Stargate SG-1 Season 7, Episode 1

"Fallen"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Very Good

Commentary by:

Michael Shanks – “Daniel Jackson”
Martin Wood – Director
Jim Menard – Director of Photography

The commentary is very informative and interesting.  Lots of behind the scene information.  The commentary stays on point with what is on screen.

Review:  

In “Full Circle” Oma Desala snatched Ascended Daniel away when he tried to use his Ascended powers to destroy Anubis.  With Anubis killing the Abydonians, something SG-1 knew Ascended Daniel would give his all to stop, SG-1 ended season 6 wondering if they'd ever see Ascended Daniel again.  Now, on a not-the-Earth planet, some humans are going about their business, when there's a crash of thunder and a blaze of light.  Being fictional characters, they run towards the source of the noisy light show instead of away from it.  There they find a naked, amnesiac Daniel.  He's back!  Sort of.  With no memory of who he is, or how he arrived on not-the-Earth (we later find out the planet's name is Vis Uban), Daniel is not Daniel.

On Earth at the SGC, Jonas Quinn is still researching, trying to figure out the text on the stone tablet that Ascended Daniel described as being very important in “Full Circle.”  The goal: to find the Lost City that may have Ancients living there, or at least a treasure trove of “good for defeating Anubis” Ancient weapons.  Eureka!  Quinn deciphers the tablet's text.  SGC has the gate address for the likely location of the Lost City among the addresses O'Neill downloaded to SGC's computer (“The Fifth Race”).  General Hammond gives a go for SG-1 and some other SG teams to gate to the Lost City.  There they find peaceful inhabitants who don't seem to be Ancients.

The residents are not Ancients, just some nice squatters.  The SG teams search around, looking for … well, anything besides ruins.  Potential threats.  Ancient weapons.  None of those things are found, however they do find Daniel Jackson.  Daniel does not recognize his SG-1 cohorts, and has been living with the people on the planet for two moons (however long that is on that planet).  SG-1 is pleasantly surprised to see their friend, a reaction that I think rings true.  Daniel Jackson Ascended in “Meridian”, and Ascended Daniel made various appearances in season 6.  So, I think Daniel's reappearance falls under unexpected nicety for SG-1, rather than a shocking revelation.

No longer Ascended Daniel, he is now Amnesiac Daniel.  Amnesiac Daniel is standoffish.  Mainly because for him, SG-1 are strangers telling him crazy stories (O'Neill trying to explain what happened to Amnesiac Daniel is delightful), and partially because he is reluctant to learn who he was as a person.  He might be a jerk.  Yeah, that's a weak sauce explanation.  But, Amnesiac Daniel decides to go to SGC.  There, his memory returns in dribs and drabs.  However, he continues to have no memory of his time as Ascended Daniel.  Until ...

A few weeks later during a briefing with General Hammond and SG-1, Quinn mentions that while the ruins have been mapped, nothing Ancient-y is found.  Daniel joins the meeting, with General Hammond's permission.  Still trying to regain his memory, Daniel demonstrates that some of Ascended Daniel's knowledge is coming to his mind.  The Ascended beings rule book is very leaky since this is allowable.  

Now knowing that Vis Uban is not the location of the Lost City … City of the Lost … whatever its name is, SGC and the Tok'ra formulate a plan to take down Anubis' weapon.  Something straight out of Star Wars (1977).  There's a twist, though.  The plan requires working with a System Lord because the Tok'ra and Earth don't have enough firepower to take on Anubis' ship.  The idea is to work with the System Lord Yu, who is mostly on the low end of the Goa'uld scale of "wanting to destroy Earth."  Not so much that Yu is nice, as it is that Yu has little to no interest in Earth these days.  Also, Yu and the other System Lords will benefit from destroying Anubis' weapon.  The plan proceeds.

Anubis is lured to Vis Uban with some fake info.  With help from the Tok'ra, Daniel and Jonas will gain access to the ship carrying Anubis' weapon (they are most versed in Anubis' language of choice, ancient Ancient) in order to provide Carter and O'Neill with the coordinates of the weapon's power core.  O'Neill and Carter will fly an F-302 (a two-seater fighter space craft) to get up close and personal in destroying the weapon's power core.  Yu's fleet will take down Anubis once the weapon is out of play.  Teal'c goes to Yu to present the plan, and Yu agrees to participate.  Everything is mostly going smoothly, until Yu decides not to take his fleet to the agreed upon rendezvous site.

