"The First Commandment" (1x06)

It's the sixth episode and I'm feeling pretty good about it. We've got some great character development going on and it's really quite exciting. Not much with the Goa'uld has happened since the pilot, but no matter. I like these mission-oriented episodes plenty, too. So let's go with "The First Commandment" and see where it takes us. The Judeo-Christian "First Amendment" of the Christian Bible/Tanakh is "No other gods before Me..." Foreshadowing? Let's see.

We start in a forest and there are people attacking the escapees with darts. It's not clear who's being attacked, but there's a guy named Frakes and he yells at another guys, Connor, to leave. The people attacking know Frakes, and then a guy pulls out a gun and shoots him. They burn the body.

WHOA. FREAKY BEGINNING.

SG-1 comes through the Stargate and we learn who the attackees were - SG-9. The planet they're on is possibly terraformed by the Goa'uld, according to Teal'c. (Hi! Hi Teal'c! You of infinite wisdom about space-y stuff!! Are you gonna kick some BUTT today?! Or something!?)

Jackson is almost captured by Lieutenant Connor, who apparently knows O'Neill (the one who stopped him). Connor finds the place of Frakes' unceremonial cremation and we find out that their captain, Captain Hanson, had completely lost it. The natives believed that Hanson was their god, but the issue was that Hanson started to believe it as well.
Hey, that's where the title comes from, I bet! Hanson goes off his rocker, thinking he's a god, and puts out his own little monotheistic "no gods before ME" thing.
Carter wants to try and help Hanson, since apparently they knew each other. So the team sets off in search of a captain gone wild.

Apparently, before that, the captain was fine before he went off and saved a child. The natives bowed down to Hanson - like a god - and that's when he started believing the lie.

That night, they're ambushed by some of the natives, likely on Hanson's orders, but we find that this isn't the only terrible thing he's doing. He also wants to practically work the natives to death building a temple... but for what? I'll be fascinated to find out.

Oh, and Carter and Hanson were engaged.
PLOT DEVELOPMENT?!
That's going to create some tension, bias, et cetera.

They've made a few allusions to the Bible, but it's been twisted by Hanson's egotistical perception of himself. Carter runs down to confront him, and eventually gets an audience with him. We find that he believes that by working them and building a civilization, he's freeing them from their previous slavery.

Carter pulls a gun on him that night and demands he return through the 'Gate with her. He coerces her into giving it back to him, and thus he professes his power.

The crew has captured Jamala, a follower of Hanson. Jamala recognizes Teal'c as a Jaffa and there's a funny scene where they tell Teal'c to smile and.. well... it kinda fails. They try to convince him that Jonas Hanson is merely a man, as they are, but Jamala insists that Hanson can "turn the sky orange", and thus stop the major UV ray burns. Teal'c recognizes this phrase, and explains it as a device that creates a sort of shield from the sun.

Back at the village, Hanson shows Carter a sort of device left behind by the Goa'ulds. He believes he can make it work, but only with Carter's help.. maybe. He mainly wants her to be his "goddess", or at least turn it on... or else he'll commit a murder-suicide. Not to mention everyone will die. Which would be bad.

Teal'c has a great line back in the forest where the are with Jamala where he says, "Power alone does not make a god." This is an interesting little insight into Teal'c's character and exactly why he left the Goa'uld. Like I've said, I find it very curious how enlightened he is. Maybe the Jaffa slave-race isn't as enslaved as they seemed to be initially.
We find out that the shield won't work unless there are two devices, and they can bounce off of each other. So even if Carter (or Teal'c for that matter) can turn on the device, if there's not another, there's no point.
Ah, but there must be a second one left, back by the Stargate, since the first is in Hanson's cave!.. But they might not have time to go get it. Eep. Let's hope it's still there.
Teal'c finds the second device, indeed, right by the Stargate, and hope it still works.

O'Neill infiltrates the work space and frees Connor from his bindings. However, they are caught and apprehended. They're taken back to Hanson and Carter, the latter who is trying to turn on the device. She succeeds, and it seems to be working.

Hanson and his followers, as well as his prisoners, are at the Stargate now. Hanson wants to destroy the Stargate now, but he's going to send back the SG crews. However, the iris is closed on the other side, so.. um... they're not really being spared. They're just going to die more painfully.

But not before they're apprehended by the people working on the second device! They reveal to the natives that the technology is just that - technology - and neither divine nor magical. Hanson activates the first device, and Teal'c the second. They work, and the sky is turned orange. Hanson is sacrificed into the closed Stargate and... that's the end of him. (Well, that kind of sucks.)

SG-1 and the remaining SG-9 members are at the Stargate, and O'Neill consoles Carter, supporting her decision to not kill Hanson. They travel back through the Stargate and leave a more comfortable planet behind.


Final thoughts... this was a solid plot, but again, it's feeling quite a lot like the original Star Trek. It's not necessarily a bad thing, per se, but I do wonder if any of the writers took it as inspiration. There seems to be little regard for a concept such as the "Prime Directive", whether for better or for worse. Jackson is the most culturally sensitive and Carter and O'Neill the least. Teal'c is a wealth of information they'd probably all be doomed without. Nonetheless, they are all very important to the crew in their own respective ways. Carter is headstrong, Jackson a patient thinker, O'Neil the snarky leader, and Teal'c the outsider who does his best to fit in.

As the series goes on I also realize that these worlds are all kind of connected. Teal'c's been recognized at least a couple times as part of the slave race underneath the Goa'uld. The humans, of course, aren't, but are still revered by most of the races they encounter since they come through the gate. Thus I find it interesting that someone like Hanson takes this idea and runs with it. He truly believes he is this world's saviour and that he has to change it. But isn't the SG-1 crew doing that all the time? So often they come in and try to "fix" or "improve" the culture/situation/etc. of the worlds they encounter. It's creepily proactive, and I'll be watching to see if there are any long-term effects, or if they just leave and never return, a la Captain Kirk and the Enterprise.

Still, so far, so very good. I'm hooked for sure now. It's not perfect, but it's a solid start.

Oh, and I feel like noting... one of my roommates watched a bit of this episode with me and she fell for Connor in about sixty seconds. It was quite funny, and she was pleased to hear he survived.


PREDICTION FOR NEXT EPISODE
The crew predicts what the next world they visit will be like.

Carter: It'll probably be cavemen, and we're going to have to show them fire and enlighten them with the concept of feminist principles.
Jackson: Oh, I don't know, I'm betting it'll be more along the lines of a greatly technologically advanced civilization and we're going to seem like the imbeciles... if we don't already... barging into every planet.. taking over...
O'Neill: Cheer up, Dan. We're helping them! Besides, it's not your fault. It's always Carter's idea to interfere.
Carter: It's either that or they die!
Jackson: Oh, and you said I was a drama queen?
Teal'c: What is a 'drama queen'?
O'Neill: It's that Apophis guy. Except he's just a really dangerous one.
Carter: It's like Jackson when he's telling us we're dooming the planet just by setting foot on it.
Jackson: Yeah, well, we're just lucky they all speak English!
O'Neill: Speaking of... why do they all know English, Teal'c?
Teal'c: As you humans say, 'Beats me.'