The Other Side (402)

[Anja]

Compared to the Goa'uld and the Asgard, we are primitive.

And they are also very self-centred! Well, initially at least as far as the Asgard are concerned.

[maneth]

Interesting episode. As a DS9 fan, I thought it was great to see Rene Auberjonois as someone other than Odo.

[Krisz]

Interesting episode. As a DS9 fan, I thought it was great to see Rene Auberjonois as someone other than Odo.

For me too. This episode also had the darker tone and kind of theme DS9 did so well.

[maneth]

That's true.

[Laxian of Earth]

So...I've reached this one in my SG-1 re-watch and I have some thoughts to offer:

Frankly (As much as I love Stargate!) SG-1 are a dismal failure at their job, which is getting their hands on advance technology to defend Earth, (without the Asgard being in their debt and also kind of feeling guilty (hell some pity, too probably!) about letting the Goa'uld take control of large parts of the Milkyway and enslaving billions of humans they would never have scraped enough technology together to make a half-way decent space ship after a DECADE (!)...the Prometheus was a bucket of bolts and a failure at the very thing it was built for: Defending Earth against a Goa'uld Ha'tak! It couldn't even scratch the paint on a freaking Ha'tak without ramming it (and even that might not damage or destroy the freaking Ha'tak, we don't know if the shield could take something this massive ramming it!) Its hyperdrive (before the Asgard helped out!) was a barely functioning mess (the ship worked better with the Alkesh-Hyperdrive they used later, but had heat issues because they were overtaxing it to even make it work with the much larger ship!) The weapons were only good for point-defense and ground attack (missiles are not good against shields after all!) and everything else wasn't working well either, except maybe the tranport-rings!) and it shows in episodes like this one!

Why close the ****ing Iris, Jack you dumbass? Why not give them freaking heavy water for their tech (it powers a defensive grid after all! Hell, the whole episode didn't show why the war started, it just showed that the faction we met are racists...sorry, but racism alone is not a crime you deserve death for! Hell, do we even know who started the war and who wanted to commit genocide? As far as the episode itself goes the damned "Space-Nazis" don't even seem to have long range offensive weapons! They have that protection shield and some interceptors, but no bombers!)?

Sure it was morally right to find out about their racism etc. but it wasn't ok to kill them (and the guys in stasis!) and closing the iris? That was an act of spite, not to mention pre-meditated-murder! Jack should be in a freaking cell awaiting court martial (several thousand counts of murder!) and Daniel, Sam and Teal'c should be there, too because they let it happen! Hell, they also violated standing orders ("Bring back technology to help defend the United States and Earth!")...-.-

greetings LAX
ps: I always wanted to know why they never returned to planets like this (once they had ships) in order to salvage what they can (there's many many planets that have tech that's still usefull even when they already have the Asgard legacy - like the Tollan phasing-armbands!)

ps: Got something to add: So they gassed the surface, but did they start the war? (or were they just prepared and acted after being attacked - Daniel says that they did it, but: Does he have PROOF? I don't think so!)

ps: I am surprised Jack didn't punch Daniel (I probably would have, he's a major ******* in this episode!)

[Laxian of Earth]

Jack did warn him he would die.

Honestly, it has never bothered me. We knew he was a threat because of what he did. Their have been episodes where not raising the iris to threats has made things worse.

A single, unarmed guy is a THREAT? His ideology might be - in Germany in the 1920's, but no where else! Racism isn't a threat to people who grew up without it, racism is only a threat if you are inducted early (or if you perceive another race having hurt you!), so:

NO! That one guy is certainly NO THREAT! In fact he'd become an asset (and he'd spend his life in a freaking cell, too so WIN/WIN!)

greetings LAX
ps: Ok, so he doesn't have any data on him (I seem to have remembered him carrying a data-crystal...strange!)

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

The data-crystal broke, Laxian, when the bunker was bombed.

Seaboe

[Laxian of Earth]

Yeah, I remember now - doesn't mean they couldn't have gotten another...I still would have made that deal and I think less of SG-1 for not doing so (they after all only supported defenses, the Eurondans didn't have offensive weapons (maybe not anymore, maybe they were all used up already but we didn't see any!))...give them enough heavy water to buy the tech and then cut them off!

greetings LAX

[StargateMillennium]

The Eurondans had offensive weapons. They had the gas. Their plan was to secretly move their entire civilization into bunkers then gas the entire surface. The "breeders" caught wind of their plan and attacked a bit early before all the defenses and stuff were in place. But the ultimate plan was the play defensive underground until the gas killed everyone on the surface.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

the Eurondans didn't have offensive weapons (maybe not anymore, maybe they were all used up already but we didn't see any!))

