“Learning Curve” ( 3 x 05 )

Learning Curve… I have no idea. So let’s just watch, huh?

We start off in some kind of archaeological site, and there’s a Stargate in the room. Jackson is working with some kids on deciphering some symbols (or something) and THEY’RE SO CUTE!! This world is called Orban, and apparently there’s all kinds of cool artifacts here. Two citizens of this world, Merrin and a man, Kalan, are going back to Earth with a naquadah reactor as part of an exchange between their worlds. O’Neill goes back with them, leaving Teal’c and Jackson.

Back on Earth, Merrin agrees to teach Carter how to use the naquadah reactor, but she seems a little puzzled at first by the concept of teaching. Hm…

She’s eleven, and apparently an expert when it comes to these reactors. That’s a little odd, but okay.

On Orban, Jackson busies himself with what looks like a mosaic floor while a boy, Tomin, is brought in to talk to Teal’c about the Goa’uld – how to defend against them, and the like. There’s a little funny scene where Teal’c catches the boy eyeing him, and we have this:

Teal’c: “What is your purpose?”

Tomin: “I’m making an observation of your physical characteristics. Dr. Jackson tells us you were once a warrior the service of the Goa’uld.”

Teal’c: “…That is correct.”

Tomin: “I think I understand now why the Goa’uld are so feared.”

Awww! Be nice, now! Poor Teal’c, haha.

Merrin doesn’t really understand the concept of school, either. There’s something fishy about the way she knows all that she does… And she doesn’t understand what “fun” means, either.

(“F is for Friends who do stuff together;

U is for you and me;

N is for anywhere and any-” Oh wait nevermind WRONG SHOW.)

My God, she’s a freaking Vulcan without the ears!

Nonetheless, they’re ready to get down to business.

They get down to business… but Carter seems incredibly lost. Fraiser takes Merrin into the infirmary again, and finds nanites in her system (whoa!) and they’re all in her brain. The girl explains that all Orbanians have these, so they’re really no threat.

On Orban, Tomin requests to “undergo the ovarium” (their kind of graduation) immediately. His father refuses, but the boy insists, saying that what Teal’c has told him is too important to be held onto much longer.

(Of course. Anything Teal’c says is important. He’s an important kind of guy. You can’t dismiss anything he says. He’s just important.)

Why do I not like where this is going?

Carter wants Merrin to draw her the reactor core, and explains what she means by drawing a stick figure of herself, saying it’s a representation. She gets right to work.

It takes so long that Carter falls asleep, and O’Neill wakes her up, telling the two they seriously need a break. (No kidding.) He tries to get Merrin to break as well, but she refuses, and continues her drawings.

 Kalan now brings a girl, Solen, to Teal’c, telling him that he should now tell her about the Goa’uld. Teal’c doesn’t understand, since Tomin already has learned this, and, concerned, insists he see the boy right away.

Oh man. I see his fatherly side emerging already. They better watch out. Don’t get between Teal’c and an innocent child because he will go bra’tac on you!

He and Jackson go to see Tomin, but he doesn’t recognize Teal’c. In fact, he doesn’t say anything at all. Kalan enters and explains that, in the ovarium ceremony, a student’s nanites (containing all the knowledge) are removed and one is given to each citizen, so they may have some of that knowledge as well. It’s a workable system, but it’s gotta be hell for the kids.

When Teal’c returns and tells them about the procedure, O’Neill wants to keep Merrin from having to undergo it. Of course, Kalan refuses to listen, and even Merrin doesn’t get why they want to keep her from the procedure. She and Carter finish up the reactor, and it works!

In a conference room (not the Hangout, mind you) O’Neill vehemently refuses to see Kalan’s side of things and he takes Merrin to… the surface.

Oh, ha ha, I see where this is going.

He takes her to a schoolyard, where recess has just started. He leaves her with some other kids (aw!) while he goes to talk to one of Cassandra’s old teachers. The teacher agrees to let her sit in on an art class.

O’Neill encourages her to “paint something you love” like the flowers on Carter’s desk, and that it doesn’t have to be exact. He wants her to use her imagination.

It’s really very cute when she finishes, and she’s drawn a stick figure in the corner… “Major Carter”. Heehee! When she asks if it’s “right”, O’Neill responds,

“Oh yeah. It’s way more than right.”

Nonetheless, he hasn’t convinced her to refuse the ovarium, so they return. Back on base, he gives her a huge box of crayons and bids her farewell. He’s sad to see her go, but was happy he had the opportunity to show her “how to be a kid”.

Aaahhh JAAACK you break my heart..!

