Stargate, revisited

[magictrick]

Yea I think Window of Opportunity is followed up by a series of pretty weak episodes. They aren't bad, just not very memorable. The only significant one is The First Ones because we learn some important things about the Goa'uld and how they evolved. Other than that, I'm like you, I don't find the Unas interesting at all.

[DigiFluid]

Originally Posted by DigiFluid

4.09 "Scorched Earth"
Original Airdate: Aug 25, 2000

I guess it makes a decent enough one-off, and it certainly has some great visuals, but the story here is one I find a little flat. There just doesn't seem to be much gravity to the issue of having two civilizations hanging in the balance.... And the ending just seems so convenient, doesn't it?

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: Jan 08-09, 2000

I forgot to post with this one....spot the typo!

[DigiFluid]

4.11 "Point of No Return"
Original Airdate: Sep 08, 2000

A lot of people complain about the Martin Lloyd episodes, and a lot of people love them. While I'm firmly planted in the "love them" camp, this is probably the weakest entry of the three. That said though, I still wouldn't call this a bad episode.

There's plenty going on all episode long to keep you smirking, smiling, and outright laughing; and a lot of the credit for all that really has to go to the actors' comedic timing as much as the writers. Even before the episode got started, the quiet smirk on RDA's face as the Martin recording talked about "the lizard people" was enough to get me laughing

This is also the first time that O'Neill and Teal'c are out in public and our unfortunate(?) Jaffa gets named Murray Even better, he got this nickname while laying on and loving the motel vibrating bed It's of very few times in the run of the entire series that we get to see a full CJ smile too!

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: Feb 03-06, 2000



4.12 "Tangent"
Original Airdate: Sep 15, 2000

Couple of nice little guest appearances here....yet again, Disaster Davis shows up under the worst possible circumstances And of course, the one and only appearance of Mr. Mulder's informant X as a USAF Lt. Gen. Bit of a change of pace there!

Overall I think this makes a solid follow-up episode, that stuff is actually being done by various R&D branches of government in making Goa'uld technology work for us for a change. I kind of wonder which of the major aerospace manufacturers got the contract lol

Of course, there's usually bad with the good and this is no exception. When the flight first takes off on its tangent (ha, see what I did there? ) we're told that they're accelerating, before reaching a maximum cruising speed of 1 million mph, and then they get to Jupiter later that afternoon. That....doesn't quite work. At the closest points in Earth's and Jupiter's orbits, they're about 391 million miles apart; which, at 1 million mph, would take a little over 16 days to traverse!

Something else that struck this time, though not necessarily as WRONG so much as something I hadn't thought of before this watch is the tactics that the Tok'ra are using. When Jacob picks up Sam and Daniel, he yells at them that he was about to blow up enough weapons-grade naquada to destroy a significant portion of that planet. But we also know already that the Goa'uld are pretty big on using human slaves. To me, this pretty much comes across as the Tok'ra using terrorist tactics against the Goa'uld I won't pass judgement on that, but I thought it was interesting food for thought worth mentioning.

One thing which really hasn't stood the test of time well is Jack and Teal'c's space jump at the end, to be beamed up by Jacob's rings. I remember it being rather exciting, but since seeing it done so correctly and so well by BSG, now seeing the two of them just stand up after being out in the vacuum of space just seems wrong. Oh well, c'est la vie.

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: Feb 13-14, 2000

[Jeff O'Connor]

What the heck is an 'unkown'? Damn technobabble.

[DigiFluid]

You'd think someone would've noticed before they filmed....finished post....aired on TV....or at LEAST before it went to DVD print




4.13 "The Curse"
Original Airdate: Sep 22, 2000

There we go....took a while, but the show's starting to get back into the swing of things. The episode itself might've been a little slow, but it's also another episode building an expanding on the series mythology in terms of both background/ancient Egypt, as well as current happenings. Oh, and it has priestess Elosha from BSG as a museum curator

It was fun to see everyone in civvies in one episode, especially Janet who's so rarely seen in anything other than her USAF uniform. And the strange new (old) Goa'uld spacecraft lifting off from under the sand was pretty damn cool too

Anna-Louise Plowman made a fantastic guest appearance IMO. Even though we've seen other characters we know taken as hosts, they've always seemed to be in very *adventurous* episodes. I think Sarah is the first person taken as a host that I've actually felt really, really bad for. The poor woman had no idea about the Goa'uld at all and was taken totally by surprise. I honestly feel really bad for the character (and not just because she's a gorgeous, curly-haired Brit blonde either).

