Stargate SG-1, Season 7, Episode 19

"Resurrection"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Very Good

Commentary by:

Amanda Tapping — Director and Samantha Carter
Will Waring — Camera Operator

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

Review:  

At an abandoned industrial complex in Los Angeles, CA, there are a lot of military and civilian personnel in the vicinity.  Agent Barrett (”Smoke and Mirrors”) exits the complex as 3/4 of SG-1 pull up to the location in an SUV.  O’Neill is still recovering from injuries he received in “Heroes: Part 2” so is not present.  SG-1 wonders why they are there.  Barrett explains that the N.I.D. has been on the hunt for rogue N.I.D. sleeper cells, and Agent Barrett got wind of this place.  There are 32 casualties at the location.  SG-1 is taken to the perpetrator of the carnage — a calm but scared young woman locked in a cell made of a thick, clear material.

Barrett says they know the young woman did it because video shows her offing nearly everyone at that location.  There are also many video tapes labeled “Anna,” and are of the woman in the cage.  Anna was roaming around loose when the N.I.D. team arrived, Barrett demonstrated a lot of good sense by locking her up in the cage, one Anna says is where she was kept.  She says she has no memory of what happened.  There is only one survivor of her murder spree, a scientist named Keffler.  Then, Barrett shows SG-1 why they were called.  There’s a storeroom filled with small "a" ancient artifacts, including items related to a Goa’uld named Sekhmet.  Daniel and Teal’c stay in the room to check out the artifacts.  Carter and Barrett go to talk to Keffler.

Keffler is a smarmy one, neither intimidated by Barrett or Carter, nor being real forthcoming with information.  He knows he has the upper hand since no one else knows what happened, including Anna.  Leaving Keffler be for now, Barrett takes Carter to a lab further into the complex.  The creepy just keeps getting creepier as we see numerous clear canisters with deformed somethings in them.  Carter hacks into the nearby computer within seconds (sigh).  Barrett returns to Teal’c and Jackson to see what they’ve learned.  And that’s not much.  A lot of Sekhmet’s stuff, but nothing to explain what happened.  Daniel is given the task to get Anna to talk, because as Barrett says, Jackson has, “ … a knack for this type of thing.”  He's not wrong.  Anna is willing to speak with Daniel, although she continues to say that she doesn’t know what happened.  She only knows that Keffler made her, something made believable by what’s in the lab and Keffler’s unctuous with a side of soulless mad scientist vibe.

A young woman seemingly grown in a lab, paired with a scientist who acts like everyone else is potentially something he’ll experiment on, and a fair sprinkling of Goa’uld related artifacts is the basis for a good story.  But, wait.  There’s more.  The truth about Anna and Keffler is quite surprising, and ties into a threat that could kill millions of people.

A really good story, with a unique twist.  There are revelations that uncover an Earth bound side of things that’s not often shown.  Last seen in “Smoke and Mirrors,” the rogue N.I.D. organization is still operating, allegedly with the intent to make Earth humans safer but actually just causing problems.  I think a stargate based TV series revolving around the N.I.D. going after rogue N.I.D. operations could have worked.  Keeping elements of Stargate SG-1, while looking at things from a different, murkier aspect.

Kristen Dalton as Anna, and doing a nice job portraying Anna’s many facets.  Brad Greenquist as Dr. Keffler.  Mr. Greenquist’s talent is such that Keffler is a special kind of disturbing, while being a believable character not a broad parody.  Micheal Shanks as Daniel Jackson, Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter, and Christopher Judge as Teal’c all provide good performances.  Bill Dow returns as Dr. Lee (”Heroes: Part 1”).

Failures:

While it’s explained how Agent Barrett and the not rogue N.I.D. arrived at the industrial complex — they intercepted a phone call from the location, why they knew that the situation was in their bailiwick before getting there is not explained.