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

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

Arthur’s Mantle

Stargate SG-1Mitchell finds Carter working overtime in the lab, trying to analyze a device recovered from the Ancient repository in Glastonbury. She manages to activate the device, which puts both of them out of phase and thus invisible to everyone at SGC. They hope that Daniel, who was once out of phase himself, will be able to see them, but they have no luck. Daniel’s experience does ultimately come in handy once Dr. Lee collects more information, as Daniel recognizes what’s happened to Carter and Mitchell. They work out a rudimentary form of communication using the Ancient device, which exists in both dimensions. And on Carter and Mitchell’s side, the device is a display with Merlin’s notes . . . including a gate address for a world where Merlin hid information concerning a device that could destroy ascended beings.

SGC is not uneventful during the crisis. They receive a signal from the Sodan, and Teal’c leads SG-12 to investigate. They find the Sodan village wrecked and the Sodan dead, except for a mortally wounded Haikon. The team’s efforts to return to Earth for reinforcements and medical supplies are thrwarted when the teleportation device is sabotaged; the team is attacked soon later. Teal’c realizes that their attacker is using the Sodan cloaking technology, so he cloaks himself in an effort to find the attacker. Teal’c delivers what should be a killing blow to Volnek, the warrior that Mitchell once wounded in battle. But the Sodan soon rises, looking very much undead. Haikon recovers enough to tell the SGC team that a Prior told Volnek that the Sodan would be punished for their refusal to serve the Ori. Soon after, he fell ill and began to behave irrationally; eventually he slaughtered the entire village. Mitchell decides he’s had enough of waiting around and decides to try to help Teal’c. Carter soon receives more company when Dr. Lee accidentally sends Daniel out of phase. While cloaked, Teal’c is able to see Mitchell, but he remains intangible. This makes him the perfect bait for a trap they hope will send the possessed Volnek to his final rest . . . as long as the SGC doesn’t reverse the phasing process too soon.

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

Guest Cast: Gary Jones (Chief Sgt. Harriman), Bill Dow (Dr. Lee), Jarvis George (Volnek), Tony Todd (Haikon), Eric Breker (Col. Reynolds), Doug Wert (Maj. Hadden), Darren Giblin (Conway), Andrew McNee (Technician), Morris Chapdelaine (Prior)

Notes: Mitchell wounded Volnek in Babylon. Haikon declared that the Sodan had renounced the Ori in The Fourth Horseman, Part 2.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Inferno

Stargate AtlantisResponding to a distress call from an base built by the Ancients on the planet Taranis, Sheppard and his team find a civilization facing extinction. Rodney discovers that the Ancients’ base is built in the caldera of a dormant supervolcano, but when the locals occupied the empty facility and turned its shields on full-time, the resulting increase in geothermal energy brought the volcano back to an active state. Now, Rodney faces a conundrum – if he turns off the base’s shields, the volcanic activity will destroy it, but leaving the shields on will almost certainly trigger a major eruption that could render Taranis uninhabitable. The locals also have another treasure worth preserving – a ship almost identical to the destroyed Aurora is berthed in the base’s hangar. Sheppard and Weir’s interest in the ship arouses suspicions though, enough that the Atlantis team may not be trusted to evacuate the base. Unsure that the Aurora’s sister ship can be readied in time for a full-scale evacuation, Weir orders Colonel Caldwell to divert the Daedalus to Taranus – even though it can’t evacuate everyone. And on Atlantis, sensors warn of a lone approaching Wraith hive ship…

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

Guest Cast: Kevin McNulty (Chancellor Lycus), Brandy Ledford (Dr. Norina Pero), David Nykl (Dr. Zelenka), Mitch Pileggi (Colonel Caldwell), Chuck Campbell (Technician), Patrich Gallagher (Vonos), Trevor Devall (voice of Hermiod)

Notes: Brandy Ledford was a member of the regular cast of Andromeda during its fifth and final season as Doyle. The Aurora was introduced – and destroyed – in this season’s episode Aurora.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Bounty

Stargate SG-1 Netal places a bounty on SG-1, and thanks to energy-emitting tags that the Lucian Alliance placed on them during a recent mission, the bounty hunters know exactly where to look. Teal’c is meeting with the Jaffa. Carter and Dr. Lee are at a conference presenting scaled back versions of their technology. Daniel is on a research trip. And Vala has persuaded Mitchell to bring her home to Kansas for his high school reunion. As Vala entertains herself while perplexing many of Mitchell’s family and former classmates, Mitchell tries to kindle a relationship with an old never-quite-flame. But when one bounty hunter decides to use the reunion as a gathering ground for hostages, and no ships with beaming technology are available, SG-1 must extract everyone from harm’s way.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Damian Kindler
directed by Peter DeLuise
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Anne Marie DeLuise (Amy Vanderburg), David Lovgren (Darrell Grimes), Mike Dopud (Odai Vantrell), Eric Steinberg (Netal), Bill Dow (Dr. Lee), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Timothy Paul Perez (Vashin)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Bad Guys

Stargate SG-1SG-1 travels without Carter to a world that Daniel hopes contains a repository of Ancient technology. Instead, they wind up on a world much like 20th century Earth that has not yet made contact with other worlds. Their stargate is in a museum, but they do not have a functioning dialing device. The team plans to wait until SGC makes contact and then request a generator to power the gate and dial home manually. But before that happens, some museumgoers find them; the museum’s security guards assume that SG-1 are political rebels and begin shooting. The museum goes into lockdown, trapping some of the patrons inside Concerned that the authorities will simply kill them if they let everyone go, SG-1 decides to pose as rebels and stall for time. With the assistance of a researcher who has long believed the stargate can connect with other worlds, the team tries to find any relics that might let them power the gate themselves. Unfortunately, once they do, they only manage to make it even more urgent that they power up the gate – because otherwise a naquadah bomb will blow them all sky high.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxstory by Martin Gero & Ben Browder
teleplay by Martin Gero
directed by Peter DeLuise
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Ron Canada (Quartus), Joshua Malina (Cicero)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Family Ties

Stargate SG-1Vala’s father asks for sanctuary in exchange for information about Arkad’s plan to attack Earth. While Vala does not trust him, he claims he is trying to change, and his intelligence seems legitimate. Once on Earth, however, Jacek continues to run minor schemes, even while Vala debates whether to attempt to repair their relationship. Others at Stargate Command recommend that she does, including Gen. Landry, who himself is in the process of trying to reconnect with his ex-wife. But when it turns out that Jacek has not been entirely forthcoming about the remnants of Arkad’s plans, SG-1 must recover a cargo ship that’s hidden near the Cheyenne Mountain base – and is rigged to explode.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Joesph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
directed by Peter DeLuise
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Fred Willard (Jacek), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Bill Dow (Dr. Lee), Lexa Doig (Dr. Lam)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer