My Journey through Stargate SG1 - episode by episode.

[magictrick]

- On the mothership, I felt that the miraculous appearance of Teal'c was a little too miraculous. Obviously I don't have the exact measurements, but given SG1's accelerated abilities, I doubt he would have caught up in time just to coincide with their departure seconds before their deaths

This type of plot device tends to occur fairly often in the series. In some episodes its a lot more evident than in others though, as is the case in this one.

And just to boot, i've found my favourite SG1 babe - Anise More of her, please!

I believe she appears in a couple more episodes

[jelgate]

I believe she appears in a couple more episodes

2 and then she disappears. Fans disapproved of her presence

[magictrick]

2 and then she disappears. Fans disapproved of her presence

I liked her a lot more than most of the other Tok'ra representatives they had on the show.

[TryWhistlingThis]

4.04 - Crossroads

I felt that this episode was mostly predictable but at least with a worthy twist to pay it off. However, I wasn't totally convinced by some of the decisions that were made in the end. There's no doubt that the Tokra would give careful consideration to the officer made by Shan'auc which could give them significant leverage in the war. In fact, the tension between preserving Shan'auc's life and also the Tokra considering the possibilities of taking on such a risk was well played out. But, as predicted, the offer was too good to be true given that the symbiote had ulterior motives.

What was surprising was the Tokra's awareness and pre-conceptions that the symbiote was a double agent and their allowance to allow it to exist amongst the Tokra until it was of no use. When you take into consideration how protective the Tokra have been over the course of the series as to their whereabouts, identities and plans, it's surprising that they're putting their operation into such jeopardy by playing the odds the way they are. Remember, they're so protective that when they abandon their hideouts they actually destroy them before moving on as a means of covering up any footprints or clues as to their next hideout or plans. We even saw how protective they were when Anise informed O'Neill that they would reveal to the SGC "in time" what they learn from the symbiote.

What I literally found to be funny was that Anise announced this in front of no less than half a dozen guards. You'd think for a surveillance task of such a sensitive nature they'd be more careful about who is in on the "know" of things. What's so say one of the guards isn't serving interests of their own and might just slip a word in? It could be the ultimate undoing of all of their efforts to date.

Furthermore, what was the prior relationship between Teal'c and Shau'nac apart from their mutual studentship with Braiatec?

From a point or production, I have to say that I am getting a little tired of the dream/memory sequences. Especially when they're in slow motion. I mean come on, we're not watching Touched By an Angel here.

That's not to say that the episode was a failure in any regard. It was just surprising to see the writers leave the story open with such a glaringly destructive time bomb in the midst of the arc that has been handled so well especially when it's concerning an incredibly secretive militant operation. It's left me unconvinced of the fact:

1) The Tokra would so recklessly allow the double agent to operate amongst their ranks

2) That the double agent doesn't already get the hint that he is suspected, especially in light of the staring contest between him and Teal'c in the closing moments of the episode

3) That the double agent hasn't immediately executed an offensive while so intimately embedded within a major artery of the Torkra operations camp.

I'll be very interested to see how all of this is paid off.

2.5 out of 5

[Petra]

4.04 - Crossroads

Furthermore, what was the prior relationship between Teal'c and Shau'nac apart from their mutual studentship with Braiatec?

It was implied (here and in another episode in season 6) that they were lovers, or at least very much in love in their youth. Apparently Teal'c didn't quite get over her.

That's not to say that the episode was a failure in any regard. It was just surprising to see the writers leave the story open with such a glaringly destructive time bomb in the midst of the arc that has been handled so well especially when it's concerning an incredibly secretive militant operation. It's left me unconvinced of the fact:

1) The Tokra would so recklessly allow the double agent to operate amongst their ranks

2) That the double agent doesn't already get the hint that he is suspected, especially in light of the staring contest between him and Teal'c in the closing moments of the episode

3) That the double agent hasn't immediately executed an offensive while so intimately embedded within a major artery of the Torkra operations camp.

I'll be very interested to see how all of this is paid off.

