My Journey through Stargate SG1 - episode by episode.

[hlndncr]

6.13: Sight Unseen

This was one of those episodes where it came close but not quite. It was a great episode: well shot, good choice of locations, good acting and effects but most of all a really cohesive, well-paced plot. Unfortunately the thing that prevented this episode from being perfect was the resolution and the slightly predictable nature of it all. From early on I predicted that it was a virus of some kind. Sure enough, it was a contagion. The resolution just didn't quite stack up.

Since the guy at the petrol station had travelled great distances and come into contact with people (something as simple as paying for his plane tickets for instance) it just didn't seem feasible that the contagion could be contained in the way they were hoping. There was a brief moment with Frasier and Hammond where they would introduce a "placebo drug". But this would only work so far. The airport is the greatest hub possible to spread a virus, there's no reason why that could have gone global. But, instead the audience is lead to believe all is good and well and onto another week.

This is where it would have been better to perhaps set the episode in less locations so it would be a little more able to contain. Again, not a bad episode but as with other episodes, the writers created a solution that was just that bit too catastrophic.

4 out of 5

I don't particularly care for this episode because I find Vernon and the grandmother really annoying.

But I think you may have misunderstood the premise. The "contagion" is not a virus it's a benign alteration of body current, and the "cure" is a simple touch. So once a person has been "cured" anyone they touch would also be cured. I don't think the world was ever in any real danger. That to me is the real problem with this episode. If no one is in any real danger than I can't really bring myself to care.

[blueray]

i like that episode, thought its not my favorite has its moments. i get a kick out of the part where the guy is driving and he is like "there was a huge bug on my car!"

and its not a "virus" it gives the person and anyone they touch the ability to see into another demention, which has these bugs. the bugs as i think frazer points out don't even know they are there, therefore they aren't a threat. the real threat in the episode is that the average person doesn't know about the gate, and will freak out (and they do) when they get the ability.

[TryWhistlingThis]

I don't particularly care for this episode because I find Vernon and the grandmother really annoying.

But I think you may have misunderstood the premise. The "contagion" is not a virus it's a benign alteration of body current, and the "cure" is a simple touch. So once a person has been "cured" anyone they touch would also be cured. I don't think the world was ever in any real danger. That to me is the real problem with this episode. If no one is in any real danger than I can't really bring myself to care.

Interesting point. But that kind of affirms my belief that the contagion was cured too easily. If you can be cured by a mere touch, there's just as much chance of it spreading. Again, it's one of those episodes where the writer made the issue too grand. Had it have been restricted off world where they needed to stop someone who was infected entering the gate, then the solution may have been more plausible. This way, once they get back home they just take that world off their list of places to visit, like a nuclear contaminated area.

I should have spent a bit of time discussing Jonas too. His character has really flourished. Season 6 may not be my favourite so far, but I can't understand all the hate for it either. There's been some brilliant episodes and Jonas has taken to the team like a duck to water.

[TryWhistlingThis]

6.14: Smoke and Mirrors

An almost flawless episode. Really, I can't fault the episode but if I were to nit-pick, the solution lack a certain realism when taking into account how secretive the activities of Area 51 are. It would take a hell of a lot of covering up to conceal that, but the President did have some involvement in helping to resolve it (behind the scenes), so I suppose it's not entirely beyond belief. Other than that, I loved it. One of the best episodes ever. That's two in one season!

6 out of 5

[TryWhistlingThis]

6.15: Paradise Lost

I've never seen SG1 like this. By far this episode was the most nail biting and character driven episode i've ever seen in the entire series. In some ways it was actually quite scary because we saw a side to O'Neill and Maybourne that we've never seen before. For me this episode brings together the themes of Lord Of The Flies and Hearts Of Darkness. It was especially moving when they filtered out the colour in some of the frames to attempt to capture a feel of O'Neill's more primordial instincts. Performance wise, it was also the best i've seen from SG1. There really were no dull moments.

if I had to nit-pick, the fact that O'Neill didn't see Maybourne shoot Carter earlier was strange given the time he took to take out the weapon, not to mention the delay between actually shooting her and O'Neill detecting it. Perhaps it was just a result of bad cutting. I also felt the tension slipped away in the final confrontation when Maybourne smeared in face in mud and went on his rampage in the dormant township. This is where the episode started to oversell the premise. We already knew Maybourne had lost his mind by then, we didn't need a balaclava of mud to remind us of that. The tension also could have been portrayed more effectively without the explosions, as they had done so without flaw earlier on in the episode. Carter's realisation of the key being a representation of the planet, moon and the link between the two also seemed a bit sudden and out of place.

But, still a very watchable and memorable episode.

