Preview & Discussion : Sanctuary episode #318 "Carentan" * Spoilers *
- Thread starter stclare
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Carentan (a.k.a. Stargate: Sanctuary)
Carentan is both a quality installment in the Sanctuary series and a rather unusual one. The reason for the oddness I allude to in the review title: this installment felt a lot like a classic episode of Stargate SG-1. I will dig more into this oddness first then look at the other elements in the episode.
Sanctuary does Stargate
While a lot of fans of this show know that Amanda Tapping has deep roots in Stargate (Samantha Carter after all), not as many realize that key principals in the production team likewise possess Stargate roots (Damian Kindler) as well as the guest starring roles of Stargate cast members (Michael Shanks, Paul McGillon) over the run of the show.
One other effect of this is that every now and then Tapping and Kindler seem to want to go back to their "roots" and create a Sanctuary installment that has a Stargate tone and feel . In Season 2 the episode "Pavor Nocturnus" hearkened back to SG-1's "Absolute Power" in its dystopian future, feel and tone. This appears to be the one in Season 3.
And it really does feel like Stargate. Will and Helen are our SG team equivalent, with an old friend from the Kali storyline coming back as a missing person they are seeking. The time bubble universe is complete with a village that feels very Stargate, and in fact the bubble itself hearkens back to the Stargate Atlantis episode "Epiphany".
Sanctuary does SciFi instead of Fantasy
Even more interesting is that this episode is good old fashioned hard Science Fiction. No Abnormals to speak of and really no fantasy elements in the story either. It is a good, solid sci-fi story with excellent attention to detail (I especially liked the idea of the LONG nights and the resultant famines - a real world implication of the time bubble that other shows that did this concept missed). Another good detail was Will bringing up to Magnus the difference between them - she is immortal and he is not - and how being in this bubble is much worse for him as a result.
Acting this episode was also good all around. In fact, this was possibly the best Will we've seen since the midseason break. Also different for this episode was the absence of the usual little jokes and slight snark Sanctuary usually features. And that absence works here, as they would have taken the episode out of its designed "gate" atmosphere.
All in all, this is a novel installment of the show and also well worth watching.
Carentan is both a quality installment in the Sanctuary series and a rather unusual one. The reason for the oddness I allude to in the review title: this installment felt a lot like a classic episode of Stargate SG-1. I will dig more into this oddness first then look at the other elements in the episode.
Sanctuary does Stargate
While a lot of fans of this show know that Amanda Tapping has deep roots in Stargate (Samantha Carter after all), not as many realize that key principals in the production team likewise possess Stargate roots (Damian Kindler) as well as the guest starring roles of Stargate cast members (Michael Shanks, Paul McGillon) over the run of the show.
One other effect of this is that every now and then Tapping and Kindler seem to want to go back to their "roots" and create a Sanctuary installment that has a Stargate tone and feel . In Season 2 the episode "Pavor Nocturnus" hearkened back to SG-1's "Absolute Power" in its dystopian future, feel and tone. This appears to be the one in Season 3.
And it really does feel like Stargate. Will and Helen are our SG team equivalent, with an old friend from the Kali storyline coming back as a missing person they are seeking. The time bubble universe is complete with a village that feels very Stargate, and in fact the bubble itself hearkens back to the Stargate Atlantis episode "Epiphany".
Sanctuary does SciFi instead of Fantasy
Even more interesting is that this episode is good old fashioned hard Science Fiction. No Abnormals to speak of and really no fantasy elements in the story either. It is a good, solid sci-fi story with excellent attention to detail (I especially liked the idea of the LONG nights and the resultant famines - a real world implication of the time bubble that other shows that did this concept missed). Another good detail was Will bringing up to Magnus the difference between them - she is immortal and he is not - and how being in this bubble is much worse for him as a result.
Acting this episode was also good all around. In fact, this was possibly the best Will we've seen since the midseason break. Also different for this episode was the absence of the usual little jokes and slight snark Sanctuary usually features. And that absence works here, as they would have taken the episode out of its designed "gate" atmosphere.
All in all, this is a novel installment of the show and also well worth watching.
Mr. A
Super Moderator +
True! At first I thought it was illogical, that they shouldn't be seeing any light at all, then as a scientist I thought the light coming in should have been red-shifted (a result of "spreading out" from a frame where time runs at a normal pace into one where it is highly accelerated) - after all, didn't the message they sent out get "compressed" in the reverse fashion?
Upon further pondering I remember that everything reaching the bubble from outside got pulled in without distortion (not necessarily true the other way around), so I realized it does make sense, after all, that the light gets in as normal light, but that the days have a very long duration.
HOWEVER, the one effect they should have been seeing inside the time dilation field would have been that the light was very dim to dark, as the same amount of light hitting the bubble for a single time unit would have been the same inside the bubble for hundreds or thousands of that unit. Oh, well, like you pointed out they did give it more thought than on similar episodes in Stargate. And the fact that I even had to think about the problem and figure it out instead of just accepting it without comment or going "oh, that was magic spell 'blue wand, white wand, time expand...'" is what makes this episode truly good sci-fi and not pseudo-fi or fantasy.
