Sanctuary Season two is an amazing season even better then the first!

What we got in season two

• Find out what happens to Ashley


• Watch the incredible dancing Will Zimmerman as he dances with darkness, death and even a god


• Find out who the abnormal Big Bertha is and why she is such a big deal


• Kate Freelander newest member to the sanctuary


• Helen Magnus’ power struggle over the sanctuary


• return of Terrance Wexford


• John Druitt’s revenge


• Meet the god Kahli

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Out this week we have four DVDs to feature:  Avatar, Star Wars Omnibus: Boba Fett, Xena: Warrior Princess - Season One, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Season One.  Do we Love It, Rent it, or Avoid Like Plague?

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• Avatar: the best planetary romance movie since the Dune miniseries just ignore the problems in the human parts, read the full review here.  Warning this is just the movie, Cameron said they will not release special features and Blue Ray versions of the movie until fall of this year.
  
  
  
  • Buy it / Rent it
  
  
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  • Exploring: Avatar
  
  
  
  

• Star Wars Omnibus: Boba Fett:  good timing for the release of this comic collection with the Boba Fett episodes to air soon on Clone Wars.  I love the character Boba Fett and this is an ideal omnibus for fans of the bounty hunter.
  
  
  
  • Buy it
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • More Star Wars on dashPunk
  
  
  • More Boba Fett on dashPunk
  
  
  
  

Renter

• Xena: Warrior Princess - Season One:  Fantasy fun that fans of sword and sorcery will enjoy.  Netflix has it streaming online.  This series deserves respect for paving the way to bring us Legend of the Seeker.
  
  
  
  • Buy it / Rent it
  
  
  
  

• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Season One:   Fantasy fun that fans of sword and sorcery will enjoy.  Netflix has it streaming online.  This series deserves respect for paving the way to bring us Legend of the Seeker.
  
  
  
  • Buy it / Rent it
  
  
  
  

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There are so many great moments in Sanctuary’s season two finale but the representation of the 4 armed Kali is breathtaking.  The scene is when Will visits with Kali in the temple.  She is sitting in the bath with two arms above the water and using the reflection in the water to make two more arms appear on her.  It’s an amazing artful way to represent the 4 armed Kali without breaking the immaculate reality of the setting.

Removing of Maya

The symbolism put into this scene is also brilliant.  Having a naked Kali symbolizes her as beyond the covering of Maya, the illusions that is the reality around us.  Having her bring Will into the same state symbolizes how he is moving beyond all of the illusions surrounding the struggle of the current situation and danger.  This is also the scene where Will learns / realizes how to get Kali’s control away from those who would use her to destroy everything.

Divine Knowledge vs. Human Ego

The four armed Kali is also significant in the scene.  The four arms represent: Divine Knowledge, Human Ego, Fearlessness and Blessing.

Divine Knowledge and Human Ego are in conflict.  Human Ego must be slain in order to gain freedom from the cycle of life and death.  This is the struggle that is going on between Will who represents Knowledge, soon to be Divine Knowledge after Maya is removed and Edward Forsythe who represents Human Ego.

Kali’s Other Forms

It will be fun to see how they resolve Kali’s rage when season three of Sanctuary starts up.

In the season two finale we get to start with a Mahakali where kali is a great being content to be left alone.  After agitation we get to meet Dakasinakali.  It is the destructive face of Kali.  The one who dances with a destructive frenzy which we see in the wave unleashed upon the earth.

In season three I wonder if we will get to see the story of the Maternal Kali play out.  This is where the infant Shiva goes onto the battlefield and cries.  Dakasinakali sees his need and ceases her dance of destruction to take care of the helpless infant.  This would be Will in danger from the wave crying out in need calming Kali and getting her nurturing side to come through.

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Sanctuary season two ended bringing up one a subject that both fascinates and freaks me out.

***  Warning this post will have some spoilers for Sanctuary season two episode Kali (Part 2).  ***

I loved getting to see Kali in action especially after they angered her and she sent out the wave.  It was a brilliant way to end the episode, I can’t wait to see season three.

