Sleepers (Sanctuary)
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The second season of the Canadian science fiction–
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
television series ''
Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...
'' premiered on
Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
in Canada and on Syfy in the United States on October 9, 2009, and concluded on the same channel on January 15, 2010 after 13 episodes. It continues to follow the actions of a secret organization known as the Sanctuary Network, who track down a series of creatures known as abnormals and then bring them to the Sanctuary base for refuge.
Amanda Tapping Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965) is a British-Canadian actress and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian–American military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1,'' ''Stargate Atlantis,'' an ...
, Robin Dunne,
Emilie Ullerup Emilie Ullerup (born 27 October 1984) is a Danish actress. She is best known for playing Ashley Magnus on the television series ''Sanctuary'' and Bree O'Brien on the Hallmark Channel drama series ''Chesapeake Shores''. Early life and education ...
,
Ryan Robbins Ryan John Currier (born November 26, 1972), better known as Ryan Robbins, is a Canadian actor. Early life Robbins was born in Victoria, British Columbia. Career Robbins is known for his roles as Ladon Radim in ''Stargate Atlantis'', Henry Fo ...
,
Agam Darshi Agam Darshi (born 23 December 1987) is a British actress. Early life Agam Darshi was born in the city of Birmingham in England, the United Kingdom; to Sikh parents of Indian Punjabi descent. At a very young age she and her family has emigrate ...
and
Christopher Heyerdahl Christopher Heyerdahl (born September 18, 1963) is a Canadian actor who portrayed Alastair (Supernatural), Alastair in ''Supernatural (American TV series), Supernatural,'' the Wraith (Stargate), Wraith Todd in ''Stargate Atlantis'', Sam in ''Van ...
are billed in the opening credits as the main cast. The season starts six weeks after the conclusion of the first season, where the protagonists work to defeat the antagonistic Cabal from destroying the Sanctuary Network, but in the process
Ashley Magnus The characters in the Canadian science fiction-fantasy television series ''Sanctuary'' are predominantly "abnormals": advanced humans or creatures, and the show centers on bringing other abnormals to the Sanctuary in the fictional Old City, fo ...
(Ullerup), daughter of Sanctuary leader Helen Magnus (Tapping), dies. Later episodes involve a story arc on Big Bertha, the most dangerous abnormal on Earth. The second season included a writing team, where as in the first there were only two writers; series creator
Damian Kindler Damian Kindler (born May 31, 1968) is an Australian-Canadian screenwriter, television producer, director and showrunner. He has worked on a number of genre TV programs, including ''Stargate SG-1'', ''Sleepy Hollow'', ''Krypton'', and ''Amer ...
, and Sam Egan; however Egan left the series after the end of the first season. The producers wanted to expand on the Sanctuary Network by including episodes where the team visit some of their international sites as opposed to only mentioning them. The season was filmed in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, British Columbia from late March to July 2009, with some scenes of the finale filmed on location in Tokyo, Japan. Anthem Visual Effects continues to produce the series'
visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action fo ...
. Anthem found an exponential growth in their work, with some episodes including as many as 500 visual effects shots. The first ten episodes were seen by an average of 1.55 million viewers in the United States, increasing to 2.2 million when time-shifted viewings were taken into account. It received generally positive reviews from critics; however, some reviewers criticized the abrupt end to the Cabal arc within the first few episodes. The introduction of the new character
Kate Freelander The characters in the Canadian science fiction-fantasy television series ''Sanctuary (Canadian TV series), Sanctuary'' are predominantly "abnormals": advanced humans or creatures, and the show centers on bringing other abnormals to the Sanctua ...
(Darshi) was also met with mixed reactions, while there was an outpouring of fans against Ashley's demise. Season two won seven
Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...
after its release. The season was released on a four-disc set on DVD and
Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...
on June 9, 2010 in Region 4, June 15 in Region 1, and October 4 in Region 2.


