Threads (818)

[Liebestraume]

AmericanPi(e), I agree with a lot of what you say, but your take on Pete/Kerry had me ROFL

I totally agree... They have a LOT in common, they're both stalkers for one thing, namely she's in the CIA and hunts down bad guys and he tends to follow around his girlfriends... But seriously he's a cop she's a CIA agent so they're in related fields, they have things in common. They have a connection in that they've both made bad decisions in love very recently so they're both rebounding. Why not?

I think poor Pete should lay off "successful intelligent women" for a while, especially the spooks. CIA may not look upon his "stalking" as fondly as the SGC folks apparently did.

[DarkQuee1]

Just have to point out to you, because A LOT of people seem to gloss over this fact, Sam wasn't supposed to be working that day. Jack said it was her DAY OFF, and Jacob said Sam told him that she was to meet Pete at the florist that morning (to which Sam denies herself so she could stay at the base and save the world). We have no less than THREE people to Sam's idea of what is happening that day, and it comes off as Sam being flakey to Pete, and not the other way around.

That might explain the cell phone call, but not the call to the base. Obviously, something important came up that brought Sam to the base that morning and Pete clearly expected her to be there when he didn't get an answer to the cell phone, since he called there. That's the point where he went off the tracks: if he knew she was at the base and he knew she wasn't taking his cell phone call, something was up and he probably should have just left a message on her cell phone.

BTW, you have a problem (and judging by your snarky parenthesis comment, you apparently do) with Sam choosing to save the world over picking out flowers? We definitely have a different set of priorities!

J.

[majorsal]

Didn't anyone else see it comming that Jim was Anubis. If you remember back in Full Circle Daniel mentions he hasn't met any of the others. Then he confronts Anubis and attempts to break the rules by trying to take Anubis out before Oma stops him. After that he is sent back or apparently he chose to come back. Now he meeets JIm in the diner and he is saying he knew Daniel from when he was ascended the last time and he knew about how Daniel had a hard time with the rules the last time. The only two people who qualify for that that we have seen was Oma and Anubis. Plus it was obvious that Oma didn't like Jim. She even told him to find true enlightenment. Seems like an odd thing to tell an acsended being unless it an ascended being who is twisted like Anubis.

that's a very good question, and in all honesty, i don't know if i'd have figured it out that it was anubis on my own. i read spoilers, i already knew watching it, but if i hadn't known... i just don't know. i was also VERY nervous watching this show because my cable company (or scifi channel) keeps screwing up the signal, so i was waiting for something to go wrong. it did happen, but it wasn't in a part of the ep (s/j shippy and sam centered) that i wanted perfect. so, i just don't know if i would have figured it out.

sally

[acdj31]

It was a great ep; I could see this as being the season or even the series finale. The show answers some questions and also raises a few more.

Will Teal'c leave the Tauri? Is Oma or Anubis truly gone? Does Daniel remember everything that happens in the diner? Will Jack and Sam really get together?

If there wasn't going to be a season 9, TPTB could have still answers these new questions with a movie or a tv-movie. Hopefully when the real series finale happens it will be as good or even better than this ep.

[Hatusu]

The Daniel bit. Isn't that set an in-joke? It's the Wafflehouse from Dead Like Me. Daniel even sits where the group in DLM always do, and he ordered waffles.

They probably just ran out of locations in Vancouver, but then, "Dead LIke Me" is a good joke.

[Hatusu]

Season 9 Spoiler
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I was totally surprised that they brought back the Carter/O'Neill romance. I thought they'd put that to rest in "Grace".

I'm happy about it because I came to the show as a Richard Dean Anderson fan, but what are they going to do with it now, with O'Neill leaving the SGC next season?

And they'd better not skip anything if they do get them together. I want to see this romance play out, ...in all its awkwardness.

