Stargate SG-1 Season 6, Episode 14

 "Smoke & Mirrors"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Good

Commentary by:

Peter DeLuise – Director
James Tichenor – Visual Effect Producer
Gary Jones – “Walter”

The commentary drifts away from what is on screen at times, but it is interesting.

 

Review: 

Events start fast, with Senator Kinsey (“2001”) being assassinated before the opening credits role. Considering Senator Kinsey's behavior in past episodes, the list of potential suspects for the assassination should be very long.

 

Jack O'Neill rolls into SGC, freshly back from his vacation, unaware of Kinsey's demise. Minutes later, MPs arrive at SGC to arrest O'Neill for killing Kinsey. The evidence against Jack is damning, but he insists that he is innocent. Does the rest of SG-1 believe that Jack is guilty? No way! Does General Hammond believe that Jack is guilty? Highly unlikely! Then there is Major Davis who, after looking at the mountain of evidence against Jack, seems a bit inclined to scratch O'Neill off of his holiday card list.  Major Davis is just being pragmatic.

 

There is a mystery afoot, and SG-1 is on the case, working to prove that Jack did not kill Kinsey. They have knowledge that is not widely known outside of SGC, and pursue leads to determine the true culprit. Carter connects with an N.I.D. contact, while Teal'c and Jonas pursue another lead.

 

This is an aptly titled mystery-based episode, and most anything I write about it would be a spoiler. It is a straight line mystery, not one full of twists and turns. So, I think it's best on the first viewing. Still, a good episode for subsequent viewings. A couple of the more entertaining parts of this episode are watching Teal'c trying to absorb the concept of due process, and then Teal'c's spin on interrogating a prisoner without physically attacking said prisoner. Christopher Judge is amazing as Teal'c.

 

All of the actors provide very good performances.

Failures:

Nothing egregious.

 

Stargate SG-1 Season 6, Episode 13

 "Sight Unseen"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Fair

Commentary by:

Peter F. Woeste – Director
Andrew D. Wilson – Director of Photography
Rick Dean – Chief Lighting Technician

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 is a filler episode, set on Earth.  You'll lose nothing by watching this episode.  You won't gain anything, either.  The best part of this episode is the commentary.

Having learned nothing from past experience, SG-1 returns to Earth from an off-world mission, bringing back a piece of unknown alien technology.  What could go wrong?

Shortly after stepping through the Stargate back to SGC, Quinn sees a giant alien insect buzzing around the gate room.  No one else sees anything, but General Hammond sensibly sounds an alert.  Nothing is found.  What does the frontline defense against potential alien incursions to Earth do in this situation?  Pretty much blow raspberries at Quinn, dismissing his sighting.  And then, go on to putter around with the unknown alien tech they brought back to Earth.  It hurts my head to type this out.

Eventually, others begin seeing the technicolor big 'ol insectoids around SGC.  And, the cause is ... wait for it ... the alien tech.  Not even Carter understands how the alien machine works, yet she and Quinn work on the machine to fix things, i.e., make the giant bugs go away.  The situation becomes worse, with more people at SGC seeing the bugs, and then people outside of the SGC begin seeing the bugs.  In addition to exposing the Stargate program to the general public, the situation has the potential to become deadly.  SGC must find a way to fix the situation.

I'm bothered by the relatively mild reactions by SGC personnel when seeing the insectoids.  An 18 inch long, brightly colored, flying grub worm with very long fangs rates more than a fairly calm, “Whoa, did you see that?” in my book.  There should be screaming, throwing of things, running from the room, and possibly weapons fire.  Kudos to the person in the SGC mess hall who had an appropriate reaction to the situation.  Now, non-SGC folks have the sort of reactions I'd expect.  Much screaming and yelping.  Jody Racicot's performance as Vernon Sharpe is very good.  The candy color alien insects are a very nicely done effect.

The cast perform fine, my questioning the SGC characters near blase reactions aside.

Failures:

SGC has yet to learn not to bring unknown alien tech to Earth. 

Stargate SG-1, Season 6, Episode 12

"Unnatural Selection"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Very Good

Commentary by:

Andy Mikita – 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 picks up immediately after the end of “Prometheus.”  Colonel Simmons and the Goa'uld infested Adrian Conrad's (“Desperate Measures”) efforts to out maneuver each other ended in both their deaths, and the X-303 is stranded in space, light-years from home. Carter states that there is no way to get back to Earth. While SG-1 processes their current, untenable, situation an Asgard ship appears. It's Thor (“Descent”). The Asgard keep an eye out on hyperspace activity near Earth, and noted the X-303's trip. SG-1 is saved! Sort of. Thor's appearance is a mix of benevolence and self-interest. The Asgard homeworld has been overrun by Replicators (“Menace” ), and Thor needs SG-1's help. Oh, and the Earth's shiny, new, partially completed ship, too.