In the F-302, Carter and O'Neill are being targeted by Anubis' Death Gliders.  Daniel and Jonas are trapped on Anubis' ship.  Yu never showed up, and now Teal'c is a prisoner on Yu's ship.  Although the weapon's power core was destroyed, without Yu's fleet destroying Anubis' ship the weapon is still a threat.  Anubis doesn't have a power core for his weapon, but he still has the weapon.  The story continues in the next episode.

All of the actors provide excellent performances, with some Jonas Quinn moments being my favorites.  Jonas finally shows something other than just conviviality when dealing with the now, at times, kind of snarky Daniel Jackson.   Vince Crestejo returns as the System Lord Yu, and Kevan Ohtsji is his First Prime, Oshu.  The story is a bit too rushed at times for me to give a rating of "excellent."  Still, a very enjoyable and exciting episode as an introduction to season seven.

Failures:

I think this story, which spans two episodes – this one, and the next episode “Homecoming” – would have benefited from being spread out over three episodes.  There are moments where the story feels rushed.   When Amnesiac Daniel goes from being cold and distant towards SG-1, to his being curious about who Daniel Jackson is and agreeing to go back to SGC.  Also, jumping from Daniel remembering how to read the Ancient tablet to his being part of the the Star Wars (1977) homage attack plans on the Death Star Anubis' weapon, both in a montage and a meeting.  One scene, Daniel's amnesia is still prevalent enough that he can't remember Jack O'Neill's name and calls him, "Jim."  Shortly thereafter (maybe? see my comment below about the lack of time reference points), Daniel is part of a strike on Anubis' ship. 

There are some mentions of time passing, but without any reference points.  How many Earth days equal “the passing of two moons” on Vis Uban?  O'Neill mentions the events of “Full Circle” happening “last year,” but without knowing the date within the episode, that time frame could be a few weeks, or months, or nearly a year.

SG-1 Season Seven DVD Set -- Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set:  Good

Audio commentary on each episode.

There is not a “play all” option.
The only audio language is English.

Subtitles: None

Although there are no subtitles, the episodes are close captioned. You can use the close caption option on your television to view the dialog in English.

This is a five-disc set, with 21 episodes.
Each episode is approximately 44 minutes long, except for “Lost City” (episode 21) which is approximately 1 hour 24 minutes long.

All episodes are anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1.

Sound: 5.1 (Dolby Digital)

The special features are not rated.

The special features are not closed-captioned.

Special Features:

SG-1 Directors Series: “Fragile Balance”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Space Race”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Avenger 2.0”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Death Knell”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Lost City”
Stargate Fan Club Spot
Photo and Production Design Galleries
SG-1 Beyond the Gate: Michael Shanks
SG-1 Beyond the Gate: Christopher Judge
SG-1 Beyond the Gate: Richard Dean Anderson
SG-1 Beyond the Gate: Amanda Tapping
Photo Galleries

I rate this set Good because it has all of the season’s episodes in their entirety, and in broadcast order, and there is audio commentary for each episode, along with a variety of featurettes. Slim cases, and nice artwork.

With TV series on DVD, there are two quality of life options (meaning non-essential perks) that I enjoy.  First, a “play all” option for the episodes on a disk.  Main menu to episode menu to “play episode,” and then from the episode menu to the main menu to the next episode menu to “play episode” gets old, fast.  Second, putting a scene break on the DVD at the end of every episode's opening credit, where the theme music plays.  I love Stargate SG-1's opening credit theme music (I love all of Stargate SG-1's music), but sometimes I want to get straight to the episode after the opening scene.  In this season 7 DVD set, neither of those two quality of life options are available.

SG-1 Season 6 At a Glance

My rating for each episode in season six.

