Re-watch: Stargate The Movie, CotG and Season 1 - We Found the Ring in the Sand

[solotrek]

• 109 Thors Hammer  - No, you're part of this family now. We're not leaving you behind
Another episode that sets up some important things for later on – the Asgard and the Unas. James Earl Jones does the voice for Unas which is a pretty great grab for such a young scifi show. Hammond is still in dress blues, I wonder which episode it is that he wears his short sleeve dress shirt. I also wonder why he doesn’t just wear the BDU stuff O’Neill does later in S8. A military friend tells me that BDUs are far more comfortable.
 

There’s a massive blooper in this episode – before they leave for Cimmeria the MALP is sitting right in front of the gate before it’s opened.  It’s clearly going to get destroyed by the Kawoosh. This episode also has the first real time they split the team up into the 2 main pairs – Teal’c/O’Neill & Carter/Daniel. They really struggle with writing Carter when not in a scientific setting and it shows again here. Maybe they want to show that Carter needs to take O’Neills place when he’s not around so that’s why she’s so Jack-lite-like. It either doesn’t work because they’re trying to show that Captain Carter isn’t ready yet or they’re still struggling writing for Carter. Another first O’Neill acknowledges that he’s running out of ammo. In later seasons they seem to have unlimited ammo.
 

So Daniel starts the briefing out saying that because there were different kinds of Gods on Earth (human friendly vs human inslaving) that must be true in the alien “God” world. So he uses the Asgard as the example of possible friendly ones. IIRC there were also Greek and Roman Gods who were pretty friendly to humans as well.  Since they had previously encountered people with Greek ancestry twice already (though I guess Minoan isn’t quite Greek), why not use them as an example? Why immediately jump to Norse mythology? I get they needed the setup, but I do think it’s a little weird. 
 

Also from the briefing, Teal’c mentions that Cimmeria is a planet whose coordinates every Jaffa learns so they never go there. Clearly they should get Teal’c to write down every single one of those (since I assume every Asgard protected planet will have some anti-Goa’uld thing) and start checking those out. Furthermore, some of these planets might not be on the Abydos cartouche which they were basically depending on for all the planets they were going to (ToT in S1 & The Fifth Race in S2).  Actually, why not get Teal’c write down and summarize every single coordinate he remembers going to or heard mentions of good or bad?  This is the second planet (first was The Nox) they’re going to based on Teal’c’s knowledge. It seems like they’re just passively waiting around for Teal’c to give information if they need it as opposed to taking some action on it. Surely there is a middle ground between being the NID and what they’re doing here. This is not the last time that Teal'c knows something that might prove to be helpful later.
 

I assume how Teal’c introduces the Unas here is kind of different from what we see later on because Jaffa legends would be passed on similar to our myths and legends.  Some things just get lost and facts are obscured. If I were a Goa’uld who wanted to be dominant, I’d want an Unas as host. Regardless, it’s a good introduction of them. I would have liked to see some of the other hosts over the run of the show TBH.

So do the System Lords know what the Asgard look like but not Goa’uld lower on the totem pole? What happens when a lesser Goa'uld achieves System Lord status? Do they just get introduced to the real Asgard?
 

I like the guest stars this episode and the labyrinth set is very well done. I can’t help but think that Jack and Teal’c would have been on their own if the weather wasn’t stormy that day. They would have been fine and gotten out, but I understand why Jack decided that it had to be Daniel who destroyed the hammer. Too bad Thor’s Chariot happened after Secrets…oh wait, it didn’t. Whatever. 
 

Final thoughts – good setup episode. Pretty decently executed. Definitely in the upper middle of the pack.
 

• 110 The Torment of Tantalus - Tantalus was a king in Greek Mythology, banish to Hades, forced to stand in water that receded when he tried to drink. Though I also like We have a Stargate, we need a dial home device.
Hey, it’s Doctor Beckett! Oh wait, it’s not, but it will be. Michael Shanks is clearly sick during the filming of this episode. For the record Hammond is still in dress blues.

The 1940’s feel of this episode is really well done. They didn’t show the gate activating in the video footage, which is good because there were a ton of people just standing in and around the area.  Since there are 9 chevrons I don’t think they necessarily knew for sure what was going to happen. No one seems perturbed by their deaths so that’s good. The way the Pentagon footage is cut reminds me of the unbelievable DSA videos from this show called The Pretender. How fitting that Mr. Fenigor is in this episode. (Props to anyone who gets this reference) What are Catherine and Ernest’s specialties? Is Catherine a scientist? She seems to know more than your average basic physics and chemistry. Or is she coming in from the archeological standpoint? Ernest can read the Norse writing, but he’s also pretty proficient in science.
 

In the conversation with Catherine, it seems like the program has been going on for about 6 months. This episode aired 4 months after COTG, if we factor in the mid-season break I like how time flows in the show. Of course this all goes to hell in Threads (S8) where Jacob says season 2 to season 8 only takes 4 years but whatever. That’s an error on their part in my book and I refuse to acknowledge it until I bitch about it again in Tok’ra part 2 and Threads.

 

Ernest has been living alone here for over 50 years and has only gone a little crazy. What a survivor.

 

So O’Neill is Macgyver, right? Not the first time and not the last he comes up with something really simple that gets them out of a jam. 

 

I think this episode fails the Bechdel test. The only meaningful conversation Carter and Catherine have is about Ernest.

Daniel makes a good point about how important it is to get the information. At the same time, he puts himself and others at risk again. It’s frustrating to me, but  guess that’s why Jack is a good field leader and SG1 is good team. They all contribute something to the group and can rein each other in when necessary. I also think that's one of my problems with S9 and S10.

 

What an important episode for the show. IIRC, they didn’t really think it’d be something they were going to follow up on. It’s one of those things where I think they realized they hit gold with this idea and really ran with it. Definitely one of my favorites of the season.

[stillshimpy]

Early Daniel was seriously a pain-in-the-butt when it came to putting everyone else at risk.  I liked the character, I still do.  He's one of my favorite characters on TV , full stop.  It's still sort of a miracle that he was -- at the very least -- fired or confined to the base after many of his choices.  Like we should only ever see him after he's been talking to the SG1 version IAD, because, good lord.  

but I understand why Jack decided that it had to be Daniel who destroyed the hammer. Too bad Thor’s Chariot happened after Secrets…oh wait, it didn’t. Whatever.

