Cameron Mitchell (Stargate)

All you want to know about Cameron Mitchell (Stargate)

Cameron Mitchell
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First appearance "Avalon Part 1" (SG-1)
Portrayed by Ben Browder
Information
Species Human
Occupation United States Air Force officer
Family Frank Mitchell (father), Wendy Mitchell (mother)
Nationality US American

Cameron Mitchell is a fictional character in the American Sci-Fi Channel television series Stargate SG-1, a science fiction show about a military team exploring the galaxy via a network of alien transportation devices. Played by former Farscape actor Ben Browder, Cameron Mitchell is introduced as a main character in the Season 9 premiere "Avalon" (2005), holding the military rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Ben Browder continued to play the character in Season 10 (2006–2007), and in the direct-to-DVD films Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum. Scenes in Continuum show that he has been promoted to full Colonel.

After the SG-1 team has gone separate ways after the Season 8 finale of Stargate SG-1, Lt. Col. Mitchell is assigned as new commanding officer of SG-1 in "Avalon". The first episodes of the ninth season show Mitchell's struggle to reunite the former SG-1 members under his command. With the aid of Lt. Col. Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, the silent Jaffa Teal'c, and the alien thief Vala Mal Doran, Mitchell attempts to stop the Ori threat to the Milky Way galaxy, which started in "Avalon" and concludes in Stargate: The Ark of Truth.

Contents

Role in Stargate

Character arc

Information about Mitchell's past is revealed over the course of several episodes in Seasons 9 and 10 of Stargate SG-1. "Collateral Damage" flashbacks to Mitchell's father, a test pilot for the Air Force whom Mitchell admitted he admired for his coping with losing both legs in an accident.[1] The episode "Bounty" reveals that Cameron graduated in 1987 from a high school in Auburn, Kansas, which is where his parents currently reside. During high school, Cameron had a crush on one Amy Vanderburg, and in the episode Ripple Effect he wonders if a Cameron in a parallel universe made it to second base, but he only finds out at their 20-year reunion that the crush had been mutual.[2] Mitchell sometimes mentions his Bible-thumping grandmother in comparison and contrast to the "religion" of Origin preached by the Ori.[3] The premiere of season 9, "Avalon", has flashbacks to Lt. Colonel Mitchell leading the squadron of F-302 fighters in the battle against Anubis' forces in Antarctica at the end of Season 7, where he was shot down and nearly died as a result of injuries and exposure. Mitchell received the Medal of Honor for his actions over Antarctica, but the severity of his injuries risked his ability to ever walk again. General Jack O'Neill promised him any assignment he wanted should he recover.[4] Further flashbacks show Mitchell's determination to walk again and be fit to lead, spurred on by the desire and promise of becoming the new commander of SG-1.

Upon making his entry at the SGC in "Avalon", to take his place as the new leader of SG-1 he learns that the one thing Jack O'Neill didn't mention was that the rest of the original SG-1 team has moved on to new assignments, leaving Mitchell to choose an entirely new team. He explains that the only reason he wanted to lead SG-1 was to be part of that exceptional team and makes several valiant but unsuccessful attempts to lure them back together. Circumstances lead to various members of SG-1 reuniting when Mitchell leads former SG-1 team members Daniel Jackson and Teal'c, and a human alien named Vala Mal Doran on a quest for knowledge (and riches),[4] as well as on other missions. However, not until the Ori become a real threat to the universe by taking over an entire planet that the final member of SG-1, Samantha Carter, returns from the Pegasus Galaxy to join them and the team is complete.[5] In that episode, we learn of Mitchell's dislike for nuclear weapons when he is forced to deploy a Mark IX warhead in an unsuccessful attempt to stop a Prior. The team reunites under his command for their first mission together as SG-1 in the seventh episode of Season 9, "Ex Deus Machina", to stop Ba'al from detonating a naquada enhanced bomb somewhere on earth.[6]