Episode 1: Redemption: Part 1 -- Excellent
Episode 2: Redemption: Part 2 -- Good
Episode 3: Descent -- Very Good
Episode 4: Frozen -- Good
Episode 5: Nightwalkers -- Very Good
Episode 6: Abyss -- Excellent
Episode 7: Shadow Play -- Very Good
Episode 8: The Other Guys -- Very Good
Episode 9: Allegiance -- Very Good
Episode 10: Cure -- Very Good
Episode 11: Prometheus -- Good
Episode 12: Unnatural Selection -- Very Good
Episode 13: Sight Unseen -- Fair
Episode 14: Smoke & Mirrors -- Good
Episode 15: Paradise Lost -- Good
Episode 16: Metamorphosis -- Good
Episode 17: Disclosure -- Good
Episode 18: Forsaken -- Good
Episode 19: The Changeling -- Excellent
Episode 20: Memento -- Good
Episode 21: Prophecy -- Good
Episode 22: Full Circle -- Excellent

Daniel Jackson being gone from the show at the start of season 6 meant there was a void in the SG-1 team that needed immediate filling.  Both as a warm body, and as someone with Daniel Jackson's skill set, but who was not a Daniel Jackson clone.  Jonas Quinn was a nice fit.  I think both Micheal Shanks and Corin Nemec are talented, and both did a great job with their respective Stargate SG-1 characters.  I think praise is due for how Quinn did not become Daniel Jackson 2.0.  There was some handwavium to explain Quinn's encyclopedic knowledge, something lost with Daniel Jackson's departure.  Otherwise, Quinn had his own voice that wasn't a full on copy of Jackson.

I enjoyed Corin Nemec's portrayal of Jonas Quinn.  The one issue I have with the character is that Quinn is perfect in every way.  I think Quinn's biggest fault is that he has no faults.  The character was boxed in by perfection.  Stronger than most humans.  Incredible intelligence supplemented by being able to absorb and remember anything he read or saw.  Jonas Quinn is too good, and kind, and true.  He would be a lovely sort of person in real life.  In a television series, not so much.  A flawless “good guy” character, like a villain with no redeeming qualities, is not all that interesting.

The SciFi Channel's initial decision to cancel Stargate SG-1 after this season meant no new, long term plots that couldn't be resolved being introduced in season 6.  I think the show runners did a good job with this situation.  There was the intention to make Stargate SG-1 movies.  Ongoing plots from previous seasons remained, simmering on a back burner, waiting for future movies.  The late timing of the SciFi Channel's renewal of Stargate SG-1 meant that season 6 episodes were a done deal at that point.

The result for me is that season 6 is what it is: mostly a compilation of stand alone episodes that respect the ongoing Stargate SG-1 storylines without doing much to expand on them.  This is a good thing for a series that knows it will be cancelled.  There are important facets of Stargate SG-1 canon introduced in season 6: tretonin modified by the Tok'ra ("The Changeling"), countries other than just the U.S.A. and Russia being made aware of the stargate ("Disclosure"); and completion and testing of the Prometheus spaceship ("Memento").

While I enjoy many season 6 episodes, it is not my favorite season to rewatch.  As mentioned, the over-arching story doesn't advance much at all this season.  And, while there aren't that many Quinn-centric episodes, it feels as though there are too many Quinn-centric episodes.  Quinn and the Ancient ("Frozen").  Quinn and the Kelownans ("Shadow Play").  Quinn and Nirrti ("Metamorphosis").  Quinn and his psychic abilities ("Prophecy").  In addition to just being a part of the SG-1 team in other episodes, this season felt very Quinn heavy to me.

SciFi channel ended up renewing Stargate SG-1 for two additional seasons (and another two seasons later, for a total of 10 seasons of the show). This dramatically changes the stories and flow of story arcs in seasons 7 and onward.  I think season 6 is good on its own, and very good in the context at the time of being written as the series' final season.

Stargate SG-1 Season 6, Episode 22

"Full Circle"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:

Martin Wood – Director
Jim Menard – Director of Photography

The commentary is very informative and interesting.  Lots of behind the scene information.  The commentary stays on point with what is on screen.

 

Review: 

On Abydos, Skaara (“Pretense”) and other Abydonians discuss taking precautions for an incoming threat – Anubis.  There's talk of hiding the more vulnerable of the population, while the rest fight to protect what brings Anubis to Abydos.  Skaara points out that they have no chance fighting against Anubis.  One of those at the meeting turns around, and it is Daniel Jackson (“The Changling”).  He assures Skaara that the Abydonians will not be fighting alone.

Next we see O'Neill in an elevator at SGC.  Daniel Jackson appears in the elevator with O'Neill, asking for help with assisting the Abydonians, and preventing Anubis from obtaining an artifact that would make him incredibly powerful.  O'Neill is a hard sell for Jackson in a wonderful scene, as he knocks Jackson off his Ascended pedestal with some very good questions.

