My Journey through Stargate SG1 - episode by episode.

[Pic]

Deadman's switch is EPIC! If only for Aris Broch.

[maylet]

3.06: Point of View

It seems as though the previous two episodes were the calming before the storm. This episode is what I call a return to form. Another classic which I cannot fault. Good story, great character development, outstanding performances from Amanda Tapping plus the perfect mix of action and story. However, does this mean now that as of this episode, they can pretty much activate the 8th chevron when they need to since they now have the ability to construct the generator?

5 out of 5

This is one of my favorite episodes of all SG-1, the performance Amanda is great

[TryWhistlingThis]

3.08: Demons:

As someone who spent 13 years in Christian education, I honestly expected to cringe at this episode. I was worried that they'd go down the path of pointing the finger and attacking religion. But, they didn't. Instead they took us on a journey through the dark ages where religious propaganda and paranoia ran rife. I really enjoyed it. I can also say that nothing was exaggerated, it really was this grim back then.

The only thing I need to take a stab at was T'ealc's miraculous resurrection (excuse the pun). It makes sense that the lavae (spelling?) was able to sustain his body for all of that time. But given that it was feeding oxygen into the host, surely there would have been some signs of this happening externally. Ie: his chest gently moving up and down, a pulse here and there, some coughing, nasal movement etc...

But, it didn't stop the episode from being enjoyable. I'm also pleasantly surprised that O'Neill's antics haven't worn on me yet

3.5 out of 5

[gotthammer]

re: Demons
I too was from various Christian schools (one of which is affiliated w/ the Opus Dei, the other were Dominican and Jesuit schools ), so I was kinda amused (heck, I was laughing at times) when I saw the episode (particularly since I'm familiar w/ some of the 'witchcraft' tests in the dark/medieval ages).

I didn't find anything 'offensive' (come to think of it, I don't recall being offended by anything from SG-1. Of course, I could have a faulty memory... )

[TryWhistlingThis]

3.09: Rules of Engagement:

I quite liked this episode but I felt that the conclusion in the end didn't really do the characters justice. Jack spent most of the episode trying to persuade then that Apophis was dead and to go home. The platoon vehemently denied these claims and continued to fight on. As you'd expect, they overcome this by showing a video of a dying Apophis (legitimate) which lowered any sense of edification amongst the troops. To me, they accepted it far too easily that it was Apohpis. At any time that Jack or even T'ealc would attempt to persuade them to abandon the camp, they'd debate and remain stoic. Yet, as soon as that image was played, they automatically accepted it without question.

These days, if we see something in the media, we question it's authenticity. Hell, even when people saw footage of Saddam Hussein being walked to his place of execution moments before his death, many people analysed the footage closely and asserted that it was infact Saddam's decoy look-alike.

That's not to say this moment in the episode ruined it or let it down, but it was just surprising to see a platoon of such strong faith merely go "oh....damn". But, the performances were great all around, even the younger actors in this were quite good. I also had a laugh out loud moment when Jack referred to Hammond as "my lord".

Satisfying

In other news, this review marks my 100th post!

4 out of 5

[kusanagi]

This is one of my favorite episodes of all SG-1, the performance Amanda is great

Couldn't agree more!!

[TryWhistlingThis]

3.10: Forever in a day:

The only thing that can let this episode down is that they don't follow on from the arc that this establishes as there are some unanswered questions. It's mentioned that a Harcesis is born resulting from two Goa'uld mating and from this, the Harcesis has all the knowledge of the Goa'uld. The question is, how? Does this mean that the Goa'uld have a Borg collective mentality where everything in their thoughts is shared?

The acting in the episode was amongst the best i've seen from this series. It was clearly Michael Shanks' moment to shine here and he did. The tension between Jackson and Teal'c was played out brilliantly. It would have been good to learn more about his short term replacement though, but given the dark and dramatic tone of the episode, perhaps it wouldn't have fit the mould.

Though the shooting scene at the beginning was brilliant, it was a little farfetched as the number of Goa'uld to military was about 6:1 (conservatively).

Overall, it was a great episode. I'm hoping we learn much more about the spoken Harcesis as i'm sure there's a good story to be told here.

4 out of 5

[EvilSpaceAlien]

3.10: Forever in a day:

The only thing that can let this episode down is that they don't follow on from the arc that this establishes as there are some unanswered questions. It's mentioned that a Harcesis is born resulting from two Goa'uld mating and from this, the Harcesis has all the knowledge of the Goa'uld. The question is, how? Does this mean that the Goa'uld have a Borg collective mentality where everything in their thoughts is shared?

The acting in the episode was amongst the best i've seen from this series. It was clearly Michael Shanks' moment to shine here and he did. The tension between Jackson and Teal'c was played out brilliantly. It would have been good to learn more about his short term replacement though, but given the dark and dramatic tone of the episode, perhaps it wouldn't have fit the mould.

