“Point of View” ( 3 x 06 )

Five days of NaNoWriMo have passed! Er, going on six. Wait, right?

…And now I need to stop neglecting this blog and DO A REVIEW, YAY.

The scene opens at “Area 51” (wait, I thought the Stargate was in Area 52?) and there’s…

…Carter with long hair? And Kawalsky?

Aw, snap, another mirror universe episode! This is just crazy now!

O’Neill walks in on Dr. Carter (I think I might just call her “Samantha” for the sake of this episode) and her reaction is “oh my gosh, you’re alive!” Of course he’s puzzled by the sheer informality and the fact that she’s not a hardass like the major from over here, but Kawalsky comes in, too, and says he’s been getting the same reaction.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is going to be like the other Alternate Universe episode and there was something major between not-Major Carter and O’Neill.

It turns out that the two came through the mirror device that Jackson used back in “There But For the Grace of God” using a remote control sort of device. They did this as a last resort after the Goa’uld overtook the planet. However, they’re not from that particular universe. They’re from a different one.

Samantha herself is a braniac just like the major, and she explains that they’ve discovered multiple, multiple universes instead of just one other. (Okay, whew, this isn’t going to be just like Star Trek/Fringe.)

Kawalsky and Samantha come in and the major more or less FREAKS OUT when he sees Teal’c. (You see what I mean about people giving him a hard time ALL THE TIME?) Seems that in their universe, Teal’c nor Jackson were on SG-1. (Well, that’s kind of a sucky universe.) O’Neill actually has a pretty funny line to Samantha:

“For all we know, you could be her evil twin. But then we’d be dealing with clichés, and you know how I feel about those…”

In her temporary quarters, Samantha pulls out a photograph… of her and Alter-O’Neill (as I’ll call him). As a couple. Married.

Yup, I think all the Sam/Jack shippers are just WRITHING right now.

O’Neill comes into Samantha’s quarters to let her know she and Kawalsky can stay in this universe. She’s been crying, primarily because of the fact that she’s seeing a man who looks and sounds just like her husband, except he’s… not. Her husband, Alter-O’Neill died in one of the initial attacks. (Um, awkward!) They talk for a while and it’s all very angsty and sad but mainly I’m just waiting for it to be over because THERE’S A WORLD BEING DESTROYED OUT THERE YOU GUYS! But she’s insistent that he’s the only one who can help her get through this.

Trust me, I rather like the whole S/J idea. I mean, it works. It makes sense. I don’t get all the angst and soppy fan-fiction out there about it, though. Besides, I can’t see him falling for this Carter. She’s not really his type.

Something really weird’s happening to Samantha, and it almost looks like she’s being pulled apart. It’s pretty freaky, actually. They figure out that it’s because Carter is still alive, so Samantha is now about to cease to exist over here. The only way she’ll survive is if they send her back. The problem is, though, that over there, the Goa’uld have taken over, with our not-so-good-friend Teal’c leading the assault. (Oh, god, I hope he doesn’t have FREAKY HAIR like the other one.) So what do they do? They formulate a plan to go over there, infiltrate, contact the Asgard, and hopefully save the other universe so that Samantha and Kawalsky and anyone else can live and HAPPINESS AND RAINBOWS!

The two Carters manage to piece together the reactor that will allow them to open up the extra chevron for the Stargate while Kawalsky explains the quantum mirror remote to Jackson. With that, Samantha, Kawalsky, Teal’c (with a weird goatee thing… what is up with that?), O’Neill, and Jackson go through the mirror and into the other universe.

The other base is, indeed, overrun by Jaffa Serpent Guard, and so the team has to more or less sneak around. Alteal’c is so hanging on Alterpophis’ every word it’s almost hysterical. He sends his men off when a noise catches his attention in O’Neill’s direction.

(IT’S A TRAP!)

And then Teal’c faces… himself. And then he shoots himself. Awkward!