[Hex.FTB.enabled]

here's my 2 cents (well, maybe more than 2 )
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant episode. My greatest fear about this episode is that people are so vested in or against the Sam/Jack ship, those sentiments will overtake the perception of the entire episode. While I'll preface this little review by saying I've enjoyed the S/J ship and chemsitry between the characters, IMHO "Threads" goes so beyond that.

Nitpicky stuff out of the way first: a lot of noise has been made about the "four years" comment when it should of been six. Yes, it was a slip up, but instead of hitting the Continuity Panic Button, take a breath. Given the scope of this episode, it's really not that big a deal. And wasn't Selmak originally female, or was that just the host? But I digress, that's CPB territory again.

The Teal'c/Bra'tac storyline: Admittedly, as I've said before the Jaffa Rebellion stuff has gotten a little stale for me, and while it got a bit lost in the background in Threads (thank goodness I got the 90 minute version), I thought it was better done. The (very cool CGI) shot of the thousands of Jaffa had me getting into this storyline more so than the last year or so. Despite my previous complaint, the Jaffa Rebellion has literally been in the works since the 1st episode. The reality of it is huge and I hope the writers will do something interesting with it. ("Talk to me in 50 years." Very sweet.)

The Sam/Jack storyline: one of the reasons I like Stargate is that as cool as the sci-fi and action is, it has always been a character driven show. Having this parallel both the Jaffa Rebellion and the Daniel/Oma/Jim thing seemed a good balance to me. I loved the scenes with Pete. Hysterical. While some roll their eyes or cry Mr. Insensitive, I just don't think the man fully gets it. And how could he. You can be told all the top-secret stuff, but he hasn't had 8 years of all the crazy stuff SG-1 etc. has been through. He just doesn't quite know how to process it, and IMO, that doesn't make make him a jerk. And I thought his reaction to Sam's breaking the engagement was very sweet. That said, I think Jacob summed up Pete's function brilliantly. His last scene with Sam I found very touching, because for all the Tok'ra this and that, at his core, Jacob was a father who just wanted his daughter to be happy. Jacob (and Carmine!) you will be missed.

Kerry served her purpose. She was sweet enough to make me like her, but not prominent enough to make me hate her or feel to bad when she left, and that's quite tricky to write. I like the way the Sam and Jack stuff played out. Instead of going shipper crazy, it focused simply on two people who care for each other. I found that scene with his arm around her one of the most touching in SG's history. Ironically, it's driving the hard-core shipper and anti-shippers crazy for not playing entirely to either one, but this time I found it appropriate. Kerry did a good job illustrating why denying that something is there is getting old and stupid, but to make this all romance would have been out of character for both Sam and Jack (Jacob did just die .). Again, very touching.

But on to what really made this a kick-ass episode: Daniel, Oma, and Jim. The question as to how the heck Anubis could ascend and why the Ancients haven't stopped him is finally answered, and answerd well. I've always found Oma both annoying and a bit lame, but not only did the writers make her cool, they gave her depth. I agreed with everything in Daniel's rant. How could the Ancients allow Anubis to do all the things he has just to punish her for an honest mistake, I don't care how friggin' small our corner of the universe is (high flautin' cosmic rules indeed). I have a hard time seeing beings who would allow that as inherently "good." Perhaps an allusion to season 9's Orii? And kudos must be given to George Dzunda. To go from a friendly, amusing, and sarcastic "inside guy" to deliciously evil was great.

And you gotta love that last scene. Patented SG humor. So, absolutely brilliant episode, definitely going on my favorites list.

[kadosho]

"Threads' is one of those eps that leave you stunned, even after the ep is over. And the other show pops up.
Its just that good to leave a mark on any fan's expression.
Can't disagree, the way this ep plays out, as if it were an ending somewhere. But then it could lead to a whole lot more, and will.

[Liebestraume]

Hex, great review. To add my (less than) 2c.

... I just don't think the {Pete} fully gets it. ...

This comment had me ROFL because it's so apt.

... Jacob (and Carmine!) you will be missed.

