Shades of Grey (318)

[Teslan]

Yeah, I guess it does sound too far-fetched, but that was just my initial impression when I first saw it. And the only way it was remotely conceivable is because Jack was in his "black-ops" mode, therefore quite suspcious of everyone, and while he probably wouldn't have doubted the real Sam, perhaps he was concerned about some kind of mind control (i.e. Rya'c). Which actually wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility seeing the tech used in a few eps later.

[captain jake]

This was a complete curve ball episode, I don't know about the rest of you but when I saw this episode for the first time I had no idea what was going on. I was thinking that he had to be under the control of some kind of alien device. I love the scene where Jack is sitting on his porch listening to Pavarotti. I do wonder how Maybourne fell for their stunt though, I always thought he was smarter than that. This episode presents a great morale lesson, that being quality of friends trumps quantity of possessions. I do have to ask why they had to make Colonel Makepeace into a jerk. First of all Makepeace treats Teal'c like crap, than he turns out to be working for the NID and Maybourne. After all Makepeace and his team did save the lives of SG-1 in "Into the Fire", I think they should have made someone else the mole.

I didn't completely understand why they had to keep it a secret from the rest of the team, but I suppose they were trying to minimize exposure. After all the bigger the waterbed the more places there are for a leek to spring. I suppose the Asgard insisting that Jack did it alone had something to do with it as well.

A few of my favorite shots from the episode.

Spoiler:

[HelloVelo]

Holy cow, the Tollan weren't annoying in this episode.

My Rating: 8/10

Full Review: http://stargatesummer.blogspot.com/2...s-of-grey.html

[L E E]

Undercover Jack is always fun to watch. I knew there was something going on because I was never convinced that Jack suddenly changed his attitude.

I did not like that Makepeace was the mole. It just doesn't seem right to me.

Maybourne is as usual a wonderful antagonist to Jack even if Jack seemed to have switched sides.

[Black_Sheep]

I didn't like this episode at the beginning. I was also hoping to see Mayborne being fired or getting into trouble again. The ending made me think that just how good friends the SG-1 members are? I have always thought that they are really good friends..

[JARVISBRODIE]

This was one of my favorite episodes of Season 3. One of my favorite and funny parts of the episode was when the STARGATE on the rendezvous planet was activated 4 times. I bet that STARGATE was thinking "Will you please stop activating me?"

[Butlersgate]

i thought this was an episode that teal'c should of had the opertunity to "dismember" maybourne haha

[balo]

I was very confused in the beginning of this episode , first I believed that Jack was under control of an alien or something.

Very good acting by RDA , maybe one of his best episodes.

Rating : 8 / 10

[amconway]

I was very confused in the beginning of this episode , first I believed that Jack was under control of an alien or something.

Yes, everyone was confused, including the team!
And now for the really important unresolved question... Did they really draw straws, or was Daniel just getting back at Jack for being such a jerk?

[Nightspore]

Yes, everyone was confused, including the team!
And now for the really important unresolved question... Did they really draw straws, or was Daniel just getting back at Jack for being such a jerk?

I don't think they really drew straws; it was Daniel's way of getting back at Jack. That said, I don't think Jack was a jerk at all. He was under orders NOT to say anything to anyone so he followed those orders. He pretty much knew his house was bugged so he had to really "sell" the fact that he had turned and if saying certain things to Daniel help convince Maybourne, then that's how it had to be. The ultimate goal here was to regain the trust of some very important allies (Nox, Asgard and the Tollan) that Earth needed in the fight against the Goa'uld. That Daniel felt let down or hurt was less important than the overall goal.

Turning this around, I've always felt that Daniel, Teal'c and Sam were less than true friends because they so readily believed Jack would do something like that. Doesn't say much for their "trust" in Jack and if anyone had to be considered "jerks" I would put that label on his so-called best friends.

Just my take.

[amconway]

I don't think they really drew straws; it was Daniel's way of getting back at Jack. That said, I don't think Jack was a jerk at all. He was under orders NOT to say anything to anyone so he followed those orders. He pretty much knew his house was bugged so he had to really "sell" the fact that he had turned and if saying certain things to Daniel help convince Maybourne, then that's how it had to be. The ultimate goal here was to regain the trust of some very important allies (Nox, Asgard and the Tollan) that Earth needed in the fight against the Goa'uld. That Daniel felt let down or hurt was less important than the overall goal.