Episodes


Cast


Regular cast

The second season began with the original cast from the first season. Amanda Tapping returns as series protagonist Helen Magnus, a 158-year-old English scientist who runs the Sanctuary Network. The producers intended for Magnus to be more angry and vulnerable following Ashley's death after the first three episodes. Robin Dunne returns as Will Zimmerman, a former forensic psychiatrist who has been Magnus' protégé since the
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...
. After the first season, the producers made Will more confrontational towards Magnus after feeling more comfortable working with her. Christopher Heyerdahl portrays two characters: Bigfoot, an abnormal who works in the Sanctuary, and John Druitt, Magnus' former fiancé and father to Ashley. Ryan Robbins returns as Henry Foss. A recurring actor in the first season, Robbins was upgraded to a series regular in the second. Emilie Ullerup returns as Ashley, Magnus' daughter who was written out of the series after "Eulogy". The decision to kill off the character came from an agreement between series creator Damian Kindler and the commissioning networks, as they felt this development would "have the deepest, most dramatic impact on the series and the characters." Director Martin Wood also believed that her death would add a sense of jeopardy on the show. When Ullerup first heard Ashley would be killed off, she was under the impression that her character was not well received by the fans. After the second season aired however, Ullerup noticed an outpouring from fans against Ashley's death. Following her death, the producers were willing to develop an Ashley story for the third season. Agam Darshi joined the cast as Kate Freelander, described by Syfy as "a swindler, con artist and thief who finds herself in an uneasy alliance with Dr. Magnus after her business relationship with the Cabal goes sour." The producers intended for Kate to be an unlikeable character at first, but by the end of the season have "99 percent of the people who don't like Kate, ..like Kate." The producers also noted that Kate would begin to prove herself by the third episode "Eulogy", and the ninth episode "Penance" would become important to Kate's evolution from "first class bitch" to a more open character when her father's death is revisited.


Recurring cast and guest appearances

Jonathon Young returns as half-vampire Nikola Tesla. In the tenth episode, the character was "de-vamped". Kindler felt this development was a bold choice, but also believed his vampirism was the least interesting character trait against being a genius and having electricity-based powers. The producers wanted to make Tesla somewhat heroic by sacrificing that part of him. Like the first season, there were instances where Young was unavailable to shoot some of his scenes due to theatre commitments, so he was replaced by a body double. Christine Chatelain returns as Will's girlfriend Clara Griffin. Clara was killed off in the second episode; Tapping viewed the death as an "important casualty" that has resonance to the main characters. Robert Lawrenson made a recurring appearance as Declan McRae, the head of the London Sanctuary following the death of
James Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biology, molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper in ''Nature (journal), Nature'' proposing the Nucleic acid ...
in the season one finale. The character was originally going to be introduced in "Hero", but Kindler decided it would be better for the character to be introduced earlier in the season. The season also introduced numerous guest appearances. Babz Chula appeared as a Cabal scientist in the season premiere, a character that was originally a German male; Chula accepted Tapping's offer to appear on the show after they met at an awards ceremony. Christopher Gauthier appears as Walter and his alter-ego, "the Adjuster", in "Hero". Gauthier modeled the Adjuster's voice from
Christian Bale Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. List of awards and nominations received by C ...
's
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
. The scenes where Walter was worn out from the suit that is killing him mirrored Gauthier's performance because of the suit he had to wear constantly, which consisted of two sets of jogging outfits, cotton padding, and a
wetsuit A wetsuit is a garment worn to provide thermal protection while wet. It is usually made of foamed neoprene, and is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports and other activities in or on the water. ...
. Because the producers were impressed with Walter, they wanted him to return in the next season. Mandy May, the wife of director Steven A. Adelson, appears in full prosthetics as the abnormal Jack in "Fragments"; May previously appeared on the series as the face of Sally the
mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...
. In the same episode, Colin Cunningham played the antagonist Gerald. Cunningham was offered a role because he was long-time friends with some of the crew members, as is the same case when it came to casting Anne Marie Loder, wife of director Peter DeLuise, as Rachel. ''
Eureka Eureka often refers to: * Eureka (word), a famous exclamation attributed to Archimedes * Eureka effect, the sudden, unexpected realization of the solution to a problem Eureka or Ureka may also refer to: History * Eureka Rebellion, an 1854 g ...
'' actress Erica Cerra makes a guest appearance as the telepath Emma in "Veritas". Cerra's casting by the producers was "really easy" as it was based on her work in other science fiction productions, especially ''Eureka''. Tapping's former ''
Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrig ...
'' co-star Michael Shanks guest starred as Jimmy in "Penance". Shanks had an interest in playing Jimmy because of the edginess of the character. Shanks also suggested
Aleks Paunovic Aleks Paunovic (born June 29, 1969) is a Canadian actor. Some of his many roles include prospector Jim McAllister on drama TV series ''Arctic Air'' (2012–2014), Julius on fantasy horror drama series ''Van Helsing'' (2016–2021), imposing warr ...
, actor and part-time
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...
, for the part as the Diukon Duke; being a boxer fit into the character's violent nature. Paul McGillion returns as Wexford in the season finale. McGillion first appeared as Wexford in the original webisodes, and since then the producers wanted him to return. Tapping believed that placing him in the finale was "the perfect place for him." Callum Blue was cast as the finale's antagonist, Edward Forsythe, as the producers believed Blue could portray somebody who is both charming and evil. In the same episode, Sahar Biniaz was cast as Kali; Biniaz was chosen as the producers believed her physical appearance was goddess-like. Balinder Johal played a cult member; she was the first person to audition for the part, and the producers cast her as she was spiritual, calm, and soft in her appearance. Johal taught the cast how to speak
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
in parts of the dialogue. The producers were hoping to cast
David Hewlett David Ian Hewlett (born 18 April 1968) is an English-Canadian actor, writer and director, known for his role as Dr. Rodney McKay in the ''Stargate'' science-fiction franchise. He first gained fame for his roles as Grant Jansky in the Canadian ...
, another ''Stargate'' alum, in a guest spot; however, this was met by scheduling issues, as he was shooting a film at the time. Despite this the producers were confident they would cast Hewlett "eventually."