Exactly what did you think those bombers Teal'c and Jack flew remotely were? They sure as heck weren't defensive weapons. Jack even killed someone, remember?

Seaboe

[Laxian of Earth]

Yes, he killed someone with an INTERCEPTOR, not a bomber, not a long-range strike aircraft, but an interceptor used to shoot down enemy bombers!

Sure the Eurondans gassed the planet (makes them *******s, but usefull *******s in the case of humanity and facing the Goa'uld would have been a lot easier with their technology!), but we haven't seen them actually fly over to the Breeders and bomb them! Hell, we don't even know why they started the war (maybe they feared that they'd be attacked anyway because the Breeders of course didn't like their genetic purity ideas (who does like racists? I don't, but I would still take advantage of them if I could!), which would turn their preemptive strike into selfdefense! A cruel act, sure, but maybe a necessary one from their POV (if the Breeders had superior numbers for example, so that a regular war couldn't be won by the racist faction!))

greetings LAX
ps: Don't get me wrong, I hate racists - but I would still take advantage of them or work with them if there's something to be gained (not work with them politically of course, but I'd make a profit of them if I had a company and they would want to buy my stuff!)

[StargateMillennium]

Sure the Eurondans gassed the planet (makes them *******s, but usefull *******s in the case of humanity and facing the Goa'uld would have been a lot easier with their technology!), but we haven't seen them actually fly over to the Breeders and bomb them!

They didn't bomb the breeders because their entire strategy was developed so they wouldn't have to bomb them. Their entire strategy revolved around not needing to engage them in direct combat. The only time they would ever need to go bomb the breeders is if they feel the gas has killed enough or all of them.

Hell, we don't even know why they started the war (maybe they feared that they'd be attacked anyway because the Breeders of course didn't like their genetic purity ideas (who does like racists? I don't, but I would still take advantage of them if I could!), which would turn their preemptive strike into selfdefense! A cruel act, sure, but maybe a necessary one from their POV (if the Breeders had superior numbers for example, so that a regular war couldn't be won by the racist faction!))

In the episode it was established that whats-his-face's father intended to build an massive bunker that would house their civilization. They would then move everyone underground and gas the surface. The breeders caught wind of what was going on and attacked in the hopes of stopping them before they can finish building the bunkers and stop them from gassing the surface. The preemptive strike was from the Breeders, who wanted to stop the Eurondans from completing their gassing plan.

Look, you can say O'Neill got a little emotional at the end. He was horrified at what he did and wanted to wash his hands clean. But there was no way to help the Eurondans without directly helping their war of extermination.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Sure the Eurondans gassed the planet, but we haven't seen them actually fly over to the Breeders and bomb them!

Okay, so why would bombing the Breeders make the Eurondans worse than gassing them did? IMO, you're saying the end (the war against the goa'uld) justifies the means (enabling the Eurondans to commit genocide).

Seaboe

[Falcon Horus]

Well, this episode certainly threw Stargate Command's morals out the window... At least, until they realize the Eurondans are actually committing genocide, or are at least trying to commit genocide. They are the true enemy.

Not for the first time, it's Daniel's moral compass that saves the day for the team and command. It took Jack certainly long enough to come round and realize there was truth in Jackson's words, but damn... a lot of time still passed between not wanting to hear the truth and listening to his moral compass.

And come on .... those Eurondans were way too eager to share it all. However, if they knew there are more people on Earth who are akin to "breeders" than there are to "arians" (just call em what they are), I doubt they would have been willing or maybe they wanted the heavy water so badly, they honestly couldn't care less.
But seriously, so many alarmbells going off that I felt the need to smack Jack over the head on many occasion throughout the episode.

It's certainly an interesting episode with an interesting theme.

How would you rate SG-1's "The Other Side?"

Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
Terrible

[Falcon Horus]

The week comes to a close so I'm dropping the jigsaw puzzle and the quiz-link.

The 3-episode quiz: Nemesis, Small Victories (S4) & The Other Side (S4)

And the The Other Side jigsaw puzzle which I haven't had a chance to solve so no reference times yet.