"Evolution: Part 2"
Overall Rating: Excellent
Commentary by:
Amanda Tapping — Samantha Carter
Peter Deluise — 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:
This episode begins immediately after the events of “Evolution: Part 1.”The 3/4 of SG-1, Bra’tac, SG team members, and Free Jaffa who survived the attack of the Super Soldier escape from Ramius. Well, less escape, more leave, because the Super Soldier found Ramius. And, Ramius being a Goa’uld, he threw his Jaffa at the Super Soldier to buy time for his escape. He didn’t escape. SG-1 and company manage to capture the Super Soldier alive and take it back to SGC. Apparently “don’t tell the enemy anything” is not part of a Super Soldier’s make up, and when asked it confirms that it serves Anubis. On the other hand, the Super Soldier doesn’t know much of anything else. Except where to return after a mission. Jacob/Selmak suggests using a memory recall device (”Out of Mind”) and the location of Anubis’ base is learned.
On Earth, Jackson and Dr. Lee find the Ancient’s healing device, but are captured by rebels. Since this is Stargate SG-1, I'm talking about Earth human rebels. The rebels intend to ransom the two. Rafael, the rebel leader, doesn’t believe that Daniel and Lee are just archaeologists. Word gets back to SGC from the state department about the abduction and the ransom request.
“Evolution: Part 2” begins with General Hammond and O’Neill discussing Jackson and Lee’s situation. Paying the ransom is unlikely, so the option to send in a strike team is being considered. That decision is out of General Hammond’s hand, and they have wait for a decision by higher ups.
At the rebel camp, Daniel is brought before Rafael for more questioning, specifically wanting to know about the Ancient artifact. Daniel says it is a lowercase “a” ancient artifact. He’s in a lose-lose situation. Raphael has doubts that Daniel is just an archaeologist, and is angry about Jackson taking artifacts out of his country. Rafael tortures Daniel, but gains no new information. Then, Dr. Lee is brought before Rafael. Will Dr. Lee hold up to torture like Daniel did? No. Lee tells Rafael everything.
O’Neill is in on the mission to rescue the two SGC scientists. He’ll be joined in Honduras by a CIA agent named Burke. Jack is familiar with Burke, and apparently not fond of Burke, but there aren’t any other choices. O’Neill is off to Honduras.
Back at SGC, Jacob/Selmak is briefing Carter, Teal’c, and General Hammond about Anubis’ location — a planet named Tartarus because of course Anubis would hang around someplace named Tartarus. The planet is impossible to approach via space ship due to extensive sensor arrays, and there’s a force field on the planet’s stargate. Like an energy version of the iris on SGC’s stargate. Jacob/Selmak puts forth the idea for him to enter Tartarus’ stargate while wearing the Super Soldier’s armor. Once inside, he’ll turn off the sensor array so that Carter, Teal’c, and Bra’tac can approach the planet in a ship. Then the team can skulk around, and see what they can learn about Anubis’ plans.
Back on Earth, O’Neill meets up with Burke. Burke is assigned in his current backwater location as an unofficial but official punishment for an incident, one that also involved O’Neill. Time hasn’t been kind to Burke’s mental health, and he is a few fries short of a Happy Meal. He blames O’Neill for not supporting his version of what landed Burke in this assignment, and O’Neill is having none of that. The two split, with Burke declaring he will not help with the extraction.
Meanwhile, after being tortured by Rafael, Lee is dragged back to the tiny shack where he and Daniel are imprisoned. Lee admits to telling Rafael everything. Rafael is seen mucking about with the Ancient artifact, and manages to turn it on. Uh oh.
Jacob/Selmak dons the Super Soldier armor and gates to Tartarus. Burke changes his mind, joining up with O’Neill in the jungle, and the two search for Daniel and Lee.
At the rebel camp, Jackson is brought before Rafael again, with demands for more information about the artifact. Upon seeing that the artifact is activated, Jackson tells Rafael that he really needs to turn it off because it is very dangerous. This is proven true a short time later. After being returned to the tiny prison shack, Daniel gets to work escaping, telling Lee that the two of them need to get the heck out of there, now. He’s not wrong.
The ex-friends, O’Neill and Burke, have to put aside their past to try to save Daniel and Lee. On Tartarus, more is learned about Anubis’ plans, including some very surprising revelations.
Bill Dow as Dr. Lee. Frank Roman as Rafael, and he does a wonderful job as Rafael falls further and further under the influence of the Ancient artifact. Victor Favrin as Chalo, a rebel who demonstrates just how horrific the Ancient artifact’s effect can be. David Palffy as Anubis, who has a very menacing voice, but a not so menacing wardrobe. Enrico Colantoni as Burke, and he is wonderful as this character, giving Burke some nuance and depth, without every losing touch with the more than a smattering of crazy that is Burke’s operating zone. The regular cast does a great job. The special effects are awesome.
One of the many things I enjoy about this episode is that it is a seamless continuation of the previous episode in tone. There have been two part Stargate SG-1 episodes where one episode emphasizes character, and another action. I’ve never liked such a split. Evolution Parts 1 and 2 do not do that, and it’s like watching a two hour (well, 88 minutes or so) long episode.
Failures:
Serendipitous timing strikes again in the show. I understand that it is due to timing constraints, that the story needs keep moving and also fit into 44 minutes. Still, a “showing up just in the nick of time” moment, even if it only happens once in an episode, gets old. Yes, there is such a moment in this episode.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment