“Oh! He was a fantastic director,” Brian J. Smith told Den of Geek about his experience with co-star Robert Carlyle’s helming the episode from both in front of and behind the camera. “He’s an actor, so he gets it. He understands what you’re going through as an actor and the fears you may have about the scene or yourself. He creates an atmosphere where you feel safe and you feel loved, and that you can’t really do anything wrong, which is the best kind of way to work because you’re not censoring yourself.
“He was great, he would come up to us and give us notes that were so smart and so human and so actable. The episode he had to work on, was a beautiful episode and a very intimate episode but also one that’s setting up a lot of stuff that’s going to be a major problem down the road. So, it was a big responsibility for him, but it was kind of funny to watch him having to wear two hats. He’ll be standing there in costume trying to hit his mark and act the scene out and then have to yell cut [laughs] and go talk to the DP and figure out what shot to do next and stuff like that. It was a trip, but he was fantastic. He really hit it out of the park and did a great job.”
This episode touches on a mystery that we’ve been watching since the beginning of the season when Chloe somehow miraculously healed from the gunshot wound to her leg. Finally, after it appears that some of the dust has settled from the Lucian Alliance incursion and from the encounters with one of the Ancients’ seeder ships and an alien team already aboard it—plus the loss of Colonel David Telford—we’ll see what has made Chloe superhuman. Based on the name of the episode, is sounds like she’s been infected with an alien pathogen, but from where? Stargate Atlantis fans may recall that Dr. Jennifer Keller was exposed to a Wraith pathogen that began to use her as the seed toward creating a living hive ship, so whatever’s in store for Chloe, her exposure could be just as tragic and deadly.
David Blue further added to the mystery of this episode when he told IGN, “It was probably the most emotional thing I’ve ever done.”
“It was fantastic working with David on that episode,” actor/director Carlyle added. He then revealed that this was the first time he’s directed a television episode, his experience having previously been limited to theater productions.
“Yep, Robert Carlyle is directing the first episode on the production schedule – which actually happens to be episode 4 in the airing schedule, Pathogen,” executive producer Joseph Mallozzi informed his weblog readers. “No need to be gentle with Bobby. He’s incredibly well-prepared, knows the shots he wants and, more importantly, knows how to get them. He’s also got a fantastic cast and crew backing him up. And the dailies look great!”
See for yourself tonight, and then afterwards, make sure to rejoin us here for our episode poll on the front page.
Link and Spoiler Collection
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From Sky Programme Information: Anticipation is high for this second season standout directed by the space drama’s leading man, Robert Carlyle.
Stepping behind the camera, Carlyle cuts his teeth with an episode revolving around Chloe’s increasingly erratic behaviour. While searching her quarters, a worried Scott makes a shocking discovery: a journal with alien script. Scott shows it to Young and Rush, and the latter is particularly intrigued. Recognising the complexity of the journal’s contents, he asks Chloe to look at some mathematical problems he’s been working on, with surprising results. Meanwhile, Eli is called back to Earth to deal with his mother’s worsening medical condition.[/spoiler]
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