2.5 out of 5

Without spoiling anything all I can say that Tanith will appear in a few more episodes and this particular plot will play a major role in the season finale (which I love btw)

As to your points:1) isn't it the whole point of double-agenting? Both sides have to pretend to trust each other implicitly, don't they?
2) Even if Tanith caught on that Teal'c suspected him, he also knew that T had no hard proof and the Tauri wouldn't risk damaging their relations with the Tok'ra based on his word alone. Actually, as a bad guy, he may enjoy tormenting Teal'c in this way.
And I'm not sure what you mean by number 3, sorry.

[magictrick]

[
3) That the double agent hasn't immediately executed an offensive while so intimately embedded within a major artery of the Torkra operations camp.

I'll be very interested to see how all of this is paid off.

2.5 out of 5

Well I think its assumed that since they already knew his true intentions they were monitoring him very closely and would be aware of all his actions. If he was planning something, they would know about it.

[TryWhistlingThis]

4.05: Divide and Conquer

To date I think this is the bloodiest episode of SG1 i've ever seen. The action in this episode was of a greater impact than i've seen. I mainly refer to the use of blood and bullet holes. I wasn't offended by it but it was certainly surprising. What made these moments worthwhile is that they actually did serve a valid purpose to keep the plot moving. The sting ending involving the "lying" was a bit of a cop out but up until that point the story did have me wondering how it would be resolved. I also liked the tension between the President's arrival and the revealing of the assassin. I wonder if we'll ever get to see the President.

While the plot moved well and had some good suspense, it also felt a little derivative. It felt like Blade Runner meets In The Line of Fire meets a politically charged episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. But it was still enjoyable.

Just to add to a terrific episode, my favourite SG1 hottie made yet another appearance looking better than she ever has

4 out of 5

[TryWhistlingThis]

4.06: Window of Opportunity

I think I like Stargate best when the episodes are story driven but also when it has a little fun. Window of Opportunity mostly achieved this balance quite well but fell short in a couple of areas. It's perhaps the funniest episode ever in the series to date. I loved the recurring "bad example" joke from Jack. Teal'c played into the humour quite well too when he swung the door into the officer out of frustration for his situation. But outside of those moments along with Jack's moments of experimentation with pottery and kissing Carter, we really didn't see them have as much fun as I thought they'd have. I thought it was also odd that after several repeat cycles, it took Daniel to pick up on the fact that O'Neill could afford to do some "crazy stuff" without the fear of repercussions. I would have actually expected O'Neill to pick up on that himself given the rogue that he has portrayed himself to be.

For most of it, they were discussing the science of it with very little progress given that the situation constantly restarted itself. It's during these moments where you mostly felt the episode's length as it would be hard for them to merely pick up from where they last left off. It's certainly not impossible. For instance, in Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character, Phil, becomes an accomplished piano player during his time loop. I can actually believe this because with each lesson he would only improve and would thus accelerate his progress with each "first appointment". Whereas, learning ancient latin isn't a repeat or mechanical based skill. But, to serve that component of the plot, O'Neill and Teal'c's progress was minimal. I think the one spot where the writing felt ineffective was due to the lack of explanation as to why only two members of the away team experienced the repeated cycles when all of the Stargate's surrounding the source of the issue were impacted. Was this explained? I may have missed it.

But it was overall a strong episode and would also be a difficult one to write given that this type of story has been covered in various film and television productions. As mentioned, fun while it was, it could have afforded to perhaps be a little more laconic given that the scientific theory behind it didn't serve a great deal to the plot. Performance and production wise it was brilliant. I also liked the reason for why it was happening. The ending was a little creepy with O'Neill's creepy stare followed by his extra large mouthful of oatmeal though

4 out of 5

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

Had a good read through the thread, it is interesting to see these eps with which I'm so familiar with through fresh eyes.

4.05: Divide and Conquer

To date I think this is the bloodiest episode of SG1 i've ever seen. The action in this episode was of a greater impact than i've seen. I mainly refer to the use of blood and bullet holes. I wasn't offended by it but it was certainly surprising. What made these moments worthwhile is that they actually did serve a valid purpose to keep the plot moving. The sting ending involving the "lying" was a bit of a cop out but up until that point the story did have me wondering how it would be resolved. I also liked the tension between the President's arrival and the revealing of the assassin. I wonder if we'll ever get to see the President.