Later, SG-1 goes back through the ‘Gate to Orban, and Kalan excitedly encourages them to follow him. There are a bunch of kids! And they’re playing! Games! And drawing! And it’s so cute!! It turns out that all the kids who had had their nanites removed could still learn – only just in the old-fashioned way. So, everything that Merrin learned in the playground, she was able to teach the others.

The scene ends with O’Neill and Merrin scribbling excitedly all over the wall with her crayons.

SO CUTE SO CUTE SO CUTE.

(And the writer melts into a pile of CUTE.)

Final thoughts… SMALL CHILDREN! WHY MUST THEY BE SO ADORABLE!?

Once again the writers have strange children who are really just kids as a major part of the plot and it just makes me so happy. Time and again and again and again we have this recurring theme of O’Neill and Teal’c, respectively, having generally odd encounters with those under the age of 18. Why? Easy. They’re both dads. (Yes, I realize I sound like a broken record.)

In terms of how interesting this was, I suppose it wasn’t terribly exciting, but again, I liked a lot of the concepts brought up. (Yay for different civilizations and societies!) Loved the whole part about “learning” versus just having knowledge implanted into one’s mind. The best part was the ending, with Kalan saying how all the children would now learn in the “traditional manner”. (And, of course, the cute little glance between Teal’c and Tomin… aww!)

However, a good ol’ Jack concept is back into play: His general refuse to see things as other civilizations do. While it was noble that he was willing to take a court-martial just to show Merrin the joys of childhood, he’s so stubborn it’s almost ridiculous. I still wonder when his mindset is going to bite him in the backside in the middle of an interplanetary crisis…

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY:

(Marie makes her big announcement thing.)

Marie: Hey! Hey you guys! This is really important! Listen up!

Carter: What could possibly be more important than what we do?

O’Neill: Uh, yeah, we kind of save the world pretty much every day.

Marie: Well… not necessarily important for you guys, but for everyone else…

Jackson: Then spit it out!

Teal’c: Daniel Jackson, why would she need to spit-?

Marie: Okay, fine! All right, everyone, I’m doing NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH (AKA NaNoWriMo) this November, which means I will be extremely preoccupied for much of the month! I have to write 50,000 words in the next thirty days, and no, I can’t start early. What does that mean? Well, it means I may not have a lot of time for blogging. I know, I know, I’ve been slacking off kind of anyways (what with Halloween keeping me uber-busy) but I’ll try to do at least a couple times a week. Wish me luck and maybe you’ll see the finished product someday.

“Legacy” ( 3 x 04 )

“Legacy”… Hm… Okay, if this is going to be about Carter and Jolinar and her FEELINGS I’m just gonna up and quit. Okay, not really, but I do very honestly hope that the major isn’t going to be weird here. That title makes me nervous though!

The episode begins with SG-1 wandering through some deserted tunnels.

(Rule #7 of Sci-fi: Do not wander dark corridors alone! Look what happened to Harry Potter every time he snuck outside the common room! They’re doing pretty good though. Four’s a solid team.)

Teal’c activates some kind of panel, and they enter a room… with nine dead Goa’uld!

Ew!

Teal’c explains that these nine are lesser Goa’uld, as opposed to System Lords. Jackson finds a tablet, and they get the heck out of there, that tablet in tow…

Back on base, Jackson is starting to have hallucinations of voices. Later, after they tried to figure out how the Goa’uld were killed, he sees an SG-7 member with a corpse’s face… but it wasn’t real. He later sees an event horizon in his closet (“Mommy! There’s an event horizon in the closet! I’m scared!”) and hears voices.

He awakens in the infirmary after a particularly bad hallucination and tells O’Neill about these visions he’s been having. (It’s okay, Jackson; Johnny Smith from The Dead Zone had visions too, but admittedly they weren’t as weird as yours.) The colonel thinks he’s losing it, and even Jackson fears he’s having a nervous breakdown.

A big wig doctor thinks that the Stargate itself is causing Jackson to go schizophrenic. They plan to close the ‘Gate while all SG teams are evaluated for mental health stability. However, if Jackson doesn’t improve, they’re going to send him to a mental institution!

Noes!

Just as he’s starting to feel better, though, he sees another ‘Gate hallucination, and then one of Jack getting Goa’uld’ed. He collapses… And we see something moving around in his face!

Oh, EW!! This is worse than “Bane”!

They’ve thrown Jackson into a psych ward and his hallucinations are getting worse. His team sympathizes, but there’s not much they can do. He breaks down and tries to rush at a vision, but Teal’c restrains him. Just then, a shiny, nasty, tiny, WORM thing crawls out of him and burrows into Teal’c! But they don’t believe him when he says what just happened because he’s been losing his mind. They last thing he hears is… Ma’chello’s voice?!

Oh, I hate where this is going.