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: Feb 21-27, 2000



4.14 "The Serpent's Venom"
Original Airdate: Sep 29, 2000

Hey--Jacob's "vacation" must mean he's still on Earth since "Tangent" ended

Another solid plot-centric episode that adds a ton to the overall story, and this time it's a hell of a lot more suspenseful and exciting than "The Curse" was! Just try and tell me you don't curl your toes every time that mine looks like it's about to bump into a wall or a pole inside Jacob's ship

Like all really great SG-1 episodes, this develops stuff on multiple fronts.... The Teal'c rebellion story gets some action here, as we find out he's come legendary/infamous among the Jaffa; as well as how badly the Goa'uld want to torture him into confessing his 'guilt'. We see Apophis has a new mothership (the same class as the one in "Upgrades", perhaps), we find out that now he can cloak motherships (which never seems to come up again), and end on an ominous note of Apophis destroying Heru-ur and now being able to easily absorb all his forces.

Solid

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: Mar 05-06, 2000

[Jeff O'Connor]

I'm a huge of Anna-Louise Plowman's portrayal of Sarah. I thought it was very well-done. Osiris is one of my favorite Goa'uld, mainly because of the raw energy the actress brought to the role. I'd be very, very scared.

And maybe a tad excited.

[DigiFluid]

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

I'm a huge of Anna-Louise Plowman's portrayal of Sarah. I thought it was very well-done. Osiris is one of my favorite Goa'uld, mainly because of the raw energy the actress brought to the role. I'd be very, very scared.

And maybe a tad excited.

Even though I was glad to finally see Sarah liberated, I agree on every point

I wish I'd seen Anna-Louise in more things, she's really fantastic. And stunning.




4.15 "Chain Reaction"
Original Airdate: Jan 05, 2001

Kinsey: "How dare you come into my house waving a gun."
O'Neill: "Not waving, pointing."

Oh man Bauer is a total bureaucrat! Drove me nuts from his first appearance on the screen. I don't know if we were supposed to feel sorry for him being a patsy in the end or what, but what a total knob. I was glad to see him squirm over being wrong and exit in shame. Begone, good riddance!

Which, I suppose, is the making of a solid one-off villain. But then, we got two great villains--Maybourne showed up again I really love Maybourne, he cracks me right up. Seeing him in prison at first was a nice follow-up to "Watergate". And really throughout, him and Jack have such a great rapport that it's hard not to enjoy it. And even though he's the bad guy, it's way to hard not to grin like an idiot at him dancing to kettle drum Caribbean music on a beach somewhere as the closing shot of the episode.

And then, we get a third villain: Kinsey! Geez....not often we get that many pain in the asses (pains in the ass?) in a single episode, is it? Kinsey's awesome in this one too....hosting a politician's party when we know (and find out more of) he's dirty as anything. And he spouts off more of that religious nonsense too. Plus it was funny to see that his wife is....a bit of a space cadet

Plotwise, solid stuff here too. Hammond resigning was nicely executed, and mercifully ended (though it was nice to see him in civvies for a change). The whole aspect of the NID threatening Hammond's grandchildren is scary as hell too. These are some bad, bad people.

SGC Deaths: 1
Date: Mar 13-18, 2000



4.16 "2010"
Original Airdate: Jan 12, 2001

Like I said earlier in this thread, this is the one AU episode that I really, really like. There's just such a distinct and awesome style to this episode that they never got right before and never quite got right again.

There's just something so very cool about this one. The Aschen transporter booths are awesome, the conversion of Jupiter into a star is a wonderful nod to Arthur C. Clarke's story of the same name, but what really caught me about this episode and set me thinking is the Stargate itself.

The way the Stargate is sitting in an open, public place with no iris, just got me thinking about a galaxy where protection wasn't necessary (well, not crudely obvious security like our SGC anyway). No need for irises or defense squads or manned guns.... Must be the first time the galaxy has been in that state for at least 10,000 years.

Even the costuming in this episode was extraordinarily well done. Teal'c in his Jaffa robes and his Apophis emblem gone, Sam and Janet in futuristic-looking scientist robes, and Daniel in a great pair of glasses. They really should've kept them around!

