Heroes (Stargate SG-1)
In this episode, the United States government has commissioned journalist Emmett Bregman (Saul Rubinek) to create a time-capsule video documentary, showing inner workings and goings-on within the top secret Stargate Command facility.
Bregman's presence is met with resistance from many of the base personnel who are reluctant to appear in his film, with some exceptions, including Dr. Janet Fraiser (Teryl Rothery).
Hoping that he will be able to put a positive spin on his association with the program, his office commissions Emmett Bregman (Saul Rubinek) to create a documentary on the personnel of Stargate Command and their activities.
Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) is unable to recall his time as an ascended being for the reporter and proceeds to toy with Bregman by running away, to see whether the film crew will follow him.
Major Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) explains the science of the Stargate in great detail, only to be asked by Bregman if they can see the Gate spin.
On the alien planet, Senior Airman Simon Wells (Julius Chapple) is struck by weapons fire from ambushing Goa'uld ground forces.
The embattled SG teams return to Earth and, while the camera crews are forced from the Gateroom, an unidentified individual stretched lifeless on a gurney is visible, concerning Bregman.
With a member of Stargate Command dead, Agent Woolsey (Robert Picardo) is sent by the Intelligence Oversight Committee to investigate who is responsible, questioning the decisions of General Hammond, Dr. Jackson, and Major Carter.
Robert C. Cooper's initial inspiration came from an episode of the television series M*A*S*H he had always enjoyed called "Yankee Doodle Doctor", which follows a documentary being made.
[1] Using the documentary premise, Cooper wanted to take a step back and examine "just how incredible" a feat the Stargate Program was, exploring the secrecy surrounding the project.
Cooper wanted to examine the personnel involved, specifically tackling how the characters felt about their extraordinary jobs, where they were "essentially saving the world every week", something he believed they were doing without expectation of reward.
Although it was not Cooper's intent to make a commentary on the real world events, he felt that there was an almost inevitable bleed through to his story, especially how news reporters were embedded along with the military and how that affected both the actions of those involved and the subsequent coverage.
[9][10] As a gag, Cooper wrote a scene for Walter Harriman (Gary Jones) where the character would joke about Air Force Technicians playing Space Invaders on the computers in the Gateroom.
Rubinek encouraged Cooper to include a passionate speech for his character detailing how crucial freedom of the press, "true reporting and how important that is to a democratic society".
Recurring actors include Ronny Cox, Bill Dow, Dan Shea and Gary Jones as Senator Kinsey, Dr. Lee, Sgt.
[3] The original script for "Heroes" was somewhat conceived as a way for production to make a single, inexpensive episode, which would take place almost entirely on the standing Stargate Command sets at The Bridge Studios.
[11] Frequent director of the series, Andy Mikita oversaw shooting, which was handled entirely by the show's smaller second unit of photography, filming over a far longer period than the usual seven days that was typically allocated to a single episode, again to keep costs low.
[11] Mikita wanted the documentary footage to hold up when presented alongside the show's regular 35 mm film, whilst having a clear disparity between the two.
In the finished edit of the documentary scenes, Bregman would then be smartly presented in a suit and tie, having obviously filmed his parts separate from the "real" interview.
Mikita sought to keep the energy high and build drama by encouraging actors to talk over the top of each other where appropriate - something production would typically try to avoid for continuity editing.
This included a scene between in the cafeteria where Teryl Rothery noticed Saul Rubinek had accidentally left his real wedding ring on leading her, as Fraiser, to ask about Bregman's marriage.
Director Andy Mikita later commented that he believed that Davis's time serving in the United States Army had given him a far deeper, first-hand connection to the subjects being tackled in the show.
In order to accommodate the schedules of both the cast and production crew, as well as minimizing costs, a rural location outside Langley, British Columbia along the Canada–United States border was selected that could be used for both "Heroes" and another episode, "Birthright".
The battle sequence included heavy use of gasoline mortar explosions to simulate attacking ships, so local residents were advised, as were US Customs, given the site's close proximity to the United States border.
The dialog heavy scenes were complicated by the fact that Cooper and Mikita wanted Woolsey to separately interrogate Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c, but present it as one long take that would switch between the interrogatees as the camera panned round the room.
DeCandido observed that whilst the episode would be remembered as the end of Janet Fraiser, it also had "spectacular guest turns" by Robert Picardo and Saul Rubinek.
[40] Julia Houston for About.com summed up the two-parter, writing "you'll find the first hour a little slow, but worth it for the payoff in part two", praising guest performances from Rubinek and Adam Baldwin.
[43] Eamonn McCusker of The Digital Fix wrote that the episode was amongst the best of SG-1's run until that point, calling the second part "excellent and genuinely affecting" applauding the decision to portray a major character death in the faces of guest actors.
[47] Of the featured reviews written by contributors on the Stargate fansite Gateworld.net, one by Lex was critical of what they called a "poor attempt at misdirection" by revealing that Janet Fraiser had died and not Jack O'Neill.
Whilst highlighting the great performances from the cast, they were further critical of the lack of scenes involving Teal'c or Jack O'Neill and questioned the absence of Janet's adopted daughter, Cassandra.
