Season Two Reflection

If you’re wondering where I’ve been, it’s home, with my laptop off. I convinced my parents to watch some SG-1 with me and they really liked it (score!). My folks are adopting a Golden Retriever named Abby (she’s 2 and so cute!) and I got a Crowntail Betta today! He’s so pretty! Hey, speaking of, he needs a name. I’m thinking Apophis. Seems very “him”. Any suggestions? I’m up for anything.

But now I’m back at school, and it’s back to Blogging Stargate SG-1…

A great second season! I mean, geez, what more can I say? We’ve met a bunch of new people, a few new races, Apophis isn’t dead, there are some weird Goa’uld out there, the Tok’ra, the Asgard… So many things happened! Frankly, I’m surprised that the series is moving as quickly – plot-wise – as it is. I suppose I can expect this pace to continue.

So what happened? Let’s see…

·         Apophis and Klorel/Skaara’s ships blew up, and Earth is saved. The two survived, but Apophis has lost all credibility among the System Lords.

·         Carter got taken over by a Goa’uld, which we later found out was really a Tok’ra.

·         We finally meet that Thor guy and he looks just like the “Grey Aliens” in old sci-fi movies, and his race, the Asgard.

·         Teal’c had to save his son from Apophis’ grimy hands and then sent his wife and Rya’c to live in the Land of Light.

·         Jackson’s wife temporarily regains consciousness and they reunite briefly on Abydos.

·         We finally meet more Tok’ra (they’re good guys! Really!), Carter has weird feelings, and her amazing dad, who was dying of cancer, blends with a Tok’ra named Selmak and becomes liaison between them and the Tau’ri.

·         Maybourne is a slimeball again and again and again…

·         O’Neill finally gets a face-to-face meeting with Thor.

·         Apophis dies… we think.

·         TIME TRAVEL TO THE SIXTIES. Complete with a flower bus and hippies!

·         And finally, Hathor the creeper is back and now we’re all screwed.

So now I’ll do like the last season and say what I thought the best episodes were for each character, for the overall plot, and also a “shining guest star” feature.

Best Episode for… JACK O’NEILL

“The Fifth Race” (2x15)

Although I don’t agree with the idea that this is the best episode of the second season (maybe in the top five though) I did feel it was a big step in the larger plot of the series. I mean, now we finally get confirmation of the Alliance. I’d say that’s pretty big. But more than that, this was a big step for Colonel Jack O’Neill and his position as the leader of SG-1.

This was a great episode for him. We got to see pretty much all sides of O’Neill – as the leader, as the ambassador (even if he’s not fond of the position), as the friend, and as the guy who isn’t afraid to admit when he doesn’t quite know what’s going on, but will try his best to figure it out anyways. I like how, although he’s the “star”, he very much needs the rest of his team. It’s also a good showcasing of RDA’s acting ability. Overall, just a very good episode.

And of course he was once more the victim of “this week’s malady”. (It’s okay, Jack, we still love you!)

Best Episode for… DANIEL JACKSON

“Secrets” (2x09)

This was a really tough one to choose, but even over “Serpent’s Song”, “Thor’s Chariot”, and “Holiday” I felt this was Jackson’s episode. This is the first time since the pilot we find out about Sha’re! I’m betting that every time he finds himself face-to-face with a Goa’uld, or certainly facing Apophis, he thinks about her. He thinks about the wife and love that was stolen from him. Heck, I’m sure that for at least a short time there was a lot of animosity between Jackson and Teal’c because Teal’c had been the one to choose Sha’re as Amonet’s host.

This is also the first time we really see the love and relationship between Jackson and his wife. It’s hard for him to believe at first, but by the end you know he just wants her back. Sha’re really is his underlying reason and drive for continuing in the Stargate program. Yes, he is a scientist/anthropologist/archaeologist among many, many other things, but his quest to get her back is unending.

Best Episode for… SAMANTHA CARTER

“A Matter of Time” (2x16)

Was O’Neill important in this episode? Yes. But do I think he was more important in this episode than Carter? Nope.

This was really her time to shine. Captain Carter is so brilliant and so valiant, but I feel like she sometimes gets the proverbial short end of the stick. There has been so much focus this season on her connection with Jolinar/the Tok’ra, but I don’t really see that as part of her true character. To me, what’s more important is what she’s worked her whole freaking life for – working in physics, science, and with the Stargate.

Does she have a lot of these sort of “epiphany which leads to solution” moments? Yes, but this was arguably her biggest and best so far. She outsmarted a black hole! You don’t get more BAMF than that!

Best Episode for… TEAL’C

Every single episode ever

(No, no, I’m just kidding. Even though I do kind of like/agree with that statement.)

“Bane” (2x10)

Now everyone just hold your horses before you start tearing off my limbs! I really did think this was a very good episode for Teal’c, even though overall it was not fantastic. I almost said “Family”, except for the fact that his wife and son don’t show up that often and we all know what happened with Apophis.

