“Message in a Bottle” ( 2 x 07 )

Hm… Reminds me of the beginning of that Star Trek: TNG novel, I, Q. With the whole girl-finding-a-message-in-a-bottle thing. But since I don’t think John de Lancie nor Peter David were involved with this, I’ll put my suspicions away and just see what’s going on.

SG-1 is in full-on spacesuits (first time I’ve seen that since the Hazmat suits of “Singularity”) on a planet that’s deserted and looks suspiciously like the moon. They discover some kind of device, a small sphere about the size of a softball, which is emitting E.M. frequencies. Jackson thinks it’s a time capsule of sorts. They decide to pack it up and take it back with them, hoping they can learn something from it.

Back on Earth, they get out of their suits and hook up the sphere. Jackson believes the writing, which can only be viewed zoomed-in, is instructions on how to open the capsule. Unfortunately, the Big Wigs over at N.I.D. want to look at it, too. Hammond will give Carter and Jackson twenty-four hours to try and figure it out, but beyond that, there’s nothing he can do.

Good ol’ General Hammond. Always willing to twist the rules a little to help out the team.

In the lab, Jackson and Carter continue to look at and X-ray the sphere. Just as O’Neill calls them away for their next mission, the sphere begins to rise in temperature – rapidly – and radiation levels. It opens up a bit, revealing a blue light within.

Just as O’Neill and Teal’c are about to throw it back through the Stargate to the original planet, it sprouts these huge spikes, and lodges itself in the ceiling, floor, and… between Jack’s shoulder and heart. It literally has him pinned to the wall. They shut the ‘Gate down, and the temperature stops rising. However, O’Neill is still staked through his shoulder, and he keeps shouting for Teal’c to shoot the object down. He’s got his staff weapon now, and he fires one shot, then another. The energy just keeps getting absorbed, and they’re not sure at all how to get him down.

N.I.D. is once again being pricks and now really wants to see this object, since they think it could one day be a valuable weapon. Of course, the focus here is freeing O’Neill, so Hammond more or less locks down the base

Nothing is getting through the pole keeping him pinned, and he’s contracted an injection. The sphere’s temperature continues to rise, slowly but steadily. Fraiser figures out that his infection has something to do with a virus/bacteria the device is continuously flowing into O’Neill’s body. However, it’s also affecting everything else. It’s indiscriminate – people and computers are all at risk.

In other words, we all seem to be… screwed.

But is Teal’c okay?

He sure is. He’s continued to stand at O’Neill’s side through this whole, terrible ordeal. Even when the Colonel tells him he doesn’t have to stick around, Teal’c, ever-loyal, says,

“Undomesticated equines could not remove me.”

(O’Neill) “Wild horses, Teal’c. It’s… That’s a joke. You told a joke.”

It’s enough to make O’Neill smile, though. In a way it’s also an indication of Teal’c’s further understanding of how to make light of a situation, as O’Neill so often does. It’s really been fascinating to me to see these two men grow in their friendship and the ever-present understanding between them. Ever since the pilot, and I’ll say it again, it’s been these two. They’ve got each other’s backs. In a way, they’re almost like Kirk and Spock… Okay, maybe not that close, but getting there!

Just as a Sergeant is almost through the pole with his welding tool, it shifts again and jams the pole further past O’Neill – and further into the wall. It’s not letting him go anywhere.

Carter figures out that they can starve the sphere of its energy – oxygen – but they need to work quickly. It’s started infecting the computers. Even the elevators are going down. And it gets worse – the lockdown Hammond initiated has a self-destruct countdown, and the virus prevents them from stopping it.

Jackson’s staring down a flickering computer, and he keeps seeing the symbol on the artifact. He thinks it’s trying to communicate with them through the computers. Carter proposes they do the opposite of what they just did – lower the oxygen – and see if they can get better communication. Maybe it’s even trying to use Jack as a vessel.

Oh, man, I hope this works!

Teal’c shoots his weapon at the sphere continuously, and then, even after Carter sees that he has no pulse, O’Neill starts to speak in a somewhat distorted sort of voice. The organism within Jack says that their race created the sphere in order to be taken elsewhere. It also states that, if the auto-destruct goes off, it/they will consume the planet. At the same time, it knows Jack’s thoughts and feelings. They offer to send it through the Stargate to a different planet, one that does not have a civilization yet, so that both species may survive.