Back on base, Teal’c suddenly collapses! Oh no! Jackson was right, and now Teal’c is in trouble!

It turns out that Junior is dying (noooo…!) and Teal’c has about a day to live.

Oh gawd.

Jackson seems to be getting better, but the drugs are still messing him up. He tells the doctor his hypothesis – that Ma’chello created this organism in order to kill the Goa’uld – and that it’s what made him lose it and Teal’c very sick.

Teal’c’s condition is worsening and they’re down to desperate measures. Jackson is released from the hospital and they discover that the organisms are concealed within the tablet. They get out of the decon chamber, however, and infect Carter, Fraiser, and O’Neill.

Oh. Snap.

The latter two are quickly descending into the familiar madness, but Carter’s fine, of course. In fact, the organisms drop right out of her ear, dead.

Since it’s up to her to save the day, since she’s infinitely sane compared to her companions, she tries to figure this out for herself. Carter and Jackson figure out that it’s the protein marker from Jolinar which has kept her immune. She uses the centrifuge to separate the proteins and injects them into Fraiser and O’Neill. Sure enough, the organisms drip out of them. It works!

HEY, HEY YOU GUYS! WHAT ABOUT TEAL’C!? YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE HIM AND FORGET HE’S LYING THERE ON THE HOSPITAL BED DYING AND—

Oh, oh wait. We’re getting there.

They try the protein injection for Teal’c and the organism comes out! He’s okay! It’s all good! Oh, happy days! Happy ending! Happy me! All is right in the world, because Teal’c is all right, and he’s the center, so without him, nothing holds. Yay for Teal’c!

/end fangirling

Final thoughts… My roommate is watching a movie with her date (why? why do they have to be in here?) in the other room and there’s this recurring musical theme that’s really annoying and has been playing for the past like fifteen minutes. It’s making it hard to concentrate.

Oh, wait, I’m supposed to write about Stargate SG-1. Well, I would, if I could hear myself think over that theme! God! I want to strangle the composer!

Ahem, um, anyways…

The other reason for my ramblings is that there’s not really much I can say or reflect upon with this episode. It was a quick go in, get infected, get out, snarky comments from O’Neill, find a cure, happy ending. It was interesting to see the sort of “return of Ma’chello”, what with all his Goa’uld-fighting inventions. I had a feeling he wouldn’t go completely away, even if he had made a body-switching device and tried to kill Jackson… so… yeah.

Another quick observation: During the scene where SG-1 visits Jackson at the psych ward, Carter has this just crestfallen look on her face the whole team. You can tell she was really worried about him and really wanted nothing but the best. I have a feeling they’ve gotten quite close over the course of the series and maybe that’s starting to come to light more. Even between him and O’Neill it was evident, and Teal’c too, of course. (I like that line, “Only your friends are here, Daniel Jackson,” mainly for how he says it. Awww. Just wanna wrap them all up in a big hug!)

It wasn’t a bad episode, but it wasn’t particularly captivating, either. Makes you wonder how many of Ma’chello’s inventions may turn up in the future!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(THAT SCORE THEME IS STILL PLAYING ON THE TV OUTSIDE GRAAAH.)

Marie: (She rages and FFFFFFFFFFFS and is just overall very frustrated.)

Teal’c: Perhaps she requires the services of a mental institution.

Jackson: Uh, yeah, I don’t think that’ll help her.

O’Neill: Why doesn’t she just go talk to her roommate?

Carter: (Sighs) You just don’t get it, do you? …Men.

"Fair Game" ( 3 x 03 )

Okay, okay, I know it’s been a few days and I’m sorry! I’ve been working on stuff, I went home last weekend (folks got a new dog… super-adorable Golden Retriever; she’s such a sweetheart, also family was in town) and I’ve also been preparing for Halloween. One of my costumes (yes, plural, costumes) is… for Captain Samantha Carter. Yes, I will provide photos. It’s decidedly “ghetto”, to use the terms of my generation, but I like it, haha. Air Force for the win!

Hm… so. “Fair Game”, huh? You know who doesn’t play fair, or at least didn’t in December of 2009? Texas Longhorns at the Big XII Championship for football. You know who doesn’t play fair in SG-1? Well, of course you do. The Goa’uld don’t. Maybe there’s something about them we don’t know. After all, I would expect nothing less of the very talented writers of SG-1! So let’s see what they have in store this episode…

We’re at an awards ceremony on base, where the Secretary of State speaks of the SGC’s valiance, honour, bravery, and all that good stuff. However, O’Neill’s got an oddly uncomfortable look on his face. Hammond then presents Carter with…

…a commendation to Major! No more Captain; she’s a major now! Yeah! Cool! Go Sam!

O’Neill steps up to speak on her behalf –

- and then he vanishes?! But-?! How-?! This-!?