I felt this one was more important because it happened right here, on Earth, within the SGC (more or less), where the “good guys” are. It’s great because it further establishes his “true place”… Or, rather, what different people think his place should be.

I know I get after Maybourne a lot because he’s a slimeball/scoundrel/scumbag, among other things, but he really is. This episode just solidified the ethical barrier between him and the SGC – and ultimately, Teal’c. However, the fact that everyone else was able to pull it together and save their friend (with the help of the greatest girl ever – yeah, you, Ally!) was awesome.

On that… This is really the first relationship that Teal’c has with a person that’s not revolving around his place in the SGC or the fact that he’s an alien. They become friends simply because she was compassionate enough to help him out, and in the end he repaid her in the best way he could. In many ways, Ally is Maybourne’s opposite. While all Maybourne can see is Teal’c’s alien-ness, it doesn’t make any sort of difference for Ally. To her, he’s just a guy (kind of a weird guy, granted) who was in a bad situation and needed a shoulder to lean on. And that’s cool.

Best Episode for… THE CREW/PLOT

“Serpent’s Song” (2x18)

There’s really not much I can say about this episode that I didn’t say in my Final Thoughts section of my blog on it. It’s just truly a “crew” episode more than anything. Everyone gets affected in a big way during this whole moral crisis of sorts. O’Neill, skeptical of everyone until the very end, never buys into Apophis’ claim of willingness to help them. Jackson finally faces down the man who quite literally stole his wife. Teal’c confronts the individual who he once served as a god and now despises more than anyone. Even Carter knows of his atrocities and is caught between what she knows is right and what she wants to do. Unfortunately it’s SG-1 at its collective worst, but that’s what makes it so interesting and eye-opening. It’s the truest test for them.

SHINING GUEST STAR

Carmen Argenziago as JACOB CARTER

JACOB is SO COOL.

He’s so cool, he’s bra’tac!!

All right, so maybe Jacob didn’t really show up until halfway through the season, but you can’t deny how awesome he is. I adore him. I love his dry sense of humour, his oddly casual way of looking at things, and above all his ability to see the big picture. He’s a man who refuses to give up no matter what, and no matter how bad the situation is, he’ll cling to life with an iron grip.

I also love the potential for character development. Already he’s had a bit of that, since his blending with Selmak. In a way he’s a man getting a second chance at life. I can’t wait to see more of Jacob Carter, but I think if he and Bra’tac got in the same room, the universe would explode from an overdose of awesomeness.

Let’s hope that does does NOT happen.

The season finale was a little dull and a little disappointing. But I’ve had a couple people tell me it gets better! So here goes SEASON THREE!

S2 FINALE: “Out of Mind” ( 2 x 22 )

Oh my goodness! It’s finale time! Hurrah! I’ve finally made it through the second season! Now, all I can hope is that this episode will be so awesome I could call it bra’tac. So let’s hope for a really bra’tac episode, hm? And hopefully no evil cliffhangers like they pulled last season!

The episode opens in a futuristic-looking facility, and some personnel pull a cryogenic tank out of a freezer…

(Oh boy, I can see where this is going.)

…and it’s Colonel O’Neill! Two people, Major General Trofsky and Doctor Raleigh, tell him he’s in the SGC, and his teammates are dead, and the year is…

…2077.

 Whoa, now hold on. Where the heck could this be going? We just had a time travel episode. Why would O’Neill be in a cryogenics lab? What happened? The SGC is still around? Will he have to figure out how to get home? Why do I hate where this is going?

Trofsky reports that he was sent to the base already frozen, and that they’ve just been waiting for their technology to be advanced enough in order to unfreeze him. Trofsky informs him that there are now 28 SG teams, and that they’ve colonized other planets.

O’Neill doesn’t remember much of his mission, other than that the world was maybe ruled by a Goa’uld. What’s more, in this day and age, Earth is at war with the Goa’uld. They hope that O’Neill can help them out using a Tok’ra memory device that will allow them to see his memories holographically.

Oh, god, it’s another flashbacks episode.

First, he shows them his memories of various races that could have powerful technology. He sees the Nox (HI QUARK, HI THERE!! I STILL SEE YOUR LOBES!), the Asgard, and the memory of the alliance room (from “The Torment of Tantalus”).

Now, as nice of a recap as this is, and maybe it means we see more the Alliance in the third season, it’s a little tedious right now if you’ve seen the series as quickly as I have. I understand, though, that if it’s been a full year or two since you saw some of this first-season stuff, you might have forgotten, but still… I like to move forward, yeah? Reminds me a bit too much of “Politics”.

However, the memories end, and the two walk off.

They go to another room and…

(Oh man, oh man, I smell a conspiracy!!)

…open up a cryogenic tank with Jackson inside! They give him the same speech as O’Neill.

Another tank comes out, this one with Carter, and Trofsky suggests they drug her a little further, since she has naquadah in her system. (Hm… What’s their problem? Do they not like her “feelings”? This smells very, very wrong. And where’s Teal’c!? He needs to be here too!) She gets the same speech as the other two.