O'Neill meets with General Hammond and the rest of SG-1, explaining the situation with Anubis.  When asked what the source of his information is, O'Neill admits that it was the Ascended Daniel Jackson.  And, he is surprised when not only is his source (Jackson) accepted without question, but then Teal'c shares that he, too, has interacted with the Ascended Daniel (“The Changeling”).  Cognizant of just how dangerous Anubis is to Earth as well as the rest of the galaxy (“Fail Safe” “Redemption part 1 & part 2”), General Hammond gives a go for SG-1 to head to Abydos and help prevent Anubis from obtaining the artifact -- called the Eye of Ra -- needed for his weapon.

SG-1 searches for the Eye of Ra on Abydos, without Jackson providing the exact whereabouts of the artifact.  Partially because of the Ascended beings rule book, and partially because being Ascended doesn't make one omniscient, i.e., Jackson doesn't know the exact location.  There is one hard and fast rule in the Ascended beings playbook: no using Ascended powers in direct action to make major changes involving the lives of unascended beings.  Like saving Abydos and the rest of the galaxy from the badness of Anubis.  Violation of that rule will result in … something bad for the rule breaker.  Really bad.  Being on the receiving end of a lot of mind-bogglingly powerful beings retribution bad.  But, it's okay to use knowledge one possessed before becoming Ascended.  The bounds of the Ascended beings rule book seem wobbly to me, but I guess what with being immortal and outside of the normal rules of space and time, some Ascended beings can think of ways to test boundaries.

Anubis arrives at the planet before SG-1 finds the Eye of Ra.  Skaara, the Abydonians, and SG-1 desperately attempt to hold off Anubis' far superior forces.  O'Neill demands that Jackson do more to help, or SG-1 will walk, leaving the Eye of Ra (wherever it is) for Anubis to find.  Adamant that Anubis must not possess the Eye of Ra, Daniel pushes against the Ascended beings rule book, with mixed success.  The stakes are high, with the fate of Abydos, Earth, and the entire galaxy at stake.

Thought at the time to be the series finale, there is no resting on laurels here.  This episode holds nothing back.  There is action and adventure, good dialog delivered well, and a very touching but sad ending.  The effects are wonderful.  The story reconnects with the over-arching story of the Goa'ulds threat to the galaxy, and the threat of Anubis in particular.  The SciFi Channel did not renew Stargate SG-1 until very late in season 6.  This episode was meant as a lead up to Stargate SG-1 movies to tie up the loose story ends.  As we now know, the SciFi Channel did renew Stargate SG-1 for additional seasons.

Her'ak (“The Other Guys”) returns as the First Prime of Anubis.  Her'ak is outmatched in every verbal spat with O'Neill, resulting in some amusing dialog.  Micheal Adamthwaite is very good as Her'ak.  The performances of the regular cast are excellent.  Anubis is a form in a lot of shiny, loose robes.  His voice and actions exude menace, but the outfit – not so much.

Failures:

There is one point where, out of the blue, Ascended Daniel Jackson makes an offer that has zero sense.  It's such a non sequitur moment that it causes a disconnect in the flow of the scene.  The rationale for the offer is explained later, but in that moment it is awkward.

Ascended Daniel Jackson is kind of cold-blooded, willfully trading some lives for others.

Stargate SG-1 Season 6, Episode 21

"Prophecy"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Good

Commentary by:

William Waring – Director
Peter F. Woeste – Director of Photography
Rick Dean – Chief Lighting Technician

The commentary is interesting, and stays with what is on screen.

 

Review: 

SG-1 is off-world on P4S-237 sharing a meal with the folks living there.  Their leader, named Ellori, states that they live a hardscrabble life, working in mines for Ba'al (“Abyss”).  Carter says that they thought Ba'al abandoned P4S-237 about 100 years ago because there wasn't any more naquadah.  There isn't much, but Ellori's people scratch out what they can and give it to Ba'al's emissary, a Goa'uld named Mot.  Ellori seems to doubt that Mot is a god, but Chazen, another resident of the planet, pipes up that of course Mot is a god.  He says that at the very least, Mot has god-like destructive powers.  Very po-tay-toe, pa-tah-toe is Chazen.

