2015 Seasonal TV Viewing - Under the Mistletoe

Under the Mistletoe

Under the Mistletoe is a 2006 movie which stars Michael Shanks as Kevin Harrison and Jaime Ray Newman as Susan Chandler. Susan lost her husband in a car accident the year before and her son Jonathan (Burkely Duffield) claims that the ghost or spirit of his father has returned and talks to him, his snotty and smack worthy attitude combined with financial pressures has the first christmas without her husband becoming a bit of nightmare.
Susan meets Kevin after she rams his car while she was talking on the phone, it's not a great first meeting and the second meeting is after Jonathan attacked a fellow student and she is called in to talk to the councillor and yep Kevin is the new school councillor.
Kevin is sympathetic and offers to go above and beyond to help Jonathan although you wonder even at this stage he is attracted to Susan, of course nothing they can do will make Kevin look anything but a good guy mainly because the "spirit" of the dead husband (Tom played by Conan Graham) comes across as a bit of a dick. First he communicates with his son with no regard to how the world would see something talking themselves in public least of all a young boy surrounded by his peers so getting bullied isn't a surprise. Tom also goes on to pretty much stalk and terrify his former wife with his spooky piano playing and lights flickering. To be fair he ultimately shows he wants the best for his family by supporting the story's main plot to get Kevin and Susan together albeit in a very complicated way and with many a false start but this is a christmas family movie and you will get the happy ending:)

Hockey is involved in this movie.

Under the Mistletoe has it's issues but overall it's a good seasonal movie with some fine performances from the two leads and well worth a mention is Ingrid Torrance (SG1) who played Diane Holmes, but I disliked the son and hated the father and the dotty shopkeeper had me seething:)

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Stargate Atlantis Marathon (Part 5)

Stargate Atlantis Marathon

Season 2

The Siege (Part 3)
The battle for Atlantis continues with the first round won thanks to the nuclear option and the
arrival of the Daedalus which then takes the fight to another incoming Wraith Fleet. Lt Ford is
under the influence of the Wraith hormone and and a wild and risky gambit is taken to save the day.

The Intruder
On route back to Atlantis mysterious accidents and deaths occur leading to the discovery of an
insidious stowaway on board the Daedalus. McKay and Hermoid are on the case, humour ensues:)
It's not the first time this plot has been used in the franchise but it's done well and the characters
involved work well together, the use of flashbacks also adds a lot of weight to the story.

Runner
Finding evidence of Lt Ford's handy work on another world Sheppard and Teyla are captured by
Ronon Dex a "runner" released by the Wraith for their sporting pleasure.
With little trust between them and Ford and pretty much everyone else it's all treading on egg
shells and then the Wraith arrive.
An excellent episode full of action and humour and a good story to introduce Ronon (Jason Momoa).

Duet
Now this is an out and out funny episode.
McKay and Cadman (Jaime Ray Newman) are zapped up by a Dart which is then shot down.
Zelenka retrieves one of the patterns which turns out to be McKay but Cadman's
spirit/soul/personality is now sharing his brain and body.
An absolutely brilliant episode with Claire Rankin as McKay's love interest:)

Condemned
A world with high technology has the potential to be a good trading partner despite their use of
prisoners to sacrifice to the Wraith a tradition that has been going on for centuries. Trapped on
this prison Island where the Stargate is positioned the team has to battle the inhabitants unaware
that they are on the menu for the local Wraith commander.
The story required a lot of leeway from the viewer but it didn't turn out to bad.

Extras
Mission Directives
Five Commentaries