The organism lets O’Neill go and restores all the computers, so they start dialing up the Stargate, one minute until the whole place goes ka-boom! O’Neill takes the sphere to the ‘Gate, pushes it through, and collapses. Just in the nick of time, Hammond and Carter stop the destruction. SG-1 helps their leader to his feet, and when Carter says she thought he was gone for good, his final words are these:

“Wild horses, Captain.”

Final thoughts… Okay, as much as I love the interaction between Teal’c and O’Neill, and I always do, this episode seemed… largely pointless. From one standpoint, it’s pretty exciting, with the tried-and-true fighting-against-the-clock idea. I thought the ending was kind of interesting, too, with them finally figuring out that the alien(s) was (were?) merely trying to communicate with them through O’Neill. Even the concept of the entity was kind of neat. And yet, this episode failed to truly captivate me in the larger sense of a plot.

That ending was pretty intense, though, with the auto-destruct ticking down to four minutes, then one minute, and then finally shutting down at the 0:01 mark. Also, if you ever check out (or re-watch, since I do believe most of you fine readers have already seen SG-1 in its entirety) this episode, watch Teal’c’s face at the end. Of course, I believe one should always watch Teal’c’s face, simply because it is nice to look at, but he really has some great expression going on. It’s strangely subtle but there’s never any doubt to Chris Judge’s acting abilities. Just spectacular.

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(The crew muses over the recent ordeal in the infirmary.)

O’Neill: Ugh, I feel like crap.

Carter: Uh, yeah, you just had a huge pole impaled in your shoulder and you suffered a massive infection. I’m surprised you don’t feel worse.

Jackson: Hey, guys, why do we keep having these sorts of reflective conversations in the infirmary?

Teal’c: It would seem our team is prone to physical injury.

O’Neill: (Chuckling darkly) You think? In our line of work, I’d say we’re damned lucky to be alive.

“Thor’s Chariot” ( 2 x 06 )

…Well. The title screen shows possibly the weirdest-looking alien I’ve ever seen. Could this be Thor in his “true form” or something? We already know that aliens influenced human history.

…Nah.

Let’s just watch and see…

We start off on Base, and (per usual) a klaxon blares and the iris closes over the Stargate. Nothing gets in, but they do pick up the faint signature from something the crew left on Cimmeria (“Thor’s Hammer”), and speculate that maybe the box was sent back through deliberately. Also, they think that Thor might be part of a race known as the “Asgard”. Why I don’t remember this is beyond me. Whoops. I presume they’re some kind of protector race.

O’Neill is slightly reluctant to go back to check on the Cimmerians, primarily because they had destroyed Thor’s Hammer (the de-Goa’uld-ing device, as Jack called it) in order to save Teal’c. Jackson, on the other hand, thinks that they will understand.

They send a MALP through, and the sight is not pretty. There’s been a brutal battle – and who would the culprits be but our slimy friends, the Goa’uld. Or, more likely, one Goa’uld and about a hundred Jaffa. The probe zooms in on a Jaffa, but he doesn’t have a serpent on his forehead. Rather, it’s a bird of some kind. However, Gairwyn (the woman they met there) is alive, and she begs them to come and help them.

Clearly, SG-1 is going to be paying for their misdeeds. In destroying Thor’s Hammer, they quite possibly left Cimmeria entirely open to attack. And now they’ve got to go back and fix it all up. O’Neill echoes this sentiment, and they convince the General to let them go.

They step out, and it’s a beautiful day… except for the dead bodies. That’s kind of a mood-ruiner. They also see a Goa’uld structure going up in the distance.

Gairwyn then approaches them and tells SG-1 that this whole ordeal began with a “great metal point coming out of the sky”. Teal’c clarifies and says it was a Goa’uld Ha’tak – a pyramid ship.

(You know, I really hate those things. They’re kind of ugly and clunky. More like a Star Wars ship than a Star Trek one. But I don’t think the Goa’uld were exactly going for aesthetics. Anyways…)

A couple of Jaffa advance on them, and they fight back, and are able to get away through the forest. These ground combat firefights are actually pretty cool, it’s just they’re hard to really capture in a blog format like this. They’re neat to watch, though, so that’s why you really have to just watch the series. (Hint, hint.)

Gairwyn takes the crew to the residence of the late Kendra. She was killed in the Goa’uld raid. Carter finds a glove-like device (the same kind that we often see on the Goa’uld – remember, Kendra was once a host, herself) and, surprise-surprise, Carter can activate it. She can make it work, but she can’t necessarily control it. Nonetheless, she takes a couple of the Goa’uld devices with her back to the Cimmerian hiding spot, deep in a cave.

