Categories
Firefly Season 1

Heart of Gold

FireflyNandi, an old colleague of Inara, waves asking for help. She has set up a prostitution house on a planet on the frontier, outside the jurisdiction of the Companion Guild. Now the most powerful official on the planet has impregnanted one of her girls, and plans to take his child by force. Nandi needs some firepower to convince him otherwise. Mal agrees to take the job; after sizing up the opposition, Mal’s instinct is to take everyone on board Serenity and run. But Nandi’s not willing to go, so they prepare for the next day’s firefight. Simon helps to deliver the baby while Mal and Nandi spend the night together. Inara finds this development unsettling but tries to hide her feelings. When battle ensues, the official has one further advantage – one of the girls has sold them out.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Brett Matthews
directed by Thomas J. Wright
music by Greg Edmonson

Guest Cast: Melinda Clarke (Nandi), Kimberley McCullough (Chari), Fredric Lane (Ranse Burgess), Tracy Leah Ryan (Petaline)

Notes: This episode was not broadcast by Fox and first aired on Sci Fi in 2005.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 2

Abandoned

LostFlashback: After Shannon’s father dies in a car accident, her stepmother cuts off her funds just as she earns a prestigious internship in New York City. Boone offers to help her, but even he does not seem to believe that Shannon has what it takes to make it on her own.

The Island: Shannon has another vision of Walt, and is absolutely determined to find him. Sayid doubts the reality of what she saw, putting a strain on their developing relationship. Locke tries to help Claire with the baby, which alienates Charlie. Claire, on the other hand, is grateful for the help – and her musings suggest to Locke that Charlie’s recovery may have hit a speed bump. Mister Eko diverts the tail survivors back into the jungle in a bid to save time and possibly Sawyer’s life. Ana Lucia is furious, afraid that they are putting themselves at risk from the Others. When Michael demands to know the reason for their fear, she explains that over their time on the island, the Others have kidnapped many of the tail survivors. And when they appear to take another, Ana Lucia’s paranoia claims another victim.

Order the DVDswritten by Elizabeth Sarnoff
directed by Adam Davidson
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Malcolm David Kelley (Walt), David Ely (Intern), L. Scott Caldwell (Rose), Sam Anderson (Bernard), Kimberley Joseph (Cindy), Ian Somerhalder (Boone), Lindsay Frost (Sabrina), Francois Guetary (Philippe), Ashleigh Ann Wood (Nora), Maree Miller (Sophie), Patti Hastie (Nurse), Michael Cowell (Doctor), Sandra Le Bat (Dominique)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 2

The Other 48 Days

LostFlashback to the Island: The tail section of Flight 815 crashes on the island. Eko begins hauling survivors and bodies ashore. Ana Lucia helps resuscitate a child. Another survivor, Goodwin, runs onto the beach screaming for help – another survivor is still strapped to his seat, stuck in a tree. Ana Lucia helps talk Bernard out of the seat, after which he begins looking for his wife. Libby sets another survivor’s broken leg. Things calm down briefly. But that night, some of the survivors go missing from camp. Eko kills two men trying to take him away as well.

Eko withdraws into himself. More survivors are dragged away – including the two children. When one survivor, Nathan, disappears for two hours, Ana Lucia’s suspicions are raised. Eventually the group heads into jungle. Ana Lucia digs the pit and puts Nathan in. Four days pass; Nathan reveals nothing. When she tells Goodwin she plans to start cutting off Nathan’s fingers to get him to talk, Goodwin helps him out of the pit – and then breaks his neck. They set off again, and find the Dharma bunker and a radio. Ana Lucia and Goodwin try to climb higher to get a better signal, and Ana Lucia figures out that she suspected the wrong man all along. In their scuffle, Goodwin is killed. Things once again settle down somewhat, until Bernard hears a signal on the radio – Boone calling for help. Ana Lucia thinks it’s another plot to draw them out of hiding. When she finally gives herself a moment to break down, Eko breaks his silence to comfort her. Cindy and Libby find Jin washed up on the shore; Jin’s escape leads them to Michael and Sawyer, and eventually on their trek to find the survivors from the front of the plane – a meeting with tragic results.

