a comment here, click an icon below to share this review and interview or you can nab me on Twitter by clicking on my avatar to the right.
This has been the most anticipated episode of Stargate Universe ever since I saw the preview over a week ago. Although, I have known about this episode for some time now, I put in my request that I write on this one. As I am a fan of Stargate Universe, that still did not take away from the fact that I am still a fan of Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG-1. To love one and not the other is ridiculous. I love each series for what they were and what they are.
That being said, let us get on with the reason for your visit today. To read my thoughts on the Stargate Universe episode Seizure.
***SPOILER ALERT*** If you have not seen this episode yet, then stop right now and wait until you do.
On the other hand, if you do not mind reading what you have to look forward to, then by all means, keep reading. I will NOT write a play-by-play of the episode, that can get boring real fast. I will NOT jump around to different places as that will only confuse the hell out of you. I WILL however write in sequence from beginning to end the parts that stood out to me the most.
First of all, let me start off by adding in this lovely picture of Washington D.C. I am not adding it in for who it represents, but more of the beautiful landscapes and surrounding areas. I only wish that someday I will get to visit.
Of course first we see our beloved Mr. Woolsey (Robert Picardo) trying to convince everyone that by using the Langeran stargate to dial the ninth chevron, they can get a good connection to get everyone aboard the Destiny home. Only problem was the leader of the Langerans (Victor Garber) wasn’t easily convinced. So seeing that Woolsey was having problems in convincing them, our other lovable guy, Col. David Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips), stepped in and said that they have someone who is qualified that this will work.
And who should we see walking in the door?
Yes, it’s our very own Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett). This was a delight to see Rodney return to Stargate. And it was very cool how they brought McKay back into the Stargate series in the way they did.
Now do not get me wrong, I like McKay, however I personally like John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) a bit more is all! 😛
And of course, you can not have Rodney on any planet without some sort of technical gadget with him to solve the scientific problem!
In this case Rodney had his trusty laptop with him to try and convince the Langarens that HIS idea will work. Well of course it would. He is the one and only Dr. Rodney McKay after all 😛
Even if I try to look past Rodney’s egotistical manners (wow, I typed that word correctly the first shot), he was a joy to watch. This fact made me miss Atlantis that much more. Though, the best part that I laughed my arse off was where Rodney used the communication stones and switched bodies to go on board the Destiny.
I guess when it comes to certain areas on a woman, McKay does not notice the color of the hair. Of all the years we heard him say that blond women does something to him, (his constant mention of Samamtha Carter), it is quite the flip for him to sort of hit on a brunette. LOL. The line that had me cracking up was when Lt. James was on McKay duty and noticed that he was looking at something that he should not have been. “I’m up here” to Lt. Vanessa James (Julia Benson) as Rodney was transfixed by her feminine attributes!
I still find myself laughing when I remember the looks on both their faces. Then of course McKay tried to be somewhat polite and offered “Ladies first.” Of course that kinda backfired as James did not move, leaving McKay to walk out ahead of her with his tail between his legs! :-P.
The look on James’ face was of typical, “another boob man”. But I still could not help but giggle. I can not wait for the DVD’s, there has to be some funny behind the scenes from this episode for sure!
Of course, it does not take long to figure out why Rush would want to sit in the chair VOLUNTARILY!
Yep! Rush finally gets a bit!
Then we observe Chloe Armstrong (Elyse Levesque) informing Col. Young (Louis Ferreira) that Rush hooked himself up to the chair, but he was not fixing or alternating anything. He was in some sort of virtual dream state thingy. No, I am not that technical when it comes to wording. This is as good as it gets, and if you know me on twitter, I have my own way of describing things.
Then we have our geek-fest with Eli and Rodney.
I swear, it is a good thing that Rush is not among the rest of them cause I do not think that we could cope with three brilliant minds in the one episode.
Though, besides the fact that Rodney loved making himself seem way smarter then anyone else on any given day, he did manage to get out a compliment to Young about how smart Eli is. I found that to be a nice touch
This is a beautiful scene with TJ (Alaina Huffman) and Sgt. Greer (Jamil Walker Smith). And then we can see Dale Volker (Patrick Gilmore) in the background, feeling much better then Greer is at the moment. From the last episode, we seen Greer give up his kidney to help someone in need. Unfortunate, Greer will need extra time to be himself again.
We then observe see Eli and Adam Brody (Peter Kelamis) trying to figure out what is happening to Rush. That is until Eli gets an idea and tells Brody to go back into the computer log records of what is being uploaded.
This is where I need some science geeks to tell me what is really happening. Where is my good friend Redone68?? She is way smarter when it comes to the science of things. I think she would have been a great asset to the brilliant minds on the Destiny.
This is a great picture of the old style Stargate! It was so cool seeing it in action again.
And, we can never forget the huge KAWOOSH from the event horizon.
With it ending with the lovely blue shimmer of an open wormhole. It takes me back when I saw the event horizon open for the very first time. It still puts me in awe how the special effects by Mark Savela and his crew including Sonia Gilmore are able to make it appear so real!
