Cameron - Discussion and Appreciation

[Dream-a-Little]

Some more pics for Collateral Damage have been added at this site:

http://sg.emedian.net/

Go to images, episodic photography, season 9

Total 18 pics now. Interesting emblem on Mitchell's shoulder on the top far right hand side one.

[ShardsofGlass]

Welcome... I loved his tale of his experience with a premiere flight team. What a fantastic gift!

I just went and typed a load of quotes etc and lost the whole lot due to GW continuining to have glitches

So I'm just posting the Collateral Damage scan now (Spoilers)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...67/TVS67-5.jpg

Comments from new writer Alan McCullough (Prototype, Collateral Damage, Stronghold and Arthur's Mantle)

"I thought Ben Browder did a fantastic job in Stronghold. It was a tough script and not your standard Stargate story and I really felt like Ben connected emotionally to the script very well."
------

It seems that Alan has been given responsibility of the darker, seamier side of the Stargate storyline and these 3 are Ben episodes, so they are making use of his real talents in this area IMHO... can't wait for the rest of the season!

You know what's funny? I saw part of the write-up for Collateral Damage at a Daniel-friendly site. The person who typed up the text from CD left out all of the good comments made about Ben! I remember being a little miffed that whoever had been interviewed spent all his time praising the director and never said a word about Ben. But that's not true! LOL I guess the Daniel fan didn't want others to know that Ben did a good job. Sheesh.

I'm starting to look forward to this ep. THanks for the scan!

[Kas]

The glitches in the site are bad and just seem to keep getting worse. I hope someone can get a handle on the problem soon!

Absolutely love the prospect of seeing Ben get a chance to tackle some dark, edgy, push a few bounderies type of stuff! Perhaps Ben's don't be afraid to take chances spirit is rubbing off on the writers and directors!

I really, really hope so. You'd always just know he wasn't being used to his potential all the time otherwise and he's such a brave actor that's just right to shake things up a little

The spoilers for the back half of the season sound sooooo much better than they did for the first half! I especially can't wait for this episode! I am amazed at how they have been able to keep a very tight lid on the actual content of this episode's

Spoiler:

flashbacks into Mitchell's past. Although Paul does seem to have leaked the jist of at least one of them here. We also do know that one of them involves the relationship with his father - but we don't know what that relationship is.

We've only really gotten leaks on the one pertaining to present day circumstances.

They really do and considering all the online presence and amount they let out, I'm very surprised that not much is known about this eppy. That is how I prefer it though... although it's amusing to see Mallozzi's input - I feel they do tend to let too much out and spoonfeed plot points. I'm not so sure it's healthy to be giving too much close contact to the viewer base.

Very cool quote from Alan McCullough as well! I know that Stronghold was supposed to also contain

Spoiler:

Mitchell flashbacks

. Were there any hints as to what those were?

There was something on this - I'll be back later to rewrite some of the stuff I lost when posting.

There is no doubt that this is Mitchell's team as referred to in his interview at top of page 4 scan. Also, Amanda Tapping confirms this in her interview and states that she would like to see it touched upon in upcoming S10 as to why he is leader. So, all this co-leadership stuff is bunk - the military wouldn't condone such a situation, someone has to make final decisions and that will be Mitchell. Carter chose to rejoin under his leadership as Mallozzi has now come out and said in his blog... she can be a mission lead - in absence of Mitchell and also give input but it is Mitchell's SG-1. I've hope that we'll see them writing this with more emphasis this upcoming second half.

[Kas]

Some more pics for Collateral Damage have been added at this site:

http://sg.emedian.net/

Go to images, episodic photography, season 9

Total 18 pics now. Interesting emblem on Mitchell's shoulder on the top far right hand side one.

Thanks for the link. Looks like the 7s in a pack of cards forming the shape of a wing? Hmmm, interesting - wonder what that represents... that he's a member of the poker club !??

[cajnjirl]

Thanks a million for the article, Kas!

I'm tryin' not to be excited because I love dark and moody Ben.

I'll bet there was considerable cussin' going on when you lost all your
post that you had all typed up.

[Kas]

Thanks a million for the article, Kas!

I'm tryin' not to be excited because I love dark and moody Ben.

I'll bet there was considerable cussin' going on when you lost all your
post that you had all typed up.

Welcome... and btw... that's putting it mildly. I could've hurled something at the screen too! Just couldn't face typing again as it takes me ages!

When everyone's gone to bed tonight I'll see if I can get something typed up.

Have a very Happy Christmas everyone.

[Dream-a-Little]

I really, really hope so. You'd always just know he wasn't being used to his potential all the time otherwise and he's such a brave actor that's just right to shake things up a little

Exactly!

