“New Ground” ( 3 x 19 )

You know what this title reminds me of? Newgrounds forums. But considering that the site probably wasn’t even around in 2000, the year this episode aired, I doubt this has anything to do with that. However, I am intrigued by the title screen image of O’Neill in a… cage.

Yup, I’ve already got a bad feeling about this.

The scene opens with a young man (he’s got some wicked sideburns) cracking rock off what looks like a Stargate. And then… it starts to light up. (GOA’ULD?!)

…Nope, just SG-1.

Back in Colorado, turns out that they’ve had success with what they call the “cold address program”, which I presume will be explained. The SGC sends a MALP through, and it sends back telemetry of the young man and woman who unburied the ‘Gate. The young man’s name is Nyan (NYAN CAT?! Oh wait…) and he speaks with Jackson through the MALP.

They also realize that there isn’t a DHD in sight, but they can just dial out manually if need be.

However, I think this could get ugly. Mallin (the girl) and Nyan talk, and it turns out that their people don’t “believe” in the “Gateway” (I presume that’s what they call the ‘Gate). There’s apparently another group, the Optricans, who do/did.

And Mallin and Nyan’s people might kill anyone who comes through…

SG-1 steps through the ‘Gate with a naquadah reactor in hand, and they greet Nyan, who’s astounded to see them come through. He explains the two conflicting theories of this world:

The first is the Optrican theory. They state that humans were brought here some 2,000 years ago by aliens through the Stargate.

The other is the Bedrosian theory, and that’s his people, and they believed that the humans were originally from this planet.

Oh, by the way, they’ve been at war for decades. That’s fun stuff.

Teal’c spots three shuttles approaching, and before they can escape, Carter, O’Neill, and Jackson are captured and knocked out. Teal’c, who was outside of the shuttle’s range, hides away for now…

SG-1 (minus Teal’c) are on their knees and at gunpoint. However, within the brush, a Bedrosian solider spots Teal’c and they face off and –

 - they both get blasted! Oh no!! TEAL’C!!!

Turns out that Mallin was the one who told on Nyan and SG-1, and the leader insists that they must be Optrican spies (or something to that effect). They’re imprisoned… once again.

Well, this is just peachy!

Nyan finds Teal’c lying on the ground, and there’s severe scarring over his eyes. (Oh, this doesn’t look good… no, that was not a pun for what I’m sure is bound to be the issue..) Teal’c looks incredibly frustrated, and for good reason… he’s blind.

Looks like someone just ran over his pride and then rubbed salt into the wound.

The Bedrosian leader, Rigar, speaks with Parcy, his second-in-command. She tries to get him to at least consider the possibility that their prisoners really did come through the Optrican fabled Gateway, but he won’t listen. (Quite the stubborn one!)

What I think is happening here is a religious war more than anything else. Two factions are fighting to prove their respective ideas… but really, what good is fighting? How is that going to prove anything at all? I suppose this is why I’ve never understood religious wars, because when it gets to that point, it’s not longer about the faith. It’s about your personal pride.

Nyan leads Teal’c into a cave, and wow, he looks about ready to just whack someone with his staff weapon. Hm… between this and “Bane”, something tells me Teal’c’s not too fond of the whole “incapacitation” thing. I think he might’ve taken a blow to the abdomen… is that why he’s not healing?

Anyhow, he and Nyan talk, and we learn that Teal’c is familiar with the Bedrosian religious text, Nefertum. However, he knows the name as belonging to an Undersystem Lord of Ra. In essence, Teal’c has confirmed to Nyan that the Optricans are correct in their theory. The young man, while visibly upset, also seems excited about this new news.

…But Teal’c isn’t. Yeah, I’d say that after “Foothold” he’s not in the mood to be anyone’s science fair project, even if it could change all of civilization and all that. His goal, first and foremost, is to free the rest of SG-1.

