Stargate SG-1, Season 7, Episodes 21 and 22

"Lost City: Parts 1 and 2"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:

Martin Wood — Director
Amanda Tapping — Samantha Carter
Robert C. Cooper — Writer

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

  

Note: While originally broadcast in two parts, on the DVD “Lost City” parts 1 and 2 are put together in one extended episode, so I’m writing them up together in one blog entry.

Review:  

Part 1:

At SGC, Daniel Jackson is so excited about writings an SG team found on a structure off world on P3X-439, that he telephones Jack O’Neill at home to share the news.  The writings make mention of a repository of knowledge, like the one found in “The Fifth Race.”  Jack rightfully points out that he’ll be at SGC soon, and the news can wait until he gets there.

In Washington, D. C., Dr. Elizabeth Weir is rushing to get to a meeting with President Hayes.  Weir is a well respected diplomat.  Vice President Kinsey (”Inauguration”) rolls up in a sedan to give Weir a ride to her meeting, and hands her a file with a bare bones description of the stargate program.  President Hayes wants Weir, a civilian, to be in charge of SGC.

At SGC, Daniel and Carter present their reasons to General Hammond for wanting to go to P3X-439 and investigate the writings.  O’Neill is less enthused at the prospect, but understands the importance of maybe finding another repository of knowledge.  He does suggest contacting the Asgard (”Fragile Balance”), but General Hammond states that an attempt was made to contact them, but there was no response.  He also points out that without something more, hopefully something useful from the Ancient’s lost city, the Earth doesn’t stand a chance when a likely attack by Anubis (”Evolution: Part 2”) happens.  The mission is given a go.

A Goa'uld reconnaissance drone was in the area before, so General Hammond sends SG-1, SG-3, and SG-5 to P3X-439.   SG-3 and SG-5 set up to defend the stargate just in case, while SG-1 heads to the structure to check out the writings.  An interface like the one in “The Fifth Race” pops up on the building.  Then, Jaffa attack the location from the air and on foot.  O’Neill wants to destroy the interface to keep it away from the Goa’uld.  Jackson tries to use the interface for the knowledge about the lost city of the Ancients.  O’Neill stops him and reluctantly uses the interface himself.  Afterward, SG-1 destroys the interface then they run for the stargate while SG-3 and SG-5 fight the attacking Jaffa forces.  All teams make it back to SGC.  And Jack knows that his days are numbered, as the repository will begin to unwrap itself in his head, overwrite his mind, and destroy him.

The Jaffa attacking the SG teams on P3X-439 are with Anubis, who is also looking for information about the Ancient lost city.  And he is none too happy about the Taur’i getting there first.

Pragmatically, Jack heads home for the weekend (with General Hammond’s permission), since before it took a couple of days for the knowledge in his head to come forth.  Carter, Teal’c, and Daniel show up at Jack’s house.  They know without the help of the missing in action Asgard Jack’s condition is fatal.  They spend time with their friend.  General Hammond shows up, too, as he has news to share with SG-1: Hammond has been relieved of command of the SGC.  This doesn’t sit well with SG-1, but Hammond says leave it be.  And, President Hayes shut down the SGC for three months to review all the goings on there.  Which makes things a bit awkward for O’Neill in his current condition.

Later, back at SGC, Daniel speaks with Weir trying to convince her about the urgency of both Jack’s condition and the ongoing Goa’uld threat to Earth.  During their discussion, Bra’tac (”Evolution: Part 2”) gates to SGC.  He has news: Anubis and his full fleet are on their way to destroy Earth, and will arrive in three days.  After SGC’s visit to P3X-439, Anubis thinks that Earth knows the location of the Ancients lost city, and decides now is a good time to obliterate the Taur’i.  SG-1 and Bra’tac meet with Weir to discuss the situation.  Kinsey shows up for the meeting, too.  SG-1 and Bra’tac want to keep SGC going in order to deal with the impending Anubis situation.  Kinsey says that they are lying just to keep SGC going.  Weir has the final decision.  Much to Kinsey’s displeasure, Weir states that she will consider allowing a stargate mission if O’Neill comes up with the location of the lost city.  Bra’tac and Teal’c gate off world, hoping to garner space ships and Free Jaffa support to aid Earth.

Part 2:

At SGC, the repository’s knowledge is beginning to surface with O’Neill.  He begins speaking, and writing down words, in the Ancient’s language.  Daniel thinks Jack is providing the location of the lost city.  It turns out that each symbol on a stargate has a corresponding sound.  The planet’s gate address sounds out to the words Praclarush taonas.  To convince Weir, they try the gate address Jack wrote down.  There is a stargate at that address, but no wormhole can be established.  Jack is going further down the repository rabbit hole, and gathers a lot of equipment for reasons he doesn’t understand.  He, Jackson, and Carter gate to Teal’c and Bra’tac’s off world location, where the two Free Jaffa have gotten the use of a space ship from another Free Jaffa, named Ronan, who wants to go along with them.  The six of them use Ronan’s ship to go to Praclarush taonas.

Back on Earth, President Hayes, General Hammond, General Maynard (”Inauguration”), and Vice President Kinsey are in the oval office when the National Security advisor, General Jumper, informs the president that three Goa’uld vessels have been detected exiting hyperspace.  Still arguing just to argue, and demonstrating an utter lack of any sort of combat tactics knowledge, Kinsey says that three ships aren’t the full force of Anubis’ fleet.  Hammond points out that the three ships are a test to see if Earth has weapons from the Ancients lost city.  Which it doesn’t.  Hayes decides to hold back on using what defenses Earth does have for now, rather than tip their hand.

Anubis orders his First Prime, Her’ak (”Homecoming”) to begin the attack on Earth.  Back on Ronan’s ship, SG-1 finds Praclarush taonas to be devastated long ago by volcanic activity.  But, there is one area that seems to be protected from the destruction.  Using the ship's transport rings, SG-1 heads down to see what they can find.  All while O’Neill becomes more and more Ancient-like, which is great for gaining knowledge but also means the clock is ticking down on his survival.  While Praclarush taonas appears to be Ancient, no weapon is found.  Instead, Jack operates the surviving machinery and pulls up a glowing crystal something.  He then indicates that they need to head back to Earth, bringing the crystal thing with them.