The wave fascinates me because it brings up one of my most favorite subjects Megatsunami.  But to get there we should look at the size and scope of what has been unleashed.

Size

Kali is about 50’ tall.  This is known from two different sources.  First we can use the submarine as a size reference.  I love that they put in the submarine for size reference.   Los Angeles class submarine is 33’ high (beam).  A Typhoon class submarine is 23’ high (beam) this gives us a submarine height range of 23’ –33’ and Kali is about two times taller then the sub.  This would put Kali between 40’ –60’ tall or more simply put about 50’ tall.

The second method is more direct because they tell us her height in the commentary podcast.  Not as much fun especially hearing the answer after I went through the fun from the second method but a nice confirmation.

With Kali’s height we can determine the height of the Island that she is standing on.  The Island is about 3 times taller then kali making it about 150’ tall.

The wave is about the height of Kali plus the island she is standing on.  This puts it at about 200’.

Scope

So how bad is A 200’ wave.

To put a 200’ wave hitting the shore we can look at two historical events.  The first one shows the upper reach of the wave.  In 1972 Japan when a volcano eruption and resulting landslide caused a 300’ megatsunami which killed 15,00 people from the local fishing villages.  The second event shows the devastation on the smaller scale.  The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake caused a 100’ tall tsunami.

The disturbing part to consider is that the 2004 tsunami started as a wave in the ocean about 1’ high.  When the wave reached the shoreline and hit the ocean shelf it was pushed up to it’s 100’ height.  This adjusts the scope of that megatsunami that kali started.

Potential height 2,000’

If we follow the simple jump in height from the 2004 tsunami of 1 to 100 then a 200’ wave becomes 2,000’ tall.  This would make it higher then the 1958 megatsunami in Lituya Bay Alaska which reached 1,720’ high.  For fun some other height comparisons

• 2,000 Potential Kali megatsunami


• 1,454 Empire State Building


• 746 Golden Gate Bridge

For me it’s the fact that the megatsunami grow to tremendous height once reaching the shoreline that both fascinate and freaks me out.  I will be curious to see how Dr. Magnus and the Sanctuary gang handle the devastation that Kali unleashed when season three starts up.

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I really enjoyed watching Sanctuary episode 208 Next Tuesday.  In it they were hunting a Vampire Squid off the Gulf of Mexico.  In the setting it’s a rare, docile abnormal and I wondered what is the real Vampire Squid like?

Unlike in the show the real Vampire Squid or Vampyroteuthis infernalisgets to a maximum of one foot in total length.  Big enough to battle a scorpion but not big enough to pull a person under the water.

They also differ by having a webbing connecting the eight arms so it could not do battle with those individual arms.  It does have two additional filaments that are like a squid’s tentacles which do reach well beyond their arms.

What I found particularly fascinating about the Vampire Squid are all of the light-producing organs covering it.  It has great control over the individual organs that they can produce a disorienting light show with them, varying the intensity and size.  If only I could have one in my fish tank, turn off the lights, sit back and enjoy the show.

I wished Sanctuary would have spent more on their version of the Vampire Squid.  What makes them an abnormal beyond their intelligence?  Part of me hoped they would be more of a humanoid octopus hybrid.

One of the Sanctuary's research scientists is viciously attacked by a seemingly docile Abnormal. While Magnus tries to save the life of the scientist, Henry investigates the origin of the creature's uncharacteristic behavior.

Sanctuary 206 Fragments airs November 13, 2009.

Fragments trailer

• More on Sanctuary Season 2 here

What did you think about Episode 206 Fragments?

Let me know in the comments below what you like, dislike and are your favorite moments?

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Season two of Sanctuary brings a return of many of the cast and crew we know and have fallen in love with plus some new faces and guest appearances.

Helen Magnus

Played by Amanda Tapping.  Head of the Sanctuary in Old City Helen is 157 years old doctor.  She and John Druitt have a relationship which produces Ashley Magnus though her embryo is frozen in stasis for many years before being born.  I love hos Amanda portrays her character Helen.  She comes across as genuinely caring, inquisitive, and open minded about the weird world she lives in.  She is the third from the left in the picture.