Production


Development

Syfy officially announced the commissioning of a second season of ''Sanctuary'' in November 2008 due to the ratings success of the pilot episode, which totalled over three million viewers. Writer and executive producer Sam Egan left the series after the first season. Andrea Gorfolova, Carrie Mudd and Keith Beedie join creator Damian Kindler, director Martin Wood, and actress Amanda Tapping as the show's executive producers.


Writing

The second season saw the introduction of a writing team; Sara Cooper, Alan McCullough and James Thorpe were hired as additional writers to Kindler. Because of the writing team, it allowed Kindler and the team to hold meetings, whereas in the first season it was just him discussing with Egan. One of the goals in writing the second season is to further explore the global Sanctuary Network, because in the ''Sanctuary'' universe abnormals can be found all around the world. Some international Sanctuary bases were mentioned in the first season, but in the second season, the producers wished to visit some of those bases. Introducing new Sanctuaries and its characters would widen the breadth of the show. They also wished to start introducing abnormals that cannot walk, including an oil-like abnormal in "End of Nights" and the fire
elemental An elemental is a mythic supernatural being that is described in occult and alchemy, alchemical works from around the time of the European Renaissance, and particularly elaborated in the 16th century works of Paracelsus. According to Paracelsu ...
"Penance". Kindler wrote both parts of "End of Nights", "Pavor Nocturnus", "Next Tuesday", "Haunted" and the second part of "Kali". McCullough wrote "Hero", "Veritas", "Penance" and the first part of "Kali". Cooper wrote "Eulogy" and "Fragments", while Thorpe wrote "Sleepers", and co-wrote "Pavor Nocturnus" and "Haunted" with Kindler. Following the cliffhanger of the first-season finale, Kindler worked to figure out how to conclude the story and managed to write the outlines of the first two episodes in two days. He also consulted with the writing team to look at all the problems on how to conclude the story. "Eulogy" was conceived as an important episode in the lives of the main characters following the aftermath of "End of Nights", as well as dealing with the loss of Ashley. Kindler said of the episode "it's one thing to end on a terrible tragic cliffhanger, it's another in a satisfactory manner lay all things to rest appropriately." In writing the episode Cooper was knowledgeable on "medical jargon," as she once wrote for the medical drama series ''
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...
''. In writing his first script "Hero", McCullough was initially concerned that it would be met by resistance from the producers because of the special effects that would be involved, but was "floored" to find out it was entirely possible because of Anthem Visual Effects. The producers were originally hesitant in including "Hero" as the fourth episode, as it was considered lighter in tone as Magnus was trying to get over Ashley's death from "Eulogy". "Pavor Nocturnus" came early in the development of the season, as Kindler wanted to show an episode about Magnus' work going "horribly wrong," and explore the opportunity to have the heroes warned that their work has consequences. Described as the "darkest, scariest, creepiest episode ever" by Tapping, it also featured scenes Kindler was never comfortable with, and did not want to show again, including the assault of naked women, and child killings. "Fragments" was written to be in real time format. Kindler described the episode as a "nice procedural, with heart," that follows the same style as episodes of the medical drama '' ER'', where "stuff goes down and you have to kind of follow the team in different aspects and see how they're handling the situation." The idea behind "Next Tuesday" came when Kindler and Wood noticed a rescue helicopter that was available for rent, prompting the two to come up with a "helicopter story." The episode also introduces a next level in Will and Magnus' friendship; arguments, which would create a "far more realistic thread of tension" between the two characters who "obviously love each other," and "obviously get along," which Kindler felt made a "cool character layer." This was also based on the producers themselves, who despite being good friends, often argue while producing the series. "Sleepers" was developed because the producers wanted to do a Tesla-centric episode, as they view him as one of their favorite characters. "Haunted" rounds Druitt to "something unexpected." The producers were aware that Druitt became more insane the more he teleports, and they wanted to find an explanation why, hence the creation of the energy creature. "Kali" was designed as a somewhat " faith versus science" episode, with faith as the winning party, because any host to the macri would need a spiritual understanding to it; the cult of Kali are religious, so they would make suitable hosts, but Edward Forsythe is a believer of science, and would not make a suitable host as he does not share the cult's understanding. In the original draft, Magnus would fall ill, but that later changed to Will before the episode was filmed. Some episodes in the season originally followed a different order. "Pavor Nocturnus" was originally going to be the fourth episode, while "Hero" would become the tenth. "Sleepers" would also be in an earlier slot. However, the order changed, partially due to availability issues with Jonathon Young for "Sleepers". The writers were also working on a Bigfoot-centric episode, where he returns to his home. However, before it could be written, the networks were unhappy with the idea.