Back at Earth, embolden by the lack of defenses, Anubis contacts President Hayes and demands Earth’s surrender.  Hayes refuses, and Anubis rightfully believing that if Earth had the Ancient’s weapon they would have used it, calls in the rest of his fleet to destroy the Taur’i.  More than thirty of his ships drop out of hyperspace and head towards Earth.  Then, they begin to systemically destroy communication and power infrastructure.

SG-1 and company head back to Earth, hoping to find the lost city, now known to be called Atlantis, and a weapon to deal with Anubis.  While Kinsey hightails it to SGC hoping to escape through the stargate, everyone else at the oval office decides to stay with President Hayes, who refuses to leave Earth.  And, Hayes has a special assignment for General Hammond.  At SGC, the power goes out just as Kinsey is about to gate out.  Weir orders the iris closed, and good thing because Anubis dialed the gate and sent through a gi-normous bomb.  There is a very satisfying moment where Kinsey gets his comeuppance.

Earth is under attack from the full force of the most powerful Goa’uld in the galaxy.  O’Neill is fading away, as the Ancient depository of knowledge unfolds in mind.  The last chance is an Ancient weapon that is, hopefully, buried under ice in Antarctica.   Just as SG-1 approached the location, Anubis targets their small ship sending Al'kesh and gliders.  Outnumbered, out gunned, and still trying to get to and use a hoped for weapon that is their last chance before Anubis wipes out everyone on the planet.

"Lost City: Parts 1 & 2" are outstanding!

The story is very well written, placing the Taur’i in danger of extinction in a believable manner.  The actors performances keep that energy going, and ramp it up throughout.  I cheer out loud every time I watch "Lost City."  The special effects are wonderful.  The SG-1 actors are great, with Richard Dean Anderson as O’Neill being the standout.  Don S. Davis as General Hammond elevates the most basic lines with his delivery.  Tony Amendola returns as Bra’tac, which is always a joy to behold.  Jessica Steen as Dr. Weir does a great job as someone who is suddenly thrown into the deep end of things, and learns to swim fast and well.  James McDaniel as General Maynard which is a pleasure.  Ronny Cox as Kinsey, and William Devane as Hayes, both making those characters live.  David Palffy returns as Anubis.

General John P. Jumper, then the real life U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, appears as himself.  The winner of the Sci Fi channel's 2003 "Get in the Gate" sweepstakes has a cameo in part one.

Failures: 

Absolutely none.

Stargate SG-1, Season 7, Episode 16

"Death Knell"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:

Amanda Tapping — Samatha 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:  

In “Allegiance,” SGC had an off world site named Alpha site.  The site’s location was secret, an emergency locale in case something like the events in “There But For the Grace of God” happened, and because having a buffer between Earth and whatever SG teams find off world is long overdue good sense.  “The Warrior” lead to many Free Jaffa moving to the Alpha site.  Then, in “Allegiance,” an off world attack lead to many Tok’ra also moving to the Alpha site.  The secret Alpha site is no longer secret after Anubis used a mind probe on Jonas Quinn (”Fallen”.)  Since then, SGC set up another Alpha site at a new secret location.

Jacob/Selmak (”Evolution: Part 2”) and Sam are at the new Alpha site, working on a prototype weapon to defeat Kull warriors, the beings formerly known as Super Soldiers (”Evolution: Part 2”).  I called them Bibs (beings in black), Carter called them Super Soldiers, and Anubis calls them Kull warriors.  Since Anubis created them, he gets final say on their name.  Suddenly, the Alpha site is under attack, and an evacuation is ordered.

Twenty minutes later, back at SGC, General Hammond briefs Daniel, Teal’c and O’Neill about the attack on the Alpha site.  It was perpetrated by Goa’uld ships.  Many folks successfully evacuated from the Alpha site to the Beta site, but around 90 of them are still missing.  A MALP is being prepped to send to the Alpha site.  O’Neill says what they all are likely wondering: how did the attacking Goa’uld ships find the Alpha site.  The MALP shows that the Alpha site stargate is now lying on its side, and buried under debris that the stargate wormhole’s ka-whoosh partially removed.  General Hammond gives a go to check out the Alpha site for survivors.  It appears that the Alpha site’s desolation came from the site’s self-destruct protocol, not from an enemy attack.  A piece of Kull warrior armor is found in the rubble.  A few surviving SG team members, Free Jaffa, and Tok’ra are found, as is a badly injured Jacob/Selmak.  Sam Carter is missing.

O’Neill, Teal’c, and some fresh SG teams continue to search the Alpha site for survivors.  Daniel remains at SGC with Jacob/Selmak, as General Hammond investigates how Anubis found the Alpha site by questioning surviving SG members, Free Jaffa, and Tok’ra.  

Back at SGC, Jacob/Selmak relates as much as he knows about what happened.  Not only does he confirm that the Alpha site was attacked by Kull warriors, but that Sam and Jacob/Selmak were specifically targeted — as the ones working on the prototype weapon to use against Kull warriors.  Sam had the prototype weapon’s power unit, while Jacob/Selmak has the weapon itself.  As far as Jacob/Selmak knows she is on the run somewhere in hills surrounding the Alpha site.

Sam is alive, though badly injured, and being hunted by a Kull warrior.  At SGC, General Hammond is hunting down how the Alpha site’s location was revealed to Anubis.  Hammond’s inquiries brings many things to light, including the Free Jaffa and Tok’ra’s simmering resentment and anger towards each other, and towards SGC.  An allegiance between the three groups  based on a common enemy — the Goa’uld — is a lot shakier than believed.  The Alpha site attack may destroy the tenuous alliance of the SGC Taur’i, the Tok’ra, and the Free Jaffa.  Meanwhile, Sam, and the best hope for defeating Anubis’ Kull warriors, are being relentlessly tracked down off world.

