“There But For The Grace Of God” ( 1 x 20 )

I am quite sad!! As I opened up the DVD case for this episode, I realized that, including this one, there are only three episodes left in the first season! However, not all hope is lost. A break will give me an opportunity to muse over the first season as a whole, write a little bloggy-blog about it, do some fanart (yay!), write some fanfic (double-yay!); all of which I will be sharing with you all here at B-SG1.

Anyways. Onto happier things! Like this episode!

SG-1 steps out onto a dark planet, or perhaps some sort of lab. However, it’s abandoned, and Teal’c believes it was destroyed by Goa’uld quite a while ago. O’Neill shows him a symbol in the lab, and the Jaffa says that they must leave immediately. (By all means, Jack, keep standing around…) It is the symbol of Koroshi-Ni, which basically means, “Turn back”. He insists that the place must be radioactive, and none of them are safe. Jackson’s crushed that they have to leave, though, so he takes a little souvenir with him.

…No, no, don’t do that! That’s a stupid idea!

He touches a mirror or something, and a light envelops him. He steps out… and can’t find anyone.

What did I say?! I said, “Don’t do that!!”

Nonetheless, he dials in the code and goes back to Earth… and is greeted by gunmen.

It seems he’s traveled into an alternate timeline. Or maybe an illusion of one. The General’s a Colonel, and who knows what else has changed.

…Maybe it has something to do with Jackson being in or out of the timeline?

They take him into a room and lay him down and give him an injection. They seem to think he might be a Goa’uld, and also, Colonel O’Neill is now… a general.
Wow, these titles are really going to mess me up now.

There’s a flash, and he wakes up in a different room. He’s in some kind of holding cell. Catherine Langford (ah, yes, I remember her!) enters and is in some sort of uniform. She doesn’t recognize Jackson. What’s more, she says he’s never set foot in the facility before.

And... Carter’s not a captain. She’s an astrophysicist.

He finally gets a meeting with O’Neill, and tries to reason with him, even asking about Teal’c. Except, Teal’c isn’t there. O’Neill has never heard the name.

Now, wait, HOLD ON, we can’t have Stargate without Teal’c! Teal’c is like, the heart! I love him! He is loveable! This better not be reality because Teal’c is the center of the universe, and without him, nothing can hold.

…Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but it’s like having lungs, a brain, and a liver but no heart. You can’t just leave one out and still have a functioning body.

Anyhow, they’ve also never heard of nor been to Chulak, which explains why there’s no Teal’c.

Carter enters the scene, and says, “We’ve lost Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.”

I really hate where this is going.

Catherine shows him a map with red splotches all over it, and “each red dot is a destroyed city”. Yikes. It is, indeed, the Goa’uld, and they’ve been attacking the planet for the past four days.

At the non-Hangout, he shows Catherine one of the objects he picked up, the one which activated the mirror, but is distracted by  the ‘Gate room. Turns out they plan to send a nuclear device to Chulak… and detonate it.

No!! Teal’c!! Bra-tac!! Rya’c!! Drey-auc!!

(The blogger falls apart into tears)

Nonetheless, O’Neill feels justified since there are so many humans dying. The bomb is sent.

He gets into a debate with Catherine and Carter about what’s really happening, and the latter perks up when she learns that the mirror he touched may have come from P3R-233.

Bad goes worse when a Goa’uld vessel manages to take down Air Force One… and flies directly over Area 52. But instead of firing… it lands.

Who’s on the ship!? Is it Teal’c?! I hope so! Hi Teal’c! If you’re there!

Oh, wait, important people at the Hangout. They decide to destroy the complex (or something like that?) and head down to the ‘Gate.

Jackson translates a message Catherine and Carter picked up from P3R-233 as, “Beware the destroyers. They come from…” and nothing more. Perhaps that is what was meant by “turn back” back at the alien lab.

A firefight ensues in the hallways as General O’Neill and the others try to stop the Jaffa from getting through to the ‘Gate. And the main Jaffa… is Teal’c.

And he doesn’t look like he has a heart of gold.

…DAMNIT!

Here’s what I think. I think that maybe Sha’re was never captured, and so SG-1 never went to Chulak, so they never showed Teal’c a rightful “path” of sorts in the steps of the Tau’ri, so he never became enlightened or had that moment of epiphany.

But I should just watch, huh?

You guys don’t know how distressing this is to me.

Jackson shows them some video he had taken at the planet with the mirror, proving to them that he is from an alternate reality… and that Teal’c was part of that reality, as a member of SG-1. He thinks that if he can get back to his reality with the address to the Goa’uld world he got off of the 233 transmission, they can stop this reality from ever happening over there. They agree to let Jackson try and go over.

First, though, he wants to see if he can convince Teal’c to sway to their side. However, he thinks O’Neill will have to do it, since he was the one to do it in the regular timeline. Perhaps by showing Teal’c the videotape from the regular reality, they can at least buy a few minutes. O’Neill and Carter share a hug and—

WHOA, THEY’RE ENGAGED?!

What is this

I don’t even

Now that’s just crazy. This universe is way weird.