Filming

Filming began in late March 2009, and finished on the end of July the same year. Director Martin Wood wanted to film the season in a more
graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
style. Wood directed both parts of "End of Nights", "Hero", "Next Tuesday" and both parts of "Kali". Brenton Spencer directed "Eulogy", "Pavor Nocturnus" and "Penance". The producers felt that Spencer did "a great job" in making sense on a lot of moves he had to make, as well as understanding that the stories are important in getting things back on track in "Eulogy". The episode ended up being 17 minutes longer than usual, so much of it had to be cut. Steven A. Adelson directed "Fragments" and "Sleepers". Amanda Tapping directed "Veritas", her first directorial credit since the ''Stargate SG-1'' episode "
Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...
" in 2004. To direct the scenes featuring Magnus, Tapping rehearsed them to decide how it would be shot, then appointed somebody to handle the cameras. Peter DeLuise directed "Haunted". Lee Wilson from Anthem Visual Effects directed a scene in "Hero", while Robbins directed a scene from "Fragments" when his character recorded Rachel's documentary. Like the first season, much of the second was filmed on
green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fie ...
sets in a studio in
Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard In ...
, British Columbia, though also like the first season, there are more instances it was shot on practical sets and on location, most of which taking place just outside the studio. The first part of "End of Nights" had scenes filmed at a large empty warehouse. At some point, Dunne, Kindler, Tapping and Wood were sent to Tokyo to promote the series for Syfy Asia. The four decided to use the opportunity to film some scenes for the finale there, one of which was filmed in the
Shibuya crossing , commonly known as Shibuya Crossing, is a popular pedestrian scramble crossing in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. It is located in front of the Shibuya Station Hachikō exit and stops vehicles in all directions to allow pedestrians to inundate the enti ...
. Filming took place just as a
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
season was kicking in. In addition, they noticed a concert hall and took pictures of one of its angles as they deem the architecture suitable for a Tokyo Sanctuary base. During the shoot of the first part of "End of Nights", Kindler loaned his car for a car chase sequence. A later scene involved having the car shot at by snipers. To prevent damage to the car, the bullet holes were made from visual effects. In "Pavor Nocturnus", the crew had to make the Sanctuary set ruined in a post-apocalyptic state. Set designer Bridget McGuire made the set look "horrible" overnight, but then had to clean it up for the last scene. They also "completely trashed" the street sets in the studio. "Next Tuesday" was considered a
bottle episode In episodic television, a bottle episode or bottle show is an episode produced cheaply and restricted in scope to use as few regular cast members, effects and sets as possible. Bottle episodes are usually shot on sets built for other episodes, fr ...
as it was largely filmed in one set, a water tank some 14 feet deep and 70 feet long, in a studio. The episode was filmed over five 13-hour days, not including a two-day break midway through, becoming the fastest time filming a ''Sanctuary'' episode. Wood directed the episode from the water rather than dry land. The following episode "Penance" was largely filmed at a constructed city set some three and a half blocks in size, which was previously used in the
superhero film Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...
''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...
''. The Mumbai slum set in the season finale was constructed on the parking lot of the studio, which took two to three weeks to complete. The finale was filmed during one of the hottest heatwaves to hit British Columbia; Tapping found that the set was hotter than the average temperature of the actual Mumbai. Three main cameras were used, one of which was crane-operated. 60 extras were used, the highest number used in an ''Sanctuary'' episode. For the extras to be used in more than one scene, they wore many different costumes. The streeting area was also limited in size, so the streets were recycled frequently with every scene. The practical sets of the Sanctuary offices and corridors were also redesigned to look like the Mumbai Sanctuary.