This is an outstanding episode.  The bare bones of the story seems sparse, however it reveals much of what has been going on between the three allied groups.  There wasn't a behind the scenes happily ever after.  Whether at the SGC, or on the Alpha site planet, the story forges on with a steady pace, building towards a potentially grim end.  The effects are wonderful.  Costuming and make-up are excellent.  Amanda Tapping is fantastic as Carter desperately tries to stay a step ahead of the Kull warrior.  Don S. Davis’s portrayal of General Hammond is perfect, balancing the determination to uncover the facts, while not taking any nonsense from anyone.  Carmen  Argenziano is again great as he flips between being Jacob and being Selmak.  Sebastian Spence as Dalek, exhibiting that Tok’ra snideness and arrogance oh, so well.  Mark Gibbon as M’zel, a Free Jaffa.  I love me some Teal’c and Bra’tac, still it is nice to see other faces as part of the Free Jaffa movement.  Mr. Gibbon does a splendid job.  The rest of the cast does a very job, too.  Dan Payne returns as the Kull warrior, again demonstrating the skill to act through layers of costuming.

Failures:

None.

Stargate SG-1, Season 7, Episode 12

"Evolution: Part 2"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

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:

Once Daniel decided to escape, he just … escaped.  Why not do that earlier?

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.

Stargate SG-1, Season 7, Episode 11

"Evolution: Part 1"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:

Peter DeLuise — Director
Gary Jones — Walter (on the DVD commentary menu as “actor”)

The commentary is informative, and mostly stays on point with what is on screen.  Mr. Jones does not appear in this episode.

Review:  

Off world, following up on a rumored meeting between two Goa’ulds intent on forming an alliance, Teal’c and Bra’tac ("Orpheus") come across a battlefield littered with dead Jaffa.  Some of the dead are the Goa’uld Tilgath’s forces, and some are the Goa’uld Ramius’.  Tilgath is found, dead, but there is no sign of Ramius.  The pair do find the First Prime of Ramius, severely wounded but conscious.  When asked why Ramius attacked and destroyed Tilgath and his forces, rather than form an alliance, Ramius’ First Prime says that his master didn't do the killing, and barely escaped with his life.   Before he can explain what did happen, an energy blast of some sort kills Ramius’ First Prime.  A humanoid being in head to toe black armor fired the shot.  Teal’c and Bra’tac fire their staff weapons back, to no effect.  The attacker begins to fire on Bra’tac and Teal’c, using a wrist weapon that fires energy bolts.  Bra’tac goes in for some hand-to-hand combat, and is easily knocked aside by the being in black (let’s call him Bib).  Teal’c pulls out a ‘zat gun and fires it repeatedly.  Finally, Bib drops dead.

Bra’tac and Teal’c return to the SGC, bringing Bib’s body with them.  After they explain what happened, General Hammond wonders if the attacker was an Ashrak (”Allegiance”).  Teal’c says no, that Bib is unlike anything he has seen before.  Carter thinks Bib’s armor might absorb energy based attacks.  General Hammond orders Carter to find out everything she can about Bib and its armor.  Carter calls in the Tok’ra for help. The Tok’ra Jacob/Selmak (”Fragile Balance”) arrives.  In an SGC lab, he and Sam remove Bib’s armor face plate and … oh my word, what a pale mess of terrifying they find inside.  Humanoid, but looks more like a skeleton with a firm, gelatinous substance as its flesh, and icky, sticky goo that seems to work to fuse Bib to its armor.  Not only that, but Bib has a Goa’uld symbiote, now also dead.  And the weirdness just keeps coming, as testing shows Bib is genetically engineered to be incredibly strong, with great stamina, but was not made to be long lived.  Its Goa’uld symbiote was about the only thing that kept it alive, but even the symbiote could not sustain Bib’s life for long.  Turns out that Bra’tac and Teal’c didn’t kill Bib, instead it died of pulmonary failure.

Bib seems to be a lab manufactured host for a Goa’uld symbiote, maybe as a replacement for Jaffa forces.  As the Free Jaffa rebellion spreads, it’s possible that at least one Goa’uld decided it’s better to have guaranteed loyal, if short-lived, artificially created fighting forces than Jaffa.  Jacob/Selmak shares that not only is Bib short-lived, powerful, and wears armor that is immune to energy weapons, the being was not alive when it was created.  Once mature, it was given life, possibly using something along the lines of a sarcophagus ("Abyss").

All of this happens before the credits finish rolling.

But, giving life to the lifeless is beyond a sarcophagus’ capability.  Turns out that thousands of years ago a Goa’uld found a device of the Ancients that was capable of healing, but the device’s output was so strong that it had a detrimental effect.  That Goa’uld created the sarcophagus based on that Ancient device.  Jacob/Selmak thinks that the original Ancient device might be the key to developing a weapon against enemies like Bib.

Daniel works his knowledge mojo, and determines the original Ancient device might be located on Earth.  He wants to search for the device, which is possibly located in Honduras.  Also important, Jackson and Carter present a reasonable tie between Bib and Anbubis (”Homecoming”).  General Hammond gives a go for Jackson and Dr. Lee (”Paradise Lost”) to go to Honduras and look for the Ancient tech.  Why Daniel goes is self-explanatory.  Why Dr. Lee, though?  I’m not sure.  But Dr. Lee is smart, and in his new iteration since his last appearance, pretty funny in a pragmatic way, and adds to the story.

Back at SGC, Bra’tac points out that if Anubis is destroying other Goa’ulds who try to form alliances, Anubis is likely working his way towards being the one and only top Goa’uld.  Which would be very bad for not only Earth, but for the entire galaxy.  To learn more about Anubis’ manufactured warriors, Carter needs a live specimen.  A plan is hatched to go to Ramius’s planet (since Bib did not succeed in killing him), and wait for another Bib assassin, then capture it alive.  SG-1 (minus Daniel), a couple of SG teams, Bra’tac, and some Free Jaffa head to Ramius’ world and wait for a Bib to come through the stargate.  When a Bib does show up, the tranquilizers Carter made have no effect on the Bib.  None of their weapons work on the Bib, who fires back using its wrist weapon on any of the team who fire on it.  Then, it keeps on, heading towards Ramius’ stronghold.  3/4 of SG-1 and everyone with them are captured by Ramius’ forces.

Daniel and Dr. Lee are somewhere in the wilds of Honduras, looking for a legend.  They aren’t having any better a time with their mission than the off world team.  3/4 of SG-1, Bra’tac, and their remaining SG and Free Jaffa backup who weren't killed by the Bib are captured by Ramius.  The Bib is still roaming around that same planet, searching for Ramius while being willing and able to kill anyone who gets in the way.

