SG-1 Season Four DVD Set - Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set: Good

Audio commentary on each episode.

No "play all" option.
The only audio language is English.

Subtitles: None

This is a five-disc set, with 22 episodes.
Each episode is approximately 44 minutes long.

All episodes are anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1.

Sound: 5.1 Dolby Surround (Dolby Digital)

The special features are not rated.

Although there are no subtitles, the episodes are close captioned. You can use the close caption option on your television to view the dialog in English.

The special features are not closed-captioned.

There is not a “play all” option.  Episodes have to be accessed for viewing one at a time.

Special Features:

Disc 1: “Secret Files of the SGC: Enhanced Visual Effects”
Disc 2: “Secret Files of the SGC: Alien Species: Friend & Foe”
Disc 5: “Stargate SG-1: Timeline to the Future  - Legacy of the Gate”

I rate this set Good because it has all of the season’s episodes in their entirety, and in broadcast order.  There is audio commentary for each episode. Slim cases, and nice artwork.

SG-1 Season Three At a Glance

My rating for each episode in season three.

Episode 1: Into the Fire - Excellent
Episode 2: Seth - Good
Episode 3: Fair Game - Excellent
Episode 4: Legacy - Good
Episode 5: Learning Curve - Fair
Episode 6: Point of View - Excellent
Episode 7: Deadman Switch - Excellent
Episode 8: Demons - Poor
Episode 9: Rules of Engagement - Fair
Episode 10: Forever in a Day - Excellent
Episode 11: Past and Present - Excellent
Episode 12: Jolinar's Memories - Good
Episode 13: The Devil You Know - Very Good
Episode 14: Foothold - Excellent
Episode 15: Pretense - Good
Episode 16: Urgo - Fair
Episode 17: A Hundred Days - Fair
Episode 18: Shades of Grey - Good
Episode 19: New Ground - Good
Episode 20: Maternal Instinct - Good
Episode 21: Crystal Skull - Excellent
Episode 22: Nemesis -Excellent


Season 3 begins, and ends, with exciting, imaginative episodes.  There are a number of Good to Excellent episodes, however some lose enjoyment value after the first viewing.  The suspense, and secrets, of the story carry such episodes.

I think the last two episodes of season three are where Stargate SG-1 hits its stride, and finds its zone -- that sweet spot with the perfect balance of character growth, and change, spiced with just the right amount of action.  From now through the end of season eight *, the show rarely deviates from its course.  It does not become boring, stale, or stagnant.  It changes with the passage of time, bringing the viewer on the journey right along with SG-1.

* Seasons nine and ten are enjoyable as well, just with a different story arc, and a change in cast.

Stargate SG-1, Season 3, Episode 22

"Nemesis"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

SGC is positively bucolic.  Due to Daniel's emergency appendectomy, SG-1 is on leave.  Teal’c is off world, visiting his son.  Carter is working on neglected experiments.  Daniel is on bed rest in the SGC infirmary.  O’Neill is in his civvies, ready to head out and go fishing.  Something has to rescue this episode from all the peace and quiet.  Something like O’Neill being unexpectedly beamed out of SGC, and onto Thor’s ship.  How about he re-integrates on Thor’s ship, named The Belisknor, and there is no Thor in the vicinity, however a hoard of metallic “bugs” move towards O’Neill’s location, with their creepy metal buggy-legs flailing around, and creepy metal tippy-toes making clacking sounds.  That'll get this episode moving.

Thor is injured, and transports O’Neill onto the Belisknor hoping that O’Neill can figure out a way to destroy the ship.  The metal bugs, a.k.a. the Replicators -- the enemy of the Asgard mentioned in "Fair Game", have commandeered Thor’s ship, and thereby gained access to information about Earth.  The Replicators intend to land the ship on Earth, then overwhelm and destroy Earth’s civilizations.  O’Neill requests ordinance from SGC, and orders Carter and Teal’c (who was called back to SGC) not to beam up to the Belisknor.  To delay the Replicators, Thor disabled the outbound aspect of the ship’s transporter device.  Once on the ship, there is no way to beam off of it.  General Hammond overrides O’Neill’s order because Carter devised a plan that will allow everyone to safely escape the ship.

The initial plan to destroy Thor's ship and escape is solid, except for the part about destroying Thor’s ship.  The Asgard invest a lot of their intelligence in creating space ships that are not easily destroyed using explosive devices.  Thor’s ship moves closer to Earth, and closer to the invasion of the Replicators.  SG-1, minus Daniel, races against time, working on a way to keep the Belisknor from reaching Earth, while the Replicators are subverting more of the ship’s systems.

