Normandy (317)

[Inquisitor]

I thought Dunne looked different enough for it to pass, but it was my least favourite part of the episode.

That said, this is one of my favourite episodes so far. It's good to see The Five in action since season one's close. I'd love it if there were more episodes such as this one.

I wonder if this episode will be referenced later down the track?

[Skydiver]

I too had the 'is she clara's grand mother' thought.

it wasn't bad, i enjoyed it. I had a hard time watching it because the sound was just horribly mixed. It was like a typical hollywood movie in that the music and background noise was so loud you literally can't hear them talking. i had my tv cranked to 30 and still couldn't hear. (it's normally in the teens volume wise)

the accents only made things worse

I need to listen via headphones and read the transcript to 'get' what they were saying most of the time.

as for the combat....well it was no band of brothers but it wasn't too bad.

will being his own grandfather didn't bug me, although I'd had a thought that maybe he was 'barney' and setting up for him to join helen's little sanctuary team...or that we'd get more on the birth of the sanctuary system.

it was fun to see all of the five together, and yeah, they'd make a decent show on their own.

[Cekay]

I did quite like this episode. Nothing on awakening for me but hey I'm a teslen fan.

Firstly if Helen hadn't called James "darling" I would have missed the relationship entirely. I thought the Druitt/James scene had more emotion between those two than later on with James and Helen..
I would have been more inclined to see a slight druitt/james either *extra* brotherly or almost.. shippy? rather than actually see James and Helen together.
I don't normally look at slash cause it never seems even remotely canon but the whole:

James: Don't dig too deeply, you don't know how much you hurt her.
Druitt: Hurt her.. or you??

Though a Helen/James relationship makes sense, they were a lot alike and had the benefit of what? 50-60 years friends at that point. I just didn't feel it as strongly as I do Magnett or Teslen scenes.

=/ Typical shipper I always look for the ships first.

I didn't mind Dunne either, I wish they gave him a way stronger accent..

I loved Nigel "Look I don't know how it works, I wasn't paying attention."
Exactly as I picture him being!

I had the same Nigel/frenchladywhosenameIhaveforgotten would end up getting together and end up being Clara's grandparents.

Interesting that James made himself a machine to keep himself young but didn't make one for Nigel? Or maybe he chose to grow old with the woman he loved.

I gotta rewatch it when I'm less tired but good episode!

[Chelle DB]

Heaven forbid the day that Sanctuary actually ends, but I dare say MAD could be successful in making full-length movies of just exploits of The Five.

Totally agree with you on that.
I can officially say this is now my all time favourite epsiode of Sanctuary yet. Brillaint acting all round...directing, photography, sound...just absolutely top quality.
Love the love between Helen/James/Druitt...love Nigel...love Tesla...totally fantastic ep.
Peter Wingfield did a brilliant job...surely a prize winning performance.
I love the dedication made at the end of the episode...very touching.
Best epsiode ever...well done team Sanctuary.

[LadyGalaxyJ]

OK, fangirl crush time.

This is the Sanctuary I love, and the memory of One Night and Wingman is like a bad dream after the last two weeks.

First of all, great to see The Five in action again. This is the kind of episode I've been waiting for since they were first mentioned in SFA. Taking a piece of history and making it their own with a unique twist.

Second, the interactions between the characters were at the highest level, especially between the Five. Tesla was his usual snarky brilliant self, Druitt was playing his own agenda, and it was nice to see more of Griffin. The Helen and James thing was a bit of a surprise (tho' not a huge one). I wonder when it started and when it ended, cause they obviously weren't together for some time before James died (I doubt Helen would have had John's child if she was still with James). Either way, it'll be nice to see more of their history over the years, especially some more John/James interaction.

One thing I didn't like, as few people mentioned above was RD playing Will's grandfather. Same actors playing ancestors of their regular characters is weird and distracting IMO, I mean how hard is it to find someone who looks a bit similar to pass as a grandfather?

All in all still one of the best eps in the series for me, and definitely the best in this half season so far.

I completly agree with Jas.
And re-the bolded: I wonder that too. And Ashley refers to him as Uncle James IIRC in Revelations. Maybe James simply didn't want to be the father to John's child and that's what ended their relationship as a couple. But rewatching it, I can see a little more than friendship between Helen and James throughout the episode. It's the glances between the two.

[Arthurb65]

What is the name of the lieutenant? Is he the same guy that was in the Jesse Stone recent movie with the name of "Lewis?"
'

[Rocky89]

Totally agree with you on that.
I can officially say this is now my all time favourite epsiode of Sanctuary yet. Brillaint acting all round...directing, photography, sound...just absolutely top quality.
Love the love between Helen/James/Druitt...love Nigel...love Tesla...totally fantastic ep.
Peter Wingfield did a brilliant job...surely a prize winning performance.
I love the dedication made at the end of the episode...very touching.
Best episode ever...well done team Sanctuary.

Many fans loved the ep last night, twitter was full of them. I can only think of one other "Sci-fi" show that could change it's entire tone, look, feel, and what not to match what the episode needed to do. SGA's Vegas episode. It didn't feel like I was watching SGA, but an episode of CSI and I love that Sanctuary was able to do this as SGA did.