Will Zimmerman

Played by Robin Dunne.  He works for the Sanctuary now after serving as a police forensic psychiatrist.  Will possesses a creative and open mind looking beyond the surface of a situation.  He also has natural empathic abilities.  His talents serves him well in the world of the Abnormals where nothing is.  In season two we will get to look into the darkness that is in Will's past.  Will is a fun character.  If comparing Sanctuary to Stargate he kind of fills the role of Daniel Jackson when looking at the model but he is different enough to not be a carbon copy.  What they share in common are an endearing quality, a curiosity, and a boldness to fight for what is right regardless of weather that might buck the chain of command.  Will though has adapted to his new environment much faster then Daniel by the end of season one he is fully adjusted to the Sanctuary.  I expect to see more of Will in his own right in season 2.  He is second from the left in the picture above.

Henry Foss

Played by Ryan Robbins.  He is the Sanctuary's weaponsmith and tech guy.  He started going through a transformation in season one revealing that Henry is an abnormal who can change into a werewolf.  I'm glad that his character has been promoted to main character status for season two.  This means that we will get to see more of Henry and where the show will go with his werewolf condition.  I expect that they will go in a fun creative direction with it giving a twist on the classic monsters.  He is on the right in the picture above.

Clara Griffin

played by Christine Chatelain.  Granddaughter of Nigel Griffin, one of "The Five" who had the power of invisibility which Clara inherited.  She joined up with the Sanctuary late in season one helping them in their struggle with the Cabal.  We expect to see her and will have a growingrelationship this season.

Kate Freelander

Played by Agam Darshi.  One of the new faces to season two, Kate is a witty and sarcastic swindler with a gift for persuasion.

She finds herself in an uneasy alliance with Dr. Magnus after her business relationship with the Cabal goes sour.

Kate should be a fun character this year.  Her comments in the trailer have been witty and sarcastic.  She should also adds some needed info on the Cabal along with being, I have enjoyed her comments in the trailers.

John Druitt

Played by Christopher Heyerdahl.  A member of "The Five" during the Victorian era and Helen's former lover.  John has the ability to teleport through time and space but at a cost.  Each time he does so it furthers his brain damage which drives him to homicidal tendencies.  This is what drove him to become Jack the Ripper for a period of time murdering prostitutes in London.

After being tortured by electric shock at the hands of Nikola Tesla John was cured of his murderous urges.  He has now joined up with the Sanctuary helping them in their fight against the Cabal.

Christopher Heyerdahl is brilliant in his role as John Druitt.  I love how this character gives a fun spin to the Jack the Ripper story yet it still takes time to explain why Jack murdered and why he vanished suddenly.  The most memorable and slightly chilling part about John is Christopher's laugh.  He plays his character so well that in the minds of the fans he becomes Jack the Ripper a figure to be feared and John a caring troubled person who just wants to bring his family back together.

At a convention this past summer, in a crowded hall Christopher was deep in conversation and broke out in laughter.  A Sanctuary fan jumped, letting out an instinctual shriek because somewhere in the crowded hallway was Jack the Ripper.  After being openly amused and proud to meet another Sanctuary fan I admitted that my skin also crawled instinctually, just brilliant.

Nikola Tesla

Played by Jonathan Young.  Tesla is half human and half vampire.  A member of "The Five" who despises humanity for killing off the pure-blood vampires centuries ago.  He has an on again off again relationship with Helen, John and the Sanctuary.  He is definitely for himself no matter who's side he is currently fighting for making him a dangerous character.

Ashley Magnus

Played by Emilie Ullerup.  She is the daughter of Helen Magnus and John Druitt after Helen kept the frozen embryo for over a century.  She was working for her mother at the Sanctuary but after her abduction by the Cabal she has become unstable and her loyalties have been brought into question by the end of season one.

There is a part of me that still believes that this is her attempt to gain the confidence of the Cabal to help bring them down from the inside.  Though with her inheriting her fathers ability there is the possibility that she too has suffered brain damage and is currently in a psycocitic killer state.  When John became Jack the Ripper he killed hookers to clean up the streets of a corrupting immoral influence.  Having Ashley become Amber the Abnormal Slayer on a puritanical crusade to purge the their corrupting influence on humanity would poetically parallel her fathers plight.  If that is the case then we can have hope that she will overcome her derangement but we can only hope that she does so before she does things that will leave her with a century of regrets.