 

I understand why Jack needed to destroy the device, but I don't understand why he made Daniel do it, other than the fact that Daniel was so frequently imperiling their butts.  Seriously, there's no command related decision there, other than making Daniel do it as some sort of statement for the audience.  A way of sealing off any kind of resentment narrative for Daniel towards Teal'c or Jack, but it makes little sense to make Daniel destroy the device. Unless we want to believe that if Daniel had been unable to, or flat-out refused to , that they would have left Teal'c there to die.  

Although in terms of story impact it was the right choice, because I really felt bad for Daniel having to do that.  The story neither avoided entirely, or addressed aggressively the fact that Daniel knows who Teal'c was in Sha're's capture.  I know TPTB initially wanted there to be resentment and tension between the characters over specifically that, but Judge and Shanks were such good friends, they just refused to play it.  So this whole gig might have been part of that set-up by the writers.   To this day I think Judge and Shanks made the right call on that.  Daniel's ability to forgive Teal'c , care about him and understand that he had no choice in that moment is one of the things that takes Daniel from insufferable (because he does get endanger them so often in the early years) into admirable (he doesn't even have to work to forgive the guy who kidnapped his wife).  Then they actually did an even smarter thing

by having Daniel struggle with forgiving Teal'c for killing Sha're in Forever in a Day

. 

I used to love The Torment of Tantalus sooooo much.  It's such a good episode , but I have such a hard time watching it, knowing that the actor died of Alzheimer's.  It's goofy, I know it, that shouldn't matter to me when it comes to the characters, but it makes the episode go from poignant to unbearably sad.  

Also, it contains one of my least favorite moments that works for comedy in the moment, but then actually doesn't if I think about it for even a second:  Sam's reaction to naked Earnest, while funny in the moment, is actually not worthy of an officer in the Air Force.   Still, not a big deal, but it was just not one of the better moments for Sam's character.  "Eek! Old nakedness!"   It's funny, but I always have to will myself not think about it too much.  

But I also love that Jack has finally freaking had enough from Daniel and tries to bodily remove him from the area.  In the first two seasons I'm always surprised that they didn't have a Daniel-sized duffle bag and tranq gun for those frequent times that Daniel becomes too much of a liability and needs to be stuffed in a rucksack. 

[solotrek]

I understand why Jack needed to destroy the device, but I don't understand why he made Daniel do it, other than the fact that Daniel was so frequently imperiling their butts.  Seriously, there's no command related decision there, other than making Daniel do it as some sort of statement for the audience.  A way of sealing off any kind of resentment narrative for Daniel towards Teal'c or Jack, but it makes little sense to make Daniel destroy the device. Unless we want to believe that if Daniel had been unable to, or flat-out refused to , that they would have left Teal'c there to die.

 

I think it needed to be done by Daniel for the show, because it was a way to remove the symbiote from the host. At the time, whenever they encountered any type of Goa'uld thing or mentions of Goa'uld, Daniel immediately jumped to the idea of saving Sha're.  I think this needed to be done by Daniel for the audience to show that Daniel wasn't necessarily doing things for his selfish quest to save his wife - rather he would be willing to destroy the one thing he knows that could rescue her for his teammate. It showed another angle of the character.  I agree with you also that it shows Daniel's acceptance of Teal'c maybe deep down knowing that Teal'c helped with the abduction of Sha're.

 

I do agree completely that realistically, Jack would have walked across and shot the damn thing himself.

 

I know TPTB initially wanted there to be resentment and tension between the characters over specifically that, but Judge and Shanks were such good friends, they just refused to play it.

 

I'm also glad that they chose to go the route they did with the characters.

[stillshimpy]

I think it was a really wise decision by Shanks and Judge, because particularly in the first season where some of the story-lines are more successful than others (being kind, being kind) it helps establish what got the show through some narrative missteps (being kind, being kind) and that was the whole teamy-goodness.  That pretty much no matter what the story was, it was just fun to watch these people together, these characters. 

 

Then also

it made it exceptionally moving on the rare occasions they did play up the fact that Teal'c originally abducted Sha're when he was enslaved too and then had to kill her in order to save Daniel's life.  Also that Sha're was the person who urged Daniel to forgive Teal'c in Forever in a Day and then again during Fallen Shanks and Judge do really great work with no words when Daniel is so excited he remembers who Sha're is and goes to Teal'c....and then we see him remember what happened to her and we see Teal'c knowing that is what Daniel has just remembered.   So their decision to take a pass on the resentment aspect was something that was kind of the gift that kept on giving.  The events of Forever in a Day needed that decision to have the emotional impact that it did.

 

By the way earlier you were discussing Children of the Gods which contains some of the worst sins against dialogue in the form of what Sam has to say.  The reproductive organ line will live in infamy, but the sneering "Don't worry, I played with dolls" is the one that has become worse for me over the years.  However it also contains one of my favorite moments between Sam and Daniel and the only time the series really acknowledged "Yeah, we know that's fucked up but it was one of the things that came with the movie, whaddya gonna do?" when Sam asks how Daniel met Sha're and is told that she was given to him by her tribe  and Sam says in this perfectly balanced between astonishment and outrage tone "And you accepted??"  because...yeah.  I know, I know, blah blah blah, in the movie, it was Sha're's active choice that she fights for etc. etc.  and it still doesn't change the entire "wow, way to attempt to sugarcoat an absolutely horrifying practice while pretending that it wasn't as horrifying."  

But that goes back to the odd relationship to what constitutes consent in this series and what seems positively cute compared to what SGU got up to with those blasted stones.  

[solotrek]

• 111 Bloodlines - "I am not concerned about my life. I am concerned for the life of my son."
For the record, dress blues again for Hammond. The actor for Ry’ac is adorable and I’m glad they kept bringing him back. I’ll never understand why Teal’c didn’t just up and take his family back to Earth after this episode. They were already living as outcasts in the outcast community. Plus leaving them on Chulak is just a further threat to Teal’c – which Hammond points out in Family (S2) and actually did become a threat. In fact, Hammond told them to bring Ry’ac back. It seems beyond obvious to me and I don’t know what SG1 was thinking. The guards at the gate were pretty easily taken out.
 