During this chat, Jonas Quinn is looking a bit ill and wobbly.  Then, Jonas has a prophetic vision, which is proven true a few moments later.  Unaware of Jonas' vision, Ellari mentions that his people have an ancient prophecy that one day someone will travel to their world via the stargate and save the people of P4S-237 from their lot.  Roll credits on the episode title.  Things are getting a bit tense between pro-Mot Chazen and pro-not being enslaved Ellari when Jonas keels over and passes out.

Back at the SGC, Dr. Frasier cannot find anything conclusive that might be the source of Jonas' ailment.  There's mention of the possibility of it being related to naquadria, as in the past being around improperly shielded naquadria is shown to cause brain damage (“Shadow Play”).  More medical testing is needed, but for now Jonas seems to have recovered.

At a briefing, Carter shares the Tok'ra confirming Ba'al's abandonment of P4S-237 about 100 years ago, and he is not receiving naquadah shipments from there.  The general thought is Ba'al defeated Mot at some point in the past, and demoted Mot to lackey.  Mot is likely keeping P4S-237's naquadah for himself in hopes of overthrowing Ba'al one day.  SG-1 sees the situation as a chance to take down Mot, and free the people of P4S-237.  Since Ba'al and the other System Lords have the planet on their “not worth my time” list, there shouldn't be a problem with more Goa'ulds moving in after deposing Mot.  During the briefing, Jonas has another vision that later comes true.

This all happens before the opening credits finish rolling.

Dr. Frasier and other medical staff try to learn what is physiologically happening to Jonas, as his physical condition deteriorates with each vision.  Jonas thinks that whatever Nirrti did to him in “Metamorphosis” is the cause.  Considering that this episode's “previously on” is all about “Metamorphosis,” that seems likely.  Dr. Frasier discovers some sort of non-cancerous growth in Jonas' brain, and wants to operate.  Jonas wants to wait and see what his prophecies provide.  General Hammond agrees to let Jonas wait 24 hours before having the surgery, but does not clear Jonas for going off-world.

So, ¾ of SG-1 head to the gateroom, ready to go back to P4S-237 and see about taking down Mot. But, Jonas has another vision just before they gate out.  This time of a severely injured Carter.  General Hammond takes Carter off of the P4S-237 mission, just in case.  Teal'c, O'Neill, and SG-15 head off-world.  Jonas continues having periodic visions that he hopes will be of good use.  Until something happens that brings in to question the usefulness of Jonas' visions.  The first time he tried to change the future based on his visions didn't end well.  Things aren't going well for SG-15 and the ½ of SG-1 on P4S-237, either.

Everyone's acting performances are fine.  Victor Talmadge is very good as Mot, exuding a nice level of Goa'uld menace.  The regular cast performs well, with Corin Nemec's portrayal of an increasingly ill Jonas being the best.  The story is all right.  Jonas' prophetic ability overrode the other story in this episode, the situation on  P4S-237.  Carter and Jonas' discussions about seeing the future are mildly interesting.

Failures:

Nothing major.

Stargate SG-1 Season 6, Episode 20

"Memento"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Good

Commentary by:

Peter DeLuise – Director
Damian Kindler – Producer/Writer

The commentary is very informative and interesting.  Lots of behind the scene information.  The commentary stays on point with what is on screen.

 

Review: 

The Earth ship Prometheus is on a shakedown run in space, with SG-1 riding along.  But, the Prometheus breaks down, and the Asgard don't show up like a space faring AAA this time (bright spot – O'Neill commenting on the Asgard not showing up).  The ship can't get back to Earth.  But, hark!  There's a planet nearby that should have a stargate.  Uh, oh.  The ship's naquadria reactor malfunctions and is jettisoned before it explodes.  The reactor is spewed into space, near a planet.  One that the Prometheus crew doesn't know whether or not is populated.  Turns out it is, and the planet is called Tagrea by its inhabitants.

From the Tagrean perspective, Prometheus introduced itself by throwing an explosive brick through a window. So Tagreans launch an attack on the Prometheus with missiles capable of reaching and destroying the Earth ship.  Prometheus tries to convince the Tagreans that the big boom was an oops, not an act of war, and somehow that works.