Another part of all this that seems to never get old, is the using of the Ancient Communication Stones. One second you have you, the next you have a totally different conscience in your head, controlling your every action. The freaky thing about it is the fact that you are oblivious to it all. Freaky, but very cool!
Yet another part that had me laughing, was when the Captain of the Langerans (Darren A. Herbert) was in the body of Lt. Matthew Scott and he looked into the mirror at his reflection. The amazing camera work to pull that off is nothing but astonishing. Plus it only goes to show how awesome these actors are when doing each episode. Mr. Brian J. Smith in his portrayal of Lt. Scott in my opinion demonstrates once again that is a very talented actor and does an amazing job.
Though, in saying that, I believe they all deserve their own recognition when it comes to trying and succeeding to make the characters in Stargate Universe believable each week including a special guest star Victor Garber as the Langaran Ambassador.
I am not sure about you, but does Telford not resemble General Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) when it comes to scientists. Especially when it comes to McKay. I guess in a way, McKay makes it very hard to like, from a working with point of view. Mr. Hewlett on the other hand, seems to have a very large following. Especially on twitter.
There was a lovely moment between Eli and Ginn (Julie McNiven) as well. This was a bittersweet one, where Ginn told Eli what Dr. Amanda Perry (Mandy – Kathleen Munroe) was doing and that Rush was in a lot of danger. Typically from actually dieing. And that he had to be the one to terminate the program for them (the girls) to be able to interact with their other half’s (the guys). This was tough for Eli.
There were also a fair amount of touching moments with Rush and Mandy. Until Mandy gave a small peck on the cheek that he felt that something was “off” a bit. Not really realizing he was still inside the ship, per say, just that something felt different.
So he thought he’s put his assumptions to the test and do a little fiddling around with the computers to see if his thoughts were right. And sure enough, when he confronted Mandy, she told him that he was going to kill everyone. He knew that was not the case, and they stood there and watched the Destiny blow up.
Unfortunately, because Ginn had warned Eli of Mandy’s plan and what she was doing. Eli had no choice to do what he done. Mandy could “feel” this and she confronted Rush about what she had tried to do.
To find a way to keep him there with her. She confessed to him that she did love him, and that that was the reason for her messing around with the program. She told him she will always love him and then she was gone. Unfortunately, we are left again to witness Rush go through another mourning. First with his wife, and then with Mandy – twice.
When Rush finally wakes up in the infirmary it has been two days that he was in a coma. Again, TJ was so sympathetic with what Rush went through, as well as Eli. After all, if you think about it, it was Eli who had to severe all ties he could possible have with Ginn, just to save Rush. Of which Eli made that quite clear when Rush asked him, “what did you do?” Eli told him as much, if he did not do what needed to be done, Rush would be dead. TJ concurred with Eli, and Greer spoke up from his bed to tell Rush to listen to the good doctor. She knows what she is talking about.
I felt so bad for Eli. He lost Ginn once, then to get her back in the last episode, only for Mandy to screw it up, he had to essentially loose her again for the second time. Maybe he can figure a way to give her access and not tell anyone. Take a page out of Rush’s book for secrecy.
I shall end my review with an amazing picture of the Destiny flying through space. On her way to her predestined destination. The talents of Mr. Mark Savela and his team can not go unnoticed. Very well done.
That concludes my review. Hope you all had a great read. Feel free to comment below, click on a button to share it, or you can catch me on twitter. Be sure to venture back next week when I will have my thoughts on the episode “The Hunt” posted for all to read. Until then we include the promotional trailer for “The Hunt” below courtesy of Syfy via Hulu.
I will end this analysis with some personal thoughts I have been wanting to say for a long time. I would have thought that the ratings would have gone up a few notches with this episode, solely because we have McKay back again. But I do not think that happened. I am surprised actually, that the fandom as a whole did not support this endeavor.
Yes, I would have loved to have had another season of Stargate Atlantis. Or the very least, the third Stargate SG-1 movie and the first Stargate Atlantis one. But because of the anger by certain factions, this is the main reason why Stargate Universe was not renewed. Ratings for any given show are what counts at the end of the day and this is also what happened to Atlantis.
The only point they are showing is how their lack of support is NOT going to get them their “promised” movies. We were never promised these movies. We were told that it was a possibility. But, here’s a question, why should we be rewarded with a movie for such behavior? It’s no different if a child is misbehaving. Do you reward that behavior with what they want? Or do you say, “until you can learn to behave yourself, you’re not getting it.”
And I know that I will probably loose a nice few followers on twitter for some reason or another. And I wouldn’t be surprised if i did. Especially from certain factions in the Stargate Atlantis fan groups. Yes, they are passionate, and I love Stargate Atlantis just as much as the next person. However, being a STARGATE FAN first and foremost, I will show my support for anything that has the name Stargate in it.
And another subject about this whole thing that has my goat is the fact that the convention organizers go out of their way to give the fans awesome conventions year after year. Yet you have some (and I repeat SOME) who will buy the gold tickets to see every guest there, and then boycott the SGU stars because they figure they will “prove a point” that way too to the creators. How sad.
