Sanctuary Season 1 Meme -- Immorality, Abnormals, Vampires, Bigfoot, & Tolerance!!
My sole reason to watch this show was truly because of Amanda Tapping because I simply loved her work in Stargate SG-1. Plus I thought the premise sounded really cool, so win-win I say. I just love the theme of tolerance for anything that looks different or odd. I watched an interview from Amanda Tapping at one of her panels talking about what Sanctuary means to her, and how it connects to her own family history about her oldest brother. Where the school kids were just mean to her oldest brother due to medical problems, so all of the Tapping children would come to his aid which got them in trouble and so forth. To the point they were known as the "Tapping kids" because of the intolerance people treated her brother, and in turn Amanda and her other brothers. Anyways, after I saw Amanda talk about the show it got me interested in the show. Granted I heard things about the show prior to watching that panel, but I never seen one episode. I thought for the show's first season Sanctuary was actually pretty cool and decent, but there were two main things I could have done without or at least written differently.
Favorite Episodes: "Sanctuary For All" Pt. 1 & 2, "Folding Man", "Kush", "The Five", "Edward", "Requiem", & "Revelations" Pt. 1 & 2
So-So Decent Episodes: "Fata Morgana", "Nubbins", & "Instinct"
Least Favorite Episodes: "Warriors" -- I really felt the whole Abnormal Fight Club was so freakin' stupid!! Granted I loved "The Ring" on Angel, but it didn't work for Sanctuary. Due in large part to how laughable looking Robin Dunne looked in his foam Hulk costume. It just looked too funny to take seriously. Plus I would have rather liked to have more screentime devoted to Gregory, Helen, and Ashley. I would have enjoyed to see three generations of Magnus discussing and talking before Gregory left to protect his daughter and granddaughter.
Favorite Storylines: There were several I really enjoyed....
*I loved all of the mythology, anthropology, and science of the patients and Abnormal of the Week studies.
*John Druitt aka Jack the Ripper -- 'Nuff Said!! I just know Christopher is the man because I didn't realize he also played Bigfoot until after the first couple of episode....d'oh. Christopher is just so different in both of his roles.
*Werewolf Henry Foss -- I say get rid of Will, and give me Henry any day of the week. Ryan Robbins is so funny as Henry. I loved the reveal about his abnormal genetics, and his struggle with the acceptance of it. I love how close Bigfoot and Henry are.
*The Five -- I got a kick out of seeing Watson, John, Helen, and Tesla interact throughout season. I say get rid of Zimmerman, and give more The Five flashbacks and mythology!! I was sad to see Watson die because I would have loved to see more interaction between him and John. There is just so much to potential with their scenes. I wanted more!! I love that Tesla not only had his famous electricity know-how, but he was pretty much a badass vampire. Plus kudos at making their Watson the real Sherlock Holmes. I had this particular feeling that Watson and Helen had a thing after the whole Jack the Ripper reveal. Watson and Helen seemed quite alike in their compassion to help the innocent, wronged, and they wanted to justice for all.
*The Cabal -- They are interesting villains, and I enjoyed how their threat went up a notch in the season finale by turning Ashley evil. She pretty much became a Trojan Horse against her mother and Sanctuary.
*Helen Magnus & John Druitt Torrid Love Story -- I wasn't quite sure about these two until I saw the second episode, and I was definitely swooning. Plus I love the whole history aspect of John being Jack the Ripper, and it was Helen that pretty much stopped him in his tracks to do anymore harm. To top it off she got engaged and pregnant....d'oh. I thought Amanda and Christopher just nailed this relationship tenfold whether they being yelling at each other, throwing insults, or showing some care between them. I really quite enjoyed it.
