Cameron Mitchell (Stargate)

Stargate character


caption = Colonel Cameron Mitchell
race = Human
ata =
name = Cameron Mitchell
gender = Male
age = late 30s
rank = Lieutenant Colonel (SG-1 Episode 9.01-10.20; Stargate: Ark of Truth)
Colonel (Stargate: Continuum)
birthplace= US, Earth
family = Unnamed grandmother,
Frank Mitchell (father, alive),
Wendy Mitchell (mother, alive)
tv = Ben Browder
first = Avalon Part 1

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 ' and '. 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".

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". sgcite|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.cite episode| episodelink=Collateral Damage (Stargate SG-1)| title=Collateral Damage | series= Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1] The episode sgcite|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, but he only finds out at their 20-year reunion that the crush had been mutual. [cite episode| episodelink=Bounty (Stargate SG-1)| title=Bounty | series= Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1] Mitchell sometimes mentions his Bible-thumping grandmother. [cite episode| episodelink=Origin (Stargate SG-1)| title=Origin | series= Stargate SG-1| serieslink=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."] He has also dealt with a wrong bombing incident when he was a F-16 pilot with rank of Captain. 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. The premiere of season 9, sgcite|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. Mitchell received the Medal of Honor for his actions over Antarctica, and severe injuries risked his ability to ever walk again, but he was promised any assignment he wanted should he recover, and chose to take a place on SG-1.cite episode| episodelink=Avalon (Stargate SG-1)| title=Avalon | series= Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1]

Upon making his entry at the SGC in "Avalon", Mitchell is assigned as SG-1's new commanding officer. Learning that the rest of the original SG-1 team has moved on, Mitchell makes several valiant attempts to lure them back to SG-1 but remains unsuccessful at first. 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), but it is not until the Ori becomes a real threat to Earth that former SG-1 member Samantha Carter joins them. SG-1 reunites under his command in the seventh episode of Season 9, sgcite|Ex Deus Machina. [cite episode| episodelink=Ex Deus Machina (Stargate SG-1)| title=Ex Deus Machina | series= Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1] Mitchell becomes the first human to make contact with the legendary Sodan, a group of Jaffa, in sgcite|Babylon; he is also present when the Ori kill the race in sgcite|Arthur's Mantle. [cite episode| episodelink=Babylon (Stargate SG-1)| title=Babylon | series= Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1] [cite episode| episodelink=Arthur's Mantle (Stargate SG-1)| title=Arthur's Mantle | series= Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1] In sgcite|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. [cite episode| episodelink=Collateral Damage (Stargate SG-1)| title=Collateral Damage | series= Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1]

In ', 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 ', 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

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.Citation |last=Eramo |first=Steven | title=Producer's Choice – Collateral Damage |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #67 |pages=24–28 |date=December 2005]

Development

eason 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.Citation |last=Eramo |first=Steven |author-link= | title=Ben Browder – Work in progress |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #64 |pages=12–16 |date=July 2005] 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).cite web |last=Sumner |first=Darren |url=http://www.gateworld.net/news/2006/02/blacks_vala_returns_to_isg-1i_...shtml |title=Black's Vala returns to SG-1 ... with big news |publisher=gateworld.net |date=February 22, 2006 |accessdate=2008-01-13] cite video |people=Robert C. Cooper and Peter Woeste |year2=2006 |title=Audio Commentary for "Crusade" |medium= DVD |publisher=MGM]

Until his character's name was cleared after months, he was referred to only as "M.M.". The name of the character was later decided to be "Cameron 'Cam' Mitchell", with the callsign "Shaft", a pun on camshaft.cite episode | title = Beachhead | episodelink = Beachhead (Stargate SG-1) | series = Stargate SG-1 | serieslink =Stargate SG-1 | credits = Brad Turner | writers = Brad Wright | network = Sci Fi Channel | airdate = 2005-08-19 | season = 9 | number = 6
* Pendergast: "Shaft... Welcome back to the Prometheus." / Mitchell: "Thank you, Colonel." / Carter: "Shaft?" / Mitchell: "My call sign. Cam. Shaft."]

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, 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. [sgcite|Avalon audio commentary.]