Music

Andrew Lockington Andrew Lockington (born July 31, 1974) is a Canadian film score composer. Life and career Lockington was born in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. He is married to Christy Lockington and has three daughters named Cielle Lockington, Kaya Lockington, a ...
was appointed the series composer in the season. The producers liked Lockington's contribution to the score as it was more heightened than it was in the first season. Lockington would also capture the emotional temper when it comes to scoring for the emotional scenes. The composer sampled several instruments from around the world to give the score a more ethnic, international feel. Some episodes feature the score taking different styles. For instance "Fragments" features a "cool
Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American film director, screenwriter, author and producer, best known for his stylized crime dramas. He has received a BAFTA Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for four ...
soundtrack." In "Kali", the score adopted a more
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...
-style theme, particularly during Will's dance sequence. In addition to the score, there were occasional instances where popular music was featured. "End of Nights" featured a track from the
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
-based
hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
group
Down with Webster Down with Webster is a Canadian rap rock band from The Beaches area of Toronto who signed with Universal Motown in April 2009. The band first achieved commercial success with the release of the 2009 EP, '' Time to Win, Vol. I'' which consisted ...
.


Effects

Anthem Visual Effects resumed their duties of producing the visual effects for the second season. The company's Lee Wilson noted that their workload for the second season "increased exponentially" over the first, with some episodes containing as many as 500 visual effects shots. The produce decided to "re-jig" the opening title sequence, which they wanted to do each year. The photograph where Magnus meets
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
changed to aviation pilot
Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( ; July 24, 1897 – January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer. On July 2, 1937, she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to become the first female pilot to circumnavigate the world. During her li ...
. The producers noticed that the visual effects have been made "more wondrous than we did the season before," as they were able to produce certain actions that they never tried before. The steno in "Eulogy" was designed to look adorable, harmless and bunny-like in its infancy, but more menacing when it grows up. In making the Adjuster fly in "Hero", both visual and practical effects were used; some of the simpler sequences involved Gauthier hooked up to a velocity rig, but in order to make him fly over the city skyline, a computer-generated avatar was created. The design of the coleanthropus in the same episode was based on a mix of insect and dinosaur. The second season introduces "moving ," an upgraded technique the film crew used to complete the effect where Druitt teleports. The were used specifically to make the sequences where the cast around Heyerdahl freeze until he leaves the screen. The producers wanted to have the camera move during those shots, as they believed it would be "way cooler to have those on the move." One of the more difficult moving included a "triple " with other characters who could teleport on the same shot in "End of Nights". The sequence was difficult for Tapping, as she had to carry a prop weighing approximately 73 pounds. A three-dimensional
hologram Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...
of Rachel's office was included in "Fragments"; it was originally intended to feature the hologram throughout the episode, but because doing so would be costly, the producers decided to have one scene with the hologram, so Henry could use it as a blueprint to make an identical office with boxes. For the finale, Anthem decided to make the macri and Big Bertha look like the same creature, though Bertha would be a considerably larger creature. Some scenes involve the macri interacting with real life objects, including clothing. To make a scene where the macri enters a jacket, Wilson used fishing wire to move a sleeve slightly. Big Bertha's actions meanwhile, were largely made underwater. Anthem found that making underwater effects was difficult because there was a different style of movement. Additionally, Anthem produced a sequence where Wexford launches
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...
s from his ship. The producers were looking for
stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...
of the dropping depth charges, but they could not find one in high-definition. In addition to visual effects, other forms of physical effects were produced. In "Hero", there was a scene where the camera appeared to be shot from inside a water tank. Instead, a water tank was placed between the camera and the actors, where
Alka-Seltzer Alka-Seltzer is an effervescent antacid and pain reliever owned by Bayer since 1978. First marketed by the Dr. Miles Medicine Company of Elkhart, Indiana, United States, Alka-Seltzer contains three active ingredients: aspirin (acetylsalicylic ac ...
was placed at the bottom to simulate bubbles. Wood previously used this technique in the first-season episode "Requiem" as well as in ''
Stargate Atlantis ''Stargate Atlantis'' (usually stylized in all caps and often abbreviated ''SGA'') is an Adventure film, adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show was created by Brad W ...
''. The Adjuster comic books at the end of the episode were designed by artists who occasionally work for
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
. Dunne wore a mullet and a white eye
contact lens Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...
in "Pavor Nocturnus" for Will's alternate self in a dystopian future. The vampire squid-related effects for "Next Tuesday" were made possible by visual aids. For the shots where the squid swims on the water surface, the production crew used a
radio-controlled boat A radio-controlled boat is a boat or ship model controlled remotely with radio control equipment. Type Fun sport Electric sport boats are the most common type of boat amongst casual hobbyists. Hobby-quality boat speed generally start at a ...
to mimic a wake. When the squid erupts from the water, they placed a
beach ball A beach ball is an inflatable ball for beach and water games. Their large size and light weight require little effort to propel them. Beach balls became popular in the beach-themed films of the 1960s starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Ava ...
underwater and released it to mimic the splash. To make the helicopter sway during the battles between the squid and sea scorpion, an air pump was placed below it. However, doing so added the side effect of strong currents, proving difficult for the cast to swim towards the helicopter. The season also includes stunt work. Weeks before filming "End of Nights", Heyerdahl practiced sword fighting to be done against the hybrids in the second part. Jonathon Young performed his own stunts for "Sleepers", including being run over by a car and falling from a car. Both stunts involved harnesses and other safety measures. Young also participated in a fight scene with the other vampire characters, but he ended up injuring two of the actors. In one instance Young hit Chad Rook in the face, which caused a fang insert to puncture his lip.


