Stargate SG-1, Season 5, Episode 8

"The Tomb"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:
Peter DeLuise -- Director
Joseph Mallozzi -- Writer
Paul Mullie -- 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:
On P2X 338, SG-1 wants to gain access to the inside of a ziggurat.  Daniel is having some difficulty finding, and opening, a door into the structure.  He thinks it has been 3,000 years since anyone was there prior to SG-1’s arrival.  Carter finds evidence to the contrary -- an empty pack of Russian cigarettes.  Wait just a minute, the Russians stopped using their stargate after what happened in “Watergate,” did they not?  Yes.  However, during the brief time their stargate program operated there were unauthorized off world trips, including one to P2X 338.  Three Russian commandos, and an archaeologist, went missing six days before the events in “Watergate.”  They are thought to be the ones who went to the planet with the ziggurat.

It is too hot during the day for the missing people to have survived on the planet this long, unless they found a way into the ziggurat.  On the chance that the missing Russian team is still alive, a mission to P2X 338 is authorized, with SG-1 being accompanied by another group of Russians.

O’Neill’s intense dislike, bordering on hatred, of Russians resurfaces.  There is still no explanation for Jack’s extreme antagonism towards Russians.  SG-1 meets the four member Russian team.  Each person is an almost exact reflection of an SG-1 team member.  The Russian team's leader, Colonel Zukhov,  and O'Neill loathe each other soon after first meeting.  The two teams leave SGC, and gate back to the ziggurat.

Daniel eventually solves the secret to opening the structure’s entrance.  Stones groan as the door’s mechanism grinds open, revealing a darkness so deep it seems solid.  The two teams head into the depths of the ziggurat.  Moving through corridors lit only by the glow of their gun-mounted flashlights; unsure of what may be around the corner, and how much to trust their companions, if at all.  I think this is the scariest Stargate SG-1 episode of the series.  The story does not take the easy route, using the old hat method of startling the viewer by having things suddenly jumping out on screen.  Instead, the episode is clever, creatively using intellectual surprises, pieces of a puzzle coming together in a dark, threatening, and creepy location.

A well written story.  The dialog is okay, however, the actors take occasionally bland words and bring them to life with wit, and nuance.  Everyone’s performance is well done in this episode.

Failures:
I can be told that a character doesn’t like a certain food, and I will accept it.  I can be told that a character favors a certain style of clothing, and I will accept.  I can be told that a character has a big hate on for an entire country, but I will not accept it.  I think O’Neill’s unexplained -- yet used as motivation for some of his behavior -- extreme intense dislike of all things Russian is tiresome.  Colonel Zukhov’s seeming distaste for all things American was more subdued.  He did not become overtly obnoxious until after O’Neill did.

Stargate SG-1, Season 5, Episode 7

"Beast of Burden"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Fair

Commentary by:
Martin Wood -- Director
Jim Menard -- Director of Photography
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:
The Unas named Chaka (“The First Ones”) is captured on his home world by non-Earth humans.  Daniel later sees video of the capture, taken by one of the cameras he placed near the stargate on Chaka’s home world.  The gate address used by the humans is also on the video.

Daniel wants to find Chaka.  O’Neill is not enthusiastic about the idea.  However, the human abductors possessed Goa’uld weaponry, which does spark his interest.  SG-1 heads to the humans’ planet, intent on learning why they have Goa’uld weapons.  Daniel also wants to rescue Chaka.  Arriving on the humans’ planet, the team makes their way from the stargate.  O’Neill and Daniel head into a nearby village.  There, they encounter Unas being auctioned off by a man named Burrock.  Carter and Teal’c remain hidden in the surrounding woods.

Burrock relates how, in the past, the humans on the planet were ruled by a Goa’uld who used Unas as cronies.  The Goa’uld left the planet, and never returned.  The humans overthrew the Unas during a long ago war.  Since then, the humans use Unas as slaves.  Burrock wants to keep Chaka, in order to introduce new blood into the inbred Unas population on that world.

Daniel is willing to do almost anything to free Chaka.  O’Neill, eh, not so much.  A failed attempt to save Chaka leads to Burrock capturing Daniel and O’Neill.  Outnumbered, with half the team imprisoned, and the stargate under heavy guard, SG-1 must find a way to regain their freedom, and get back home.

Dion Johnstone (“The Fifth Man”) is Chaka, and does a masterful job conveying emotion through the Unas costume, and makeup.  The rest of the actors’ performances are fine.

Failures:
There are missed, and ignored, opportunities in this episode.