They really do and considering all the online presence and amount they let out, I'm very surprised that not much is known about this eppy. That is how I prefer it though... although it's amusing to see Mallozzi's input - I feel they do tend to let too much out and spoonfeed plot points. I'm not so sure it's healthy to be giving too much close contact to the viewer base.

I'm not so sure close contact to the viewer base is a good thing in the other direction either. He seems to freak out too much over what various extreme fan groups say. Although they claim that they are not influenced by anything the fans say, I think JM definately is, and not in a good way. He seems to take that back with him to the writers' room when he should just be focusing on writing a good story. It's like everything he does gets a once over by certain fan list agendas. This makes for a bit of a mess and in the end pleases nobody. Most Stargate fans never come online, do not have extreme agendas and just want to turn on the tv and see good team stories. I think JM's overexposure to various rabid fan demands has resulted in a very narrow and inacurate view of his show's audience in general. A lot of times, I just wish someone would please take his computer away from him!

There was something on this - I'll be back later to rewrite some of the stuff I lost when posting.

Looking forward to it!

There is no doubt that this is Mitchell's team as referred to in his interview at top of page 4 scan. Also, Amanda Tapping confirms this in her interview and states that she would like to see it touched upon in upcoming S10 as to why he is leader. So, all this co-leadership stuff is bunk - the military wouldn't condone such a situation, someone has to make final decisions and that will be Mitchell. Carter chose to rejoin under his leadership as Mallozzi has now come out and said in his blog... she can be a mission lead - in absence of Mitchell and also give input but it is Mitchell's SG-1. I've hope that we'll see them writing this with more emphasis this upcoming second half.

Very to good to hear! I think basically this co-lead stuff is just a fan fic that JM has been writing for a certain group of online fans. Hey and if that makes them happy to have him come on line every once in awhile and say that, fine. What I care about is what actually is done in the show itself. I realize that Mitchell's style of leadership will be different than Jack's. Jack was a lot older than the rest of the team. When he became team leader, Sam and Daniel were inexperienced kids. So that was a totally different team dynamic. Mitchell is taking over a team closer to his age and highly skilled and experienced. His management style of that team will be different because of that and also because he is a different person than Jack. But they still do need to be lead! It will not serve the show well if it is not clear that he is still the one with the final say. He worked hard to bring these people back together as unit because he valued their knowledge and experience, so I would expect their advice to heavily influence his decisions. But it still should be made clear that the decisions are his to make.

[Dream-a-Little]

Thanks for the link. Looks like the 7s in a pack of cards forming the shape of a wing? Hmmm, interesting - wonder what that represents... that he's a member of the poker club !??

I assume it has something to do with his squadron, since I don't think they can slap just anything on their uniforms. I know nothing about poker. Are all those 7s a good thing?

Thanks again Kas for being so lovely as to brave this glitchy site for us! Have a very Merry Christmas!

[ShardsofGlass]

Kas,

I'm sorry you have to type things twice, but I can't wait to see what else you can type out. You know what you might want to do? I've done this before. You might want to type out the quotes in Word or some other program and them copy and paste them here. That way, if GW goes down or something, you stil have what you typed somewhere else instead of having to retype it again.

About Stronghold. I didn't know that this ep had some flashbacks in it. That's cool, though I do hope they're not all in the cockpit of a plane where Ben is wearing all that equipment! I don't find scenes of planes flying around all that interesting, to be honest. I'd much rather see him interacting with people.

One thing I'm very interested in seeing in the second half of the season is whether or not the blocking and closeups will change. I agree with whoever was talking about this earlier. Closeups are not a vanity thing. THey help the audience focus on a characte and see what they're saying and feeling. By keeping Mitchell far away from us, they're distancing him and making him seem less important. I truly hope this was a deliberate way to ease him into the show and that we'll see more closeups in the coming eps. I also want to see him not always be the last one in a lineup walking down the hall. Or the one who's in the back of all the other characters when they're in a room together. It's time for Mitchell to get a little more attention!

[Kas]

Kas,

I'm sorry you have to type things twice, but I can't wait to see what else you can type out. You know what you might want to do? I've done this before. You might want to type out the quotes in Word or some other program and them copy and paste them here. That way, if GW goes down or something, you stil have what you typed somewhere else instead of having to retype it again.

I took this advice Shards... thank you muchly. It was so infuriating to lose the typing.

About Stronghold. I didn't know that this ep had some flashbacks in it. That's cool, though I do hope they're not all in the cockpit of a plane where Ben is wearing all that equipment! I don't find scenes of planes flying around all that interesting, to be honest. I'd much rather see him interacting with people.