This episode is now one of my top faves, up there with Breach and I hope to see this episode at least earn a couple of Gemini noms. And yes, the dedication at the end was wonderful.

[kes]

Didnt disappoint and I was expecting a lot. One of my fav eps so far. The Five is the best thing about this show and maybe this ep doesnt reach fav because they werent all together. But it worked cos they all know each other so well.
One thing is bugging me thou. James mention Druitt took blood (I'm assuming from Helen) and Watson already has the machine. So how is Griffin still young?

[Gem of Tigress]

Overall Great eppy! loved that the five were back, and of course seeing Tesla again is always fun. i also got the "is the french lady Clara's Grandmother?" vibe. wasn't bothered by Will playing his grandfather, wish Helen could have met him, it would have been interesting. Loved this one.

[Jeffer]

So how is Griffin still young?

Perhaps with going invisible all the time it slows his aging process. maybe every time he becomes visible again it rebuilds his body to the point it was when he first took the blood and got the power.

[siles]

I had such a nice review as I watched this episode - one of the best - but the forum ate it. I'll try to remember it from memory

1. WTF? How did we get from 2011 to 1944 in Normandy - is it a dream or a memory? Hope it gets explained later...
2. What does a T-55 tank do in Normandy and how come the German officer doesn't recognize it?
3. Redhead Magnus for the win
4. How come Griffin is so young?
5. If Watson designed the weather machine how come the Allies don't have one to counteract the Nazis one?
6. Fire elemental was cool - is Helen dealing with a Fire elemental in present time and did this trigger a memory or dream about 1944 Normandy?
7. At first I really thought Druitt was working for the Nazis, but then it dawned on me that had that been the case they would have won the war as he would have been able to time travel and give them advanced info abut future technologies
8. Is the French resistance girl Clara's (sp?) granpa.
9. I didn't think Will's granpa would die or Tesla's aide was a traitor - total surprise.
All in all a great episode - my only complain is that I couldn't find a connection to "Awakening"
P.S. Loved the dedication at the end.

[kes]

I had such a nice review as I watched this episode - one of the best - but the forum ate it. I'll try to remember it from memory

Its happening to me a lot too.

Perhaps with going invisible all the time it slows his aging process. maybe every time he becomes visible again it rebuilds his body to the point it was when he first took the blood and got the power.

Don't like that.

[KayLyne]

So how is Griffin still young?

well, from what I recall - they each took at least a tiny part of the vampire blood in the original experimenet, which is how they got their powers. I'm guessing that had something to do with them all having some form of extra longevity, which varied depending on the person - it's just that Helen's longevity seems to have become the most prolonged. However, back in Revelations (I think) we hear that at present day, Watson died "over half a century ago", which would mean not very long after these events of Normandy - since this was in 1944, I'm guessing only about a decade or less. I don't think we've heard exactly how he died. Maybe it was old age, maybe it was as he was invisible and doing something he shouldn't have. The Nazi guy in this eppy said that both Helen & James were around 80 years old here. So, I'm guessing that Griffin would be approximately the same.

[Kilgharrah]

What an awesome episode!!!
To quote Helen, 'Dear God!!!'
I wasn't that keen on watching it when I watched the promo, but I was wrong.
I never thought I would be that happy to see Robin Dunne. I hate him as much as I hate Will, but it was great to see his grandfather. I loved that character.
Liked knowing more about Griffin. We don't get to see him much. Same goes for Watson, but we see Watson a lot more.
So Let's see,
1- I can't see Helen and Watson as a couple.
2- What's wrong with this woman??? Is she trying all the men in the group??? How stupid is that.
3- I think that this episode was just a build-up.
4- After this episode, I really really like Watson and the actor is so talented. I felt his agony. WOW!!!!
5- I like seeing Helen in charge. She really knows what she's doing.
6- Tesla never ceases to amaze me. That brilliant mind. I'm surprised I didn't see it. The betrayal of that guy. Normally I figure things out at the beginning, but it was different this time.
7- Jonathan Young's acting is great. I like that actor. I can't believe he hasn't got bigger roles yet.
8- I think they meant to say that the woman with Griffin is Clara's grandmother coz she looks like her.
9- I was surprised this time, because I didn't like Heyerdahl's acting. He used to be great. What happened????
10- The burned retinas and the elemental were great. But they were too much IMO.
11- Loved the idea of the accents and I liked Griffin's

Just one problem,
Isn't Watson supposed to look younger? He was supposed to keep his young look that we saw in Victorian England, but he looks older.

Edit:At first, I thought Will's grandfather was Will himself, time travelling. This is much better.

[Kilgharrah]

I had such a nice review as I watched this episode - one of the best - but the forum ate it. I'll try to remember it from memory

4. How come Griffin is so young?
5. If Watson designed the weather machine how come the Allies don't have one to counteract the Nazis one?
All in all a great episode - my only complain is that I couldn't find a connection to "Awakening"
P.S. Loved the dedication at the end.

4. I thought Griffin was a bit old, but not old enough. I just didn't think about it much. A bit old is enough for me.
5. Maybe they didn't wanna do it that way. They wanted to win fair and square.

I had the same problem with this episode, but I think we'll see the connection later. Can't wait!!!!