Trial by Fire (314)

[Elite Anubis Guard]

This episode was half and half for me. It was good in ways that it helped create a foundation for Chris and Sivea's up-and-coming friendship, more Grant backstory and more Grant/Callen developement. But beyond that, didn't particualy enjoy it.

The problem of such a large cast once again showed in this episode. In that by having such a large amount of characters, it seemed to bog down stuff at places. We'd got 3 scientists dying, doing pretty much nothing - no tension there BTW. It's about time someone was topped off.

This sort of episode would have worked alot better with only a few characters in the main focus. You could have devoted more time to Sivea/Chris and helped define them more.

[Alex Rubit]

It's about time someone was topped off.

Hmmm. Careful with what you say.

Spoiler:

There might be something down the road that we won't see coming. There's a very big possiblity that before the season ends, someone from the regular cast may be leaving.

I warned you to be careful with what you say.

[Col.Foley]

I warned you to be careful with what you say.

You just might get it.

[Lt. Colonel Ryu Gaia]

:O SOMEONE ON THE CAST OUGHT TO DIE!



It'd be for the best of the show.

[Col.Foley]

:O SOMEONE ON THE CAST OUGHT TO DIE!



It'd be for the best of the show.

But who do you chose to kill? How do you chose which one to give the axe, especially a VS?

[Alex Rubit]

But who do you chose to kill? How do you chose which one to give the axe, especially a VS?

Why would it matter if it's a virtual series or a television series?

It's funny. If it happens on SG-1 or Atlantis, fans are upset. Here it seems you actually WANT someone to die.

But anyway. Feel free to speculate how to interpret what I said in the post above.

[Col.Foley]

Why would it matter if it's a virtual series or a television series?

It's funny. If it happens on SG-1 or Atlantis, fans are upset. Here it seems you actually WANT someone to die.

But anyway. Feel free to speculate how to interpret what I said in the post above.

I don't want any one to die.
And why i think it matters more in a VS is if you are doing a television series there is the good old contract despute. The fastest way to get out of a contract is by killing the character off. In a VS it does not matter because there are no such things as contracts.
I don't know, maybe it is just me, but I would have a hard time killing off one of the main characters that i have laboured so long and so hard on for these past three years. Unless of course I was aiming for making a particular point with his/her death. But, thats just me, I would not just kill off a character.
Unless of course its Lenori?

[SierraGulf1]

The terms and conditions surrounding a character's departure, if indeed there is to be one as it seems, don't necessarily involve death. In sci-fi, nothing is concrete and nothing is as it seems. Hmmm, starting to sound like the SG1/SGA producers.

[Alex Rubit]

I don't want any one to die.
And why i think it matters more in a VS is if you are doing a television series there is the good old contract despute. The fastest way to get out of a contract is by killing the character off. In a VS it does not matter because there are no such things as contracts.

I see what you mean. But what about the shows where actors and producers get along really well, and yet plenty of characters are killed off all the time? 24 comes to mind.

Actually, I think it's a little easier on a virtual show. Because every time you decide to kill off a character on a TV show, it also means you're going to let one of the actors go. Here's an example regarding "Path of Revelation." If anyone here hasn't read it, watch out for spoilers.



The decision to kill off General Williams was made very late in the game, even after the original first draft of the episode had been written, if I remember correctly. So if we'd shoot that, this change would have meant that we'd have to get together with John M. Jackson (the actor cast for Williams), and share the bad news with him. At the time we wrote "The Devil to Pay" we honestly had no idea that we'd be killing him off in the next episode.

So you'd talk to the actors, and because they're pros and understand how the business works, they usually completely understand the reasons, knowing you're not doing it because you didn't enjoy working with them on the show. That's just the nature of the business.

But anyway, the point is that here that's not too much of a problem. Even though when you love a character as well as the actor the character is written for, it's still a pretty tough thing to do. It wasn't an easy decision in the case of Williams, because we all liked him. But we all knew it was the right decision.

[Elite Anubis Guard]

It's funny. If it happens on SG-1 or Atlantis, fans are upset. Here it seems you actually WANT someone to die.

But Horizon needs a departure. With Atlantis/SG1, it wasn't that needed. I feel that you've got too many characters and it's not doing the other characters a favour.