Mitchell becomes the first human to make contact with the legendary Sodan, a group of Jaffa, in "Babylon"; he is also present when the Ori kill off the race in "Arthur's Mantle".[7][8] In "Collateral Damage", Mitchell is implanted with a memory of bludgeoning a woman to death and must defend himself against accusations, but his innocence is later proven.[9] He was forced to relive a bombing incident when he was an F-16 pilot with rank of Captain before joining the Stargate Program. During a tactical strike Mitchell was given clearance to bomb a convoy in the middle east. Almost immediately after Mitchell fired, the orders were withdrawn because the convoy was actually refugees fleeing to safety. Since the bomb found its mark, Mitchell was wracked with guilt and almost resigned.[1] The intense emotions he experienced were used to distinguish between his real memories and the false ones implanted by the real murderer.

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2008)

In Stargate: The Ark of Truth, Col. Mitchell spends most of the time aboard the Odyssey in the Ori galaxy and eventually defeats the Replicators which Marrick of the IOA had programmed. When Mitchell, Carter and Daniel enter an alternate reality in Stargate: Continuum, Mitchell goes back to the year 1929 and, with the help of his grandfather, repairs the timeline. After the end of Continuum a picture of his grandfather and his alternative self are taped to his locker.

Personality

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2008)

Browder saw differences in Mitchell's personality depending where he is (on-base and off-world) and who he is with. Browder described his character's leadership style as different from Jack O'Neill, as playing to the strength of the team doesn't necessite ordering people around. Mitchell still "maintains a level of decorum around [General] Landry that he doesn't with his team", where he is more laid-back.[10] When Browder was brought on the team the script was tweaked so that his character wasn't just a "new O'Neill" He and the Producers wanted to make sure the new character could stand on his own and didn't just seem like a replacement for Richard Dean Anderson. Care was taken to make Mitchell a different commander and alter his personality and reactions in different situations, while continuing the team dynamic that had made the show so popular.

Development

Season 9

With actor Richard Dean Anderson's departure from Stargate SG-1 in 2005, Ben Browder, who had met several Stargate producers before during his promoting of his previous acting job of Farscape, approached them when the first talks of introducing a new character to the SG-1 team came up.[11] Meanwhile, Beau Bridges joined the main cast as General Hank Landry in season 9, and the character of Vala Mal Doran (played by Claudia Black, Browder's former Farscape co-star) was introduced for a six-episode story arc to cover for the maternity leave of SG-1 regular Amanda Tapping (Lieutenant-Colonel Samantha Carter).[12][13] Having Black in the cast helped Browder settle in and keep the success of the show from going to his head. He said that she was always ready to tell him how much he had ruined every scene.[14]

Until his character's name was cleared after months, he was referred to only as "M.M.".[15] The name of the character was later decided to be "Cameron 'Cam' Mitchell", with the callsign "Shaft", a pun on camshaft.[5]

After having sporadically watched episodes of SG-1 over the years, Browder watched all 174 episodes of the first eight seasons of SG-1 in a few weeks to catch up with the show,[15] which was turned into a recurring in-joke in the show by stating that Browder's character read every mission report of the SG-1 team before joining the team.[16]

Although Browder put the character's direction into the hands of the writers, he hoped "that the character is interesting and adds to the sum total of Stargate SG-1, as opposed to standing outside."[15] Browder saw it part of the challenge to humanize the character while not letting him be entirely dictated by military terms, and to slowly make him a hero while the other SG-1 team members are already heroes.[11] Still, the character was established as someone familiar with the Stargate program and known and respected by the other characters in the SGC. Michael Shanks and Browder decided to not repeat the original dynamic of military versus diplomatic, as had been between Daniel and O'Neill for eight years. They saw it as cliché and repetitive and instead opted to "find some commonality and still have an entertaining rapport with each other."[17] Amanda Tapping (Carter) stated in hindsight that Season 9 did not develop the relationship between the new characters and the established ones as much as she had hoped, because the stories had been too big and focused on the new Ori threat. She nevertheless hoped that the producers would make SG-1 more of an "ensemble team [in Season 10] where there is no patriarchal line of command, or maybe Mitchell and Carter could share the leadership responsibilities." Her favorite scenes with Browder were some "neat sibling-type moments" between their characters in "Arthur's Mantle".[18] Christopher Judge (Teal'c) stated that his on-screen niche with Browder was their characters both being warriors and leaders, although Teal'c reacted taken aback to Mitchell's gung-ho-ness at first, since he was more used to O'Neill's reserved attitude.[18]