Turns out the Asgard used information gleaned from their study of Reese (“Menace”) as bait for a Replicator trap. The Asgard found one core command in Reese that all Replicators would follow, the command, “come forth.” Our favorite little gray aliens then broadcast this command throughout the galaxy, an irresistible “come hither” for all Replicators in the galaxy. Summoned to one location, where the Asgard set up a time dilation device trap. Within the time dilation device's bubble time is considerably slowed. One year passing for the Replicators in the bubble would be about 10,000 years passing in the rest of the galaxy. A trap that gives the Asgard a lot of breathing room for finding a permanent solution to defeating the Replicators. A great plan … that didn't work. The time dilation device did not activate.

Seemingly, the Replicators managed to disable the device. The Asgard need a physically fit team, one with projectile weapons and a space ship whose tech is so low brow that the Replicators would sneer at the thought of consuming it. So, the Asgard want SG-1 to enter Replicator dominated space, repair the time dilation device, and activate it.

O'Neill is reluctant on many levels about the Asgard's plan. There's little food on the X-303, and fewer weapons. O'Neill has zero authority to commit Earth's new spaceship to the mission. And, SG-1 is currently lost in space … oh, wait. No, they aren't. Thor instantly towed the X-303 back to Earth, beamed the non-SG-1 folks from “Prometheus” on the ship to SGC, and beamed up a huge stock of weapons and food stores from SGC.

Unsurprisingly, the mission is approved by SGC. Between the possibility of losing favor with one of their few space faring allies in the fight against the Goa'uld -- admittedly one that doesn't often help out -- and the threat of the Replicators, “no” wasn't really an option for Earth.

SG-1 heads to the location where the Asgard sent the “come hither” command, the Asgard's original home world of Hala. Upon arriving at Hala, Thor discloses new information. It turns out that the time dilation device was activated, however instead of slowing time within the device's bubble, time within the field is moving faster than for the rest of the galaxy. Replicators were smart enough to keep the time dilation device from activating; then reverse its effects; and essentially had hundreds of years of free time on their hands. Upon landing on the planet, SG-1 discovers just what the Replicators were up to within the time field. A new, bigger threat to not just the Asgard, but for the entire galaxy.

The acting and effects are great, and the story provides a chance for the members of SG-1 to reflect, and act, on their morality, rather than just running and gunning towards their mission goal.  Their moral quandary is tied to the Replicators, and the answer seems easy considering the Replicators' mandate to essentially destroy and consume everything in the galaxy. However, SG-1 is left to question a decision in regards to completing their mission -- do the ends justify the means?  I think the situation is well handled, with varying reactions from the different characters.  I like that they question their decision, with some team members being more overtly bothered by their actions.

I rate this episode as Very Good because while the story is engaging, there are enough minor plot holes to keep me from giving this episode a higher rating. And, because once again Carter is used as the target of alien insta-love, a ploy used all too often in Stargate: SG-1.

O'Neill and Carter are prominent in this episode's story, with Teal'c and Quinn having little input. Except for one moment where Quinn channeled Daniel so hard, it seemed like that bit of dialog was originally written for Daniel, not Quinn.

Failures:

O'Neill spends too much time considering helping the Asgard at the beginning of the episode, even after Thor tows the X-303 back to Earth. He knows he doesn't have authority to agree to the mission, yet doesn't come out and say so for far too long.

After all this time the Asgard have yet to develop something to for situations requiring the physical presence of robust individuals and some projectile weapons. Other than calling on Earth for some (literally) heavy hitters.

Stargate SG-1, Season 6, Episode 11

"Prometheus"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Good

Commentary by:
Peter F. Woeste – Director
Andrew D. Wilson – Director of Photography
Rick Dean – Chief Lighting Technician

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 Earth, a news reporter named Julia Donovan stops Carter on the street asking her about a project named Prometheus, where over two billion dollars of tax payer money is going. No big. Except the money was funneled to the project without Congressional oversight. That reporter is just fishing. Donovan also has a small sample of a shiny metal, saying it’s trinium, and she asks Carter about it. Whoa. Things just got real. Trinium is an off world metal (“Spirits”) obtained through the Stargate program. No way should Donovan know about it.

After blowing off the reporter, Carter meets with General Hammond at SGC to discuss the encounter. Even if the sample Donovan had was not actually trinium, just knowing the name of the material indicates a security breach. The Pentagon begins an investigation of Julia Donovan in an attempt to find out what she knows, and who she learned it from. Donovan’s report will go live in four days. Major Davis (“Descent”) is sent to talk Donovan out of running the story. She is so not intimidated by Major Davis.