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."cite web |url=http://www.gateworld.net/interviews/crossing_over.shtml |title=Crossing over – GateWorld talks with Ben Browder |publisher=gateworld.net |date=January 2005 |accessdate=2007-05-07] 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. 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."Citation |last=Eramo |first=Steven | title=Michael Shanks – Team Player |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #67 |pages=38–40 |date=December 2005] 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 sgcite|Arthur's Mantle.Citation |last=Eramo |first=Steven | title=Amanda Tapping – Coming Home |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #67 |pages=30–33 |date=December 2005] 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.Citation |last=Eramo |first=Steven | title=Amanda Tapping – Coming Home |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #67 |pages=30–33 |date=December 2005]

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.cite web |url=http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=30979 |title=Black, Browder Talk New SG-1 |publisher=scifi.com |date=May 6, 2005 |accessdate=2008-01-13] Upon meeting Mitchell for the first time in the Season 9 premiere sgcite|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.] The producers instead opted to further the comedic chemistry between Claudia Black and Michael Shanks.Citation |last=Eramo |first=Steven |author-link= | title=Michael Shanks – Curious Mind |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #64 |pages=40–42 |date=July 2005] Citation | title=Black To The Future |newspaper=Verbatim |issue=#8 |date=October 2005] 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.Citation |last=Eramo |first=Steven |author-link= | title=Michael Shanks – Curious Mind |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #64 |pages=40–42 |date=July 2005]

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.Martin Gero in the audio commentary for "The Ties That Bind"] 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.

Writer Paul Mullie considered sgcite|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.Citation |last=Eramo |first=Steven |author-link= | title=Producer's Choice – Collateral Damage |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #67 |pages=19 |date=December 2005]

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

eason 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".Citation |last=Eramo |first=Steven |author-link= | title=Preview Season 10 |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #74 |pages=40–52 |date=July 2006] A scene in the milestone episode sgcite|200 also parodied the show's connection to "Farscape".

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 mostwho 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.

Other appearances

Ben Browder appeared as Mitchell in the direct-to-DVD films ' and '.

Reception

While "TV Zone"'s Stephen Graves believed that Ben Browder's and Claudia Black's first post-"Farscape" encounter in sgcite|Avalon "somewhat underplayed", he considered Mitchell's "excruciating interviews with potential new recruits a particular highlight."Citation |last=Graves |first=Steven |author-link= | title=Season Nine episodes 1–10 Reviews |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #67 |pages=20–22 |date=December 2005] By Season 10's sgcite|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".Citation |last=Brown |first=Anthony |author-link= | title=Stargate SG-1 Season 10 Reviews On the Air... |newspaper=TV Zone |issue=Special #74 |pages=18–20 |date=January 2007] 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."cite web |last=Ryan |first=Maureen |url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2007/06/times-up-forsta.html |title=Time's not on the side of 'Stargate SG-1,' which ends Friday |publisher=chicagotribune.com |date=June 21, 2007 |accessdate=2008-02-22]

For his portrayal of Cameron Mitchell, Ben Browder was nominated for a Saturn Award in the category "Best Supporting Actor on Television" in 2006. [cite web |last=Fetter |first=Sharon |url=http://www.gateworld.net/news/2006/02/isg-1i_earns_three_saturn_nomina.shtml |title="SG-1" earns three Saturn nominations |publisher=gateworld.net |date=February 21, 2006 |accessdate=2008-04-07] Cameron Mitchell ranked first (27%) out of five in the viewer-voted 2006 Spacey Awards for "Favourite New TV Character". [4th Spacey Awards. Presented by Space on May 27, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.] Per popular demand, Diamond Select Toys included Mitchell in their third series of "Stargate" action figures. [cite web |url=http://www.diamondselecttoys.com/store.asp?p=item.asp%3FItemNo%3D51950%26CategoryID%3D357 |title=Stargate SG-1 Series 3 Cameron Mitchell Figure |publisher=diamondselecttoys.com |accessdate=2008-05-10]

References

External links

* [http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Cameron_Mitchell Cameron Mitchell] - [http://stargate.wikia.com Stargate Wiki]
* [http://www.gateworld.net/omnipedia/characters/links/mitchellcameron.shtml Cameron Mitchell] - [http://www.gateworld.net/omnipedia GateWorld Omnipedia]
* [http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com/wiki/Cameron_Mitchell Cameron Mitchell] - [http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com Stargate Solutions]
* [http://www.scifi.com/stargate/cast/mitchell/index.html Cameron Mitchell] - [http://www.scifi.com/stargate/ Sci-Fi Channel]