In Times of Despair (222)

[Alex Rubit]

Stargate: Horizon - Season Two
"In Times of Despair"

"In Times of Despair"
Ep: 2.22
Release Date: June 15th, 2006
Written by Mike Coakley

Despite the approaching Vorian Day of Renewal, tensions are at a peak between the Kih'Andari and Vorians. While Council Vahret boards Horizon to discuss peaceful solutions, the crew struggles with finding their footing during these times of despair.

[Elite Anubis Guard]

So..where's a download link?

[Alex Rubit]

It's up on the site now.

[Lt. Colonel Ryu Gaia]

Another Coakley one-hit-wonder. A triumph!*

*I'll have a lot more to say about this episode later, when I write a review for it.

[SierraGulf1]

Glad, as usual, to hear to liked it. Also looking forward to the review as usual.

This episode was a lot of fun to write, mainly because I got to go into detail with already established characters that I had never written before (Zach, Ma'kin, Lain). It was also fun exploring some character relationships, such as Christine/Sivea, Christine/Kayla, Sivea/Bay'lar, Sivea/Lain, Callen/Ma'kin, etc.

As for the spy subplot, we really needed someone that nobody would expect. Seeing as Lain and Ma'kin were probably the most likely suspects, we decided to give our Vorian Technician a bit of a bigger role. Originally his capture was much longer, but it was shortened to allow other scenes.

I'll have more in The Making Of (they're coming, finals have just thrown me off track).

[Alex Rubit]

I'm also glad to hear you liked it, Ryu. I'm looking forward to, hopefully, some more comments.

And I'm just popping in to say that the episode is now available on the Horizon website. So I'll be taking down the temporary link.

[Lt.Colonel John Sheppard]

sorry but i thought this episode was not really that good i mean Grant and Horizon-1 are in some of it but mostly it was callen and his son and the kihandri.

[Lt. Colonel Ryu Gaia]

This episode was a lot of fun to write, mainly because I got to go into detail with already established characters that I had never written before (Zach, Ma'kin, Lain). It was also fun exploring some character relationships, such as Christine/Sivea, Christine/Kayla, Sivea/Bay'lar, Sivea/Lain, Callen/Ma'kin, etc.

As for the spy subplot, we really needed someone that nobody would expect. Seeing as Lain and Ma'kin were probably the most likely suspects, we decided to give our Vorian Technician a bit of a bigger role. Originally his capture was much longer, but it was shortened to allow other scenes.

You consider that the subplot? To be honest, I found the entire episode to be an intricate web of about four or five subplots, each of which contributed to the theme that was very well stated by Callen in the final act - that we must have hope, even in times of despair.

And for the record, I very much enjoy subplots.

[mentalmichael]

Well, I find myself in an extremely odd position here - I'm always moaning about the need for more character focus in SG-1 + SGA, and yet when I get this in Horizon I'm not as pleased as I should be! I thought it was a great episode.... but it's clear that it was just designed to build up tension before the next ep. What I want to see is character moments built into the sci-fi plot.

It was good (better than SG1 has managed in 9 years), but not quite there.

[Elite Anubis Guard]

Mike wrote this?! Wow! It's amazing to see just how character episodes show off ones writing skills. For a "sitting around talking" episode this was fantastic. I loved the character moments, especially Sivea and Bay'lar. I can't believe they were almost married. I always thought they had a past relationship, but nothing like that. I'm hoping they get together. It'd be cool to see how Grant deals with that.

It was a shame to see Ma'kin and Callen fighting, but son-father fights are inevitable, but I'm glad they made up. La'kins presence was great, really allowed for some nice moments between Sivea and Bay'lar. She really isn't that good with relationships is she?!

Well obviously, this episode raises tension for the last two episodes, which will probably be dealing with a civil war - I'm thinking. I was a little disappointed with who the spy turned out to be, it might have been more effective had the character been established - It would have worked since the LT. was brainwashed and didn't even remember he did it-Although I'm sure "it" wasn't specifically delt with. I actually thought it would Bay'lar coming into it.

I'm disappointed we didn't get more of the festivities as well, it would have been nice to have the partying a presence throughout, but I understand the need to have it at the end and it made an effective ending. Still not like Zach, he's really bugging me. His personality is grating on me.

While it was a shame there wasn't enough room for more characters (more from Grant, Chris etc.) I didn't really miss them as the characters you had focused on really kept me griped, especially from Act 3 onwards. Overall..."bloody brilliant" in the words of Ron Weasly.

