Stargate SG-1 - First time viewing of whole series

[gturner]

I noticed that Carter's house looked like it belonged to, oh, an English teacher or somebody, not a tech geek, much less the top tech geek in the Air Force. If I'd had any expectations, they probably would've been more in line with seeing an apartment of an MIT grad student who's one step away from founding a robotics start-up, with banks of computers, gizmos, electronics, and oscilliscopes.

[Captain Craig]

5x5-Red Sky: Is an episode that at the minimum proves why the "enlightened" and more advanced civilizations the SGC has come across refer to humans as primitive. It's also revealing that when the Ancients mention there are safe guards in place to prevent what happened from happening Carter admits they bypassed them. To review they visit a world but have to bypass a built in Gate safety feature. The wormhole passes through a sun, in doing so a heavy element pollutes the sun and begins it's collapse. So who is smart enough to recognize a safety feature and dumb enough to bypass it, primitive humans apparently. Overall I really liked the episode though. Especially the extra mentions of Norse lore, like Sutur being mentioned.

5x6-Rite of Passage: Interesting surprise by revisiting Cassandra as a 16yr old teen but how this milestone is celebrated is going to harken back to her origins and an old SGC foe. Nirti that evil witch doctor of the Gou'ald has implanted a protein marker in her race in an attempt to find a way to genetically improve them to be better hosts. What I'm coming to see(maybe late but realizing it all the sam) is there is no minor event the script team will not revisit and expand upon. Which leads me to this point, when the SGC honors there deal and lets Nirti go for curing Cassandra Nirti says in her place she likely wouldn't have done the same. Jack says he'll remember that. So, some point down the road I now expect her to "owe" Jack one.

5x7-Beast of Burden: I was just feeling that "revist thought" and I started this episode. The Unas Chaka it and others Unas it seems are being used as slave labor. I know it was a season or two ago(the "ice planet" ruse") where this theme was covered but for the target audience(western culture) I just don't feel this is a social theme that needs more exploring. Slavery bad, yep, we get it. Shaking that out I just couldn't see any thing else going on in the episode of note to further sub plots etc along. Thumbs down episode.

5x8-The Tomb: This episode felt a bit like an homage to the Alien/Aliens films. Seems this string of episodes is about touchstones to other episodes. In this case the short lived Russian use of the second Stargate. Seems before the mishap with the living water aliens a team went to this planet. One where the culture is more Babylonian. I do like the spreading out o ancient earth cultures. I enjoyed this episode.

5x9-Between Two Fires: Those underhanded Tollans who like to be isolationists have just been bit in the ass. Now they in turn will sell us out to save their own enlightened arses. The story also sets the SGC's primary goal back a notch as it seems the Gou'ald now have a defense to the Tollan Ion canons that we wanted. The big reveal of what's going on is that the Gou'ald Tanith is alive after all. The ole "escape hatch" excuse but I'm good with that as he's a good foil for SG-1. The episode ends with a seeming cliffhanger. The Tollans are at war, SG-1 goes home. I have to believe we revist the fallout of this episode down the road.

5x10-2001: A sequel episode to 2010 where the Ashen race that was our saviors were secretly making humans infertile and enslaving us. This episode starts by having the team visist a planet, unknowingly, under Ashen "rule". The people there see them as benefactors. This pulls at the thread and ties back to the bloody note Jack and all risked to send back using their knowledge of their trippy '69 time travel stint. I enjoyed Boran the Boring Ashen. That actor deserves props for looking so constipated and pissed in every scene! LOL! I am curious now though as it relates to the evolving Carter/O'Neill "romance". Since this episode re-introduces Ambassador Faxon, that in the alternate timeline Sam marries. Now he was last seen fighting to allow Sam to escape on the Ashen Harvester, what's his fate, what burgeoning feelings will be at play. I doubt based on what we saw that the Ashen would kill Faxon.

5x11-Desperate Measures: Oooh, John DeLancie's duplicity Colonel Simmons is back along with the government inner mole Maybourne who used to hold that role. While it's been evolving I fee like Maybourne is becoming the Garak or Dukat to O'Neill. Maybourne may not be fully trustworthy but he's become lots of fun to watch. So Sam is kidnapped because of her former experience with being a Gou'ald host. Maybourne did a job, passed on some intel that the outcome was Sam being kidnapped, but he didn't know that. Seems some rich, self righteous mogul is dying and he's aquired himself a Gou'ald which he wants to use to cure himself. He has a team of doctors and scientists working to isolate how the symbiote cures but without implanting the symbiote. Time is running out and they have to implant. After it all shakes out the sad/funny thing is that Jack thinks Maybourne shot him, when it was really Simmons. I know that's going to be fun to revisit next time these guys cross.