Donovan thinks Prometheus is a fusion reactor (it isn’t). The possibility remains that she could find out more about Prometheus, and as a result learns about the Stargate program. The President (of the United States of America) phones the reporter’s boss’ boss’ boss, and the story is dead. SGC allows Donovan and a small news crew to document the Prometheus, with an understanding – and no doubt a ton of paperwork – to not disclose what they’re shown until the U. S. Air Force gives the okay. Which will be on the calendar date of never gonna happen. However, this buys time to find out how Donovan learns about things she shouldn’t know.

Carter and Quinn take Donovan, her editor, and a small tech crew on a tour of Prometheus. Prometheus is a huge space ship, Earth - built but incorporating off world tech. It’s the X-303 (the X-302 is in “Redemption, Part 2”). Unfinished, but flight capable, the Prometheus is the future of space flight for Earth. Everything is going smoothly, until an old adversary makes their presence known. Carter and Quinn use their knowledge and abilities to thwart their old foe, while O’Neill and Teal’c come at the problem from another vantage point.

The actors provide respectable performances. The Prometheus sets and effects look amazing.

Failures:
The end of this episode sets up the beginning of the next episode, “Unnatural Selection,”  but there’s not much else to it. It’s okay for a one time viewing, but if this episode didn’t exist, the beginning of the next episode wouldn't need much of a rewrite.  I rated this episode Good, but it’s a weak Good. The effects and sets are great; the acting is good; but the story is meh.

I like the Major Davis character, but he is terrible at trying to bluff others. He attempted to do this twice, and got owned both times, neither person buying Major Davis’ bluff for a second.

Stargate SG-1, Season 6, Episode 10

"Cure"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Very Good

Commentary by:
Andy Mikita – Director
Damian Kindler – Producer
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:
SG-1 gates to the planet Pangar. The Pangarans studied their stargate, but had never been able to make it work. They are delighted to meet the Earth stargate travelers, and hope for a mutually satisfying relationship between the two planets.

Carter and O’Neill sit down with the Pangaran representatives to offer some safe, friendly stargate addresses in trade for a sample of tretonin -- an elixir the Pangarans developed which grants perfect health. The offered stargate addresses are ideal for a society new to gate travel. Thing is, the Pangarans want stargate addresses to dangerous locations, not namby-pamby safe zones. Exercising his usual level of tact (which is none) O’Neill questions why they’d want to travel to such locations. The Pangarans aren’t feeling the need to explain themselves to SG-1.

Meanwhile, Quinn and Teal’c meander around an archeological dig site where the Pangarans found their stargate, along with a native scientist named Zenna Valk. Having a seemingly eidetic memory, Quinn is the resident SG-1 walking encyclopedia. Teal’c has firsthand experience with the Goa’uld, and also provides information. Valk wants to tell Jonas something, but is reluctant to speak in front of the Pangaran security escort. So, Quinn sneaks off and riffles through Valk’s tent at the dig site. Not the most diplomatic thing to do, but the story has to keep moving.

Using the information he pilfered from Valk, Quinn and Teal’c investigate the location where Pangarans get their doses of tretonin. The pair uncover the main component needed to manufacture tretonin. Describing it as off-putting is an understatement. With their secret out, the Pangarans are more open with SG-1. Since there’s not much left to tell, this isn’t surprising. Oh, wait, scratch that last statement. There is a lot more to the Pangaran/tretontin story.

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Already complex and interesting, the story adds another layer – the Tok’ra: Malek (“Allegiance”) and Kelmaa.  Through a well written plot twist, Pangarans need to extend blind trust to SG-1, and to the Tok’ra. Although the Tok’ra arrogance volume is turned down this episode, they still aren’t making friends with their charm. For once Earth’s survival isn’t at risk, but the Pangarans and Tok’ra are having a really bad day.

A very good episode, with some startling surprises. All of the actors’ performances are done well, and are solid and believable.

Failures:
From trying to blow up a moon populated by hundreds or thousands of people (“The Devil You Know”); to forcibly taking a host to save their snaky selfs (“In the Line of Duty”); to suppressing a human host’s persona (“Abyss”); various Tok’ra show a consistent disregard for the value of a non-Tok’ra life.

There’s a point in this episode where the fate of the Pangarans is in the hands of the Tok’ra, and the Tok’ra aren’t exactly rushing to the rescue. O’Neill points out that the Tok’ra might not help the Pangarans. Carter states that the Tok’ra would never do such a thing.  Considering past Tok’ra behavior, I don’t understand how Carter can say that with a straight face.