But what it does is piss me off even more. I would love nothing more then to be able to afford to buy a gold ticket for a Stargate convention that Creation Entertainment presents wonderfully and see ALL the Stargate stars they have confirmed to attend. But you have these “people” that would buy a ticket, only to go and see who they want and ignore the others. That to me is a waste of money. They would take away from someone who would have loved to have seen EVERY Stargate guest going to these things.
And acting like spoiled little brats too. This is my opinion mind you. If I sound like a b***h, then so be it. I am a Stargate fan through and through and I for one enjoyed the many years and countless adventures our heroes have brought to my life these past 14 years, 17 if you count the original movie that started it all.
Like I said, these are my personal thoughts. If you don’t like it, oh well. But just to let some of you that love to cause debates and arguments in open tweets, I will NOT be apart of that. If you feel the need to send me messages to try and provoke me, just so you know, I will NOT answer to it. Not that I am a coward. It is just a fact that I will not be drawn into a pointless debate.
I think that is all I have to say. In fact, I feel I have said what I needed to say. So end of story.
After watching this episode, then again on the CTV website, I started thinking of how to go about writing this review. I did not want to do a play-by-play of the accounts that went on. Done that in the past, trying to stay clear of it. Though I must admit, it is hard not going back to that in the past ones I have done. This time I will try to focus on each character according to the situation they find themselves in.
So let us grab a cup of tea (my preferred beverage) or a coffee, sit back, and enjoy the read.
Again ***SPOILER ALERT*** to those of you who may not have seen this episode yet. Keep reading if you do not mind spoilers. I will be jumping throughout this one.
I will start with some minor players in this episode, but play a huge part in the turn out. First of all we have a murdered girl, Andrea Fry (Laura Jeanes) who was a girlfriend of sorts with Gregory Harrow (Kristopher Turner). I guess her past came out, that she was an orphan (or so we thought), Gregory killed her and paid off Judge Sonnenfeld (Stewart Arnott) to keep his mouth shut. I will fill you in in the end as to how this is all tied together with Magnus.
Another person I shall write my thoughts on is this criminal mastermind Magnus (Peter Outerbridge). And no, I did not get my characters mixed up. This is not the same Magnus from Sanctuary, though it would be interesting to see that merge.
This guy was interesting. Not in a “oh cool!” but in one of those “what does he have up his sleeve” kinda way. He claimed to have information to give to Michelle to help save or find a kidnapped person (which we find out is a judge and you will see who and why later in the report). I mean, honesty, you have to wonder what he is up to.
I must say that Mr. Outerbridge plays a great psycho.
He puts me in mind of Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs, though not that extreme. But the one thing I can say they had in common was the fact that they both loved toying with the authorities. In this case, Magnus loved sending Michelle on wild goose chases.
I could ask the question what was the point to all the playing around? But then if he had told Michelle his plan, his objective would not have occurred. And what might that have been you may ask? Well what Toby finds out later when Magnus was back in prison into his cell, was that Andrea Fry was his daughter. When Toby called him on it, he could not deny that she was not.
This still baffled Michelle when she was talking to Detective Romero (Pablo Coffey) about this case. It was one that did not make sense to him. How a girl with no past, managed to get a full scholarship to University, get killed and no one came to claim her.
There were times that I was so confused as to what the devil was going on. And I believe once you watch this one, you might feel the same. However, it all comes clear when we find out that Magnus had someone on the outside helping him.
Trying to frame an inmate to the kidnapping of a judge was one that did not make sense, nor did it work when the team finds out that the reason for his lack of communication with his parole officer, was due to the fact that he left the country five days before all of this was supposed to have gone down.
When it all came clear that Andrea was Magnus’ daughter, and the fact that the judge was paid off by a spoiled rich kid who was dropped from his inheritance, well Magnus wanted pay back. And who can really blame him really. He was in prison anyway, and most likely for life, what’s murder to add to the other charges anyway.
Once Gregory was arrested for the murder of Andrea, he was “assigned” to be room mates with Magnus. Though, I pitied Greg, he had no idea how this had happened. And of course, who was Magnus’ little helper from the outside? It was none other then his guard, Officer Dewhurst (Maurice Dean Wint). You would not think that he would side with a criminal, but if you could get your hands on $50 million, would you not do so also?
Although, there was a few lighter moments in this episode. Places that made me chuckle. One of them was when Oz (Ennis Esmer) was talking to Sandy (Tara Spencer-Nairn) about her last relationship. Apparently she was the one who proposed to her then husband.
Of course Oz made a remark that she must have had “hundreds of men” until he received a look from Sandy which made him stop talking!
But as time went on, Oz was back in triage talking to a boyfriend of how he should have proposed to his girlfriend. This made Sandy listen in to the conversation, without being too obvious. After she heard just how sweet and romantic Oz can be, she went over to him and slipped him a small piece of paper and tucked it into his front pocket.
Although, I could not help but to laugh at the look on Oz’s face when he took out the paper and realized that she in fact left him her number. AND that she told him that she got “off at 9.”
The look on his face alone was enough to make me laugh. In some of the past episodes I have seen Oz attempting to impress Sandy, and always making it very awkward in the end. So hopefully this time, it works out.