The story begins on a battlefield strewn with dead Jaffa, and leads to simultaneous missions: one on Earth and one off world.  Both missions go badly, with Daniel and Dr. Lee ending up in the worst position despite never leaving Earth.  An old foe returns with some new tricks.  As if Goa’ulds and their loyal Jaffa forces weren’t enough, now there are Bibs (later called a Super Soldiers, which admittedly is a cooler name than Bib).  While short-lived, a Super Soldier can and does inflict a lot damage.  There’s a Goa’uld threat (welcome back, snaky villains) that’s not directed at Earth, but absolutely involves Earth.  SG-1 is once more split up, losing the magic of the four main characters’ chemistry.  However, their separate stories are interesting, and relevant to the characters involved.  It’s likely that Teal’c and Bra’tac’s discovery of Bib isn’t the first mission the Super Soldiers have been on, so those two happening upon Bib rings true.  Although, the timing of Bib having pulmonary failure just as it was about to end Teal’c and Bra’tac takes a bit of squinting and head tilting to believe.

The Super Soldier has some very cool armor.  If I were talented enough to make cosplay outfits I would absolutely make a Super Soldier’s armor.  Kudos to the costume design team.  There’s a scene where the Super Soldier walks through a fiery explosion, but it is just a bit off.  All the other effects look amazing, both on Earth and on Remius’ planet.  The dialog aptly tells the story, without getting bogged down in exposition.  And, the actors do a great job of delivering that dialog.  Tony Amendola and Carmen Argenziano return as Bra’tac and Jacob/Selmak, respectively.  I never tire of their guest appearances, and once again they both do a wonderful job with their characters.  Bill Dow as Dr. Lee.  I like this version of Dr. Lee much more than his previous appearances.  Previously, Dr. Lee was “generic scientist.”  Lee has now become a unique character in his own right.  Eric Breker as Colonel Reynolds (”Fallen”).  Zak Santiago as the delightful and believable Rogelio Duran.  Frank Roman appears as Rafael, who is great with conveying tempered menace.

This episode isn’t about character development.  It’s a story driven by the characters.  And does an excellent job at it.   Special shout out to: Todd Thomson as Ramius’ First Prime, we hardly knew you but in your short screen time you absolutely were a First Prime; Michael Jonsson as one of Ramius’ Jaffa guards, Mr. Jonsson managed to convey Jaffa threat and arrogance, as well as vulnerability as a young Jaffa who has his worldview turned upside down; and Dan Payne as the Super Soldier, Mr. Payne does a great job being a Super Soldier through the suit, and later imitating someone imitating a Super Soldier.  Bravo, Mr. Payne.

Failures:

Nothing egregious.

Stargate SG-1, Season 7, Episode 9

"Avenger 2.0"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:

Amanda Tapping — Samantha Carter
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:  

Felger (“The Other Guys”) is back.  The episode starts in a lab at SGC where Felger, and his assistant Chloe, are preparing a demonstration of a weapon Felger created that could be powerful enough to replace missiles on the X-303 (”Memento”).  Due to his intense hero worship of SG-1, and a massive crush on Carter, Felger is nervous and giddy.  O’Neill and Carter arrive in the lab for the demo.  Unexcited to be there, O'Neill remembers Felger, but gets his name wrong.  Carter is polite.  The weapon demonstration fails, strikingly so.  Not only blowing up instead of firing, but also knocking out SGC’s power.

General Hammond has had enough of Felger’s missteps, and wants him out of the SGC program.  Felger begs for one more chance, saying that he has a spectacular project that will overshadow his previous failures with its brilliance.  General Hammond gives him 24 hours to demonstrate the new project, or else Felger is out.  This is awesome for Felger, except … he lied.  He has nothing ready to show General Hammond.

Back in his lab, Felger tells Chloe what happened.  Chloe chides Felger on making an empty promise.  He decides to use an idea he had for a computer virus — named Avenger -- that will rewrite a DHD’s coordinates, making gate travel from that DHD impossible.  The idea being to stymie the Goa’uld and their forces use of gate travel.  They could still get around using their ships, but the loss of stargate travel would be a significant hindrance.  Chloe reasonably points out that Avenger is an idea, and no where near ready.  Still, his position at SGC on the line, Felger hastily puts together enough of a rough draft of the virus program to show Carter, who agrees to look it over.  O’Neill and Teal’c head off world on a mission.  Daniel is already off world on another mission.  Carter tells General Hammond that what Felger showed her has promise, but it needs more work.  General Hammond gives the Avenger project a go, with the caveat that Carter has to work with Felger on it.

Once Avenger is ready, Carter selects a gate on a planet controlled by the the System Lord Ba’al (last seen in ”Homecoming,” mentioned in other episodes) to test Avenger.  Waiting for the result of the Avenger test, SGC contacts O’Neill via the stargate after he misses a check-in.  O’Neill didn’t do his scheduled check-in because he can’t establish an outgoing wormhole.  Felger swears that it can’t be because of Avenger, but the timing of deployment of the virus and the failure of the stargate at O’Neill’s location is too close.  Then, the Tok’ra contact SGC, reporting that there are a series of malfunctions in the stargate system, with several stargates going offline.  Further checking shows that the stargate system is not only interconnected, they also send automatic updates within the gate system via their DHDs.  It looks like Avenger became part of that automatic update, and is now spreading throughout the gate system.  Earth’s stargate is unaffected because it runs via the complex computer system SGC built, not a DHD.  Pretty soon no wormhole can be initiated by a DHD throughout the stargate system, except for SGC's stargate.

General Hammond recalls off world SGC teams, hoping to get them back to Earth before the update makes its way to all the DHDs in the gate system.  Not every SGC team is able to make it back to SGC, including Daniel’s team and O’Neill’s team.  Daniel’s team is in danger from rising flood waters at their location.  O’Neill’s team is under attack from Goa’uld forces.  And, Ba’al is taking advantage of the situation using his fleet, the largest of all the System Lords, to overwhelm other Goa’ulds forces.  Instead of making life hard for Ba’al, Avenger has given Ba’al a huge advantage.  General Hammond will not send teams off world to help others because those teams would also be stranded.

Felger is needed to work on a fix for Avenger, but he is having a major meltdown.  SGC forces are trapped off world, some in life threatening, time sensitive situations.  Every society that uses the stargate is now stranded wherever they were when the gate system went down.  Meanwhile, Ba’al is having a very good day, doing very bad things, due to the situation.