One thing I'm very interested in seeing in the second half of the season is whether or not the blocking and closeups will change. I agree with whoever was talking about this earlier. Closeups are not a vanity thing. THey help the audience focus on a characte and see what they're saying and feeling. By keeping Mitchell far away from us, they're distancing him and making him seem less important. I truly hope this was a deliberate way to ease him into the show and that we'll see more closeups in the coming eps. I also want to see him not always be the last one in a lineup walking down the hall. Or the one who's in the back of all the other characters when they're in a room together. It's time for Mitchell to get a little more attention!

I think that because Mitchell is going to come to the forefront more (no matter what some may think - Ben is the lead actor of SG-1 now), then the blocking/time will reflect this. Everyone is now saying the introduction of characters etc is now complete and that first half was mainly the set-up... the established new regime starts in January.

Spoilers for Stronghold and Arthur's Mantle:

Spoiler:

Stronghold revisits the Free Jaffa nation as well as peering into Colonel Mitchell’s private life.

“Baal has been abducting Jaffa council members in order to influence a very important vote in the Jaffa council, and Teal’c gets kidnapped as a result of this,” says McCullough. “So it’s up to SG-1 to figure out a way to save him. At the same time, Mitchell is visiting an old friend of his who’s in hospital. This person is terminally ill and the colonel has arranged for the SGC doctors to examine him in the hope that they can maybe help him in ways that conventional doctors can’t. Both these stories eventually play out together and Mitchell joins SG-1 in searching for Teal’c.”

Arthur’s Mantle is part of a 3 episode arc.

“This story opens with Colonel Carter, who, along with Dr Lee, has been trying to figure out how to operate one of the Ancient devices found in the Glastonbury cave,” explains McCullough.

“Unfortunately, they haven’t been successful and are about to ship the device off to Area 51 when Carter triggers something and she and Mitchell are transported to another dimension. They’re still on the base, they just can’t make themselves seen or heard. In the meantime, the SGC receives a message from the Sodan warriors saying they’ve been attacked by an unknown enemy, so Teal’c and another SG team go to investigate. Unbeknownst to anyone, Mitchell tags along and ends up getting stranded with Teal’c and the others. As in Stronghold, these two storylines eventually join up and play out in the end.”

Continues Joe Mallozzi: “ Arthur’s Mantle dovetails into Crusade, and that goes right into Camelot. In that one, a gate address leads our heroes to an alien version of Camelot in search of a device created by Merlin that would purportedly allow us to take out the Ori. We could be too late though, as the Ori have started building another space gate, as they tried to do before in Beachhead, to travel to our galaxy.”

As to what happens next, no one is saying much. “It’s your classic end of season cliffhanger episode where it appears as though everybody may be dead,” notes Paul Mullie. “The last shot in Camelot brings back a much loved and much hated character who we haven’t seen in a while and leaves a giant gaping hole in the story that we’ll have to address at the start of Season 10…”

Amanda Tapping on Cameron Mitchell:

"Conversely, there’s this brand new dynamic she’s dealing with when it comes to the Colonel Mitchell character and what he’s all about. At times, he’ll say something and Carter will think, ‘What?’ and then other times she’ll be like, ‘OK, I get it’. It’s interesting because he leads very differently than Jack did, and then, of course, there’s the question of why is Mitchell and not Sam in charge of SG-1. That’s something I hope the writers will explore further next season. After all, it could be an ensemble team where there is no patriarchal line of command, or maybe Mitchell and Carter could share the leadership responsibilities. However, because Sam is military and a good military girl, she will do exactly what she’s ordered to do. It wouldn’t be so bad
though, to see her rebel every now and then against an order she truly does not agree with.”

Chris Judge on Mitchell/Ben:

“This episode (Camelot) is a wonderful example of how our characters have come back together as a team this year,” continues the actor.

“The first few stories of the season were really to establish our new characters, including Ben Browder’s Colonel Cameron Mitchell, with viewers as well as reintroduce them to the Vala character, played by Claudia Black. Once everyone got to know a little bit about just who these people are, we were then able to focus on the team dynamic.

“I’m happy that our old characters have found the beginnings of their relationships with our new characters and vice versa. Ben and I have discovered our onscreen niche, which is that Mitchell and Teal’c are both warriors and leaders. I think in those first few episodes my character was kind of taken aback by how gung-ho and yippie-io-ki-ay he was,” chuckles the actor.

“That’s because Jack was more reserved. However, I feel Teal’c has grown to appreciate those attributes in Mitchell, and I certainly have grown to appreciate them in Ben as an actor.”