In the end, could this be the starting of some sort of relationship? I would like to hope so. I think they can both use it right now, If nothng comes of it, I am hoping they will eb able to remain friends.
Sorry if this review seems to be confusing when reading, or all over the place. In my analysis I found this episode to be a bit difficult to write. I would recommend everyone who has access to this fabulous series to watch it when the episode when it airs on television in your region.
Be sure to check your local television listings for the date and time. To our friends in the United Kingdom, please do not forget you can now see The Listener in your neck of the globe. I would suggest following TheListener_FIC on Twitter or visiting their new website, The Listener – Fox International Channels, for the latest updates. You will not be disappointed.
I wish to also thank the great people at Shaftesbury Films. Their staff was able to get me some awesome rating news on the popularity of this series. Albeit it is only based on Canadian ratings, I am hoping with enough of the fans getting the word out there The Listener will soon be available for my American friends again.
Press Release: “Toronto, ON (March 25, 2011) – The hit CTV Original Series THE LISTENER is making a move to Fridays at 8 p.m. ET beginning April 1 on CTV (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times). Averaging 1.05 million viewers season-to-date, THE LISTENER has seen growth with younger viewers (+ 7% with A18-34) and an impressive 14% growth over its Season 1 average.” This was quoted from CTV Media
“Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik) is brought in to investigate corrupt cops but finds himself in over his head when one of them ends up dead from a suspected drug overdose.” Quoted from CTV.ca
Welcome back to another great episode. Again, sorry I am a tad late with this one, hope you still enjoy the read. Is it just me or does it seem like this show just keeps getting better and better? With the awesome performances from all involved, to the subjects that are great for debates, whichever the case, this show is enjoyable to watch each and every week.
***SPOILER ALERT*** Before I begin, if you haven’t seen this one for whatever reason and you don’t like spoilers, then STOP RIGHT NOW! If not, then by all means, enjoy.
We start off with Toby riding his motorcycle along the streets of Toronto. I am not sure what it is with a guy on a bike, or wearing leather, that gets my attention, but this guy can really pull it off. I really need to go back and visit the city again. I would love to visit the places that they have filmed some of their scenes.
It was not long when we see the reason for Toby’s late night excursion. Sgt. Michelle McCluskey (Lauren Lee Smith) had called Toby up to meet her for a troubling case. This is one episode that touches on a few things. Dirty cops, drug abuse, physical abuse, adultery, cover up’s. Of course Toby wasn’t that comfortable about the assignment. After all, cops and paramedics are like family, they look out for each other. But wanting to help Michelle, he took the case.
Anyway, Toby went to the bar (name was never mentioned), and taking Oz Bey (Ennis Esmer) with him, they soon met up with the two officers that Michelle is investigating. This is the kind of game that I love to do. Any chance I get, I go to a friends house and play pool. I find it a great way to relieve tension, hitting balls with a long pointy stick, LOL
Anyway, with Toby buying another round of beers (don’t ask, I don’t know the brand name, besides I’m a whiskey drinker), the two officers excuses themselves into the men’s room to talk privately. Now, you can figure what is coming next. Yep, Scott O’Niell (Steven McCarthy) comes rushing out, frantic because his partner Ross Miller (Richard Fagon) collapsed on the floor.
I think that’s enough of the play-by-play for now. Let us get on with my thoughts on this one.
Well for one, I think there’s corrupted cops everywhere, just that we never see it. And we hear about drugs being used in some way shape or form. I, however, never touched that crap. I may have tried a cigarette when I was in grade 7, I took one puff and nearly choked. So that was the end of that habit. Personally, I really don’t see the need for anyone to be “high” all the time. There are councilors out there that are willing to help, people just need to make that first step.
As for adultery, hmmm, well I can not say that it is a good choice to do, as long as you never get caught, all the power to ya. I have a husband, he is more then enough. Though, there are times, as many of you have read in my twitter rants, that I question that. But with all his faults, he does have his good parts.
Now this is an interesting part, and key as to how this episode will play out. Matt Collins (William MacDonald), Scott and Ross’s boss, shows up to have a little chat with Toby and Oz. This is not good. Apparently Collins came by to ‘inform’ them that what they ‘might’ have witnessed have been ‘wrong’. Now this is where the part of a “cover-up” comes into play. Besides the fact that drug use was probably the main reason for Ross’s death, and will be knowledge to all, Collins wanted to make sure that his ‘words’ were clear that Ross was a fine officer, and didn’t want his name being tarnished. Well, here’s a thought, instead of hiding the fact that Ross had a problem, they should have done something about it to get him the help he needed.
SCENERY BREAK!!!
Here is another awesome shot of my city. They show many different aspects of Toronto in this series. If for no other reason, just watch for the great place to visit. Maybe they will show Casa Loma at some point in the future. I have been there. It is an amazing castle that was brought over from England (I think, I could be mistaken) brick by brick and built again
Downtown shot I do believe. If someone reading this can you tell me if this is the 401?? When I was there (at age 14), I was mainly looking around at the scenery and not on the signs of the names of streets. Although, my uncle thought it prudent to show me where Young Street was. LOL, thanks. OK, scenic break over, LOL
So, with the ambulance “missing”, they run into a familiar face. And where there is one, there is the ring leader. Although, I have to admit, Scott is kinda cute too. 😉 But my first choice on this show would be Toby. Love those baby blues. 🙂
Though, this is a nice moment with Michelle and Toby. She confided, somewhat, that she cannot afford to be wrong on this one. This situation took her back to when her father was accused of something he did not do, so she was hellbent on solving this one.
