Demons (308)

[garhkal]

One thing i really wish they would have expanded on (or gone back to) was what the heck was it that caused that blast, from when the town mayor dude 'rubbed' his ring?

[Anja]

Not a big fan of unas and/or religious fanatism.

Same here!!

[maneth]

Better than I remembered, but I'm not a fan of religious fanatics either. Simon was cool, though. That said, I'm glad this is the only episode to deal with Christian mythology.

[Falcon Horus]

I remember I had to turn this episode off halfway through as I was about ready to throw something at the screen, at that idiot Simon. Dumbass!

They should have just packed up and leave them to their fanatics.

[Anja]

I remember I had to turn this episode off halfway through as I was about ready to throw something at the screen, at that idiot Simon. Dumbass!

They should have just packed up and leave them to their fanatics.

I think it was better the way they handled it although I do understand why you thought/think that way.

[Nirude]

This is going to sound strange to many, especially given the comments I've seen in this thread, but this is possibly my favourite episode of SG-1. All the elements come together in a way that really click with me, from the general atmosphere, the dialogue, the casting, the acting, the effects and the plot.

I agree it's a really good episode, not my absolute favorite but one of my favorites (of which there are many!). For most people it's not really an episode you enjoy much on your first pass through SG-1 since you're mostly waiting for the cool story episodes, but on the second time through you can easily see how these "planet of the week" episodes have a lot of atmospheric depth to them. It kind of felt like a season one episode which was welcome.

The Unas are quite a formidable race so they suited the theme perfectly and make me look forward to rewatching future Unas episodes.. I think there are only two more? A shame, maybe we would of seen more of them if SG-1 had a bigger budget. It's always easier to portray "human" aliens, I guess, something SGA and SGU mixed up a bit at least.

The story has some holes relating to Christians as posted by several people here, but I can see why they chose this particular set up. The dark age theme drives the whole episode while reinforcing the connection between Sokar and "our" Satan. This too-literal connection maybe hurt the episode for some people.. In their case, it would of perhaps been more interesting to see a truly alien Satan-like figure from the perspective of a non-Christian village/settlement. I'm not sure how that would of turned out though

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

you can easily see how these "planet of the week" episodes have a lot of atmospheric depth to them.

I love the planet of the week episodes, much more than most of the longer-arc episodes. I mean, they have 42 minutes to devote to developing the world, fitting in a plot and characterization at the same time. A lot of the longer-arc episodes aren't as well balanced between world development, plot and characterization, because they can emphasize one over the others, since the audience is (theoretically) already familiar with the arc.

This is especially true for me in the last two seasons.

Seaboe

[Nirude]

I love the planet of the week episodes, much more than most of the longer-arc episodes. I mean, they have 42 minutes to devote to developing the world, fitting in a plot and characterization at the same time. A lot of the longer-arc episodes aren't as well balanced between world development, plot and characterization, because they can emphasize one over the others, since the audience is (theoretically) already familiar with the arc.

This is especially true for me in the last two seasons.

Seaboe

Me too, especially on my rewatch. I even really enjoyed Emancipation.. it's like watching a whole new SG-1 mission that I've never seen before as I didn't really pay attention the first time hah. The story episodes like the season one finale are still fun to an extent but I wouldn't want to watch them individually out of order like I would the potw episodes.

[Stargatefan99]

I agree. Planet of the week episodes are by far some of the best in the show, and it's sort of what I missed from the later seasons. On the other hand, I personally don't feel that Demons is the greatest example of this episode structure.

[Anja]

It's good to see that we all feel different about the eps - That's what made (and still makes) Stargate so successful!

[Falcon Horus]

Yup, still hate it with the power of a 1000+ suns.

This episode can pack up and hike to hell and never come back.

A canon who sounds like an Italian mob-boss, and pretty much acts the part. A showcase of why the Dark Ages took Europeans back to the stone age instead of forward into a thriving future -- the church keeping the peasants ignorant and stupid, all the while taking every bit of power they could get.

Wanted to smack Simon upside the head pretty much the entire time, and then there are several choice words I'd use to describe the mob-boss that would be censored in a split second -- even before I wrote them.

Ugh... hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, haaaaaaate this episode. Next rewatch, I'm skipping this one. Not going through that again.

Also, a serious cop out when they could have actually have god be the Goa'uld.
Even though Sokar is Satan -- still a cop out.

How would you rate SG-1's "Demons?"

Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
Terrible -- no redeeming qualities (even Tapping's smile in the beginning when O'Neill does a Doctor Evil pinkie can't save this one)

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

For once, I agree without reservation. Despite what I said above about stand-alones, I haven't re-watched this episode since I saw it the first time.

Seaboe

[jelgate]

Meh. It's okay. Like many of the planet of week stories it's not terrible but it's also not good. I thought it was a way to show Sokar's influence even if it's not him personally. Yes Simon is annoying but so are a lot of people on these ancient culture planets. It's a fair even if the canon ring thing made no sense. Why not use it on the Unas?

[Falcon Horus]

3-episode quiz: Deadman Switch, Demons & Rules of Engagement

Jigsaw puzzle: Demons
-- for which I scored 07:06

[jelgate]

Gave me a little sweat but I still one with 6 minutes and 20 seconds