'Whispers' (507) General Discussion

[hedwig]

Midweek, another ep of Atlantis...

1. This was the one with the female team.

2. Didn't know Teldy was based on a fan...RIP Kelly!

3. I know the guy was a redshirt but even by redshirt standards that was a Darwin-award worthy exit.

4. Who were those guys at the start...Genii?

OK enough ep.

They were presumably villagers from the village that was empty, and probably from surrounding villages, too.

[jelgate]

I once made a drinking game out of this episode. Every time you see a cliche you take a shot. The last thing I remember Becket running out a cabin and the next thing I saw was my DVD player showing the episode screen. This episode is just full cliches and cringe moments. It was hilarious watching all the predictabilities. Its almost unwatachable. If it was not for the GW Rewatch I probably would not watch this episode. The episode is suppose to show this horrow story of hybrid monsters of Micheal trying to attack Sheppherd and his team. But like I mention it was comical because you saw everything coming a mile away. I appreciate and understand the desire to inject more female characters into a show but an all female team just does make sense given the male to female ratio in the military. I just don't them as a team and the chemistry goes off jadded. The only I really liked was the major.

[Lythisrose]

From Joe Mallozzi's Blog:

WHISPERS (507)

One of the many great things about working on Stargate was that you were essentially making a varied mini-movie each episode. One week, it would be a space opera, the next a scifi comedy, another week it cross over into fantasy and, yet another, it you could be doing a mystery. Or, in the case of Whispers, you’d be delving into the world of SF-Horror.

This particular episode presented a host of obstacles but the ever-awesome Will Waring was more than up for the challenge. First there was the issue of filming in the fog. The initial tests that saw us fogging up the entire Stage 5 (where stood the Atlantis gate room and control room) proved incredibly tricky. We needed to ensure the fog was thick enough for filming purposes but it would disperse too quickly in the cavernous room. Any thicker and it would make everyone sick. Ultimately, Production Designer James Robbins came up with the brilliant idea of erecting tents, limited/controlled areas that could be fogged up for the requisite scenes. This way, it was always a quick in and out for actors.

Another issue were those flares the team members needed to use to find their way in the dark and fog. We were informed that actual flares gave off a toxic residue. They were also a fire hazard. So it was James Robbins to the rescue again, pitching the idea of the chemical flare.
(here a vid of Dusty walking through the abandoned market)

One of the more inspired solutions to a production issue came in the scene where Beckett leans up against a wall to catch his breath only to have one of the creature crawl along the wall toward him. This was achieved by building a duplicate portion of the wall and having actor Paul McGillion lie down atop it – but giving the impression he is leaning up against it. The creature then scuttle along beside him, seemingly defying gravity…
(here a vid of shooting the wall sequence)

This was an incredibly demanding episode that saw every department step up. Props outdid themselves of course -

As did hair and make-up along with the prosthetics team -

The eye covering permitted only limited visibility – and the fact that the stunt performers were working in fog made their scenes all the more demanding.

A great guest cast for this one. In addition to Paul McGillion, the off-world team in this episode included Christina Cox, Nicole de Boer, Janina Gavankar, and Leela Savasta – all wonderfully talented and equally wonderful to work with.

Finally, while writing the script for this episode, I held a contest on this blog promising the winner I would name a character after them. The eventual winner, long time blog reader Kelly Hurt, requested I use the name “Anne Teldy” (her blog handle and a nod to her young niece) and, thus, Major Anne Teldy was born. Sadly, Kelly passed away last year following a brave battle with various health issues. I like to think that Major Teldy is still out there, exploring other worlds in memory of her.


I was on set for this entire episode so plenty of pics and vids in previous blog entries. If you’re interested…

Costume fittings, fog tents, and gun school: April 23, 2008: Whispers, Day 1

Stunts, Song of Fire and Iced, Creepy Well sequence: April 24, 2008: Whispers Day 2

Paul McGillion and co.: April 25, 2008: Whispers Day 3

Hopscotching, Christina Cox, and hair issues: April 26th, 2008: Whispers Day 4 and The Return of Author Jeffrey Ford

Catacombs and chocolate: April 28, 2008: Whispers Day 5

Fog, catacombs, Paul McGillion: April 29, 2008: On the set of Whispers

Story inspiration and production challenges: September 5, 2008: Whispers

Pics, vids, and a scene by scene breakdown: September 6, 2008: Whispers Breakdown, Part 1

More pics, vids and continuing that scene by scene breakdown: September 7, 2008: I Suffer a Field Injury, The Whispers Breakdown Part II, and Oodles of Pics and Vids

Go to his entry for photos and links.