So this episode was directed by Mario Azzopardi, the same guy whom DSD butted heads with in the pilot. Tony Amnedola actually took a lot of the gruff and short naturedness of Mario and incorporated him into Bra’tac. I watched the con video of Tony telling the story, he tried his best to be diplomatic about it and tried was basically insinuating that Mario an asshole but kept also saying “oh, but he was a nice guy”. So RDA just says, “I always thought he was a dick”. Tony Amendola agreed heartily and also added that Bra’tac was kind of a dick in the beginning as well. What a great character and Tony Amendola is such a great actor. He brings the paternal/teacher relationship with Teal’c in immediately. It’s great to see and he really helps the Teal’c character develop (with each episode he’s in as well).  He and O’Neill are constantly trying to out alpha/out command each other. It’s nice to see the friendship that develops later on. Right now it’s pretty much Bra’tac looking down on the humans with some hint of recognition in what Teal’c saw in them.  It’s kind of funny how this line stuck with Bra’tac regarding Hammond – “Just a man. A very good, very bald man…from Texas.”
 

So Teal’c wants to go back to Chulak because his son has reached the age of primta – receiving his symbiote. It’s all great timing because they were just doing tests on Teal’c to see the effects the symbiote was having on him and were actually trying to find a way to get a Goa’uld larvae. Chulak just happens to have a ton of them in a massive aquarium of sorts.  Where do all those symbiotes on Chulak come from? Is there a Queen there? Do they go to a planet where there is rivers of them (Beasts of Burden S4)?  Are the rivers of Chulak overflowing with them? Just weird.  Anyways, the rest of SG1 use this a  pretext to get Hammond to let them go to Chulak; along with the knowledge that there are other Jaffa who do not believe the Goa’uld are Gods.  This brings one of my favorite exchanges of the episode:

HAMMOND
How many of these other jaffa can you be sure of?
O'NEILL
We're pretty sure of at least…one guy.
HAMMOND
One?
DANIEL
Yes, and, and where there's one there has to be more than… one.

This leads to Hammond dragging O’Neill into his office and finding out why SG1 is BS-ing him with obvious pretext and lies.  Hammond’s a smart guy. He’s also a pushover who allows them to go on this mission.  Teal’c is also really lucky that they just happened to be testing the symbiote and lamenting the fact they didn’t have one. TV timing is everything.
 

Where do they get the priest outfits from? Why leave them behind? Why doesn’t O’Neill have a weapon? Why do no other Goa’uld we meet have priests the same way Apophis does on Chulak? Why did Teal’c think that his family would be untouched?  If the word and the mark for a shol’vah exists, surely it must mean there was a precedent on how they were dealt with. Teal’c was being either really naïve or overly optimistic.
 

Frankly the Teal’c and Drey'auc interaction makes me uncomfortable. It’s not just this episode either.  I get why she’d be pissed off at Teal’c – he abandoned his family for some random aliens; betrayed the God who gave them a pretty lush house; has them being shunned by even the outcasts; basically is the root cause of Ry’ac almost dying, and then comes back with no explanation and is just angry at her for everything. I mean, I also get that Teal’c is anxious for his son, but his treatment of Drey'auc is kind of horrible and even abusive. I’m not even mentioning the Shau'nac situation in Crossroads (S4).  Since he obviously cares little about what Drey’auc wants, he should have just hauled all their asses back to Earth right after stopping the ceremony. That way they would have made it back to the gate before Ry’ac almost died AND they would have had the symbiote Carter and Daniel got.
 

Sam and Daniel use one of those massive thermoses with a biohazard sticker on it to get the symbiote. It’s kind of funny, the props guy could have done better. Daniel shooting up the aquarium is both in and out of character especially after what Sam says. It’s in character because he lost his wife and brother-in-law to one of those things. But killing sentient life is something Daniel argues against all the time. He would have lectured another character for doing it even if they were a threat (ie. Yelling at Jack in Menace S5). He was also harming any Jaffa who would need a new symbiote at the time.  Heck, I wonder in later seasons if he thinks back to it and wonders if there were any Tok’ra in that thing (since I have no clue where those symbiote come from). As it is, it does work with the Daniel we’ve seen so far. Any chance to rescue Sha’re and any chance to get revenge is something Daniel is willing to do.

 

I have a lot of issues with Daniel putting himself and his team at risk for his narrow mindedness in terms of gathering artifacts or information that he deems would be helpful. We had joked about Torment on Tantalus and Jack basically heaving him through the gate - they both could have been easily killed or stuck. However, this is something that Daniel "grew" out of it a little bit. He knew when to back down and "militarize" and when to be "thinking Daniel" sometimes with Jack forcing him to make the switch sometimes not. But what often irks me more is Teal'c. Between Jaffa freedom fighting and fighting for his own causes, he puts SG1 in trouble and in tough positions. In most situations, he was great for the team. However, in "Teal'c situations", it become Teal'c first and everyone else last and this was something that stuck for the entire show. I understand the motivation for him not telling them about Ry'ac and also for his need to go back for his son. However him leaving his family behind again leads to Family in S2. His whole Shau'nac situation leads to the Tanith revenge issue which brought upon what happened to him in Exodus (S4), what happened to him in Enemies (S5), and the whole thing in 48 Hours (S5).  He completely dismissed everything Jack was saying in The Warrior (S5) even though what was happening was blatantly obvious. My point is, he has a blind spot when the situation is very personal to him, however unlike the rest of them - he puts EVERYONE on his team at risk when dealing with it. This is the first of many episodes that this comes up.

 

All in all, aside from giving more information about the symbiotic relationship between larvae and Jaffa, introducing Bra'tac & Teal'c's family - nothing happens. They could have easily never gone to Chulak and nothing would be very different. Ry'ac still needed the larva in the end. Teal'c and Drey'auc still have a horrible relationship which is addressed again in Family (S2).  The SGC doesn't get a Goa'uld to experiment on. Teal'c doesn't bring his family back and leaves them to be used as a trap for the future. Bra'tac could have easily been introduced in "The Serpent's Lair" or even in "Within the Serpent's Grasp". Teal'c's family could have easily been introduced in "Family". It was nice to see more of Teal'c's backstory and Daniel giving in to his baser instict, but all in all, I think this episode is really lacking.