He just got Star Trek’d out of there, but this is Stargate!

While the base erupts into chaos, O’Neill finds himself on a ship in Earth’s orbit. It’s an Asgard ship, and who would be there but our good buddy Thor.

Well, this should prove to be very interesting indeed… but I suppose not unexpected. They just offed two Goa’uld. It’s about time someone noticed.

O’Neill learns from Thor (gosh, it is so weird associating that name with this little gray alien) that the Goa’uld are now targeting Earth. Despite the fact that SG-1 has more or less done them favours (Apophis was pathetic, Hathor about to overthrow them, and Seth a fugitive) they still see it as a threat. Thor wants to help negotiate a peace treaty with the System Lords and keep Earth out of the conflict. O’Neill agrees to give it a shot, and is transported back to Cheyenne Mountain.

Hammond doubts the Asgard’s intentions are as pure as they seem, but SG-1 is confident in their ally. As if on cue, Thor beams in and details this negotiation thing…

Three System Lords will arrive in four days, since it is custom that the targeted world be host. O’Neill is the chosen representative for Earth, and that doesn’t exactly fly with him, but he’s not about to argue with Thor. The alien leaves, and it’s 96 hours until all hell breaks loose.

During a briefing led by Jackson (of course), we learn about the three Goa’uld:

The first is Cornus, and he was apparently a mortal enemy of Apophis. (Hm… I’ve got my eye on you, Teal’c.)

The second is Yu, who’s actually Chinese. He’s the most likely to favour this treaty. Sa-weet.

The third is… Nirrti. Oh my god, she’s that CRAZY LADY who tried to kill Teal’c and O’Neill in that first episode with Cassandra! She’s a BAMF but not in a good way! Oh man!

Hammond wants Teal’c to be liaison to the Goa’uld, but he vehemently refuses and Jackson picks up the slack. Yeah, I can definitely foresee some major issues arising here. They also have to store away all weapons, but indeed, he’s reluctant to hand over his staff weapon. He does eventually… begrudgingly. Can’t say I’e ever seen that much resentment in his eyes towards his fellow crewmates before. Hm…

The Goa’uld arrive as expected. None of them are happy about the accommodations, and Cronus and Teal’c have some serious issues with each other. We then find out that Teal’c’s father was once First Prime of Cronus, but he and his family were banished after a battle gone badly. That was when Teal’c vowed to one day be Apophis’ first prime and avenge his father.

Oh. That makes sense.

O’Neill, the System Lords, and Thor all gather, but the colonel inadvertently offends them and they leave.

Oh, and also the Asgard have an even greater enemy than the Goa’uld, where they’re from. That explains why they can’t help Earth much. Fun times. Wonder who these bad guys are.

They reconvene and Yu gives the first demand: Earth can’t advance to the point of being a threat. However, it gets worse:

They also want both Earth Stargates forfeited.

Ho boy.

The Secretary of State announces that they accepted all terms of the treaty… when klaxons blare! Cronus is injured! AND SO IS TEAL’C!! Omigod! Teal’c! What-!? Why-!? How-?!

Oh, wait ten seconds. Right.

Teal’c’s going to be okay, but Cronus is in really bad shape. It gets worse. They have security footage of Teal’c entering Cronus’ quarters just prior to the mishap.

I hate where this is going.

Jackson finally lets it slip about Teal’c’s father and we get an oddly hysterical line from O’Neill:

“Oh, for crying out loud, why doesn’t he tell us these things?!”

Nirrti tries to use a Healing Device on Cronus, but it doesn’t work. Yu and she are really upset now.

Well, there goes the treaty.

Right?

Teal’c wakes up (oh thank goodness you’re okay!) and says that Cronus had requested his presence. When Teal’c got there, he denied it and then they were attacked by some invisible force.

CONSPIRACY?!

Then they remember that Hathor (the creeper) could go invisible. Hm… My eye’s on you, Nirrti.

Carter gets an idea and tries the Healing Device for herself. It… works?!

But Nirrti-?!

They pull a bluff and get Nirrti to, essentially, confess her use of the invisibility phase technology and her attack on Teal’c and Cronus. So not only is she in big trouble, but they’ve helped solve an attempted homicide case.

Man, they make Scully and Mulder look like downright slackers! They solved that fast!

Yu and Cronus agree to spare Earth and let the Tau’ri keep their ‘Gates open since they saved Cronus and revealed Nirrti’s treachery. However, through the ‘Gate and offworld, they’ll be cut no slack. But they’re all alive, and the treaty was even more successful than they thought it would be.