[JT-2]

Yet another season 5 episode that stunk.

[Falcon Horus]

The only good thing about it for me, is that someone (can't remember who) told me to check out Christina Cox in Bloodties, which I did. And I'm glad I did.

[Cluas]

Under average and boring - not creepy, not scary, just too foggy (my first one sentence post I think)

[Nikki Alexander]

The only good thing about it for me, is that someone (can't remember who) told me to check out Christina Cox in Bloodties, which I did. And I'm glad I did.

I LOVE Blood Ties, and I keep forgetting that Dylan Neal who plays Dave in Atlantis is also in Blood Ties along with Christina.

I'm currently watching this episode now, and I quite like it, loved Sheppard's expression at first when seeing Major Teldy and her team. I'll have to come back later and give the rest of my opinion on the episode once I've finished it.

[Baron Of Hell]

I didn't like this episode when I first seen it way back when. Now I kind of liked it. There was another episode with Sam going to rescue the team after a building blew up. All the members of the rescue team were women.

I think I didn't like this episode before because it was a throw away episode that didn't fit in with the big picture. More or less just a excuse for Shep to run around with hot ladies. Its pretty much is still that but I'm ok with that now. I think the actors did a good job and episode had a nice creepy feel.

[mrscopterdoc]

Why is Sheppard wearing a turtleneck?

good question

[j7n]

This was an awesome episode, except for a few developments I'll put under spoiler. Really terrifying like Half-Life!

I felt that the authors were trying to make a statement by creating these strong female characters. That's not good. In "Search and Rescue" (16:00) there's a female soldier swinging a mean machine gun. I don't remember seeing this in previous years. The tapdancing explosives expert wasn't strong in most scenes.

There's Angie Ramirez from "FX Illusion" (1996-1998)!!! She's old.

I think the blue lighting devices weren't practical. I think their holders would get blinded unless they held the lights in an extended arm or behind back, and they wouldn't illuminate objects far away, especially because of the fog. And the lights would give away the position. (They didn't know what kind of eye organs the enemies had at that stage.)

"prom queen and the kid in the wheel chair?" What? I'm glad Teal'c or Ronan weren't there.

Spoiler:

One of the Action Girls dies too easily from hitting her head during a fall. That doesn't make sense where "heroes" usually get resurrected repeatedly. A portable computer most likely got destroyed off camera.

[hedwig]

This was an awesome episode, except for a few developments I'll put under spoiler. Really terrifying like Half-Life!

I felt that the authors were trying to make a statement by creating these strong female characters. That's not good. In "Search and Rescue" (16:00) there's a female soldier swinging a mean machine gun. I don't remember seeing this in previous years. The tapdancing explosives expert wasn't strong in most scenes.

There's Angie Ramirez from "FX Illusion" (1996-1998)!!! She's old.

I think the blue lighting devices weren't practical. I think their holders would get blinded unless they held the lights in an extended arm or behind back, and they wouldn't illuminate objects far away, especially because of the fog. And the lights would give away the position. (They didn't know what kind of eye organs the enemies had at that stage.)

"prom queen and the kid in the wheel chair?" What? I'm glad Teal'c or Ronan weren't there.

Spoiler:

One of the Action Girls dies too easily from hitting her head during a fall. That doesn't make sense where "heroes" usually get resurrected repeatedly. A portable computer most likely got destroyed off camera.

Spoiler:

"Action Girl" wasn't killed from hitting her head. She was attacked by one of those creatures and was most likely dead before she hit the ground. Plus, she was dragged away by the creature, and we don't even know if she did hit her head. It was disappointing that they killed her almost right away given that TPTB were advertising the fact that the actress was going to be in the episode. And she was the one in "Search & Rescue" wielding the big gun you mention.

[unscheduled traveller]

Fun episode, all girl team where the doc gets the girl (maybe). One thing missing. Mcay didn't get to call Shepard Captain Kirk on this one.