 

• 112 Fire and Water – “Daniel Jackson...made this place...happen. As a member of SG-1...he was our voice, our...our...conscious. He was a very courageous man. He was a good...man. For those of us lucky enough to know him, he was also a friend.”
Hammond still in dress blues. Series Daniel “death” number 2. Those are real military soldiers during the flag ceremony for Daniel’s funeral. The actor who plays Nem, the fish-man is the same guy who played Tuplo from the Land of Light in Broca Divide & Enigma (S1).
 

You have to feel bad for Daniel. This massive fish guy has captured Daniel and is asking him to answer something he has no clue about. “Reveal...Fate...Omoroca” reminds me of the episode of Star Trek where the species speaks in metaphors – Daniel would have figured that out much faster. I don’t know how Mr. Fish would have expected anyone to figure WTF he was talking about without asking properly and forming a proper sentence. And what if Omoroca had become an insanely popular name at one point and a bunch of people were called Omoroca? What if the name Omoroca became one of those royal family names passed down one after another? I might as well say “Reveal…Fate…Henry” and then capture anyone who knows of England. It’s just the most pointless ill thought out thing ever. Sushi fodder had years to think about this and this was the best he could do? “You know something about 4000 years ago, you must know this. But I won’t let you use any resources, I’m just gonna yell at you for not telling me this obscure thing. You say you’re not a bad guy, so tell me.” No wonder Daniel would rather have a mind digging device mess with his brain than deal with Tuna any longer. Daniel does handle the captivity amazingly well. He may have been captured because of what he knew, but that’s also what saved him in the end.
 

Is it even allowed for Daniel to have personal journals that document his travels through the gate? It sounds like an insane security risk. I know they can’t dictate the home life of people, but surely there is something against any documentation of the program outside of base. What is with the museumness of Daniel’s apartment? All his possessions were in his bag in the original Stargate movie. He was presumed dead and had no assets at the beginning of the show. He spends all his time on base, especially during the early days of the SGC – and no way would he be allowed to take any of his artifacts found off world home. So where did all this stuff come from? Does he mail order ancient looking knick knacks? Did he request the Air Force set him up with an apartment that looked like a museum? Do friends send him stuff from their digs? How did he explain his original movie death to those friends in the first place? Clearly people know he’s alive and working at Cheyenne by Hathor (S1).

The reaction of SG1 to Daniel’s death is heartbreaking. It’s actually kind of funny how nonchalant they are about it by season 8. But right now, it’s tragic and they’re all heartbroken.  It’s actually great to see both O’Neill and Teal’c mourn immediately after Daniel’s death because it’s something you don’t see much from either character – not even after Daniel’s ascension. It shows us just how much of a mess O’Neill must have been after Charlie’s death (hard to really use movie O’Neil) and how much Teal’c really hides with his frown face Jaffa act. Carter is less “way of the warrior” so her emotions are more worn on her sleeve. Or maybe the reaction we’re seeing has more to do with what Nem had done to them rather than how they’d actually react. Regardless, I don’t quite see why Hammond wanted them in rotation so quickly. Surely he didn’t need Janet to tell him that they’d need at least a 7-day standown to actually give it to them. It’s very strange. Did he want to put them in rotation right after Daniel’s wake? Was he seriously considering letting them go back to work without actually seeing McKenzie? I do like how he handled Jack smashing his car window in with a hockey stick. But he was making or saying some pretty strange command choices.
 

It’s the first time we meet Dr. McKenzie. Not surprising they’d call him in due to the flashbacks that every single member on the team has been having and their insistence that Daniel is still on the planet. However, like I said, he should have been called in a lot earlier. Surely a psych clearance is needed to go through that gate, and the death of a close team member would require a psych write off.
 

Who were all those people at Daniel’s wake? Was it just SGC personnel? If so, why was Teal’c covering his tattoo? Why does he always need to cover his tattoo anyways? People have weird tattoos on Earth. No one thinks Mike Tyson is a weird alien and his tattoo covers half his face. Or maybe people do. If there were people outside of the SGC, how would Jack even know about them to call them? Also a weird thing, Jack is still calling Carter “Sam” a lot. In later seasons it’s strictly “Carter” which I know fan fiction has explained away because it’s the UST or whatever – which kind of makes sense I guess – but wouldn’t that just have connotations of its own? It also seems pretty military to call someone by their last name (Kawalski, Ferritti, Elliot, Hailey etc...), but since he starts out calling her Sam and eventually just switches to Carter even when "Sam" would be appropriate - it is noticeable. Anyways, whenever I hear it in an early season episode, it really stands out.
 

This was an ok episode, a pure episode of the week we never talk about again except in the one clip episode this season. Michael Shanks acts the hell out of it – everyone else does alright as well. I do wish we had encountered Nem’s people again. They seemed to have some interesting technology, actually travelled to Earth in the past, and might have living members of their race who may have remembered some of ancient Earth; plus the usage of an ancient language that has long since died out. It all seems like something really important to learn more about. It’s one of the places on their collection of gate address they should mark – “go back when we get more advanced”.

Edited September 8, 2014 by maculae

[solotrek]

• 113. Hathor – "Is mental illness contagious?"

Hammond in his short sleeve blue shirt! First!

 

My favorite episode! Just kidding, this is no one’s favorite. The cast hated this episode as well. Michael Shanks took umbridge to the “Queen Bee” line. Seriously, he rants about it at conventions to this day. Apparently before filming this scene, he was in Amanda’s trailer pacing around and just saying “Queen Bee! Queen bee! Queen bee! Why do I have to say this?” He said that a producer told him he had to say that line and how important it was – I’m going to assume that was Jonathan Glassner. It was his teleplay. [EDIT: Correction, it was Michael Greenburg.] RDA and Suanne Braun had to sit in tubs of shrimp. They were thrilled by it. I personally have no clue how to handle this episode. There are a ton of plot holes/issues. And it’s just a potentially interesting plot squandered. Not a fun thing to rewatch. At least Emancipation was a one off episode which was more dumb than plotholish.

