Solitudes (117)

[Major Clanger]

just sloppy thinking...

[Tatooinegateghost]

This episode was great! I am sure the shippers loved it but it had 2 fantastic lines..

Jack: It's my sidearm I swear
------------------------------
JACKSON: [To Teal'c] What happens when you dial your own phone number? Wrong person to ask. [To Hammond] What happens when you dial your own phone number?

HAMMOND: You get a busy signal.

The telephone comment reminds me of my past. And This episode is the best in my opion of season one.

[SnowWhite]

haha, I love the quote with the busy signal.. and Daniels lookwhen he notices that Teal'c's the wrong person to ask
But like mrscopterdoc said, the whole episode was great, especially for the shippers *counts herself as one*

[m_wendy_r]

I just rewatched this episode, and I gotta say I love it. Everytime I watch I just love it more. I just love how Sam just tries to fix that DHD, and is so sorry that she can't, and she blames herself. *sniff*

I did notice that she managed to not get any broken bones whilst he was falling apart. Oh my. She's apparently made of sterner stuff

[Girlbot]

Nice episode, different from the others, a time of reflection and of two people caught in what seems to be the end of their lives and still trying for a way out, but then prepared to meet their end with dignity.

[Vagabond Serpent]

Solitudes... It's a true gem for Jack/Sam shippers, but since I'm not a shipper at all, it's only average episode to me, giving only the start for several long plot curves. I also didn't like that Daniel seemed to be the brain of SGC in this episode, like there wasn't anyone clever enough and with necessary specializations in the complex. But it was the first appearance of Siler and I can't pass the three hilarious scenes in the episode, not mentioning the blooper.

: What's wrong with your chest?
: I think I cracked a rib too.
: Why didn't you say something?
: I was afraid you'd try to put a splint on it. I'll be fine.

: Night... Oh....Colonel....!
: It's my sidearm, I swear...

: [To Teal'c] What happens when you dial your own phone number? Wrong person to ask.

Questions I read back few pages are quite interesting, so there're my thoughts on them.

Is the Antartic gate older than Egyptian?
I'd say definetly, maybe even the oldest StarGate in Milky Way.

Why wasn't it primary if it has DHD and SGC one is jury-rigged? Why the teams are returning to SGC, not there?
Because DHD was buried in ice, and severed from the gate. Thus this one remains dormant, while SGC gate is primary. That Jaffa probably got there and didn't make it out when the Egyptian gate was buried. I agree that maybe Apophis decided to check that out and sent a Serpent Guard to investigate. The main Gyza gate was buried, so he came out of the gate in Antarctica, and even if he found the DHD and dug it out, it wasn't corellated with the others in the StarGate network and he wasn't able to dial anything. And when never returned, Goa'Uld left Tau'Ri alone until the gate was opened to the Abydos again.

Why didn't it became primary after the DHD was dug out?
The answer on this one is given much later in series, when we learn that all DHDs activate gates from time to time for the autocorellation and stellar drift compensation. This one was buried for the heck knows how long, so there weren't any, and I guess that the gates check if it's possible to dial out with DHD before establishing an incoming wormohole and create one to the "malfunctioning" gate only if there aren't other unburied dormant gates at the destination. I think it'd be correct to assume that when that Jaffa came, the DHD was already buried in ice for a long time, and even if he dug it out, it stayed unfrozen for too short period. So until the next autocorellation, which one could happen only if the DHD has enough power and is connected to the gate, it will be dormant. But since DHD completely died soon, that wasn't going to happen at all. Well, maybe if it was brought to SGC and connected with the egyptian gate, then it'd be possible to reprogram and use it properly. And it'd be much easier to dial address from there and no safety protocols wouldn't be bypassed during dialing. But if the power cell was depleted severely after millenias in the ice, I doubt that it'd last for too long during such active usage. But... If NID was able to use it next season, then maybe SGC did plugged it to the egyptian gate and reprogrammed it slightly in some way, but also they saw that its power is depleting and locked it away with the Antarctic gate until the bad days? Bah, the intial question lead to the myriad of others...