This is a wonderful episode.  Drama with a lot of comedy can be a tricky mix.  Here, it is done to perfection.  Patrick McKenna returns as Felger, and is in top form as the hero-worshipping, well intentioned, brilliant but messy, character.  Jocelyn Loewen guest stars as the pragmatic and exasperated Chloe, and is an excellent counter balance to Felger.  Amanda Tapping is in top form as Carter.  Ms. Tapping perfectly balances the seriousness of the situation with the comedy that flows from Mr. McKenna’s performance.  The two play off of each other perfectly.  Richard Dean Anderson as O’Neill.  He doesn’t have a lot of scenes in this episode, but is at the top of his Jack O’Neill game the entire time.  Don S. Davis is perfection as General Hammond dealing with Felger and the Avenger fallout.  Jackson and Teal’c are not present in much of this episode.

Failures:

The creation of the Avenger virus program by Felger, Chloe, and Carter seems to take a remarkably short amount of time.  There is a montage of Carter, Felger, and Chloe working on the virus, but the time frame isn’t very long.  O’Neill and Teal’c are still off world on their mission after Avenger is completed, and it’s unlikely that they were gone for months.  But, I can forgive this because the rest of the episode is a grand, fun adventure.

Stargate SG-1 Season 7, Episode 2

"Homecoming"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent 

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:  

This episode begins immediately after the events in “Fallen.”  O'Neill and Carter return to SGC, successful in destroying the power core of Anubis' weapon.  Lord Yu is off somewhere with his fleet, and not there to destroy Anubis.  Daniel and Jonas are still on Anubis' ship.  Jonas is captured and interrogated (using a mind probe device that reads Jonas' thoughts) by Anubis.  With that device, Anubis learns of naquadria (“Shadow Play”) and where to find it – Jonas Quinn's homeworld of Langara.  Thanks to the isotope injected in to him by the Tok'ra (“Fallen”), Daniel doesn't show up on Anubis' ship sensors and remains at loose.  Teal'c is a prisoner on Lord Yu's ship.

SGC doesn't know the current whereabouts of Anubis, and by extension Daniel and Jonas.  Then, the Kelownans (“Shadow Play”) communicate with SGC via the stargate, asking for help.  Instead of another request for advanced technology of destruction, the Kelownans need help because their world is invaded by a Goa'uld – Anubis.

Teal'c learns from Oshu, Lord Yu's First Prime, why the agreed upon plan to attack Anubis was rescinded by Yu.  It turns out that while being long lived, especially with the use of a sarcophagus for healing, Goa'ulds are not immortal.  As one of the oldest System Lords, Yu has shown signs of confusion and disorientation for some time, usually smoothed over by the very loyal Oshu.  Yu fully intended to attack Anubis as planned in “Fallen.”  However, Yu mixed up where Anubis was located and commanded his fleet to go to the wrong location.  While Oshu covers a lot of Yu's day to day missteps, he could not directly countermand Yu's order to move the fleet to the wrong location.  Fortunately, Yu spends a lot time in his sarcophagus.  Oshu and Teal'c form a new plan to take down Anubis – contact another System Lord.  Anubis has been making life difficult for all of the System Lords, so an arrangement is made.

O'Neill and Carter go to Langara to check out what is going on there.  Anubis' big, giant ship is in the air above a Kelownan city (or maybe Kelowna is a humongous city-state), and after some destruction and executions by Anubis, he makes clear that he wants all the naquadria.  The Kelownans had wisely given all of their naquadria to Anubis, but still the Goa'uld was hanging around, with his Jaffa searching Kewlona for something.

Anubis is working on getting his super weapon a new power source, and past experience shows that if successful he will destroy any and everything, starting with Kelowna.  After being made aware of Langara's stargate, the Tirania and Andari Federation representatives seriously believe that Anubis is solely Kelowna's problem.  They are in danger of getting a crash course in Goa'uld school 101, which is to destroy or enslave all.  The Tok'ra trick of hiding Daniel from Anubis' ship sensors is about to expire, at which point he'll join Jonas in being Anubis' prisoner.  Teal'c has to extend trust a Goa'uld System Lord ... again.  Meanwhile, O'Neill and Carter try to deal with the squabbling representatives of Kelowna's three factions, and there are a lot of enemy Jaffa roaming around.  General Hammond authorizes a couple of additional SG units to Kelowna, but sending a full on fighting force is beyond his authority.  Things are moving fast on Langara, and waiting for an SGC authorization of a bigger fighting force to go through committee isn't an option.

This episode is awesome.  The acting performances and effects are wonderful.  What I also enjoy about this episode is the messiness of the proposed solutions as the story progresses.  Instead of being neat and tidy, solutions open the door to more problems.  Using a System Lord to take down a System Lord, after being betrayed by a System Lord.  The three Kelownan factions fighting amongst themselves, incorrectly believing that Anubis will have any regard for Langarans geopolitical boundaries.  O'Neill limited in how many SG forces he can muster, while dealing with a Kelownan representative who is looking for a full scale invasion force from Earth.  And, with all the messiness, the story is completed in a believable fashion.

Kevan Ohtsji returns as Oshu, and Michael Adamthwaite as Anubis' First Prime, Her'ak.  Gillian Barber and Doug Abrahams return as the Kelownans Ambassador Dreylock and Commander Hale, respectively ("Shadow Play").  The regular cast provide strong performances.  All in all, “Fallen” and “Homecoming” provide a strong, entertaining start to season 7.

Failures:

There is a moment of highly unlikely serendipitous timing when Carter and Teal'c are facing Anubis' Jaffa, but the rest of the episode is so good, I'm okay with it.

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 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.

Stargat SG-1, Season 6, Episode 6

"Abyss"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:
Martin Wood -- Director
James Tichenor – Visual Effects Producer
Christopher Judge – “Teal’c”

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

Review:
Past: At the end of “Frozen” the Tok’ra take O’Neill away to temporarily blend with a symbiote. O’Neill needs a Tok’ra symbiote to heal, but wants it out of him as soon as he’s back on his feet. No, the Tok’ra aren’t going soft. Staying true to character, the Tok’ra want information the symbiote has. Ever short of hosts, the Tok’ra agree to the symbiote leaving O’Neill after he is healed and the Tok’ra have the information they need.

