Category: SG-1

9.19 CRUSADE PART 1

Summary

Using the Ancient communication device and its stones, Vala takes over Daniel’s body at the SGC and recounts the story of what has happened to her since she was transported to the galaxy of the Ori. She is married and mysteriously pregnant, and she warns the SGC that the Ori are gathering ships and armies for a massive crusade to rid the Milky Way galaxy of its evil unbelievers.

Details

After arriving in the Ori’s galaxy, Vala was taken in by a kindly, crippled villager, Tomin. Tomin believes in the Ori but, as a result of his disability, is a second-class citizen in his own religion. He marries Vala, and Vala becomes mysteriously pregnant. Since they have not had relations, Vala suspects that the Ori had something to do with her pregnancy.

One day, Tomin arrives home no longer limping, claiming a Prior cured him and that he can now be a soldier in the crusade against Earth. After his cure he is a more fanatic follower of Origin than ever.

Vala is befriended by a barmaid, Denya, who appears to be a follower of the Ori but is in fact working to subvert them. The unseemly barkeep, Seevis, appears to be a true believer but is secretly a leader of an underground movement. Their goal is to sabotage the Ori plans to launch their ships and troops to fight in the name of the Ori. Under cover of being suspicious of Vala, he tortures her by thirst to see if she might admit to her true beliefs. Finally Tomin releases her, and she meets with Denya and Seevis and learns their true intentions — to blow up ten Ori ships that will soon be in orbit with tens of thousands of would-be soldiers aboard.

Vala believes the plan may work, and at this point, working with Seevis and Denya, she finds the Ancient communication terminal and uses it to contact the SGC, through Daniel’s body.

Guest Characters

Ori galaxy: Vala Mal Doran, Tomin, Seevis, Denya
SGC: Col. Chekov

Production
Written and Directed by Robert C. Cooper
Before Cameras: September 19-27

Spoilers are subject to change as the episode is still in production.

“Crusade Part 1” Episode Guide

9.18 ARTHUR’S MANTLE

Summary

Mitchell and Carter are sent into another dimension after activating a personal cloaking device. While Daniel leads an investigation to find his missing teammates, Mitchell and Carter decide to use the technology to their advantage by pursuing a similarly cloaked assassin on the Sodan homeworld. It just so happens that Teal’c is trapped on the same planet after the assassin’s attack and has also decided to pursue the assassin with his own personal cloak.

Details

Mitchell and Carter disappear! The security cameras at the base recorded their last location, then, suddenly, they were gone.

Teal’c and Major Hadden’s team, SG-9, have gone to the Sodan homeworld and encountered a massacre at the Stargate. They transport to the Sodan’s hideaway using the codes given to Col. Mitchell after he gained their trust (“Babylon”). When they arrive, they are shocked and stunned to find that someone has burnt the village to the ground and killed several Jaffa there. Someone who knew the codes to the transporter had to have done this.

Teal’c examines some of the dead Jaffa and realizes that whoever did the deed knew the best way to kill a Jaffa — targeting the symbiote. They discover Haikon still alive, but his symbiote is dead. Quickly, they decide to administer tretonin to save his life.

Back at the SGC, Mitchell and Carter realize that they are phased out similar to the way that Daniel was several years ago after the process of looking into the Crystal Skull was interrupted (“Crystal Skull”). While Mitchell tries to get over the shock of what has happened to him, Daniel leads the investigation to find them.

Maj. Hadden and Teal’c realize that they have become stranded on Sodan because the obelisk housing the transporter has been damaged. Unable to get back to the Stargate, Hadden becomes uneasy and grows fatalistic. They’ve discovered that it was Volnek (“Babylon”) who attacked the village. Teal’c decides to use one of the Sodan personal cloaking devices to track down Volnek, who is also using one. They will be able to see each other when their cloaks are activated.

Mitchell and Carter watch as Daniel makes progress in his investigation and soon they learn about what Volnek has done. Convinced that they are invincible, Mitchell decides to go after Volnek while still invisible…

Guest Characters

SGC: Major Hadden of SG-9; SG-9 members Lt. McKenzie, Conway, Stevens; Dr. Bill Lee.
Sodan: Volnek, Haikon.