Amend to that. For me, his passing had more emotional resonance than all the relationship geometry in this episode. I know this will sound like a cliche -- but it really felt like the end of an era.

... Ironically, it's driving the hard-core shipper and anti-shippers crazy for not playing entirely to either one, ...

This "shipper" is quite satisfied with this particular scene. Actually I'm under the impression that scene that caused most controversy was the one at the end, but I could be wrong (and it wouldn't be the first time).

... I have a hard time seeing beings who would allow that as inherently "good." ...

The thing with the ascended beings is that they are not inherently good, for enlightment does not necessarily bring about goodness. The episode that told me most about the ascended philosophy was Maternal Instict, and even there they were speaking in riddles. But I got the distinct impression that, to attain enlightment, one must forego all the worldly concerns, which would include the sense of good and evil. I may not like what The Others were doing, but within their own world, what they did made sense.

[david2708]

"Threads' is one of those eps that leave you stunned, even after the ep is over. And the other show pops up.
Its just that good to leave a mark on any fan's expression.
Can't disagree, the way this ep plays out, as if it were an ending somewhere. But then it could lead to a whole lot more, and will.

Have to disagree.
I found Threads rather mundane. Although I only saw the short version (42 mins of talking heads).I found nothing in it particularly compelling.
The Sam/Jack/Pete stuff was shabbily and hurriedly put together. Even resorting to just throwing in a girlfriend for Jack out of nowhere just to desperately justify some feeble movitation for Sam to have second thoughts about the paper thin relationship she had with Pete and pile on the sham romance between Jack and Sam that doesn't exist except in the wild imaginations of people.
That section of the plot was just garbage as far as I'm concerned.
The ascended thing has for me has become a big yawn. Daniel dying, daniel ascending(sort 0f), daniel dying, daniel ascending once again(maybe)....Oma's dumb meaningless riddles....Zzzzzzzzzz.

[Contondant]

Ok, I've read through the 8 first pages of this thread but there doesn't seem to be any end so I'll just post and then read back from the end. (wo, just confused myself).

Some people talk about how they are unhappy Anubis went out so fast. There's no other way for him to go out. The guy has proven time and time again that any conventional means will not kill him. Even when his ship is blown up and he screams "No" and puts his hand in front of his "face" is he not dead. He's BLOWN UP IN SPACE and still doesn't die! The only way to prevail against this guy is exactly what happened... for someone on his level to take him out. And if someone on his level takes him, it will be at a level beyond us (and the camera) and, sorry, we can't follow that. This is the only way there was even a glimmer of hope that the bad guy could be dispatched.

Next, "Ship" is an interesting term and I'm not sure I'm a fan of it. I am however a fan of the whole Jack / Sam "thingy" (much better word, that) and although I don't want a whole episode devoted to it, after the subtle (and less so) elements leading to this thrown at us for 8 years (from the very second episode mind you), I think it's time they put some closure to the whole issue. I thought the way they did was very good. HOWEVER, I don't believe for a second that the situation is resolved... The fishing is just that. Fishing. The whole team is there. Just because Carter went fishing with the other three members... She could have a crush on Daniel for all that implies.
Incidentally, I don't find it unbelievable that Sam went fishing after her father died. For all we know, it was weeks later. Besides, she probably needed her friends' companionship more than anything at that point in time.

On the subject of her father, I was thoroughly dissapointed at the way Selmac had to go. After all that, he's "suddenly" sick (I know there was foreshadowing in the prior episode) and unfortunately it's too late for the human as well? Seems way to simple given the dire straights the human host before Carter Sr. was in and Carter Sr.'s condition at the time Selmac took over him. I agreed with whoever said that "Heroes" had had them in tears. It had me pretty emotional too. This was bland. My question is, why is this person, who has been contributing to the cause of freedom for a people of millions for hundreds of years not offered ascension, especially given his fore-knowledge of such a thing? Heck, he even had a contact in the spiritual overworld at that point in the shape of Daniel.

