SG-1 Rewatch and Rankings Through "Threads"

Over the last six months, I watched Stargate: SG-1 for the second time. Just like with the Star Trek series and Babylon 5, I made a list of how the episodes stack up for future reference. I hope that this will spark some interesting discussion about the adventures of the flagship team of interplanetary explorers.

Notes:

1. I watched the series from "Moebius" through Continuum on my first runthrough, but I have no lingering interest in that part of the series. Considering how much I hate the character of Vala, it is not worth putting myself through those episodes again.

2. I wrote episode summaries for the series because a lot of the titles are so bland and generic. I did not include them in this post for space reasons, but I will provide any of them upon request if you would like your memory jogged.

3. For some of the episodes in the "Bad" category, I still like certain moments or scenes. If there are parts of those episodes that you like, or if you like the episode as a whole, please share what you find good about it.

4. The series stayed at a pretty high level of quality during those first eight seasons. Breaking it down further, Seasons 1-4 were the best, 5-6 showed a slight drop in quality, and 7-8 dropped a little bit more. There are definite exceptions to that, especially when you consider the "Lost City" and "New Order" two-parters.

5. I generally like those episodes that further the main arcs of the series or have significant character development. However, quality of the episodes played a much bigger role in my decision-making process, and I can't spot too many other common threads in subject matter among the excellent episodes.

Excellent:

1: "The Fifth Race" (2-16)
2: "Forever in a Day" (3-10)
3 and 4: "Lost City" (7-21 and 7-22)
5: "Chain Reaction" (4-15)
6: "Shades of Grey" (3-18)
7 and 8: "New Order" (8-1 and 8-2)
9: "48 Hours" (5-14)
10: "Pretense" (3-15)
11: "Window of Opportunity" (4-6)
12 and 13: "The Tok'ra" (2-11 and 2-12)
14: "Absolute Power" (4-17)
15: "Meridian" (5-21)
16: "Cold Lazarus" (1-8)
17: "Abyss" (6-6)
18: "The Changeling" (6-19)
19: "The Other Side" (4-2)
20: "Touchstone" (2-14)
21: "Tin Man" (1-18)
22 and 23: "Jolinar's Memories"/"The Devil You Know" (3-12 and 3-13)
24: "Fair Game" (3-3)
25: "Threshold" (5-2)

Good:

26 and 27: “Reckoning” (8-16 and 8-17)
28: "Upgrades" (4-3)
29: "2001" (5-10)
30: "Smoke and Mirrors" (6-14)
31: "Fragile Balance" (7-3)
32: "Deadman Switch" (3-7)
33: "Secrets" (2-9)
34: "A Matter of Time" (2-15)
35 and 36: "Prometheus"/"Unnatural Selection" (6-11 and 6-12)
37: “Endgame” (8-10)
38: "Full Circle" (6-22)
39: "There But for the Grace of God" (1-20)
40 and 41: Stargate
42: "Need" (2-5)
43: "Desperate Measures" (5-11)
44: "Thor's Hammer" (1-9)
45: "Enigma" (1-17)
46: "1969" (2-21)
47: "Urgo" (3-16)
48: "2010" (4-16)
49 and 50: "Fallen"/"Homecoming" (7-1 and 7-2)
51: "Tangent" (4-12)
52: "In the Line of Duty" (2-2)
53: "Bloodlines" (1-11)
54: "Point of View" (3-6)
55: "The Nox" (1-13)
56: "The Serpent's Venom" (4-14)
57: “Citizen Joe” (8-15)
58: "Wormhole X-Treme!" (5-12)
59: "Paradise Lost" (6-15)
60: "Thor's Chariot" (2-6)
61 and 62: "Exodus"/"Enemies" (4-22 and 5-1)
63: "The Curse" (4-13)
64: "Crystal Skull" (3-21)
65: "Disclosure" (6-17)
66 and 67: "Children of the Gods" (1-1 and 1-2)
68 and 69: "Redemption" (6-1 and 6-2)
70: "Chimera" (7-15)
71: "Serpent's Song" (2-17)
72: "Brief Candle" (1-7)
73: "The Torment of Tantalus" (1-10)
74: "Solitudes" (1-19)
75 and 76: "Within the Serpent's Grasp"/"The Serpent's Lair" (1-22 and 2-1)
77: "Divide and Conquer" (4-5)
78: "Beneath the Surface" (4-10)
79: "Grace" (7-13)
80: "Between Two Fires" (5-9)
81: "Zero Hour" (8-4)
82: "Ascension" (5-3)
83: "Fire and Water" (1-12)
84: "Scorched Earth" (4-9)
85 and 86: "Evolution" (7-11 and 7-12)
87: "Inauguration" (7-20)
88: "Covenant" (8-8)
89: "The Other Guys" (6-8)
90: "Learning Curve" (3-5)
91: "Menace" (5-19)