He goes on to say later:

“ It’s funny, you eventually find yourself in a place where you know your character and the other characters so well, you know what you’re going to do here, here and here, and no one rocks the boat. Well, that’s exactly what Ben and Claudia do, but in a totally good way. They love to challenge you and I love to be challenged as an actor. That’s a great thing they’ve brought to SG-1, and it’s increased everyone’s energy and focus. We still play around as much as ever, but I don’t think there’s been a time this year that we haven’t all been on top of our game. To have that level of professional commitment and still allow yourself to have fun, too; it’s the perfect work environment.”

Michael Shanks on Mitchell:

[“Establishing Daniel’s dynamic with Ben’s and Beau’s characters was far more challenging. With Daniel and Mitchell it would have been extremely cliché to go back nine years to the original dynamic of Daniel and Jack O’Neill, which was the military versus the diplomatic or more moral left-wing standing character. None of us wanted to be repetitive in that regard, so we tried to figure out a way for Daniel and Mitchell to work side by side, find some commonality and still have an entertaining rapport with one another.”

[Dream-a-Little]

From the GW Ask Joe thread today, some Mitchell questions and answers from JM:

Originally Posted by Busterfan
Joe,

I'm getting concerned that you haven't mentioned Mitchell at all when you talk about Season 10. Can you give us an idea of which eps will be good Mitchell eps?

Quote:

Two early episodes come to mind, neither of which have titles yet.

Hmmm... two early season 10 episodes that look good for Mitchell. Maybe season 10 will not turn out to be a Mitchell black hole after all. Early spoilers were a little scary there with their total lack of Mitchell mentions. I'm going to just let myself go with that positive flow.

Originally Posted by Dani347
Hey, two Mitchell questions in a row.

Do the writers know what Mitchell's kryptonite is, and will the audience see this in upcoming episodes?


Its not quite his kryptonite - but it is certainly a sensitive issue for Mitchell. Check out Collateral Damage.

Another thumbs up for this episode! Truly can't wait!

Originally Posted by Dani347
We've been having a little discussion about Mitchell's grandma, of all things. If she was supposed to be a fully developed, if off screen character, what kind of woman is she supposed to be? Are the long hours in church and the fact that she sounded like one of the priors meant to convey a strict, dour type of woman, or something else?

Yup. But beneath the harsh exterior lies a warm and of course loving individual (that would beat your backside blue if you looked at her cross-eyed).

Sorry Dani347, not the warm and fuzzy cookie baking kind of grandma after all. I like her better this way. Much more charactor potential for Mitchell this way than if she was all surface sweetness and light. That is if they ever mention her again, which they probably won't, but if they do...

[Cpt. Ritter]

Who knows, but when he mentioned her it was a very hilarious moment, especially since he's mocking the Prior right there. Way to go Mitchell, I'm definitely looking forward to more Mitchell in the second half of Season 9 and Season 10.

[greytop]

What I have heard when that Mitchell has mention or quoted from her. IMO, she was or is a strict and a very religious person. But she can be very loving in some ways or he woudn't have mentioned her at all.

[ChillinTheMost]

I'm back! Again. Seems like I've been a sproratic visitor lately. Blame it on the holidays.

Thanks for the article and the spoilers! Cool. The upcoming second half of the season sounds like must-see-TV! --not that it wasn't for me anyway.

I'm catching up on work again, so, I'll be back for more scintilllating posts like this one later.

[ChillinTheMost]

The site is www.fanfiction.net, my user name is Cpt. Ritter.

Ohh, I won't hold back, maybe I should adjust my avatar, the sig stays.

OOHHH and on the comment about Lam, I think it was grossly inappropriet, so maybe it's not ship for Mitchell to defend her but hey, I can dream right?

Merry Christmas.

Read your story, Cpt. Ritter - the one about Mitchell's crush? Cute. Funny, though, I would have reversed the personalities. I don't see Mitchell as being that shy and hesitant or Lam being the aggressive one. While Mitchell doesn't strike me as a "player", I think he would be more smooth, more sure of himself. Lam seems more backward in social relationships. Maybe I got that from an interview with Doig. She said that a woman that got to where she is at her age must have been very book smart and put most of her resources into learning and not into socializing with others. Doig is playing Lam that way mostly in her dealings with Landry and her inablility to move on from her childhood resentment of Landry not being there. This might not be cannon, but from that, I make Lam to be the more hesitant, unsure one in a romantic relationship. Still, cute story.

I see you have another one there - and there are other Mitchell stories!!! WooHoo!!! I'm going to read some in my spare time!