 

How come Hathor who is Ancient Egyptian and somehow Ancient Mayan as well speaks perfect English? You can explain away the language issues via gate travel by saying that a modification to the gate somehow also made it a basic Universal Translator. There is nothing that can really explain this. Not even going into the cross-pollizination of ancient cultures. Just not going into any of that. How does she know where the Stargate is? I assumed the Stargate homing device that Teal’c mentioned in “The Nox” had to be planted there.  How did she even get to Cheyenne? Manipulating every guy on the way? She clearly didn’t change her clothing or even try to fit in.  In that case, could she not have a small army of Jaffa or Goa’uld on Earth? She would also have a trail of love sick horny sycophants. It’s a long walk from Mexico to Colorado. That’s a lot of men she could have encountered. The fact that she didn’t do that just shows how dumb the Goa’uld are.

 

Bra’tac had called the Stargate “Stargate” at this point – even before SG1 called it that. So have other people off-world. What decides when people refer to it as “Chappai” and others “Stargate”? Fun fact, in the script for the pilot, it was written as “Stargate”. When they were filming the scene with the priests on Chulak, the director (everyone’s favorite Mario) stopped filming and said that there’s no way these aliens would call it “Stargate”. So he stopped the poor extra playing the priest and asked him what he would call it if not “Stargate”. The extra froze, panicked and said “Chappai”? It stuck.

 

How does Teal’c not recognize the sarcophagus? As the FP of Apophis, he must have seen this thing a bunch of times. He even says it later in the episode that he’s seen it work. Is it because he wasn’t asked directly that he didn’t say anything? In fact, he seeks Carter out to tell her about what he knows of Hathor or what Hathor might be. Um, excuse me, why didn’t he say that earlier in the briefing when everyone was there. Before Jack got drugged and Daniel and Hammond got more drugged. Even if it’s just an inkling, it’s still helpful. Teal’c can be patently unhelpful at times. In fact when Daniel talks about Goa’uld who were against Ra or whatever, why doesn’t Teal’c mention the Tok’ra? They been around from millennia and are a pain in the butt to the Goa’uld. I should do a count of all the times Teal’c should know something, does know something, and doesn’t say anything until it’s unnecessary. He’s like the kid in class who knew there’d be a pop quiz and tells everyone as the teacher’s handing it out.

 

Why is Jack so immediately dismissive of Hathor – even wanting to get her committed. She is clearly beyond a security breach at this point, find out how she knows what she knows. I mean he basically said the same thing to Marty (Point of No Return S4) as well, so I guess that’s just his thing. Why not have her brought to the infirmary immediately and have a MRI done? This seems like obvious SOP and I have no clue why it wasn’t done. Seriously, someone walks into base, is speaking in a manner similar to the Goa’uld, talks about being with Ra, knows all about the Stargate, is basically saying “I’M A GOA’ULD” and no one bats an eyelash. This was before she infected the men of the base. I guess mental illness was basically contagious at this point.

 

Don S. Davis (RIP) is puff and ruffling on screen and it’s pretty hilarious. As is the amount of makeup they put on Amanda Tapping. There’s an absurd amount of lipstick on her. Actually nothing is more hilarious (to me) than the Netscape icon on the browser Carter is using. There’s also apparently only 5 women on base. Carter mentions, again, that O’Neill is Special Forces trained. At this point she has mentioned it in about 25% of the episodes.

 

This obvious non-consensual sex/date rape is really uncomfortable. What the actual hell? Is it even necessary from a making symbiote standpoint? In “The Cure” (S6) we see that

Egeria

can basically pump out infant symbiotes out with no issue. She’s in a tank pumping out symbiotes with no issue and no host.

Apophis and Amonet

had sex so they made a harcesis (Secrets S2). An actual person (kind of), but

Sha’re

still had to give birth to him. With Daniel having sex with Hathor they end up having symbiotes? How does procreation work here? Is there a tube connecting the symbiote to the host vagina? What is the sperm even fertilizing? Where do the symbiotes come out of? Does the Hathor host give birth to them? Is the symbiote not in her head?  Does that mean Hathor can’t give birth to actual human babies? What is even going on here? What is her Jaffa making device? Don’t they just use a knife on Chulak? Why does he no longer have an immune system just because Hathor cut a hole in his stomach? Does it suck out his immune system? Whatever. Hathor can come out of a tub of water completely dry. She can set herself on fire, disappear, dial herself out, whatever. I’m sold. Everything makes sense because I stopped caring.

 

Seriously, this episode is kind of dumb. I do like the Hathor character since I think Suanne Braun did a good job and I liked Out of Mind and Into the Fire. But there is a level of WTH that this episode reaches that doesn’t involve the eventual retcon of the most essential premise. One of the worst episodes of the season for sure, only slightly better than Emancipation.

Edited September 18, 2014 by maculae

[theredhead77]

maculae I'm not really sure, did you enjoy Hathor? <weg>

 

So many questions, I don't think I can ever rewatch it (except maybe to see tubs of shrimp).

Actually nothing is more hilarious (to me) than the Netscape icon on the browser Carter is using.

 

Nothing dates a sci-fi show more than actual technology. There are several laptops with the blue lid (Dell 1100) in our storage closet (no, my company does not get rid of anything). 

 

Back to Fire and Water and Jack calling Sam, Sam..

Also a weird thing, Jack is still calling Carter “Sam” a lot. In later seasons it’s strictly “Carter” which I know fan fiction has explained away because it’s the UST or whatever – which kind of makes sense I guess – but wouldn’t that just have connotations of its own? It also seems pretty military to call someone by their last name (Kawalski, Ferritti, Elliot, Hailey etc...), but since he starts out calling her Sam and eventually just switches to Carter even when "Sam" would be appropriate - it is noticeable. Anyways, whenever I hear it in an early season episode, it really stands out.

 

 

To me, calling Sam, Sam instead of Carter, her rank or title implied Jack wasn't taking Sam seriously as an officer, doctor or member of his team, in the beginning. Because she was the only other USAF member of SG1 calling Sam, Sam later on probably wouldn't have been so seemingly disrespectful when things seemed more casual off-world and I wouldn't have looked twice. It was noticeable that she only called him Jack in

her head or coming out of a coma (Grace)

but by then there was all sorts of UST and I can't think that choice was unintentional

[solotrek]

maculae I'm not really sure, did you enjoy Hathor? <weg>

I was really worried that my love for this episode wouldn't translate in my review. I'm glad you can tell that it's clearly my favorite episode of the franchise.