SG-1 and Gairwyn (moreso the former) are met with hostility, primarily from one man, Olaf. He still resents them for bringing this plague on them, as it were. However, their promises may have been enough, and Olaf lowers his weapon. He, O’Neill, and Teal’c sneak past the patrols to get a look at who they’re facing.

O’Neill and Teal’c hide in the tall grasses, Olaf with them, and see a multitude of Jaffa bearing the mark of Horus, as we find out from Teal’c. The Goa’uld they defend is Heru’ur, the son of Ra and Hathor. The bird forehead marking is his, and some of the guards have very bizarre-looking helmets, not unlike the fashion of the Serpent Guard of Apophis. Oh, and Heru’ur is among the most feared and the worst Goa’uld pretty much ever.

The Jaffa capture Olaf, and Heru’ur reveals himself. He’s got an even creepier voice than Apophis… nor is he as attractive. (DANGIT.) He demands that Olaf tell him about SG-1 coming through the ‘Gate, but he refuses, and is tortured by the Goa’uld’s palm device. At that point, Teal’c and O’Neill jump in, shoot down the nearest guards, and grab Olaf. Before they both leave all the way, though, Teal’c turns and destroys the staff weapon with his own. An unusually frightened look – one I don’t recall even seeing around Apophis – crosses his face as Heru’ur’s eyes flash. Was there some kind of bad blood or ancient rivalry between Apophis and Heru’ur? Maybe. For some reason, though, the Goa’uld doesn’t even pursue them. Instead, he just sends his Jaffa after them. (Lazy.)

The three return to the cave and report their findings to Jackson and Carter. However, they have findings of their own. Gairwyn has told them of a fabled “Hall of Thor’s Might”, and the two think that there may be Asgard weapons or something in there. We also get a (unintentionally, by the characters) funny little dialogue piece between Jackson and Teal’c:

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to hole up in here until things calm down.”

“Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson. They will, in fact, calm up.”

…I love you, Teal’c. ♥

Ahem, anyways, Olaf, O’Neill, and Teal’c go off to lay down some explosives and Gairwyn, Jackson, and Carter go to find this hall of awesome-superness. And aliens. Don’t forget aliens.

What the latter group finds is some kind of obelisk. Jackson touches it, and they find themselves transported into a dark hall. A holographic Thor (not this dude again!) show up and says that they must prove themselves worthy. The floor suddenly falls apart between them and the next obelisk, and a very thin catwalk is in-between.

Uh-oh. I hope they all took gymnastics!

Carter goes first, and makes it across fine. Gairwyn starts next, but when the ground shakes, she falls and panics, insisting she won’t be able to get across. Jackson goes to her to help her up, and then the beam breaks… and the floor’s back!

The Thor hologram reappears and says that it was a test of selflessness and bravery. They now must complete one more task, though, before finding Thor’s Might.

Meanwhile, Teal’c and O’Neill are setting down charges, while Olaf keeps watch. When the Jaffa approach, they set off charges, and then take down the rest, O’Neill using his gun and Teal’c his staff weapon. However, Olaf gets the final hurrah when he takes down a Jaffa with his battle ax. (Sa-weet!)

The next task in the Hall is a riddle. It has to do with some runes, some shapes, numbers, and some random-looking drawings. Somehow, with all these, in a process I didn’t fully understand because I am not as smart as Daniel Jackson, they figure out that the answer is “Pi”. Yes, “Pi”. 3.14. They draw a radius into the circle, and an alien appears. But it’s not like the garden-variety-Stargate alien. It’s like… a really alien alien. It looks like one from off of those cheesy ‘60’s movies; the “Roswell Grays”.

And he’s Thor. This scrawny thing – an Asgard indeed – is Thor.

…Not quite what I was expecting.

The Thor image is also a real-time transmission, and Jackson speaks to him. He confesses that they destroyed his Hammer. Thor seems peeved that these Tau’ri interfered, and sends Jackson and Carter back to the first obelisk… but Gairwyn is nowhere to be found.

They return to the cave, and the odds aren’t good. They’re all outnumbered twenty-to-one and are forced out of hiding. Further, they are forced to put down their weapons, or all the Cimmerians would be killed. The Jaffa capture them and begin to lead them all away.