Now you know there’s trouble when you see these two together. I do not understand why they just will not just inform Michelle and Toby of what they know, then they can get the bad guy together. Although, I figure I know why they won’t. To keep quite how they got their hands on the drugs and that much money in the first place. I think if Scott were to actually think for himself, that he would have asked for help.
Night time scene of the cool city. Hopefully next episode I will have more to show off.
Here is Corporal Dev Clark (Rainbow Sun Francks). Sadly he is not in this episode much. But we see him more in office scenes. I think he likes being a computer geek. LOL. After all, do we not find them more interesting?
When I first seen this young girl, Jan Miller (Jasmine Richards), I took pity on her. Her father had died from an apparent drug overdose. Unfortunately, that pity soon turned to OMG!!! It was her who tainted the drugs, resulting in her fathers death.
Though, with the physical abuse she witnessed her mom had to suffer from his hand, I can only guess she had enough. Especially when she thought “I’m not sorry for what I did.” Of course Toby “heard” her.
Then we have Emily Miller (Rachael Crawford), the mom. The one who was cheating Ross. The only thing I can say is,, “why him?” Of all men to have an affair with, I would have chose Scott. But Matt??? Could not have been for lack of options, but to each their own I guess. Of course Scott knew about the affair. But that’s not the reason for this confrontation, it is to do with the money that Ross had hidden in the house. Though, no one got the money, Michelle and Toby came and talked Scott out of doing more harm.
In the end, the truth was found out. Well, somewhat. But our favorite people will be back to solve yet another mystery.
Thank you for stopping by WormholeRiders News Agency and reading my thoughts. Hope you come back again. You can leave a comment here or you can reach me on twitter by clicking on my avatar.
Wow, this has been a while since I have written a review for Stargate Universe. Did you miss me?
I know that last review I wrote was way back when with the season one tenth episode “Space”. That was a great experience for me as I have never ever accomplished something of sharing my perspectives like that before.
Although I wrote my “Space” review as a play-by-play of what occurred, this one is more of my impressions of what I thought about and of “Twin Destinies”. Several sections of “Twin Destinies” (directed by Stargate legend Peter DeLuise) are pointed out either as to what caught my eye the most or what I found especially entertaining. So be prepared that I may jump all over the episode with this review. Let us get on with the reason why you are here, my analysis.
We start off with a meeting of all essential bodies discussing their options of fixing the Destiny. Unfortunately with no parts or any clue as to how to fix the ship, the only apparently viable option is what Eli Wallace (David Blue) suggests. That option is to dial the ninth chevron and go home to Earth while recharging Destiny in a sun!
Of course Dr Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) rejects that reasoning. Even if they did manage to dial the gate and go home, it could very well blow up the ship according to Rush. With no one really caring *mainly cause they would be on their way home*, Rush speaks up and suggests that some people may want to stay behind with him and continue on the mission and journey aboard Destiny.
Rush is one of these people that is hard to figure out. He started off as a very conniving individual who is hell bend on doing what has to be done as long as “his” mission is completed. Then later on you see that he does genuinely care for people until something or someone threatens his plans. Then as we have observed he goes right back to his old ways.
I had really thought that when he started “seeing” his wife Gloria Rush (Louise Lombard) and Dr. Jeremy Franklin (Mark Burgess) in the actual bridge, that he would lighten up a bit. And for a while he did. What was a surprise actually was Col. Everett Young (Louis Ferreira) siding with Rush in his decision to stay aboard Destiny. This actually shocked me more than surprized me. However that was a short lived change of heart in Rush as we soon discover. I wondered if we will see a real change of heart in “Twin Destinies”? Let’s find out!
Why on earth would anyone what to stay aboard the Destiny when you have a way home is beyond me. Maybe Rush has got something to prove to someone, or to himself. Which I think is most likely. It is like he can never ever be wrong. And when someone does point out something that he might have overlooked, he gets agitated and lashes out to whoever is in close proximity.
Of course every chance Col. David Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips) could get to undermine Col Young or especially Rush, he was going to do it. When they were all gathered in the gate room (the first time), Telford took the opportunity to have his say. Not sure if it would have worked or not, Young seems to have the backing of everyone on board. Well, almost everyone.
Eli I have found has grown a lot since the beginning, and especially since the death of Ginn (Julie McNiven). He’s gotten more outspoken, especially when up against Rush in certain matters. We seen that when he stood up to Young after Rush was left on the planet, “well you should have thought of that before you got rid of Rush!”.
Two of the best recent scenes occurred in “Twin Destinies” and both were hilarious. The first was the return of Dr. Bill Lee (Bill Dow) in an exchange of conscience mind with Eli via the Ancient Communications Stones when they talked about computer gaming. Leave it to the two great geeks of Stargate, Eli and Dr. Lee to discuss gaming during a crisis!