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Graybrew1
Guest
Spot on! This is what I thought too, but my personal preference is for a little more snark/humor. I understand why this ep was made like SG, I just prefer my Sanctuary to be more.....welll, Sanctuary.
I watched it twice, it was entertaining to watch, I just hope they can get back to their roots with the abnormals and still have good writing next week, or at least soon.
I watched it twice, it was entertaining to watch, I just hope they can get back to their roots with the abnormals and still have good writing next week, or at least soon.
Spot on! This is what I thought too, but my personal preference is for a little more snark/humor. I understand why this ep was made like SG, I just prefer my Sanctuary to be more.....welll, Sanctuary.
I watched it twice, it was entertaining to watch, I just hope they can get back to their roots with the abnormals and still have good writing next week, or at least soon.
The thing is they only do it roughly once per season. My thinking is to allow them their little "back to our roots" monent.
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Graybrew1
Guest
Oh they are most definitely allowed it.....LOL... I just still prefer the other shows.
Mr. A
Super Moderator +
Nah... this was another awesome episode AFAIC (
). Too bad not many members seem to be following Sanctuary judging from this thread and the poll. And too bad most fans that stopped watching it since the move are missing the last 3 episodes. The show is building up and I'm really excited for the season finale!
YoshiKart64
Well Known GateFan
I'm still watching but I like to watch more that one episode at once. Have to say even the 'bad' episodes this season have still been entertaining for me.
Gatefan1976
Well Known GateFan
I'm only up to when will turns into spiderlizardman, so I am a few eps behind you guys.
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Graybrew1
Guest
G
Graybrew1
Guest
Yes, that is only my opinion. 
Hallo there!
Been lurking for a while (I'm a HUGE Stargate fan and Sanctuary fan as well), but this episode made me register.
And not in a good way. Sigh.
Okay, so, good things - the "3 days of dark causing famine" was smart. In fact, I thought it was an excellent episode until they, well, "fixed" it at the end there.
Then everything fell apart in the last 10-15 minutes.
Let's discuss Relativity a bit, and the fact that time is not constant. This is, after all, real-world stuff... acceleration results in relative time dilation. Extreme acceleration results in noticeable time dilation (and a noticeable reduction in length in the direction of travel, but that's not important here). So, let's say we send a rocket ship out at a fairly decent percentage of lightspeed. It heads out, it loops around, it comes back. Say 3 years have passed for the travelers, but 25 have passed for Earth. So, what happens? Do all the babies born on Earth in that 25 years "reset" and vanish simply because the time-dilated interstellar travelers came back? Goodness no. Of course not. Time dilation is just Not a Big Deal when considering relativity. Causality is retained. The travelers are just younger than they would have otherwise been. Everyone is *fine*, and also still exists. Yay!
"But fel!" you say. "What if it's an alternate universe?!"
Well, alrighty then. If we want to assume alternate universe I guess that's sort of okay, although an alternate universe should still be, well, causally consistent (causally, as in cause and effect, not casually, as in "I'll be consistent in jeans and a t-shirt").
But, they should at least be CONSISTENT about it.
Because the episode ends up with an old guy who shouldn't be old if the time bubble reversed, dying from a bullet that was never fired by a girl who never existed.
And that, my dear fellow fans, annoys the living daylights out of me.
Oh, and it would have been nice if the other inhabitants that didn't survive the famine but were born pre-time-bubble could have ended up all not-dead and confused and such. And really, if it reversed, NONE of it happened so the episode technically wouldn't have either and everyone from town would have looked around all "deja vu, ouch my head" and the Sanctuary crew and army would never have actually gone to that area. But, I know, I ask too much.
Either reverse it, or don't. But, don't do halvesies to land all outcomes squarely in the "SAD!!!" section. It's like fingernails on my mental blackboard.
Been lurking for a while (I'm a HUGE Stargate fan and Sanctuary fan as well), but this episode made me register.
And not in a good way. Sigh.
Okay, so, good things - the "3 days of dark causing famine" was smart. In fact, I thought it was an excellent episode until they, well, "fixed" it at the end there.
Then everything fell apart in the last 10-15 minutes.
Let's discuss Relativity a bit, and the fact that time is not constant. This is, after all, real-world stuff... acceleration results in relative time dilation. Extreme acceleration results in noticeable time dilation (and a noticeable reduction in length in the direction of travel, but that's not important here). So, let's say we send a rocket ship out at a fairly decent percentage of lightspeed. It heads out, it loops around, it comes back. Say 3 years have passed for the travelers, but 25 have passed for Earth. So, what happens? Do all the babies born on Earth in that 25 years "reset" and vanish simply because the time-dilated interstellar travelers came back? Goodness no. Of course not. Time dilation is just Not a Big Deal when considering relativity. Causality is retained. The travelers are just younger than they would have otherwise been. Everyone is *fine*, and also still exists. Yay!