O’Neill steps out in front of the Jaffa, completely unarmed (by the way, Teal’c has something wacky going on with his hair and I don’t dig it at all) and shows him the videotape. He explains to Teal’c that, “The guy in this video… hates being a slave to the Goa’ulds.” Some moment of hesitation, some flash of surprise, goes over his face, but Teal’c still says, “Lies.” But as he’s walking away, I swear, he’s seriously thinking about what Jack’s telling him. The truth is all over his face.

Then, though, O’Neill makes a fatal flaw… he brings up Teal’c’s family. All of whom are now dead. Presumably.

Probably not a smart idea, Jack.

Teal’c arms a large staff weapon… and fires.

As much as I hate to see my favourite character being absolutely horrible like this (it’s not him! it can’t be him!) this scene was again an amazing insight into his mind. Family above all else. It’s been a recurring theme with his character, from “The Broca Divide” to “Bloodlines” to “Cor-Ai” and now this. It is what has given him hope and reason for living. And now that it’s gone, it seems he’s just an empty shell with nothing to fight for but revenge on those who just destroyed his life.

The Jaffa continue to advance despite the lull, and Colonel Hammond goes down. They capture Carter… and then she pulls a trigger and the room self-destructs.

The Stargate at last activates, with one minute until the whole facility goes up in flames. As it’s still spinning and locking in, Teal’c enters and points his staff straight at Jackson.

(Me: Oh God oh God oh God oh God…)

He shoots, but Jackson gets through.

He runs straight to the mirror and touches it, and is once again in the regular reality. (Good Teal’c with kind eyes and no weird hair is back!! Yay!) He has, however, maintained the injury from Alter-Teal’c’s staff weapon, but he also has the address to the Goa’uld world still with him. O’Neill insists they get Jackson back to Earth, but Jackson cries,

“No, Jack! We’re all in very big trouble. They’re coming. They’re coming.”

Final thoughts… Holy cow. This episode was just super-awesome. Blatant use of the “reset” button, but it’s like Star Trek alternate realities! No, it’s like The Dead Zone, where the future can still be changed! It’s just… it’s just awesome! And, I must say, a huge improvement over the last two-three I’ve seen. Some of those were kind of silly and it was good to have my expectations of this series restored.

I don’t even know quite what to say. We got all these really neat views into each character, even Catherine, and the good old “what if” scenario. What’s more, though, is that it was not only a different timeline but also slightly in the future. So, theoretically, the Goa’uld could be coming to this reality’s Earth, and still wage massive attack. But there are a few differences, one of those major ones being Teal’c.

That’s not even my inner fangirl speaking. That’s just my inner writer. Teal’c was originally Apophis’ First Prime. Despite the fact that he doesn’t know how a lot of the Goa’uld technology works, he’s still a huge source of information for SG-1. He knows tactics, probably most weaponry, and things like that. He’s certainly a guy you want on “your side”. Also, since he has tasted freedom (though more like relished in it) he has another group to live for in addition to his family: SG-1. (Yeah, don’t even try to tell me he and O’Neill aren’t bros. The only reason they aren’t fist-bumping is because we’re still in the ‘90’s.) Besides, I highly doubt they would be driven to such extremes as blowing up Chulak with a nuke.

But now that they know what can happen, surely it won’t. That was the whole point of this; to have Jackson come back and tell all this to them. That was the whole reason behind the mirror.

Furthermore, I hope we get to find out who the creators of this mirror are, or were. Presumably they are extinct now, due to an attack from the Goa’uld… though maybe not yet? So many questions, so few answers! Can’t wait for the next episode.

Oh, but before closing, I must say this: Major kudos to RDA and Chris Judge in this episode.. actually, I thought everyone did a fantastic job acting here, but especially those two, since they played such vastly different characters than usual. Absolutely brilliant work by everyone in the production and acting team. My now-favourite episode..? I don't know. "Cor-Ai" was pretty powerful. 

REFLECTION ON LAST EPISODE

(Jackson has just finished telling SG-1 about what he saw as he’s being treated in the infirmary.)

O’Neill: I was a General? That’s actually pretty cool…

Carter: Sir, he just told us that the Goa’uld are going to attack Earth and all you can think about is rank!?

Jackson: Sam, it’s okay, it’s not like-

Carter: And I wasn’t even in the Air Force?! What kind of person was I!?

Teal’c: It would seem we were all quite different then.

O’Neill: I hope so. (He chuckles nervously.) Just remind me not to get between you, your staff, and your family, right? We’re not so sure what happened between you and me, but Jackson seems to think you probably didn’t much care for my revelation over there.

(Teal’c lifts an eyebrow at O’Neill but says nothing.)

Jackson: Ahem… Well, anyways, you could’ve shot me much sooner over there, if it’s any consolation. In fact, I’m a little surprised I made it back. You seemed pretty upset.

Teal’c: (Looking at the wound) I do apologize for that.

Jackson: Eh, don’t. Did I mention your hair? Kind of freaky. Promise me you’ll never grow it like that.

Carter: Uh, guys? Back to the topic of, ‘How the hell are we going to save our planet?’

O’Neill: Sam, the guy just went to hell and back. Give him a break.

Carter: I don’t know. Sounds to me like the Goa’uld are going to raise hell on us the moment we let our guard down…