Solitudes (117)

[KokiriChild]

Hammond is to blame for Sam not trying another address; she has hypothermia as an excuse.

He should have, as part of a risk assessment, have considered the possibility that an SG team might urgently need to leave a planet where they are under fire from hostiles, but not want to come to the SGC, or not be able to. If the Jaffa chasing them had shot and damaged the GDO, if the Earth gate was in use at the time of the emergency, or if the DHD didn't have the right symbols then they ought to have a 'spare' address, possibly the Alpha site, possibly an empty and harmless planet, where they could regroup and sit tight until they can contact Earth or Earth come to find them.

Or if they needed to get out fast but they were themselves a danger to the SGC due to some contagion. Like in Bane, when the bugs were chasing them, it would have made more sense for them to dial a 'spare' planet.

Not really Hammond's finest hour. But Solitudes was such a great story that I'll forgive him. Just.

Yeah, I've often wandered this, but then I get into a whole debate about American military tactics... don't even get me started... Give us Brits the Stargate!

Moving right along... I *loved* this episode, one of the best lines... ok, 2 of the best lines came out of this episode:

Jack: It's my sidearm I swear
------------------------------
Daniel to Teal'C: And what would happen if you dialed your own telephone?... Bad example...

[omnian]

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who was wondering about this then....

[Zoidman]

Thank you for the great detective work!

This now leads me into my next question on goa'uld visitations to earth. If the Jaffa in Antartica is a serpent guard (one of Apophis's goons) and this gate was lost before the folks at Giza threw Ra out and buried the gate, doesn't this imply that Ra gained control of the planet from Apophis? Not that this really matters much, but I don't recall anything mentioned about it in the series (although maybe I blinked and missed it). Anyway, the early goa'uld chronology of events on earth might make for an interesting story at some point.

No problem

[Speculation]
It's possible Apophis brought slaves from Earth long before Ra came to Egypt. The Antarctic gate is one of the first made (if not the first). It's located in the Ancient's territory, which suggest it was protected by an Ancient goa'uld killer or some other defense weaponry.

Then the gate was probably banned for that reason, which is why Ra brought the Egypt gate.
[/Speculation]

[KorbenDirewolf]

I don't think that's necessarily true. I'm a "computer scientist" and part of my training and eperience has tought me to try ever possibility no matter how unlikely it is to work. (Especially if it's a Microsoft product )

okay... Maybe I overgeneralized a bit. Theoretical scientists are taught to make assumptions.

[SeaBee]

There was one thing I didn't get about this episode......

If dialling Earth on the second gate didn't work then why didn't Carter simply try another address? To be sure that it wasn't just Earth that couldn't be gated to?

I must admit, I found that odd, as well.

[Bagpuss]

A great episode even with the lack of hat. :rolleyes

That's the main thing that bothered me about this episode !
I know Jack had several serious injuries,...but at least he had the sense to keep his head warm at all costs !!
I mean,if Sam had been following basic survival training,she'd have kept her helmet on.
(I'm assuming that the helmet was fully lined,btw.No sense in keeping it on, if there was no insulation against the extreme cold .)

Conclusion:The Director made her do it !

(This also (perhaps) answers the more important question, about why she didn't try a safe address, to see if she and Jack could Gate there ! )

[Elwe Singollo]

Although a long shot, maybe Carter didn't know any other gate addresses at the time

[Bagpuss]

Possibly ! I know Daniel was the Address expert, but I know that if I was expected to risk my neck on a regular basis,by going through the Gate,I'd make sure I had a safe place memorised (or written down) in case of emergency !

Having stated that,"Solitudes" would have been a pointless episode, if there'd been no real risk factor ! (I enjoyed the episode regardless. )

[Elwe Singollo]

I saw some bloopers of this episode from the Lowdown, i think it was the lowdown... it was halrious about the macgyver comments, But anyway, if they weren't stuck in a cold freezing place, i think your right fhb, it would be pointless, haha...

[Bagpuss]

OMG,I loved that whole routine from AT ! Poor RDA !

[Elwe Singollo]

Haha... I couldn't see the emotion on RDA's face at the time, but he didn't seem mad or anything, haha..

[Anubis]

lol Very true, but then again...

[Elwe Singollo]

If there were no ice or anything that made the location of Jack and Sam hazardous, i think it would have been more difficult to find them, because how they found out there were two gates, and a person dialing the same address wouldn't get an effect, or something like that, and they said the gate was in russia, where its icy, haha... Well i don't think thats exactly how it went, but yes, thats what generally happened...

[Madeleine]

This was such a simple plot it could be summed up in a single sentence. Fantastic scripting and acting made it not only watchable for 42 minutes but one of the best ever eps. And not 'dumb', despite the very basic premise.

[Anubis]

Spot on Madeline. Not dumb at all

[Elwe Singollo]

This was such a simple plot it could be summed up in a single sentence. Fantastic scripting and acting made it not only watchable for 42 minutes but one of the best ever eps. And not 'dumb', despite the very basic premise.

I agree and understand completely. The way you explained it is the sameway how i feel about the movie "phonebooth", i think thats what the movie is called... But yah,

[Bagpuss]

Agreed,Madeleine ! In my personal top 10 SG-1 ep list,I'd rank it as second only to "Foothold" . No way was this a "Dumb" episode !

[Anubis]

I remember Phonebooth. Good storyline. Don't get me started

[Selmak]

You can clearly see the Antartic Gate's point of origin in this episode. When this gate ends up in the SGC it doesn't use it.

[Selmak]

The best line in this episode is when Danny explains to Teal'c the Gate/Phone thing.