Season One Reflection

All I can really say about this series is… wow. Like anything else, it’s got hits and misses in terms of episodic quality, but Stargate SG-1 has so many hits it’s unreal. And this is only the first season! The writers and production team have accomplished more in terms of overall plot and character development than some shows take three seasons to do. It’s all very overwhelming but at the same time very exciting.

So what did I think were the best of the best? Well, since I presume you don’t all want to hear me going on about how I love and admire every inch of Teal’c’s body and every facet of his character, I’ll say… one episode per character, one for the whole team, and one for the larger plot. What really showcased them. I’m doing this because the first season of a series is always extremely important. It’s the only way to really hook an audience. Sure, people can jump in later, but it’s always good to start from the top. That’s what I’ve done, and I’m glad!

What I thought of… THE PILOT

“Children of the Gods” (1x01/02)

This was a very solid pilot episode. It did a nice job of recapping the events of the Stargate film and introducing us to each of the characters. At first I was doubtful of a couple characters (Carter was very annoying to me in the beginning, and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Hammond) but they turned out much better developed by the end of this season. I thought the inclusion of Teal’c was a very good choice by the writers, since it allows there to be a true “outsider” character in the series. I was a little “meh” about a couple of the scenes and it certainly wasn’t the best episode of the season to me, but like I said, a solid first episode. A decent hook.

Best episode for… JACK O’NEILL

“Cold Lazarus” (1x08)

You probably saw this coming! I absolutely adored this episode. It was the first taste we get of a non-snarky, non-wisecracking side of O’Neill. Brilliant in that they revealed all this without the Colonel himself. I loved the notion of kindred spirits. This episode nearly had me in tears by the end. It was beautiful in so many ways, and it really made me see him in a different sort of light – that he wasn’t the “Captain Kirk of Stargate” or whatever. He was a guy with legitimate problems and legitimate struggles. It made him seem more real to me.

Best episode for… DANIEL JACKSON

“The Torment of Tantalus” (1x10)

Another pretty obvious one. I don’t hold this episode in the high regard that I see quite a few other fans doing, but I do think it’s an important episode, for Jackson in particular. He’s the nerdy cultural guy. No one’s ever going to argue that. (He also looks really good when he takes his glasses off but anyways…) This episode really showcased his obsession with the accumulation of knowledge, and also O’Neill’s role as Jackson’s sort of “anchor to reality”. Jackson nearly died in his quest for the secrets of the universe. He learned an important lesson here: Knowledge isn’t everything.

Best episode for… SAMANTHA CARTER

“Singularity” (1x16)

This was a tough one to decide, especially since I didn’t like Carter at first. I suppose I chose this one because it, as well as “Solitudes”, was the turning point in my opinion of her. At first I hated her feminism bravado because I felt it was way overdone. Later in the season, she revealed a nurturing spirit which mingled with her unending pursuit of perfection and success in a “man’s world”, as the military and science divisions are. She’s really not that irritating, once she gets comfortable with where she is. In fact, I kind of… like her. That scene in the bottom floor of the nuclear facility as she cradled Cassandra was amazing. Possibly her finest moment in the season.

Best episode for… TEAL’C

“Cor-Ai” (1x15)

Well, I could just say that every time Teal’c shows his face on the screen kittens are saved and rainbows go up and a hungry child is saved, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with SG-1, now, does it? I felt like saying it anyways, though, because he is just that amazing.

It’s become what I think is “common knowledge” through this blog that I love Teal’c. I think he is just the greatest thing since Leonard Nimoy and sliced bread, as well as Nutella, because that stuff just rocks. But this episode showed Teal’c at both his finest and his most vulnerable. Sure, we’d touched on this already in “Thor’s Hammer” and even “Bloodlines”, but this episode tugs and pulls at my heartstrings every time. I say it over and over, but I can’t get enough of that scene with O’Neill and Teal’c in the dark, empty courtroom, Teal’c pretty much spilling out the truth and his heart’s confessions, tucked away and never to be found for so long. It’s also another great strain in the relationship between these two fantastic characters. O’Neill wants desperately to trust Teal’c, as the Jaffa has demonstrated his undying loyalty again and again, and yet these demons from his past come up so often it’s unreal.

Another very fine moment from this episode was after all the Jaffa had been defeated and Teal’c has saved pretty much everyone, he still wants the final decision to be up to Hanno. He hands over his staff and is prepared to die by his own weapon. It’s an oddly touching sort of moment between the victim and the perpetrator. Honor, bravery, loyalty, and fairness: Teal’c at his best. That’s this episode.

Best episode for… THE CREW (and also the PLOT)

“There but for the Grace of God” (1x20)

It’s an interesting pick, I admit, but it works out so unbelievably well. It’s not until you see their alternates that you really start to pick up on who these characters are and how their interactions changed each other. Most heartbreaking was, of course, Teal’c having never joined SG-1 and the bombing of Chulak. It was certainly one of those “this is how it could be” episodes that are just amazing. Sometimes these sort of AU plots flop and die. This was different because it could happen, and now SG-1 is fighting the future so they can write it themselves…

Season two, AVAST!!