RDA's acting was spot on and, contrary to what's been said, I didn't find for a second that every second he spent on screen was a joke. He really wasn't going to pursue the Carter thing at the Barbecue, as he obviously knew what she was on about and wasn't helping at all. He wanted to continue status quo... they'd made a decision, he had someone, she had a great guy (I'm not a Pete hater, personally, I think his buying a house was romantic, he was obviously commited and had given his ENTIRE life up for Carter), and they could go on. Therefore, and given RDA's awesome but subtle acting in the scene when his new hubby tells him it's over, I actually believe he's let down. But he's got another option and his new hubby doesn't leave him much of one. Even if he's not interested in pursuing a relationship with Carter, they are friends and it's the right friendly thing to do, going down to see her by her father's death bed to console her.

Don't get me wrong, I do want to see these two together. It's been building to that. But I don't think this episodes conclusion has done that in the least.

I thought it was a good episode, a very good episode and the prerequisite "filler" episode between two huge "element" episodes.

PS: Cudos to the guy who played Anubis. AWESOME work!

PPS: Oh yeah, and the chick O'Neill's banging? He mentioned her in Citizen Joe. Presumably he's been starting at the relationship with her for a while and I don't find it odd that we haven't seen her before. Just because the camera follows Carter's personal life out of the base, doesn't mean it does the same with Jack, and I'm sure he DOES have a life out of the base (including playing poker with the local sheriff on fridays).

[ShimmeringStar]

What's more, I wish this had been it. The scene at Jack's cabin was a perfect place to leave the series. The Goa'uld are on the run, the Jaffa are free, the Replicators are metallic Rice Krispies, and Anubis has been taken care of via the "What of Lazarus" answer from Star Trek:TOS. Everything is hunky dory.

And the perfect place to jump off to feature films or made-for-TV-n-straight-to-DVD mini-series like had originally been the intention after the first 2 two year contracts with the show. I don’t know if I would have gone to a theater to see it, but would have definitely watched a mini-series similar to what they did for Farscape. And TPTB would not have been feeling so rushed or stressed over writing/producing 2 shows at once... methinks it would have been spectacular.

[ShimmeringStar]

I didn't see the Jim being Anubis thing coming and was excited by that. But unfortunately, not much farther beyond that. I guess maybe I was expecting more explanation than we got, as well, particularly in regards to things that happened during Daniel's ascension.

Until the heated discussion between Oma & Anubis foreshadowed trouble in AscenesionTown I didn’t have a clue either and then thought yep, I bet that’s what they’re going to do. But it was nice to be surprised for once.

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly that showing the 1st half of the season early here in the U.S. & then breaking, only to show the 2nd half early in the UK isn’t good. Especially this year when it is the ‘end of an era’ as S9’s team configuration is going to be way different than the team dynamics/humor of what hooked many of us on for the rollercoaster ride the past 8 years.

[Qtyled]

I just have to say the casting of Anubis was execllent. Even I didn't see it coming untill the line before! (I don't see usually see much coming anyway, but that's beside the point)

[ShimmeringStar]

here's my 2 cents (well, maybe more than 2 )
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant episode. My greatest fear about this episode is that people are so vested in or against the Sam/Jack ship, those sentiments will overtake the perception of the entire episode. While I'll preface this little review by saying I've enjoyed the S/J ship and chemsitry between the characters, IMHO "Threads" goes so beyond that.