Broadcast and reception


Broadcast and ratings

The season commenced airing on Syfy from October 9, 2009, and aired nearly every Friday night until the two-part finale "Kali" on January 15, 2010. It aired alongside the first season of ''
Stargate Universe ''Stargate Universe'' (often abbreviated as ''SGU'') is a military science fiction drama television series and part of MGM's ''Stargate'' franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the An ...
''. The season started off with 1.85 million viewers. Ratings were up 18 per cent in terms of adults aged between 18 and 49, and 7 per cent in adults aged between 25 and 54 compared to the average of the first season. After "Sleepers" aired, the season was seen by an average of 1.55 million viewers per episode. Timeshifted ratings for the season increases from live viewers by 45.9 per cent, increasing the average to 2.2 million viewers per episode. In Canada, the season premiered on October 9 on
Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
, a cable channel that specialises in science fiction programs. Each episode would be available on demand on the channel's website after they aired. It was moved from
The Movie Network Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Television in Canada, Canadian premium television network and Streaming service provider, streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. Launched in 1983 as the national service ...
, which originally aired the first season. In the United Kingdom, the season premiered on
ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV plc. The channel focuses primarily on general entertainment programming targeting a male audience, including action series and films, ...
on October 12, 2009, and finished on January 18, 2010. It started with 334,000 viewers for the first episode, and ended with 268,000 for the finale. In Australia, the season started airing on July 12, 2010 on
ABC2 ABC Family is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of family and teen entertainment programming. The channel oper ...
.