These next set of pictures are taken from various places in the episode. I think that the special effects are nothing but brilliant. For someone like me that does not have a clue how it is done, Mr. Mark Savela and his team really out-do themselves in every episode. I mean, I understand the concept of the green screen when the actors are in the gate room and such, but this with the computer generated special effects are beyond me. I will just sit back and enjoy. I am completely amazed with the brilliance of his teams VFX work.
OK, I do not know if you feel the same as I do or not, but does it creep you out that we have TWO Dr. Rush’s? When I watched “Twin Destinies” The geeky-ness factor (yes it is my new word for today) just went up a few levels! We have seen in the other two Stargate series (Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis) the usages of parallel universes and what happens when you have the same person in the one reality. Only goes to show how they make it different in each situation.
After the failed attempt to get the crew safely home and with two Rush’s on-board after the discovery of the second alternate reality Destiny, the only course of action was a salvage mission to obtain the spare parts required.
With two Rush’s that means double the deception! Rush ‘A’ is bad enough, but having Rush ‘B’ as well, that is a recipe for disaster. Although with Telford being his usual charming self *snicker*, he and Rush ‘B’ got into a little dispute. I do not think that Telford had much respect for Rush anyway, though it makes one wonder if there were any differences at all from Rush ‘B’s reality compared to Rush ‘A’s. I used the concept of Rush ‘A’ and ‘B’ from Teddy and Ajay when they were discussing the episode on InnerSPACE on SPACE channel.
Though we all know that you can’t push Rush too much, he will only push right back. And unfortunately for Telford, we see just that. But if you think about it, if we have two Rush’s, which Telford is this one? And for that matter, why didn’t Rush ‘B’ experience tropic cascade failure like Dr. Samantha Carter did in the episode “Point of View” from Stargate SG-1?
She was in the same time dimension as Major Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) in no time when she started having problems. You can’t have two of the same person in the same universe. Or can you?? I guess we are left to ponder that one. Or maybe they can answer that at the next convention they attend. If someone could ask that, can you please let me know the answer? 😉
After Rush ‘B’ shoved Telford, the mere look on Rush’s face made me think that maybe he felt guilty of killing Telford. At one point, it looked like Rush was going to grab for Telford and save him (if that was even possible) when he was reaching out for him. Then of course when Rush ‘B’ realizes he can not help Telford, he leaves and heads off.
Of course it does not help matters when Rush ‘A’ and Lt. Scott finds the dead Col Telford and hurries off leaving the young Lt behind. Again, same old Rush. It’s scary that even though they are from a different time, space and experience, they are still the same in all other aspects.
Now I can never end off this analysis without adding my thoughts about Varro (Mike Dopud). Albeit he has a small appearance Mr. Dopud is still lovely to see as I am sure all the ladies agree!
But no review of mine is not complete without having a nice butt shot of Varro from behind, LOL. I HAD to add in that picture for a certain someone who loves to look, LOL *wink*.
Now as soon as I observed this, I couldn’t help myself but tweet something a little typical of me. I will tone it down here, because I never know who is actually reading this. But can you say “Varro a tad bit roasted.”? LOL
At the end of the episode while the spare parts have been procured, the fate of the remainder of the crew is unknown. The twin Rush’s do the right thing with alternate Rush sacrificing his life to maintain control of alternate Destiny allowing Rush and Lt. Scott to barely escape.
As alternate reality Destiny is destroyed in the star and since only Telford actually made it to Earth, this leaves one to believe that the others were either killed or transported to another destination as a result of the unstable wormhole.
The crew compliment of Destiny is now at a bare bones level!
Support your local Stargate and make tune in live to find out what has happened and help boost the ratings. We thank you for your support. Stargate Universe returns with “Alliances” on March 21 in the United States and March 22, 2011 in Canada on the SPACE Channel. In the meantime we include the full episode courtesy of Syfy for your pleasure. Enjoy!
And again, thank you for popping by the WormholeRiders News Agency. Hope you come again. And I shall try to have the next one out sooner. You can leave a comment on here or you can message me, karenford1, on twitter by clicking on my avatar.
***SPOILER ALERT*** If you have not seen this episode, then stop right now. If you do not mind, then by all means, enjoy the read.
I am so sorry that I have not had this review out when I usually do, but with the circumstances, I just could not get my thoughts into the right frame of mind with the tragedy in Japan. I needed to focus on my friend who has family over there in the midst of all this. I’m happy to report that they are all safe. Now I can focus on the job at hand.
When Mr. Esmer portraying Osman ‘Oz’ Bey first put out the tweet of a link showing a short video of clips to all the episodes for this season, one stood out for me. That was one with the autistic young man. I tried asking to get a heads up as to when this episode would actual air, but it did not get answered. And low and behold, the episode I have the pleasure to write on right now is just that one. So let me apologize right now during this as I might divert off, as I am a mom of an autistic son. So a lot of my emotion may reflect in this review.
So let us get started. First of all, where this show is based in Toronto, I cannot help but to show off yet another beautiful shot of this amazing city.