They have her put on the memory device thing (just who are these people? And why are they so interested in battle tactics and the like?) and she remembers back to “The Serpent’s Lair” and how they took down Apophis’ ship. The only great thing about this scene is MEMORY OF BRA’TAC!! HI BRA’TAC! HI! HI! I MISSED YOU! I WISH YOU WERE REAL! I LOVE YOU AND YOU’RE AWESOME!

Ahem. Um, anyhow.

Jackson’s also hooked up to a memory device. (I should mention that his hair is like ridiculously short now and it looks… really good.) He remembers the various Goa’uld they’ve met: Apophis, Heru’ur, Sokar, and Hathor.

God, Hathor’s such a creeper. Ugh, she grosses me out more than those bugs that got to Teal’c in “Bane”.

They are all under the impression that they’ve lost everyone they’ve ever cared about, even though they’ve been lied to. What else have they been lied to about?

Again, I don’t like how this feels.

The scene changes and… TEAL’C!

Teal’c! I was so worried! I knew you’d be here, though, I knew it! It is so great to see your smiling face even when it’s not smiling! But then it’d just be a face. …Whatever.

He, too, wakes up, but he’s greeted by Hammond and Fraiser. They tell him he was found lying unconscious near the Stargate on the planet they traveled to. He reports back that there were Serpent and Horus guards… working together. Hm…

Just as he’s about to walk out, they stop him. He’s apparently been unconscious for three weeks. He was more or less left for dead.

(Now who would do that? I can think of infinite reasons why not to leave Teal’c for dead.)

Hammond again denies his request to go out looking for SG-1, who are no longer on the planet, and then something horrible and heartbreaking happens:

He drops his jacket on the ground and announces his resignation from the SGC. It’s actually a very emotional moment (you can see a tear roll down his cheek… oh god) but you see his situation. SG-1 was all he had on this planet. They were his family here. And since SGC will no longer search for them, he no longer feels he has a true mission here. He’s got to go back to Chulak.

Now, of course I know he’ll return to the SGC, but still… pretty heartbreaking.

O’Neill wakes up and hears Raleigh and Trofsky speaking… Goa’uld! Ha! I knew it! (Actually, no, I didn’t, but I knew there was something fishy about them!) O’Neill pulls out the IV for the drugs and knocks the attending doctor out, and steals his clothes. Here we go.

Back on the base, Teal’c is getting an honourable release from the SGC. He’s dressed in beige and tan robes and carries only his staff weapon. They salute him, and he returns the gesture. After a moment of hesitation, he walks through the Stargate, and back to Chulak.

(Wait, Teal’c! You have to save your cronies!)

Meanwhile, O’Neill sneaks out and discovers that, indeed, this is not the SGC, and he has not time-traveled, nor been frozen, et cetera. A Serpent and Horus guard pass by him.

Now why on earth would they be working together? Something’s seriously off.

He manages to find Carter’s room, and after knocking out the attending doctor and getting her some clothes, they run off to get Jackson. They’ve all determined this is a hoax planted by the Goa’uld in order to learn about their enemies, obviously through the memories of the SG team. What’s more, the Stargate they found… is a fake.

(“It’s a faaaaaaaaake!!”)

And then Hathor appears, as well as Raleigh and Trofsky and several Jaffa guards. She’d seduced them into working for her. She wants them to give her information, and in exchange, she’ll “let them be her servants”.

You know, I’m thinking she’s really not all that bad as a person. She wants to align with the Asgard so she can take down the other Goa’uld… but that would just be so she can be supreme ruler of all, in which case she’s almost more dangerous. Her ego is through the roof. Besides, it makes sense that only she could reconstruct such a convincing SGC.

And then she reaffirms her place as a villain. If they don’t give her what she wants, she’ll make one of them a host. And that wouldn’t be fun.

Final thoughts… Well, this has been… um… interesting.

…

I’m sorry, but why do we have to endure Hathor again? She’s such a creeper. And in the season finale? I was honestly expecting a little more than this. Last season finale was so incredible. The SG program was threatened… they found themselves on Apophis’ ship… Skaara was there too… I feel like this little arc is falling flat on its face.

Why?

Why?

Well, for me, a big part of it is the whole flashback-thing. It took up so much of the episode, and the larger antagonist wasn’t even revealed until the very end. You see, also, Hathor has the potential to be interesting, but she just falls on her face (ha, I wish) with her whole “YOU CAN BE SERVANTS OR YOU CAN BE HOSTS” schpeal. As far as I’m concerned she’s no better than Apophis or Heru’ur or any other creepers.

Also, I feel like nothing really happened. It left us off on a pretty heavy cliffhanger (Teal’c leaving the SGC, the others of SG-1 being captured by Hathor) but the rest of the episode was just… bleh. I don’t know. I guess I expected more. If this had just been a standalone and not the season finale, maybe I would’ve been more impressed. In fact, I have no doubt I would’ve been.