The episode beings with a quiet, amusing interlude.  Before the title and credits role, the show revs into motion.  Suspense and action build consistently throughout.  All of the regular cast is on their “A” game, performing extremely well.  A nice balance of character development, and exciting exploits.  I give a special nod of appreciation for Anderson’s portrayal of O’Neill.  This episode is a great example of director Martin Wood making a small set seem like a vast, unending path of very long corridors.  Kudos to Mr. Wood, the set department, and everyone involved.

An entertaining episode, and an amazing end to season three.

Failures:
None.

Stargate SG-1, Season 3, Episode 21

"Crystal Skull"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Excellent

Investigating a planet using a MALP, folks at SGC see an enormous temple, which appears Mayan.  The MALP transmits readings that may take Earth’s knowledge about physics down a new path.  Carter is excited.  A crystal humanoid skull is on a pedestal within the pyramid.  Daniel is intrigued.  Daniel’s grandfather, Nicolas Ballard, discovered a similar crystal skull in Belize in 1971.  Ballard claimed the crystal skull had the power to transport a person to another location, where they would meet giant aliens.  His claim did not go over well in the academic community.  Nicolas was never able to replicate transportation, or get any further results from his artifact.

SG-1 gates to the planet with the enormous Mayan-ish temple, however, radiation concerns severely limit the amount of time the team can safely remain there.  Daniel goes to the crystal skull, and tries to trigger the transportation experience Nick described.  There is a spike in the level of harmful radiation, and some mysterious energy activity is building around the crystal skull.  Teal’c fires his ‘zat at the skull to disrupt the energy field.  Daniel is knocked unconscious by the resulting energy surge.  Carter collapses, overcome by the effects of the increased radiation level.  Daniel is lying unconscious in the open, yet he can no longer be seen by the rest of the team.  To them, he has disappeared.  Teal’c is concerned, and confused, about Daniel’s disappearance.  `O’Neill orders an immediate return to SGC, as he struggles to carry the unconscious Carter and deal with the radiation sickness he is experiencing.  Whew!  And, that happens in one or two minutes of the show.  These events trigger an episode that is rife with suspense, mystery, humor, and pathos.

Jan Rube is Nicolas Ballard, the charming scoundrel who will probably never earn a "world's best grandpa" mug.  The regular cast is outstanding.  A special nod to Shanks as Jackson, and kudos to everyone in a scene with him.  It is difficult to act like someone who is right next to you, speaking and moving around, it not visible or audible.  Bravo to everyone in this episode.

Failures:
No a failure, so much as the question that usually comes up when someone is out of phase in a story -- why doesn’t Daniel just sink through the floor and the Earth, or float through the ceiling and the sky, or stay in one spot while the Earth rotates around him?  The short answer, of course, is because he is needed in the scenes.  Still ...

Stargate SG-1, Season 3, Episode 20

"Maternal Instinct"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Good

Bra’tac gates from Chulak to SGC.  He brings news -- Apophis attacked Chulak.  Apophis’ survival, revealed to the viewing audience at the end of “The Devil You Know,” is unwelcome news for SGC.  The attack seems retaliatory against Jaffa who are no longer loyal to Apophis, and instead side with Teal’c’s rebellion.  Goa’ulds are not above wiping out everyone in order to destroy a few enemies.  Bra’tac and Teal’c realize that Apophis’ tactics in attacking Chulak involved more than just destruction.  Apophis was searching Chulak for the Harcesis.

No one knows the exact location where Amonet hid the child.  Daniel knows the name of the hiding place, Keb (“Forever in a Day”), however he does not know Keb’s location.  But, Bra’tac does.  The Goa’uld fear Keb, a legendary location where elderly Jaffa used to go when they could no longer carry a symbiote.  After some extrapolation, research, and good old fashion guess work, the probable stargate address for Keb is discovered.  SG-1, and Bra’tac, gate to the address.  SG-1 to search for the Harcesis child, and Bra’tac, the weary warrior, searches for his final resting place.

Although the Harcesis is the catalyst for the events in this episode, the first half of the show primarily concerns Bra’tac.  The second half relates primarily to Daniel.  Anderson is in great form as O’Neill during the second half of the episode.  The rest of the regular cast performs well.  The concept of ascension is introduced in this episode.

The promise of intrigue and suspense is strong early, but then much of the story’s momentum is lost during the middle of the show.  Things pick up again near the end, and result in a satisfying close to the episode.

Failures:
After everything that’s occurred since “Children of the Gods,” the Jaffa on Chulak still don’t seem to keep much of a guard on their stargate.

Daniel learned about Amonet hiding the Harcesis on Keb during “Forever in a Day.”  When, and how, did Apophis learn that Amonet hid the child on Keb?