The two sides meet, with Prometheus/SG-1 wanting to use Tagrea's stargate.  Except, Tagreans say they don't have a stargate.  But, there's a gate address for Tagrea. So, aha!  There must be a stargate on the planet that the Tagreans don't know about.  Or (I thought), whatever Goa'uld brought humans to Tagrea took the stargate with them when they abandoned the planet.  But, it looks like we're going with an unknown stargate.

After establishing that the Tagrean Commander Kalfas (military leader) and Chairman Ashwan (political leader) have different visions of first contact protocol after a seeming attack, SG-1 gets some historical information that doesn't shed light on where Tagrea's stargate is  located.  The information only covers the last 300 years of Tagrean history.  Turns out Tagreans would rather forget everything that happened more than 300 years before.  A statement which causes the Earthlings to clutch their pearls at the willful destruction and erasure of history.  Which happens on Earth, too, although not always with the vigor of the Tagreans.

With the Tagreans permission Teal'c and Jonas root around in Tagrea's archives.  There Teal'c and Jonas meet the charmingly squirrely Tarek.  Tarek says that he can help them find Tagrea's stargate.  Tarek is part of a secret sect that still worships Heru'ur (“The Serpent's Venom” and the Goa'uld who brought humans to Tagrea long ago) as a god.  In secret, because keeping the history of anything before the time Heru'ur left their world is frowned on.  Turns out that some digging with hand shovels uncovers the stargate.  Tagreans are really bad at hiding their past.

After Teal'c, Jonas, and some Tagreans successfully test the newly uncovered stargate, Kalfas rolls up on them in an armored vehicle, firing warning shots and backed by a lot of Tagrean military personnel and equipment.  SG-1 finds themselves in the midst of another world's two-sided internal conflict.  Again.  This time with the Prometheus' crew along. 

I give this episode a rating of Good because while the story had me sighing -- a lot -- everything else about the episode is done well.  The acting is very good.  John Novak (Ronson) and Miguel Fernandes (Kalfas) performances keep their respective characters from being one note.  There's more going on within those individual characters, even though their dialog isn't inspired.  Robert Foxworth as Ashwan shows a mature delight that there are not only others in the galaxy, but that those others don't to seem to want to fight.  Alex Diakun is quite a talent, and gives the character of Tarek Solamon a wonderful balance of twichiness mixed with certitude, without falling into caricature.  The special effects are very well done throughout.

One of my favorite parts: the glimpse of Ashwan's assistant messing around with the unfamiliar Earth food of mashed potatoes, while Kalfas' assistant doesn't even pretend to eat the Earth food because he's too busy glaring at the Earth folks during a meal on the Prometheus.  Nicely done.

Failures:

First impressions are lasting.  There are a lot of bad first impressions with this episode.  O'Neill's public snit fit over justified drills.  Dumping a naquadria generator near a planet without knowing anything about the planet's possible population.  Then there is various Prometheus bridge crew members, and SG-1, having to lay some very basic truths on Ronson, things he should have known on his own.  Colonel Ronson and Commander Kalfas – who is so hawkish at times I'm surprised when words instead of bird of prey screeches come out of his mouth – have a round of literal, “my guns are bigger than yours.”  Prometheus' uninspired “my bad” to Tagrea, and it being accepted (although not by Commander Kalfas).  When not bumping heads with Ronson, I thought that Kalfas was not wrong.  The well done effects and acting performances save this episode.

 

I think not focusing on the Tagreans purposely attempting to eradicate a chunk of their history is a missed opportunity, and had the makings of a more interesting story.  That was one thing where Ashwan and Kalfas were in complete agreement. I wonder, did another religion(s) replace the forced worship of Heur'ur, or do the Tagreans refuse to worship anything, or at least not worship anything that isn't tangible?  Juxtaposing the Tagreans willful erasure of history with some on Earth willfully re-writing, and at times trying to erase, history could've made for insightful dialog.

Stargate SG-1 Season 6, Episode 19

"The Changeling"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:

Christopher Judge – “Teal'c”
Martin Wood – Director

The commentary is very informative and interesting.  Lots of behind the scene information.  The commentary stays on point with what is on screen.