That said, this did have a few shining moments. The parting of Teal’c from SGC and his last words with Hammond were very touching in so many ways. Also liked how O’Neill clonked the guard in Carter’s room out. (Yeah!) And that mature Goa’uld symbiote… ugh, yuck, but it did look pretty cool. Creepiest snake-worm-thing ever! …I dig it.

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY:

(HEY!! TODAY IS CHRISTOPHER JUDGE’S BIRTHDAY!!!)

O’Neill: Hold on just a minute. Aren’t we supposed to say stuff about this episode?

Marie: (Poofs in) No! Because it’s Chris Judge’s birthday and that’s all that matters! Happy 47^th!

Teal’c: I do not believe he can hear you.

Jackson: Yeah, and I highly doubt he’s going to read your blog.

Carter: I’d say the odds of that happening are one in—

Marie: I don’t have to listen to this! Come on, you guys, let a girl have her fantasies.

Jackson: Uh, hel-lo, one of us three is about to get Goa’uld-ed.

Marie: Maybe you should ask Hathor if she wants birthday cake. Cake makes everything better.

O’Neill: She’s got a point.

Teal’c: This is a very strange diplomatic solution.

Hathor: I love cake! Is it angel food?

Carter: Uh… No, it’s actually devil’s food.

Hathor: Oh. (Pause.) …THEN YOU SHALL ALL DIE!!!

(Everyone dies)

Marie: Well, aren’t you two-dimensional.

Chris Judge: Hey, what happened to my cake?

"1969" ( 2 x 21 )

This has to have time travel in it. IT HAS TO. Therefore, there shall be many giggles throughout, and many funny lines, and all that sort of thing.

SG-1 stands outside the Stargate, and Carter’s going on about having to time the ‘Gate exactly right, and she’s going on about solar flares and…

Oh, hee hee. I know where this is going.

Hammond hands her a strange note. Hm…

They step through the Stargate… and out into the… hangar? Suddenly the room fades away to what looks like a shuttle bay. They find themselves in the same room as a Titan Missile about to do a test burn when Teal’c fires the Zat gun and stops it from working.

So, they’re alive, but then they’re all ordered onto their knees by military personnel, maybe air force.

One of the personnel has a bit of a Texan accent, and he pulls out the note Hammond gave to Carter from her jacket (since all their equipment has been taken away) and reads two dates on it, as well as the words “Help them”. And what’s that on his nametag? Hm…

In a holding room, SG-1 tries to figure out what’s going on. I can see this going really badly. I mean, you can’t just explain away someone like Teal’c, especially if he goes through some kind of physical exam. “Oh, yeah, that little worm, it’s just a… parasite, nothing to worry about.”

Anyways, they get into a debate about time travel capabilities and how they should or shouldn’t use them. Jackson of course loves the historical possibilities, but Carter fairly points out that if they change one tiny little detail, everything could go wrong. The world that Jackson saw a season ago could be a reality, and we wouldn’t want that, because Teal’c as one of the good guys is the greatest. And I still am bothered by that weird hair thing he had goin’ on.

Eugh.

A few of the air force people come into the room, and one asks Jackson (in Russian) if they’re Soviet spies. Jackson naively responds in the same language that they are not. (Smart, Jackson, smart.) They take O’Neill away and start asking him awkward questions.

(Oh wow, this is Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home all over again! Like that scene between Chekov and the Navy guard. I think he was a Navy guard.

“What’s your name?”

“My name?”
(Sarcastically) “No, my name.”

“I do not know your name!”)

In the interrogation room, O’Neill jokingly says that he is, “Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise,” which I don’t get since by ’69 Star Trek at least had a cult following, but it’s funny nonetheless to hear the Major (Thornbird) call him “Kirk”. He asks O’Neill about the zat’n’ktel and also if he’s, again, a Soviet spy.

You know, this almost feels like a parody to me. They always assume time travelers back to this era are Soviet spies. It’s so cliché it’s almost hysterical.

Back on base, Hammond seems to know something about this whole thing that’s going on with SG-1. He says this is “one mission they’re on their own”. Hm…

They’re all thrown into a truck and are being carted off to somewhere. Suddenly a tire pops and the Lieutenant who saw the note to Carter climbs in back with them and shuts the door. He is, indeed, Hammond, only thirty years younger (I knew I recognized that voice! And that nametag!) and he knows that he wrote the note because it’s in his handwriting. They prove to him that they are from the future.

And then we see how this works.

Lieutenant Hammond sees the cut on Carter’s hand which she got in “One False Step”. The General saw this, too, right before they shipped out.

They work out a plan where they zat two of the guards and destroy the two crates of equipment with a few sharp blasts from the zat gun it’s all gone. They swear the Lieutenant to secrecy, and then zat him once just so he looks like the victim.

They plan to get to the Stargate and then ‘Gate back home. There’s the note that Carter had, but it doesn’t give them much to go off of.