Order the DVDswritten by Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse
directed by Eric Laneuville
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Sam Anderson (Bernard), Kimberley Joseph (Cindy), Brett Cullen (Goodwin), Josh Randall (Nathan), Glenn Lehmann (Donald), Kiersten Havelock (Emma), Mickey Graue (Zack)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 2

Collision

LostFlashback: Ana Lucia returns to the Los Angeles police force four months after being involved in a shooting. Her captain – also her mother – wants to ease her back into active duty with a desk job, but Ana Lucia demands to go back on patrol. When she reacts to a minor disturbance by drawing her weapon, her partner is concerned. At the precinct, her mother tells Ana Lucia that they have a suspect who has confessed to shooting her. Ana Lucia refuses to identify the suspect, so the police have to release him. Not long after, Ana Lucia follows him out from a bar and calls his name. When he turns around, she tells him, “I was pregnant” – right before firing several shots into him.

The Island: Eko knocks out an enraged Sayid before he can attack Ana Lucia. She ties him up and orders everyone to stay put. But the other survivors are getting restless and a little afraid of Ana. Eko brings Sawyer to the beach, where he finds Jack. Inside the bunker, Locke introduces himself to Eko while Jack and Kate try to help Sawyer. Ana Lucia tells Michael to go back to the camp and bring her supplies so she can head off into the jungle herself. Bernard and Libby decide to return to the beach with Jin. When Sayid wakes up, Ana Lucia tells him how the man who shot her claimed to be reaching for his ID. She believed him long enough for him to fire four rounds. She asks Sayid if she should kill him, and Sayid wonders what would be the point of either of them getting killed at this point. With Sawyer stabilized, Jack is ready to run off into the jungle armed to find the others . . . until Eko tells him the name of the woman who shot Shannon.

Order the DVDswritten by Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Leonard Dick
directed by Stephen Williams
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast:Francois Chau (Dr. Marvin Candle), L. Scott Caldwell (Rose), Sam Anderson (Bernard), Michael Cudlitz (Big Mike), Mark Gilbert (Detective Raggs), Rick Overton (Matthew Reed), Aaron Gold (Jason Elder), Matt Moore (Travis), Jeanna Garcia (Shawna), Rand Wilson (Assistant D.A.)

Notes: Maggie Grace (Shannon)’s credit was changed to “Special Guest Star” in this episode.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 2

What Kate Did

LostFlashback: When Kate’s stepfather Wayne comes home drunk, she helps put him to bed. Then she rides away on her motorcycle moments before the house explodes. She stops to see her mother before trying to get to Florida, to say goodbye and give her an insurance policy she had taken out on the house. The marshals catch her before she can get on a bus, but when a black horse crosses the path of the marshal’s car, he swerves and hits a pole. He’s disoriented just long enough for Kate to push him out of the car and drive away. She meets her father in the Army recruiting office where he works to tell him she knows the truth. He was in Korea until four months before she was born. Wayne is her biological father. She leaves the office after her father says he’ll have to call the police, but agrees to give her a head start. With a last hug, Kate walks out of the door.

The Island: While picking fruit, Kate sees a black horse. She volunteers to stay in the bunker and watch over Sawyer while Sayid and the others bury Shannon. Sawyer wakes up and grabs at Kate’s throat, asking, “What did you do?” When Jack and Locke return to the bunker, they find Kate gone, Sawyer sprawled on the ground, and the countdown with seconds to go. Locke gets the button pushed in time, and then shows the orientation film to Michael and Eko. Eko leaves immediately afterward. When he returns, he tells Locke the story of King Josiah and temple of Judea . . . and then shows him something the tail survivors found in the other Dharma bunker. It’s a piece of the filmstrip that had been cut out, a piece that warns against using the computer to try and contact anyone else.