5x12-Wormhole X-Treme: Producer Peter DeLouise finally finds away to get himself some serious face time in an episode that revisits the character of Martin, an alien part of a band of deserters. It's a cheeky episode that reminds one of GalaxyQuest. Fun episode all around and a good way to end this batch of episodes.


I really only found the one Unas episode, Beast of Burden, a let down during this stretch. They all had a theme of revisiting elements from prior episodes. I don't think a single episode introduced new elements. The closest is that Simmons is a new character in season 5 I suppose. But overall we are now deep into the show so the expansion of what is established isn't that surprising. They are doing a great job with it thus far imo. Half the season to go.

[teacake]

The Wormhole wrote:

---

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.

BUT! O'Neill did have a pond

[Silvercrest]

Which may or may not have any fish in it.

Captain Craig wrote:

---

5x7-Beast of Burden: I was just feeling that "revist thought" and I started this episode. The Unas Chaka it and others Unas it seems are being used as slave labor. I know it was a season or two ago(the "ice planet" ruse") where this theme was covered but for the target audience(western culture) I just don't feel this is a social theme that needs more exploring. Slavery bad, yep, we get it. Shaking that out I just couldn't see any thing else going on in the episode of note to further sub plots etc along. Thumbs down episode.

...

I really only found the one Unas episode, Beast of Burden, a let down during this stretch. They all had a theme of revisiting elements from prior episodes. I don't think a single episode introduced new elements.

The other theme here was the development of Chaka. The first time we saw him, he learned the value of friendship with someone who wasn't like him. This time, he learned to think in terms of his race rather than his tribe. (Otherwise he would have just said, "Take me home.") You don't become a revolutionary leader without gaining some depth first.

Both these aspects will be revisited.

[Captain Craig]

^^^
Thanks for bringing that up, you're right. I guess it just overshadowed the main point that I missed it. Plus since we are going to revist the Unas growth in this area as you mention pleases me. Thanks again for refocusing my attention to that point.

[The Wormhole]

All episodes in this batch are pretty decent, IMO. Interesting observsation about Maybourne being a Garak/Dukat type character. I never thought of it that way before, but yeah, I can totally see it.

[AJ86]

gturner wrote:

---

I noticed that Carter's house looked like it belonged to, oh, an English teacher or somebody, not a tech geek, much less the top tech geek in the Air Force. If I'd had any expectations, they probably would've been more in line with seeing an apartment of an MIT grad student who's one step away from founding a robotics start-up, with banks of computers, gizmos, electronics, and oscilliscopes.

I doubt Carter spends much time at home.

[gturner]

Apparently on her off time she and the team watch women do battle in a ring of Jell-O.

The Maybourne, Dukat/Garak suggestion is interesting.

Wormhole Extreme is just as much fun on a rewatch, too. The humor is packed in cute layers, and quite quotable.

I liked the bit about "How can this not be a real show if we're doing it?" along with the part about getting paid.

[The Wormhole]

I always liked the prop guy in Wormhole X-Treme.

Marty: "Where are you going with that?"
Prop Guy (holding fruit basket): "It's needed for scene 23."
Marty: "Scene 23 is set on an alien world. Do you seriously expect aliens to be eating apples?"
Prop Guy: "Why not? They speak English."

[gturner]

I also liked the bit about walking through walls that went "because you're *air quote* out of phase *air quote* " - "Then why don't I fall through the floor?"

Star Trek is guilty of that one, too.

I wish the producer had said 'because you're wearing ruby slippers.'

[Silvercrest]

The answer I came up with was: "out of phase" episodes are already the bottom of the barrel. There's nowhere to fall to.

[Captain Craig]

5x13-Proving Ground: While watching this episode I was having flashbacks to TNG's Lower Decks at time. Miss thing Lt.Hailey is back with three more top tier recruits undergoing evaluation to see if they have what it takes to join the SGC. The whole episode is one big farce of an experiment set during a "Foothold" situation. The little nugget here is that Grace Park of soon to be nuBSG fame is one of the other 3 recruits. Season 5 is what 2002-ish now? This show has a way of revisiting characters, do we get her back before nuBSG starts, that was what '03 or '04?

