Home > Categories > Entertainment > Television > Sanctuary: Season 1 review
The beautiful, enigmatic and brilliant scientist, Dr. Helen Magnus, has the spectacular proof that the frightening beings that we dismiss as figments of our imagination are indeed real. With her new recruit, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman, her fearless daughter Ashley and quirky tech-whiz Henry, Magnus uses a unique combination of instinct, medicine and cutting edge technology to protect, and study, the clandestine population of strange and sometimes terrifying beings, known as abnormals, which hides among humans.
There are monsters loose in the world. And they are the key to the future of our race.
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We have been watching the first season of Sanctuary recently. I kinda recognised the female lead, but I couldnt place her for two episodes. I don't tend to read the case straight away so I don't judge something too quickly. Once I knew it was Tapping, I was shocked. Its not that her accent is great, but her hair is so different to how it was in Stargate.
After the first couple of episodes, we started to draw a lot of conclusions about it in relation to Stargate. Its not the cleanest sci-fi fantasy show. The CGI in it is terrible, which makes me wonder what their budget was. Even Stargate had less obvious CGI.
The topic of doctors searching out abnormals or "monsters" in the real world, is a little new. But there are plenty of shows to compare it to. Grimm springs instantly to mind.
As hokey as I found the first episode (I was literally groaning by the end of it). We continued to watch it and it has grown on me a lot. I didn't realise how old it was either (assumed it was a 2012 show), and that lets me forgive it just a bit.
I found the first series of this by accident at my local video store. After watching the first couple of episodes and giggling at Amanda Tapping's English accent and the less than engaging special effects, I found myself drawn in. Following the characters' journeys became something I looked forward to as the episodes progressed.
With Tapping being one of the Ex-Producers of the show (which started life as an internet-based serial) it soon became apparent to me her love for the subject matter. Her character as an immortal (shock, horror, FEMALE) scientist was great, although in the early episodes, her accent did slip just a fraction. She is cute as a brunette so I can forgive that.
I have seen series 2 now also (available on DVD) and wait with baited breath to see if the American Networks have kept it round or whether it will be relegated to the list of 'I remember that series, wonder what ever happened to it'.
Being an avid Stargate fan, I found out about this series through an interview with Amanda Tapping who is a producer and lead actor in this new Fantasy/Sci Fi cross about an immortal British doctor (Tapping) who studies 'Abnormals' and the new psychiatrist she's hired to help her 'patients'.
Sanctuary is a fun, crazy ride, with episodes that grow in confidence as the show progresses. I enjoy the way that each story is complete, but has elements which begin to tie together to form bigger threads and conspiracy theories. A couple of the earlier episodes were rather cheesy and had terrible special effects (very low budget), but by the final two part conclusion, I was completely hooked and desperate to see the beginning of Season 2 (yes, they went for the inevitable cliff hangar).
A great effort for a team with no official network funding until part way through the show. I could tell that a lot of heart and devotion went into this project and it is likely to be a cult classic, especially among Stargate fans.
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