As Nyan runs off to go get medical supplies (much to his new acquaintance’s dismay), Teal’c collapses onto the floor of the cave and there’s a decidedly haunted look on his face. Can’t say I’ve ever seen him start to freak out like this… It’s kind of freakin’ me out!

Speaking of which… Carter, O’Neill, and Jackson find themselves in small, metal, electrical cages of sorts. Their gear has obviously been confiscated. They are each interrogated by Rigar, and each denies that there was a fourth – Teal’c – with them. I assume this is so that the Bedrosians don’t go off looking for him, because I shudder to think what they’d do to him if they discovered he was, y’know, an alien.

There is a funny little part as SG-1 tries to explain the Stargate:

Carter: “The Stargate isn’t made of regular stone. If given enough power, a wormhole forms within the circle and that allows us to travel to other worlds.”

Rigar: “Wormhole?”

O’Neill: “Giant worms. Huge!”

Jackson: “Wormhole is just an expression. It has nothing to do with worms. It’s a tunnel through space.”

Oh, O’Neill… the humour never ends with you… He continues to give ridiculous answers, and it’s all very funny, but unfortunately Rigar still believes they’re Optrican spies.

In the cave, OH DEAR LORD SHIRTLESS TEAL’C ALERT!! Happy Marie is happy now! Let’s just… pause right there for a couple minutes…

…Oh, wait, that probably means something is wrong with Junior. Which is bad.

Nyan walks in on him, Teal’c quickly putting his shirt back on (awww man) and realization dawns on him:

 “You’re an alien!” (No, really? That pouch is just there for show. Really. New-age kind of thing.)

He reluctantly explains to Nyan the nature of the Jaffa and the symbiote, but Nyan’s not convinced Teal’c will simply heal on his own. He wants to try a healing device that should at least partially restore his eyesight. And if they don’t get help for Junior… this could all go badly.

Meanwhile, Jackson is brought out to see the just-discovered victim of Teal’c’s staff weapon. He clearly recognizes it as such a wound, but he again and again denies that there is a fourth among them.

…And they’ve also found a DHD. Wow! This is really good and really bad!

Nyan convinces Teal’c to let him help, and that his intention is not to kill him, even if he is indeed the proof that the Bedrosians were wrong. Sure enough, after a minute or so, Teal’c’s eyesight begins to return. (Yeah!)

Back at the Bedrosian base, Rigar shoots Carter and then O’Neill with the Zat gun in an attempt to get him to talk. And yet, despite this vicious method, Jackson still denies knowing how the man was killed and the fact that there is a fourth in SG-1. (Wow, that’s some resolve! Jackson sure has gotten a thicker skin the past three seasons.)

The Stargate starts to power up, and it’s the SGC. They’re trying to get in touch with SG-1, and Rigar answers Hammond on the radio. While Hammond keeps him busy, they use the MALP to assess the situation, and it’s pretty bleak. His last words before destroying the MALP is that if they try to rescue SG-1, they’ll all be killed.

In the cave, Teal’c and Nyan plan their attack. Teal’c’s eyesight is still pretty bad, but he’s managing okay. Nyan zaps the two pilots of a shuttle, and they take off.

(This is gonna be awesome..!)

An erratically-flown shuttle crashes on the Bedrosian base, and Nyan runs out, shouting that he was taken prisoner (clearly a hoax). Teal’c then emerges and, taking one of the Bedrosian weapons, starts laying down cover fire. Nyan manages to rescue the rest of SG-1, and we’re outta here!

Jackson makes it to the DHD and dials out. He and Carter make their escape while O’Neill joins Teal’c under the cover of the stolen shuttle. Just as Nyan is shot, Teal’c grabs him and the three jump through the ‘Gate.

RIGHT ON!

Later, in the infirmary, Teal’c and Nyan are patched up but fine. Nyan has been given refugee status, and Jackson says he could even be his research assistant. The rest exit, leaving Teal’c and Nyan, and they thank each other.

It’s all good!

