Stargate SG-1 - First time viewing of whole series

[The Wormhole]

Actually, season 4 is probably one of my least favourite seasons. And this batch wasn't really stellar. Well, Point of No Return, The Curse, and The Serpent's Venom were pretty good, the other three didn't really impress me at all. Although Beaneth the Surface does have that awesome joke where O'Neill mixes General Hammond up with Homer Simpson.

[teacake]

I wish I could remember the show by seasons.. sometimes I expect the same level of retention as I have with Trek but I forget that's a result of way too many rewatches.

[Captain Craig]

4x14-Chain Reaction: A good episode and show like this seemingly have to be done during any long running(which at this point SG-1 had already become) show. Shake up the status quo. Show just why the dynamic works, replace a character. Here Hammond steps down, but we find out he was forced out. He's replaced by a General Bauer who breaks up SG-1. He also instantly starts more agressive missions. Bauer reminds us of the directive to find and retain alien tech to repel invaders so Bauer is going after naqudah(sp). As all shows like this happen Hammond is back by the end. I can't recall the name but there is that TNG episode where Starfleet moves Picard off the Enterprise and this felt a bit like that in some respects. Right down to the bald head!

4x15-2010: I liked this episode cause it shows what happens when you get what you wish for. Nice aliens, with cure alls for human disease etc when really it's revealed the aliens are playing the long game. Kill you with kindness essentially. By the time you figure it out, if you do, you've been defeated and most likely relegated to being a slave class but that's assumption as they didn't get that far with Earth. Just the title is fun, 2010. It would've been what late 2000/early '01 when this aired? So 2010 was both near and distant. It's also funny how they use little plot points like their 60's time travel as the ultimate basis for winning the day here.

4x16-Absolute Power: Daniel Jackson as a god? That's essentially what happens in this episode. A young boy from Abydos comes to the SGC and somehow "infects" Daniel with the knowledge of the Gou'ald. It's one of those shows that basically takes place only in Daniels mind, meaning it's another big reset button episode after we just had that with 2010. Come on now. Ergo, I didn't really like this one that much.

4x17-The Light: An abandoned Gou'ald palace contains an orb that emits a light that has a fatal effect on humans. One SGC member commits suicide by jumping into the forming event horizon. After visiting the abandoned palace Daniel almost jumps from his balcony and other SG personnel fall ill. I'm not really sure what we learned from this episode? I admit, I nodded off somewhere in the middle. First time that's happened. Is this going to be a show I need to rewatch. I didn't overly enjoy the bulk of it so unless those few minutes are crucial down the road I'm sticking with this being a stand alone lack luster installment.

[The Wormhole]

The Light is pretty terrible, in fact I skip it whenever I cycle through the series. The only thing of any real importance is that we learn Teal'c's age, he'll be 101 his next birthday. That will be important to keep in mind later in the series.

The rest were solid episodes, IMO, but I agree it was cheap and greasy to do two reset buttons in a row.

[gturner]

The boy in Absolute Power was the harsisus (sp?) child (son of Apophis and Daniel's wife, Share) who possesses all the knowledge of the Goa'uld.

[Captain Craig]

4x19-Prodigy: I liked this episode a lot. Hope she gets to be the Wesley Crusher/Lucas of the show although I somehow doubt it. She'll probably just die next time we see her, if we see her at all. The young brash trying to prove herself cadet who finally meets "The Great Sam Carter" to whom she's been constantly compared. Sci-Fi shows never run out of the tropes of the scientists here who just have no respect or understanding of the dangers of interstellar travel. Even when things seem ok. Solid episode!

4x20-Entity: Poor Carter this is the second time her minds been dumped into a computer, right? First time was the robot. This episode felt like it was sampling moments from Johnny Mnemonic, Matrix or TekWar(what little I saw of that). A decent episode but it didn't overly wow me.

4x21-Double Jeopardy: HaHa, just as last episode made me recall the SG-1 robots this episode had them! Loved this episode. Best one in this grouping imo. The SG-1 robots are out doing missions, uh oh! I know there was a slight bit of dialogue that suggested, as robot-O'Neill lay there "dying", that he might yet be repaired. Still, robot-Daniel is dead and can't be reconstituted I'm guessing.

4x22-Exodus: I know other shows use this method of an intro but this episode just starts with, "Oh, by the way while you were away SG-1 captured a Gou'ald mothership". So they are taking their prize to the Tok'ra to help them relocate their hidden base. It's also a ploy to uncover the spy in their midst. Props for another throw back reference to the planet where the Black Hole is sucking everything in. Pretty cool visual of the Stargate encased in a forcefield as it floats out the cargo hold. When the episode ends and our team has been flung to the farside of the universe I had vibes of ST:VOY. Knew that couldn't last so how are we getting back?

Onward to season 5, almost halfway now. I seem to be averaging about a season per month since I started late Sep, I need to get cracking for Feb., short month and all.

Note: I noticed I had mis-numbered. I typed out 4x7 twice in post 108 which I caught when I saw the numbering was only going to be 21 episodes.

[Lindley]

Captain Craig wrote:

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4x22-Exodus: I know other shows use this method of an intro but this episode just starts with, "Oh, by the way while you were away SG-1 captured a Gou'ald mothership".

It's not offscreen. You saw them capture it at the end of Double Jeopardy.