Kate continues to see the horse, and fears she might be going crazy. She thinks there might somehow be a part of Wayne on the island, maybe even in Sawyer, and she tells him that knowing that Wayne was her father made her feel like she would never be good enough. Sawyer wakes up, and when Kate takes him outside for walk, they both see the horse.

While Locke and Eko are watching the missing part of the fimstrip, Michael examines the computers. The countdown clock stops at 51 minutes, and the computer beings beeping. “Hello?” it asks. Michael decides to reply . . . and gets what could be a message from another of the missing.

Order the DVDswritten by Steven Maeda & Craig Wright
directed by Paul Edwards
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: L. Scott Caldwell (Rose), Sam Anderson (Bernard), Frederic Lane (Marshal), Beth Broderick (Diane), Lindsey Ginter (Austen), James Horan (Wayne), J. Edward Sclafani (Ticket Agent)

Notes: Locke first viewed the filmstrip in this season’s Orientation.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 09 SG-1 Stargate

The Fourth Horseman – Part 2

Stargate SG-1Teal’c confronts Gerak, now a Prior of the Ori, in the Jaffa council chamber, but their argument settles nothing. When the meeting adjourns, Bra’tac believes that the opposition to the Ori must withdraw to the shadows. Teal’c has other plans. He does not believe that Gerak has yet forgotten his Jaffa nature completely, and intends to force a confrontation on Chulak. He will gather a fleet to oppose any attempts to join the Ori, and dare Gerak and any of his supporters to kill their fellow Jaffa.

The Ori virus spreads to Europe, causing considerable disruption to global political and financial institutions. The leaders of the international consortium now financing the SGC press Landry for answers, while Hammond offers his encouragement. Carter tries to help Orlin work on the cure, but his memories are slipping away despite his best efforts.

Mitchell meets with Haikon to plead for the Sodan’s help, but it turns out to be unnecessary. The Prior had ordered the Sodan to eliminate the population of a planet that refused to worship the Ori – a planet of simple farmers, women and children. The Sodan refused. So unless the anti-Prior device works, they will join Earth as targets of the Ori. They arrange for the Prior to be brought into range of the device, at which point Mitchell attacks him in order to test his powers. They work rather well at first, but Daniel eventually finds the frequency necessary to neutralize them. Mitchell zats the Prior and retrieves the blood sample.

Even with the sample, the CDC is having trouble finding a cure, and Orlin is no longer able to help them. Landry asks him to do one more favor, and brings him to meet with the captive Prior, whom Mitchell and Jackson are trying to convince to turn against the Ori. Orlin remembers the life that the Prior gave up to follow the Ori, and tries to remind him of it. But this simply angers the Prior enough to declare that the Ori are coming to destroy the Ancients; he gathers some of his power and infects Landry with the plague before the others can shoot him.

Above Chulak, the fleets confront one another. Teal’c invites Gerak to a face-to-face meeting on the planet’s surface, where Teal’c intends to convince Gerak to renounce the Ori – or, if he fails, to die as a free Jaffa.

Order the DVDswritten by Paul Mullie & Joseph Mallozzi
directed by Andy Mikita
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Guest Cast: Cameron Bright (Orlin), Tony Amendola (Bra’tac), Don S. Davis (Gen. George Hammond), Tony Todd (Haikon), Jason George (Jolan), William B. Davis (Prior), Garry Chalk (Col. Chekov), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Lexa Doig (Dr. Lam), Louis Gossett, Jr. (Gerak)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 2

The 23rd Psalm

LostFlashback: In Nigeria, a gang demands that a young boy shoot an old man. The boy’s older brother, Eko, takes the gun and fires instead, sparing his brother Yemi from having to commit the sin. The gang takes Eko away, and years later he becomes a feared figure. He agrees to help smuggle heroin out of the country, but in order to do so he will have to find a way to get the drugs onto either a United Nations or Catholic charities plane. He tries to enlist the aid of his brother, who is now a priest; Yemi refuses. Eko’s colleagues threaten to burn down the church unless Yemi complies with their request, and he finally does. But as Eko prepares to leave on the plane, his brother drives up, with the military not far behind. Yemi begs Eko not to get on the plane while the smugglers and military shoot at each other. Yemi is caught in the crossfire. Eko is forced from the plane, and the military mistakes him for the priest that called them.