SGC Deaths: 0 (our timeline)
Date: Mar 25, 2000 (our timeline)




And now back to DS9 for 4 episodes....damn, "Absolute Power" is one of my favourite eps of the Showtime years too

[Jeff O'Connor]

Originally Posted by DigiFluid

Even though I was glad to finally see Sarah liberated, I agree on every point

I wish I'd seen Anna-Louise in more things, she's really fantastic. And stunning.

Oh, yes. Absolutely so.

4.15 "Chain Reaction"
Original Airdate: Jan 05, 2001

This is definitely an episode I look forward to rewatching. The Earth stories are a mixed bag, but this one is top-tier. I always felt Don S. Davis really outdid himself in this episode, having the chance at long last to delve much more deeply into his character's personal life. And with how terrific an actor he was through and through -- and I don't just say that to mourn his passing, I was always blasted away by his on-screen presence -- it really says something.

Maybourne and Kinsey are at it again, and we get to see both their respective antics in one episode. Gotta love that. Isn't this the one where Maybourne's like, 'look, Jack, I just looked him up on the internet!' I love that line, it's so... 2000. Sort of vaguely condescending, what with the grand, spankin' new technology at their doorsteps. I mean, that kind of line happens all the time still now in 2009, but it's more from younger people to older people, not people of similar age telling one-another to check it out. Something about the line just makes me laugh my ass off every time.

...was this even that episode? Ahem, anyway. Kinsey's at his 'finest'. Ah, the religious rhetoric. That actor really delivered with his performance, and this part's no exception. That perpetual 'oh, guffaw' thing he does with his facial expressions is something that, as an actor, I'm ever-intrigued by. Unfortunately, I don't have the right structure to pull it off right and I just wind up looking like a fish gasping for water. Believe me, I've tried... ahaha.

4.16 "2010"
Original Airdate: Jan 12, 2001

While I do like the AU episodes to varying extents, '2010' is the clear winner in terms of all-time best, IMO.

I find it fascinating that the costume quality is so high in this episode that I've seen not just you, but several people speak volumes of it in various sections of GateWorld and the 'net at large. They all praise it, and that's the kind of thing that isn't often brought up. I find it equally, if not moreso, fascinating that I feel very strongly that in the present day, the team -- especially Daniel -- would really fit in stylistically with the social norm for attire. I don't have to remind you we're less than two months from this episode's title being a reference to the current year (geez, though, crazy, isn't it?) so I find it very, very intriguing that they sort of predicted style. Especially those glasses, oh, those glasses. Really should have sent them with the letter.

Well, I'm not going to just sit around talking about the costumes for the entire reply, but then, like many episodes it's been a long time since I've seen them. (Update, by the way -- just finished 2x7 'Message in a Bottle' last night. Undomesticated equines... etc.) So I think I'll mostly leave it at that, while emphasizing again how stellar this episode is. It's the kind of story that... I'll probably end up writing a little mini-review somewhere once it finishes.

...and it won't be the first time I've done so, either.

And now back to DS9 for 4 episodes....damn, "Absolute Power" is one of my favourite eps of the Showtime years too

I remember really digging that episode, so I'm looking forward to your new take on it. Oh, and have fun with DS9. Best. Trek. Ever.

By the way, here's a brief rundown of my girlfriend's favorite aspects of SG-1 so far:

*Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. The wide-eyed nature, the love for history, the brilliant performance of one Michael Shanks. Everything. Oh, and wow, was I ever reminded last night that Shanks totally delivers in 'Need'. Not the best episode, but he makes moments of it very memorable.

*Teal'c -- I told her he'd grow on her, and oh, he did. She loved him by the end of watching Seasons Nine and Ten (if you recall, we watched those and the telefilms first) but by now she's totally floored by how awesome he is, and what a stand-up actor Christopher Judge can be.

*Jack, specifically comparing him to Cameron. I blame that on her watching Nine and Ten first, as it should be the other way around.

*Hammond, specifically comparing him to Landry. I blame that on... yeah.

*She also has a soft spot for Langford, so it's depressing that I'm pretty sure she's seen all of her with one remaining exception, '1969'. But that's a different actress, and she seemed really impressed with Elizabeth Hoffman's portrayal. Ah well.

*So I'm not just mentioning characters here, I'll also list a few episodes she loved.