Final thoughts… I love Nyan. He’s so adorable. Truly!

(“But, Marie, you think that anyone even remotely kind to Teal’c is adorable.”)

You know, I don’t care. Nothing you could ever say or do could change the way I feel about Nyan!

…Ahem. Anyways.

You see, guys, it’s episodes like these that I point to when people ask, baffled, why Teal’c is my favourite character in Stargate, and definitely among my top faves for sci-fi in general. I mean, the guy gets blinded and all he can think about is what’s going to happen to the rest of SG-1. He’d rather go out there and give it his all, surely risking his life, than sit around. We’ve seen this over and over in the series. Teal’c is just so incredibly, unbelievably selfless and loyal.

There’s another thing I’ve noticed about Teal’c… He always refers to his teammates as his “friends”. Now, maybe I’m just imagining significance behind his choice of words, but it goes to show you how they are just so much more than just a team. I suppose if you go through life and death situations with each other you kind of have to be friends, but it’s intriguing nonetheless. I don’t think he says it lightly, either! There’s sincerity behind those words.

Speaking of teams and loyalty… Aside from Teal’c, who (with Nyan’s help! And I’ll get to Nyan soon) obviously was instrumental in rescuing the rest of SG-1, you’ve got to give Jackson some major kudos this time around. I saw resilience and strength in him this episode we just did not see early in the series. I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like, watching two of the people you’re closest to get zapped because of you (of course referring to the interrogation scene). You could almost say I was surprised. It wasn’t so long ago that his wife died by Teal’c’s own staff weapon. And yet, he knew what he had to do, no matter what, for the overall good of the mission.

I probably do a lot of unnecessary and unfair whining about our good friend Daniel, but this episode I saw his true nature. I think that’s the best gauge of someone’s character: How they react under pressure. Grace Under Pressure, to quote the name of a great RUSH album.

And… Nyan. Ya gotta love a guy who can have his whole world flipped upside down by an alien who is inherently dangerous to this guy’s entire way of life and still ends up saving his life and the lives of his friends. And it’s not like Teal’c was exactly trusting of him – not at first, anyways. Heck, Nyan even convinced him to swallow his pride and let the Bedrosian help him out.

I suppose I’m still curious as to why Nyan eventually decided to help him (aside from my thinking that Teal’c is just the greatest and that people need to stop being mean to him). Perhaps he, at first, thought that if he could help Teal’c, the Jaffa would be more willing to work with him. By the end, though, they had really developed a strange sort of bond. I just can’t quite explain it; can’t put my finger on it.

If anyone’s got any thoughts on that, just leave me a comment, yeah? I’d love to hear what you think.

Anyways, I don’t mean to leave Carter and O’Neill out of this, but they’ve had their share of the spotlight other times in the season… Oh, yeah, I liked how O’Neill went straight back to help Teal’c after shooing Carter and Jackson through the ‘Gate. And of course his explanation of wormholes. Yeah, you’re the best, Jack.

Overall, an episode I found surprisingly good. Maybe the plot itself wasn’t all that interesting, but the characters and development? Top-notch!

And I got to gush about Teal’c again!

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(The Breaking Dawn movie premieres tonight. UGH.)

Carter: Uh, why is the prompt having to do with sparkling vampires rather than… well… us?

O’Neill: Because we’re clearly far more awesome.

Jackson: Maybe she just felt like ranting about how much she despises the Twilight series.

Teal’c: I do not see how that is relevant, seeing as it is the year 2000, and thus we are – or rather, should be – unfamiliar with this book series.

O’Neill: Well, I haven’t read it.

Jackson: Me neither.

Carter: I was never much into romances.

(They all look at Teal’c, who glances over.)

Teal’c: …I found it to be an interesting look into the young, female Tau’ri mind, and strangely appropriate, since our next adventure is titled ‘Maternal Instinct’.

(Everyone looks at Daniel.)

Jackson: …Why is everyone staring at me?