The Island: Michael tries to contact Walt again via the terminal and gets some firearms training from Locke. Walt lets his father know that he is all right, but he has to hide their contact from some others. Eko learns of the Mary statue from Claire; he breaks the statue, shows her the contents, and demands that Charlie take him to where he found it. Charlie tries to claim that he didn’t know what was in the statue, and that he simply found it in a field, but neither Claire nor Eko believe him. En route to the plane, the creature – a mass of black smoke – charges Eko and stops right in front of him, but does not attack him. When they find the plane, Eko offers his last respects to his brother, and a replacement statue to Charlie, leaving the addict with another decision to make.

Order the DVDswritten by Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
directed by Matt Earl Beesley
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Adetokumboh McCormack (Yemi), Ronald Revels (Goldie), Pierre Olivier (Olu), Kolawolfe Obileye, Jr. (Young Eko), Cynthia Charles (Nigerian Woman), John Bryan (Thug Captain), Ellis St. Rose (Priest), Moumen El Hajji (Tough Moroccan), Lawrence Jones (Lead Soldier), Olekan Obileye (Young Yemi) and Achraf Marzouki (Moroccan No. 2.)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 09 SG-1 Stargate

Collateral Damage

Stargate SG-1Mitchell wakes up in a strange home, with blood on his hands and flashes of violent imagery in his mind. Police enter the home and arrest him for murder.

24 hours earlier, SG-1 visited Galar, an advanced world long protected by the Asgard, to possibly initiate an alliance. The planet’s emissary was eager to demonstrate a technology that its scientist developed from leftover Goa’uld tech – a device that allows memories to be transferred from one person to another, with the recipient experiencing them as if they were his or her own. Mitchell is the recipient of a demonstration, receiving the emissary’s memory of a conversation with Dr. Reya Varrick, the project’s top scientist. The technology holds great promise for military and other types of training, so the military is eager to develop the relationship. SG-1 agrees to go back to the planet to attend a reception. Mitchell and Reya flirt with one another; when she learns that the project is being taken from her control, she angrily leaves the party and invites Mitchell to walk her home. They share a drink, and soon after, Mitchell wakes up with blood on his hands and flashes of violent imagery in his mind.

The rest of SG-1 is shocked the next morning when the emissary informs them of Mitchell’s arrest and confession. They quickly suspect that someone has used the memory device on Mitchell. In the interest of diplomatic relations, the planet’s leaders are willing to release Mitchell and send him back to Earth, but he wants to prove his innocence. That requires the help of the remaining scientists, one of whom – Dr. Marrell – is her ex-husband. They are eager to help – they believe that the military killed Reya to take control of the project, and framed Mitchell because he could be whisked off planet easily. To detect a graft, the scientists need to hook Mitchell back up to the device and have him relive particular vivid memories.

Mitchell remembers seeing his father in the hospital, after an accident claimed both the test pilot’s legs. He remembers watching the launch of the space shuttle with him, a point at which his father professed his intention to walk again. The resultant baseline should be enough to confirm the graft – but it doesn’t. Daniel and Teal’c try to go over the other evidence of the investigation, including the blood sample that indicated Mitchell had been drinking around the time of the murder. Blood tests at the SGC confirm that Mitchell was somehow stunned into unconsciousness, suggesting that he was attacked before the murder. But the emissary seems to be stalling the investigation, withholding some evidence in the name of planetary security.

