Season Three Reflection

It’s been a long month, but it’s been totally worth it. While I don’t know if this was the strongest season (one and two had some pretty epic episodes), it was absolutely brilliant from “Jolinar’s Memories” on. Let’s glance back at what happened this season; major events…

Three major Goa’uld are dead (Setesh, Hathor, and presumably Sokar), and one’s alive: Our good friend Apophis.

Let’s take a look at that, shall we? Apophis has had a rough few years. He loses his First Prime, is foiled by a fledgling SG-1, loses two HUGE ships, dies, is brought back and repeatedly tortured by Sokar (only to gain his revenge), and eventually triumphs when he escapes Netu.

He’s more or less making a comeback. He’s on the hunt for his son, but I’m pretty sure he’s got other goals in mind. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if and/or when he and Teal’c finally come face-to-face… And I hope they do!

(Come on, the guy’s got to die eventually.)

There is a good side to this: With that lovely little treaty, Earth itself should be okay. Besides, I’m sure the System Lords aren’t very happy at all with Apophis, so Of course, there’s another complication that comes to mind. It seems like the Asgard are pretty preoccupied with the Replicators, and that problem is getting worse. If the System Lords were to learn of this, would they get a little too cocky and try to attack Earth in spite of the treaty?

Which brings me to another point:

REPLICATORS.

There’s not much more I can say here about them that I didn’t address in the Final Thoughts of “Nemesis”, except that I am so, so, so excited to see what happens with them. What if they become a plague in our galaxy, too?

There have been major changes for the characters as well, and I’ll elaborate more on this in the “Best episode for…” like I’ve done the past couple season reflections.

Carter has somewhat inadvertently confessed her feelings (I hate associating that word with her now) for Jack, but I get the impression that she doesn’t quite trust her heart. Her blending with Jolinar has muddled her thoughts, as she says in “Pretense”. It’ll be interesting to see where that goes. Also, let’s not forget her promotion to Major. I wouldn’t be surprised if she started taking more of a lead when the time calls for it.

Teal’c I’m not really sure about. He didn’t seem as prevalent this season except for very early and then in the latter half of the season. Probably the biggest thing I can say here is that his relationship to SG-1 seems to have become more and more a part of his life.

O’Neill in particular had some very interesting development this season. He’s still got that same old optimism, but I think he’s become a little more open-minded. Back at the beginning of the season, he still seemed rather ethnocentric (see “Learning Curve”) but by the time “Shades of Grey” rolled around he recognized the necessity of allies and how it was more important to maintain those relationships than to get tangible results.

And finally, Jackson… Ah, Danny boy, you’ve just had a rough time, haven’t you? Certainly losing his wife and then (in a way) losing her son (even if for the better) has certainly taken a toll on him. Within the team he seems fine, which of course makes me happy. He’s had rifts, especially with Jack and Teal’c, but I’m confident they’ll all come out okay.

Best episode for… JACK O’NEILL

“Shades of Grey” (3x18)

Painfully obvious choice? Okay, maybe, but other ones I considered were “Point of View” and “A Hundred Days”. However, since there’s so much more to O’Neill than his romances, I decided to do this one.

I believe this episode was where we saw Jack as character as he’s become now. It’s a far cry from the man who was wary of just about any culture, and really was quite ethnocentric. It’s almost disturbing how convincing he was under Maybourne’s command, but great to know that he came out on the right side in the end.

We also saw a bit of a different skill set for him. Despite the obvious, “Uh, Jack’s acting kind of weird,” everyone expressed, he was pretty convincing. I suspect this has something to do with his previous occupation, because he seemed to have had some experience in espionage.

Or maybe he was just playing on some hidden feelings…

Best episode for… DANIEL JACKSON

“Maternal Insinct” (3x20)

The other contenders here were “Pretense” and “Forever in a Day”, which is kind of funny because the latter episode tied right in with that one. It also had Bra’tac. (Squee!) But I’m not here to talk about him, so… Daniel. Right.

Just like “Shades of Grey” was for O’Neill, this was really the gamechanger for Jackson. We see not only his desire to do the right thing, but also a realization of humility. He’s a very self-confident individual when he’s in an area of his own personal expertise (culture, anthropology, language, etc.) since he doesn’t have quite the same skillset as the others in SG-1. He’s the civilian of the team but I think maybe he feels he needs to be useful.

Here Jackson was all ready to use these “newfound abilities” because he believed he was the best possible protection for Sha’re’s son, only to realize that they had never been his. It was for sure a heartbreaking moment – his only connection to his deceased wife was now gone – but he had been able to fulfill his promise to her. Perhaps that, if anything, gave him some closure.