Carter goes up to the highway and sticks her thumb out to hitchhike and hopefully catch them a ride. Jackson thinks they should go to New York and talk to Catherine. Teal’c runs out in front of a hippie van (oh my god this is going to be good) and they stop. The man and woman, too, are headed to New York (all the way from Colorado? What a nice coincidence) and they all hop in.

ROOOOOAD TRIIIIIIIIIIIP!

Carter, O’Neill, and Jackson are in back with a young woman, Jenny, and they talk about how the each have issues with “the establishment”… I find it funny she believes them, considering they all are wearing military uniforms. But, hey, whatever, it’s all good.

Teal’c has taken shotgun with Michael, Jenny’s fiancé, and per usual he’s both trying to protect his identity and understand what’s going on. This funny conversation ensues between the two:
"Hey, we're cool. After the concert, me and Jenny, we're even thinking of crossin' the border up to Canada."
"For what reason?"
"You know, man... the war."
"The war... with Canada?"
"...No."

Oh, Teal’c. If only you knew of the epic awesomeness which would emerge from Canada just four; five years later.

Oh my god you guys. This episode even has the music of the time. The team gets some pretty sweet clothes to fit right in with the hippie culture (Teal’c has an afro wig and pink headband… haha) and they each take turns driving. The corny map follows them all the way to the northeast, where we get… a campfire scene! Yay, campfires and ‘60’s clothing!

Around the fire, Carter has an epiphany that something must’ve happened with a solar flare that caused them to slingshot around the sun (my inner Trekkie is dying of laughter right now; this is so exactly like Star Trek: TVH it’s not even funny… except it is) while traveling through the ‘Gate. She figures out that the two dates on the note are the dates of the next solar flares, and therefore of the time they can get home.
Jenny and Michael overhear this whole conversation and… oh man. O’Neill quickly develops a story that they are actually aliens who need to get home. He proves their at least “foreign” presence by zapping the fire with the zat gun. The two agree to help them get home, and now it feels like E.T. Also, no whales.

MORE SIXTIES MUSIC!

They make it up to New York and drop Teal’c and O’Neill off at the observatory to take a peek at the sun.  They check, and indeed, there’s evidence of a flare soon to occur.

Right on!

Meanwhile, Jackson and Carter go to Catherine Langford’s house. Jackson puts on a pretty convincing if not amusing German accent and reveals that he somehow knows about the ‘Gate. He gets her to reveal the location of the armoury in which the Stargate resides… here we go!

SIXTIES MUSIC TIME AGAIN!

They travel to D.C. and thank Michael and Jenny for their kindness. They want to go with them, primarily because Michael got drafted into the war.

Oh… that’s why they want to go to Canada.

They say goodbye to each other and SG-1 goes into the base.

It’s showtime!

They unlock the cover of the ‘Gate and it falls open. They rig up the trucks in the hangar to the Stargate to power it, and then start to manually turn it until it locks on the seventh chevron. Just then, a guard walks in and starts shooting. However, they make it through the ‘Gate…

…but it doesn’t look quite right. Aw man!

An elderly woman walks out and she knows all of them. It’s Cassandra! She explains to them how they stepped in a few seconds too early, so the flare flung them into the future. Cassandra touches a device on her wrist, and the wormhole establishes. They walk through the Stargate and…

…They’re back in the right time! Yay!

Hammond confirms the “cut” theory, and teases O’Neill that he owes him over five hundred dollars… with interest.

Oh, you!

Final thoughts… This episode was so goofy, and so non-serious, and maybe not even really well-done, but it was so entertaining! It was absolutely hysterical to see these four military buffs (yeah, Jackson, too) prancing about in colourful, psychedelic clothing. (Teal’c with the pink shirt and afro wig, Carter with her awesome skirt I kind of want, Jackson with those epic shades, and O’Neill with the leather jacket… gotta love it!!) That, and a lot of the observations and theories reminded me a lot of the same Star Trek movie I’ve been blabbing about all review. Besides, sometimes it’s nice to just have a fun episode. In any case, I have no doubt the season finale’s going to be in-tense… So I guess I better gear up for it.

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(SG-1 predicts their impending doom.)

O’Neill: So we got to gallivant around the 1960’s for a little while. That was fun.

Jackson: That also can’t be good.

Carter: Why?

Teal’c: I presume Daniel Jackson is referring to the fact that ‘all good things must come to an end’.

O’Neill: Hey, that’s a great Star Trek episode.

Carter: Jack, don’t change the topic. Why would good things have to come to an end right now, though? Can’t we just have a little break? A breather?

Jackson: No rest for the weary, Sam. No rest for the weary…

"Show and Tell" ( 2 x 20 )

Oh my god you guys. There’s an adorable child with O’Neill on the title screen. First Skaara, then Rya’c, then Cassandra, then Ally… Will I giggle ridiculously through this whole episode? I wouldn’t doubt it.

We’re starting off on the base this week when suddenly the iris closes. SG-1 and Hammond rush down to the control center, and the iris is being forced open by some off-base force. Suddenly, the small adorable child walks through the ‘Gate.