Present: The Tok’ra named Thoran (“Frozen”) arrives at SGC. General Hammond wants to know where Colonel O’Neill is, and why he hasn’t yet returned. Thoran has some bad news for SGC. After blending with the Tok’ra symbiote named Kanan, healing, and debriefing, Kanan/O’Neill left the Tok’ra base. The Tok’ra do not know Kanan/O’Neill’s location.

The Tok’ra blame O’Neill, convinced that another Tok’ra would never go against the wishes of its host. SGC blames the symbiote, knowing that O’Neill could not force a symbiote to do something against its will. Thoran is offended that SGC believes a Tok’ra would force a host to do something. SGC is over Tok’ra bluster, and want to find out what happened to O’Neill.

Where is O’Neill?

Turns out that O’Neill is captured by a Goa’uld named Ba’al -- a powerful System Lord, well versed in many forms of torture. Methods he uses on O’Neill. Ba’al tortures; kills; and then using a sarcophagus brings O’Neill back to life over and over. He wants to know why O’Neill is at Ba’al’s base. Thing is, O’Neill doesn’t know because Kanan used Jack’s body to enter Ba’al’s base. But Kanan skittered off, abandoning O’Neill when capture was certain. Convinced that the information he seeks is buried somewhere in Jack’s mind, Ba’al won’t stop until he gets the answers he seeks.

SGC does not know where O’Neill is. The Tok’ra aren’t forthcoming about Kanan’s activities just prior to blending with O’Neill. There is one person who knows O'Neill's location, but cannot help Jack.

This is one of the episodes I would rate higher than Excellent. The basic story is: O’Neill is missing, and how will he get back to SGC. The episode contains so much more. Phenomenal acting from Richard Dean Anderson and others. Intense, revealing dialogue. Wonderful effects. And, General Hammond letting the Tok’ra know that their arrogant attitude does not fly when it gets in the way of finding a member of SGC.

Cliff Simon is Ba’al and is amazing in the part. Profoundly evil, but never crossing over into cliché evil doer, or being over the top. Mr. Simon’s performance shows Ba’al being suave, charming, elegant, as well as willing and capable of doing anything he sees fit, such as heinous torture. Ba’al is equal yet opposite to Apophis (always portrayed to perfection by Peter Williams). Ba’al is just as willing and capable of reprehensible behavior as Apophis. However, Ba’al’s actions slip silently upon his victims, rather than being announced with cannon fire like Apophis.

Kudos to Cliff Simon for his portrayal of Ba’al. Ba’al and Apophis are my two favorite Goa’ulds on the show. Dorian Harewood returns as the Tok’ra Thoran.  Every actor performs well.

Failures:
None.

Stargate SG-1, Season 6, Episode 1

"Redemption, Part 1"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:
Martin Wood -- Director
James Tichenor -- Visual Effects 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:
Three months after the events in "Meridian," SG-1 is off-world, running for the stargate, chased by a large number of the planet’s very angry inhabitants.  The team makes it back to SGC.  O’Neill’s knee is injured, and the ninth replacement for Daniel Jackson’s position in SG-1 is off the team.

Jonas Quinn lives on base at SGC, as Kelowna considers him a traitor.  He still blames himself for Daniel's injuries caused by the naquadria-bomb accident.  Teal’c is stoic about Daniel’s ascension, as ascension is the ultimate goal of many Jaffa who are at the end of their days.  Carter is cool towards Jonas, showing a disjointed mix of behavior towards him that wavers between acceptance and resentment.  O’Neill distances himself from Jonas, still angry that initially Jonas was willing to allow Daniel to be blamed for the naquadria-bomb accident.

Speaking of naquadria, a new flying craft is developed at Area 51 -- the X-302.  It is based on Goa’uld death gliders, but engineered from the ground up on Earth.  The X-302 flies in an atmosphere, or in space.  Additionally, the craft can also generate a hyperspace window, thanks to the naquadria pilfered from Kelowna by Jonas.

Colonel Chekov (“48 Hours”), the Russian envoy to SGC, wants a Russian to become the fourth member of SG-1.  Jonas Quinn also wants to become a member of SG-1.  O’Neill does not want either a Russian, or Jonas, on his SG team.  Jack is still hating on all things Russian.  Jonas’ initial unwillingness to come forth with the truth about what happened to Daniel left O’Neill not believing that Jonas Quinn is trustworthy.

Bra’tac gates to SGC with news for Teal’c.  Drey’auc is gravely ill.  Teal’c goes to Drey’auc, currently on the planet where the Free Jaffa movement is encamped.  There, he reunites with his son, Rya'c (“Family”), and checks on Drey’auc.

Later, SGC’s stargate activates.  No IDC is received, and no energy is detected coming through the wormhole.  Yet, the wormhole remains active, not shutting down even after the 38 minute window passes, the maximum time that a wormhole can continue (“There But For the Grace of God”).  Eventually, a build-up of energy is detected in the SGC stargate, a build-up that will lead to the destruction of the gate in a few days.  If the gate explodes, it will mean the end of life on Earth.  Unable to stop the energy feeding into their stargate, the decision is made to use the X-302 to contact an off-world ally for help.

“Redemption, Part 1” sets up a series of unrelated events that gradually begin to entwine.  Individual characters face the ramifications of their past actions, and wonder if there is any chance of redemption.  This is a very well written story, tying character driven plots with adventure.  All of the actors provide strong performances.  Chris Judge is outstanding in a brief scene between Teal’c and Rya'c.  Garry Chalk returns as Colonel Chekov, Tony Amendola is Bra'tac, and Neil Denis returns as Rya'c.

Failures:
None.

Stargate SG-1, Season 5, Episode 19

"Menace"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:
Martin Wood -- Director
James Tichenor -- Visual Effects Supervisor

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

Review:
SG-1 explores the ruins of a seemingly advanced civilization on another planet.  Plants overrun the metal bones of decimated structures.  Searching for the source of faint energy readings, the team enters one of the ruins.  Inside, they discover the source of the energy readings -- the perfectly preserved body of a young woman.  She is an artificial life form.