Special Appearance From

• Paul McGillion bringing Wexford back from the original web series but re-imagined.


• Michael Shanks who will play Jimmy who shares similar backgrounds with Kate.

For more read Sanctuary Season 2 Cast

The second trailer for season 2 of Sanctuary.  Season 2 will air on October 9th 2009.

This is a fun video with some excellently placed teasers.  They bring up the Cabal and their desire to bring down the sanctuary.  I like the introduction of Kate Freelander the new addition to the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary is a place of refuge, a safe haven, for those that are different from humans.  Known as Abnormals they are non-human intelligent creatures and humans with genetic variants.  They range from the cute to the extremely dangerous.

Dr. Helen Magnus, a 157-year-old English scientist, and her team of experts run the Sanctuary.  They try to help the Abnormals and learn from them.  Working toward a peaceful existence between the humans and the Abnormals.

The show follows the adventures of Dr. Magnus and her staff as they struggle to bring harmony between the world of the humans and that of the Abnormals.  This difficult task because of the more dangerous Abnormals like Vampires and Nubbins is complicated further when the Cabal goes on the move.  A shadow organization with desires to spark a war between the humans and Abnormals the Cabal desires to see the extinction of all Abnormals.

Sanctuary is a great contemporary fantasy show with a polder society full of a wonderful array of exotic creatures.  I loved the episode with the Yeti, their portrayal of vampires and werewolves.  Sanctuary is also not afraid to tackle those social issues which makes for great speculative fiction, never being afraid of asking what if and exploring it thoroughly.

Sanctuary was originally an independent production which used a web publication model.  After their first season became a big hit the show was bought up by Sci-Fi channel.  They did some re-writes did some new shots and aired what is now referred to as the first season.

Looking Forward at Sanctuary Season 2

• Finding out what happened to Ashley Magnus, who changed after being kidnapped by the Cabal at the end of the first season.


• Many more Abnormals including an oil rig extraction.


• The conflict between the Cabal and the Sanctuary heightens.


• The Tokyo Sanctuary.

For more read:  Looking Forward At Sanctuary Season 2

Sanctuary Season 2 Trailer 1

Cast

• Helen Magnus  Played by Amanda Tapping


• Will Zimmerman Played by Robin Dunne


• Henry Foss Played by Ryan Robbins


• Kate Freelander Played by Agam Darshi


• John Druitt aka Jack the Ripper Played by Christopher Heyerdahl


• Nikola Tesla Played by Jonathan Young


• Clara Griffin Played by Christine Chatelain


• Ashley Magnus  Played by Emilie Ullerup

More on the cast and picture here

Special appearance from

• Paul McGillion bringing Wexford back from the original web series but re-imagined.


• Michael Shanks who will play Jimmy who shares similar backgrounds with Kate.  For more read: Michael Shanks will be on Sanctuary!

Watch Sanctuary Streaming Online

What we can expect from season two of Sanctuary:

• Things are in disarray:  The characters are just trying to figure out "How do we move on from here and keep things together?"


• We are going to learn more about Will and his history.


• A growing romance between Will and Clara.  Look at Trailer #2

The Darkness in Season two

• The Cabal is out there and now has a new recruit Ashley... maybe


• Find out what is happening to Ashley.  Is she infiltrating the Cabal or has she succumbed to her fathers mental illness and gone psycho killer.


• Particularly for Will:  “There's definitely more of a darkness to Will, and he's kind of wrestling with some demons. That's going to be further explored, so what's happening in the present is going to clash with some of the things he's buried.”

Something New

• Kate Freelander is introduced as a new member of the Sanctuary after falling out of favor with the Cabal.


• See the Tokyo Sanctuary!  “There's going to be some major global problems with some of the other sanctuaries.”

While waiting for season 2 to start watch season one of Sanctuary streaming online here.