5x14-48 Hours: While escaping Gou'ald under Tanith SG-1 is escaping back through the Gate. Teal'C takes an opportunity to get a lethal shot in at Tanith whose ship explodes into the Gate as he's escaping home. The surge forces the Gate to close before Teal'C an remerge on the other side. This was also very reminiscent of the Trek episodes where someone is caught in the transporters pattern buffer. In order to rescue Teal'C we need to work together with the Russians for their DHD. Don't think I missed that they have to work with Chekov again in a very Trek like episode. I'm also a fan of Gary Chalk for his Transformers voice work so it's nice to see him on camera in this show. Simmons shows up to add drama to the mix by ordering resuming Gate travel, which would kill Teal'C. De'Lancie is good at the bad guy role. Maybourne then shows up and Jack finally gets to ask him why he shot him, which he didn't. I'm going long on this one, sorry. Bottom line I liked this episode.

5x15-Summit: A meeting of Gou'ald System Lords is about to take place and the Tok'ra see this as way to eliminate them with a toxic poison in one place. In order to do so they need a human who can speak Gou'ald but is unknown to these System Lords. Enter Daniel Jackson, who will also use the chemical from the alien from Fifth Man, to make sure everyone sees him as whomever he need be. Especially when the surprise mystery uninvited guest in Osiris shows up, who does know Daniel due to her human host connection in Sarah. I thought the episode did a great job of building tension as it progressed. Meanwhile the Tok'ra have a spy in their midst and their secret base has been exposed. Seems the secret of the poison is out. SG-1 and SG-17(with team leader Lt.Elliott from the Proving Ground cadets) is attached to the mission. As the Tok'ra base is coming down around them one of the Tok'ra has to jump into Eliot to stay alive. Good episode.

5x16-Last Stand: Osiris reveals to the System Lords that she is the spokesperson for another....Anubis. Long since thought dead over 1000 yrs ago. The other Lords don't believe her of course. On the Tok'ra planet it's revealed that Eliot and his new Tok'ra host aren't faring so well. Jackson is going to try and capture Sarah/Osiris before releasing the poison by baiting her into a cargo hold of a shuttle. Sadly one of the other human slaves has gotten wise to Daniels game and sells him out to the Gou'ald Yu, the one Daniel has been serving. He has to abort and get to hidden ship where Jacob Carter has been. Elliott makes a big sacrifice on the Tok'ra world and is going to release the poison once the Jaffa and Gou'ald land on the planet killing as many as possible. Good conclusion on this two parter. With Elliott gone I only hope Lt.Hailey or Grace Parks Lt character shows back up soon, maybe start of season 6?

5x17-Fail Safe: SG-1 does Armageddon, I can hear the pitch in the writers room now. An asteroid is headed on a collision course with Earth and the Asgards are unable to assist in saving the world due to some non-interference clause in their pact with the Gou'ald. The dirty secret of the episode is that the asteroid is in fact artificially created and it's core packed with Naquita(sp), that may be the first attempt at spelling that I've made, and when it strikes Earth will wipe us out. So when things look bleak and this is revealed SG-1 who is stranded on the asteroid is beamed out by the Asgards....only after SG-1 has stretched the shuttles profile around the whole asteroid and warped through Earth, thus saving us. White House visits are going to be routine for this team.

[The Wormhole]

Excellent episodes this time around, except for Fail Safe. Although even that does have this excellent bit of dialogue:

O'Neill: "And I suppose if that asteroid hits and kill everyone on the planet, that would be 'unfortunate?'"
Freyr: "Very."
(Travelling trhough wormhole, O'Neill, Daniel, and Hammond in the briefing room).
O'Neill: "And that, sir, is when I lost my temper."
Hammond: "Meaning what, exactly?"
Daniel: "Meaning Jack made a comment about Freyr's mother."

[Captain Craig]

5x18-The Warrior: Following the lead of Teal'C another Jaffa has started a resistance against the Gou'ald. Upon hearing of this faction SG-1 and Master Bra'tac set off to introduce themselves. The leader, K'yanto(sp) is very charismatic and soon has Teal'C and Bra'tac ready to follow his lead to the point that O'Neill has to remind Teal'C he's also SG-1. As Teal'Cs language had begun to sound as if he were joining up with K'yanto. The real secret here is that K'yanto isn't a Jaffa at all but a Gou'ald posing as one in order to wipe out the Jaffa resistence. Pretty good episode and it shows Teal'C perhaps has emotions still very much on his sleeve to be pulled in so easily to K'yanto's ruse.