Production

Written by: Alan McCullough
Directed by: Peter DeLuise
Before Cameras: September 15-23

Spoilers are subject to change as the episode is still in production.

“Arthur’s Mantle” Episode Guide

“That Character” Returns

Executive Producer Joseph Mallozzi has been teasing fans on his Q&A thread and blog at GateWorld that Robert C. Cooper’s “Crusade” will see the return of “THAT CHARACTER”. Speculation ran high that this character was Vala Mal Doran. Those attending the convention in Chicago this past weekend said that Michael Shanks said that Vala would return in the nineteenth episode. Now, Matt Roush, TV critic at TV Guide, has done the rest of the investigation for us and, based on all of this information, we may expect that Vala will appear in the two-part cliffhanger, “Crusade” and “Camelot”:

Question: I love your column! Is the character of Vala on Stargate SG-1 now a permanent cast member? I think she is a great addition to the cast, and I hope she isn’t gone forever (after last week’s episode). I think she adds more fun to SG-1 and would love to see her again. — Niki

Matt Roush: As I asked around about this, I dug up a little scoop that Claudia Black, who plays Vala, will return for two episodes in the back half of SG-1’s season, to air in the winter. I agree that she’s a blast, even if some of the show’s longtime fans seem disgruntled that other characters were marginalized during the Vala-Daniel Jackson arc, including new cast member Ben Browder. (For all those Farscape fans who’ve been writing in to grouse that Browder has been underutilized, I’ve been assured that he’ll be more prominent in upcoming episodes.) As for Vala’s becoming a permanent fixture, that would have to wait for next season, if then, and there’s not even a deal in place yet for a 10th season (although I have no reason to doubt there will be one).

Filming for Season Nine will end October 17. Producers are hoping that they’ll be announcing a record-breaking tenth season soon since they’ll be leaving their audience with a cliffhanger at the end of this season.

Ask Matt at TV Guide
Solutions Season Nine Episode Guides
[Thanks to Eliza Cat for the tip — DeeKayP]

9.17 THE SCOURGE

Summary

During what was thought to be a routine mission to escort international diplomats to the Gamma Site, SG-1 and their party come up against something totally unexpected and deadly.

Details

International representatives of the I.O.A. (International Oversight) are going on a little field trip with SG-1 to the Gamma Site. They include representatives from Britain (Russel Chapman), France (Jean LaPierre), and China (Shen Xiaoyi). The group is excited at seeing the Stargate for the first time and at the prospect of going through it.

Richard Woolsey begins his introductions of the members of SG-1 and the Chinese ambassador interrupts him, knowing fully well the person of Dr. Daniel Jackson. She recites his background: “PhD in Archaeology, Anthropology, and Philology. The man who solved the riddle of the Stargate.” Daniel, in turn, recognizes her and recites her background: “Graduate of Beijing Foreign Studies University, and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Former attache to the Chinese Mission in the United States.” They then exchange words in her native tongue, but Mitchell feels like he’s the topic of their conversation and laughs uncomfortably.

The party goes through the Stargate, with Woolsey quite uncomfortable about the prospect of being molecularly deconstructed.

Once at the Gamma Site, the members of the party are introduced to the various personnel and their projects. There are forty scientists working on more than thirty ongoing projects at any given time. The Site has a complement of F-302s as well.

They have an R&D Department which is coordinated with Area 51 and keep in touch on a daily basis. Dr. Myers, entomologist, is studying an asexual, fast-producing insect responsible for the devastation of numerous off-world crops. Dr. Myers has made the study of these bugs top priority because they have only appeared on planets visited by the Priors of the Ori. But, they have a very short life cycle of only three days and they are sensitive to light.

Mitchell and Daniel have a difference in opinion concerning the promises made three years to the Chinese government. Mitchell doesn’t think that the Chinese government should be given access to military intelligence, while Daniel reminds him that the original agreement (Gate Alliance Treaty) didn’t stipulate any form of restrictions.