I will continue on with the things that stuck out for me. With so many aspects as to what went on in this episode, trying to pinpoint one thing over the other was hard. There was so many different things going on.
First we have what appeared to be a slam-dunk case of a son confessing to his father’s murder, to a cover up, to what really happened. Then we have this young autistic boy, another son of the deceased, who Toby seems to want to try and help. I think I will touch on a bit of both of them.
When we meet up with Toby and Oz, they were called to a mansion that housed a Russian diplomat Fyodor Volkov (Kresimir Bosiljevac). That is when Toby first got a “reading” that there was something more to what Michelle McCluskey (Lauren Lee Smith) was being told.
Of course, poor Michelle was pulled away from a gallery opening to take over. The other Sgt. wasn’t that pleased, but if you want to solve cases, you need to have a secret component. Unfortunately, Michelle’s open-shut case has gotten complicated from what Toby has “seen”.
Back at IIB’s headquarters, Toby tells Michelle that if shecould just get some sort of response out of Dmitry, (Elias Toufexis) he would see if he could “see” what really happened. From what Toby could gather was that there was indeed someone else in the house at the time of the murder and that Dmitry was protecting someone else. Who will become apparent later.
Of course, this is where my attention started to focus towards a different route. When Toby and Michelle decided to go and visit the younger brother, Pavel (Jesse Bostick). He shares the same father, but a different mother from the other two. So excuse me if I divert off a bit.
I wished to goodness that I had a house big enough that I could have this set up for Brett. He loves train sets, though his is more of the wooden type. But I am sure that if we had the actual space, he would no doubt have this set up.
This was a brilliant scene. I can not really say how many autistic kids are really like this, but I know a few from the camp we attend every year. They are all in a different place on the scale. Some are like this character, some are more outgoing and verbal, and some are like Brett, know enough words to let you know what his needs and wants are. Some kids like this character can’t stand to be touched. They have a big problem with sensory, weather it is touch, sound, or sometimes even the taste of certain foods can make them flare up.
But thanks to his worker, for a lack of a better word, Katja (Vlada Verevko), she was able to get his mind off the incidence and focus back on his train again.
Toby was needed again to go see Pavel. To see if he could “see” how he thinks and perceives his place in this world.
With a gift in hand Katja lets him in.
This was a nice scene as well. This time when Toby dropped by, Pavel did not back away from his train set, but instead let Toby into his space. A lot of the time, autistic kids will make noises or tantrum to let you know that you’re invading their space and to go away. Least, that was the case with Brett, and it still is to some degree.
After adding in the two new characters into Pavel’s “world”, Toby was able to “see” a bit more into Pavel’s head. This is when Toby seen that Pavel knows a lot more then what everyone is giving him credit for. And sadly, that is still going on. These kids are very bright, if you just sat back and watched what they can do, they will amaze you. Trust me, I know from watching Brett, and seeing what he makes come to life as he creates things from just cardboard and tape.
Later when Toby was back at the station talking with Oz, he asked how Oz’s uncle managed to “break through” the wall? He was told, “find one common ground” and that should help to get the message in. That’s when Toby had an idea.
At the IIB headquarters, Michelle and Dev Clark (Rainbow Sun Francks) were going their own investigation to the murder. They found out that there were more then one person in the house, and that they (meaning Dmitry and Katja) were protecting someone. But what they didn’t know was that Pavel seen the person who really done it. This is where the “common ground” comes into play.
They bring Pavel in for questioning.
After much coaxing, Toby was able to get Pavel to look up at the person really responsible for what had happened. To Toby’s surprise, it was the oldest of the other two brothers, Yuri (Dmitry Chepovetsky)
With this new knowledge, Michelle questioned how she was to arrest Yuri when they only have Toby’s word as to what he seen when no one else knows his gift. Toby informed Michelle that the statue was wiped down twice. Once by Dmitry to protect Pavel, and once by Yuri, who actually killed their father. Toby told her that she find that cloth, she will be able to arrest Yuri.
With that, they did in fact find the cloth used to initially wipe off his prints, and plant it in Pavel’s hands. Michelle and Dev persuaded Yuri that it’s safer for him to stand trial here in Canada, then it would have been if he went back to Russia. So he stayed.
Toby visiting Pavel to bring back his things he borrowed from the train set at IIB
Pavel actually saying “Thank You” to Toby.
This is the best of all, the look on their faces that Pavel “connected” with someone outside of those he knows.
Toby feeling up with a bit of tears that he was able to help. This is the part that made me cry the most. Thank you for that by the way. 🙂
I wish to thank you all for taking the time to read this very hard review. And I do apologize for just concentrating on the autism aspect of it. With my background, it could not be helped since it is an important subject we should all be aware of. I do hope that you enjoyed this review nonetheless.
And again, thank you for popping by the WormholeRiders News Agency. Hope you come again. And I shall try to have the next one out sooner. You can leave a comment on here or you can message me, karenford1, on twitter by clicking on my avatar.
Welcome to all The Listener fans, the old and the new.
“As a new confidential informant for the IIB, Toby (Craig Olejnik) investigates an assassination threat against a Conservative leadership front-runner — a high-ranking military colonel who may have been involved in the mysterious disappearance of an army private under his command in Afghanistan.” As described by CTV.