Critical reception

The season was met with generally positive reviews. Mark Wilson of About.com believed that after the series was "finding its feet," and "looks like a harbinger of the new, more confident ''Sanctuary''," but added "there's still work to be done." He also stated "because of the talents involved, the wide-open concept, and the way it's created, ''Sanctuary'' has huge potential. The season 2 premiere is good to great, with a fantastic performance from Tapping and a real escalation of the Cabal threat. Let's hope that the show continues to develop and evolves, like its characters, into the show it's capable of becoming." In a DVD review of the season, Monsters and Critics rated it five out of five, stating that fans "will be very happy" with the season set. John Sinnott of
DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
said that while "the show still has a lot of charm," he felt it did not live up to the standards of the first season. Sinnott criticised the season for wrapping up the Cabal story line in the first two episodes, expecting it to continue throughout the season, as well as accusing the writers of throwing out "a lot of aspects that made the end of the first season so great." However, he felt there were good episodes, naming "Sleepers" as his favourite, and also saying he liked "Hero". He summed up that the season was "still worth watching and enjoyable, just not as gripping as the first season," believing it comes "recommended" to those who wish to purchase the season box set. David Blackwell of Enterline Media stated that the second season "continues to amaze as a show I first wrote off as bad. I'm glad I'm still giving this show a second chance as it continues to deliver great character arcs and stories." Blackwell named "Pavor Nocturnus", "Veritas" and "Haunted" as the standout episodes. CliqueClack TV believed the season was a "mixed bag"; "End of Nights" was considered "the most thrilling hours of television ''Sanctuary'' has ever produced," but the season later "suffered mostly from failure to follow through with the Cabal/Ashley story arc." Critical reactions towards the introduction of Kate Freelander was also mixed. Mark Wilson stated "the growling sass-mouth feels out of place. Darshi's performance is good, at least, so we'll just have to see if the writers are capable of integrating her into the cast." John Sinnot meanwhile, started "I always found shleya bit irritating, so it was no big loss. For some reason however, they've replaced her with another annoying young woman, Kate Freelander. She's basically the same character as Ashley, tough as nails on the outside but still a vulnerable young woman on the inside, but this time in an Indian shell."


Awards and nominations

Overall the second season won seven awards, all them
Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...
, out of 17 nominations from the same ceremony. "Pavor Nocturnus" won three of those wins; Brenton Spencer won "Best Direction", Christina McQuarrie won "Best Costume Design", and Robin Dunne won "Best Lead Performance by a Male". Christopher Gauthier won "Best Guest Performance by a Male" for his role in "Hero". Todd Masters, Holland Miller, Harlow Macfarlane, Werner Pretorius and Yukio Okajima won "Best Make-Up" for "Fragments". Christopher Heyerdahl won "Best Supporting Performance by a Male" for "Haunted", and Bridget McGuire won "Best Production Design" in the season finale, "Kali Part 2". The season was also nominated for "Best Dramatic Series", but lost to ''
Stargate Universe ''Stargate Universe'' (often abbreviated as ''SGU'') is a military science fiction drama television series and part of MGM's ''Stargate'' franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the An ...
''. The second part of "Kali" represented the series for "Best Television Series – Drama" in the 2010
Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC; ) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...
Awards, but lost out to the comedy–drama series ''
Being Erica ''Being Erica'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that aired on CBC Television, CBC from January 5, 2009, to December 12, 2011. Created by Jana Sinyor, the series was originally announced by the CBC as ''The Session'', but was later r ...
''. Elsewhere, Dunne was also nominated for "Best Male Performance in a 2009 Science Fiction Television Episode" at the 2010 Constellation Awards, but lost out to ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' actor
David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...
, for his role in the episode "
The Waters of Mars "The Waters of Mars" is the second of four hour-long specials of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', all serving as David Tennant's final episodes as the Tenth Doctor. As with the previous special, " Planet of the Dead ...
", by only one percent of the votes.


Home video releases

A DVD box set of the second season, published by
E1 Entertainment E1, E01, E.I or E-1 may refer to: Transportation Aircraft * Azcárate E-1, a Mexican sesquiplane trainer * Fokker E.I, a German fighter aircraft * Grumman E-1 Tracer, an American airborne early warning aircraft * Hydra Technologies E1 Gavil ...
, was first released in Region 1 on June 15, 2010, in Region October 2 4, 2010, and in Region 4 on June 9, 2010 It was also released on
Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...
in the United States and Australia on the same days the DVD counterpart was released. The four-disc set consists of all 13 episodes, each with audio commentaries from cast and crew. The set also includes numerous special featurettes: ''Amanda Tapping Directs "Veritas"'', ''"Next Tuesday" – Anatomy of an Episode'', ''Sanctuary Visual Effects'', ''Sanctuary for Kids'', ''Behind the Scenes and On the Set'', ''Sanctuary Goes to Japan'' and ''Dancing in Mumbai'', as well as a presentation from
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
, a blooper reel and photo gallery.


References


External links

* {{Sanctuary 2009 Canadian television seasons 2010 Canadian television seasons Sanctuary (TV series)