While everyone stops to have lunch, some in the cafeteria, others in their labs, Dr. Myers discovers that the bugs have an appetite for meatloaf and all of a sudden, they grow and multiply so rapidly that they burst out of their containment box. Myers and Pullman close them off, but one of the bugs actually bites Myers. The bugs are now carnivorous!

They attempt to take Myers through the Stargate to the SGC because they don’t have the proper medical facilities, but he dies in the transport pod. Unfortunately, his death throws cause the medics to lose their grip on the pod and it falls and opens. Myers has a host of bugs inside his body and they get loose! The Gamma Site is under lockdown — no one is permitted to leave!

The Gamma Site goes into chaos. Power failures ensue as Colonel Mason tries to defend his base against these deadly bugs — most assuredly sent by the Priors as a follow-up to the virus. They lose the gateroom and Mitchell volunteers his team to help them retake it, but Woolsey wants SG-1 to stay with the delegation because they were assigned to ensure the safety of the group. They evacuate to the planet’s surface, headed toward the research station. But, to their shock, the bugs have escaped the Site and are on their way. As they flee, they find safety in a cave.

Mitchell and Teal’c decide that they must go after the F-302s in order to make their escape after they lose contact with the base.

Shen and Daniel discuss the Stargate Program and the U.S. military. Shen wants to know where he stands in his loyalties concerning the U.S. military. She asks if it had been her country instead of the U.S. military that offered him the chance to travel to the stars, and he answers, “As long as the priority was off-world exploration that could help this planet, I’d have gladly accepted the offer.”

But, in the meantime, one-by-one, the people in SG-1’s party start to go missing…

Guest Characters

Richard Woolsey, Russel Chapman, Jean LaPierre, Shen Xiaoyi, Colonel Mason (base commander, Gamma Site), Dr. Myers (entomologist), Dr. Pullman (Dr. Myers’ assistant), Dr. Sharma (lead botanist), Airman Walkers

Solutions Season Nine Episode Guides
Index to Discussion Threads on our Solutions Forum

9.16 OFF THE GRID

Summary

SG-1 investigates a planet whose main crop is the highly addictive kassa, but their biggest problem is that they’re held prisoner on the planet with no way to escape because the Stargate appears to have been stolen.

Details

The team gates to P6G-452 and Mitchell goes “undercover” to get information about the lucrative distribution of the addictive crop kassa, led by Lucian Alliance mercenary, Orrel. Mitchell claims to represent a coalition of seven planets with 30 million kassa addicts. Orrel doesn’t “buy” his story and captures Daniel, Teal’c, and Carter who had been watching Mitchell with their binoculars for any sign of trouble. Eventually, their true identities are discovered.

While they’re captured, someone steals the Stargate. Orrel thinks that SG-1 was sent as a distraction. Mitchell gets struck across the face for his sassiness and Orrel thinks that Daniel needs to be taught that not everything always goes according to plan in his world.

However, SG-1 is not stranded. In comes the Odyssey to the rescue, the newest Daedalus-class ship commanded by Col. Casey Emerson. It takes approximately two days for the ship to reach SG-1 in order to extract them.

But, during those two days, poor SG-1 is beaten, exhausted, and starving. Daniel’s attempt to reason with Orrel and his men that they weren’t the ones who stole the Stargate only gets him smacked across the face. Just when Orrel has two of his men ready to kill them, they are beamed away!

They are sent to the ship’s infirmary. After getting cleaned up, they attend a meeting with Col. Emerson and Lt. Kendrick, where they find out that it is Ba’al who has been stealing the Stargates from this sector of space for the last several weeks. They find out that Nerus (from “Beachhead”) gave Gen. Landry the information about Ba’al from a holding cell at Area 51. After their “negotiations”, Nerus leaves through the Stargate with a case or two full of cupcakes.

Orrel is brought before the leader of the Lucian Alliance, Netan, who is not happy with Orrel that he let SG-1 escape, but Orrel effectively defends himself when he tells Netan that SG-1 was beamed out just like the Stargate had been. Netan is enraged because they used the Stargate to distribute the crop to their customers and now two-thirds of the crop will go bad. Still believing that SG-1 stole the Stargate, Netan declares war on Earth!