*Helen Magnus' Engima Character & More -- I found Helen Magnus to be such an interesting character. She is such a mystery despite living for 157 years. There is a very real clear distinction from the way Amanda Tapping played Samantha Carter and Helen Magnus. In regards, to Samantha Carter we pretty much see Sam go from young adult captain to a confidant colonel who is comfortable in her own woman's body. We pretty much see Sam grow into her adult years. Whereas, Helen Magnus is a character who been there, done that, and pretty much seen it all. In my opinion the only similaritires I see is the fact they are both very strong female characters (without diminishing the male characters), compassionate, humorous, badass, and scientists. Even then their science background is different because Carter was specifically based in astrophysics, engineering, math, and technology. Magnus is based in the medical side of science. I just found it interesting to see Amanda in whole new role where she walks, talks, and has different mannerisms. It is something very hard to get out of the habit of being a character one played for 11 years, but Tapping did it terrifically!! Btw, I get a hoot hearing about Helen's run-ins with famous people and events throughout her life.
Misc. Hated Aspects: Even though I really enjoyed the first season I felt the show could've been better because of two reasons.....
1) Dr. Will Zimmerman & Robin Dunne's Horrible Acting -- Sorry, for any Robin Dunne fans out there, but I was at my wits end with his acting. Don't get me wrong he does have cute chemistry dynamic with the cast, but that can only do so much. I didn't see a whole lot of range with Dunne's performance (in any of his work), and Will was another (lame) version of Daniel Jackson. Even then I found Will Zimmerman's character quite unnecessary, annoying, and Mr. State The Obivious. Granted I have a thing against shrinks, but I found Zimmerman's so called observant ability to be so freakin' stupid. It didn't work because the clues were so obivious to a person being less observant, but it also diminished the intelligence of Helen, Henry, The Five, and so forth. I just couldn't buy this boy wonder being better than these people who lived two lives. It was quite frankly hard to swallow. I just found Zimmerman to be completely unnecessary role which could easily be served by other characters that were far more entertaining, interesting, and played by actual talented actors. I know he stays a regular for the rest of the series, but man I don't know if I can take anymore of his character and Robin's horrible acting. I'm going to have to zone him out.
2) Underdeveloped Ashley Magnus & More Horrible Acting -- Once again there was horrible acting, but at least I could buy the mother-daughter relationship between Emilie and Amanda. I think what really hurt Ashley's character was that she was pushed aside due to boring Will Zimmerman which made her underdeveloped as a character. Zimmerman received all of this screentime when I felt some of it should have gone to Ashley to develop her character. For instance, I would have enjoyed to see Ashley on the sub with Helen when her mom was overcame by the parasite. It would help in the reconstruction of their relationship after the Daddy Ripper reveal because for once Ashley would have to see her mom as mortal and could relate to. There was far more potential for Ashley than boring Will Zimmerman.
Favorite Couples & Potential Couples: Helen/John and Helen/Tesla
Favorite Friendships and/or Fremies: The Five, John/Watson, Watson/Helen, Helen/Bigfoot, Team Sanctuary, Henry/Ashley, Ashley/Helen, Gregory/Helen, & Bigfoot/Henry
Favorite Characters: Watson, Telsa, Helen, John, Bigfoot, and Henry
Mixed Characters: Ashley
Can't Stand Characters: Will
Favorite Villains: Cabal, Abnormal Spider, Water Parasite, Folding Man, and Abnormal Kush
Least Favorite Villains: Anything from "Warriors".....lame
Most Tragic Deaths: Helen's death in "Requiem" -- Despite living 157 years Helen has to deal with mortality just like everyone else. It was interesting to see Helen become evil considering how intelligent and resourceful she is. I was also sad to see Watson die in the finale because I really loved his character, and it was sad to see him so old and die in front of everyone's eyes. I hope we get to see Watson again.
What did you think of the season in general? As stated before I really enjoyed this season a lot despite the two major flaws because thankfully the flaws didn't bring down the show too much. The SG1 triple team of Damien Kindler, Martin Wood, and Amanda Tapping really did a good job at delivering what the message of Sanctuary is all about along with the interesting abnormal stories. For any Amanda Tapping fan Sanctuary is a must watch!!