As they are walking, though, thunder rumbles up ahead, and suddenly, a huge ship descends from the dark clouds. It is, as it were, “Thor’s Chariot” – an Asgard mothership, Teal’c says. It zaps up all the Jaffa and sends Gairwyn back down. (It should be noticed that Heru’ur was away and escaped through the Stargate during all this.) She confirms that the Asgard have visited Earth often (thus the pop culture – how convenient) and are at war with the Goa’uld. However, Thor will not meet with them, as he feels the Tau’ri are still too young. He has replaced the Hammer, but it will “make an exception for the one called ‘Teal’c’”.

(Aww! That’s so great! I would make an exception for Teal’c, too. But who wouldn’t? Teal’c is amazing. And honorable. And he has such a way with words. And, frankly, pretty dang hot. I don’t have a Hammer above my dorm, Teal’c! You can come over! Really! I’m sure my roommates won’t mind!)

The mothership leaves, and the crew is left to ponder Thor and the Asgard people.

Final thoughts… Pretty neat episode, but it was a little slow until about halfway through. However, I can see a lot of recurring things coming up. Let’s go through them.

First, we’ve got another Goa’uld, Heru’ur. Maybe I’m just reading too much into the directing, but I swear there was something funny that passed between him and Teal’c. There must be some kind of history there I’m sure will play out in the future. Also, they have funny beak helmets, so maybe we’ll someday see funny snake helmets duke it out with funny bird helmets! Yeah!

Secondly, Carter did a little more exploring with her Goa’uld-like abilities. They’re faint, but there. I’m still wondering whether or not she retains these. They’ve shown up at least in passing nearly every episode since she played temporary host to Jolinar.

And finally, Thor and the Asgard. The writers seem to have taken the rather X-Files-ish route of explaining why there is all this intrigue in Earth pop culture about aliens looking a certain way. However, I suppose it only makes sense. The Goa’uld impersonated the Egyptian gods. It’s not so far-fetched to think that a race as advanced as the Asgard could actually be those Norse gods, and more. Like the Tok’ra, they’re a powerful force in the galaxy, and one I can see as being an ally to Earth and SGC.

All in all, I can see this as having been an overall very important episode in the larger story arc. Every episode, we’re meeting a new race that, in this plot, has a good chance of showing up again. It’s set up that way, and that’s part of what makes SG-1 so amazing.

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(SG-1 talks about the Asgard.)

O’Neill: So, Daniel, you seriously think that the Asgards are the so-called “Roswell Grays”?

Jackson: The very same! Or – pretty darn close, anyways. Thor told us that his people had been to Earth many times before.

Carter: (Laughing) I wonder how that Fox Mulder guy – you know, the FBI nutjob who works in the X-Files division – would react to meeting an Asgard.

Teal’c: Likely the same as he would react to meeting me.

Jackson: I don’t know, Teal’c, you’re pretty human-looking. His partner… what’s her name? Sully?

Carter: Scully. Dana Scully.

Jackson: …Well, anyways, she’d probably explain you away as some kind of genetic anomaly.

O’Neill: Aside from Junior, and of course the… (He gestures vaguely to his forehead.) …I’d have to agree you’re a pretty convincing human.

Teal’c: I suppose that is a compliment?

O’Neill: It’s whatever you make of it, my alien friend.

“Need” ( 2 x 05 )

…Well, that’s a really vague title. Maybe “we all NEED some-bo-dy, to le-e-ean on!” or something along those lines. But since you guys probably don’t want to hear me singing over the internet, I’ll just be quiet and hit “Play”.

Hey, we’re at the Stargate, and there are some guards… and some priests… and they’re sending some naquadah, the raw Stargate element, through the ‘Gate. Teal’c mentions that it is highly valued among the Goa’uld. They look off in a different direction, and there’s a huge pyramid. Jackson runs off after a hooded figure he seems to recognize, and it’s a red-headed woman. She goes to the edge of a cliff, as if to jump off…

…and Jackson runs up to pull her back.

Just then, several guards show up and point their staffs at Jackson, as well as the rest of SG-1. The woman is apparently a princess… and SG-1 is in trouble. Of course.

They are all brought in to a chamber of sorts, and the princess introduces her father as Pyrus the godslayer. He asks them what Goa’uld rules there, and of course O’Neill informs him that there is none. Pyrus accuses him of being a liar and sends the four of them to work in the mines.

In the mines, Carter explains that she didn’t feel anything off of Pyrus, so she doesn’t think he’s a Goa’uld. (Oh, God, now that she’s got a little tiny part of Goa’uld in her she’s going to start having feelings and she feels funny around Teal’c? That’s not creepy at all.) Teal’c echoes her idea.

They continue to work into the night until they are unshackled, and they take advantage of the situation and escape. However, Jackson is caught under rubble from a staff weapon explosion.