"But fel!" you say. "What if it's an alternate universe?!"
Well, alrighty then. If we want to assume alternate universe I guess that's sort of okay, although an alternate universe should still be, well, causally consistent (causally, as in cause and effect, not casually, as in "I'll be consistent in jeans and a t-shirt").
But, they should at least be CONSISTENT about it.
Because the episode ends up with an old guy who shouldn't be old if the time bubble reversed, dying from a bullet that was never fired by a girl who never existed.
And that, my dear fellow fans, annoys the living daylights out of me.
Oh, and it would have been nice if the other inhabitants that didn't survive the famine but were born pre-time-bubble could have ended up all not-dead and confused and such. And really, if it reversed, NONE of it happened so the episode technically wouldn't have either and everyone from town would have looked around all "deja vu, ouch my head" and the Sanctuary crew and army would never have actually gone to that area. But, I know, I ask too much.
Either reverse it, or don't. But, don't do halvesies to land all outcomes squarely in the "SAD!!!" section. It's like fingernails on my mental blackboard.
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Graybrew1
Guest
Hi Fel, Welcome to Gatefans.
While I thought the ep was entertaining, I do agree that it was not my favorite. But not for your reasons. Time travel/AU are not real, I don't try to assume what would or would not happen as a result of this fact. Because it would be just that, a guess. I just did not get enough Sanctuary out of it.
OTOH,
The new ep was on tonight, I liked this one much better.
The new ep is still in my future... OH NO! You're in a time dilation bubble!
Or it might just be the part where I live in Alaska.
I would note, though, that time dilation due to relativity has been experimentally proven. What can I say, I love me some Einstein. But, you're right, that's not really what happened in this episode (good thing, too, because relativistically speeding up parts of the earth compared to other parts of the earth would be kind of bad, from a geological standpoint. Okay, catastrophically bad. )
Or it might just be the part where I live in Alaska.
I would note, though, that time dilation due to relativity has been experimentally proven. What can I say, I love me some Einstein.
But, you're right, that's not really what happened in this episode (good thing, too, because relativistically speeding up parts of the earth compared to other parts of the earth would be kind of bad, from a geological standpoint. Okay, catastrophically bad. )
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Graybrew1
Guest
The new ep is still in my future... OH NO! You're in a time dilation bubble!
Or it might just be the part where I live in Alaska.
I would note, though, that time dilation due to relativity has been experimentally proven. What can I say, I love me some Einstein.
That is the thing about Scifi and Time Travel/AU types of eps. If you really try to think about all the possibilities it will either give you a royal headache or take up the rest of your day dwelling on it. Alittle OT, but I especially find the ones with some type of omnipotent being type of "Q" character causing it and adding to the possible ramifications to be even better. Just heaven on a plate for a Scifi Fan.
I enjoy sitting back and enjoying the ride. Watch out for the spoilers, on the other thread if you have not seen tonight's ep yet. :icon_eek:
Ravi died because he was shot before the time field went down; had he survived he would still have been an old man. And it was also explained why the way they would have to burst the bubble would result in everyone born within it perishing. They didn't really have the option of spinning time back to when the bubble emerged, and everyone born in the bubble was in effect part of alternate timeline/reality - hence they would cease to exist. We saw similar things occur in Stargate when they dealt with time bubbles. The difference in Sanctuary was that their bubble formed an AU and they took a bit more time than other shows to actually think out the consequences.
So to me it was properly explained and logical - guess we'll just agree to disagree.
So to me it was properly explained and logical - guess we'll just agree to disagree.
So was the aging and the bullet though, so I'm afraid I still don't get it. And, technically speaking, the individual molecules comprising the various people were part of the original universe, and had merely "aged" their way into forming human beings and such, so any insistence on retaining time spent + matter used would result in non-erasure of people (and any insistence on not retaining time spent would result in Ravi not being shot).
But, you're right, it's television. Deus ex machina so we can carpe the next diem. That and they just really, really, really hate Will's love interests, have you noticed? He's somewhat inherited the Carter Curse.
But, you're right, it's television. Deus ex machina so we can carpe the next diem.
That and they just really, really, really hate Will's love interests, have you noticed? He's somewhat inherited the Carter Curse.
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Graybrew1
Guest
So was the aging and the bullet though, so I'm afraid I still don't get it. And, technically speaking, the individual molecules comprising the various people were part of the original universe, and had merely "aged" their way into forming human beings and such, so any insistence on retaining time spent + matter used would result in non-erasure of people (and any insistence on not retaining time spent would result in Ravi not being shot).
But, you're right, it's television. Deus ex machina so we can carpe the next diem.
He looks like he is 16.
Some of the women they put him with are kinda too old looking for him. It has a bit of an "ick" factor. That or maybe poor Will, it is just not meant to be.