Sentiments won’t over take the perception of the entire ep for me, and yes, I do consider myself as a S/J shipper -- but I loved the show for all of its elements (team interaction, humor, sfx, great stories). I felt that even 90 minutes didn’t allow for the backstory that should have been given to bring the ‘closure’ TPTB said they wanted to bring to certain story arcs. It seemed in the quest to pack so much in the episode that one-line of quick dialogue or none at all was given to explain for certain things and things were rushed or glossed over & once again viewers are left to ‘assume’ and ‘interpret’ things…. like why Jacob couldn’t be saved, or why the heck were we learning now that he’d fallen out of favor with the Tok’ra? …like exactly what was Oma doing? Killing him by going into some eternal battle on a different plane of existence or fully ascending him? And Pete… for someone so worried that Sam wasn’t showing up for scheduled appointments with him, he calls the base (and manages to get Walter???!)… and then lets her go with that short of a scene and dialogue? I guess after 8 years and TPTB saying they were going to resolve things, I’d hoped that it would be a bit more ‘resolved’ and ‘clear’.

Nitpicky stuff out of the way first: a lot of noise has been made about the "four years" comment when it should of been six. Yes, it was a slip up, but instead of hitting the Continuity Panic Button, take a breath. Given the scope of this episode, it's really not that big a deal. And wasn't Selmak originally female, or was that just the host? But I digress, that's CPB territory again.

Maybe there weren’t great big plot holes, but there sure were some plot ‘dips in the road’ that were kind of irritating. (Again, because the show has been on this long, they’ve been writing for it that long, and because it was meant to allegedly bring closure to some pretty big story arcs… I think some viewers hoped more care and attention to detail would be shown.)

And, yes, Selmak's last host who died at close to 200 years old was female & Jacob had referred to S. as 'old woman' with affection before.

<snip>
The Sam/Jack storyline: one of the reasons I like Stargate is that as cool as the sci-fi and action is, it has always been a character driven show. Having this parallel both the Jaffa Rebellion and the Daniel/Oma/Jim thing seemed a good balance to me. I loved the scenes with Pete. Hysterical. While some roll their eyes or cry Mr. Insensitive, I just don't think the man fully gets it. And how could he. You can be told all the top-secret stuff, but he hasn't had 8 years of all the crazy stuff SG-1 etc. has been through. He just doesn't quite know how to process it, and IMO, that doesn't make make him a jerk. And I thought his reaction to Sam's breaking the engagement was very sweet. That said, I think Jacob summed up Pete's function brilliantly. His last scene with Sam I found very touching, because for all the Tok'ra this and that, at his core, Jacob was a father who just wanted his daughter to be happy. Jacob (and Carmine!) you will be missed.

LOL! The Pete meets the Parent scene. IMOHO it seemed like Jacob was rubbed the wrong way enough by Pete that he was ready to reach out and give Pete a Three Stooges-like ‘thwap’ upside the head!

Kerry served her purpose. She was sweet enough to make me like her, but not prominent enough to make me hate her or feel to bad when she left, and that's quite tricky to write. I like the way the Sam and Jack stuff played out. Instead of going shipper crazy, it focused simply on two people who care for each other. I found that scene with his arm around her one of the most touching in SG's history. Ironically, it's driving the hard-core shipper and anti-shippers crazy for not playing entirely to either one, but this time I found it appropriate. Kerry did a good job illustrating why denying that something is there is getting old and stupid, but to make this all romance would have been out of character for both Sam and Jack (Jacob did just die .). Again, very touching.

The Kerry ship was interesting though… there was Jack having a mid-life fling with a younger spring chicken and they were both hiding it, for nearly all of the same reasons he seems to have not acted on a Sam ship. The barbecue scene was like a caught you in the act kind of thing.

And, regarding the barbecue scene, once again a conversation between Sam and Jack was interrupted and we’re left assuming it did/didn’t happen later or what was/wasn’t said. Given that there’s likely to be no RDA next year and limited AT at the beginning… the alleged ‘resolution’ wasn’t so much there. It (*coughs discreetly behind hand*) was the same old tease that we’ve been getting and it would have been nice for a clear here it is and then move back on to the same old wonderful SG stories that we’ve come to love.

<snip>

And you gotta love that last scene. Patented SG humor. So, absolutely brilliant episode, definitely going on my favorites list.

But a good show overall. Now if only S8 had been filled with more like Reckoning 1 & 2 and this one!