After continuing the incredibly bad practice of bringing unknown alien technology back to Earth, Carter examines the robot at SGC.  She determines the android’s power supply is drained, and that is why the machine is motionless.  Continuing the incredibly bad practice of activating unknown alien technology, Carter replaces the robot’s expired energy source, with General Hammond’s blessing.  The android awakens.

Her name is Reese.  Rather than a cold, analytical machine, Reese behaves like a living human being, albeit an emotionally immature, occasionally cranky, one.  Reese’s almost childlike qualities can be charming, and she wants to explore the wonders of Earth.  However, Stargate Command gives in to the good sense side of the Force, and keeps her in lockdown at SGC.  Reese denies knowing what happened to her planet.  Also, she seems unaware that she is a robot.

Further exploration of Reese’s home world by SG teams uncovers the probable cause of its destruction.  SGC, and SG-1, investigate how Reese survived what overcame her civilization.  They discover how Reese survived, only to face the appearance of a threat to the existence of Earth’s civilizations.

Danielle Nicolet is wonderful as Reese.  Reese and Daniel form a child/guardian bond over the course of the episode.  Their relationship is touching, and believable.  Kudos to Ms. Nicolet, and Michael Shanks.  All of the regular cast members provide excellent performances.  This story is a perfect blend of character driven drama, and exciting action sequences.  Bravo to everyone involved in this episode.

Failures:
Carter’s communication to O’Neill about an event occurring near the end of the episode precipitates the story's violent conclusion.  However, her interpretation of the event does not make sense based on the information available to her.

SG teams continually bringing alien technology back to Earth, and then activating it without having much of a clue about the consequences, perpetually bugs me.

Stargate SG-1, Season 5, Episode 16

"Last Stand"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:
Martin Wood -- Director
Robert Cooper -- Writer & Executive Producer
James Tichenor -- Visual Effects 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:
“Summit” ends with Osiris presenting herself to the System Lords.  She recognizes Daniel, who is posing as Yu's servant.  Zipacna’s fleet is attacking Revanna, the Tok’ra home base.  Many of the Tok’ra are dead.  SG-1, minus Daniel, is trapped in the Tok’ra underground tunnels, along with a severely injured Lieutenant Elliot, the only survivor of SG-17.  Lantesh, a Tok’ra symbiote, managed to survive Martouf’s death in “Divide and Conquer” although Lantesh is still very weak.  The container that Lantesh was recuperating in is destroyed during the Jaffa bombing of Ravanna.  Lantesh blends with the injured Lt. Elliot, which is the only chance they both have of surviving.

Now, Osiris confronts Daniel when they are alone.  She did not out Daniel to the System Lords because Goa’uld do love intrigue.  Daniel uses the Reole chemical on Osiris, and continues as Yu’s personal servant.  As Daniel prepares to release the symbiote poison amongst the System Lords, Osiris reveals to the gathering that Anubis is the Goa’uld who has been harrying the System Lords' forces.  Anubis wants to be a System Lord again.  Again?  It turns out that Anubis was a System Lord in the past, and was banished from the Goa'uld coalition because he was so deviant, and evil, he creeped out the other Goa’uld.  That is pretty bad.  Believed to have died about a thousand years ago, his resurfacing means that the Tok’ra plan cannot be implemented.  Doing so would leave one all-powerful Goa’uld -- Anubis -- controlling their entire empire, a nightmare scenario for the Tok’ra, and the rest of the galaxy.

Back on Revanna, O’Neill, Carter, Teal’c and Lt. Elliot hide from Zipacna’s Jaffa forces.  Trapped, with no opportunity to get to the stargate, the team continues the deadly hide and seek, trying to keep themselves -- and the formula for the symbiote poison -- from being captured by Zipacna’s Jaffa.

Continuing to pose as Yu’s personal servant, Daniel remains at the summit, attempting to gather information about Anubis’ plans.  Yu is the only current System Lord who held that position a thousand years ago.  He knows just how bad Anubis is.  Daniel overhears Osiris tell Yu that Anubis offers the destruction of Earth in trade for Yu’s vote accepting Anubis back as a System Lord.  Daniel does not learn the details of Anubis’ plan, and risks death as he continues in the part of Yu’s human servant.

The rest of SG-1, and Lt. Elliot, are stranded on Revanna, hunted by a large Jaffa contingent.  Earth is under threat from Anubis.  Daniel is in the lion’s den, his cover wearing thin.

“Last Stand” continues the high quality level of action, and intrigue, began in “Summit.”  The regular, and guest, cast maintain their strong performances.  Kudos to everyone involved in all aspects of this episode.

Failures:
In “Summit,” Jacob/Selmak mentions that the Goa’uld population has recently had zero growth for the first time in thousands of years.  The reason is given in this episode.  However, that reason doesn’t jibe with the established canon regarding the vast numbers of infant Goa’uld born in a single spawning, and the numerous spawnings across the galaxy.  There must be a lot of squirmy baby Goa'ulds around, because every adult Jaffa is toting one around in his, or her, belly pouch.

Perhaps, once the Goa'uld larva matures in a Jaffa's belly pouch, it is destroyed, rather than being allowed to infest some body.  That would be a believable rationale for the Goa'uld's zero population growth, something the reason given in this episode is not.  Why would adult Goa'ulds kill their offspring?  They're Goa'ulds.  They do bad things all the time.  Doing something like that is completely in line with their established behavior.

Ultimately, mentioning that the number of Goa'ulds stopped increasing is irrelevant.  It just provides a chance for some nicely done special effects.  I'm all for special effects.  However I do not appreciate when a plot point is presented as being vitally important, but then turns out to be of no consequence.

Stargate SG-1, Season 5, Episode 15

"Summit"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:
Martin Wood -- Director
Joseph Mallozzi -- co-Writer
James Tichenor -- Visual Effects 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:
“Summit” is the first of two parts.  The story concludes in the next episode, “Last Stand.”

Somewhere in space: Tanith’s unnamed boss, mentioned in “Between Two Fires,” has Zipacna (“Pretense”) recruit Osiris (“The Curse”).  The plan is to form a new alliance of powerful Goa’ulds to take over the System Lords.  The Goa’uld in charge of the new alliance is named Anubis.