5x19-Menace: SG-1 gates to a dead world where one life form is found in a state of stasis. She is an artificial construct and once awakened back at SGC she reveals her name is Reese. There is some debate if she is all android or one whose had their consciousness downloaded into a robot, as
once happened to them. The twist in the episode is that her creator made her so well, with such a grasp of nanotech that Reese herself if actually the progenitor of the Replicators!! The Replicators broke free of her control, wiped out her planet and left her alone but moved out into the universe. She creates an army of Replicators and is going to try and leave through the Stargate but her new generation of Replicators are also starting to break free of her control. A clear shot is made, she is "killed" and the Replicators fall silent. I like this for no other reason than they gave us an interesting Ground Zero for the Replicators. Created by a being who was alone and only wanted friends but created monsters in actuality.

5x20-The Sentinel: This episode revisits Maybourne's defunct team of rouges who were stealing alien tech while masquerading as SG away teams. A peaceful planet that solely relied on a mechanical construct, called the Sentinel, to protect it is unaware it no longer works till a Gou'ald mothership shows up and the Sentinel isn't working. Two of Maybourne's team is still in prison and are the ones who actually dismantled the key hardware/software of the Sentinel. They are pressed into service to repair the damage. While the episode as a whole was mediocre I like the theme. What happens when you depend on technology so much that you can no longer do anything for yourself, such as defend yourself. What did we do before Google, for example? Over dependency on any one thing isn't good.

5x21-Meridian: SG-1 finds a planet willing to share technology freely, thus fulfilling their primary objective. However, there are some tensions and during an experiment Daniel is exposed to lethal doses of radiation. Daniel is then framed as having been a saboteur and the SG-1 team seeks to clear his name. Daniel had actually warned their new friends about proceeding and after the accident saved several scientists by "pulling a Spock" and exposing himself to radiation in order to help others. Daniel is in such bad shape that Jack Carter of the Tok'ra is brought in and he reveals Daniel is too far gone. Daniel in a vision to Jack says to stop trying and let him ascend. Daniel dies at the end of the episode. I'm guessing he's as dead as Teal'C was that one time though.

5x22-Revelations: This is episode is one part epilogue to the passing of Daniel Jackson and revelations about the Asgardians. It also brings about the return of Osiris who is searching for a secret Asgardians lab for secrets to steal. Little does she know the secrets the lab is keeping pertain to bringing fresh DNA into the Ancients gene pool. I love that the overseer of the lab is Heimdall. Seems they lost the ability to reproduce some time ago and each Asgardian you see is actually a clone. The well preserved body of an Asgardian from before the genetic breakdown has been discovered. Thor has been captured by Osiris and is being interrogated by implanting a device in his brain. Anubis has also arrived and insists they will find what they seek and they are indeed getting close. All hell is breaking lose, the lab is breached, a somewhat typical escape is made and Freyr shows up with reinforcements and Anubis flees. One of the last "revelations" here is that the tech used to implant on Thor is like no technology even the Asgardians have seen. So, just who has Anubis met? I'm guessing ultimately Anubis is just a pawn of some greater foe I'm likely to meet in S6. The episode concludes with SG-1 all talking about getting some dinner and coming to terms with their loss of Daniel. As they are awaiting the elevator a gentle breeze washes over them....Daniel.

So this episode isn't a typical cliffhanger. I'm guessing cause it's the Showtime finale? At any point there are cliff hanging elements. Whose this new technology foe? Can the Asgardians supercharge their DNA, maybe breed again? And of course the resurrection of Daniel Jackson. I kinda expected it in Revelations honestly but I guess it's part of the plan to get you over to the Sci-Fi channel. I'm assuming they knew before season 5 ended they were going there right? Or was this a possible series finale?


HALFWAY POINT

Going to take a quick break to watch the 12 episode S7 of Dexter I've just acquired.

[Sindatur]

Where you keep saying "Ancients", don't you mean Asgard (The Grey skinny naked guys (IE: Thor, Freyr, Heimdall).

BTW, did you notice in the credits Heimdall is voiced by Doctor Frazier (Teryl Rothery)