The Sentinel (520)

[captain jake]

I found it interesting to see that when I went to look at the Gateworld episode guide there was nothing to read on "The Sentinel". It got a low rating but I found the machine working together with the body to be fascinating. It is my opinion that the sentinel looks into the mind of the human and determines who and where the targets are at.

I do have another question though. According to Marul the Latonans gave up technology in order to practice matters of the spirit and mind. If this was the case I can understand how they would be unable to fix or understand their technology. However, wouldn't they be spiritually and mentally savvy in general? For example if we look back on the episode "Spirits" we see that Tonane has no understanding of advanced technology. Though he understands the mind and has a certain amount of wisdom about him. The Latonans on the other hand are slightly idiotic, very nice people but more like children than people.

I don't know, that aspect of the episode never really made sense to me.

[A Wraith Named Bob]

Watched this today and I liked it.

[The Stig]

I found this episode boring and therefore having nothing to say about it.

[Ulkesh47]

I found this episode boring and therefore having nothing to say about it.

I thought the first half of it was pretty darn good ("Yeah, which way do the bullets go in, again?"), but that the second half was boring.

I can't remember if Svarog's huge speaker moment was in the first or second half, but either way, it was cool.

But yeah, the second half dragged.

[Cold Fuzz]

Earlier tonight, SyFy replayed this episode for the first time in a very long time. Like "Proving Ground," it's not the best written episode but offers some fun nonetheless. It was good to see Lt. Grogan again as a follow-up from "Proving Ground." I was actually hoping that he would become a recurring secondary character but SG-1's stand-alone episode format pretty much precluded that.

Svarog's megaphone voice was hilarious, as was Henry Gibson's performance as the witless leader of the Latonans. Kershaw and Grieves atoning for their previous actions by effectively surrendering their lives was a good ending for both of their characters. It was a pity about Kershaw as I think she sincerely realized the wrongness of her previous actions and the NID's xenophobic stance.

[Supreme Commander Sil]

I was going to watch this today and I always love the "which end do the bullets go in again" bit . Quote it often !

[Cold Fuzz]

I was going to watch this today and I always love the "which end do the bullets go in again" bit . Quote it often !

Definitely one of the highlights of the episode. Interesting that Daniel was holding a knife when he said that line.

[mrscopterdoc]

This episode was a tad slow....not in the top 15 of the season.

[StargateWatcher]

could the sentinel people be the furlings because their tech is really advanced. The furlings could have given up tech and went on spiritually like the man said his people had done in sentinel.The sentinel is more advanced than any asgard weapon.

I was SO THINKIN THIS a while ago; the Furling seemed to like to make places "sanctuaries" fr people who like to pursue spiritual matters (i.e. ascension?)

the tech is ultra-advanced; think could be on the level of 4 G.R. tech; worx so differently from what we know of the other 3s' tech

[StargateWatcher]

Maybe. But it's got one of my all-time favorite lines!

From Daniel, after the guy prisoner complains about having a geeky archaeologist watching his back. Daniel slips his knife out of its sheath, holds it up, and asks the guy, "So which end do the bullets go in again?"

great answer to throwback at an antagonist like that!

[StargateWatcher]

I found it interesting to see that when I went to look at the Gateworld episode guide there was nothing to read on "The Sentinel". It got a low rating but I found the machine working together with the body to be fascinating. It is my opinion that the sentinel looks into the mind of the human and determines who and where the targets are at.

I do have another question though. According to Marul the Latonans gave up technology in order to practice matters of the spirit and mind. If this was the case I can understand how they would be unable to fix or understand their technology. However, wouldn't they be spiritually and mentally savvy in general? For example if we look back on the episode "Spirits" we see that Tonane has no understanding of advanced technology. Though he understands the mind and has a certain amount of wisdom about him. The Latonans on the other hand are slightly idiotic, very nice people but more like children than people.

I don't know, that aspect of the episode never really made sense to me.

loox like the movement failed

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

What was it about seeing Jack tortured that made Grieves decide to accept Sam and whatsherface's theory of how the machine worked? This question has intrigued me since the first time I saw this episode. He's absolutely adamant, but when the jaffa bring Jack in, poke him with the fire stick a few times while Jack tells his crew to destroy the device, he's suddenly willing to give up his life to make the thing work.

Seaboe

[maneth]

The ending was quite interesting, but apart from that the ep was rather meh IMO. I just find it hard to believe that an entire civilization would degenerate like that without any apparent reason. Did everyone just want to engage in spiritual pursuits? Where did all the engineers who had built the civilization go?

[LeftHandedGuitarist]

Weird episode, and not at all enjoyable. Henry Gibson as Marul is just terrible, looking like he has no idea what he's doing there and delivering ever line of dialogue poorly. He's supposed to be a leader of these people? No chance. O'Neill is also given a peculiar job here, like the writers didn't really know what to do with him.

It's a shame that the show didn't actually bring any of the covert NID/SGC characters from 'Shades of Grey' back, as there is a big disconnect by having the two unknowns in this episode. I can only imagine how much more powerful the episode would have been if it were Colonel Makepeace instead of Grieves.

The Sentinel itself is also really disappointing, some tacky little plastic light show hidden in a bunch of branches and twigs. I got the feeling that nobody was really putting any effort into this one.

Really enjoyed seeing Lt. Grogran back, though. For a while his presence was confusing me a bit before I realised he was the same character from 'Proving Ground', but then I also realised that he REALLY looks like a young Ben Browder in this episode!

RATING: 5.5 out of 10

[Matt G]

At some point I put a VHS into my Halls of Res machine...

1. Wasn't expecting them to follow up Shades of Grey but this worked well enough.

2. Grogan, wasn't expecting to see him again! At least he stayed alive!

3. Liked the UAV missiles - unfortunately the Jaffa aren't 'complete' idiots.

4. Daniel's been hanging out with Sam quite a bit.

5. Knew the NID pair had killed the caretaker, just wasn't sure how.

Decent enough ep.