He’s sooo cuuuute!

Of course the initial concern is that he’s either a Goa’uld or a living bomb, like Cassandra was, but Carter checks him out, and he’s clean. (She did that with her “feelings”.) Then, though, the child says he’s here… to warn them.

Aw man. Can’t these kids just be kids?

Fraiser checks him out and says that while he’s no threat to them, he’s quite unhealthy. The boy recognizes O’Neill, and looks off into space, indicating to a “Mother”. There’s some connection between the boy, this “Mother”, and Tonane. He speaks with O’Neill, and since the boy doesn’t have a name, he decides to be called “Charlie”, after O’Neill’s son… So that’s what I’ll call him.

He’s really an interesting kid. He’s from a planet called “Retalia” and his people are called the “Re’tu”. Retalia, too, was ravaged by the Goa’uld, but Charlie has come to warn SGC about a rebel faction of the Re’tu. The thinking is that if they eliminate all possible hosts, the Goa’uld will eventually fall.

After a quick debriefing, O’Neill returns to the infirmary to check on Charlie, Teal’c with him. Charlie immediately freaks out at realizing that Teal’c is a Jaffa.

(Come on, man! Why? Why do they always freak out? It doesn't make any sense. Teal'c's such a great guy. I bet he gives the best hugs. I’d totally dig a hug from him. Not scary at all. Besides, he’d been in the room when Charlie had first stepped out of the ‘Gate. Had he just not noticed him then? Hm…)

O’Neill tries to reassure the kid, and addresses “Mother” again, trying to get to her now. He seems to succeed, but as soon as Teal’c steps forward, he gets a pained look on his face and quickly excuses himself.

Jack goes after him and finds out that his symbiote had reacted very strongly to the kid. O’Neill still doesn’t believe that he’s any sort of real threat to them. Fraiser joins the two in the hall and has a bit of bad news for them: Charlie’s organs and the like are severely underdeveloped, and he may not live for much longer. I’m thinking he’s a clone of some sort; like a genetically engineered human being. He also has a larger area of the brain that is for perception… Maybe “Mother” exists after all.

Back in the infirmary, Charlie confirms that he was created by the Re’tu (by “Mother”) in order to be a liaison to the Tau’ri, and to ask them to help take down the rebels. It’s his heightened mental ability that allows him to see Mother. She followed SG-1 in weeks before and learned how to operate the iris, and that’s how Charlie got in. She sends a blast of energy at them, for she is growing impatient, but it crashes harmlessly into a monitor.

At the Hangout, Teal’c says that he can sense the Re’tu among them, but not pinpoint its location. They send a message out to the Tok’ra… and Jacob comes in!...

(Hi Jacob! Hi! Hi! I missed you! You’re so cool! Oh my gosh, we need Bra’tac now! Then the whole show will IMPLODE from the sheer AWESOME of your collective AWESOMENESS!!!)

…Along with some other Tok’ra who are not nearly as bra’tac as he is. But that’s okay. They can stay, too.

They speak with Selmak (remember, his symbiote) and he asks to be taken to where the Re’tu is.

However, the second Jacob/Selmak steps into the room (after Charlie’s initial freakout… geezus, I wonder how the kid would react to freakin’ Apophis) he has to step out. He passes out these gun-looking things he says will eliminate the Re’tu. A huge insect-looking-alien-thing appears at the sight of the guns and Charlie jumps to its… or, uh, her, defense.

At the Hangout, Jacob explains that while the Re’tu are obviously very stealthy and a potential threat, they are largely benign as a race. It’s just that this faction isn’t so friendly. The guns he had (called T.E.R.s)  were developed by the Goa’uld and ripped off by the Tok’ra.

“Mother” tells O’Neill where the world some of the rebels are on is, and a team of SGC and Tok’ra travel there to gain intel. They look down and see easily a hundred Re’tu, though Jacob says they generally work in small groups of five to ten.

Back on base, as Carter is installing a hand scanner, Teal’c doubles over in pain, and there’s a Re’tu there. It zaps one of the Tok’ra allies, but Teal’c manages to grab the T.R.E. and shoots it. The base locks down.

At least three more appear and the teams split up to get rid of them all, sealing doors behind them as they go. A pursuit ensues as they fight their invisible enemy.

Jacob gets hit, but he insists that Carter just go on without him, and she gets one of them.

In the infirmary, one of the remaining Re’tu blasts “Mother” and… oh man, she’s a goner. But at least all the rebels are done with.

However, Charlie’s condition has worsened. Selmak, through Jacob, offers to take him back. She believes that he will be okay as a host, and it would save his life. They all part, with Selmak giving her final request to Teal’c that he be diligent in his protection of the base – and ultimately of this world. Jacob hugs his daughter goodbye, takes Charlie’s hand, and exits.