 

To me, calling Sam, Sam instead of Carter, her rank or title implied Jack wasn't taking Sam seriously as an officer, doctor or member of his team, in the beginning.

I think it was appropriate in Fire & Water because they were still in shock with Daniel's "death" and the over emotional turmoil is what caused it. But I do agree that the other instances in S1 were pretty flip and Carter still had to prove herself to him at that point.

[theredhead77]

I was really worried that my love for this episode wouldn't translate in my review. I'm glad you can tell that it's clearly my favorite episode of the franchise.

 

Clearly. I bet you have it on a loop for background noise.

 

I think it was appropriate in Fire & Water because they were still in shock with Daniel's "death" and the over emotional turmoil is what caused it. But I do agree that the other instances in S1 were pretty flip and Carter still had to prove herself to him at that point.

I'm really glad you understood what I wrote up there because I read it again and holy Hannah is that convoluted! I apologize to all the grammar freaks out there. So many thoughts, so little time (what, you want me to work at work?!)

 

Some instances of calling Sam "Sam" were completely appropriate but generally calling her Sam didn't give the respect her rank and title deserved. Yes, she had to prove herself, probably more than a male "Sam" but that's how life works (crappy dialogue aside). Later on calling her Sam would have been fine but he had to go all CARTER! on her. I'm more than happy to fan-wank it away as UST prevention (but did it really prevent anything)?

 

maculae I also really want to say that I love the long analysis posts.It's something that deserves mad props, more than just "liking" it will give. Please keep it up.

 

(edited to prevent grammar freaks from curling up in the corner)

Edited September 17, 2014 by theredhead77

[solotrek]

114 Singularity – “It’s called an accretion disc.”
Hammond’s not in dress blues, but he’s not in his short sleeves shirt either. Blatant blooper, when Jack and Teal’c establish a wormhole to the SGC while the SGC is dialing out to bring Cassie back, the shot of the SGC Stargate is missing the decon unit they had set up. I’m pretty sure it’s Dan Shea running in for RDA in that hazmat suit. There used to be funny convention footage of Dan Shea doing the O’Neill/RDA run on stage.

 

Introduction of Cassie. I really like Katie Stuart as Cassie and thought it was a shame she couldn’t reprise the role in the showcase Cassie episode (Rite of Passage S5). As a kid actress, she does a great job conveying what needs to be conveyed without using words. Witnessing the deaths of 1432 people is going to be traumatizing and I thought the kid did a great job portraying it. They dressed her room up as a kids room very quickly though. I guess some lucky airman got the job to go off base and go to Target or something to buy kids toys/crafts/clothing. And they had to do it stat.

 

This really is more of a showcase episode for Sam. They show her being a normal human being without making it overtly “SAMANTHA CARTER IS A WOMAN”. “Science Sam” when talking about the black hole still shows up along with “Military Sam”, but “normal Samantha Carter” shows up as well and it’s nice to see for once. She’s not making awkward stilted conversation with clunky lines. With how they’ve been writing “proof that Samantha is a woman” in this season, it could have easily full of dialogue about how her clock is ticking; or how she chose her career over children; or how as a woman she has motherly urges; or something equally over the top. Instead I could have seen Daniel in the exact same role, and for this show as it was, that’s an accomplishment. I don’t necessarily agree with the breakdown in the elevator, the sentiment fits but I thought it was way over the top. Someone previously mentioned that her saying she knew it was okay makes the elevator scene look over the top silly and I agree. At the same time, this is still an early Carter who hasn’t blown up a sun or saved the world yet. Her gut instinct is still something she probably has little confidence in. So even if she had a hypothesis she was 99% sure about, she doesn’t have the track record yet to back it up against the 1% that she might be wrong. Still, that was an insane breakdown in the elevator. And I think she only made it up 2 floors or something before she went back down. I’ll blame Mario Azzopardi for this issue he seemed to like silly cliché things.

 

BTW, Carter’s lipstick situation is over the top. Why that much when going offworld? Or when doing anything for that matter. I think since Hammond has switched over to not dress blues, I’m going to comment on her makeup from now on. It’s unnatural. Though to be fair, they gave Cassandra too much makeup as well.

 

So I’ve never been in a biohazardous situation like them. But isn’t part of the hazmat suit to keep others safe as well as the person? They don’t know how the plague spread initially, so why doesn’t Teal’c wear one of the suits? He’s touching things with his bare hands and walking around in his normal SGC BDUs, it seems rather shortsighted. His symbiote doesn’t act as an anti-bacterial/anti-viral on his skin and doesn’t filter his respiratory tract. I do however like how they had the decon shower right outside the wormhole in the SGC and also had a second level of decon right before leaving the gate room. I actually wonder why they didn’t keep it. Surely there’s also the risk of bringing some weird bacteria back without knowing about it. Even a bacteria that has no effect on the native population could be deadly on Earth. Janet’s original hypothesis was that maybe someone from SG7 had brought something from Earth to them. Why not vice versa. Dr. Warner is still around, I think he was chief of surgery in The Enemy Within and I’m glad they show him leading the surgery here.

 

There’s a bunch of random people following Hammond around and also sitting at the briefing when they’re talking about how Cassie is a bomb. Who are they? They’re too dressed up to be basic SGC personnel. From what I saw from their dress blues; there’s a Colonel, a Lieutenant, and some guys with really impressive racks. They never say anything and Hammond never directly speaks to them. They’re just there, watching. Are they people from NORAD? Since they had to test the K+/Naquada bomb in the subbasement?  However, why am I not surprised that Hammond going back to not-short sleeved shirt + a more curt and formal Hammond corresponds with Mario Azzopardi directing? Also, there’s a sub-basement? With so many sublevels already, what floor is this sub-basement?