Final thoughts… Confession: I love political thrillers. I love conspiracy and intrigue and “who dunnit” and all those very X-Files-y things. I keep half-expecting a Goa’uld version of the Cigarette Smoking Man to show up. So, needless to say, this episode was right up my alley.

I loved perhaps more than anything the look into the Goa’uld (particularly System Lord) structure and society. By giving them depth and variance they’re made out as a much, much more interesting antagonist. I especially liked Yu. He’s so level-headed and just cool in general. I hope he shows up again. Also, it’ll be interesting to see if Cronus shows once more, especially since Teal’c’s got the whole grudge thing against him.

But what’s up with all these Goa’uld women being seriously off their rockers? Hathor and Nirrti were both pretty conniving, scheming, and all that. Certainly that mentality isn’t true for all the female characters on this show (there have been plenty of fine women) but with these Goa’uld… And we don’t know about Amonet. She might be okay. Who knows.

This is a really minor, kind of stupid thing to be honest, but I’m not that impressed with Thor’s… um… design, shall we say. I find his movements kind of awkward and… yeah. Okay, it’s the late ‘90’s on a TV budget but that’s something I kind of hope will improve. Not that he’s any less of an awesome character. Just something I noticed. Shame on me, being so spoiled with my Star Trek: Enterprise awesome CGI aliens and those neat guys from Falling Skies, among other things!

Overall, really good. I liked how this Goa’uld episode played out a lot better than, say, “Serpent’s Song”. Great stuff here! Nice to see some cool Goa’ulds after that lackluster Seth.

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(SG-1 sighs in relief.)

O’Neill: Whew. Disaster averted… again.

Teal’c: We should only be so lucky.

Carter: Hey, this was way more interesting as my first assignment as a Major than I could’ve ever imagined!

Jackson: Ugh, I could’ve gone without it.

O’Neill: From your mouth to God’s ears, Daniel…

"Seth" ( 3 x 02 )

 

All right, so that was a pretty dang spectacular season premiere. We got team effort, development on Carter and O’Neill’s relationship, Bra’tac, Teal’c being awesome, Hammond being very awesome (and amusing… yee-haw!), Bra’tac, more Bra’tac… Did I mention Bra’tac? ’Cause he was there.

Anyways, high hopes and expectations for this season. Let’s pray that episode numero dos is bra’tac!

We start on the base at nighttime, in the Gateroom. The iris slips open, and out walks…

…Jacob Carter!

(Hi Jacob! Mister AWESOME! How are you in your very amusing awesomeness? What brings you to Colorado? Buffaloes game? I don’t much care for them, myself, but they’re okay. How’s Selmak? You two getting along? She’s not keeping you up, is she? ’Course not. Well, I’ll let you get back to your important business. Nice chatting!)

Unfortunately, he’s not here on a social call. He needs SG-1’s help finding a Goa’uld: Setesh, or Seth.

(Hey, there’s this guy who I eat meals with in the campus dining hall whose name is Seth. He’s not very power-hungry or threatening, though, so I don’t think they’re after him. He’s kind of dorky in a lovable sort of way. Big D&D fan.)

He’s the god of chaos, evil, and all that. The Tok’ra have apparently lost track of him, but they think he’s still here – on Earth!

The reason we don’t know anything about this guy is because he tried to overthrow Ra. Needless to say, he’s on the System Lord Hit List. Jacob thinks he’s hiding out here. Jackson and Teal’c hypothesize that he’s leading a cult here, like most Goa’uld around.

You know one, you know them all… You think.

On the elevator, Carter and her dad chat. She thinks he has an ulterior motive for asking for this assignment. Selmak emerges and says she’s tired of the unmended relationship between Mark, Sam’s brother, and Jacob. He’s reluctant to take her advice, though.

They all go to talk with Jackson and he discovers that there’s been a Setesh cult around for the past 3000 years in some way, shape, or form.

And then we get the greatest scene ever.

Teal’c comments on the animal Seth is represented by, a rather canine-looking creature, and thus his guards’ helmets. It’s a bit of a joke among the Jaffa, actually. (Oh man, you know this is going to be good.) He tells them:

“A Serpent Guard, a Horus Guard, and a Setesh Guard meet on a neutral planet. It is a tense moment. The Serpent Guard’s eyes glow! The Horus guard’s beak glistens! The Setesh Guard’s… nose drips.”

He starts to crack up LAUGHING, and it’s so funny because obviously no one else gets it and they all just look around awkwardly. As Jackson finally yammers on again, Teal’c kind of turns around awkwardly and sulks for a moment. It’s just the funniest thing ever.

(It’s okay, Teal’c! I rewound the scene like three times! I liked your joke! It made me laugh, too! Don’t be sad!)

Anyways, Jackson has tracked down a cult with a leader named “Seth” just north of Seattle. Bingo!