Because Ben Browder and Claudia Black were well-known for formerly starring as star-crossed lovers in the cult sci-fi series Farscape, the Stargate producers refrained from emphasizing the pairing of Mitchell and Vala beyond in-jokes.[19][20] The producers instead opted to further the comedic chemistry between Claudia Black and Michael Shanks.[21][22] Until the middle of Season 9, Michael Shanks (Daniel) was unsure whether the rapport between his character and Mitchell would have an antagonist relationship or a positive one, although he considered the dynamic playful.[21]

The producers of Stargate SG-1 did not realize how much Browder and Micheal Shanks look alike when Browder was cast. Shanks subsequently grew a beard for the early episodes of season 9, and their characters often wear differently-colored BDUs.[23] The early episodes also suggested a relationship between Mitchell and Dr. Carolyn Lam, such as the buttoning-up in the elevator in "The Ties That Bind". This was based on a scripted and filmed romantic subplot in "Avalon", which was ultimately cut for time.[23]

Writer Paul Mullie considered "Collateral Damage" one of his favorite Season 9 episodes, but was concerned that fans may be put off by the violence and darkness of the story. To not shortchange Mitchell's emotional journey in the episode, the producers chose to not shy away from violence and make it a real statement.[24]

Browder enjoyed the physicality of the role and wanted to do as many of his own stunts.[10]

Season 10

When Vala's relationship with her team members evolved in Season 10, the producers grew comfortable with pairing Browder's and Black's characters more often, and even teased (and misled) viewers about them "end[ing] up in a motel room bed together" in the episode "Memento Mori", involving underwear, "handcuffs as well as creamy Twinkies".[25] A scene in the milestone episode "200" also parodied the show's connection to Farscape.[20]

Also the episode "200" (Episode 6 of Season 10) reveals towards the end by Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter, whilst reading through some old case files to get some ideas for scripts, that they were sworn to secrecy regarding a certain matter of Mitchell's father. Mitchell got frustrated at not being allowed to know this despite having the "highest level of clearance known to man". After a desperate plea to Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter, they pretend to reveal that the reason why Jack O'Neill has taken such an interest in Mitchell's career is that in fact during one of the early missions of the SG team, whilst traveling back in time, Jack met Mitchell's mother, and in fact is really his father. It is not known whether or not Mitchell is in fact really Jack O'Neill's son and that Daniel and Samantha were joking, although by most[who?] it is considered to not really be the case, either due to the trend of the episode "200" or due to the possibility of it just being a joke.

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2008)

Other appearances

Ben Browder appeared as Mitchell in the direct-to-DVD films Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum.

Reception

While TV Zone's Stephen Graves believed that Ben Browder's and Claudia Black's first post-Farscape encounter in "Avalon" "somewhat underplayed", he considered Mitchell's "excruciating interviews with potential new recruits a particular highlight."[26] By Season 10's "Memento Mori", TV Zone's Anthony Brown felt that "Ben Browder and Claudia Black have [...] reached a point where they can play out an amusing take on Misery without you feeling that [their Farscape characters] have somehow starbursted onto SG-1's Earth".[27] Maureen Ryan of The Chicago Tribune called Browder's and Black's interaction in Season 10 "great fun; the rapport they developed on the stellar Farscape was still much in evidence, even though they played radically different characters on SG-1."[28]