 

They’ve done the partner split again off world where it’s Jack/Teal’c and Daniel/Sam. 3rd time this season (Thor’s Hammer & Bloodlines). I actually think it’s pretty interesting at since at this point these are the relationships I have felt they’ve push the hardest aside from the general team dynamic.  Jack’s irreverence+cultural references+turns of phrases & Teal’c’s general silence and stoicism + lack of understanding of Earth references along with their “warriorness” work well together. As do Daniel and Sam’s basic thirst for answers and need to question things. They actually seem to be pushing some sort of Daniel/Sam ship in S1 and it’s kind of palpable here. I’m just glad they nipped that quickly. I also think they put Jack and Teal’c together often because it can just get funny. Since Teal’c usually says nothing and RDA is adlibbing ~80% of his lines, it can get amusing.

 

Jack’s explanation of black hole to Teal’c cracked me up. From the explanation itself to the look on Teal’c’s face.

O'NEILL: Well a black hole is this really...big thing. It um...well basically it's uh...massive...hole, out there.
TEAL'C: I see.
O'NEILL: What happens is, everything gets sucked into it, even light, that's why we can't see it. Just gets...sucked in.
TEAL'C: Thank you.

How does Teal’c know that it’s Nirrti’s ship? They all look exactly the same. There were no identifying symbols from what I could see. Wasn’t the only way to identify whose ship it was by asking them? Hence “the Great and Powerful Oz” in Tangent (S4). Teal’c’s explanation of how deceitful Nirrti is was spoken very quickly and pretty un-Teal’c like. I assume because Chris Judge is still finding the speech cadence of Teal’c.O’Neill has a Casio watch, just thought I’d throw it out there. RDA later made the show switch to Suunto because I believe that’s what some military people he spoke to wore. It’s very O’Neill to randomly give a kid a dog with no parental permission of any kind. Albeit, a really cute dog.

 

I like this episode. It’s sort of an adventure of the week type thing but it does add a lot to the mythos. It sets up Nirrti, gives us Cassie and her naquada in the blood, and most importantly gives another dimension to Carter. I’d say it’s an upper middle episode for sure.

Edited September 17, 2014 by maculae

[theredhead77]

. It’s very O’Neill to randomly give a kid a dog with no parental permission of any kind. Albeit, a really cute dog.

It's a rule on earth. Every child needs a dog.

[solotrek]

It's a rule on earth. Every child needs a dog.

A doge for that matter. There's an internet meme for everything.

 

I also really want to say that I love the long analysis posts.It's something that deserves mad props, more than just "liking" it will give. Please keep it up.

 

Thank you! I'm glad that someone is being somewhat entertained by it or at least reading it. I needed a place to put my Stargate thoughts and my random trivia and convention knowledge down. Plus, it's great stress relief and a good excuse to rewatch the show.

Edited September 18, 2014 by maculae

[solotrek]

115 Cor-Ai - While in the service of Apophis I did many things. For these deeds, my victims deserve retribution.
Another Mario Azzopardi directed episode. You can tell by how Hammond is acting. At this point, do they just have him direct the episodes where Hammond is written as a complete hardass because DSD was so against it and no other director would push it? I think it’s still interesting that Hammond doesn’t necessarily see past Teal’c’s past or the fact that he’s a Jaffa. Nor does the government see Teal’c as one of their own. A great juxtaposition of the Hammond who would basically risk everything at the slightest inkling that SG1 might be in trouble and S1 Hammond.

 

Carter has an obscene amount of lipstick on. I wonder when they start toning this down. I wonder why I never commented on it in the previous episodes. Something that kind of amused me, Teal’c says a ton in this episode. Carter says maybe 3 or 4 lines.

 

There are 2 beats that get tackled in this episode.

1. Daniel vs Jack – From the start Daniel wants to respect the wishes of the people to put Teal’c through Cor-ai. Jack wants to bust Teal’c out with minimal bloodshed and call it a day. Both of these gut reactions come from the very core of both those characters and it’s an interesting dichotomy. This is not the first time it’s been brought up and it’s not the last. The best part is that you see what the characters took from each other as the show goes on.
2. Daniel and Teal’c – This was touched on slightly in Thor’s Hammer, but really gets settled here. Teal’c was responsible in part for Sha’re being taken by Apophis. Daniel knows this but has forgiven him because he has seen the change in the Teal’c of now vs before. This is the first time he really vocalizes it and it’s important. I had mentioned previously how the pairings of this show worked, to this point, Daniel and Teal’c have had minimal time together. Maybe we were to assume some sort of deeply rooted anger in Daniel, but with this episode we see just how close the team is.
    

 

As it is, I’m frustrated by Daniel here. He had no clue what Cor-ai was, but because as an anthropologist or even sociologist to some degree, he wanted Teal’c to go through it. He put his teammate in direct danger without a single thought beyond pure academia. Jack was right, Cor-ai could have meant beheading, it could be eye for an eye, there are cultures that have a “you’re guilty prove your innocence” judicial system which Daniel so nicely pointed out himself. He seemed to be fascinated by the proceedings even when it was pretty obvious Teal’c was screwed. And in the end you did see that the system was pretty gamed against Teal’c. Had Apophis’ crew not come, Teal’c would be dead. The annoying part is, had Teal’c agreed to be busted out in the beginning, Daniel would have complained the entire time. Heck he was still upset at the idea of busting Teal’c out after this line from Jack:

It's a kangaroo court. Nothing's gonna make a difference. Isn't that painfully obvious to anybody? That kid made up his mind before we even got here.

And Daniel still wants to go along with Hanno’s people and the Cor’ai. There are times when that sort of attitude is good. When your teammate is locked in a prison by a guy who clearly wants him dead within seconds of seeing him– that is not such a time. When that guy is also the judge/jury/executioner, it’s an even worse time. Still, I guess it’s a learning process. Season 10 Daniel would have led the charge for Teal’c’s escape.

 

I actually don’t get what they were trying to do by the end of the trial showing Teal’c was a changed man. The trial was about whether or not he killed Hanno’s father. Saying that he abducted someone’s wife and then became a traitor leaving behind his own family doesn’t really say much for his character. It might from SG1’s standpoint, but probably not that of someone who already has a negative opinion. Telling the judge/jury/executioner that his father was killed because he was a cripple and the guy holding everyone behind is just a horrible idea. None of this changes the fact that the trial is about whether or not Teal’c is guilty of killing Hanno’s father. Which he did and is therefore guilty of the crime he is on trial for.

 

You can see the guilt that Teal’c harbors for what he’s done for Apophis. I’m going to put the full quote here because it does a good job of putting this case in perspective with everything else he’s done.