The princess speaks with her father, and he says that they have “little naquadah to spare”. A Goa’uld sarcophagus appears and out steps Jackson, perfectly a-okay. She introduces herself to him as Shyla. She’s now being very friendly and takes him along to a forest. She says that he is “her destiny”, and that’s why she’s being so kind to him and treating him so well. She believes they are fated to be together.

O’Neill, Carter, and Teal’c are still in the mines. Jackson comes to see them and explains what happened. He says that he can’t get them out just yet, but that he’s “working on it”. They all give him weird looks as he leaves, and it’s all very… awkward.

That next evening he has dinner with Shyla and her father. He says he got his name by killing a Goa’uld 700 years ago, and that the sarcophagus has kept him alive all this time. However, it is also revealed that they continue sending naquadah through the ‘Gate so that the System Lords don’t find out that the Goa’uld they assigned to this world isn’t really there anymore.

Jackson tries to convince her that the rest of SG-1 is the priority, and she kisses him, more or less agreeing. He climbs into the sarcophagus once again, at her suggestion, and the doors slip shut.

Jackson comes to see the team again, and it’s been days since they’d seen him. They’re upset because he’s prancing about, living as royalty and spending his days in the sarcophagus. He no longer needs glasses. While they’re toiling – dying – he’s becoming what I believe is addicted to the sarcophagus. Maybe the effects aren’t permanent.

He goes on to say that Shyla wants him to marry her, and when O’Neill retorts, Jackson gets extremely upset and says that he’s more or less got it under control.

Back in the castle, he says that he will indeed stay and marry Shyla, even after SG-1 is free.

In the mines, Carter wakes up from some sort of dream… or a vision? (If this becomes a recurrence it could get kind of annoying.) She says that she has this flash of intuition that the Tok’ra don’t use the sarcophagus because it’s dangerous, and that it “changes” you. It’s somehow connected to his soul.

Jack goes to see Jackson, and Daniel’s really living the good life now. He says that Shyla agreed to let him go back to Earth to straighten a few things out, and so he’ll just take SG-1 with them.

They do go back through the Stargate, and Jackson’s feeling extremely… “antsy” is the best way I can put it. I really think it’s a physical symptom of withdrawal from the sarcophagus. Carter goes on to speculate that perhaps it is what made the Goa’uld such dangerous people. He refuses to believe that.

In Hammond’s office, Jackson collapses and… yup, he’s suffering from withdrawal. They’ve had to strap him down, but he’s going to be okay. Maybe.

Jackson escapes from his hospital bed, and O’Neill pursues him. Jackson is all sorts of dangerous, irrational, paranoid… pretty much all-of-the-above. He goes so far as to pull a pistol on O’Neill. The colonel insists that he can get through it, and that “he knows what it’s like”.

Hold on. Did Jack have a drug addiction in his past? Some kind of other addiction? Hm… I hope we get some elaboration on that!

Anyhow, Jackson breaks down crying and the violence spell seems to be over.

It’s been a day or so, and Jackson seems to be okay. However, he still wants to go back to Shyla’s planet and perhaps show her new ways of mining the naquadah so they don’t have to use slave labour to get it out.

Jackson does, indeed, return to P3R-636 and to Shyla. Her father has died. Jackson tells her that the sarcophagus is dangerous, and tells her not to use it. She fires a staff weapon at it, and embraces Jackson one last time.

Final thoughts… I have yet to be as impressed as I was with “In the Line of Duty”, but this was a pretty solid episode. We learned some important things about the Goa’uld technology of the sarcophagus and even its addictive properties. It’s further insight into the overall characterization and ego of the race – and perhaps its dependence as well. Perhaps it is only when the individual is seriously injured that the sarcophagus does only good. When the individual is fine, it becomes addictive like any sort of prescription drug.

Kind of unusually, it reminded me of the whole marijuana debate. In fairly recent years, scientists have discovered all kinds of medicinal uses for the plant – it can help anyone from epileptics to cancer treatment patients. However, at the same time, it can be very addicting and addle the brains to the point where one thinks they need it to survive. Of course, marijuana isn’t usually this addicting, but it’s an interesting analogy of sorts.

In terms of the overall plot of the series, we learn of a couple more interesting things: the naquadah and Carter’s still-lingering connection with the Tok’ra, Jolinar. Obviously the naquadah is highly valued among the Goa’uld. I think that maybe they use it to power their ships or weapons or something. Maybe even in the Death Gliders. Maybe it’s something SG-1 can use against the System Lords.