 

Review: 

The episode opens in an Earth hospital, moving through the hallway towards an operating room.  There are two patients there, lying down for surgery, and one of them is a not yet anesthetized Teal'c.  As an anesthesia mask is placed on his face, the surgeon comes into Teal'c's view and is none other than Apophis.  Complete with the Goa'uld's glowing eyes and deep, reverberating voice.  Before I have time to pick my jaw up off the ground, the scene shifts to Teal'c waking up in a dimly lit bunk room.  Oh, it was just a bad dream, then.  Teal'c heads to the bathroom and splashes water on his face.  A concerned Jonas follows him there from the bunkroom, to check if Teal'c is alright.  Teal'c responds and … wait a minute.  The gold emblem from being Apophis' First Prime is gone from Teal'c's forehead!  There's no Goa'uld emblem at all on Teal'c's forehead, nor any sort of scarring where one might have been.  Meanwhile, the two briefly chat about something Teal'c is going to do for his stepfather.  And, to top it all off, Jonas calls Teal'c “T.”

Stepfather?  No forehead emblem?  Teal'c tolerating a nickname?  What's going on here?

What's going on is a skillfully crafted journey, with incredible surprises and amazing moments.  This outstanding episode is a prime example of how to keep the audience off balance, without the episode being off-putting.  Stargate SG-1 has demonstrated this before in the episode “Forever in a Day.”  “The Changeling” takes things to another level with the adeptly smooth transitions from one of Teal'c's “realities” to another, interlaced into an intriguing whole.  There are three scenarios rotating throughout the episode.  Teal'c the human fire fighter.  Teal'c the Jaffa, as we are used to seeing him as a part of SG-1 at SGC.  And, Teal'c in one more scenario which isn't revealed until about the last third of the episode.  All three have common threads about Teal'c processing vital, yet potentially deadly, situations.  

Throughout the revolving settings, all of the Teal'c variants interact with those he is closest to in Stargate SG-1.  O'Neill, Carter, Brat'ac, and Jonas.  Not just those currently alive have parts to play.  Apophis (“Enemies”) shows up, at times as a human and other times as a Goa'uld.  Shan'auc (“Crossroads”) appears alive, and human not Jaffa.  And, Daniel Jackson (“Meridian”) is also a guest star in this episode.  Even though there is a lot to take in, the story moves smoothly and logically.  Everything builds upon itself, with a very surprising ending.

Christopher Judge is remarkable as T. the human, and Teal'c the Jaffa.  All of the regular cast provide outstanding performances, especially when O'Neill, Carter, Bra'tac/Brae, and Jonas are interacting with T. the human, and yet interacting on a different note with Teal'c the Jaffa.  Teryl Rothery is in fine form as Dr. Janet Fraiser.  Carmen Argenziano as Jacob/Selmak also makes an appearance, which is always a pleasure.

Failures:

None.

Stargate SG-1 Season 6, Episode 18

"Forsaken"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Good

Commentary by:

Andy Mikita – Director/Producer
Damian Kindler – Producer/Writer

The commentary is interesting, and stays with what is on screen.

 

Review: 

SG-1 is off-world, on a planet never visited before by SGC because … reasons.  Carter has set up a small telescope to view a nebula.  The Goa'uld are still a threat, but somehow SGC's foremost SG team has time for this.  But, wait!  Jonas finds a crashed spaceship of an unknown design nearby.  Jonas comments that the markings on the ship resemble ancient Celtic.  And then, up pops three human survivors of the crash.

Everyone points weapons at everyone else.  Talking starts before the shooting.  The survivors are Aden, Tanis, and Lyle from a world (not the one the ship crashed on) they call Hebridan.  O'Neill is in top notch form, not too aggressively suspicious, with a definite “don't start nothing, won't be nothing” attitude.  Carter follows his lead.  Teal'c is ready for anything, always.  Jonas wants to be friends.  Things are moving along as a first contact, when the camera pans to two technologically advanced humanoid, very not human, beings spying on the chatting group.

A gun battle erupts with SG-1 and the Hebridans on one side, and the two humanoids on the other side.  Aden has said that the humanoids are vicious and murderous.  One of the humanoids is killed by Lyle, to O'Neill's annoyance because he can't question them.  Tanis is injured in the fight, and taken back to Stargate Command for medical treatment.

At SGC, Carter and Jonas report to General Hammond.  Carter wants to study the more advanced than Earth's Hebridian technology by helping to repair the crashed ship.  Carter has got a little sneaky in her, and I approve.  Carter heads back off-world to work on the ship, and Jonas heads to sick bay to seemingly tell everything he knows about everything to Tanis.  How Jonas ever got any kind of security clearance with SGC is a mystery.