The story demonstrates an interesting question, but does little else.  The question is: how intelligent must a species be before domestication turns into enslavement?  Daniel perceives Chaka’s intelligence to be at a level where his captivity is enslavement.  Burrock does not hold the same view.  The specifics of why the two men hold their disparate views are not fully addressed.  They both believe what they believe because that is what they believe.  This adds nothing to the story.  O’Neill seems to be riding the fence on the question, unsure about whether or not the Unas are actually intelligent.  And, he's still holding a grudge about the SG team members' deaths caused by Chaka (and, possibly other Unas) in “The First Ones.”  “Beast of Burden” was a chance to explore the fuzzy line between domestication and enslavement of a different species.  Ultimately, the story restates existing questions, without providing anything fresh.

Burrock is a missed opportunity.  Rather than a three-dimensional, fully rounded character -- one having redeeming qualities, as well as tremendous faults -- Burrock is just sadistic, greedy, and psychotic.  An appropriate analogy for slavery, but not the way to present a believable character.

For someone who earns his keep breeding and selling Unas, Burrock literally kills a lot of his trade with actions based on whims, and rapid mood swings.

Stargate SG-1, Season 5, Episode 6

"Rite of Passage"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Good

Commentary by:
Peter DeLuise -- 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:
Cassandra, the charming child from “Singularity” is now a petulant teenager.  Dr. Frasier adopted her about four years ago.  At home, after giving Dr. Frasier some attitude, Cassandra heads to the front porch, and her awaiting honey-bunny.  She and her boyfriend smooch.  The porch light shatters and Cassandra falls unconscious.  Frasier takes her to the SGC infirmary.   Along with severe flu-like symptoms, Cassandra is also producing a fluctuating electro-magnetic field, which increases in strength over time.

The Goa’uld Nirrti (“Fair Game”) wiped out everyone in the girl’s village, and implanted a bomb inside Cassandra that would have destroyed Earth’s stargate, and much of the western United States.  Considering her past actions, Nirrti is considered a likely source of the retrovirus causing Cassandra’s current illness.  Without a cure, she will die.

Video of the girl’s people taken by SG folks documents other children exhibiting the same symptoms as Cassandra now experiences.  The children would go into a nearby forest while they were ill, and return to the village a few days later, suddenly healthy.  Cassandra wants to go to the forest, located on her home world.  Instead, SG-1 goes to the planet, and into the forest.  There, they discover a secret laboratory, apparently belonging to Nirrti.  Dr. Frasier and the team try to determine the cause of Cassandra’s illness before she dies.

Colleen Rennison portrays Cassandra.  Ms. Rennison portrayed the plucky ‘tween in “Bane.”  The part in this episode calls for a sullen teen, and Ms. Rennison delivers.  Another actor, Katie Stuart, was Cassandra in “Singularity.”  Everyone’s performances were nice.

Failures:
Years have passed since Cassandra’s last appearance on Stargate SG-1.  The character is different now, and rightly so.  However, not being a party to the changes in Cassandra as she grew up makes it difficult for me to embrace the new, snippy, antagonistic, cranky, smart-mouth version of her present in most of this episode.

Stargate SG-1, Season 5, Episode 5

"Red Sky"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Fair

Commentary by:
Martin Wood -- Director
James Tichenor -- Visual Effects Producer
Amanda Tapping -- “Carter”

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 arrives on a planet, forcibly tumbling out of the stargate.  That sort of exit from a wormhole ended in Stargate SG-1’s first season, explained away as computer corrections for the shift in planetary locations over the millennium.  DHDs automatically correct such things, however, SGC uses an elaborate computer program to dial gate addresses, as they do not have a DHD.  The Russians have a DHD (“Watergate”), however, they are not allowing SGC to use it.

On the planet, the team encounters a group of humans near the stargate.  The people call themselves the K’tau.  Or, maybe that is the planet’s name.  The people are not particularly interesting, so it does not matter.  Some Goa’uld snatched the K’tau from Earth a long time ago.  K’tau is part of the Protected Planets Treaty (“Fair Game”), and safeguarded from the Goa’uld by the Asgard.  Like the people of Cimmeria (“Thor's Chariot”), the K’tau believe in gods based on a Norse pantheon, although their civilization is more advanced than the Cimmerians.  Maybe analogous to a 17th century Europe level of development.