ROAD TRIP TIME!

Nevermind, they just take a plane there. Bo-ring!

A sheriff tells them that the cult leader apparently targets kids. (Hm… I can see this hitting Teal’c pretty hard.) They also meet a man whose son was taken in by Seth. He presumes that Jacob’s got a kid in there, too. The man, Jason Levinson, agrees to tell them what he can about Seth’s territory.

But SG-1’s being watched from afar…

After staking out and determining that there is a Goa’uld there, they’re stopped by a group of ATF agents.

Back on the ATF camp, O’Neill responds to pretty much every question the leader, Special Agent Hamner, asks him with, “It’s classified.” Jacob, being the superior officer among them as a general, echoes that. Hamner plans to negotiate with Seth, but we all know how well that’s going to work.

Outside, SG-1 and Jacob discuss their predicament. Jacob thinks that Seth must be using nishta, the substance Apophis used on Rya’c. (Good god, what is with these Goa’uld and brainwashing kids?) However, that also means that one shot from a zat gun will take out the virus but spare the host. Sounds pretty easy, right? But we all know it’s not, because nothing in sci-fi, and I mean nothing, is ever “easy”.

Hamner has just gotten off the phone with the President, who’s put O’Neill in charge. Jack, of course, can’t help but add insult to injury:

“My first order of business: Get me one of those cool jackets. Extra large; double XL if you got it.”

Outside the compound, Teal’c finds a secret entrance. Outfitted with devices that’ll zap them if they get infected, Carter, O’Neill, and Jackson go in.

Transport rings take them into the compound, where they’re captured and taken to Seth. A green mist passes over them, and they collapse. They wake up… and the virus is there.

Back at the ATF tent, Teal’c and Jacob are working at the controls for the ear-zap devices the rest of SG-1 is using. Unfortunately, they can’t zap them for about an hour, or else the virus will spread again.

Well, that kind of stinks.

Levinson comes into the tent to get a cup of coffee. He yells when he burns himself, and Teal’c is immediately on his feet. (Wow, someone’s a little on edge today.) However, he sympathizes with Levinson’s issue – for obvious reasons.

There’s a very interesting conversation between the three. Prior to his seeming abduction, Levinson hadn’t spoken with his son for months. Jacob hadn’t talked to Mark for a long time, either. Teal’c doesn’t understand this notion of estrangement. As we’ve seen, family units are very tight among the Jaffa. Levinson excuses himself, and we get this great bit of dialogue between Teal’c and Jacob:

“Do human parents not love their children unconditionally?”

“Sometimes, things get complicated.”

“Many things are complicated, General Carter. In Jaffa society, loving one’s children is not one of them.”

“In human society, sometimes it is…”

Okay, everyone now! One, two, three, “AWWW…”

I find this really fascinating for a few reasons. We’ve got three fathers, completely different in pretty much every way… One’s blended with a Tok’ra, one’s a freaking alien, and the third’s just a guy with a son who was away at college. And yet, they are all connected through this notion of being away from their sons. Levinson’s suffering the consequences of having a son stolen away from him. Teal’c doesn’t really have much of a choice; his son and wife are off-planet for their own safety. Carter is simply not in contact with his son, but he has a choice; a chance to fix things. It’s an oddly touching scene, but I really enjoyed it.

Back in the compound, Carter and Jackson are largely brainwashed, but O’Neill seems more or less in his right mind. He looks too suspicious to be fully overtaken.

They’re zapped just in time, but they can’t keep up the façade. While they start to revert people back to normalcy, Seth sets up bombs. They work with Tom, Levinson’s boy, to transport people out after they’re zapped (zat’d?). The ATF agents help people away after they come out.

Seth’s not happy about all this, and knocks Jackson and O’Neill out with a ribbon device before planting a bomb near them and transporting away.

Teal’c and Jacob (who at this time lets Selmak through) go down after the two SG-1 guys to try and get rid of Seth. Selmak gets blasted away by the Goa’uld, but she and Jacob are fine. She hands Carter the ribbon device, insisting that she can use it to stop Seth.

She’s able to blast him into the surface and kill him, but her face is nothing short of horrified shock at her own abilities. Something tells me she won’t want to use that thing again.

Still! Four Goa’uld down, and a bunch to go. It’s another victory.

The episode ends with Jacob and Carter at Mark’s house. They all embrace, and maybe there’s healing in the future for all of them…

Final thoughts…  I managed to get most of my thoughts in during the review, particularly on the conversation between Levinson, Jacob, and Teal’c. It was kind of an underlying story beneath the larger bad-guy-Goa’uld-better-go-stop-him we see quite a lot in this series.

