Day: August 13, 1999

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Season 03 SG-1 Stargate

Demons

Stargate SG-1SG-1 finds the first instance of a Christian society in their travels, but it’s a primitive, superstitious village whose people live in fear of demons. The appearance of O’Neill’s team sends the villagers running, and they find a young woman chained up in the village square, waiting to be sacrificed. By freeing her, the members of SG-1 anger the “demon” who comes on a regular schedule to collect sacrifices – an Unas collecting victims to serve as host bodies for the System Lord known as Sokar. O’Neill tries to discuss the possibility of ridding this village of the Unas, but the leader of the village instead decides that the strangers are demons themselves, and puts Teal’c to a number of tests whose outcome will either “prove” his demonic nature or kill him. The guardian of the girl chained up for sacrifice tries to challenge his leader, certain that SG-1 can help them keep the demon away…but the village’s leader has become far too accustomed to power for anyone’s good, and the Unas will still come for his sacrifice.

Order the DVDswritten by Carl Binder
directed by Peter DeLuise
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: David McNally (Simon), Alan C. Peterson (Canon), Laura Mennell (Mary), Richard Morwich (Unas), John R. Taylor (Elder), Christopher Judge (voice of the Unas)

Notes: The Unas, the first being to become a Goa’uld host, was first encountered in the first season episode Thor’s Hammer, though that episode implied that its Unas was unique; this story rewrites the mythology a bit and makes the Unas an entire species.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Farscape Season 1

Durka Returns

  • By Dave
  • August 13, 1999

FarscapeWhen Moya damages a Nebari ship in another unintended StarBurst, she and Pilot insist on bringing its crew aboard to help them make repairs. Moya’s crew is less than thrilled to discover that the Nebari ship is a prison vessel, carrying a thief named Chiana back home for “rehabilitation” – a complete reworking of her personality to ensure her good behavior. Even more alarming to Rygel, the Nebari official Salis is accompanied by Captain Durka, the former commander of the Zelbinion. Salis insists that Durka, too, has been rehabilitated, and the former Peacekeeper expresses remorse for his actions. His apologies fall on deaf ears, however, and Rygel’s efforts to take revenge only compound the situation. Chiana escapes, Salis dies, and the crew must decide which criminal to trust.

Order the DVDswritten by Grant McAloon
directed by Tony Tilse
music by Subvision

Guest Cast: Gigi Edgley (Chiana), David Wheeler (Durka), Tiriel Mora (Salis)

Notes: Rygel encountered what he thought was Durka’s body aboard the Zelbinion in PK Tech Girl. Gigi Edgley joins the cast with this episode, although she would not be listed in the opening credits until season two.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

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Season 08 SG-1 Stargate

Avatar

Stargate SG-1A test of a new virtual reality combat simulator leaves O’Neill and his team a little underwhelmed; the simulation software “learns” from the combat experience of its users, but so far, it’s only “learned” from Dr. Lee and his team of experts – perfectly good scientists, but not exactly soldiers. Teal’c agrees to work with them in refining their simulator into something more useful, but using his extensive knowledge of encounters with alien aggressors, the simulation becomes much tougher with Teal’c as its player. After he replays – and loses – several rounds, Teal’c finally opts to use a failsafe exit that will get him out of the simulation, only to find that he can’t even escape. In the real world, the simulation device – derived from alien technology – is ensuring that Teal’c’s real body feels at least some of the pain of his series of defeats. If left attached to the simulator too long, Teal’c faces a very real death.

Order the DVDswritten by Damian Kindler
directed by Martin Wood
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Bill Dow (Dr. Lee), Andrew Airlie (Dr. Carmichael), Gary Jones (Chief Sgt. Walter Harriman), Dan Shea (Sgt. Siler), Dan Payne (Kull Warrior)

Notes: The simulator is derived from the technology used by The Gamekeeper in season 2.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 1 Stargate Stargate Atlantis

Childhood’s End

Stargate AtlantisDuring a survey of a planet in the Pegasus Galaxy, a jumper carrying Sheppard, Teyla, McKay and Ford crashes when its systems all simultaneously fail. Even portable equipment is rendered useless by an electromagnetic field. When they set out to disable the field so they can repair the jumper and leave, a group of camouflaged, armed children take them prisoner and bring them to their village. There, Sheppard meets the oldest of this curious society’s “elders” – a young man named Keras who is only hours away from his 25th birthday, which is marked by a ritual suicide. Keras and his people believe that this sacrifice is what keeps the Wraith from attacking them. But when Rodney finds a ZPM powering the field that caused the jumper to crash, a different picture emerges. Rodney is eager to bring the ZPM back to Atlantis for study, to see if it can help in the city’s defense, not even considering the possibility that the field he has just disabled is the real source of the village’s invincibility. And once the field is down, a Wraith homing device begins transmitting…

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Martin Gero
directed by David Winning
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Courtenay J. Stevens (Keras), Dominic Zamprogna (Aries), Jessica Amlee (Cleo), Sam Charles (Casta), Alana Husband (Ennea), Shane Meier (Neleus), Julie Patzwald (Pelias), Craig Veroni (Dr. Grodin), Calum Worthy (Hunter Kid)

Notes: Dr. Zelenka pays his first visit to this planet in the second season episode Critical Mass, with even more colorful results than Sheppard’s team. Dominic Zamprogna has appeared in the new Battlestar Galactica as well, playing a reporter in Litmus and Viper pilot Jammer during the second season.

LogBook entry by Earl Green