“Beneath the Surface” ( 4 x 10 )

Knowing sci-fi, I predict this will have something to do with mining. Because we all know how huge mining is out in space on other planets. Mining naquadah… trinium… whatever they have on Star Trek…

The episode opens up in… yup, looks like some sort of industrial facility. Teal’c wakes up and is surrounded by a bunch of people, but the rest of SG-1 doesn’t appear until all the workers are gathered.

Turns out that this is an ice planet, and the workers are… um… working to keep it heated somehow.

Also, Carter’s hair looks different. It’s much shorter now.

While Carter, O’Neill, and Jackson are in line for food (were they captured?) an argument breaks out and Daniel calls O’Neill… “Jonah”? They suddenly start to fight (whoa!) and Teal’c rushes in at the last moment and pulls O’Neill away. He starts yelling at O’Neill that he’s part of SG-1, that he and Jackson are friends, that this isn’t right (what?!) before he’s dragged away.

O’Neill insists he doesn’t know Teal’c and the apparent leader – Brenna – also reveals Carter’s name here to be Thera.

What in the world is going on?!

It’s the following day. Clearly no one has any idea who they really are, but they seem to still have some of their SGC mental capabilities, and Thera/Carter and Jonah/O’Neill seem to be friends. I still haven’t caught Daniel’s name here, but Teal’c’s seems to be “Tor”. (Ironically similar to “Thor”… haha.)

Back at the SGC base, Hammond speaks with an Administrator Caulder, who claims that SG-1 has simply been lost in the cold of the planet. I don’t trust him though. Ally could smell the bad on him if she got close.

Once more underground, Jackson wakes up from a dream about the Stargate, and goes to try and talk to Tor/Teal’c. However, now Teal’c is claiming he doesn’t know Daniel, nor does he remember saying anything to him and O’Neill yesterday.

(Brainwashing?)

Also, this is really kind of random and unimportant, but the three SG-1 guys have varying levels of clothing as they work – O’Neill still wears a jacket, Daniel has a tank top, and Teal’c has NO SHIRT (but bandages over his pouch. Hmm..). No complaints about that. Come on Jack, join the party, you don’t need that stinkin’ jacket!

In the domed city, Brenna approaches Caulder, and he asks, “Why didn’t the memory stamp work on Teal’c?” O-HO!! I knew it! Some sort of brainwashing! That’s why they’re acting all weird! However, the stamp is working now, and it’s been working for the others just fine.

I’m guessing that the “Night Sickness” they keep mentioning is a result of the memory stamp wearing off. The memories start to come to light, and so they pass it off as illness so the other workers don’t get suspicious.

…And now we get to the meat of the plot.

Brenna tells Caulder that Carter (I’m just going to use their regular names) has some ideas for increasing productivity. However, the administrator seems bothered by this because if everything became automated, the workers would no longer have to work, and the current city-folk would have to share.

What’s more, the workers don’t even know the city exists. The stamp keeps them contented.

Carter is upset that her ideas have been rejected, and she expresses this to O’Neill. And it seems they might be starting to remember their real lives…

Elsewhere, Jackson talks to Kegan, the young woman who’d been serving food earlier, and they’re apparently friends too. (Doesn’t Teal’c get any friends?) He tells her that he can’t remember anything before working in the mines (prior to working here) and suspects that maybe he really was friends with “Thera” and “Jonah” at some point. She brushes it off as nothing, making her distaste for the two quite clear as she says, “If you were friends with them, then you’re not mine.” Awww. Poor Daniel.

Meanwhile, Teal’c is working on some kind of pressure gauge when suddenly he collapses (oh, crap, when was the last time he did kel’no’reem? does he even know he’s a Jaffa?) and a couple guys have to drag him off. Jackson and O’Neill work together to shut it off and Carter works at the controls, and together they manage to get it back to normal.

(Hey, you guys work together pretty well!)

Teal’c is more or less bed-ridden (yeah, I think it’s been a while since his last kel’no’reem… I doubt Junior’s too happy about that) and the rest of SG-1 has started to sorta-kinda bond. Jackson also speculates that they’re part of some “bigger, grander thing”.