For his portrayal of Cameron Mitchell, Ben Browder was nominated for a Saturn Award in the category "Best Supporting Actor on Television" in 2006.[29] Cameron Mitchell ranked first (27%) out of five in the viewer-voted 2006 Spacey Awards for "Favourite New TV Character".[30] Per popular demand, Diamond Select Toys included Mitchell in their third series of Stargate action figures.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b "Collateral Damage". Stargate SG-1.
  2. ^ "Bounty". Stargate SG-1.
  3. ^ "Origin". Stargate SG-1.
    • Mitchell: "My grandma was a bit of a Bible-thumper. Weekends at grandma's meant long, long Sundays at St. Hilda's Church of the Grand Epiphany."
  4. ^ a b "Avalon". Stargate SG-1.
  5. ^ a b "Beachhead". Brad Turner, Writ. Brad Wright. Stargate SG-1. Sci Fi Channel. 2005-08-19. No. 6, season 9.
    • Pendergast: "Shaft... Welcome back to the Prometheus." / Mitchell: "Thank you, Colonel." / Carter: "Shaft?" / Mitchell: "My call sign. Cam. Shaft."
  6. ^ "Ex Deus Machina". Stargate SG-1.
  7. ^ "Babylon". Stargate SG-1.
  8. ^ "Arthur's Mantle". Stargate SG-1.
  9. ^ "Collateral Damage". Stargate SG-1.
  10. ^ a b Eramo, Steven (December 2005), "Producer's Choice – Collateral Damage", TV Zone (Special #67): 24–28 
  11. ^ a b Eramo, Steven (July 2005), "Ben Browder – Work in progress", TV Zone (Special #64): 12–16 
  12. ^ Sumner, Darren (February 22, 2006). "Black's Vala returns to SG-1 ... with big news". gateworld.net. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
  13. ^ Robert C. Cooper and Peter Woeste. (2006). Audio Commentary for "Crusade" [DVD]. MGM.
  14. ^ "season 9" special features.
  15. ^ a b c "Crossing over – GateWorld talks with Ben Browder". gateworld.net (January 2005). Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  16. ^ "Avalon" audio commentary.
  17. ^ Eramo, Steven (December 2005), "Michael Shanks – Team Player", TV Zone (Special #67): 38–40 
  18. ^ a b Eramo, Steven (December 2005), "Amanda Tapping – Coming Home", TV Zone (Special #67): 30–33 
  19. ^ "Black, Browder Talk New SG-1". scifi.com (May 6, 2005). Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
  20. ^ a b Upon meeting Mitchell for the first time in the Season 9 premiere "Avalon", Vala remarks "I know we haven't met. That I'm sure I would remember." The episode "200" features a short parody segment where Vala imagines the SG-1 members playing various Farscape characters. Vala plays Black's old role of Aeryn Sun, while Mitchell (Browder) plays the Farscape character Stark. Daniel (Shanks) plays Browder's old role of John Crichton.
  21. ^ a b Eramo, Steven (July 2005), "Michael Shanks – Curious Mind", TV Zone (Special #64): 40–42 
  22. ^ "Black To The Future", Verbatim (#8), October 2005 
  23. ^ a b Martin Gero in the audio commentary for "The Ties That Bind"
  24. ^ Eramo, Steven (December 2005), "Producer's Choice – Collateral Damage", TV Zone (Special #67): 19 
  25. ^ Eramo, Steven (July 2006), "Preview Season 10", TV Zone (Special #74): 40–52 
  26. ^ Graves, Steven (December 2005), "Season Nine episodes 1–10 Reviews", TV Zone (Special #67): 20–22 
  27. ^ Brown, Anthony (January 2007), "Stargate SG-1 Season 10 Reviews On the Air...", TV Zone (Special #74): 18–20 
  28. ^ Ryan, Maureen (June 21, 2007). "Time's not on the side of 'Stargate SG-1,' which ends Friday". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.
  29. ^ Fetter, Sharon (February 21, 2006). "SG-1 earns three Saturn nominations". gateworld.net. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
  30. ^ 4th Spacey Awards. Presented by Space on May 27, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
  31. ^ "Stargate SG-1 Series 3 Cameron Mitchell Figure". diamondselecttoys.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.

External links

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