…And also Carter. I’m not quite sure what I think of this whole Goa’uld-insight thing she’s got going on. What I’m just wondering, mainly, is if it’s something that stays relevant throughout the series. Will it ultimately spell out some sort of doom for her? Will it simply fade away? Are there any other side effects of sorts to this connection?

There’s also her relation with Teal’c, at the very least as comrades. I’m not sure quite how the Tok’ra feel about the Jaffa in terms of superiority (or, rather, inferiority) but maybe she’s merely sensing the Goa’uld symbiote in him.

So many questions, so few answers!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(Hey, the next episode is “Thor’s Chariot”! …That can’t be good.)

O’Neill: Aw, Jesus, we have to go to that guy again?

Teal’c: I do not look forward to it.

Jackson: I don’t know, he could be a really nice guy…

O’Neill: Daniel, he more or less tried to kill Teal’c the last time we were around his cronies! Well – indirectly, anyways!

Carter: Can’t we just skip out? Let some other crew take the mission?

Jackson: I don’t think so… the script’s already been written. We just have to roll with it.

"The Gamekeeper" ( 2 x 04 )

Well, this is a most interesting title picture. It’s Teal’c, hooked up to some kind of machine that’s got him knocked out or something. Virtual reality sort of episode? We’ll see.

The episode starts off with SG-1 going to a planet that, according to what they’ve seen from the MALP, looks pretty advanced. They enter into a beautiful, enormous garden of sorts, and of course they’re immediately suspicious. After all, nothing is ever as it seems (though they could’ve used that philosophy in the last episode) and, indeed, they find people strapped into these chambers of sorts. They’re alive, but in some sort of stasis. They approach four empty chamber-chairs (how convenient! there are four of them!)… and wires pull them in.

This can’t be good.

The scene opens up with Teal’c and O’Neill in beige uniforms and black beanie caps, no longer in the garden. A van pulls up the road, and out comes…

Kawalsky?! And some guy named John!?

This can’t be reality.

Jack tells Teal’c that this was a mission he went on in 1982; one that the John guy died on. O’Neill thinks that maybe they time-traveled. I think O’Neill is reliving some kind of memory… but, then, what’s Teal’c still doing there?

(Oh, right, wait ten seconds.)

Kawalsky tries to talk to Jack, basically telling him he’s losing it and he needs to get his head back in the game. O’Neill tries to prove a point, and wrenches off Teal’c’s hat…

…only to see that the Jaffa is no longer a Jaffa. His Serpent Guard marking is gone, and he has hair. And Kawalsky knows him as “Thomas”. (“Thomas”? Really? That’s kind of a lame name.)

(WHOA! Teal’c with hair! And it’s not weird hair like he had in “There But for the Grace of God”! )

Teal’c further hypothesizes that perhaps this is an opportunity for Jack to correct his mistakes… but with the addition of Teal’c, wouldn’t that change everything? Or maybe Thomas was actually a guy in O’Neill’s squadron and Teal’c is just taking over that role.

The unit moves in to the target, but even with O’Neill’s “intel” of sorts, John still gets shot and killed. O’Neill and Teal’c, along with the rest, fall back… and they’re right back where they started. The van once more pulls up, and Kawalsky and John step out.

This is one crazy time loop.

Maybe they will just have to keep trying until they succeed in saving John, like in that one episode of The Dead Zone where Johnny had to continue trying to save this girl until he finally got it right, and the right one was reality. Or maybe O’Neill and Teal’c will just be freed and return to Earth.

Meanwhile, Jackson and Carter appear in the New York Museum of Art. It’s a similar reaction to the one that Teal’c and O’Neill had. He sees his parents as they were many years ago, and he tries to yell at them to get out from the exhibit they’re working on constructing, but then a chain breaks and they’re buried in the heavy blocks.

Back in East Germany with O’Neill and Teal’c, they’re once again reliving the mission. They see dark, hooded figures watching them this time, but John is still shot despite Jack’s best efforts.

…And it loops. Again.

He demands answers, and he gets them when an elaborately-dressed man, the “Gamekeeper”, steps out and says they must proceed with the mission. The man seems to want to give O’Neill the chance to change the past, if only to give himself some closure, and will continue to repeat this. O’Neill refuses to play the Keeper’s game, and they simply sit back

Back in New York, Carter figures out that this must not be real. It’s instead some kind of memorial recreation. (BUT WHY IS SHE THERE?!) Again, after a couple unsuccessful loops, the Keeper makes himself known, as well as the hooded figures, and repeats what he told O’Neill: That it’s a simulation designed to allow people second, third, fourth, and so on, chances.