'Torment of Tantalus' (come on, who doesn't)
'Enigma' (she loves cats; I think the cat knocked the entire episode up nearly a full star for her...)
'There But For The Grace Of God' (I know it doesn't do it for you, but she said it was the first episode worthy of four stars!)
'Within The Serpent's Grasp/The Serpent's Lair' (clearly a valid choice)
'Thor's Chariot' (I think she really enjoyed this one. She has a love for all things Norse, so that probably helped. But the 'things will in fact calm up' line... unsurprisingly, she wanted to go back like ten times to hear it again, rofl)

I don't think anything from the second season besides the last-mentioned has really stood out for her yet, although 2x7's 'undomesticated equines' line really had her going. The episode itself isn't all that stellar though, IMO, but it's good enough.

She has several gems ahead of her this season, though. With the unfortunate exception of the season finale, it really just gets better and better, I thought. Well... overall, I mean.

Wow, have I been at this post for a while or what?

[DigiFluid]

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

...was this even that episode? Ahem, anyway. Kinsey's at his 'finest'. Ah, the religious rhetoric. That actor really delivered with his performance, and this part's no exception. That perpetual 'oh, guffaw' thing he does with his facial expressions is something that, as an actor, I'm ever-intrigued by. Unfortunately, I don't have the right structure to pull it off right and I just wind up looking like a fish gasping for water. Believe me, I've tried... ahaha.

Yes, it was this episode. And...ha!

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

While I do like the AU episodes to varying extents, '2010' is the clear winner in terms of all-time best, IMO.

Undoubtedly!

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

I find it fascinating that the costume quality is so high in this episode that I've seen not just you, but several people speak volumes of it in various sections of GateWorld and the 'net at large. They all praise it, and that's the kind of thing that isn't often brought up. I find it equally, if not moreso, fascinating that I feel very strongly that in the present day, the team -- especially Daniel -- would really fit in stylistically with the social norm for attire. I don't have to remind you we're less than two months from this episode's title being a reference to the current year (geez, though, crazy, isn't it?) so I find it very, very intriguing that they sort of predicted style. Especially those glasses, oh, those glasses. Really should have sent them with the letter.

I really hope they got recognition for the costume department in this episode, because it really was some fantastic work. They manage to make things look vaguely futuristic, without veering off into the crazy 'in the future everyone wears white or silver jumpsuits' territory. Very functional, and very complimentary on the women. And all the men in their suits or ceremonial robes manage to look very dapper too.

The only one who looked rough and out of place was Jack, even after he shaved

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

(Update, by the way -- just finished 2x7 'Message in a Bottle' last night. Undomesticated equines... etc.) So I think I'll mostly leave it at that, while emphasizing again how stellar this episode is. It's the kind of story that... I'll probably end up writing a little mini-review somewhere once it finishes.

...and it won't be the first time I've done so, either.

Awesome, I'm looking forward to it. Good progress too, it hasn't really been that long you've been at it either. I was wondering though--any particular reason you chose to start on S9-Continuum rather than the beginning?

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

I remember really digging that episode, so I'm looking forward to your new take on it. Oh, and have fun with DS9. Best. Trek. Ever.

Oh yes....I'm approaching the end of a long Trek rewatch. I've already moved through the whole TOS/TAS/films era as well as all of TNG. Now it's just DS9 and TNG movies left (nothing else counts )

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

By the way, here's a brief rundown of my girlfriend's favorite aspects of SG-1 so far:

*Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. The wide-eyed nature, the love for history, the brilliant performance of one Michael Shanks. Everything. Oh, and wow, was I ever reminded last night that Shanks totally delivers in 'Need'. Not the best episode, but he makes moments of it very memorable.

Good! Those are exactly the reasons I love early Daniel!

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

*Teal'c -- I told her he'd grow on her, and oh, he did. She loved him by the end of watching Seasons Nine and Ten (if you recall, we watched those and the telefilms first) but by now she's totally floored by how awesome he is, and what a stand-up actor Christopher Judge can be.

Have you been watching any of the bonus features? I'm a little curious what an newcomer's perspective is to seeing stoic, stone-faced Teal'c....be his real Chris Judge grinning, smiling, and joking self

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

*Jack, specifically comparing him to Cameron. I blame that on her watching Nine and Ten first, as it should be the other way around.

Makes sense. I loved Cam too, but there's such a huge difference between the two that it's hard not to compare the two regardless of which order you watched them in.

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

*Hammond, specifically comparing him to Landry. I blame that on... yeah.

I understand completely I didn't mind Landry, but he was no Hammond.

