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.