Why didn't the reset Carter did forced the autocorellation?
I think probably because it's something that happens to all gates simultaneously, and time period between autocorellations is programmed deep within the DHDs, so no reset would force it. But it forced clearing of the memory banks or circuits or whatever that thing has, so after the "reboot" the gate did it best to dial the Earth, "forgetting" that it's there and that it already tried it and caused tremors that were noticed by Daniel and eventually led to the rescue of Sam and Jack.

Why the kawoosh is facing opposite direction to Sam and Jack?
Well, this one is of the family of huge plot holes, but I think it can be explained somehow. Maybe it's an old kawoosh, maybe the gate has turned over somehow, but that's a very wild speculation. What I really like to think is that since it was an Ancients outpost or at least nearby, and since I know from SGA that Ancients dialed the gate like we do - someone dials while others stand below and next to the gate, so maybe someone else was supposed to dial the gate for the awaiting travellers. And if it so, I further think that all the overload that occured in the gate discharged at SGC, and the wormhole simply let Sam and Jack out without a kick before closing itself behind them and they rolled down the ice ramp through the gate and to where they awoke, hurting themselves. Look at the frames when they're awakening - the gate is quite elevated relative to them, or when Carter jumps down from the frozen DHD - she slided down the ice from gate to Jack.

Why Sam assumed that the planet is in an Ice Age?
Simply because they were used to the fact that StarGates are usually situated in the most populated areas, and are often the symbol of religious importance. So if the gate is inside of glacier and outside is ungoldy amount of it and snow, well, I'd thought that I'm on an icy planet, which was inhabitated long ago, too.

Finally, why Sam didn't try to dial another planet?
First of all, because she had no idea that she's on Earth, then because she thought that if she can't dial Earth where everything was neat an hour ago, then the problem is on their side, with their gate, then because she probably didn't know any other addresses and finally because her mind was occupied by the only wish to return home ASAP.

6/10.

[maneth]

Excellent episode, I love these claustrophobic eps. Interesting to learn about the Antarctic gate too.

[Tallifer]

After reading every post in this thread. I'm still not convinced as to the reasons why the Antarctic wasn't the dominant gate to begin with as it was connected to a DHD. That being said however it is very difficult to find any episode which doesn't contradict something which was established in a previous episode, or will be established in future episodes.

Indeed when I watch science fiction television series, I prefer to internally justify and accomodate apparent discrepancies. (My first reaction of course is irritation at the inconsistency or morniv reasoning in the script.) A story spanning three series, several movies and two decades merits respect for its continuity and forgiveness for its foibles.

And after all, this show is way more realistic (!) and consistent than my favourite, Doctor Who.

[Tallifer]

This story has such a clever ending that I cannot help but adore it. Surprisingly also, it is never boring despite many slow scenes of people freezing to death inside a glacier.

Of course, I usually enjoy stories that add to the ongoing mythology, as long as the story itself is contained within the episode. (The penultimate episode of the first season was very disappointing, because it relied on extended clips and references to several other episodes to tell its story.)

There are some weird real-world theories about aliens visiting prehistoric Antarctica when ti was a lush tropical continent, so this story of a hidden stargate there appealed to me.

[HolyAngelQueenSG-1]

Jack and Sam drop off hit ground ice. jack had broken leg and ribs... Sam help care him. Aww.... Sam hugs warm Jack is bbbbbrrrrrrr!! The Stargate wormhole move other second in Ice Antaractica Earth. I love it.

[FrodoFraggins]

I kind of feel that this episode is overrated, but then again I'm not a shipper. I'm also more interested in the long term story arc than character development. I'd give it about an 8/10.

Samantha may be smart but she's not a great engineer. Her debugging skills need a lot of work!

[mathpiglet]

I was watching this episode today while I was on the treadmill. I have the close-captioning on since the treadmill is loud. At the end of the episode, when Sam comes back to Jack, he says something. I thought I heard, "Sara", but the CC said it was "Sam".

I just checked the transcript and it is indeed 'Sara'.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Typical of CC in my experience; they tend to get a lot wrong. It really sucks, too, as even a small mistake can change the entire meaning of something.

[mathpiglet]

In this case, yes! It makes a huge difference.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Yep; it changes the whole flavor of the first several seasons.