He effectively takes over Alteal’c’s duties in order to buy the rest of the team time.

Kawalsky and O’Neill go to put in the energy supplement for the Altergate while Jackson tries to find the right reality in the mirror again.

Meanwhile, Alterpophis is torturing Alter-Hammond for information about the Beta Site on this world, AKA where they would send everyone “in case of a Goa’uld attack” (which obviously occurred here). Teal’c brings in Samantha (well played, man!) and sends the other Jaffa away. And then we get awesome:

Alter-Hammond: “You might as well kill me.”

Teal’c: “I would never do such a thing.”

Darn right he wouldn’t! I still remember those great scenes between them in the Season 2 Finale and Season 3 Premiere. Now all we need is Bra’tac and everything will be AWESOME.

Anyways, he and Samantha work to free Hammond, but time’s running out!

They manage to get the Altergate up and running and there’s OH MY GOODNESS SO MUCH CUTE when Samantha thanks Teal’c and gives him a little kiss on the cheek. Awww!! (Geez, she sure warmed up to him fast. But come on, who could resist? He’s Teal’c!)

She gets through the ‘Gate, but this isn’t turning out so hot. Alterpophis has caught Teal’c in his seeming treachery and they’re pretty much all at gunpoint now.

(Hurry up, Asgard! HURRY!!! DANGIT THOR.)

Alterpophis has them lined up more or less for execution (looks like he’s still a jerkface in this reality) and there’s another funny between him and O’Neill:

“I saw my First Prime kill you with my own eyes.”

“I’m feeling much better now, thanks.”

The Asgard show up and start zapping everyone away! Yay! Hurrah! Hi Thor! Love ya, man! Even if you’re not as cool as Jacob Carter and Bra’tac you’re still pretty epic!

They all part, and O’Neill and Samantha part with… a kiss. And it’s super awkward. SUPER. SUPER. And Carter is just like “…omigod,” in the background. They part, each now clearly knowing that it could never work.

Final thoughts… This episode largely seemed like a teaser for S/J fans. It’s like the writers were saying, “Ha, ha, they’re gonna get together but it’s not really going to be them!” But aside from that little annoyance (which I’m not really quite sure how it contributed to the plot) it was a really neat episode. I love alternate universe things in general, so, yeah, it’s pretty cool to see “What could have been”.

One thing that continuously shows up (or at least has shown up twice) is Teal’c still being Apophis’ First Prime. Something seriously weird must have happened the day that O’Neill and his people (by which I mean Kawalsky, Carter, and Jackson, etc.) came in and “stormed the castle”, as it were. I think there’s got to be something significant about Jackson in particular, because he never exists in these other timelines, and Carter’s never Air Force. So what changed? What was the deciding factor? Did the original ’94 Stargate mission never happen? Did Ra never die in those universes?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!!

The point is that you could go so deeply into these alternate timelines. It’s so fascinating. Change one little detail and you get a whole other world. Of course, they all get screwed over, but that just goes to show you how vitally important each member of “our” SG-1 is. It was only because of the four of them working together that Earth over here is still alive and well.

This begs another question, though. Despite the fact that the other universe is essentially saved now, they’ve still suffered major casualties, and certainly most people will have figured out, “Hey, there are ALIENS out there!” and… yeah. If they ever get media communications out, the SGC is going to have a hell of a time explaining this.

I’d love to go back to this timeline and see what happened over here. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll get any more alternate universes, since they plan to destroy the quantum mirror.

Sadness!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY:

(The crew whines about how forgotten and lonely they feel.)

O’Neill: I can’t believe you forgot all about us!

Carter: Tell me about it! It was only after you watched that poser FILM which didn’t have me OR Teal’c in it…

O’Neill: …and I looked ridiculous with that HAIR…

Carter: …that you decided to finish this up!

Jackson: And damnit, I want Sha’uri back! I mean Sha’re!

Teal’c: FALSE GODS. FALSE GODS EVERYWHERE.