The scientists have one more tool at their disposal – if Mitchell has a memory of similar content to the murder, a more exact comparison can be made. Mitchell obliges, recalling a mission in which he destroyed a convoy of refugees based on faulty intelligence. The new information establishes Mitchell’s innocence, but he is determined to go one step further and find the true killer, even if no one else – including the murderer – wants to know.

written by Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
directed by Wil Waring
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Warren Kimmel (Dr. Marell), Benson Simmonds (Dr. Amauro), William Atherton (Emissary), Anna Galvin (Dr. Reya Varrick), Maximillian Uhrin (Young Mitchell), Ian Robison (Mitchell’s Father), Brian Drummond (Security Officer), John Treleaven (Colonel)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 2

The Hunting Party

LostFlashback: Jack’s reputation from his wife Sarah’s recovery has attracted an older patient in desperate search of hope for a cure for a spinal tumor. Jack’s father does not feel the man is a candidate for surgery, but the patient’s daughter Gabriella appeals directly to Jack, who can’t step back from a challenge. Jack keeps throwing himself into his work even though he can feel the distance growing between him and Sarah, and even though his father warns him not to get too close to the case – or to Gabriella.

The Island: Michael knocks out Locke and puts him and Jack into the gun locker in order to go after Walt. When Kate and Sawyer arrive to let them out, Jack and Locke take off after Michael. Sawyer insists on coming along, and Kate tries to follow. When Jack tells her to stay behind and watch the hatch, she drafts Hurley into button duty and follows. Jin wants to go after his friend as well, but Sun refuses to allow him to risk himself again.

Locke tracks Michael going north, following a different trail than he traveled with the tail survivors. As the three searchers probe each other’s motivations for the expedition, they hear gunfire, but are unable to find Michael. Locke and Jack’s argument over whether or not to proceed is interrupted by a representative of the Others – the one who took Walt and shot Sawyer. He tells the three that they are unwelcome guests on their island, and that from now on borders need to be respected. He tells them to leave their weapons behind and go home, or another of the survivors will pay the price.

Order the DVDswritten by Elizabeth Sarnoff & Christina M. Kim
directed by Stephen Williams
music by Michael Giacchno

Guest Cast: John Terry (Dr. Shephard), Julie Bowen (Sarah), Monica Dean (Gabriela), Ronald Guttman (Angelo), M.C. Gainey (Mr. Friendly)

Notes: The Others’ representative calls to Alex – the same name as Rousseau’s child. Jack’s successful operation on Sarah was shown in this season’s Man of Science, Man of Faith.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 09 SG-1 Stargate

Ripple Effect

Stargate SG-1Stargate Command readies for an unscheduled incoming wormhole when a sudden unusual energy spike surprises everyone. The IDC confirms that SG-1 is returning early from a mission, and they step out of the stargate in their black off-world uniforms. During their debriefing, they mention several details that strike Landry as anomalous. Before they can resolve the discrepancy, the stargate activates again – and the SGC once again receives SG-1’s IDC, this time on schedule. Landry orders the iris opened, and SG-1 emerges from the wormhole wearing green off-world uniforms.

Genetic tests confirm that both teams are the real SG-1, but the green team’s mission and memories sync up with the history experienced by Landry and the rest of the SGC. The green team interviews the members of the black team to try and figure out what is going on. Landry suspects that Baal’s cloning technology may be at work, but Green Carter argues that an anomaly may have caused the wormhole to jump between parallel realities. When additional SG-1s begin contacting SGC asking to be let home, the hypothesis is pretty much confirmed. Green Carter and Black Carter theorize that a wormhole that interacted with the black hole created by the Ori’s attempt to create a super-gate to the Milky Way may have established the anomaly. Now those alternate realities that are relatively close to Green SG-1’s are being funneled there. Landry orders all gate travel suspended, except for emergencies – which still allows over a dozen alternate SG-1s to reach this reality.

