The Gamekeeper (204)

[jckfan55]

How many takes do you think it took for them to get those thingies attached to their heads without cracking up?

[SmartFox]

The Gamekeeper was Dwight Schultz, who played Barclay in TNG (and Voyager) but Daniel's dad was not Seth.

Anyway, watched this episode again today as it was shown on UK tv Sky One. This is not one of those episodes that I think about very often or go to my DVD collection to hunt out if it comes into my mind. Like a lot of the other posters it was slightly annoying that there was no Carter or Teal'c, and although issues with their blood and 'junior' were brought up, after watching S8 'Avatar' (spoilers below)

I find it curious that they had a record of Teal'c mind and his thoughts and feelings from his time in the chair from this time and yet they were not able to access his mind. Are the two not connected, i'm sure there would have been many things he would have wished to have chnaged and if they knew that in hsi mind at this point he did not believe the goa'uld could ever be defeated, them would some scenarios highlighting this have been particularly good?

Just a little rant. Apologies to those who have not seen Avatar, but when someone has maybe they can give me an answer. Watching old episodes often brings up new questions!

Spoilers S8 Avatar

Spoiler:

In Avatar it wasnt is memories but his brain make up.

I thougth Dwight Schultz was funny in this ep. Loved how he reacted in the Garden and how he talked to Daniel about it being a great experience to relive those memories.

[ShimmeringStar]

<snip snip snip>
c. The Gamekeeper himself. Look, I'm mixed on this one. On the one hand, he's delightfully hateable (one I love to hate, etc.). On the other...he reminds me a lot of my da, especially when it comes to fiercely defending the garden. For some reason, said parental unit didn't find this particularly amusing when I shared this observation with him. Anyway, I spend most of this episode split between laughing and wanting to bean him with a two-by-four. But c'est la vie. (no spellchecking allowed).
<more snip snip snip>
Agree? Disagree? Please no rotting vegetation w/out providing protective clothing for intended recipient.

All out of rotten vegetation. Maybe some dessicated foliage?

The Gamekeeper – behind that delightfully hateable (thanks zats) irritating façade was a control freak. IMO for him it wasn't just about protecting the garden/planet for his own enjoyment, but more so about controlling the lives/minds of the people who’d initially entrusted him with their long-term mental & physical well-being. And his thirst for control extended to those who just happened to wander into the building (like SG1). And he enjoyed watching pain; he had disconnected himself emotionally to the point where it didn't matter to him that these were living beings with the ability to experience pain and anguish and that by making them relive terrible events in their lives repeatedly was basically to commit torture on the mind/souls of anyone captured in the machine.

I enjoyed the scene with Jack questioning Hammond’s reality too. The first time you watch it and assume they are out of VR - it is a hoot. (And not too bad on rewatching! )

[zats]

All out of rotten vegetation. Maybe some dessicated foliage?

The Gamekeeper – behind that delightfully hateable (thanks zats) irritating façade was a control freak. IMO for him it wasn't just about protecting the garden/planet for his own enjoyment, but more so about controlling the lives/minds of the people who’d initially entrusted him with their long-term mental & physical well-being. And his thirst for control extended to those who just happened to wander into the building (like SG1). And he enjoyed watching pain; he had disconnected himself emotionally to the point where it didn't matter to him that these were living beings with the ability to experience pain and anguish and that by making them relive terrible events in their lives repeatedly was basically to commit torture on the mind/souls of anyone captured in the machine.

I enjoyed the scene with Jack questioning Hammond’s reality too. The first time you watch it and assume they are out of VR - it is a hoot. (And not too bad on rewatching! )

Overall, I prefer mushy tomatoes or Brussle sprouts...but yeah, anything'll do.

The scene with Jack and Hammond: it was a bit like those dreams where you keep think you've woken up...and haven't. Hey, for all we know, SG-1's still in those crazy chairs and everything's a virtual reality, Matrix-style.

[hermajesty]

I love this episode because we get to see moments from jack and daniel's pasts that defined their lives. The scene with daniel's parents was definately a tear-jerker. I love the range of emotions played out in that scene, from despair, to anger, and then even to sympathy for the gamekeeper. "I mean, imagine if you were locked in a room for a thousand years with only a VCR, a TV and five movies. How long could you watch those five movies until you were bored silly? What you wouldn't give for just four more." That's one reason why i love daniel so much - he can still feel empathy for someone who just put him through hell.

I also love the scene with the fake general hammond: its a classic.

I found a beautiful epilogue fanfic from o'neill's point of view called sometimes i can forget. It's short but really well written - one of my favourite fanfics of all time.

[PugGate]

I thought that the episode was pretty comical. Except for when the evil evil (did I mention evil?) gamekeeper made Jack and Daniel relive those memories.

[fair_nymph]

I love how Jack is always the first to notice that something is 'wrong' or 'off' about situations like these. Even though he's not a genius rocket scientist like Sam, he's very clever, astute, and observant. And not nearly as thick as he often appears.

Although I did find the implications of the virtual reality life interesting, overall I didn't love the episode. I really disliked the Gamekeeper (obviously that's the point), and kept wanting to sock him in the eye. He just irritated the **** out of me!