Frankly, though, I wasn’t incredibly impressed here. Seth is pretty lame for a Goa’uld. Maybe he just got pompous and egotistical and lost like… ninety percent of his full power. For the god of chaos and all evil and the mortal enemy of RA I’d expect him to put up a better fight against a few Tau’ri with zat guns and a once-blended human with a ribbon device. Not that I’m saying anything bad about Carter. She’s a BAMF, but he IS kind of a Goa’uld.

I think his problem was that he got comfortable being unopposed for so long, he didn’t really know how to deal with a threat except to tell all his people to commit suicide. In the end, it was a Goa’uld device which destroyed him – something I’m sure the System Lords would be pretty proud of.

I liked the development of Jacob Carter, getting his second chance of sorts to work things out with his son. I think things will work out well between him and Selmak. Maybe he should listen to her more often!

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(Selmak just can’t help but gloat that night.)

Selmak: I believe the saying is, ‘I told you so.’

Jacob: Yeah, okay, I admit, it was pretty great seeing Mark again.

Selmak: I’ve been hosted by mothers and fathers. I think I know what I’m doing.

Jacob: …Maybe.

Selmak: You’re a stubborn old coot.

Jacob: You’re not so bad, yourself.

Marie: HEY! HEY!! You should all watch this!! It's that super-funny scene with Teal'c's joke!

GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!
Teal'c's Joke

“Into the Fire” ( 3 x 01 )

So! Last time on Stargate SG-1, Carter, Jackson, and O’Neill were captured by Hathor the Creeper and she’s about to goa’uld one of them. Meanwhile, Teal’c realizes that his team is missing (no!?) but he’s back at Cheyenne Mountain. However, since they cannot aid his team, he resigns from the SGC and returns to Chulak.

Not the most exciting set-up ever, but if there’s anything I’ve learned from this series, for every lackluster episode, there are three or four awesome ones. This has the potential to be bra’tac.

Random opening note: Christopher Judge voiced the opening, “Previously on…” … “…And now, the conclusion.” Hee. I love his voice.

On base, Colonel Makepeace frantically runs to Hammond and tells him, by way of some Tok’ra, of SG-1’s situation. (I knew he’d have his fifteen minutes of fame!) He shows him a map of Hathor’s facility they obtained through a Tok’ra operative on the “inside”. (Wow, they really do do a lot of infiltration.) Hammond mobilizes the remaining SG teams, and they all eagerly step forward through the ‘Gate, Makepeace leading the charge.

Just really shows you how these SG teams really care about each other. Just like in “A Matter of Time” (2x16), when they tried desperately, every single thing, every option, to save SG-10, these crews are trying to save SG-1. It’s neat how, even though they’re split up, they are still connected by the common goal. I like it.

Back with Miss Creeper, the symbiote she’s been hanging on to more or less chooses O’Neill. He makes a grab at it, but then Raleigh zats him – and it. The Goa’uld squeals and wriggles away.

Hm… There’s something about her that’s just a little bit… off.

Meanwhile, we find out what’s up with Teal’c. (Finally!) He’s, of course, back on Chulak. He enters a ruined house, and finds…

BRA’TAC!

(Oh my GOD! Bra’tac! Hi! Hi! Hi!! I missed you! You’re so awesome, you’re the adjective for it! Aah I missed yoooouu!!!)

He’s been seriously injured (nah, I doubt it, he’s probably just faking it. After all, he is Bra’tac. He can look at an injury and injure it. He injures injuries) by the last of Apophis’ guard. Instead of rejoicing over the Goa’uld’s death, the people of Chulak believe Klorel will simply come to take his place.

Well, that’s a bummer.

Once more with Hathor, she’s strapped down O’Neill after his little stunt in the false ‘Gate room. The nasty, green, snake-y thing goes into the back of his neck.

(Fight it, Jack, FIGHT IT!!)

The SG teams have stormed in, so Hathor and her Jaffa cronies go out to confront them. Raleigh works the controls (holy—she’s a Tok’ra! That explains the Zat gun use) and puts him back into the cryogenic tank in order to prevent the true joining.

On Chulak, Teal’c approaches his people that night and… Wow, he’s really serious business. This is like First-Prime-of-Apophis-Teal’c, instead of Honed-in-the-Fire-Teal’c. This is that fire finally flaring up – and maybe it’s long-due. To be honest, it’s kind of creepy. Must be a cultural thing. One thing’s for sure: He is not happy with them. His reaction is more or less, “I just killed your enslaver and now you’re just waiting for the next one?! What is wrong with you people?!”

Outside of Hathor’s domain, a firefight ensues, and Makepeace leads his men. They eventually rescue Carter and Jackson, but they leave behind O’Neill, believing him to be a casualty now. They move to the ‘Gate, but it’s guarded by an energy shield and several Jaffa. They find Tok’ra-constructed tunnels and escape to them. Hammond gets through to Makepeace and promises them reinforcements. However, that may be easier said than done.

