What a difference an idea makes. I’d been spinning my wheels on my latest story, trying to find that elusive through-line that would tie all its narrative elements together – and then, yesterday, I found it. Or, more appropriately, it was presented to me by fellow Exec. Producer Brad Wright. And, just like that, the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place. Well, more or less. I’m still missing some corner pieces and portions of the sky on the upper left, but I’m in much better shape. Today, I put together a preliminary beat sheet which I’ve started to flesh out. I aim to have a reading document ready for early next week. Have to say, I am very excited about this episode – probably more excited than I’ve been for an episode since Atlantis season 5’s Remnants.
Well, damn. I’ve fallen to third place in our office World Cup Pool. Carl “Mr. Soccer” Binder is in the lead, but I’m only two points back. Tomorrow, I really need Denmark and the Netherlands to step up. And for Ghana and Australia to prove equally inadequate.
Okay, looks like the guest bloggers are coming up fast and furious. I’ve collected your questions for Jennifer Spence and will be sending them her way this weekend. Next up…
The lovely Louis Ferreira, SGU’s Colonel Everett Young, is looking forward to hearing from you. If you’ve got questions and comments for Destiny’s commander, start posting!
Mailbag:
Heather writes: “In my favorite episode “Faith” TJ goes to a river where there is a waterfall. Can you tell me the name of that waterfall?”
Answer: I don’t know whether the waterfall has an actual name, but I do know that it’s located in Widgeon Park, where the episode was shot. According to Carl, who produced the episode, the waterfall required a bit of a trek to get to – and Alaina, pregnant at the time, was a trooper throughout, making the hike there and back without a peep of protest. Also according to Carl, there are plenty of park rangers in the area who could probably point you in the right direction. Or recover your body if you wander off the trail and happen to encounter one of the many bears that frequent the area.
Brian writes: ““Given the events of the Stargate: Extinction – unlikely.” Does this mean something bad happens to Atlantis?”
Answer: Not necessarily.
Ian Z. writes: ”
In Continuum I think. Carter says (off the cuff) something about a Moon base. Was this ad-lib? Or did you guys really mean to portray that there is a moon base and/or it is wanted to come up at some point down the road?”
Answer: It was scripted. And, yeah, it may come in the (hopefully) not too distant future.
crayonbaby writes: “Peter DeLuise is back?! Directing possibly?”
Answer: Directing definitely. Episode #11: Deliverance.
Tammy Dixon writes: “Mr. M., how will they get the stem cell donor for Jelly?”
Answer: The lab will use Jelly’s own stem cells for the procedure.
Philbert writes: “1 – So, um, potentially, will there be any standout moments for Becker? I’d like to see him appear a bit more.
2 – In Incursion 1 when the gate shut off someone was standing in one of the gate vents. He screamed, so can it be assumed he was burnt by the blast when the gate shut off?
3- In Incursion 2 we saw TJ walk up a set of stairs and through the gate. We’ve always seen shots of all the characters from the “console side” of the gate room by and going through those main doors. Whats back there?
4 – Will it be explained, or will Eli determine, about why the Destiny gates (both planetary and Destiny) is using Ancient symbols rather than constellations as in Pegasus/Milky Way??
5 – Both Destiny boarding parties (from the Milky Way) seem to be thrown out of the Destiny gate quite literally, and it seems that radio communication isn’t two-way. In Air 1, Scott was telling them to slow down and they continued piling through and in Incursion 1 Kiva asked for confirmation of safe arrival at Destiny and nothing happened. Is there a reason for this? Will we find out?
6 – This is a very silly question, but all stargates shown have 9 chevrons. Could Atlantis dial there? Does the Destiny stargate have nine too? Could Destiny in theory dial the ninth chevron from the ship?”
Answers: 1. Depends what you mean “by stand-out”.
2. Yes. He was steamed like a giant siu long bao dumpling.
3. The shuttle.
4-6: Stay tuned.
Scifan writes: “I just read that you guys are doing a SGU MOVIE!!”
Answer: Says who? I was simply referring to a potential – albeit unlikely worst-case – scenario.
RebeccaH writes: “I assume from your remarks about the movies that we can consider the Atlantis movie pretty much dead?”
Answer: Nope. Nothing has changed with regard to the SGA movie. It’s still in a holding pattern. As is the SG-1 movie. The only news is that there have been continued rumblings on the SG-1 front.
Ahem writes: “It’s nice to know that Brad Wright is “tireless” in his efforts to get another SG1 movie into production. However, you made no mention of his efforts on behalf of even one SGA movie. Should I surmise that he has made none?”
Answer: Brad isn’t producing the Atlantis movie. He’s co-writing and exec. producing the SG-1 movie and, in his capacity as said movie’s Executive Producer, has lobbied hard to keep the project front and center and very much alive through this extended holding pattern.
Jeff writes: “I really hope you guys are bringing RDA back for a couple of guest spots in season 2……….his remarks are hilarious and its always a pleasure to see him in the episodes……”
Answer: Well…who knows? Rick’s always a blast to work with. Oh, and a public retraction is in order. Apparently, that “I know what makes me special” line from Subversion wasn’t an ad-lib. It was actually scripted by Robert Cooper. I simply assumed it was an ad-lib because it was so – well – incongruous. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one to think so. But Rob wasn’t worried. “It’s a Rick line,”he assured everyone. “He’ll nail it.” And he did!
BMc writes: “Our best chance may have been when SGA was summarily cancelled, its sets were up and the cast planning on returning for season 6, but all resources were immediately diverted to the new baby, SGU.”
Answer: Incorrect. We’ve run simultaneous productions before (ie. SG-1 and Atlantis, producing 40 episodes of television a year) and would have been fully capable of shooting a movie had we been given the go-ahead.
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