Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Stargate SG-1, Season 1, Episode 19


"There But For the Grace of God"
images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating: Excellent

SG-1 gates to a planet where the stargate is inside of a sophisticated building.  They find a wealth of interesting objects, but no life.  Teal’c recognizes a large symbol that Goa'uld leave as a warning on planets where they have destroyed the civilization, and contaminated the planet with radioactivity.  O’Neill orders the team back to Earth.  Daniel, distracted by the collection of artifacts, lags behind the rest of the team.

Forgetting a basic rule from childhood -- look with your eyes, not with your hands -- Daniel fiddles with a large, mirrored item.  He calls to the rest of SG-1 to help carry the item back to Earth.  Not finding any of his teammates, Daniel thinks he has been left behind, and gates back to Earth.  Upon arrival, the usual contingent of armed military personnel in the gate room aim their weapons at Daniel.  No one, not even familiar faces, know who Daniel is.  A prisoner, Daniel strives to figure out what happened, but he does not have much time as a threat looms that could destroy Earth’s civilizations.

Michael Shanks excels as a confused, and confounded, Daniel Jackson.  The ensemble cast is superb as they interact with a Daniel they do not know.  This is one of my all time favorite Stargate SG-1 episodes.  A taut, tense story that flows smoothly, with surreal surprises, and great action.

This episode establishes the 38-minute time limit for maintaining an active wormhole, which has a vital impact in future episodes.

19th episode broadcast.
19th episode in the DVD set.

Failures:
Only one.  Near the beginning of the episode, Daniel assumes that the rest of SG-1 left the planet without him.  Daniel did not know the reason O’Neill ordered the team back to Earth.  Even so, I don’t buy leaving a team member on a planet, without any explanation, is such a regular occurrence that it doesn't surprise Daniel.  Otherwise, this episode is stellar.

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