***SPOILER ALERT*** Stop right now if you haven’t seen this episode. If you don’t mind them, then keep reading. If you don’t see the show at all for whatever reason, hope you enjoy my thoughts and analysis.
I have to say, this was the hardest episode I ever had to write my thoughts on. It touches on politics (which I have no time for), military cover ups (which has been going on for years), and revenge. So molding my thoughts over these past couple of days of how to write this was challenging. But here it goes.
I’ll try and break it down into it’s topics. First I’ll mention is the topic of politics. You have two men fighting over the leadership of the PC political party. One of them, Gorden Lagree (Kevin Jubinville) is always getting threatening letters, so security is watching him. The other one Colonel Spires (Matt Cooke) is an ex-Colonel in the military, who we will find out later, was apart of a cover-up. See this is the reason why I don’t vote. I figure what’s the point? They tell you empty promises just to get your vote, then when or if they win in the election, they conveniently forget. I haven’t met a politician who actually cared and fought for something that was in the people’s best interest except for our own ex-premier. He actually stood up for us Newfoundlanders when the ones before him only cared about themselves. Then again, that’s my own opinion.
Then we have a Military cover-up, (something that has been going on for ages), that has come back to haunt Colonel Spires and Corrinne Rommilly (Kristen Thomson), the Colonel’s top adviser. She made sure that everything goes according to plan for Spires’ protection. She was also with Spires in Afghanistan on a mission that went wrong, which led to the death of Private Scott Flynn (Ryan Turner). Which in turn leads to the revenge part of Scott’s brother, Jackson.
Revenge is something that we all have from time to time in our lives, but it serves no purpose. One can be so consumed by it that they no longer sees reason when others are only merely trying to help and point them down a more helpful path. Revenge and holding grudges only does one thing, drains energy. The difference with this is that Jackson Flynn (Dru Viergever) was on the phone with his brother, Scott, when Jackson overheard the shots being made and the conversation that took place and he wanted to make the person responsible for his brothers death to pay. I guess in a way I can’t blame him. I’d be on the defensive if anything happened to my sister.
But anyway, in the end, they do stop the Jackson from committing murder and Toby finds out that he’s officially secretly on the informants payroll. But this is not the end of my review. I’m also going to add in some of the funny moments that gave me a chuckle, just to help lighten the mood.
I found this scene funny and cute. As Toby (Craig Olejnik) was taking a polygraph test, the woman (Helen Johns) was thinking various things that unbeknown to her, he was able to “hear”. One minute she was thinking if he was single to the next comparing his body to Jake Gyllenhaal, something I wouldn’t mind knowing myself. LOL. All the while that was happening, Oz (Ennis Esmer) was in the weights room with Ryder (Arnold Pinnock)
There’s a lot of funny moments between these two guys. Oz loves to party and Ryder is all about exercise and taking care of yourself. Ryder offered to train Oz, but don’t see that happening. However what cracked me up was the line Ryder said to Oz, “you’re not 28 anymore.” To which Oz replied, “actually I am.” Every time they have a scene together, I have a good chuckle.
Then there’s the part after Toby was done with the polygraph and he met up with Dev (Rainbow Sun Francks) that warranted me to laugh some more. Here’s part of their dialogue from that scene:
Dev: “Actually I wanted to talk with you about that.”
Toby: “Really? Did I fail?”
Dev: “Yes.”
Toby: “You’re kidding me. You’re pulling my leg.”
Then Toby reads Dev’s mind and “hears”: ‘Damn shame. I was really looking forward to working with the guy.’
Toby continues: “Yeah I know I was nervous.”
With that Dev says: “Yeah or gullible.”
I couldn’t help but laugh when Dev says, “Oh C’mon. How many times in my life am i gonna pull a prank on telepathy?” With Toby ending it with, “Hopefully that will be the last.” But I have a feeling that there will be another time where Dev will try and get Toby again.
Another funny scene was when Sandy (Tara Spencer-Nairn) and Ryder was having a conversation about golf. I just love her little smirk when he describes his new putter. “All titanium putter with the copper inserts…” Until she asked where he’s going to play, her comment back was referring to the 11th hole, “it has a wicked back to front slope.” The look on Ryders face was too funny. I guess he thought by talking macho it would impress her. But the joke was on him when he found out that she’s played golf there before, and more than once. LOL
This is the reason why I love this series. Not only does it touch on some important every day issues, but they always find the time to add in a little humor. Something that we need more of in what’s been going on lately. This show demonstrates such approach with the creative writing and the brilliant acting.
Again, I’ll end off this in another positive and typical way to end any day. With friends getting together for another lovely way to end the episode. Sandy, Oz and Toby, with a bottle of wine (or beer as Toby would rather), and some snacks that Sandy had brought with her.
Thank you for popping by the WormholeRiders News Agency again and reading my thoughts on this episode. I hope that everyone will see this amazing series.
Thanks to Kenn for video embedding and many thanks to you for dropping by WormholeRiders News Agency for Mr. McCaig’s interview. 
Until next time. 
