Demons (308)

[icsteffi]

Anyone else felt this was just in there to sort of suck up to the audience who is to a large part christian?
I didn't like it at all.

Another thing I was wondering about was this gate burying thing. To me those gates look pretty sturdy there on their stone platforms. Wouldn't it be pretty hard for a medieval society to dislodge it and bury it?

I agree with both of those things. I was really wondering about how they would manage to bury that gate, yeah.

Anyways... Now that I'm watching SGU, and rewatching SG1--- this episode really bothers me. I probably wouldn't have thought about it before all the SGU debate, but who the heck do the SG1 think they are....

They were resolved to unhandcuff this girl (Mary) right away, without even knowing her crime or the circumstances. She could have been a murderer, or something else BAD! Sometimes SG1 doesn't think.

Also.. they mentioned that the goa'uld could reach them by ship within a couple of years. Guess they are not very forward thinking?

Spoiler from SGU season 1.5:

Spoiler:

This train of thought sparked by the question of the Lucian Alliance, and their motives. Telford claiming that Earth hasn't taken responsibility for lots of bad things...

[Girlbot]

ever heard of the inquisition?
belive me there are much worse things that the church has done in the middle ages in the name of God, teal'c can count himself lucky that he was not burned alive or something like that

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition

[maneth]

I'm of two minds with this one. On the one hand I thought it was great that they dared to take up ancient Christianity instead of the dead Egyptian or Norse religions. On the other, it left me really frustrated, there's no guarantee anything really changed for those poor people, even if they managed to bury the gate.

[Darkland]

This episode was pretty much lame duck for me - It didn't do anything for me when it's all about religion. Was watchable, but it was not what I call one of those episodes I would rush to review.

[LeftHandedGuitarist]

This is going to sound strange to many, especially given the comments I've seen in this thread, but this is possibly my favourite episode of SG-1. All the elements come together in a way that really click with me, from the general atmosphere, the dialogue, the casting, the acting, the effects and the plot.

The medieval European style of the village is something I love (although it could have benefitted from a larger budget to make the set more impressive). It immediately brings up a certain feeling and atmosphere which I find attractive. I love the muddy forests next to the simple stone buildings. I love the magical feel to the effects the canon's ring has. I adore the girl they cast to play Mary (who also appeared in what is possibly my favourite Atlantis episode, 'The Brotherhood') and guy who plays Simon is excellent, as he also was in season 1's 'Cor-Ai', and he is given some beautiful dialogue. The actor for the village canon is perfect, because he is so unlikable you want to punch him - which is exactly the point.

The episode looks gorgeous. On top of that, we have the return of Unas, who always rank amongst my favourite creatures of the Stargate universe. The one here is unfortunately nowhere near as impressive as the original in 'Thor's Hammer', but he serves his purpose well. The depiction of the village he terrorises comes across as quite realistic to me, as even Simon spends 90% of the episode too scared to stand up to him.

I really like the section where Teal'c is tested, and SG-1's reactions to realising they are going to kill him is nicely done. The ending is the main part which bugs me. It's not a bad ending, but the way it plays out is a little too rushed and it's too clear that something is up. Even an extra 5 minutes to make the reveal of the canon's takeover a little more subtle would have benefitted things greatly.

- Quite a lot of comedy for such a dark episode. Jack's Dr. Evil finger is great, and really dates the episode!

- Carter mentions at one point that the lightning bolt felt like a zat blast. I might be wrong, but I don't recall that Carter has ever been shot by a zat at this point.

- Season 3 has had several episodes which really promote how well SG-1 work together, and this one is no exception. The difference here is that they are working in quite different ways to play to their strengths. They all want to help the village, but in this case it is Daniel who naturally needs to take the lead, and Jack doesn't do a lot to get in his way and only takes over when it's clear his skills are needed more.

- I think this is one of the most fascinating cultures we've come across in the show so far, and I think it's the one that has been the most fully explored so far. Many of the previous cultures were portrayed with very little depth, but the writers/producers seem to have taken this one quite a bit more seriously. The trepanning freaks me out a bit.

RATING: 9.5 out of 10 (because no episode is perfect)

[fems]

- Carter mentions at one point that the lightning bolt felt like a zat blast. I might be wrong, but I don't recall that Carter has ever been shot by a zat at this point.

Perhaps she was referring to the (slight) electrical jolt they got in Seth, which supposedly was similar to a zat blast. Or the energy weapon Aris Boch used on her. Or she knows how it feels from Jolinar's memories...

[LeftHandedGuitarist]

Oh yes, most likely from Jolinar. I doubt the little electric fizz in the ear from Seth was anything close to a zat.

[dtheories]

They didn't call them the Dark Ages because they were dark.

This ep feels like setting the table for Sokar. True, Jack ready to go in guns blazing without really understanding what they were up against gave us the action for the story, but on balance, the theme was that people were oppressed, could not fend for themselves and needed (SG-1) to rescue them.

Sokar should be salivating by now.

[Krisz]

O'NEILL : Ah, trees, trees, and more trees. What a wonderfully green universe we live in, eh?

Just had to be said! LOL!

A grim jaunt through 'Medieval World' here. Drowning heretics and trepanning, just another day in the village! Teal'c 'rising from the dead' was the highlight, mainly because his fellow team members were just as surprised as the villagers!

[Jae'a]

My LiveJournal post

[Matt G]

5pm and another ep of SG1...

1. Was very surprised they even attempted to take on medieval Christianity.

2. Had forgotten about the trepanning. Says it all about medieval medical knowledge.

3. "Unas! Uno! One!" Too right!

4. Teal'c coolly gets up...and everyone freaks out!

5. Why the hell didn't Daniel say "she isn't posessed now, but if you let her go she will be!" Pretty easy to understand!

Decent ep!

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

I thought it was a boring episode.

SG-1 saved a planet and told them to bury the gate after they left.

Tomorrow, an SG team is brain washed into thinking Apophis is their god (or something).

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

So, is this the episode where Jack gets his scar? I think so.

Liked the end.

Seaboe

[jelgate]

A big problem with this one is the whole basis of the society. I can't understand how people would not notice the abduction of people from the Middle Ages. It was understandable for history to be lost from ancient Egypt but Christian villagers of just a 1000 years ago baffles me. That aside I did like its insight to dark age culture and the horrors that age brought in religious corruption. While it was pretty obvious Tealc wasn't going to die I thought his way of surviving was creative. Not to mention I liked the Unas Goauld jumping host. Its too bad we never see a Unas Goa'uld again because I liked seeing SG1 battle this one

[Starscape91]

The actor that played Simon was in Cor-Ai he was the one that wanted Teal'c dead. I really don't like this episode I think I've only watched this one once before.