SPOILER WARNING – THE ENDING (Highlight if you want to know):
The Lucian Alliance finds the Odyssey right after the Odyssey finds Ba’al’s mothership. The Odyssey is now trapped between the two motherships. The problem is, SG-1 is on Ba’al’s mothership after having found the storage area where Ba’al is keeping all of his stolen Stargates. They are tagging the Stargates to be retrieved. However, the Lucian Alliance ship targets Ba’al’s ship which has no shields. Just as soon as SG-1 tags the last Stargate (with locator beacons), Ba’al gets his shields operational and they are trapped by Ba’al’s forces who have discovered them there. The Odyssey joins in and attacks the Lucian Alliance ship with rail guns. Finally, Ba’al’s ship loses its shields from the Lucian Alliance attack and the Odyssey beams the tagged Stargates onboard, but SG-1 isn’t among them. They appeared to have escaped through one of the Stargates. Then, Ba’al’s ship explodes!

When the Lucian Alliance ship targets the Odyssey, Emerson orders their retreat into hyperspace.

SG-1 comes home through the Stargate and tells Landry that he should contact the Odyssey to let them know that they are okay. END OF SPOILERS.

Guests: Orrel, Col. Casey Emerson, Lt. Kendrick (female officer), Nerus, Netan, Col. Webb (SG team leader), Ba’al, Vi’tak (in Ba’al’s service on his mothership)

Credits

Written by: Alan McCullough
Directed by: Martin Wood
Goes before cameras: August 23-30

Solutions Season Nine Episode Guides

It’s not just Daniel Jackson’s doing…

Excerpts from Steve Eramo’s interviews with Stargate SG-1‘s creative team in TV Zone Special #64

“In re-tooling the show we wanted to stay true to many of the ideas that we’d already established,” notes [Executive Producer Robert C.] Cooper. “This included the theme of false gods and what it is to be a god and whether or not you believe in that. We wanted to continue to explore that concept and I think our new villains, the Ori, actually provide greater opportunity for us to do that. With the Goa’uld there really was no question. They were bad guys with snakes in their heads and who used technology to enslave people. With the Ori, it’s not quite so clear to everyone as to whether or not they’re worthy of our devotion.

“So these episodes introduce that idea along with the Ori. Up to now, the Ancients have been protecting Earth; basically keeping it from the Ori’s view, so they didn’t know about us. However, when Daniel and Vala visit the Ori galaxy and start to poke around, all of a sudden the Ori know we’re here. They send their representatives or missionaries, called the Priors, to try to convert our galaxy to their religion. These missionaries have tremendous power at their disposal and a fervent belief in their mission. They’re offering people what is essentially a real religion with this wonderful pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There’s a catch, though,” smiles Cooper. “So this is pretty much what we’re up against this season on SG-1.”

As with the Goa’uld and other aliens on SG-1, the show’s art department played a big role in designing the look for the Ori and Priors. “The Priors are the Ori’s front line 'troops' if you will and we had to develop them from scratch,” says art director James Robbins. “We were given a description of who they were, what that they’d carry a staff of power. We first looked at Japanese and Samurai from a costuming point of view more than anything, but at the end of the day that look got watered down. Then we got into more mystical aspects and I came up with the idea of using scarification. Looking at some of the remote jungle tribes there’s face painting, scarification and burns, and I’ve always found that stuff kind of mystical.

“So I began experimenting with treatments for scarification and carried that through to the final look of the Priors and also the Doci, who are the overseers of all the lower level Ori, who are the Priors. The Priors have the chin and cheek scarification, whereas the Doci also have them on their foreheads. That’s all relegated, though. The higher up you are in their 'establishment' the more scarifications you receive, including on the backs of your hands. We even started out with the Priors having finger extensions, but that became too much of a physical anomaly to deal with. For example, when they tried closing their hands around their staffs it just didn’t look right, so after one episode we jettisoned the whole idea of doing that.

