S2 FINALE: “Out of Mind” ( 2 x 22 )

Oh my goodness! It’s finale time! Hurrah! I’ve finally made it through the second season! Now, all I can hope is that this episode will be so awesome I could call it bra’tac. So let’s hope for a really bra’tac episode, hm? And hopefully no evil cliffhangers like they pulled last season!

The episode opens in a futuristic-looking facility, and some personnel pull a cryogenic tank out of a freezer…

(Oh boy, I can see where this is going.)

…and it’s Colonel O’Neill! Two people, Major General Trofsky and Doctor Raleigh, tell him he’s in the SGC, and his teammates are dead, and the year is…

…2077.

 Whoa, now hold on. Where the heck could this be going? We just had a time travel episode. Why would O’Neill be in a cryogenics lab? What happened? The SGC is still around? Will he have to figure out how to get home? Why do I hate where this is going?

Trofsky reports that he was sent to the base already frozen, and that they’ve just been waiting for their technology to be advanced enough in order to unfreeze him. Trofsky informs him that there are now 28 SG teams, and that they’ve colonized other planets.

O’Neill doesn’t remember much of his mission, other than that the world was maybe ruled by a Goa’uld. What’s more, in this day and age, Earth is at war with the Goa’uld. They hope that O’Neill can help them out using a Tok’ra memory device that will allow them to see his memories holographically.

Oh, god, it’s another flashbacks episode.

First, he shows them his memories of various races that could have powerful technology. He sees the Nox (HI QUARK, HI THERE!! I STILL SEE YOUR LOBES!), the Asgard, and the memory of the alliance room (from “The Torment of Tantalus”).

Now, as nice of a recap as this is, and maybe it means we see more the Alliance in the third season, it’s a little tedious right now if you’ve seen the series as quickly as I have. I understand, though, that if it’s been a full year or two since you saw some of this first-season stuff, you might have forgotten, but still… I like to move forward, yeah? Reminds me a bit too much of “Politics”.

However, the memories end, and the two walk off.

They go to another room and…

(Oh man, oh man, I smell a conspiracy!!)

…open up a cryogenic tank with Jackson inside! They give him the same speech as O’Neill.

Another tank comes out, this one with Carter, and Trofsky suggests they drug her a little further, since she has naquadah in her system. (Hm… What’s their problem? Do they not like her “feelings”? This smells very, very wrong. And where’s Teal’c!? He needs to be here too!) She gets the same speech as the other two.

They have her put on the memory device thing (just who are these people? And why are they so interested in battle tactics and the like?) and she remembers back to “The Serpent’s Lair” and how they took down Apophis’ ship. The only great thing about this scene is MEMORY OF BRA’TAC!! HI BRA’TAC! HI! HI! I MISSED YOU! I WISH YOU WERE REAL! I LOVE YOU AND YOU’RE AWESOME!

Ahem. Um, anyhow.

Jackson’s also hooked up to a memory device. (I should mention that his hair is like ridiculously short now and it looks… really good.) He remembers the various Goa’uld they’ve met: Apophis, Heru’ur, Sokar, and Hathor.

God, Hathor’s such a creeper. Ugh, she grosses me out more than those bugs that got to Teal’c in “Bane”.

They are all under the impression that they’ve lost everyone they’ve ever cared about, even though they’ve been lied to. What else have they been lied to about?

Again, I don’t like how this feels.

The scene changes and… TEAL’C!

Teal’c! I was so worried! I knew you’d be here, though, I knew it! It is so great to see your smiling face even when it’s not smiling! But then it’d just be a face. …Whatever.

He, too, wakes up, but he’s greeted by Hammond and Fraiser. They tell him he was found lying unconscious near the Stargate on the planet they traveled to. He reports back that there were Serpent and Horus guards… working together. Hm…

Just as he’s about to walk out, they stop him. He’s apparently been unconscious for three weeks. He was more or less left for dead.

(Now who would do that? I can think of infinite reasons why not to leave Teal’c for dead.)

Hammond again denies his request to go out looking for SG-1, who are no longer on the planet, and then something horrible and heartbreaking happens:

He drops his jacket on the ground and announces his resignation from the SGC. It’s actually a very emotional moment (you can see a tear roll down his cheek… oh god) but you see his situation. SG-1 was all he had on this planet. They were his family here. And since SGC will no longer search for them, he no longer feels he has a true mission here. He’s got to go back to Chulak.