Shortly after SG-1’s arrival, K’tau’s sun turns red.  The change in the visible light spectrum means that plants will die out, and the population will starve.  Based on their experiences on Cimmeria, SG-1 contacts the Asgard for help.  Rather than Thor, they reach Freyr who, unlike Thor, is not charmed by O’Neill.  Due to the tenets of the Protected Planets Treaty, the Asgard cannot fix the problem with the sun.  Something about not giving blatant aid that is more technologically advanced than a planet’s civilization.  How fixing the sun would advance the K'tau's techno-knowledge is not explained.  Messing up the sun sure didn't advance the K'tau's knowledge.  Anyway, SG-1 must determine the cause of that sun’s shift to the infrared spectrum, and fix the problem.

The actors' performances are fine.

Failures:
Part of the story concerns a superstitious culture arguing about whether or not SG-1's appearance on their planet is a harbinger of doom.  Nothing new is brought into the discussion, which bounces between a couple of K’tau characters that are two-dimensional cliches.  Elrad, a calm, thoughtful, leader versus Malchus a hyper religious zealot.  Zen peace versus chaos.  Thought versus fear.  Decafe versus caffeinated.  The rest of the K’tau are not endearing either, not doing much other than often muttering amongst themselves.

O’Neill is willing to allow all of the K’tau to die because the unsanctioned activity of one of the K'tau results in the death of two SG team members.  Having O’Neill care about SG people is essential to his character, but taking it to the point where he is willing to allow the annihilation of an entire planet as retribution is way over the top as a reaction.

The Asgard are vast with unhelpfulness when asked to aid people they protect.  The K’tau think everything that happens to them, or their world, is their gods' whim.  There was no chance that the Asgard fixing the problem with the sun would have artificially advanced the K’tau’s technological knowledge.  Agreeing to a treaty that only allows the Asgard to protect a planet from a Goa’uld threat seems shortsighted, and irrational.

There are interesting aspects to this episode.  However, many of the major players almost qualify as mustache twirling villains, due to their poor behavior, and inane rationale.

Stargate SG-1, Season 5, Episode 4

"The Fifth Man"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Commentary by:
Peter DeLuise -- Director
Joseph Mallozzi -- Writer
Paul Mullie -- 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:
Off world, SG-1 battles a large contingent of Jaffa near a stargate.  Except for O’Neill and Tyler, who are pinned down by Jaffa weapons' fire some distance away.  O’Neill orders the rest of his team to return to SGC, and get reinforcements.  Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c return to SGC, and request help from General Hammond in order to rescue O’Neill and Tyler.  Rather than granting the request, General Hammond tells Carter to slow her roll.  He wants to know who the heck is Tyler.  Carter, Daniel, and Teal’c state that he is a member of SG-1, of course.  Hammond states that there is no such person as Tyler on SG-1.

Did SG-1 travel to an alternate universe SGC?  Or, is it all a dream, and the story ends with a scene of either O’Neill, Daniel, Teal’c, or Tyler in the shower?  No.  Although, it would have been nice to incorporate a scene of one of the guys taking a shower.  Hmmm … *cough* ahem, anyway, SG-1 and General Hammond are both right about Tyler.  Carter, Daniel, and Teal’c investigate why no one else at SGC remembers Tyler.  At the same time, Dr. Frasier and General Hammond investigate why SG-1 is convinced that the seemingly non-existent Tyler is a real person.

The viewpoints converge as a conspiracy is uncovered involving the covert accessing of SG-1 personnel files.  Simultaneously, Dr. Frasier uncovers something about Tyler.  Due to concerns about SG-1 perhaps being under alien influence, and an unknown party snooping on SG-1, O’Neill and Tyler remain stranded off world, struggling to survive a Jaffa onslaught.

Dion Johnstone is Tyler.  Mr. Johnstone’s portrayal is wonderful, absolutely convincing as the fifth SG-1 team member who is real, yet just a wee bit off.  He also portrayed Chaka in “The First Ones.”  John de Lance returns as Colonel Frank Simmons (“Ascension”), the N.I.D. representative with questionable goals.  Simmons is smug, and arrogant.  Mr. de Lancie’s Simmons is supreme when it comes to dropping thinly veiled threats.  Kudos to both guest stars.  The regular cast provides strong performances.  An exciting, very interesting episode.

Failures:
Jaffa are supposed to be fearsome warriors, with great fighting skills.  Sometimes, I think Teal’c and Bra’tac are the only good fighters amongst the Jaffa.  This is one of those times.  O’Neill almost single-handedly kills a lot of Jaffa, while holding off many more.  The Jaffa are numerous, each armed with a staff weapon.  Yet, O’Neill prevails through much of the fighting.