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

'Torment of Tantalus' (come on, who doesn't)
'Enigma' (she loves cats; I think the cat knocked the entire episode up nearly a full star for her...)
'There But For The Grace Of God' (I know it doesn't do it for you, but she said it was the first episode worthy of four stars!)
'Within The Serpent's Grasp/The Serpent's Lair' (clearly a valid choice)
'Thor's Chariot' (I think she really enjoyed this one. She has a love for all things Norse, so that probably helped. But the 'things will in fact calm up' line... unsurprisingly, she wanted to go back like ten times to hear it again, rofl)

I don't think anything from the second season besides the last-mentioned has really stood out for her yet, although 2x7's 'undomesticated equines' line really had her going. The episode itself isn't all that stellar though, IMO, but it's good enough.

Solid choices

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

She has several gems ahead of her this season, though. With the unfortunate exception of the season finale, it really just gets better and better, I thought. Well... overall, I mean.

Wow, have I been at this post for a while or what?

I'm sorry, are you still typing?

[VSS]

Originally Posted by DigiFluid

4.16 "2010"
Original Airdate: Jan 12, 2001

Like I said earlier in this thread, this is the one AU episode that I really, really like. There's just such a distinct and awesome style to this episode that they never got right before and never quite got right again.

There's just something so very cool about this one. The Aschen transporter booths are awesome, the conversion of Jupiter into a star is a wonderful nod to Arthur C. Clarke's story of the same name, but what really caught me about this episode and set me thinking is the Stargate itself.

The way the Stargate is sitting in an open, public place with no iris, just got me thinking about a galaxy where protection wasn't necessary (well, not crudely obvious security like our SGC anyway). No need for irises or defense squads or manned guns.... Must be the first time the galaxy has been in that state for at least 10,000 years.

Even the costuming in this episode was extraordinarily well done. Teal'c in his Jaffa robes and his Apophis emblem gone, Sam and Janet in futuristic-looking scientist robes, and Daniel in a great pair of glasses. They really should've kept them around!

SGC Deaths: 0 (our timeline)
Date: Mar 25, 2000 (our timeline)

I'd have to say this is pretty close to my all-time favorite episode. And a beautiful example of how it doesn't take CGI to have a visually striking episode, or alien bad guys. In fact, the very worst enemies are the ones who seem familiar and yet are so smoothly, calculatingly clever like the Aschen. Emotion seems to be a pretty universal Achilles' heel and these people just don't have it.

It was bittersweet to see Janet- although Heroes probably wasn't even conceived at this time, we know that it's only in these AU's that she survives.

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

Oh, yes. Absolutely so.

While I do like the AU episodes to varying extents, '2010' is the clear winner in terms of all-time best, IMO.

I find it fascinating that the costume quality is so high in this episode that I've seen not just you, but several people speak volumes of it in various sections of GateWorld and the 'net at large. They all praise it, and that's the kind of thing that isn't often brought up. I find it equally, if not moreso, fascinating that I feel very strongly that in the present day, the team -- especially Daniel -- would really fit in stylistically with the social norm for attire. I don't have to remind you we're less than two months from this episode's title being a reference to the current year (geez, though, crazy, isn't it?) so I find it very, very intriguing that they sort of predicted style. Especially those glasses, oh, those glasses. Really should have sent them with the letter.

Well, I'm not going to just sit around talking about the costumes for the entire reply, but then, like many episodes it's been a long time since I've seen them. (Update, by the way -- just finished 2x7 'Message in a Bottle' last night. Undomesticated equines... etc.) So I think I'll mostly leave it at that, while emphasizing again how stellar this episode is. It's the kind of story that... I'll probably end up writing a little mini-review somewhere once it finishes.

...and it won't be the first time I've done so, either.

Yeah, I'm one of those people who consistently call this episode "eye candy". as I did in its episode thread.

I think one thing that sets it apart from the other AU/time travel eps is that it was the first to show our team in another future. They're not from an AU- it's the SG-1 team we've come to know and love and that's why I actually care about what happens, unlike PoV, most of Moebius, TbftGoG, and RE.

[Jeff O'Connor]

Originally Posted by DigiFluid

Awesome, I'm looking forward to it. Good progress too, it hasn't really been that long you've been at it either. I was wondering though--any particular reason you chose to start on S9-Continuum rather than the beginning?

