Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Avenger 2.0" in English language version.
Avenger 2.0 saw the return of Felger [Patrick McKenna], the wacky scientist guy from the season six episode The Other Guys. He was so over the top and wacky in that episode that this was really about coming up with something even more spectacularly stupid for him to have done. And the only thing we could possibly imagine being big enough was for him to screw up the entire [Stargate system], leading to lots of chaos which Carter and Felger have to deal with! "Pat McKenna is just a wonderful Canadian actor who's great at both drama and comedy, and I just love working with him and so does everyone else on the show. He's a creative genius that maybe hasn't been recognised enough outside of Canada."
Well known Canadian actor/comedian Patrick McKenna reprises his role of Dr Jay Felger (from Season Six's The Other Guys) in the seventh season episode Avenger 2.0. Felger needs to redeem himself because his research at the SGC has been showing lots of promise but little results," says Joe Mallozzi, who wrote this episode with Paul Mullie. "So he comes up with this idea of a computer virus that specifically targets a Stargate and shuts it down. "He gets Carter to help him on the project and, of course, things don't go as planned. The virus ends up shutting down all the Stargates except for the one at the SGC. A number of SG reams are stranded off-world, including Teal'c and O'Neill, who aren't too happy because there's a group of Jaffa practically breathing down their necks. Then there's Daniel, who's on another world trying to re-locate people because of severe flooding conditions. The floodwaters are slowly rising and they'll soon be cut off from the gate. Felger and Carter are trying to solve the problem they've created, or think they've created, but it's not as simple as that.
Robbins created a prop especially with director Martin Wood in mind for the episode Avenger 2.0. "Jay Felger [The Other Guys] creates a computer virus that is capable of shutting down other Stargates" says Robbins. "He calls it the Avenger Virus, after a comic book he used to read as a kid. So we decided I'd do a mock-up comic book, and on the front cover is the amazing Martin Wood in full superhero garb. Martin said, 'If you can make it I'll put it in the episode,' so I did.
However, for the seventh season story Avenger 2.0, I created a comic book called 'The Amazing Avenger: So we reused it in Citizen Joe, and I also drew covers for four or five other titles including 'Wasp Man: 'Root Guy' and 'The Destructinator'.
At the time of this interview in early May, the cast and crew of Stargate SG-1 were filming two episodes side-by-side, Avenger 2.0 and Enemy Mine.
Avenger 2.0 differs from The Other Guys in that we don't have John Billingsley [Enterprise's Dr Phlox], who played Felger's buddy Simon Coombs. With John and Patrick together you had two clowns and no straight man. It's a very strange dynamic having two clowns playing off each other because the humour just keeps getting kicked up another notch. It's fun and it works. "When you've got a funny man and a straight man it's not quite the same. In Avenger 2.0 there's a funny man and a straight woman, Major Carter. However, she has such great comic timing. So you've got two comedians but one (Carter) is trying to play it straight. As a result, you end up with these wonderful looks and little remarks between Carter and Felger. Added to this is Jocelyne Loewen's character of Chloe. She's a nerdy little assistant who's very funny just because she's a foil to two very different people, Carter and Felger. Chloe may sound like the sober second voice but, in fact, she really isn't. The script is funny but the show is even funnier.
We normally use P-90s on our show bur since the war [with Iraq] there's been a shortage of P-90 shells or blanks, so we can't use that particular gun as much," explains the actress. "So the props guys have made me what we call a 'Carter special', which is, in fact, an amalgamation of three different guns. It's an awesome weapon, quite powerful and much heavier and more cumbersome than the P-90. The shells eject out the side and little spits of flame shoot out from the front."Yesterday was the first time I actually used the gun. I had to fire it as well as reload it while running. Now, I'm nor the most coordinated person at the best of times, and this scene we were shooting was big. It had Jaffa coming our of the forest and bombs going off as well as special effects rigged all over the place. One mistake by an actor could screw up the whole thing. When I loaded the last magazine the clip suddenly exploded and bullets went flying all over the place. It was a little Stargate Barbie moment for me," laughs Tapping. "We're back in the studio today, though, which means I was finally able to run, load and fire the gun at the same time.
This group of episodes is populated with familiar characters from seasons five and six - Chaka the Unas from Beast of Burden and Warwick Trevor from Forsake - so now it's the turn of Felger and The Other Guys in this comedy orientated episode. While it doesn't reach the heights of Wormhole Extreme (well, what would?) it's a pretty decent and fun romp. 6.
There seems to be a very strange directive in the SGC, in that any possibly dangerous device should be tested in the vicinity of the Stargate, Earth's only reliable contact with the rest of the Universe. In this case it's a 'phaser/ photon torpedo' which Jay Felger (from last season's comedic The Other Guys) decides to test., and blows the fuses of the SGC. What's really bad is that he does this with Sam's approval, and the man is a complete baffoon. We've previously had an irritating scientist in the SGC, for whom Sam had no time, but Jay, who has nothing likeable about his character at all, seems to hold some place in her affections. The man is a bumbling fool, who admits in a phone call that he has a history of catastrophes behind him, yet everyone seems to put up with him, rather than tell him to just go away. OK, maybe he is meant to be a brilliant scientist, but there's little sign of it. This is supposed to be a comedy episode, but it isn't funny, just irritating and quite obvious, right up to the repeated dream sequence scene at the end. The fact that, at the end of the day, what goes wrong isn't exactly Jay's fault but a situation taken advantage of doesn't really help either. 3