By now, the three Hebridans are coming across as being less than truthful.  Aden is creeping on Carter so hard that his "flirting" attempts are painful to watch.  Back on Earth, Tanis flirts with Jonas a bit, but that proves unnecessary to get information from Jonas the blabbermouth.  Lyle likes to hit on folks too, but he uses weapons not words. 

Off-world, O'Neill and Teal'c catch one of the humanoids before Lyle can indulge his “kill 'em all” proclivity.  The humanoid's name is Warrick, and his story about the situation is quite a bit different from what Aden and company told.  SG-1 has to wend through conflicting stories to uncover the truth, and then survive the consequences of their discovery.

Martin Cummins does a great job as Aden, keeping the character's sleaziness from going over-the-top.  David Paetkau is good as Lyle, aptly sort of reigning in Lyle's kill any- and everyone who gets in his way tendency.  Sarah Deakins is okay as Tanis, which isn't a reflection on her acting abilities as it is that Tanis doesn't get to do or be much in this episode.  Dion Johnstone once again shines in a Stargate SG-1 episode, emoting through layers of prosthetics and make-up to bring the character of one of the humanoids to life.  The regular cast is very good.

Failures:

O'Neill seemingly lost interest in, and basic knowledge about, astronomy since “Children of the Gods” as he comments on not being able to see a nebula through a small telescope during bright daylight.  If this was an attempt at being humorous, it's a miss.

Stargate SG-1 Season 6, Episode 17

"Disclosure"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Good

Commentary by:

Don S. Davis – “General Hammond”
Joseph Mallozzi – Supervising Producer
Paul Mullie – Supervising Producer

The commentary is very informative, and interesting. Lots of behind the scene information. The commentary stays on point with what is on screen.

 

Review: 

This is a clip show, with the framework being the U.S.A. and Russia finally telling a few (a very few) other countries about the Stargate program.  Representatives of Britain, France, and China are made aware of what has transpired for the past six years.

While I'm not a fan of clip shows, this is a good one.  Over the course of Stargate SG-1, the stakes for Earth have been very high.  SGC, and later Russia but still mostly SGC, determining actions that impact the entirety of Earth has always irked me about Stargate SG-1.  The addition of more countries being involved, or least being aware of, the stargate program is a good change, one that's long overdue.

Ronny Cox returns as Senator Kinsey (“Smoke & Mirrors”) and continues to be amazing as this character.  Kinsey still has no love for SGC (General Hammond and Jack O'Neill in particular), and does his darnedest to bring the representatives to his point of view.  Kinsey hasn't gone soft and caring.  Being who he is, Kinsey is trying to gain control of the stargate program.

Upon finding out about the advancements in technology and weaponry garnered from the stargate program, the representatives are unhappy with the U.S.A. and Russia having these advantages.  The anger and bluster of the representatives following this disclosure rings true.

There are weak points in the episode (outside of using clips).  The idea by some of the representatives to make the stargate program and the threat of the Goa'uld public is not believable.  There is no gentle way to share information about the stargate program, let alone the Goa'uld, with the general public.  Granted, at the start of “2010,” the general public is calm knowing about the existence of the stargate.  However, those folks also had the Aschen to smack down the Goa'uld or any other threats to Earth, except for the hidden threat of the Aschen themselves.  Go watch that episode.  In the Stargate SG-1 world of this episode -- the main timeline -- everyone knowing about the stargate program would, more likely than not, result in wide scale panic.

The finale of this episode holds up, but that is a spoiler.

Overall, this clip show has a decent support structure with the story.  And, the clips shown are very good.  Ronny Cox as Senator Kinsey, and Don S. Davis as General Hammond, provide strong performances that are a delight to behold.  Colin Cunningham as Major Davis is in Davis' balliwick as he makes points and counterpoints without backing down.  François Chau, Martin Evans, and Paul Batten are believable as other countries' representatives.  Garry Chalk is strong as Colonel Chekov, supporting the U.S.A. running the stargate program, without being crass or a crony.  Always a pleasure to see him on Stargate SG-1.

Failures:

It is a clip show.  But, I think that failure is minor as the framework for the clips does advance the Stargate SG-1 story.  I'm still not a clip show fan, and never will be one, however this episode is worth viewing.