“Each of the Priors has his own symbol that’s part of his wardrobe and is also set into the handle of each staff. With the staffs, we thought it would be fun to have these little glowing orbs encased in natural wood. So the model shop built a number of staffs, each with its own Prior symbol as well as other markings etched into their sides. The staffs are actuated to glow by pressing a little button, either on the side or on the end, which is pretty cool.”

Stargate SG-1 Solutions Season Nine Episode Guides
Visimag.com: TV Zone Special #64

Producers talk about Season Nine and how it will end

With all the excitement going on right now concerning Stargate SG-1‘s placement in the ratings, it comes as no surprise that talk has started concerning whether or not the show will be renewed for a record-breaking tenth season.

SG-1‘s first two episodes, “Avalon Part 1” and “Avalon Part 2”, both rated at 2.1. Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi stated recently in his GateWorld Blog that they are pleased with the show’s standings. Mallozzi has consistently insisted that it will be the fans who will determine if the show is renewed, based on the ratings. “There is no way of knowing whether we’ll be doing another season until the ratings are in. The audience has the final say on that one.”

When asked how high the ratings need to be in order to get renewed, Mallozzi said, “That really depends. When we moved to SciFi Channel, we were hoping for 1.5 – 1.7 average and ended up with slightly higher. After the SciFi Channel expanded its viewer base, we expected those numbers to drop slightly but, instead, they inched higher. Last year, we were hitting 2.0’s, 2.1’s, 2.2’s consistently. If that keeps up, I would think chances are good – but who knows. There are other variables that go into making that sort of decision – chiefest of which is the economic viability of continuing to produce the show. In the end, if it becomes a money-losing proposition, then the plug will be pulled. However, if DVD sales are any indication, the show seems to be doing alright in that respect.”

It may or may not be too early to tell if the show will be renewed based on two weeks’ worth of ratings, but executive producer and show-runner Robert C. Cooper has emphatically stated that they are finished with writing “The End” as if thinking that the current season will be the last season, something that they’ve been doing since Season Five.

Currently, they are producing and prepping episodes which will air in the second half of the season. Through Mallozzi’s Q&A thread and Blog at GateWorld, fans have been kept informed at where things stand as far as episodes go. Currently, we’re aware of 18 of the 20 episodes to air this season. That leaves two episodes which might be reserved for a two-part season finale.

So, how are they going to approach the end of this season? Will it all be wrapped up in a neat package and ended once again like Season Eight?

Attendees at the recent Comic Con held in San Diego (July 14-17) have reported that executive producers Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright say that Season Nine will end in a cliffhanger. When asked to confirm these reports, Joseph Mallozzi stated in his Q&A thread at GateWorld, “We won’t get definite word about a renewal until well after the season finale has been written. Cliffhanger it is.”

Stargate SG-1 Solutions Season Nine Episode Guides
GateWorld

9.14 “Stronghold”

Summary

Members of the Jaffa High Council are showing unusual behavior and an old enemy, thought dead, is revealed to be behind it. Meanwhile, one of Mitchell’s old friends is about to die after having saved Mitchell’s life and wishes to know about the top-secret work that Mitchell is doing in order to make his death easier to face.

Details

It was thought that Ba’al was dead (most likely after the events of 9.07 “Ex Deus Machina”), but he is secretly subverting the members of the Jaffa High Council through a program of torture and brainwashing. An elderly member of the Jaffa High Council, Maz’rai, a strong proponent of democracy, uncharacteristically betrays Bra’tac by voting against Bra’tac’s cause. Once Maz’rai realizes that he has been brainwashed, he tries to undo it through the Rite of M’al Sharran which results in his own death.

Gerak is gone, some believing him to be a martyr, after sacrificing himself to save many lives as he stood in defiance of the Ori who killed him. Some believe he had ascended and doubt Bra’tac’s words as he was the only witness to Gerak’s death. (His story arc ended in 9.10-9.11 “The Fourth Horseman”.) Yat’yir, Gerak’s lieutenant, is now pushing his own agenda, leaning toward support of the Ori.