Turning this around, I've always felt that Daniel, Teal'c and Sam were less than true friends because they so readily believed Jack would do something like that. Doesn't say much for their "trust" in Jack and if anyone had to be considered "jerks" I would put that label on his so-called best friends.

Just my take.

We definately see the episode differently-although I don't think they drew straws . Seems to me that Jack went way further than he needed to, and really went for the jugular. From a writing point of view, that is certainly more dramatic, but from an in show perspective, the team had justification to feel let down.

[Nightspore]

We definately see the episode differently-although I don't think they drew straws . Seems to me that Jack went way further than he needed to, and really went for the jugular. From a writing point of view, that is certainly more dramatic, but from an in show perspective, the team had justification to feel let down.

Why do you think the team had justification to feel let down? Jack was no more snarky with Carter than he always had been; same with Teal'c.

[HPMom]

Turning this around, I've always felt that Daniel, Teal'c and Sam were less than true friends because they so readily believed Jack would do something like that. Doesn't say much for their "trust" in Jack and if anyone had to be considered "jerks" I would put that label on his so-called best friends.

Just my take.

I could never buy that they would have. I knew right away and given how close the team always was, I just can't believe they wouldn't see it as a ruse.

[amconway]

Why do you think the team had justification to feel let down? Jack was no more snarky with Carter than he always had been; same with Teal'c.

I really should watch the episode again... I'm discussing this here without a recent enough viewing to be properly specific. From a character point of view, I think that they would feel let down, first, that general Hammond approved their being left in the dark, essentially agreeing that they were to be considered under suspicion, and secondly, that Jack, who has never been a guy who didn't bend the rules when he thought it was necessary, didn't find a way to give them a hint that things weren't as they seemed, at the very least.
I'm not saying that Jack didn't think that he had to do what he did, just that the team were well within believable reaction to react as they did, and feel hurt and let down. That's where the pathos of this episode comes from. The ending is quite bittersweet, because, although there is a win, none of them feel like they've had a win. Trust is damaged on all sides.

[Nightspore]

I really should watch the episode again... I'm discussing this here without a recent enough viewing to be properly specific. From a character point of view, I think that they would feel let down, first, that general Hammond approved their being left in the dark, essentially agreeing that they were to be considered under suspicion, and secondly, that Jack, who has never been a guy who didn't bend the rules when he thought it was necessary, didn't find a way to give them a hint that things weren't as they seemed, at the very least.
I'm not saying that Jack didn't think that he had to do what he did, just that the team were well within believable reaction to react as they did, and feel hurt and let down. That's where the pathos of this episode comes from. The ending is quite bittersweet, because, although there is a win, none of them feel like they've had a win. Trust is damaged on all sides.

I've seen it more than a few times since it's one of my favorites. I think all of them know (especially Daniel) that Jack has done some pretty nasty things to defend his country and that he would do whatever he thought was necessary in this case to restore the trust of the allies and to protect his teammates. The Nox and Tollan wanted Jack and only Jack to be involved in the situation; he was told he couldn't tell anyone else and Jack would honor that trust they placed in him. He wanted to be sure that Carter, Daniel and Teal'c reacted as if they really believed he had gone rogue since they didn't know if they were being watched, monitored - it has to be believable.

If Daniel (and the Carter and Teal'c to a lesser extent) couldn't put their own personal feelings aside and see that Jack had done what had to be done for the sake of catching the members of the rogue team and helping restore balance within the allies, then they shouldn't be on the team.

In my opinion, it wasn't about THEM (Daniel, Sam and Teal'c) – it was about the bigger picture. If Jack had somehow let Daniel know just because he didn't want to hurt Daniel's feelings/wanted to let Daniel know their friendship was solid, it certainly would have lessened the impact. What I would have like to have seen at the end would have been Daniel confessing that he never really "bought" Jack going rogue/that he knew something was up, but played along for Jack's sake. There have been some fan fics along these line; very well written.