[SierraGulf1]

Mike wrote this?! Wow! It's amazing to see just how character episodes show off ones writing skills. For a "sitting around talking" episode this was fantastic. I loved the character moments, especially Sivea and Bay'lar. I can't believe they were almost married. I always thought they had a past relationship, but nothing like that. I'm hoping they get together. It'd be cool to see how Grant deals with that.

That's, I'm flattered b ythe comments. We didn't want it to feel like the whole Sivea-Bay'lar history had been forgotten (it really wasn't hinted at since, well, "Troika" I believe). Should be interesting to see how things play out.

It was a shame to see Ma'kin and Callen fighting, but son-father fights are inevitable, but I'm glad they made up. La'kins presence was great, really allowed for some nice moments between Sivea and Bay'lar. She really isn't that good with relationships is she?!

Well, what's a father-son relationship without a bit of feuding. Assuming La'kin is a typo for Lain, we thought the Vorian holiday would be a great way to have a couple old guest stars aboard Horizon. It's looking like Ma'kin and Lain are starting to become recurring characters, and I like both of them.

Well obviously, this episode raises tension for the last two episodes, which will probably be dealing with a civil war - I'm thinking. I was a little disappointed with who the spy turned out to be, it might have been more effective had the character been established - It would have worked since the LT. was brainwashed and didn't even remember he did it-Although I'm sure "it" wasn't specifically delt with. I actually thought it would Bay'lar coming into it.

This was talked about quite a bit, actually. There was really a lot going on with Bay'lar and the other characters, and we really didn't want the spy bit to be too big a part of the episode. The Vorian Technician actually is established already, sort of our Walter, and we thought this might be a good way to make him more of a recognized character. As for how he feels about being used, see "Revolution."

I'm disappointed we didn't get more of the festivities as well, it would have been nice to have the partying a presence throughout, but I understand the need to have it at the end and it made an effective ending. Still not like Zach, he's really bugging me. His personality is grating on me.

While it was a shame there wasn't enough room for more characters (more from Grant, Chris etc.) I didn't really miss them as the characters you had focused on really kept me griped, especially from Act 3 onwards. Overall..."bloody brilliant" in the words of Ron Weasly.

Thanks. Shame we can't do a 90-minute episode every wekk, because that sure would make it a lot easier to integrate everything. I'm glad you enjoyed it overall, and thanks for both the compliments and criticisms.

[travis]

I really loved this ep. Enjoyed all the mutilple subplots as I personally thought it gave the story texture. The tone was just perfect for lead up to the last 2 eps.
I'm so glad that we got an in site to Sivea relationship with Bay'lar.

[jelgate]

Jelgate's Two Cents

A war is brewing. That the best way to describe this episode. There was definatly?* more character development than arc development in this episode. That not a bad thing because it has been awhile since we had some really good character development and boy did we get a lot of it. I had always suspected that Bayler and Sieva had at one time dated but I never in a million years thought they at one point had been engaged. Speaking of Sieva, I was please that Sieva and her father?* have put aside their differences since S1 (the episode name escapes me). No matter where you live, I guess families disagree. I was kind of shocked that Callen wouldn't want his son joining the military. I understand that a civil war may break any day now, but?* wouldn't Callen be proud that his son is chosing a noble profession. I am theorizing that David was depressed over the death of Beaumont. I hope the writers will not forget about that and continue to develop his grief over his friends death.?*?* The beginning was interesting by showing Christine and Kayla mourning over the disappearence (you wouldn't kill a main character) of Lenori. Shows how much they really cared about him.?* This episode also advanced the plot of a Vorian civil war. Obviously from the beginning, both sides neogations would fail. It didn't surprise me that there was a spy in Horizon. For a second I thought it was Bayler. Luckly, I was wrong. HA, this episode told me why Bayler hates humans.?* Brainwashing the Horizon's, "Chucknician" was an act of brilliance.?* Who wrote this episode? Because I want to thank him/her for the inspirational speech by Callen. I can see that this episode is building up to the season finale. I can hardly wait. 4/5

[Alex Rubit]

[B][CENTER]I was kind of shocked that Callen wouldn't want his son joining the military. I understand that a civil war may break any day now, but?* wouldn't Callen be proud that his son is chosing a noble profession.

Callen would definitely be very proud. But in this case, his concern was stronger. He was just a very concerned father. And I think, if I recall correctly, towards the end he just started to realize that Ma'kin had become a grown up man, capable of making his own decisions. Before that Callen's just driven by the natural protective instinct that any parent would have. In the end though, I think we implied that he was definitely very proud of Ma'kin.

By the way, I don't always get around to replying to all your reviews, but they're always fun to read. Glad you're enjoying the series.