You know, it was... very inadvertent. You see, I figured she might want to dabble in SGU since I'd be watching it, despite her never having seen a single episode of anything franchise-related before. And on the eve of SGU's launch, I decided I'd go ahead and dabble in a little SG-1 for old time's sake. I thought long and hard on what I felt like watching, and ultimately decided on the opening three-parter for the ninth season and general change in direction of the show. I'm not really sure why -- could have been Ben and Claudia (huge Farscape fan; I was part of the Save Farscape movement, etc.), could have been my love for the Ori, could have been anything.

So I was watching it, and by the time the funny little interviews were going on between Cameron and potential team members, Jacqueline (girlfriend of course) remarked 'I'm so glad I'm half-watching this, it's amusing as hell'. So I took that as a good sign that she'd like the franchise in general. So I figured, 'okay, well we'll start at the beginning'. But there were a few problems.

A.) She really liked Vala, and loves Claudia Black in general. She wanted more Claudia, ASAP.

B.) I was afraid early episodes like 'Emancipation' and (IMO) 'Cold Lazarus' would throw her off the train when she had barely even jumped aboard.

C.) She thought the Ori were badass.

So... I said hell with it. We'd watch the Ori arc, and since we were already there and it followed on something which was also developed in 9 and 10, we'd watch Continuum as well. So we did. All-the-while, I figured when were done we'd go back to the beginning. And... we did. And as I figured, 'Emancipation' in particular she commented she might not have felt the Stargate love if she'd seen it so soon into getting into the mix.

Oh yes....I'm approaching the end of a long Trek rewatch. I've already moved through the whole TOS/TAS/films era as well as all of TNG. Now it's just DS9 and TNG movies left (nothing else counts )

I pretty much agree. I know you agree with me that VOY was kind of... terrible. I thought you made amends with ENT, though? Still don't like it enough to watch, though? I kind of understand, but I rather liked it by the third season. And there were plenty of decent episodes strewn throughout the first two seasons, I thought. Just... it didn't really get its act together 'til it was nearly over. I blame Manny Coto for turning it into a show worth watching IMO. *******! He should have left it the way it was, that way I wouldn't have wanted more!

Have you been watching any of the bonus features? I'm a little curious what an newcomer's perspective is to seeing stoic, stone-faced Teal'c....be his real Chris Judge grinning, smiling, and joking self

You know, we haven't been watching them, actually. That's a very good idea, though. A very good idea...

I understand completely I didn't mind Landry, but he was no Hammond.

Oh, actually I think I typed that a bit off up there. What I meant was, I was going 'you get the point' because I kept saying the same thing over and over again. Actually, she quite enjoys Landry (as do I) but I definitely prefer Hammond. I think she does, too, and if I'm wrong, I'm sure by the fourth or fifth season she'll come around. Hammond is just epic.

I'm sorry, are you still typing?

I appear to be!

Originally Posted by VSS

I'd have to say this is pretty close to my all-time favorite episode. And a beautiful example of how it doesn't take CGI to have a visually striking episode, or alien bad guys. In fact, the very worst enemies are the ones who seem familiar and yet are so smoothly, calculatingly clever like the Aschen. Emotion seems to be a pretty universal Achilles' heel and these people just don't have it.

It was bittersweet to see Janet- although Heroes probably wasn't even conceived at this time, we know that it's only in these AU's that she survives.

I think if there is one thing I would have loved an entire season dedicated to in early (1-5 or so) SG-1 that didn't get such treatment, it's the Aschen. That said, I think the way their arc worked (all two episodes of it) was still quite enjoyable and worked very well despite my desires. The Aschen were really, really cool. Literally and figuratively.

And you're right about Janet. Geez, that's true.

I think one thing that sets it apart from the other AU/time travel eps is that it was the first to show our team in another future. They're not from an AU- it's the SG-1 team we've come to know and love and that's why I actually care about what happens, unlike PoV, most of Moebius, TbftGoG, and RE.

Well said!

[Jeff O'Connor]

By the way, as of either later tonight or at latest, sometime tomorrow, I might not be around at all 'til circa Tuesday or so. Just a heads-up; I sure as heck haven't lost interest in this thread (far from it, lately) but I might be gone for a bit.

[DigiFluid]

No worries, I haven't gotten around to any of the 4 DS9s that are next on the watching list. Been playing CDoom and TF2 all day

[Jeff O'Connor]

Originally Posted by DigiFluid

No worries, I haven't gotten around to any of the 4 DS9s that are next on the watching list. Been playing CDoom and TF2 all day

Ah, a gamer too? I do believe I've found a worthy fellow Gatefan.