Tolerable:

92: "Revelations" (5-22)
93 and 94: "Nemesis"/"Small Victories" (3-22 and 4-1)
95: "Family" (2-8)
96: "Singularity" (1-16)
97: "The Enemy Within" (1-3)
98: “Gemini” (8-11)
99: "Red Sky" (5-5)
100: "Descent" (6-3)
101: "Prisoners" (2-3)
102: "Foothold" (3-14)
103 and 104: "Summit"/"Last Stand" (5-15 and 5-16)
105 and 106: "Heroes" (7-17 and 7-18)
107: “It’s Good to be King” (8-13)
108: "Rite of Passage" (5-6)
109: "Crossroads" (4-4)
110: "Watergate" (4-7)
111: "Shadow Play" (6-7)
112: "Cure" (6-10)
113: "Maternal Instinct" (3-20)
114: "Fallout" (7-14)
115: "Icon" (8-5)
116: "Lockdown" (8-3)
117: "Orpheus" (7-4)
118: "Past and Present" (3-11)
119: "Seth" (3-2)
120: "The Fifth Man" (5-4)
121: "Cor-Ai" (1-15)
122: "Point of No Return" (4-11)
123: "Prophecy" (6-21)
124: "Double Jeopardy" (4-21)
125: "Sight Unseen" (6-13)
126: "Allegiance" (6-9)
127: “Threads” (8-18)
128: "The Warrior" (5-18)
129: "Death Knell" (7-16)
130: "Affinity" (8-7)
131: "Revisions" (7-5)
132: "A Hundred Days" (3-17)
133: "Show and Tell" (2-20)
134: "Hathor" (1-14)
135: "Politics" (1-21)
136 and 137: "Out of Mind"/"Into the Fire" (2-22 and 3-1)
138: "Holiday" (2-18)
139: "Lifeboat" (7-6)
140: "Memento" (6-20)
141: "The First Commandment" (1-6)
142: "Message in a Bottle" (2-7)
143: "The Light" (4-18)
144: "The Sentinel" (5-20)
145: "Avenger 2.0" (7-9)
146: "Legacy" (3-4)
147: "Avatar" (8-6)
148: "New Ground" (3-19)
149: "Proving Ground" (5-13)
150: "Rules of Engagement" (3-9)
151: "The Tomb" (5-8)
152: "Forsaken" (6-18)
153: "Prodigy" (4-19)

Bad:

154: “Sacrifices” (8-9)
155: "The Gamekeeper" (2-4)
156: "Spirits" (2-13)
157: "Frozen" (6-4)
158: "The First Ones" (4-8)
159: "Space Race" (7-8)
160: “Full Alert” (8-14)
161: "Nightwalkers" (6-5)
162: "Resurrection" (7-19)
163: "The Broca Divide" (1-5)
164: "Demons" (3-8)
165: "Emancipation" (1-4)
166: "Bane" (2-10)
167: "Fail Safe" (5-17)
168: "Entity" (4-20)
169: "Beast of Burden" (5-7)
170: "Birthright" (7-10)
171: "Enemy Mine" (7-7)
172: "Metamorphosis" (6-16)
173: "One False Step" (2-19)
174: “Prometheus Unbound” (8-12)

 

I chose "The Fifth Race" as my favorite episode because it starts out with the trademark SG-1 humor but transforms into an uplifting statement about humanity's potential. The use of the eighth chevron fascinates me, and it marks the first trek to another galaxy for a modern human. The meeting between O'Neill and the Asgard still gives me a chill because it is so beautifully done.