[denizen]

It’s been years since we last saw any new Stargate. The long-running Stargate: SG-1 wrapped up its story ten years ago with the release of its two direct-to-DVD movies. I know it’s a weird thing to say about a show that had ten seasons and two movies, but it always felt like SG-1 ended too soon. The beautiful thing about the idea of a Stargate is that you can tell any story you want with it. There’s no limit to the places you can go, and as SG-1 went on, they kept taking the series to surprising new places. Even when the original cast started to leave, their replacements were interesting and the stories were cool enough to carry the show forward. And even then, it was able to support a spin-off series, Stargate: Atlantis which took the franchise in even more fantastical directions. Plus, it had Jason Momoa in it. Atlantis only lasted five seasons, but they were all very good seasons. Stargate: Universe… also happened.

Thankfully, the story of Stargate is no longer over. The first three episodes of Stargate: Origins have been released. The new series is on Stargate Command, a Stargate specific streaming service. Though the first three episodes of Origins are free, the rest will require you to upgrade to their paid tier. It’s not so bad. A one-time payment of $20 gets you every Stargate movie and TV series, so it’s actually a pretty decent deal. Three episodes in, and Origins feels so much like classic Stargate. As in, the original movie Stargate. With a little bit of Indiana Jones thrown in. It follows Catherine Langford as a young woman working with her father. They’ve found the Stargate and he’s been trying to figure out what it is. That’s when the Nazis show up. Like I said, this show is very Stargate by way of Indiana Jones.

Using less scrupulous methods than the Langfords ever considered, the Nazi occultist Dr. Wilhelm Brücke has figured out exactly what the Stargate does. He kidnaps Catherine’s father and takes him through to another world. Meanwhile, Catherine recruits her soldier boyfriend and his buddy to join her as she goes after her father and the Nazis. Three episodes in, the show is a lot of fun. Catherine is such a cool protagonist, and I can’t wait to follow her adventure over the next seven episodes. She’s tough, impulsive and smart. By the time you reach episode three, and she’s pushing her companions into an unknown world, she has completely won you over.

Ellie Gall plays Catherine, and she took some time to speak with me about the new series and what she enjoyed about playing Catherine. When she first heard about the new series, she says she wasn’t super familiar with it as a series. She knew the original movie, but not much about the TV show. Before her audition, she says she did some research into what kind of TV series it was. After she got the part, she watched the movie, but didn’t want to go too far into the TV series.

“It’s an origin story,” she said. “I shouldn’t know all that much about what a Stargate is and what it does, where it takes you and how it works.” She said she decided to not learn too much about Stargate before filming, so she could discover it organically as Catherine does on the show. The same goes for the other portrayals of Catherine Langford in previous Stargates. This is a character who’s been in the franchise before; only she’s appeared much later in life. Gall wanted to make sure her performance was her own. She didn’t want to know where Catherine’s story goes after this series is over. “It’s almost like I went to a fortune teller and asked her to tell me what my future would look like. Not always the best idea. I did a bit of research, and I found quotes other characters shared about Catherine… her values and who she was as a person.” Gall says most of her inspiration came from the script. In serving the words on the page, she started thinking about what Catherine’s life in Egypt was like, what her relationship with her father was and what she was into.

Though Gall didn’t have all that much familiarity with Stargate, the character of Catherine drew her to the script. “Playing a female character that really just takes charge and doesn’t wait for anyone to give her permission, and isn’t hindered by what she should and shouldn’t do based on what her role is. Especially in 1939, and what was thought was typical of a woman at the time. That was really appealing to me. It was cool to lead two men into the unknown, and take on a challenge headfirst. I think she does things that most people probably just wouldn’t do.”

That includes Gall. She says she was excited to play a role that let her do stunts and work in a genre she hadn’t really explored before. “It was really cool to get to be a part of something that already has a fanbase, and already has set rules around the world. That was really cool to see. Also, a little bit intimidating. Working on sci-fi, there’s a lot of elements that come into play regarding what’s going on around you. It’s fun to discover a new world, and be playful. It’s not just a drama about a relationship. It’s not a story that’s grounded in reality. It’s fun to get to play in a world that isn’t like this one.”