Now, of course I know he’ll return to the SGC, but still… pretty heartbreaking.

O’Neill wakes up and hears Raleigh and Trofsky speaking… Goa’uld! Ha! I knew it! (Actually, no, I didn’t, but I knew there was something fishy about them!) O’Neill pulls out the IV for the drugs and knocks the attending doctor out, and steals his clothes. Here we go.

Back on the base, Teal’c is getting an honourable release from the SGC. He’s dressed in beige and tan robes and carries only his staff weapon. They salute him, and he returns the gesture. After a moment of hesitation, he walks through the Stargate, and back to Chulak.

(Wait, Teal’c! You have to save your cronies!)

Meanwhile, O’Neill sneaks out and discovers that, indeed, this is not the SGC, and he has not time-traveled, nor been frozen, et cetera. A Serpent and Horus guard pass by him.

Now why on earth would they be working together? Something’s seriously off.

He manages to find Carter’s room, and after knocking out the attending doctor and getting her some clothes, they run off to get Jackson. They’ve all determined this is a hoax planted by the Goa’uld in order to learn about their enemies, obviously through the memories of the SG team. What’s more, the Stargate they found… is a fake.

(“It’s a faaaaaaaaake!!”)

And then Hathor appears, as well as Raleigh and Trofsky and several Jaffa guards. She’d seduced them into working for her. She wants them to give her information, and in exchange, she’ll “let them be her servants”.

You know, I’m thinking she’s really not all that bad as a person. She wants to align with the Asgard so she can take down the other Goa’uld… but that would just be so she can be supreme ruler of all, in which case she’s almost more dangerous. Her ego is through the roof. Besides, it makes sense that only she could reconstruct such a convincing SGC.

And then she reaffirms her place as a villain. If they don’t give her what she wants, she’ll make one of them a host. And that wouldn’t be fun.

Final thoughts… Well, this has been… um… interesting.

…

I’m sorry, but why do we have to endure Hathor again? She’s such a creeper. And in the season finale? I was honestly expecting a little more than this. Last season finale was so incredible. The SG program was threatened… they found themselves on Apophis’ ship… Skaara was there too… I feel like this little arc is falling flat on its face.

Why?

Why?

Well, for me, a big part of it is the whole flashback-thing. It took up so much of the episode, and the larger antagonist wasn’t even revealed until the very end. You see, also, Hathor has the potential to be interesting, but she just falls on her face (ha, I wish) with her whole “YOU CAN BE SERVANTS OR YOU CAN BE HOSTS” schpeal. As far as I’m concerned she’s no better than Apophis or Heru’ur or any other creepers.

Also, I feel like nothing really happened. It left us off on a pretty heavy cliffhanger (Teal’c leaving the SGC, the others of SG-1 being captured by Hathor) but the rest of the episode was just… bleh. I don’t know. I guess I expected more. If this had just been a standalone and not the season finale, maybe I would’ve been more impressed. In fact, I have no doubt I would’ve been.

That said, this did have a few shining moments. The parting of Teal’c from SGC and his last words with Hammond were very touching in so many ways. Also liked how O’Neill clonked the guard in Carter’s room out. (Yeah!) And that mature Goa’uld symbiote… ugh, yuck, but it did look pretty cool. Creepiest snake-worm-thing ever! …I dig it.

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY:

(HEY!! TODAY IS CHRISTOPHER JUDGE’S BIRTHDAY!!!)

O’Neill: Hold on just a minute. Aren’t we supposed to say stuff about this episode?

Marie: (Poofs in) No! Because it’s Chris Judge’s birthday and that’s all that matters! Happy 47^th!

Teal’c: I do not believe he can hear you.

Jackson: Yeah, and I highly doubt he’s going to read your blog.

Carter: I’d say the odds of that happening are one in—

Marie: I don’t have to listen to this! Come on, you guys, let a girl have her fantasies.

Jackson: Uh, hel-lo, one of us three is about to get Goa’uld-ed.

Marie: Maybe you should ask Hathor if she wants birthday cake. Cake makes everything better.

O’Neill: She’s got a point.

Teal’c: This is a very strange diplomatic solution.

Hathor: I love cake! Is it angel food?

Carter: Uh… No, it’s actually devil’s food.

Hathor: Oh. (Pause.) …THEN YOU SHALL ALL DIE!!!

(Everyone dies)

Marie: Well, aren’t you two-dimensional.

Chris Judge: Hey, what happened to my cake?