[DigiFluid]

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

Ah, a gamer too? I do believe I've found a worthy fellow Gatefan.

I spend far too much time on my games




4.17 "Absolute Power"
Original Airdate: Jan 19, 2001

One of my favourite episodes from early SG-1, without question. Besides the obvious moral play of the story, there's just something about the style of it that appeals to me. And before anyone asks, no, I can't quite put my finger on what I mean by that

Things start out innocently enough, another appearance by Kusuf--something to treasure more and more because we know that time is running out for them. We see (again) that the ascended can cause great weather disturbances, and that they speak largely in metaphor ("Darmok and Jelad at Tanagra", anybody?). And, of course, Jack clumsily taking a stab at figuring out the whole "wick" thing.

And then they get into the whole discussion over whether it's okay to try and extract the information from the child. Personally, I lean toward no on this one, but I love how that's not exactly expressed. We see a lot of support for trying to get the know-how from Shifu, but all the while Daniel is struggling very hard with the whole thing. It's not his kid, and yet in a way it kind of is so he tries to stick on the 'not harming a child' side of things as best he can muster before he folds....well done, Shanks.

Of course as things go on, we disappear into Fantasy Land as Shifu sends Daniel on a spiritual journey of sorts. It's rather distressing to see this potential future unfold.... In less than a year, something happens to Teal'c and Daniel doesn't care; Daniel sidelines and eventually imprisons Sam; Daniel and Jack totally lose touch; and Daniel manipulates circumstances to his own end--control. All of this is of course to point out that the knowledge is too much for anyone to handle, and I think it's expressed very very well. But did Daniel's Asian countdown guy have to be so sinister-looking? I mean presumably these would've been people interested in world defense as he claimed to be.

As tragic as all that is though, I think that for me the hardest part of all of it was to see Jack pushed so far that he pulled a gun on--and emptied an entire clip at--his former best friend. As much as Daniel's journey speaks volumes about the burden of the knowledge, Jack's breaking point really illustrates just how sour things had gone on a personal level.

I think this is a really great episode on a transitional level too. At this point, they were heading into their final year with Showtime and things were demanding to be resolved or wrapped up in a way that would be satisfactory for people who would have ended up investing 5 years in the show. Daniel's journey following his wife finally came to fruition and conclusion, truly, with this episode. And something that Shifu said has really resonated with me this time around: "all roads eventually lead to the great path." There's something wonderfully final and yet eternal about that. I can't help but wonder just how much ascension business they had in mind when they penned that.

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: Apr 01-02, 2000



4.18 "The Light"
Original Airdate: Jan 26, 2001

Oh dear....Daniel wigs out on drugs again. This....was not a good episode to come to after seeing "Absolute Power". There were a few highlights, but not a whole lot.

The script on the pillars was interesting (some kind of Sanskrit?), as were the statues along the beach which appeared to be some strange hybrid of the Easter Island heads and Pharaohnic statues. Plus, the lighting effect for the light machine was really, really cool looking.

Other than that though, kind of a strange little one-off. A Goa'uld opium den? What kind of a galactic domination seeking creature chills out for days at a time watching a fancy light show?

SGC Deaths: 4
Date: Apr 09-11, 2000

[DigiFluid]

4.19 "Prodigy"
Original Airdate: Feb 02, 2001

Ugh, what a terrible episode to start the day on. Cadet Hailey is one of the most annoying characters in this history of the franchise. Not quite as bad as McKay, but damn frickin' close.

Really only a couple of highlights here worth mentioning: this was Dr. Lee's first episode, and it was kind of a laugh to see O'Neill completely starstruck meeting the (real) General Ryan.

SGC Deaths: 1
Date: May 09-11, 2000



4.20 "Entity"
Original Airdate: Feb 09, 2001

It's not exactly that this one is bad, it's just that it's so....boring. Boring, boring, and boring. Did I mention boring?

And the parts that aren't boring are kind of frustrating. The radio waves were disrupting the alien world? Aren't there radio waves of all kinds flitting about at all times, everywhere in the universe? And the big crazy advanced looking world....which never gets mentioned again.

Ho hum.

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: May 18-22, 2000

[Shpinxinator]

Originally Posted by DigiFluid

[b]4.19
And the parts that aren't boring are kind of frustrating. The radio waves were disrupting the alien world? Aren't there radio waves of all kinds flitting about at all times, everywhere in the universe? And the big crazy advanced looking world....which never gets mentioned again.