Yeah, like saving the whole freakin’ galaxy!

Carter and Jackson have both had dreams about the Stargate, furthermore. I think they’re remembering! What I’m surprised about is that O’Neill isn’t, given all his military training. Hm…

That night, the three meet in secret. Jackson figures out that if they ever want to get through this façade, they’ve got to question everything.

And little by little… they’re remembering…

Teal’c’s condition is worsening, but apparently no one’s allowed to remove the bandages over his pouch. (I wonder if anyone would recognize him as Jaffa and then maybe remember some kind of Goa’uld? I don’t know where they’re getting their workers from, in any case.)

There’s kind of a cute/funny scene with Jack and Carter as they’re sitting next to each other. O’Neill remembers Homer Simpson (so he’s a Simpsons fan? that explains why he’s been saying “d’oh!” a lot lately). It’s really adorable when Carter rests her head on his shoulder and they say that they remember “feeling feelings”.

AWWWW. THAT’S CUUUTE.

Okay now quit talking about feelings. Martouf is dead. Carter can’t feel feelings that she’s feeling anymore.

Brenna is once more speaking with Caulder (slimeball! oh wait I reserved that for Maybourne) and she’s worried that Teal’c is dying. (No!! GOSH DARNIT LET THE MAN DO HIS KEL’NO’REEM.) Caulder shrugs it off and just says that “workers die”.

Yeah, well, I’ll kill YOU if you let Teal’c die. You’re gonna have it coming to you worse than freaking Cronus and Apophis and Tanith combined.

That night, O’Neill has a dream about himself talking to Caulder. (A memory?) Turns out that O’Neill figured out about the slave labor force underneath the domed city. He then threatened to cut off all prospective trade agreements between this world and Earth.

Before he can talk to Carter and Jackson, though, the next morning they’re all summoned to Brenna’s room, Teal’c included (on a stretcher)… but his bandages are off.

Jackson suddenly remembers that kel’no’reem is the key to his health, and Brenna at last reveals the truth to them – their memories have been altered. However, she’s willing to help them get home. Just as she’s about to let them out, who should walk in but Administrator Caulder.

Oh snap.

He shoots her in the shoulder and threatens to take the others to the frozen surface. Teal’c gets to his feet and quickly knocks out a guard, and Jack and Daniel help take down the rest while Carter attends to Brenna. O’Neill reveals the truth to the workers, and tells Caulder of his plan to move the workers off-world and let the city-dwellers work this place for a while.

And we all go home…

Final thoughts… FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC!

Or something like that.

To be honest, I was a little bit disappointed with this episode. I thought it was a story with great potential for character development, maybe drag it out a little further with the memories, something like that, more triggers… But with the 45-minute slot that the writers have to work with I suppose I can’t blame them much.

There were some good things about this episode, story aside… I really enjoyed the sets. I thought they looked really cool and I was pretty impressed. It would be interesting to find out where they filmed this episode. Very good art and camera direction! Even the lighting was neat and added well to the mood. It was such a stark contrast to the well-lit domed city. Just brilliant.

And I just can’t get over that shirts thing. I thought the leading man was supposed to be the “sex symbol”, as it were? Haha, not that I’m complaining. Michael Shanks and Chris Judge both have very well-developed upper body musculature. (Ahem, especially the latter.) Or maybe our wonderful Colonel’s just so cool he doesn’t need to show off so that people know he’s cool. He wouldn’t want to come off as a Jim Kirk, now, would he?

Overall, I thought it was a decent episode with an interesting premise, but unfortunately the execution left something to be desired – at least for me. So many good ideas though – ethics, how “slave labour” is defined, what happiness is, the ability or inability to trust your gut and see when something’s not quite right… Funny how similar it was to Apophis’ torture methods in “The Devil You Know” (3x13).

I sure hope they can get that place running on their own!

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(So… Sam and Jack, eh?)

O’Neill: Thera – er, Carter, I mean?

Carter: What, sir?
O’Neill: I feel like we need some kind of cheesy ’70’s love song playing in the background.

Carter: Uh… How about “Feelings”?