Best episode for… SAMANTHA CARTER

“Jolinar’s Memories”/“The Devil You Know” (3x12/13)

While everyone had a part in the success of this mission arc, it was really Carter’s time to shine here. She was forced to face some very disturbing memories and really the ghosts of Jolinar’s past. I know I do a lot of complaining and teasing when it comes to “Carter’s feelings” but when she’s not going on about her conflictions, it actually makes things pretty interesting.

Of course I didn’t have much to complain about this episode. Apophis came back, we got to see Jacob Carter (yay!), and it was just overall very awesome. Here we got to see her putting some ability aside from her scientific knowledge to work. 

Over time, I’ve come to like Carter more and more. I’m looking forward to seeing further development in her character through the fourth season.

Best episode for… TEAL’C

“New Ground” (3x19)

You all probably saw this coming, didn’t you? Well, now it has.

If it’s not obvious, I really enjoy episodes where Teal’c is sort of put into odd situations and he’s got to trust someone to get him out of it. I found it most interesting that the individual who ends up saving his life and likely the life of his team as well is a scientist, and one which could be potentially dangerous.

More than anything, though, in “New Ground”, Teal’c had to swallow his pride probably more than ever. He wasn’t completely incapacitated, merely blind, but you could tell how hard he was trying to still act dignified. He’s so used to being “just fine” that when bad goes to worse, it’s so hard for him to accept help. In that way I understand what my dad said a while back when he commented, “He reminds me of Worf.” (Of Star Trek TNG and DS9.) However, in the face of his team – not him, but his friends – being endangered, he took a gamble and let Nyan help him out.

The thing is that, first and foremost, Teal’c is a warrior. It’s why he was First Prime of Apophis, it’s why he fights alongside SG-1, and it’s why he’s so fiercely loyal to those he cares about. However, it’s always kind of interesting to see that resolve crumble, if only temporarily.

In the end, though, it all turns out all right for him.

(Thanks, Nyan!)

Best episode for… THE CREW/PLOT

“Point of View” (3x06)

This was a tough one to choose because so many episodes in this season focused on just a couple characters at a time, and given that Jackson wasn’t a huge part of “Nemesis” (which I now know is because Michael Shanks actually had appendicitis) I couldn’t choose that one in good conscience.

There’s not much I can say here I didn’t say in the Final Thoughts for this one’s blog, but once again, the alternate universe shows us just how much the SG-1 we know and love works. Again and again we’ve seen three major differences:

1.       Carter not being in the military (and in a relationship with O’Neill)

2.       Teal’c still being Apophis’ First Prime and obviously not with SG-1

3.       Daniel Jackson being either non-existent or just irrelevant to the Stargate program

While I’d love to know why these things are true (Did the original mission to Abydos never happen? Did Jackson just never return from there? Did Apophis never go there? Did SG-1 never go to Chulak that first day?) for now I can simply accept that they are. I love these because we get to see the true dynamics behind the team. It’s what could have been, and what is not, for better or for worse.

And for the record, as much as I think Sam/Jack would be cute, I’m fine them just going around and kicking Goa’uld/Replicator/insert-antagonistic-force-here BUTT. We’ve all seen that the planet Earth is screwed when they’re together. We need them just where they are.

SHINING GUEST STAR

Peter Williams (Apophis)

Maybe he really only showed up for one episode this season, but I’ve never really voiced my love for this guy before. He really is a fantastic actor and he plays the part so well. If not for Argenziago (Jacob Carter) last season, Williams would’ve definitely gotten the “Shining Guest Star” spot, especially for his performance in “Serpent’s Song”.

Apophis was really the first Goa’uld we met in Stargate, aside from Ra, who didn’t have very much character development at all in the film. In SG-1 we see a Goa’uld who goes from simply ruling as he always does to basically losing all his power, dying, being enslaved, and then scheming his way back into power – and you could say he’s more dangerous now than ever before. He has literally nothing to lose now, and his destruction of Chulak emphasized that.

At first, Apophis always seemed kind of pathetic to me, but after seeing the measures he took in “The Devil You Know” to try to get what he wanted, he seems a lot more of a threat than originally. Of course there’s also his brilliant connection to Teal’c, and even to Jackson. Can’t wait to see more of this guy.

All in all, between the Replicators, the Goa’uld still out there, great character development, and new allies of the SGC, I can’t wait for the fourth season. So here we go!