Ho hum.

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: May 18-22, 2000

I was under the imprssion it was the radio waves on the specific frequency

[DigiFluid]

Originally Posted by Shpinxinator

I was under the imprssion it was the radio waves on the specific frequency

I don't think that even makes it make sense--and they never even said anything of the sort.

[Shpinxinator]

Originally Posted by DigiFluid

I don't think that even makes it make sense--and they never even said anything of the sort.

Granted it was never stated flat out but I thinks its sort of logically implyed...if there is an energy based life for then an opposing energy would cancel it out like the Ori and the Sangraal

[DigiFluid]

4.21 "Double Jeopardy"
Original Airdate: Feb 16, 2001

There's something about this episode that's really, really strange and not in necessarily a good way. I would never have expected "Tin Man" to have gotten a follow-up episode (and never hoped for one either, it was one of my least favourite episodes of season 1).

The whole thing just seems like a really bizarre, roundabout, and generally unexciting way of killing off Cronus and acquiring a Ha'tak so it could be a central plot point for the season finale episode, up next.

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: May 29-31, 2000



4.22 "Exodus"
Original Airdate: Feb 23, 2001

A little bit of an all-over-the-place finale, what with the Ha'tak, Tanith, "Jaffa revenge thing", Jacob Carter, dialing the black hole gate, Apophis, and....so on. But I like it just the same, even if it does come across a little cluttered. Even though it was awfully heavy on revisiting numerous plot threads, I thought it was executed well enough.

RDA and Shanks were terrific here, really at their best. It's probably best illustrated when Jacob and Sam are explaining to Jack and Daniel the supernova plan, and the reply is (Jack) "That's uh...." (Daniel/Jack in unison) "ambitious." I always laugh at that one, the comedic timing of the two of them together is just spot-on.

There's really great chemistry between everyone and Carmen Argenziano/Jacob here as well. And always, really. It's hard to pick out single instances when someone gels so well with the main cast.

One of my main complaints about the episode is regarding the al'kesh's attack on the team's ha'tak. It seems like it would be a massive design flaw that a small midrange bomber would find it so simple to dispatch a bloody mothership. I suppose that comes down to dramatic license and the CGI team, but it struck me a bit odd.

Speaking of CGI though, wow did they ever do great work in this one. The gate being dialed inside the ha'tak cargo bay looked awesome (how come they have the budget to do this every few eps but they're STILL using that ugly-ass zoomed in shot of the SGC gate until today even?) and if you're paying attention you'll note that the event horizon even starts to swirl a little bit, the way it did in "A Matter of Time." The supernova looked just awesome, and the sinister closing shot of 'our' ha'tak below Apophis' massive mothership was really amazingly good looking.

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: Jun 07-10, 2000




SGC Deaths to-Date: 53




5.01 "Enemies"
Original Airdate: Jun 29, 2001

A follow-up that's just as scattered as the TBC that it followed The Replicators were a nice surprise, but unless they're a plague on the entire universe it's hard to fathom how they could've landed in a galaxy infested by them. And when in the heck did Apophis have time to brainwash Teal'c? Just a few episodes ago we saw someone torturing him for hours and he didn't give in!

Still, it was a fun romp. Sad to see Apophis finally die for real though

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: Jun 09-10, 2000 (we're now more than a year disjointed from airdate)



5.02 "Threshold"
Original Airdate: Jul 06, 2001

As much as I'd love to dismiss this episode as an excuse for Chris Judge to run around with no shirt on, it is actually a really good episode. Finally, for the first time since "Cor-ai", we're given some detailed backstory on Teal'c.

Really solid material here, and all well-acted by CJ and Tony Amendola. It's a shame (a BIG shame, actually) that they got the troll Drey'auc actress back rather than Salli Richardson, but her screentime was mercifully short. It was pretty awesome to see a young Teal'c though, being schooled and trained by Bra'tac. Must've been damn cold for that shirtless CJ to keep being knocked down and laying on the snow and ice outdoors!

One thing I especially like about this one is how phenomenally well they worked Bra'tac into the background of "Children of the Gods". They just did such a great job of it; Teal'c talking to him and pointing out the Tau'ri prisoners on Chulak.....that 2 minute scene added a ton to that story, in a way that I'd completely forgotten about. Actually, the entire episode kind of renders the COTG: George Lucas Cut kind of redundant now that I think about it.

SGC Deaths: 0
Date: Jun 07-08, 2000