Jackson is obviously very upset that the Keeper is forcing him to relive his worst memory – the same as O’Neill. The Keeper has a perverse sense of entertainment, as well, reminding me a bit of Q in “Tapestry” (Star Trek: TNG), except even more amused. Jackson, too, refuses to participate in this game.

The Keeper becomes very irritated and brings O’Neill and Teal’c back, now into this New York reality. He confirms that this reality is entire from their memories, and he can change it at will. It’s like a giant computer program, and their brains are the software. However, we also learn that the program will not work with Teal’c’s and Carter’s minds… the former because of his Goa’uld symbiote shielding, and the latter because Jolinar was absorbed into her body back in “In the Line of Duty”. They can still receive memories, nonetheless.

SG-1 asks why they don’t just leave the chambers and live in the real world, and the Keeper insists that their world is poisoned and desecrated… but of course we know that it’s perfectly fine out there. He again says that SG-1 is lying, and I think he knows that the world is okay now. But then why is he trying to keep his residents – the hooded figures – out of the loop?

It appears that SG-1 is free, and so they return to Base. However, after some very unusual debriefing and out-of-character encounters with Fraiser and Hammond, they figure out that they are still in the simulation. The Keeper simply took their memories and made them think they were free.

A false Kawalsky tries to convince them that this isn’t so bad, but O’Neill still isn’t buying it. He wants reality.

Outside the cell where they were being held (and just broke out of) two of the hooded figures, two women, ask the crew to tell them what it’s really like outside. They do, but before they go through the virtual Stargate, the Keeper at last reveals himself and SG-1 chases him through a door and back to… the garden. They see themselves in reality, and the simulation ends. They’re free for real this time.

They once more go after the Keeper and he confesses that he’s been tending this world’s garden for years now. He says that he kept the residents in the simulation so that they would not once again destroy the planet.

The residents enter into the real garden and SG-1 dials home. They promise to help the Keeper and the residents get back on their feet, and leave a very agitated-looking Keeper and some very happy inhabitants.

Final thoughts… This episode is strangely appropriate for my generation and time, perhaps more than it was in 1998. In today’s society we do have the very real problem of becoming addicted to virtual realities, especially with the rise of the internet. It’s the idea that reality is so at risk that we can only safely live in virtuality.

The other side of the story, the idea of changing the past in order to fix the future, is tried and true. How many times have you said to yourself, “Oh, if only I could retake that test! If only I could redo that date! If only I had called!” or something along those lines? In the end, though, we realize that the past is gone and there’s largely nothing we can do about it. What was entertaining for the Keeper and his residents was torture for SG-1, specifically O’Neill and Jackson. Even seeing Kawalsky again was more a curse than a blessing. They could have stayed there, but in the backs of their minds would have always been the idea that this wasn’t even real.

And, this is a very small thing, but I liked the nod to the fact that Carter had that connection with the late Jolinar. It was minute in terms of the plot but it’s an indication that the events of that episode aren’t going away. Good idea from the writers, even though I would’ve liked to have seen events from Teal’c’s and Carter’s respective pasts, especially the former.

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(SG-1 talks about the merits of virtual reality and smart things like that.)

O’Neill: Augh, man, I do not want to have to go through that again.

Carter: I’ve got to agree with you, Colonel, that was pretty rough.

Jackson: How could they think that was enjoyable?

Teal’c: Perhaps we did not fully understand their culture.

Carter: You’ve got to admit, though: It was pretty funny to see the Keeper freaking out over the residents picking flowers from his garden.

Jackson: I don’t have much of a green thumb, but I’ve got to agree… that was karma in action.

(He notices Teal’c staring at his hand.)

Jackson: …Something wrong?

Teal’c: Your thumb is not green at all.

"Prisoners" ( 2 x 03 )

Hm… why am I getting visions of SG-1 committing some grievous crime on a planet they do not fully understand and getting imprisoned for it? Or perhaps finding themselves trapped on a planet because the Stargate is malfunctioning for some odd reason?

Just a hunch. Let’s see how far off I am.

The episode opens with O’Neill once again ready to head back to Earth right away, and Jackson insisting they should study every molecule on the planet.

Then, though, a man appears out of nowhere (I should mention that they did not believe there to be civilization or anything interesting here) and he stumbles towards them, begging for help to protect him from “Taldor”. A white light envelops them and they find themselves in a blue-lit room.