Carter goes back in to try and shut down the shield generators while Makepeace takes his troops to confront the Jaffa guards.

Once more on Chulak, Teal’c gives a very impassioned speech to a small crowd. It’s really quite good and strangely empowering of the Jaffa, but it doesn’t quite do the trick. When he asks of them, “Who will join me?” he gets about… five volunteers. Including Bra’tac.

(It’s okay, Teal’c! I’ll join you! Oh pick me, pick me!)

See, I don’t get this. I know that among the men, at least, they’re a warrior race. Even the women I imagine must have a sense of pride and honour in their families and status. Have they simply been enslaved for so long that there exists little to no pride and sense of independence? Do they merely lack the confidence? I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel right.

Nonetheless, Teal’c approaches those who stepped forward proudly and salutes them. One pulls down his hood, and…

…It’s General Hammond!

Oh, I love where this is going!

(How often do I get to say that?)

Carter finds the Tok’ra, who was attacked by Hathor (I hate her), and she tells her how to revive O’Neill. She does, and he’s okay!

…But then Hathor shows up.

But then O’Neill throws her into the cryogenic tank! YEAH!! He’s such a BAMF!

He and Carter embrace (I see you giggling in the background, all you Sam/Jack shippers) and all is well.

But, uh, there’s still that shield thing to take care of. Hello? Guys? You can hug later!

Bra’tac leads Teal’c and Hammond to what I can only assume is an old Death Glider. It’s pretty cool, actually. The design kind of reminds me of a 22^nd-Century Vulcan ship… Anyways, Teal’c will take the helm, go through the Stargate, and then they’re all just gonna be awesome and probably save the day. Whoo!

Carter and O’Neill successfully set the charges on the shield generators, but they find the other SG members lined up on their knees for execution. (No! Makepeace! He can’t just die after his fifteen minutes of fame!) O’Neill approaches them and yells:

“Jaffa, kree! You heard me; I said KREE!”

He essentially tries to buy them time, just running his mouth at Trotsky, but it is so funny and it is so O’Neill.

The Stargate activates, and out comes the Death Glider with Teal’c at the proverbial steering wheel and Hamond at weapons. The C-4 blows the shields and then the Glider talks out one of the two guard towers.

A huge firefight ensues, and Bra’tac and his cronies come in to help, too. Hammond blasts a guard tower, and then we get the greatest line ever:

“YEEEEE-HAAAAW!”

Oh god. I love that man.

The other Jaffa surrender, and they all reunite and it’s beautiful and SO MUCH AWESOME but now it’s over and I’m sad.

Final thoughts… Now, why couldn’t the last finale have been at least half as awesome as this? This was a fantastic episode. It had humour, closure, the death of a very annoying character, Sam/Jack, freaking BRA’TAC, and lots of awesome fight scenes with epic explosions, gunfire, et cetera. It had all the elements of a great Stargate episode. I really can’t ask for more. Except maybe more Jacob Carter.

This was an excellent opening, which is especially important for a show that’s still relatively young. Nowadays that wouldn’t be true, but if you think about some of the older sci-fi shows (most of the Star Treks, X-Files, and the like) they started getting on their feet around the third-fourth season, and then it just really takes off from there. Frankly, though, I’ve been really impressed so far. Besides, we finally got some idea of how Chulak is reacting to the death of Apophis. It makes you wonder how other worlds will, or would, react to the eventual demises of their respective gods. I highly doubt it’s going to be Apophis and Hathor and no others.

Very good lead-in. Now that I’ve got the DVD set for this next season, there’s really nothing more to do than watch and enjoy! Here’s to another great season of Jack, Sam, Daniel, Teal’c, and everyone else that makes this one of the best scifis I’ve ever seen!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(The SGC celebrates its collective victory!)

Makepeace: …So then I shot the other Serpent Guard, and he went down, and it was awesome!

Hammond: You really came through today, son. That’s something to be proud of.

Makepeace: Thanks, sir.

O’Neill: And I propose a toast to the Tok’ra who saved my life from that really nasty worm.

Carter: Hear, hear!

Jackson: You know, I felt kind of useless this time around. Kind of depressing.

O’Neill: It’s okay, Daniel. We can’t all have our moment of fame all the time.

Random SG Lieutenant: Did you guys see that Jaffa who shot down Trotsky? Awesome!

Teal’c: I do believe that was Master Bra’tac.

SG Lieutenant: Bra’tac, huh? Sounds like the master of awesome!

Marie: I agree! To awesome people everywhere!

All: Hear, hear!