One of those teams, whose members include Martouf and Dr. Fraiser, is searching for a cure for the Ori plague. But even a team of eighteen Samantha Carters can’t figure out a way to reverse the anomaly and return the stranded teams to their own realities, so Landry reluctantly concludes that in the name of protecting this reality, the anomaly must be eliminated even if it strands the other teams. Kvasir of the Asgard offers assistance in devising a plan to do so, but Landry is not the only one who is willing to take whatever steps are necessary to defend the home reality – whichever reality that is.

story by Brad Wright and Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
teleplay by Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
directed by Peter DeLuise
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Lexa Doig (Dr. Lam), Gary Jones (Chief Sgt. Walter Harriman), Bill Dow (Dr. Lee), Teryl Rothery (Dr Fraiser), J.R. Bourne (Martouf), Dan Shea (Sgt. Siler)

Notes: The Ori created the black hole in this season’s Beachhead and the SGC found a cure for the Ori plague in The Fourth Horseman, Part 2. The Carters referred to the black-hole-created time dilation effect that occurred in season 2’s A Matter of Time and the time travel effect from that season’s 1969. Black Mitchell referred to the Goa’uld plot to trick SG-1 into thinking they had returned to a far-future SGC in season 2’s Out of Mind and to the Atlantis expedition’s experience in the Stargate Atlantis season 1 episode Home. The home-reality’s Dr. Fraiser was killed in season seven’s Heroes, Part 2. The home-reality’s Martouf died in season 4’s Divide and Conquer.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 2

Fire + Water

LostFlashback: Liam’s drug habit continues to have personal and professional repercussions. Driveshaft’s attempts at a comeback never get into gear when he can’t even function during a television commercial shoot. His wife kicks him out of the house after he drops their baby daughter. Charlie watches and tries to hold things together, writing a song he hopes will turn their lives around. But Liam’s own plans to change his life may not include his brother.

The Island: Jack continues his planning sessions with Ana Lucia, raising Sawyer’s eyebrows in the process. The eyebrows do double time when Hurley asks him what he knows about Libby. Charlie has a series of vivid dreams about Aaron that lead him to believe the baby’s life is in serious danger. Given his past and his lack of truthfulness, Claire and the others are reluctant to believe him, especially when Charlie takes Aaron while sleepwalking one night. Eko suggests that the dreams, which include the image of a dove, may suggest that the baby needs to be baptized. Charlie begs Locke to help him persuade Claire to trust him, but when Locke finds Charlie’s stash of statues he has little reason to believe the addict. Desperate, Charlie tries to take matters into his own hands, shredding the last vestiges of anyone’s trust in him.

Order the DVDswritten by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
directed by Jack Bender
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Neil Hopkins (Liam), Jeremy Shada (Young Charlie), Zack Shada (Young Liam), Sammi Davis (Mrs. Pace), Vanessa Branch (Karen), Craig Young (Director)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 09 SG-1 Stargate

Stronghold

Stargate SG-1Mitchell takes some time off from Stargate Command to visit his friend and former colleague Major Bryce Ferguson. Four years ago, he got a piece of shrapnel in his head saving Mitchell’s life, and now Mitchell has had him moved to the Air Force hospital associated with the Stargate program in hopes that their advanced technology can heal the aneurysm that threatens his life. Ferguson has accepted his fate, however – he just wants to know about what top-secret projects Mitchell has been involved in. He’s heard rumors of dogfights over Antarctica and other crazy things – things he may have been involved with himself if he hadn’t been injured. But Mitchell can reveal nothing.

On Dakara, Teal’c and Bra’tac attempt to dissolve the high council in order to allow open democratic elections for leadership of the Free Jaffa Nation. But they are surprised when their allies turn against them without warning. When Teal’c attempts to investigate, Ba’al’s forces kidnap him. The Goa’uld wants to keep the council in place so that he can assume leadership of the Jaffa and prepare them for war against the Ori, and he has brainwashed many Jaffa to help him – including members of the council. Teal’c’s own resistance is too strong, so Ba’al is forced to take harsher measures. Bra’tac turns to the SGC for help; Daniel accompanies him back to Chulak and Dakara to investigate while Carter prepares a rescue force.

The hospital is unable to help Ferguson, so Mitchell gets permission to use a modified version of the memory transfer device to let his friend live his experiences of the last four years. The grateful Ferguson urges Mitchell to get back to the SGC and help rescue Teal’c, and not feel guilty about what has happened – Mitchell is in a line of work where he needs to follow his instincts, even if that leads him into trouble. Mitchell joins the rescue team, clearly with a lot of frustration to take out on someone. The only question is whether he’s more dangerous to Ba’al’s forces or to himself.