In general, I don't like it when eps deviate from the main storyline so much, without some serious main character development to make up for it. It just always seems like 'filler' to me and makes me anxious to get back to the really good stuff.

[Samuel J. Tilden]

In general, I don't like it when eps deviate from the main storyline so much, without some serious main character development to make up for it. It just always seems like 'filler' to me and makes me anxious to get back to the really good stuff.

I thought that the insights into Jack and Daniel's past were fairly interesting and filled out their life stories a bit more. There were even some bits about O'Neill's son which, at that point in the series, was still somewhat unresolved at least in terms of Skaara's fate.

[hermajesty]

I love how Jack is always the first to notice that something is 'wrong' or 'off' about situations like these. Even though he's not a genius rocket scientist like Sam, he's very clever, astute, and observant. And not nearly as thick as he often appears.

Good point, i noticed that too. The same happens in the season 2 finale which i just watched. Jack has good instinct and he's also not very trusting - sometimes an advantage but also sometimes a problem when people are actually trying to help (eg. the tokra). Jack is definately cleverer than he makes out.

In general, I don't like it when eps deviate from the main storyline so much, without some serious main character development to make up for it. It just always seems like 'filler' to me and makes me anxious to get back to the really good stuff.

I didn't find that at all. I liked this episode, because although it doesn't contribute to the season 2 plotline, it's brilliant for character development. In season 2 we knew very little about Daniel's past except that he was an orphan, because he never talks about his childhood. The episode was an interesting way to show both jack's and daniel's pasts. The details we got here lead to some great fanfic too.

[QuiGonJohn]

Early on in this episode, like just after we see Daniel's facing his parents die, I thought the intention of the Gamekeeper was to show Jack & Daniel, to resolve completely in their minds, that there was no way they could have done anything different to change the outcomes of their situations. Like a sort of letting go of their pain, type thing. Of course, it went on to a different tack.

[Chaka's_Mum]

Early on in this episode, like just after we see Daniel's facing his parents die, I thought the intention of the Gamekeeper was to show Jack & Daniel, to resolve completely in their minds, that there was no way they could have done anything different to change the outcomes of their situations. Like a sort of letting go of their pain, type thing. Of course, it went on to a different tack.

I know what you mean, though, speaking for myself, I never saw anything particularly altruistic in the Gamekeeper's actions. Once he finally showed himself, his only real concern was that Daniel and Jack get back into it and have another go at changing their pasts - as though it was one of those 'choose your own adventure' stories and they merely needed to select a different option. "Get a move on! Chop, chop!"

Even his determination to 'protect' the people of his world was less than charitable. He wasn't interested in keeping them safe - more interested in keeping them from ruining his nice, pretty, regenerated planet!

Great performance from Dwight, of course (I remember Murdock, too!). His Gatekeeper comes across as comical, irritating and sinister, all in one go.

[Lida]

This is one of the very few episodes of SG-1 that do not improve with viewing. I didn't like it the first time, or the second, or the third. I think Dwight
was fabulous, as usual, but on the whole, the show was weak. I don't think we learned all that much about Jack's past, except that he had unresovled issues, as do we all. It was good finally learning how Daniel became orphaned, but the story wasn't about that. It was about selfishness, the selfishness of the Keeper. I think he was so self absorbed, he truly didn't realize the pain he was causing Jack and Daniel, he just wanted "new" material for his residents.

It was definitely a stand alone episode and one that I think would have been best left out, but that's just my opinion.

[QuiGonJohn]

I know what you mean, though, speaking for myself, I never saw anything particularly altruistic in the Gamekeeper's actions. Once he finally showed himself, his only real concern was that Daniel and Jack get back into it and have another go at changing their pasts.

Well when he was pushy like this, at least in the earlier parts, I thought he was just pushing them to keep trying different ways, to show that there was no way they could have changed the outcome. Kinda like in Wargames, when Joshua plays tic-tac-toe over and over, real fast. Of course, after a while it was obvious this was not what he was trying to do. But to a point, it looked like that might have been where they were heading with this episode.

[OrangeShipper]

Wah, the Gamekeeper's Barclay? Wow!!! I never noticed!! Anyway...
Does the Keeper remind anyone else of Harlan from Tin Man (S1)? I think he's very similar - particularly when he said something about them "being able to do things - different!" . Reminded me very much of Harlans "better"!
On the whole, I liked this ep. I watched it recently, but before that I only saw it once when it first was shown on TV, yet it stuck with me. You know when there's just the odd one, and you don't know why but you can remember it almost perfectly even though you've only seen it once years ago? Well, I did with this one. I liked the plotline, I love character centered eps and thought it was a good idea.
Also, the scene with Jack looking behind Hammond's ears, well that was hilarious! As was Hamond (aka Keeper) running away from them! The end scene was good too, typical SG-1.
I don't really know why I liked it - it just strikes a chord. I like whumpage, so that could be it. I just like situations like that, I found it really interesting.
Just my thoughts, anyway!

[Chaka's_Mum]

Wah, the Gamekeeper's Barclay? Wow!!! I never noticed!!

Just to add to the bizarreness, UK Gold are repeating the A-Team at the moment, so we're revisiting Howlin' Mad Murdock too!