Final thoughts… This episode had all sorts of things going right with it… Adorable child, strange aliens, a new threat, Tok’ra, JACOB CARTER (yay!!), and an epic firefight of stealthy awesomeness at the end. Since we did have the Tok’ra show up, I presume that means the Re’tu are going to be a pretty important part of the series. Well, relatively so, anyways. So far just about every semi-important-seeming race has appeared or been mentioned at least twice.

Onto the Re’tu themselves… pretty cool, but graphically they weren’t that impressive. However, you’ve got to keep in mind that this was produced in 1998-99 or so, and they made huge technological leaps in filmmaking even between this time and the time that Star Trek: Enterprise came around. It’s a lot easier to create a ship or Stargate in CGI than a creature. If anything I hope we get to have a better look at them in the future.

Man, O’Neill was just tortured by having to say good-bye to that kid. Again, we’ve got the father-sympathy line playing here. In fact I find it kind of ironic that when Jacob and Teal’c entered into Charlie’s general vicinity, respectively, he responded to them alarmingly, even though I’d say they’re both pretty darn cool dads. But I suppose that’s what happens when you’ve got a little worm keeping you alive…

It was so great to see Jacob/Selmak again. It was nice to see that things are working out well for them, and that the Tok’ra are truly as willing to help as they said. Having Jacob around probably helps though!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(The crew settles after the exciting day.)

O’Neill: So. How’s Junior doing?

Teal’c: (He glances absentmindedly towards his abdomen.) The symbiote is far less agitated now.

Jackson: I can’t imagine that was much fun for it.

Carter: I’d like to dangle one of those Re’tu in front of Heru’ur’s face just to see his reaction…

Jackson: (Chuckles) Like a Tribble to a Klingon.

Teal’c: ‘Tribble’; ‘Klingon’, Daniel Jackson?

O’Neill: Just ignore him.

Carter: In any case, it was good to see my dad again… I just wish it had been on happier terms.

Teal’c: Indeed.

O’Neill: As much as I hate to admit it, I was sad to see Charlie go.

Jackson: You two got pretty close, didn’t you?

O’Neill: Yeah… we did. It was almost like having a son again.

"One False Step" ( 2 x 19 )

So I’ve spent most of the day studying for midterms, but now it’s bedtime, and that means it’s Stargate time! Something relaxing to sit down to at the end of the day… To just take a load off… Admire the view… of, uh, Teal’c’s body…

Okay, okay, I’ll stop. But I can tell just by looking at this title screen, this is going to be a pretty weird episode. But it’s sci-fi. What else can I expect?

SG-1 is at the Base, and they send an airborne probe of sorts (called a UAV) blasting through the Stargate, off to PJ2-445. They don’t expect there’s an indigenous population. The UAV malfunctions mid-flight and crashes into some kind of white plant. Through the screen, they see a very pale, humanoid man lean down and look into the screen.

There’s your population!

The team goes to the planet, and it looks peaceful enough.

(Side note: Teal’c has his staff weapon again. Haven’t seen it in a little while. I’m curious if it’s still fully functioning since O’Neill took the naquadah, or at least part of it, from the core in “The Fifth Race”… Unless they replenished it.)

Jackson’s allergies are acting up, which isn’t particularly unusual, but it might indicate something. There’s also a bit of funny dialogue:

Teal’c: “Since it is their planet, is it not we who are the aliens?”

Jackson: “The word 'alien' refers to anything characteristic of a very different place or culture. Anything really strange relative from our own perspective.”

O’Neill: “Think we call you alien because you're from Chulak? Ha!”

Oh, O’Neill. You never could resist cracking a joke.

They come to the site of the UAV’s crash and there’s some sort of yellow substance by the plant which it crashed into. Jackson sneezes again (it’s got to be those white plants), and then Teal’c leads them off in the direction of a village-like area. The same man who’d peeked into the UAV’s camera looks up at them, but when Jackson says, “Hi,” he starts to shriek and runs off into one of the dwellings. Several more come out of the dome-like dwellings, and SG-1 approaches.

It turns out that everyone in the village is quite… well, naked. (Not really. As far as I can tell each actor has some sort of thin bodysuit on.) Hey, different strokes for different folks. They circle up around the team and seem to try to mimic their actions. It must be their way of communication, or how they best communicate. Things get a little awkward when they get a little too close and Carter gets her hand sliced retrieving her knife from a particularly curious young alien.

Jackson enters one of the dwellings, and once again they mimic his actions and mouth movements, but no words come out. There’s some significance to the white body paint they all have striped over their bodies, as well, but we’re not sure what it is. You know, they’re really kind of adorable in their seeming naivety and innocence, and it’s even funnier to watch Jackson try and communicate with them.

Back outside, O’Neill’s jumped to the conclusion that maybe they’re a little less evolved than those in SG-1… but maybe not. They’ve gotten the message and they bring out the UAV which had crashed. Jackson sneezes again… and one of them collapses.

Oh no! Killer sneeze!

Suddenly, they all burst into a sort of harmonized vocalization… and then another collapses.