Working in a new genre gave Gall a ton of new experiences, but one stuck out in her mind as particularly cool. “It was pretty cool to get to shoot a gun. I’m Australian; we have very strict gun laws in Australia. I don’t think I’d even touched a gun… fight scenes also, I loved doing the fight scenes.” she said. She also loved the costumes she got to wear. The late-1930s clothes Catherine wears really helped Gall get into character, she says. “I loved my costumes. When I got to wear the vintage pieces, I really looked like I was from that time.” Gall especially loves her costume right at the end of the series. She couldn’t tell me too much about it or the circumstances in which she wears it. That would be a spoiler. She does say it was a vintage piece of clothing and really difficult to move around in. “I could really analyze more what it would be like as a woman in that time when you do wear clothes that were made like that. Those women did feel very held back and their clothes were a huge representation of what life would have been like.”

We can also look forward to plenty of practical effects, which I was happy to hear about. There obviously are CG effects added later, but from the sounds of things, not as many as there could be. “There’s a lot of combat in this world. Because the world we go into is not so different from our own, it doesn’t feel I guess maybe like the series feels, where you’re on a spaceship or a really foreign alien planet. It does feel very grounded in the world we’re in, but there are some slight differences that throw you off and make you a little bit uneasy. Things are a bit weird, and not the same. The Stargate is the biggest effect in the show that you’re gonna see.”

Gall says Stargate: Origins feels much closer to the original Stargate film, but also has an old-Hollywood feel to it. “Origins takes on more of that ‘Indiana Jones’-like ‘let’s go get stuff done,’ and going headfirst into it and not thinking about it so much.”

As far as whether or not this could lead to more Stargate, I mean I hope it does, but Gall can’t say for sure yet. If it does, she’s not sure there’s a place for Catherine after Origins. “I don’t know where Catherine could go after this story is finished. I’m not sure where she would live in this world anymore, because she comes back in series and there are a lot of things that happen to her through the show. I’m not sure she needs to come back, but there’s so much potential in Stargate to explore other characters’ origin stories.” Whether she’s able to come back for more Stargate, Gall says she’d definitely want to do more sci-fi. Just as long as she didn’t fall into the trap of doing the same role or telling the same story over and over. “There’s so much potential in sci-fi. It doesn’t have to be set in space or set in Egypt. It can be a concept more so than an actual happening situation.”

asked if there’s a moment she couldn’t wait for people to see, and she couldn’t get too specific about that. All she could really say was “the end.” It sounds like something pretty amazing happens in episodes nine and 10. “There’s some juicy information that’s revealed there, and really intense emotional stuff that goes down. I want people to get there and see what happens and feel the feels.” She did give me one small hint though. Something that’s been in the trailers for the series. “I shot a gun.” Alright. Well, we’ll have to see exactly what leads her to that moment.

Stargate: Origins consists of 10 episodes, each about 10 minutes long. I know, when I heard there was more Stargate, I was hoping for an SG-1 sized epic. But do the math, and this basically ads up to a whole new Stargate movie. Gall says they shot the 100-minute series as if it were a movie too. And 30 minutes in, it’s a real good one. That’s already more than we ever thought we’d see from the series again. The first three episodes are available now on Stargate Command. New episodes will be released every week. And if 10 minutes of Stargate isn’t enough, you can always rewatch SG-1. That should be more than enough to fill in the gaps between Origins episodes.

[denizen]

Well i got around to watching the first 3 episodes. They are short (8 min each) web episodes but i thought it was quite impressive. Loved the music. It was campy and almost felt like watching SG1 again.

Take into account that web series are limited in budget so the visual effects and overall time they spend on each episode is far less than your average show.

I hope it becomes successful enough to warrant a proper series but i guess time will tell.

[Jediferret]

I need to check this out... I keep forgetting about it. >_<

ReBoot: The Guardian Code is coming out soon too... and I keep forgetting about that one too! ACK!

[denizen]

Well, I say give it a go. It's fun to watch!

[denizen]

Well i have watched 5 episodes so far and its matching up to be pretty good IMO.

Still has some of the cheesy aspects that made SG1, but the characters are likable. I have said it before but i really hope this show is green lighted for a series.

[denizen]

Still havent watched the rest of the season but I plan to see it on the weekend. Just 10 episodes and im loving it!