"Evolution: Part 1"
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.
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