Order the DVDswritten by Alan McCullough
directed by Peter DeLuise
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Tony Amendola (Bra’tac), Cliff Simon (Ba’al), Reed Diamond (Major Ferguson), Dakin Matthews (Maz’rai), Simone Bailly (Ka’lel), Yan Feldman (Til’Vak), Veena Sood (Dr. Kelly), Don Thompson (U’kin), Gardiner Millar (Yat’yir), Ken Kirzinger (Jaffa Commander), Erik Breker (SG-3 Leader)

Notes: Mitchell’s prior experience with the memory device was in Collateral Damage. Teal’c was brainwashed by Apophis in season 5’s Enemies. Bra’tac helped him undergo the ritual of Mal’sharran to overcome the brainwashing in the following episode, Threshold. The Antarctic mission that Ferguson has heard about originally occurred in season 7’s Lost City, Part 2, and Mitchell’s part in that mission was shown in this season’s Avalon, Part 1. The exploding building that Ferguson mentions was the result of Ba’al’s activities in this season’s Ex Deus Machina.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 09 SG-1 Stargate

Ethon

Stargate SG-1Jared Kane of the Rand Protectorate requests permission to travel to Earth via the stargate. Earth has not heard from Rand in months, and Kane explains why – a Prior has visited his world. After the Ori plague killed many, including Jared’s wife, the Prior convinced the people of Rand to follow Origin. The Caladonians had no intention of following Rand’s lead, so the Prior provided Rand with schematics for an orbiting offensive satellite of enormous destructive power. Kane fears that Rand’s increasingly paranoid president will not hesitate to use the now-operational satellite to destroy Caledonia, so he has brought a copy of the early schematics to the SGC to ask for their help. Carter thinks that the Prometheus should be able to destroy the satellite, and Mitchell is ready to do so. Daniel wants to convince Rand to dismantle the satellite themselves, so he contacts their government and receives an invitation to return with Kane for further negotiations. Upon their arrival, however, they are immediately imprisoned as suspected Caladonian spies.

Two days after losing contact with Daniel, the rest of SG-1 arrives at Tegalus in the Prometheus. They attempt to beam Daniel back aboard, but the Rand government has taken his locator beacon. Carter and Mitchell initially hesitate to fire at the satellite, concerned that they are signing Daniel’s death warrant. When the satellite begins to power up, they authorize Col. Pendergast to open fire. But unlike the early blueprints, the satellite has shields – and enough firepower to overpower Prometheus‘s own Asgard shields and tear through the ship. Unable to fight or flee, Pendergast tries to negotiate surrender, but the Rand president refuses to show mercy to Origin’s opponents. Pendergast beams what’s left of his crew to Caladonia before going down with his ship. The Caladonians welcome the survivors, including all of SG-1, but the future looks bleak. Carter finds a flaw in the satellite’s defense system that she believes SG-1 can exploit, but Daniel is determined to make one more attempt to get both sides to break past their paranoia.

Order the DVDsstory by Robert C. Cooper & Damian Kindler
teleplay by Damian Kindler
directed by Ken Girotti
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Gary Jones (Sgt. Harriman), Matthew Bennett (Jared Kane), Barclay Hope (Col. Pendergast), John Aylward (President Nadal), Ernie Hudson (Pernaux), Martin Christopher (Lt. Marks), Chelah Horsdal (Lt. Womack), Desiree Zurkowski (Chaska), Peter Shinkoda (Caledonian Aide), Sage Brocklebank (Rand Tech)

Notes: Daniel’s previous encounter with Jared Kane occurred in season 8’s Icon. “Ethon” is the name of the bird that tormented Prometheus as punishment for giving fire to humanity.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Lost Season 2

The Long Con

LostFlashback: Sawyer tries to pull his scam on a divorcee, but she sees through it. Rather than throw him out, Cassidy asks Sawyer to teach her how to con. Over the next six months, they pull a number of small hustles, but Cassidy wants a big score – she wants to go for the long con. When Sawyer says they need money to pull such a thing, Cassidy admits that she’s been hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars she got in her divorce. Sawyer feigns surprise, but it’s not really news to him . . . he’s known all along. And he and his partner had plans for that money – even if Sawyer may (or may not) be reconsidering them.