It’s becoming a epidemic now as more collapse. They bring Fraiser and a couple assistants through to assess exactly what’s going on. She figures that it’s not a foreign disease, and if it is, them leaving won’t help. Fraiser and Carter return, the latter to get her hand checked out, with one of the victims in tow.

Teal’c and O’Neill go off to check out one of the other villages when Jack starts to collapse a little. Teal’c’s fine (as always) but I’m not sure it’s all so good with the colonel.

Back in the infirmary on the base, Fraiser runs a CAT scan (since the alien acted very alarmed when she got near him with the ultrasound… hm…) and discovers that his heart is beneath his lungs. That’s… interesting. I wonder how these guys evolved.

On the planet, more are becoming sick. Jackson sees one of the white plants suddenly sprout up and grow, only to sink back in. Teal’c and O’Neill report that the other villages’ inhabitants are ill as well. Jackson and O’Neill start to squabble, and maybe not all is well…

Meanwhile, Fraiser reports that the alien she’s treating isn’t getting better. She voices her concern that SG-1 somehow caused this, and that she’s surprised it hasn’t happened more often.

This is something that’s crossed my mind many times as well. Early in the series, but not so much now, I would often write of a Star Trek-like “Prime Directive” of non-interference. So far SG-1 hasn’t run into a whole lot of problems, but with this it’s gotten pretty serious. I, too, am surprised there haven’t been more repercussions. They don’t really go in trying to fit in with the cultures they encounter (except maybe for Jackson) so, frankly, it’s about time something huge happened.

Carter says it best with, “We can’t just keep trampling through the galaxy with no regard for the damage that we can do.” A bit of a change from the headstrong captain we saw early in the first season. So, now that they’ve screwed up, they’ve got to go fix things.

O’Neill’s becoming more and more irritable, and Jackson as well. They exchange insults – and not the usual joking-around ones – and come to yelling at each other. They seem to snap out of it, and O’Neill’s got a headache, and Jackson just in general isn’t feeling well. They head back to Earth to get checked out and leave Teal’c with the village.

As soon as they get back, though, they start to feel better. It’s got to have something to do with those plants!

Fraiser confirms that there’s “nothing wrong” with them – physically, at least.

The alien has flatlined (and she’s doing chest compressions even though we’ve established that his heart is much lower? Whoops, writers!) and they work desperately to save him.

On the planet, Teal’c witnesses several of the plants sprout up as Jackson had seen them do. He digs into the roots, but as soon as he digs a little deeper into some sort of green substance beneath… he collapses! Oh no! Teal’c! Someone save him! Aaah! Man, why is it always him!?

…Oh wait, it’s usually not. It’s usually O’Neill.

Jack and Daniel are trying to do a little more research, and Jackson starts to rage again. He connects it to the tape of the plants, and Carter of course makes the next step and connects his irritability to… sound! There’s a wavelength they can’t hear, but is being processed in their minds anyways, and that’s what’s affecting them. That wavelength was keeping the aliens alive, and it was somehow connected to the plants.

Teal’c stumbles in through the ‘Gate and his team rushes to help him. He’s all right now, though, and confirms that all the plants are connected through some sort of network, and when the UAV crashed, the wavelength sound changed. The aliens are sound-sensitive, and if they can modify back to the old sound, everything should be right as rain.

They install some frequency emitters and Carter suggests they all watch from a bit of a distance. They do, and slowly but surely, as the aliens vocalize, the plants rise. They ask Carter how she knew there was a symbiotic relationship, and she sheepishly replies, “I talk to my plants, okay?”

Final thoughts… I liked this episode primarily because it dealt with a rather familiar theme: A medical crisis brought on by the introduction of a foreign invader. I say it’s familiar because it’s something we’ve seen in the past and something that continues to be an issue in today’s society. A “higher” society enters into a “lower” one and, though their intentions may be noble, they end up doing far more hurt than harm, and often cannot reverse the process.

I also enjoyed the different sort of species. For so many episodes we meet species that at least speak, if not entirely in English (though they usually do), which is great, but not all that interesting. I find it far more fascinating to watch them struggle through communicative lines, especially during the heat of a crisis. However, I do confess that if they had to go through something like this every episode it might get a little tedious.

Decent episode with a few good spots. And just for the record:

Yes, Carter does indeed speak to her plants.

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(Carter talks to her plants as she waters them.)

(She has a watering can and a hose nearby, and she’s going through her front garden.)

Carter: And how are you, my lovely bee balm? You’re looking awfully chipper today. (She waters the pink plant.) Oh, and spiderwort, I thought you’d never perk up. Now be nice to the blanket flower, I just planted that one and-

(There’s some rustling in nearby bushes. She freezes and slowly replaces the watering can in her hands for the hose. She twists the dial and sends a jet of water blasting into the bushes. Jackson and O’Neill tumble out.)

Carter: (Outraged) What the-?! What are you guys doing in my bushes?!

Jackson: We wanted to know if you really talked to your plants!

O’Neill: It was all Teal’c’s idea!

(But he’s already laughing his way out of the scene.)