Though the shooting scene at the beginning was brilliant, it was a little farfetched as the number of Goa'uld to military was about 6:1 (conservatively).

Overall, it was a great episode. I'm hoping we learn much more about the spoken Harcesis as i'm sure there's a good story to be told here.

4 out of 5

No the Goa'uld do not have collective mind like the Borg. They just have a genetic memory. Each symbiot has the memories of those that came before it, and when two symbiotes with human hosts mate, the genetic memories of both symbiotes are passed on to the human child (Harcesis). this is a potentially dangerous combination as the Goa'uld are asexual and as you probably know, Goa'ulds normally don't have the habit of sharing information.

It has been a long time since I watched this episode, but I still remember Michael Shanks fantastic performance in it.

A couple of good episodes dealing with the Harcesis are coming up in season 3 and season 4. I think you'll enjoy them.

[TryWhistlingThis]

3.11: Past and Present

I liked the moral dilemma which was brought up for this episode. On the one hand you have a former adversary permanently incarcerated in the depths of an individual's subconscious, on the other, you are in a way denying someone their true identity. Amongst all this, in restoring the older memories, you risk losing the person before you. Hence, at the end of the day a sacrifice needs to be made. This was an episode where I agreed with the outcome, except it would have been interesting to see how they actually induced the memory loss. I also would have liked to have known more about the Vorlix given how heavily it was referenced in this episode. Sure, it was a catalyst leading toward the amnesia pandemic, but what were they dealing with exactly?

I've said this before but I do have to say it again, it's another episode where the tension through the dialogue really did the story telling without the need for explosions or action. Not that I don't love action, but it really grinds on me when it's just used to fill in the gaps. The only thing that prevented this episode from being outstanding is the lack of details as to what was going on (as mentioned earlier).

A commendable but also somewhat incomplete episode.

3.5 out of 5

[EvilSpaceAlien]

I've said this before but I do have to say it again, it's another episode where the tension through the dialogue really did the story telling without the need for explosions or action. Not that I don't love action, but it really grinds on me when it's just used to fill in the gaps

Then I truly think that you will enjoy Stargate Universe. It focuses less on big explosions and builds tension from the interactions a dialogue between the characters. Not that it doesn't have action. The eight episode Time is a great example of an action-y episode, while the tenth episode, Justice is good example of an episode where tension is created from the interactions between the characters.

[TryWhistlingThis]

Then I truly think that you will enjoy Stargate Universe. It focuses less on big explosions and builds tension from the interactions a dialogue between the characters. Not that it doesn't have action. The eight episode Time is a great example of an action-y episode, while the tenth episode, Justice is good example of an episode where tension is created from the interactions between the characters.

In all honesty, SGU looks like it's cloning Battlestar Galactica a little too closely. While I enjoyed BSG, I was glad to have finished it as the tone and environment of the show really took its toll. For some reason, from the parts i've seen, I can see SGU going down this path. For now, i'll stick to SG1. But again, I think action is essential in anything sci-fi. In fact, the latest Star Trek film is my favourite out of all of them and is pretty much the most action packed in the series to date but with a strong story to back it up. Again, give me plenty of action but not at the expense of the story.

To finish the point, here's some of my favourite action/adventure/sci-fi films that pay close attention to character tension and story while blowing the roof off the cinema at the same time:

- Casino Royale (The Martin Campbell version)

- The Dark Knight

- Star Wars: A New Hope

- Indiana Jones (mainly the first three, not that I hated the fourth, but the original trilogy achieved a stronger balance)

- Terminator 2

- Star Trek (2009)

- Heat

- Collateral

- Black Hawk Down

- The Matrix (this is a perfect example of having just as much spectacle as substance. Unfortunately, it didn't carry over too well when it came to the sequels)

[EvilSpaceAlien]

In all honesty, SGU looks like it's cloning Battlestar Galactica a little too closely. While I enjoyed BSG, I was glad to have finished it as the tone and environment of the show really took its toll. For some reason, from the parts i've seen, I can see SGU going down this path. For now, i'll stick to SG1. But again, I think action is essential in anything sci-fi. In fact, the latest Star Trek film is my favourite out of all of them and is pretty much the most action packed in the series to date but with a strong story to back it up. Again, give me plenty of action but not at the expense of the story.

I don't know if I would say that SGU is cloning Battlestar. Sure there are similiarities in that the two shows are both dark and they are both character studies. Otherwise I see no cloning. BSG could get very depressing at times, while SGU is still capable of maintaining a sense of humour, albeit a bit more cynical andl subtle than the two previous shows.