A female voice announces from above that they are now prisoners (ha! hence the episode title!) and at this point Jackson realizes the meaning of “Taldor”: “Justice”.

A male voice joins her and says that they trespassed and committed murder in helping the man, and that they will be sent through the Stargate… to a prison.

What’s that early-season Star Trek: TNG episode with Wesley getting in legal trouble for not understanding a planet? Yeah… this reminds me of it.

They are, indeed, thrown through the Stargate into a prison, Hadante. They are at first harassed by some of the others incarcerated, but an older woman, Linea, stopped them. She seems to be the leader and she takes Carter under her wing, more or less.

The crew goes off to try and see if they can find a superconductor to spark some life into the Stargate. Carter and O’Neill go off to find Linea, and Daniel and Teal’c continue to look for an energy source.

Carter and O’Neill talk to Linea. It is revealed that she gives them a sort of hope in that they can escape by trapping themselves into the Stargate’s vortex – which of course just kills them. However, she still thinks she can help the two SG crew members.

She shows them a sort of plant that reacts on a subatomic level. O’Neill says that if she can help them activate the Stargate, he’ll take her with them back to Earth to learn about their physics.

Back on Earth’s base, SG-3 has gone to find SG-1, and so obviously they return empty-handed. The Taldor merely handed SG-3 the other crew’s weapons and sent them back through the ‘Gate. Another Nox-like anti-violence race? Maybe.

Elsewhere, Jackson and Teal’c (the latter, rather violently) are confronting one of the other prisoners. Teal’c wasn’t happy with the guy’s attitude about something, but he lets him go. O’Neill and Carter meet back up with them.

Out of the Stargate comes a gray sort of slop (food, I presume) and all the prisoners (save for SG-1) rush to eat.

On Earth, a major approaches Hammond and tells him that the Taldor of P3X-775 are open to relations with them. In fact, Hammond says he himself will go down there to meet with them.

He steps through the ‘Gate for his first time, muttering, “The things I do for these people…”

Hammond tries to talk to the Taldor, but they’re not listening. They dismiss him.

Linea has warned Carter that the others may rise up against them, and indeed, they do. Vishnoor, one of the prisoners, and a couple of his men try to fight the SG crew. Jackson is badly injured, but after a while he decides they should escape to P2A-509, where SG-3 is scheduled to go.

Furthermore, though, the balance of power has shifted. The prisoners think that Jackson killed Vishnoor, so they let him make the decisions. While the rest of the prisoners are eating, they rig up the Stargate with the plant Linea had. They manage to get it running, and they all go through… but then some of the other prisoners jump through.

Why do I not like where this is going?

Some SG guards bring in a man who had escaped from the prison, and he reveals that Linea’s crime, destroying a whole world due to her failed attempt to cure a plague, was actually a ruse of sorts – she is the one who started it.

They bring back Linea through the ‘Gate and they are all back home safely. Carter shows her a computer and they start going through some computations. She lifts the device on her palm – the same one she’d used to knock out (or kill, rather) Vishnoor during his grapple with Jackson. She scrolls frantically through the computer and then attempts to go through the ‘Gate. She’s set the self-destruct… but nothing happens…. Except that the system crashes.

Linea has hacked into their computer and leaves them a message thanking them for their kindness… and only then do they realize that they just let a dangerous criminal – a destroyer of worlds – go free.

Final thoughts… I see this being a two-parter. But there was no “to be continued” at the end. However, whether this turns out to be a short arc (or heck, maybe a long arc) it says something about justice systems. The whole issue with the Taldor was that the SG crews did not think that it was a fair and just system, and that their form of “justice” and zero-tolerance policy was not “progressive enough” or something along those lines. They trusted their own instincts and perceptions over a system that had kept this very dangerous woman behind bars.

To me, this kind of mirrors how some “more advanced” nations see the justice systems of other countries. There is always this sense of, “We’re right, and they’re wrong, and our way is the best way and no other way can ever work as well as ours.” Certainly the Taldor’s system was not perfect. It was about to put four largely innocent people away for life simply for stepping in the wrong area and getting mixed in with the wrong guy. It goes to show you that you can’t always trust who you think you can trust.

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(SG-1 laments their failure.)

O’Neill: Well, I feel like an idiot.

Jackson: So do I, Jack. God, what were we thinking?

Carter: She seemed so nice!

Teal’c: People are not always as they seem to be. Perhaps Linea was simply very good at deception.

O’Neill: Or maybe we were just too blind to see her true nature…