Shades of Grey (318)

[amconway]

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.

Where's the drama in that?

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.

To me, this would have been something that lessened the impact. 'Shades of Grey' doesn't just refer to Jack's actions, but to the relationships between the characters. If they didn't buy it, then the story becomes about nothing much. The main point here isn't catching the bad guy, it's about what chatching the bad guy does to the characters.

[Nightspore]

Where's the drama in that?

To me, this would have been something that lessened the impact. 'Shades of Grey' doesn't just refer to Jack's actions, but to the relationships between the characters. If they didn't buy it, then the story becomes about nothing much. The main point here isn't catching the bad guy, it's about what chatching the bad guy does to the characters.

That's my point. For me, after 4 years of all the trials and tribulations these characters went through, they should ALL know that their friendships are very solid/that sometimes you have to do some nasty things for the greater good. I like Jack and Daniel as equals (at least in their friendship) rather than seeing Daniel as the emotionally wounded one who is terribly hurt if Jack says their friendship had no foundation. And actually, I felt much worse for Jack than I did for Daniel since they so easily accepted he would go rogue.

However one looks at the episode, I think it was one of the best. And RDA looked so handsome in this one.

[amconway]

That's my point. For me, after 4 years of all the trials and tribulations these characters went through, they should ALL know that their friendships are very solid/that sometimes you have to do some nasty things for the greater good.

Sorry, I don't understand. I'm saying that the episode wouldn't have been as dramatic if the team hadn't believed Jack--or are you saying you just didn't like the plot much? Which is perfectly valid...

I like Jack and Daniel as equals (at least in their friendship) rather than seeing Daniel as the emotionally wounded one who is terribly hurt if Jack says their friendship had no foundation.

I can agree with you here. I heartily dislike fanfic portrayals of Daniel as the wounded bird. C'mon! Look at him! (I also dislike H/C fic and heavy angst for many of the same reasons, as well as the general ewww factor) I don't mean to suggest that Daniel is all torn up inside. I think he's pissed--we all know Daniel has a temper. I also don't think that Daniel broods or holds grudges-not with his friends, anyway. Look at 'The Other Side.' Daniel was totally pissed, but after Jack apologises, it's over. My feeling is that he's pissed off here, too, but he'll be over it pretty darn quick. That crack on leaving the gate room probably did the job for him.
I don't feel bad for Jack here. He really sold it. He can't be surprised that they bought it. He worked very hard to make sure they did.

[The Stig]

This was a good episode. the tollan dobn't annoy me and Maybourne gets whats coming to him in a way. Oh and Jack saves the day.

[Pic]

Wow, you all had a pretty good conversation going on about Daniel and Jack a few months ago.

Throwing my 2 cents in, I have to agree that this wasn't 100% totally out of character for Jack. He always worked on the edge of what was "allowed" and bucked the system when he felt it was justified. Sam/Daniel/Teal'c might've thought he'd taken it too far, but if he pulled it off right (and apparently he did) it could've been believable.

The nasty barbs sent to Daniel where just to push him over the edge. In my mind, Daniel suspected something was fishy, and Jack figured he couldn't bluff it too much so he pissed him off instead. After all, Jack only needed Daniel to believe it for a few days. Once Daniel calmed down, I'm sure he'd've been back at Jack because he thought something was off.

At this point, I don't think Sam would've pushed. Season 4, she would've, season 3, not so much. Daniel showing up at Jack's house is the only one that made sense.

Although, I like his come back about drawing straws. It made me chuckle.

[lordofseas]

8.5 out of 10. Jack the hero, the Tollans are in this episode, and we see floating technology.

[mrscopterdoc]

I remember the first time I watched this I really believed something had happened to Jack. It was neat how everything fell into place and it all worked out, and of course Daniel's dig at the end was too funny.

[MelbournePates]

I really like this episode but there's only one thing that bothers me about it. Col. Makepeace was the CO of the rescue mission in In To The Fire and risked his own life and the life of his team by choice to get SG1 home safe. At the end of Shades of Grey Makepeace is found to be the mole and taken in to custody by O'Neill. Now this is probably being a bit nit-picky, but i just found it a little jarring for them to turn so harshly on him.

[StargateWatcher]

Hmm.. weren't the Asgard in on it all?

yes the Tollans were in too n helped setup the scheme to expose the NID's stealing of adv alien tech

[SantaSlayer]

I liked the deception O' Neill caused and an overall good episode. The only thing that through me off as others have said was how Makepeace was a hero early in the season then becomes a bad guy after that. It would have been great if there was an episode of him returning.

[Girlbot]

Good episode, except everyone being so stupid as to believe that Jack would ever , ever do something like that.

[maneth]

Indeed. I felt we were in an alternate reality until the arrests. How Carter and Jackson bought it for so long escapes me, but it's a good thing they did.

[Darkland]

Great episode, I was really into the story and thought good - Jack deserve what he got - An early retirement, but when that offer from what's his face (M), I knew something was a miss. I believe the context of the story fits really well with Jack because this is exactly what he would do to try and protect his country.

[FrodoFraggins]

7/10

It was too obvious to me and I found it all too convenient that Maybourne trusted O'Neill so quickly. All in all a rather disappointing implementation of a decent idea.

[LeftHandedGuitarist]

This one is great fun. Looking back, I can't believe I fell for the ruse originally because it feels so obvious that Jack is faking it. Sneaky Jack and Hammond. It also has one of the best endings to a show so far, it always brings a massive smile to my face.

- Richard Dean Anderson is really channeling Kurt Russel's performance in the original movie when he says to Carter, "I haven't been acting like myself since I met you."

- I'm glad Makepeace was the the mole and it didn't turn out to be somebody I liked! I love the scene where SG-1 meet him as their new commanding officer and Daniel's little speech.

- Jack has a lovely house!

- Jack holding his arm in the Stargate's event horizon looked a bit strange. The previous episode (A Hundred Days) established that anything going back through the event horizon the wrong way gets vaporized, as we saw with the MALP. So I don't quite get how Jack can hold his arm in there and still have it attached.

RATING: 8 out of 10