While the plot moved well and had some good suspense, it also felt a little derivative. It felt like Blade Runner meets In The Line of Fire meets a politically charged episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. But it was still enjoyable.

Just to add to a terrific episode, my favourite SG1 hottie made yet another appearance looking better than she ever has

4 out of 5

With regards to the violence and blood, stronger stuff awaits in later seasons. While SG1 had a reputation for family friendly viewing, it is slightly underserved in my opinion. There are mature themes in many of the episodes, and there is quite strong violence at times. It's just perhaps used at points when it will be effective rather than gratuitously. Season 4 is actually probably one of the lightest of the seasons for violence and gore, though a couple of episodes, do come to mind. Without wanting to spoil anything for you there is an episode where alien blood is spattered freely and another ep with some pretty brutal torture in season 4.

And I hate to be a bearer of bad news but that was the last you see of Anise.

[magictrick]

4.06: Window of Opportunity
For most of it, they were discussing the science of it with very little progress given that the situation constantly restarted itself. It's during these moments where you mostly felt the episode's length as it would be hard for them to merely pick up from where they last left off. It's certainly not impossible. For instance, in Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character, Phil, becomes an accomplished piano player during his time loop. I can actually believe this because with each lesson he would only improve and would thus accelerate his progress with each "first appointment". Whereas, learning ancient latin isn't a repeat or mechanical based skill. But, to serve that component of the plot, O'Neill and Teal'c's progress was minimal. I think the one spot where the writing felt ineffective was due to the lack of explanation as to why only two members of the away team experienced the repeated cycles when all of the Stargate's surrounding the source of the issue were impacted. Was this explained? I may have missed it.

Yes it gets explained as the episode progresses. I actually don't remember exactly because its been a while since I've seen the episode but I think it was because either they were hit by the beam or they were in the shielded area with the selfish scientist.

You will find that this episode is among most people's top choice for favourite episode in all of SG-1.

[Petra]

Whereas, learning ancient latin isn't a repeat or mechanical based skill. But, to serve that component of the plot, O'Neill and Teal'c's progress was minimal. I think the one spot where the writing felt ineffective was due to the lack of explanation as to why only two members of the away team experienced the repeated cycles when all of the Stargate's surrounding the source of the issue were impacted. Was this explained? I may have missed it.

Sidenote re: bolded: Actually that depends on the method of learning/teaching. I mean learning Latin in Middle Ages was all about repeating sentences day after day after day and this method is still very popular in some corners of the globe nowadays.

Besides Jack and Teal'c didn't have to just learn foreign language from scratch; they also had to memorise everything they translated, over 400 pages of text - that's no small feat. All in all I wouldn't call their progress "minimal"

As to why only the two of them were caught in the time loop, magictrick is correct; it's because they, unlike Sam and Daniel, were directly hit by the beam.

The ending was a little creepy with O'Neill's creepy stare followed by his extra large mouthful of oatmeal though

As a die-hard S/J shipper I can tell you that his stare at the end was most certainly not creepy. I can think of a few adjectives to describe it, but "creepy" isn't one of them.

[Ashizuri]

As a die-hard S/J shipper I can tell you that his stare at the end was most certainly not creepy. I can think of a few adjectives to describe it, but "creepy" isn't one of them.

Not gonne lie, every time I see that scene I call Jack a creeper for staring so hard and so long.

[Petra]

Not gonne lie, every time I see that scene I call Jack a creeper for staring so hard and so long.

Blasphemy!!!

And if he stared at you, would you consider changing your opinion?

[Ashizuri]

And if he stared at you, would you consider changing your opinion?

For this stare, yes:


(why so sexy?)

For this one, well... my creeper opinion stands:


(um.....well....)

[TryWhistlingThis]

For this stare, yes:



For this one, well... my creeper opinion stands:


(um.....well....)

This is exactly what I picture Hannibal Lecter doing when he has no choice but to settle for vegetarian.