The Island: Jack agrees to place his guns inside the bunker locker, and Locke agrees to share the combination with him. Charlie moves to the outskirts of the camp. Hurley tries to interest Sayid in the radio receiver Bernard found in the other bunker. Jack and Ana Lucia are having trouble recruiting anyone for their campaign against the Others, and Ana Lucia thinks it’s because the group is under the mistaken impression that they’re somehow safe. When Sun is almost kidnapped, it seems that attitudes might change.

That raises Sawyer’s suspicions, especially when some of the details don’t quite seem to match up. He shares his concerns with Kate, who goes to Jack. Jack questions Ana Lucia to be sure she isn’t trying to push her case a little too forcefully, but when Sun recovers and Jin is determined to pursue her abductors, Jack brings him to the bunker. But Sawyer has tipped off Locke, and Locke has decided that he won’t be responsible for anyone else taking weapons into the jungle and doing something reckless. He moves the guns from the locker . . . but soon discovers he isn’t as in control of the situation as he believed.

Order the DVDswritten by Leonard Dick & Steven Maeda
directed by Roxann Dawson
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Kevin Dunn (Gordy), Beth Broderick (Diane), KM Dickens (Cassidy), Finn Armstrong (Arthur), Richard Cavanna (Peter)

Notes: Kate’s mother Beth is the waitress that serves Sawyer when he meets with his partner. Director Roxann Dawson played B’Elanna Torres on Star Trek: Voyager and directed several episodes of that series and Star Trek: Enterprise.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
Season 09 SG-1 Stargate

Off the Grid

Stargate SG-1An SG team discovers that the Lucian Alliance is supplying a highly addictive variety of corn called kassa to several worlds. SG-1 goes undercover to investiage, but Mitchell’s attempt to pose as a buyer quickly goes awry. Their attempt to escape through the stargate is foiled when the gate and the DHD disappear, apparently beamed offworld by Asgard technology. SG-1 is captured and tortured.

Landry sends the Odyssey, a new Daedalus-class ship, on a shakedown cruise to rescue SG-1 while he heads to Area 51 to seek more information from Nerus. The hungry Goa’uld confirms that he helped Ba’al develop a method of removing stargates from the central network, which would give him the ability to use the captured gates to create a new network under his control. He provides little other useful information, but does confirm a fondness for cupcakes before giving Landry an ultimatum – any further intelligence will come at the cost of his freedom. Landry reluctantly agrees.

Odyssey rescues SG-1 in the nick of time, using new implanted locator chips to identify their positions. They’re not the only ones with hidden tracers, though – Landry has packed one along with Nerus, and infected several of Nerus’s machines with a virus as well. This gives the Odyssey a chance to beam SG-1 over to Ba’al’s ship and retrieve the stargates. Ba’al kills Nerus and manages to regain some amount of control over his ship, blocking SG-1 from beaming out. And when the Lucian Alliance brings ships into the fray, the team will have to find a way to get the gates and themselves off Ba’al’s ship before the Alliance exacts its revenge.

Order the DVDswritten by Alan McCullough
directed by Peter DeLuise
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Cliff Simon (Ba’al), Maury Chaykin (Nerus), Vince Corazza (Worrel), Eric Breker (Col. Reynolds), Matt Glave (Col. Emerson), Martin Christopher (Lt. Marks), Eric Steinberg (Netan), Peter New (Farmer), Michael Suncyzk (Vi’tak), Gary Jones (Chief Sgt. Harriman), Ahmad Sharmrou (Worrel’s Henchman)

Notes: Nerus was placed in Area 51 after the events of this season’s Beachhead.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer