“Sanctuary for All: Part 1” is episode one of season one of Sanctuary.
In an unnamed city two policemen answer a call regarding a domestic disturbance. They enter an apartment and find a boy hiding under a bed. When one of the officers shouts at the boy, a strange tentacle stabs the man in the forehead. Both police are are killed, as was an old man who also lived there. The rest of the police, when they arrive on the scene, believe that all three were shot – after all, they didn’t see what happened.
Dr. Will Zimmerman works for the police as a forensic psychologist after being sacked from the FBI. He believes that there is something else going on, as he discovered evidence that there was a, now absent, child in the apartment. The other police don’t exactly respect him, and dismiss his theory that there was a boy in the apartment. Zimmerman investigates himself, and sees the boy, but is hit by a car.
The car was being driven by Dr. Helen Magnus, who runs a Sanctuary. Later, she approaches Zimmerman more sedately, and offers him a job, taking him to the sanctuary, where lots of strange creatures are staying. Some of these appear to be mutations on the human form – such as the boy – others appear to be completely inhuman. Dr. Magnus wants Zimmerman’s skills. There’s also a man with an unusual power who is also looking for the Sanctuary. Given his actions, he doesn’t appear to be friendly.
There are a lot of connections to Stargate in this. The most obvious is, of course, Amanda Tapping (Dr. Helen Magnus), who played Sam Carter in all three Stargate series. Damian Kindler, the writer and creator, also worked on SG-1 and Atlantis, and there is a small appearance by Kavan Smith as Detective Joe Kavanaugh who played Major Evan Lorne in SG-1 and as a much bigger part in Atlantis (he also played Deputy Andy 2.0 in Eureka). Zimmerman also bears a bit of a resemblance to a young Daniel Jackson (a resemblance that is even more noticeable when Michael Shanks guest stars). Christopher Heyerdahl, who played Todd the Wraith in Atlantis, and a couple of other roles, also plays various parts.
The story continues in “Sanctuary for All: Part 2”.