Blog Wars - Episode 274: Return of the Blogger

Okay, first off, I'm still around, even though it's been a while since I last blogged (is that really a word?). No, I haven't been abducted by the Asgard. At least... not recently. It's just been kind of crazy lately. Lots of work on all fronts. Things like writing and rewriting various episodes, keeping deadlines and schedules (successfully), trying to get additional writers to join the staff (thus far with limited success), trying to get some designers on the team (let's not even go there), and a tone of other things, but sadly not related to Horizon or screenwriting in general.

But, nevertheless, here I am. And I hope those of my loyal readers who are located in the US have had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It's Holyday Season. I love this time of the year.

At this point we're almost halfway through the season. I've just finished the outline for part one of the midseason two parter "The Devil To Pay". It's looking really good so far. And, I can promise you, we'll be giving you one heck of a cliffhanger, leaving you with a tone of questions as to how in the world all that will be resolved. In fact, I'm currently asking myself the same questions, as we've not yet completely worked out the story for part two, which is currently titled "The Chamber". Let me just say, some kind of chamber will play a very important role. Once you see part one chances are you'll know what kind of chamber that is.

I can't give away too much, as it would spoil the episodes for you, but large parts of "The Devil To Pay" take place on Earth. We pick up on some events from Season One's "Home Front", perhaps we'll see Senator Connelly again. There's an election going on. General Williams will play a huge role (all I can say), one of our character's brother will make an appearance, and we'll get to hear/read Kiefer Sutherland saying the words "Mr. President". I make a point of this because he says that a lot on 24; so, he'll be saying it on Horizon, too. In fact, if we were a television show I would have already spoken to William Devane to ensure his schedule will have him be available for when we'd shoot these episodes. William Devane of course plays President Hayes, and he'll indeed be in both "The Devil To Pay" and "The Chamber". In fact, we'll get to see the oval office again.

We're also starting to plan out some more details for the second half of the season. A couple of episodes you'll be seeing with one hundred percent certainty are "Yusuf Returns", "Zach Story", "Untitled David", "The Game Episode" and "In One's Pocket". Some of these titles are likely to change. Toward the end of the season we'll be checking in on THOSE OTHER bad guys (but not all of them are bad guys actually). But we haven't even got a story for them yet; we'll come up with something, though. I'm sure we will. It's not like we have a choice after all.

I have to say so far I'm really happy with Season Two. Our latest episode, "Parti Pris", had what I believe were some powerful scenes and great character moments in it. From browsing through the boards, I came to realize that some people out there really think scripts couldn't convey emotional moments, or that they just tell you what happens. Definitely not on this show, I must say. In fact, the next episode, "The Cold and Distant Stars", will be similar when it comes to that. I think the episode has some powerful moments between Sivea and Sonak in it, and we'll be seeing good old Sonak from a very different side. And for all those of you who think we haven't really seen enough of Sivea this season, check out "The Cold and Distant Stars".

Following that, we'll have an episode called "Catch 22". This one will deal with the Tok'ra to a certain extent. Catch 22, in this case, refers to a no-win-situation, and let me just say, that's about how it's been feeling to work out this story. I mean, how do you get out of what is really a no-win-situation? And for those of you who wonder about that, and who've been wondering what's going on with Loral's eyes having flashed in a rather Goa'uld-ish way at the end of "Troika", check out "Catch 22". And after that, we'll be seeing the first part of the mid season two parter.

You've probably noticed that things in the art department have been going a bit slow. That's simply because we haven't found enough designers yet. I'm told, however, that the 3D model of the Valiant is making progress. And I'm hopeful that eventually we'll be seeing some more visual contents in one way or the other. Just keep an eye out for them.

I have to apologize again for being a bit behind on the Making Of features. Once things start calming down a bit and our schedules aren't all THAT tight anymore (which will be pretty soon) I'll start catching up. I'm looking forward to the Making Of features as well actually, because there are some interesting things I wanted to talk about in them. I think the good thing of having been a bit behind with them will be that we can aim for releasing them weekly throughout the mid season hiatus.

Earlier this week I picked up the Atlantis soundtrack CD. Some great music! Joel Goldsmith is just a wonderful composer, completely capturing the spirit of Atlantis. Speaking of Atlantis, next week I'll be picking up the Season One Box Set, and I'll also be picking up the Season Eight Box Set of SG-1. I was a bit behind on that too, but now it's time to finally get them. This also means I'll have to pick up the pace on my current rewatching process of Season Three of 24. Yup. I'm at it again. I watched episode 3.10 last night. I want to be fully prepared for when Season Four comes out on DVD December 6th. And in January we'll be seeing Season Five. Those of you who might have heard some of the rumors about what will happen will know this should be quite interesting.

On a different note (I almost forgot to mention this), I noticed that for some reason if I don't have time to post a lot on our forums at GateWorld, no one seems to be posting at all. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but it's definitely been very quiet on there. In general, we'd all actually like to see some more comments on the episodes. You wouldn't guess it, but it's great to see reviews - good or bad - simply because it shows you that people acknowledge that the episodes are there. So, come on, people. Let's see if we can get some more discussions going. I'm sure we can.

Well, that's it for now. I'll be back very soon, and keep you up to date with the latest developments on Horizon as well as my DVD watching plans. As I've said, I'll need to finish rewatching Season Three of 24, but I'll also need to watch Season Eight of SG-1 and Season One of Atlantis, and I'll need to be done with rewatching Season Three of 24 by December 6th, so that I can continue with Season Four as soon as it comes out. Wish me luck.

Until next time,

Alex