4 out of 5

[hedwig]

6.15: Smoke and Mirrors

I've never seen SG1 like this. By far this episode was the most nail biting and character driven episode i've ever seen in the entire series. In some ways it was actually quite scary because we saw a side to O'Neill and Maybourne that we've never seen before. For me this episode brings together the themes of Lord Of The Flies and Hearts Of Darkness. It was especially moving when they filtered out the colour in some of the frames to attempt to capture a feel of O'Neill's more primordial instincts. Performance wise, it was also the best i've seen from SG1. There really were no dull moments.

if I had to nit-pick, the fact that O'Neill didn't see Maybourne shoot Carter earlier was strange given the time he took to take out the weapon, not to mention the delay between actually shooting her and O'Neill detecting it. Perhaps it was just a result of bad cutting. I also felt the tension slipped away in the final confrontation when Maybourne smeared in face in mud and went on his rampage in the dormant township. This is where the episode started to oversell the premise. We already knew Maybourne had lost his mind by then, we didn't need a balaclava of mud to remind us of that. The tension also could have been portrayed more effectively without the explosions, as they had done so without flaw earlier on in the episode. Carter's realisation of the key being a representation of the planet, moon and the link between the two also seemed a bit sudden and out of place.

But, still a very watchable and memorable episode.

4 out of 5

Actually, the name of the episode you are describing is "Paradise Lost".

[blueray]

yeah, its paradise lost.

a good episode i love all the o'neill and maybourne stuff. as well as the rest of the team deals with him missing.

[TryWhistlingThis]

Actually, the name of the episode you are describing is "Paradise Lost".

That was just careless copying and pasting from the formatting of my previous posts Now modified.

[TryWhistlingThis]

6.16: Metamorphosis

The inevitable slump has finally arrived. Though, this is not expected in light of the really good run i've seen in the previous few episodes. While the first half of the episode was very strong in the way it introduced new characters and established a promising premise for the episode, the second half barely did anything. SG1 spent most of their time sitting around in their cell discussing ways to get out of their situation or trying to coax their captors into releasing them. When this wasn't happening, we got a rinse-repeat cycle of the adversary one by one processing her prisoners for a compatible mate. Anyone seen this episode before? I feel I have but i'm sure this is my first time through Metamorphosis. In short, the episode really did nothing at all which is disappointing because so far Season 6 has done a great job of breaking new ground.

The ultimate cop-out in all of this has to be the resolution. We barely see enough dialogue between SG1 and the mutants to get a sense that they are developing a rapport or even making any discernible impact with the mutated beings. For this reason the resolution just felt rushed and half-hearted. Throw in some predictable dialogue and some 1980s Doctor Who make up and you have a very mediocre SG1 romp.

2 out of 5

[hedwig]

In my opinion, it was more like kill all the secondary characters (except the aliens they are attempting to rescue), and leave everyone on SG1 more or less unharmed to go back to the SGC and report. All the Russians and the bad guy(woman) die; SG1 goes home to serve another day.

I disagree, though, that Nirrti was looking for a new mate. Sure, she dragged Jonas off to her chambers, but that doesn't explain the Russian commander. She put Sam in her DNA machine to torture her and get revenge, more than anything else.

Also, every episode can't be chock full of action scenes. There have been plenty of other episodes where there was mostly sitting around, chatting, no action, or mostly no action. But that doesn't take away from the storyline.

[blueray]

i liked this episode, but it was somewhat predictable. and yeah not every episode can have action.

[hlndncr]

I think you may be misinterpreting this episode. It's been well established that Nirti is fascinated with genetics. She took everyone away one at a time to learn about them and perfect the genetic manipulation technique that would create for her a super all powerful host. The reason she took Jonas to her chamber was that his genetic make-up was already well advanced from the other humans. She found this very atractive and thought to try and turn Jonas rather than use him up and throw him away as she had done with everyone else.

The people we see from the planet were the few that she kept around because she was able to unlock some powers in them that she found useful. Otherwise, they would have been left to die like all the rest. And it wasn't the relationship with SG1 that turned them. It was their relationship to Nirti and the discovery that she was using them and had killed the rest of their people. So of course that was a quick resolution because when they finally had a reason and the resolve to look into Nirti's mind they found the truth immediately and acted against her in understandable anger.

This is one of my favorite episodes of SG-1. I love that we get hints about Jonas's abilities and what makes him different and special. He also shows a lot of metal and hutzpah. And I love the subtle desparation Jack shows as he watchs Sam slowly dying in front of him and can't do anything to stop it. And Sam knowing what fate awaits her and handling it with such stoicism. And there are just some really lovely moments of silent communcation with Teal'c lending his support.

[TryWhistlingThis]

As you know, I never demand or expect action in an episode. I've remarked endlessly how sometimes (as with some SG1 episodes) it actually can feel quite tedious and tiresome. I doubt having more action in this episode would have made it any better. It just needed more character and interesting dialogue to keep the story moving. Quiet moments are fine but when it does little to add to the tension or fails to convey any new knowledge to the audience that they didn't know earlier, the slow and quiet moments are nothing but slow and quiet.

[blueray]

i agree the episode had a lot of good emotional stuff in this episode. and of course learning more about jonas being different.

[hlndncr]

As you know, I never demand or expect action in an episode. I've remarked endlessly how sometimes (as with some SG1 episodes) it actually can feel quite tedious and tiresome. I doubt having more action in this episode would have made it any better. It just needed more character and interesting dialogue to keep the story moving. Quiet moments are fine but when it does little to add to the tension or fails to convey any new knowledge to the audience that they didn't know earlier, the slow and quiet moments are nothing but slow and quiet.

As I recall you didn't really care for Rite of Passage either, and as this episode is something of a follow-up to that episode I suppose I should expect that you wouldn't care for it. But I will tell you that this episode does have some significant consequences later on.