[TryWhistlingThis]

3.12: Jolinar's Memories

This half of the story provides an outlook for a very promising two parter. I really loved this episode for its darker tone, story and production. In terms of the production, I think it's the best i've actually seen for an SG1 episode so far. Sokar's depiction of hell is pretty much how I have picture it since I was a child. Hats off once again to Amanda Tapping who delivered a compelling performance. I also very much liked the plot twist of Apohis' return. However, I must admit that just before he removed his helmet, I kind of guessed it would be him. But it was still effective nevertheless.

The only place I felt this story let itself down was perhaps with a few of the plot devices. To begin with, the team went down without having actually established an escape route as intended by Samantha accessing Jolinar's Memories (no pun intended on the title there). The plot was further contradicted when Aldwin advised O'Neill that he would not send the team down to the surface without an escape plan ready. If the time came for them to go with still no way out, he would leave the team on the ship. However, O'Neill agrees to go down to the surface with very little question. I found this a little week given the amount of times we've been shown that O'Neill is battle tactic savvy when it comes to missions. This should be his mindset all the more in a rescue operation where it is stated that no one (with the exception of one) has ever escaped.

That aside, it was still a great episode. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed the more menacing and haunting tone of this episode and it also set up what I anticipate will be a very worthy second installment. Until then

4 out of 5

[lkg1980]

Joilinar's Memories and The Devil You Know is my favorite 2 part episode. I like the plot because it's simple they go to Netu to rescue Jacob, when you watch late season 2 part episodes there are multiple plots and it feels like your watching a feature film. I really like the production value the Netu set is one of my favorites next to the Hadante set (Season 2 Prisoners) sadly you won't see many more of these.

Christine

[TryWhistlingThis]

3.13: The Devil You Know

I must agree with lkg1980 in that this is the best SG1 two parter i've seen so far. Usually with the second installment of an episode from any episode, the tension has usually hit its peak halfway through the first part. Instead, it just got bigger with this episode. I also continued to love the Temple of Doom style setting...

I think the only floor I found here was the destruction of the planet and the ship. When you think about it, while the entire enemy are not dead, an act of Genocide was committed. Surely it's now debatable as to who has the moral highground. I'm certainly not glorifying the Goa'uld, but those types of tactics shown by the The Tok'ra aren't worlds apart from their adversaries. In fact, it was comparable to the Hiroshima bombing, but on a much larger scale.

That's where I would have liked to have seen this episode gone: "ok, we've lived to die another day but at what cost?" It's especially surprising that this wasn't asked by a human, O'Neill specifically who would appreciate the mindfulness of unnecessary deaths given how objective driven he is. Hence, the episode could have been perfect by challenging the moral and ethical ethos of the protagonists a lot more.

But, this episode still remains (for now) as the strongest 2-parter in the series.

4 out of 5

[kusanagi]

Jolinar's Memories and The Devil You Know easily get 5 out of 5. Great two-parter!!

[magictrick]

3.13: The Devil You Know

I think the only floor I found here was the destruction of the planet and the ship. When you think about it, while the entire enemy are not dead, an act of Genocide was committed. Surely it's now debatable as to who has the moral highground. I'm certainly not glorifying the Goa'uld, but those types of tactics shown by the The Tok'ra aren't worlds apart from their adversaries. In fact, it was comparable to the Hiroshima bombing, but on a much larger scale.
4 out of 5

You will find more and more of these situations as you continue watching, and will be disappointed because they are never addressed. Don't get me wrong, there are a few episodes where moral questions come into play on a larger scale, but there are also episodes such as this one that leave you wanting some answers. That's just the type of show SG-1 was designed to be.

[TryWhistlingThis]

You will find more and more of these situations as you continue watching, and will be disappointed because they are never addressed. Don't get me wrong, there are a few episodes where moral questions come into play on a larger scale, but there are also episodes such as this one that leave you wanting some answers. That's just the type of show SG-1 was designed to be.

This is very much the impression i'm getting. It's not putting me off in any manner, but I suppose that's why they made SGU.

[magictrick]

This is very much the impression i'm getting. It's not putting me off in any manner, but I suppose that's why they made SGU.

Exactly I was gonna put in something about SGU in my response but figured it would get too long.

[TryWhistlingThis]

3.14: Foothold

I think this is the most action packed an episode of SG1 has been - and I loved it! While some of the plot was predictable in that SG1 had been overrun and the ultimate goal was to restore the facility to its original state, the tension between the SG1 team and the adversaries was played out well. Maybourne seemed a lot more humble than usual, perhaps in some areas humble to the extent that he was totally out of character.

But one thing that came through was his concern and support for the SG1 program. One part that didn't make a lot of sense was when Samantha Carter was experimenting with the sound waves, only to be interrupted by the Hammond imposter. Why did he suddenly back out when he heard the alarm/announcement. Surely it would have only taken 10 seconds to finish the job.

Other than that, it was a thoroughly entertaining 42 minutes.

4 out of 5