And now, after the brainwashing is revealed, Teal’c has gone missing. Daniel and Carter investigate.

Meanwhile, an old “top gun” pilot friend of Mitchell’s, Maj. Bryce Ferguson, is dying from a wound he suffered four years ago in North Korea saving Mitchell’s life. Knowing that he is about to die, he asks Mitchell to breach his security clearances and tell him about his top-secret work, feeling that knowing about it will make his death easier to face. Mitchell’s cover story about his injuries from the Antarctic battle were that he went down in a test flight, but Ferguson doesn’t buy it. His investigations have led him to the conclusion that Mitchell was flying a human-built alien-hybrid fighter against an alien armada in Antarctica. Ferguson doesn’t buy the story about the bomb that went off in an office building in Seattle (“Ex Deus Machina”), nor the one about the influenza outbreak that swept the globe (“The Fourth Horseman”).

Carter and Mitchell discuss the possibility of disclosure. She tells him about her father and Pete Shanahan. Mitchell tells Ferguson about the Stargate Program, feeling that it would have been Ferguson who would have made it to the F-302 Program and not him if Ferguson had not taken the shrapnel that will eventually kill him (inoperable brain aneurism). Afterwards, Mitchell joins his team to search for Teal’c.

Locations: Dakara, Ba’al’s mothership, Colorado Springs VA Hospital, U’kin’s homeworld

Characters

Guest/mentioned characters include: Maj. Bryce Ferguson, Maz’rai, Ba’al, Bra’tac, Kal’el (Ka’lel), Til’vak, U’kin, Yat’yir, Dr. Kelly

Production Credits

Written by Alan McCullough
Directed by Peter DeLuise
Before cameras 8/5 – 8/15

Note that all spoilers are subject to change before the finished episode is produced.

9.14 “Stronghold” Episode Guide

Ba’al’ll Be Back!

Cliff Simon keeps in touch with his fans on his Galaxy of Stars Message Board. Recently, he wrote, “Thanks for the compliments and I hope my role gets even bigger.”

Ba’al has become one of the last of the System Lords left alive after their major defeat at the end of Season Eight. In “Ex Deus Machina”, he has hidden himself away on Earth, but his method of hiding is definitely different: he becomes a big-time corporate head! And, he’s got a bomb! It’s a race to find him to not only keep his bomb from going off, but to keep the relations between the Free Jaffa and Tau’ri friendly.

So, how does it end? We’re not sure, but one interesting bit of information was provided by Simon, “Anyway, we have some exciting season 9 eps ahead which I start working on soon, so keep watching.” It sounds like Ba’al makes another successful break for it and remains a thorn in the galaxy’s side.

Simon concludes his note, “It’s up to the fans to keep my character alive…so keep those forum discussions going.”

Discussions can be found on our SG1Solutions Forum
9.07 “Ex Deus Machina” Episode Guide

Script Coordinator Alex Levine shares his trade secrets in SciFi.com blog

Fire! In an upcoming scene in Avalon Pt. 2, our fearless SG-1 Stunt Coordinator Dan Shea caught on fire! Yep, it’s true. A wider shot selection forced him out of his fire-retardant garb so he could be in the shot and near the ‘burn’ (the fire-stunt). When Dan went to put the ‘bridge’ down over the flames to let the actress out of the ring of fire, the fire was accidentally blown toward him and he caught on fire. Stop, drop and roll! Thankfully he wasn’t hurt.

Factoid: the village from Avalon Pt. 2 is entirely within our Effects stage — it’s not outside at all. There will be a behind the scenes featurette called ‘It Takes a Crew to Raise a Village’ on the DVD’s for season 9, which, among other interesting things, shows the village being built via time-lapse photography.

Oh, speaking of dirt. If you’re thinking the Stargate powers that be don’t pay enough attention to detail, you’ll be amazed to learn that the network took issue with the color of the dirt in the village set. Thankfully, the matter was resolved. The producers and the network settled on brown. Now that’s keeping it real.

Alex Levine’s July 20th Blog Entry: “Keeping it real…” (Atlantis spoilers present as well)