[Captain Craig]

^^^
DOH! Why didn't I put that together? I know I was very focused on the robot doubles for that episode.
I've got to stop multitasking during the shows. I'm starting to miss things.

[MacLeod]

Captain Craig wrote:

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4x11-Tangent: The Air Force has constructed a special Gou'ald attack ship left over from downed fighters recovered from Sokkar/Apophis. Course now Apophis is in control and something has alerted him to the new Air Force ship, from afar. While Jack and Teal'c are doing test maneuvers with the ship Apophis activates a recall function. It's never said how Apophis nows the parts are back in function but he knows and activates a recall. For that missing explanation I feel it's a bit weak of an episode. Why a recall? Why not a self destruct on crucial parts so your own tech can't be used in the manner the Air Force had? Bit weak of an episode imo.

Apophis wasn't in control nor was he aware of the X-301. The recall device was installed into his Death Glidler's following Teal'c' defection. The recall device appears to be self-activating. (At least thats the inferrence the episode gives)

As for a recall aside from not destroying a valuable peice of hardware (no doubt his motherships had the same recall device), it allows the traitor to contemplate his actions. It comes down to the Gou'ald mineset thinking they are gods. Killing a traitor quickly isn't nearly as satisfing as knowing they will die slowly in the cold of space.

[The Wormhole]

A pretty decent batch of episodes this time around, although Entity certainly left a lot to be desired.

When General Ryan was on set to film his cameo in Prodigy, RDA asked him if there were any actual Colonels like O'Neill in the USAF. Ryan said there were plenty, plus plenty more who were worse.

[Captain Craig]

Season 5

5x1-Enemies: We start with SG-1 stranded on the far side of the galaxy with Apophis ship. Apophis fires on a third ship instead and SG-1 with Jacob use that distraction to hide in the sun's corona. When they remerge they detect no life on Apophis ship. When they ring over they discover the robot spiders(blanking on their name) that the Ancients fear so much. However, that's not the real shocker. It's that Apophis is there and has somehow brainwashed Teal'c(who was believed dead[yeah right] when he was shot in the back) into now thinks once agin he his First Prime. The irony is that the spider robots use their advances to speed up the ship in order to get back home. The best part is that Apophis seems once again to be dead. So when did the South Park Kenny jokes start for this guy? Overall a solid season opener with the Teal'c twist a nice surprise.

5x2-Threshold: Bra'teck is brought in to help deprogram Teal'c from the brainwashing. Master Bra'teck has a unique method to go about this, remove his symbiote and induce a type of fevered hallucination. This forces him to relive the key moments in his life so this ep is like a mini clip show but not nearly as bad. It was a fair episode though.

5x3-Ascension: As a fan of the Young Indy Chronicles it was nice to see Sean Patrick Flannery with a key role. Also, the alum from ST:TNG continues as John DeLancie shows up as a mysterious Colonel taking orders from unseen places. SPF is an alien who as ascended beyond the physical plane but he reveals he's an exile of his kind for using his powers to interfere with other less evolved races. He's fallen in love with Carter and retakes physical form thus giving up his powers. I'd like to think his character might come back, maybe even his race. The Ancients are clearly not the only powerful aliens out there but this races "Prime Directive" makes it less likely they'll help vs the Gou'ald and other threats. I liked the casting here more than the actual story so I grade it on a curve as above average.

5x4-The Fifth Man: I really liked this episode. This race has a type of chameleon affect and they use a chemical residue to implant a suggestion on you if necessary to sell an illusion. He's escaping a Gou'ald prison research center where they are seeking to learn the secret of this chameleon technique. He comes across SG-1 and convinces them he's a member of the team. Half the team makes it back but tell Hammond that O'Neill and Tyler are stranded. Hammond and the rest of the SGC lock the team into quarantine cause no one can confirm a Lt. Tyler. DeLancie's dreaded Colonel Simons reappears once again trying to build a case against the SGC. Tyler, our alien, comes to appreciate the noble and admirable qualities of SG-1 and he respects them. I'd like to think that this alien or race will show up again later. Even if they are a passive race with no means to fight perhaps they can assist the SGC in some other manner.

[The Wormhole]

Enemies and Threshold are excellent episodes, Threshold especially for the in-depth look into Teal'c's past. The other two, meh. Honestly, I never cared for John de Lancie's character, which is odd since I like him in everything else I see him in, like Star Trek and Torchwood. I guess the main problem is that they just made it too obvious that he has a hidden agenda, that he's not a good guy at all. The guy is basically a moustache twirler more obvious than the over the top Goa'uld.

[gturner]

I liked Ascension because we got to see Carter's home life (or lack thereof) and an interesting alien, along with a lot of insights into the Ascended "others" that would've otherwise been hard to develop.

I wonder if John De Lancie's character was created as an alternate Senator Kinsey?

[teacake]

I always think Carter's house looks like it's not really hers. Too much decor, where did she find the time? Or the inclination? I would have liked her house to be more the house of a scientist.

[The Wormhole]

I thought Carter's house seemed a bit too large for just one person, especially one serving in the military where transfers across the country are the expected norm. Granted, her job at the SGC likely meant she'd be guaranteed to stay in the Colorado Springs area, but still. O'Neill's on a higher paygrade than her, and his house didn't look that big.