External Publication
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Gateworld.net and other Stargate website sources
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Wednesday, 02 August 2017
Off the Grid is famous for the scene where Ben as Cameron Mitchell decides - against the advice of his team - to pose as a drug lord, while trying to gather intel about the Kassa corn operation, a genetically engineered vegetable with a highly addictive substance. To quote Cameron, it's "evil Orville Redenbacher."
Ben gave one of his finest performances of the series in Collateral Damage. The episode is one of the rare gems amongst the Stargate series where the focus is more character-driven, as opposed to the usual action/cool pseudo-science/plot-driven stories.
I get a kick out of this episode of Stargate due to the impossible nature of Cam and Sam's predicament. Sam is working on an artifact brought back from one of Merlin's planets to figure out what it does. Cameron, worrying about workaholic Sam's lack of meals, urges her to come and eat with him. As Sam pushes a button, both teammates are shifted into an alternate dimension. The fun, in the beginning, is twofold: Cam tests the reality of the alternate dimension by poking Sam and Sam immediately pokes him back.
When asked what his favourite scene out of Stargate was to film, Ben said the "mud scene" from Camelot. Ben enjoys doing his own stunts and had fun with what he calls "the boy stuff." The day he shot the famous mud-slinging, sword-fighting scene against the Black Knight, it was raining, and Ben was slipping and sliding, but he loved every second of it.
Talion is centered around Teal'c, and there is no doubt that Chris Judge offers a powerful performance and shows the angry, darker side of his character, which is offset by Ben's equally strong performance as Teal'c's understanding and loyal friend, who tries together with the team to help the great Jaffa warrior. It is the final episode directed by Andy Mikita, who says in the Stargate SG-1 Season 10 Companion Book that the episode in its original form ran much longer, but several scenes were sadly cut for time.
The Road Not Taken may be, in my opinion, one of the best episodes of Season 10. The writing, directing, acting (especially from Ben), the very concept of the story - all of it is nearly perfect. In fact, the only real flaw in it is that we don't get to see more of Ben. However, what we do have is an Emmy-worthy performance by Ben which took everyone including Amanda Tapping (who is quoted as being "astonished" by his work) by surprise.
Stargate: Continuum is a brilliant, poignant and bittersweet film, both for its remarkable story and for the fact that it is the last of the Stargate films ever made. It is the ultimate "You can't go home again" tale, as Cameron Mitchell finds himself trapped in an alternate timeline and eventually, the past, unable to ever see his friends or family again.
This comedic episode has the unique honor of allowing Ben and Claudia to perform together and the results are a lot of fun. Bounty posits that Vala is so bored on the base that she begs a reluctant Cameron Mitchell to allow her to go with him to his high school reunion in Kansas. He is literally pushed into this situation and the first place the non-couple go is to his parent's farm.
Bad Guys is a terrific episode with a story inspired by an idea pitched by Ben himself, who received "story credit" for his concept.
SG-1 (with the exception of Samantha, who is visiting the President of the United States) is looking for the Clava Thessara Infinitas (aka the "Key to Infinite Treasure," and thought to be the "key" to finding a stash of weapons left behind by the Ancients). They walk through the Stargate and quickly realize they're in a museum.
Season 9's Babylon was a chance for Ben to show the deep strength of his character, Cameron Mitchell. Ben did the athletic stunts during both the training scenes, exercise scenes and final fight. He also gave a gorgeous performance detailing Cameron's faith and optimistic outlook.
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