Heading to Comic Con in a little less than a week to do a signing for my comic book, Dark Matter, and I thought it would be nice to offer those who swing by a shot at winning some cool giveaways. In addition to copies of Dark Matter‘s first issue, I’ll also be offering up a shot at winning some Stargate-related merchandise like the signed script I featured in yesterday’s entry or this SG-1 100th Episode commemorative photo frame and keychain. Awesome, no? If you’ve got tickets for Comic Con (apparently they’re already sold out :() come on by for a chance to win:
Saturday, July 14th between 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Dark Horse Booth (#2615).
Hey, JYS – what restaurants have you got lined up?
A big thanks to Blake Linton, Kelley Hirst, Chad Hansen, Joseph Sardone, Martin James Keating, TheDudeDean and all the fans who helped Stargate: Universe clean up at the Constellation Awards the other day. The show took home awards in the categories of Best Series, Best Actress (Ming-Na), Best Script (Twin Destinites), Best Technical Achievement (Joel Goldsmith), and Best Canadian Contribution to SF.
Congratulations also go out to my buddy James Coleridge who took home the prize for Best Gelato at the Florence Gelato Festival in (where else?) Italy. I’m not surprised. Ever since arriving in Vancouver, Akemi has always drawn comparisons between the food here and the food back in Tokyo. It was always: “This isn’t very good. It’s better in Tokyo.” or “This is good, but it’s better in Tokyo.” or “This is great! But it’s still better in Tokyo.”. Until we went to Bella Gelateria (where James plies his tasty trade). After sampling the ice cream there, it was the first and only time I’d heard her say: “This is better than Tokyo!” Welcome to Bella Gelateria – Home of Old-World Handcrafted Gelato
Cool time-lapse video courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center:
Head on over and check out the cool space pics as well: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/03/this-is-our-planet-iss-video-tomislav-safundzic_n_1646944.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
Three more episodes left to discuss in our stroll down Stargate: Atlantis memory lane…
MICHAEL (218)
In its earliest inception (under the working title Charly, a tip of the hat to Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon), the story tracked the capture of the wraith, his transformation, and the subsequent attempt to keep him in the dark which, of course, ends in a spectacular failure. It was interesting but lacked something. And, it was while we were in Carl’s office, discussing the fact that it needed some sort of twist, that I suggested we tell the story from Michael’s P.O.V. Rather than let the viewers in on it from the get-go, make them an audience to the mystery. This would allow them to connect with Michael and sympathize with him – and be thoroughly blindsided when we pulled the rug out from underneath them with the big reveal. It was a small change in approach but it made quite a difference in execution.
Writer/Producer Carl Binder came through BIG TIME, delivering a gripping, emotionally resonant story that is at turns suspenseful, thought-provoking, and surprisingly controversial. I love the little hints he sprinkles throughout the beginning of the episode – the fact that everyone is wary with the exception of Ronon who is downright hostile, Michael’s identification of the wealth technology, his nightmare, Teyla’s anxious look when he pins her during their sparring sessions and slams his hand down on her chest. Brilliant. And equally brilliant is the shocking “DAY 12” – “DAY 10” – “DAY 1” session reveal. As far as arc-driven episodes go, this one is seminal, developing the retrovirus and introducing one of the most complex villains in Stargate history.
Another standout guest star in Connor Trinneer whose portrayal of the confused and vulnerable Michael Kenmore elicits great sympathy, even in the darkest moments.
Rachel is equally terrific in this episode as Teyla demonstrates genuine compassion for a former enemy – something she will come to regret in later episodes.
Anybody catch McKay’s complaint about the lack of blue jello in the mess, an obvious callback to the blue jello references of SG-1?
One of the episode’s unintentionally amusing moments takes place in the infirmary where Michael spots the “Kenmore” calendar. Perhaps even more startling than the coincidence of the shared name is the fact that Carson has marked one of the calendar days as “Dinner with Cadman”. Word of advice to Carson: If you want to impress the girl you’re dating, start calling her by her first name.
This episode opens up the floor to some interesting moral and ethical debates. An exchange late in the episode nicely encapsulates the dilemma:
HEIGHTMEYER: We can’t kill him, Ronon. We’re the ones who put him in this position.
SHEPPARD: Hold on a minute, Doc. If we hadn’t given him the retrovirus, he’d still be a Wraith. We wouldn’t think twice about killing him.
TEYLA: But we did give him the retrovirus. We made him human. Now we have the responsibility to treat him as we would any other …
DEX (interrupting): He’s not human. He’s a Wraith.
In retrospect, the Michael experiment delivers mixed results. On the one hand, it is a failure in that it costs an expedition member his life and creates a powerful new enemy with dangerous knowledge of Atlantis’s existence. On the other hand, the transformation does work – albeit briefly – and offers hope of a powerful new weapon against the wraith. And there’s something to be said for Sheppard’s “If we hadn’t given him the retrovirus, he’d still be a Wraith. We wouldn’t think twice about killing him.” argument since, despite the criticism directed at the retrovirus, it IS a far more humane alternative to simply killing the enemy.
What do you think?
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