Back on Earth: the Tok'ra Ren'al (“Enemies”) arrives at SGC with news about the System Lords.  The deaths of Cronus (“Double Jeopardy”) and Apophis (“Threshold”) resulted in battles between the remaining System Lords for the two dead Goa’ulds’ territories and armies.  The dissension between the System Lords kept their focus on each other, the Goa’uld power base in chaos.  Ren'al tells General Hammond, and SG-1, that the System Lords are declaring a truce amongst themselves, and meeting to discuss their future plans.  The Tok’ra plan to wipe out all of the System Lords at that summit.

The summit’s location is a space station, which is impossible to breach due to heavy security.  The Tok’ra want to send an agent to the meeting, one who can pass as a System Lord’s human slave.  Daniel’s fluency with the Goa’uld language makes him the perfect candidate.  He agrees to help the Tok’ra.  SG-1, and SG-17, gate to Revanna, the planet where the Tok’ra have their home base.  Jacob/Selmak (“Enemies”) will go with Daniel on the mission, although he cannot enter the Goa’uld space station.  With a modification of the chemical the Reole (“The Fifth Man”) used on SG-1, Daniel will convince the System Lord Yu (“Fair Game”) that he is the Goa’uld’s most trusted human servant.  SG-17, and the rest of SG-1, will remain on Revanna.

Once Daniel, Yu, and all the other System Lords arrive on the space station Daniel will release a poison gas.  The poison only kills Goa’uld symbiotes.  The Tok’ra have worked on developing the poison for some time.  The summit is a perfect opportunity to kill all of the System Lords at one time, thereby leaving the Goa’uld presence in the galaxy leaderless, and in chaos.

While the Tok’ra plot against the System Lords, Anubis plots against the Tok’ra.  Zipacna captured a Tok’ra spy, and extracted the location of Revanna from the Tok’ra, as well as information about the symbiote poison.  The Tok’ra plan to destroy the System Lords.  The System Lords plan to consolidate their power base, and become a greater threat to free beings in the galaxy.  Anubis plans to destroy the Tok’ra, and take the System Lords’ power.  All three plans proceed, and all three parties are poised for success.  With mutually exclusive goals, someone will lose.

This is a very exciting episode, filled action and suspense.  The trio of disparate goals collide, and the resolution is not obvious.  This is not a story where the viewer knows who will win, and waits to see how victory is achieved.  There is no blatantly apparent winner in this episode, which helps to make it an excellent viewing experience.  The plot is powerful, and engrossing.  Kudos to the writers.

“Summit” has a large cast of guest stars, many of whom portray returning characters.  To the credit of every actor, no character’s arc is lost in the telling.  Excellent performances are given by all of the participants.  Costuming, sets, production, and effects are supreme.  Bravo to everyone involved in this episode.

Failures:
None.

Stargate SG-1, Season 5, Episode 14

"48 Hours"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:
Peter Woeste -- Director
Andy Wilson -- Director of Photography

James Tichenor is not on this commentary, and his presence is missed.  In addition to providing information about the effects on episodes, Mr. Tichenor is often a representative of the viewer, asking questions that fans of the show might ask.  When present, he keeps the flow of commentaries going, if needed.  This commentary has some stretches of silence, as the commentators seem to quietly watch the show.  I checked my DVD setting a few times during the silence, thinking I had accidentally turned off the commentary.  When the commentators are speaking, their remarks are very informative, and interesting.

Review:
SG-1 is in the midst of an off world battle against Goa’uld forces.  Death gliders pound the team’s position.  SG-1 fights their way to the stargate, and returns to SGC.  Teal’c is the last to leave the planet, firing on an Al'kesh, which is a large Goa’uld vessel capable of flying within a planet’s atmosphere.  The Al'kesh is damaged, and crashes into the stargate as Teal’c jumps through the wormhole.  The crash results in an energy surge that wreaks havoc on the stargate.  Teal’c does not come through the gate at SGC before the wormhole shuts down.  Diagnoses reveal that Teal’c is trapped in the stargate’s mechanism, his essence still within the gate instead of reintegrating at SGC.

Activation of SGC’s stargate before resolving the problem of Teal’c’s reintegration will erase Teal’c from the gate’s memory, essentially obliterating him.  SGC resets their iris, forcing incoming wormholes to exit at the Russian’s stargate, thereby buying time to solve the problem of getting Teal’c back.  Daniel is sent to Russia, along with Major Davis (“Absolute Power”), to negotiate the further use of the Russian stargate.  The Russians use the opportunity to air their grievances about the United States not upholding their end of an agreement to share alien technology with Russia.  The Russians use the United States' needs as a way to force compliance with the agreement.

Back at SGC, Dr. Rodney McKay is brought in from Area 51 by Colonel Simmons (“Desperate Measures”) to work with Carter on getting Teal’c back.  However, there is a forty-eight hour time limit to reintegrate Teal’c.  Colonel Simmons has scientific support that any longer than 48 hours will result in too much of Teal’c’s information being lost by the stargate mechanism to ever bring him back.  Carter disagrees with that assessment, however Simmons has enough political pull to force SGC’s stargate back into use at the end of the 48 hour window.

Out of the blue, Maybourne (“Desperate Measures”) contacts O’Neill, warning him not to trust Simmons.  Neither of them know that Simmons is the one who shot O'Neill in “Desperate Measures,” and made off with the Goa’uld infested Adrian Conrad.  O'Neill thinks Maybourne shot him.  O’Neill is not sure whether to trust the word of the proven traitor with occasional moments of honor, Maybourne, about the antagonistic representative of a sketchy government agency, Simmons.

The three plots converge, as the overt distrust between the Russian and United States stargate programs, and the covert dealings of the N.I.D.’s Simmons, threaten to end any chance of getting Teal’c back alive.

Tom McBeath returns as Harry Maybourne, and continues his excellent portrayal of the morally ambiguous traitor.  John de Lancie returns as Frank Simmons, who is still sketchy, making it difficult to determine whether or not he is part of the darker side of the N.I.D.  Garry Chalk returns as Colonel Chekov ("The Tomb").  This episode introduces the character of Rodney McKay, played by David Hewlett.  All of the regular cast members provide great performances.

This is a complex story, with three separate plots, which are expertly woven together.  Except for the opening scene, the story is based on Earth, something that has the potential to become dull.  However, in this instance, the excitement is not diminished by the lack of off world travel.

Failures:
None.