When I look into Hanno's eyes, I see the horror on the faces of many others, as their loved ones prepare for Goa'uld absorption. Worse yet is the face of the victims whom I selected as they realize they are about to take their final human breath. Hanno's father is not the first nor the last of those whose lives I've taken. And I have done far worse, O'Neill. I cannot give all of their loved ones retribution, but I can at least give it to this one. I am sorry, O'Neill. I will not run.

 

I find the little tidbits we get about Jack’s backstory to be fascinating. Then again, I know way too much about the military and Air Force SOC for a fan fiction I wanted to write and then never did. With everything that’s happening in the Middle East now, it’s not hard to think up the type of “damned distasteful things” he’s been ordered to do back in the 80’s/early 90’s before drones. To be honest, they’re probably as bad as what Teal’c’s had to do maybe worse. They’ve always gone out of their way to show that he’s good on the battle field and in more covert killing ops. But if you think about his reasoning of how chain of command allows soldiers to do crap, that didn’t fly in the Nuremberg trials. I do feel that they were trying to do something with it especially with Teal’c’s response. Then later with Hammond’s discussion with O’Neill and Carter regarding war criminals. It’s really kind of interesting. History is written by those who won.

 

Don’t they send the MALP before going to every world? So theoretically, shouldn’t Teal’c have seen the image of where they’re going and had the same revelation he had when they arrived? It wouldn’t have helped the situation much, but it’s weird that didn’t happen.  Latin and Greek roots will lead to the development of perfect English. There you go guys. The Jaffa Shak’l is the same Jaffa from “The Nox”.

 

Since this is a rare episode where Teal'c speaks a lot you might notice, Teal’c has a very slow way of speaking. If you’ve never heard the story, Chris decided that Teal’c would have a slower speech pattern which drove RDA crazy. RDA one day asked him why he spoke so slowly, and when Chris had said it was because he thought that it’d be a good character choice, RDA told him to just speed it up. He’s also going all out with the “Teal’c frown” this episode.

 

All in all, I think it's a pretty great episode. One of the best of the season actually. A lot of great character beats and a willingness to show that the "good guys" aren't necessarily "good". I may have issues with some things, but I thought it was well put together.

Edited September 18, 2014 by maculae

[theredhead77]

Thank you! I'm glad that someone is being somewhat entertained by it or at least reading it. I needed a place to put my Stargate thoughts and my random trivia and convention knowledge down. Plus, it's great stress relief and a good excuse to rewatch the show.

I'm not even gonna lie and say I'm bored at work. I was reading last night (but my reply was sucked through the gate). I'm also just excited to see this forum going again after the initial TVWoP membership drive and rewatch!rewatch! [crickets]

 

I'll stop sounding like a fangirl now...

 

Carter has an obscene amount of lipstick on. I wonder when they start toning this down. I wonder why I never commented on it in the previous episodes. 

That lipstick is insane. I used to wonder about it all the time on TVWoP. I want to know what brand make-up she wears because it's always flawless. And damn that lipstick sticks around!

[solotrek]

116 Enigma - I find it unbelievable that anyone so primitive could have deciphered the gate system.

Carter’s shellacked lipstick is what attracted Narim to her. It just drew him in because it was so enticing even with all the ash in the air. If you haven’t noticed, I’m just going to make up random stories about Carter’s lipstick. Dress blues do show up for everyone, but for good reason. There are so many important introductions this episode. Hello to the Tollan, greetings Harry Maybourne, nice to see you again Lya, whoa a UAV. The director of this episode is William Gereghty. It’s fitting that he does the first episode with Maybourne and the Tollan and also the last for each. Actually his first episode was Broca Divide, so he did the first and last episode regarding the people of Land of the Light. The Airwoman who is showing up all over the place was one of the 5 from Hathor. She’s also Amanda Tapping’s stand-in. It would have been cool if she ended up being like Walter or Siler. She shows up 10 times over the course of the show, the last being Menace (S5). I know RDA’s stand in (Bill Nikolai aka Verne Alberts) and his stunt double (Dan Shea aka Sgt. Siler) pop up a lot.

 

Um Daniel, the Dark Ages were a setback for sure in some regard. But it was more a European thing than the rest of the world. While Europe was in the Dark Ages, Asia and the Middle East were doing pretty fucking well in terms of science and technology. The Dark Ages could be part of the reason that Earth is more technologically inferior, but it would not be the reason. I could go further and copy and paste a rant done by a historian regarding this in a forum that I’m part of but I won’t. Suffice to say Daniel is a very good anthropologist/archeologist/linguist, but maybe not a great historian. This kind of goes along with Carter saying she wasn’t a volcanologist in the opening. It’s nice to have a throwaway line like that to show that they haven’t gone down the route of “Science officer” knows everything about every science or “Humanities officer” knows all the humanities …yet.

 

Omoc is such a dick. The rest of the Tollan sans Narim are pretty arrogant but Omoc is just a dick. It’s one thing to say “we won’t give you weapons technology because we think you’re going to blow yourselves up”. We can use our own recent history or open a newspaper now to just accept that it’s true. It’s similar to the Prime Directive in Star Trek as well. It’s another thing to say “God you’re so stupid. Why’d you have to save us we’re smarter than you. You’re so stupid. I hate everything you guys are doing to help us because you’re less intelligent than we are. You’re offering us a place to stay? Fuck you simpleton.” The story Narim tells Sam about how their neighboring planet friends wipe themselves out explains why they’re hesitant to share technology. It still doesn’t explain why Omoc’s just an asshole. They wiped out their native animal population and couldn’t figure out how to bury their Stargate. And they didn’t have a ship on standby to rescue them right away when their world was erupting. Shove the arrogance somewhere else.

 

Actually, if they have no living animals are they vegetarians? Or have they evolved to using replicators (the Star Trek kind, not

Thor's bug friends

)? Another question, was the entire planet of Tollan destroyed by the volcano? Going by the Pompeii example, the entire Earth didn’t go extinct by that eruption. Was their entire planet made uninhabitable for some reason? Is it because the planet is significantly smaller than Earth? Was it a super volcano? If it was one surely their space travel should have found them an inhabitable world and they’d have long since evacuated the place. This goes to my long standing issue of – where the gate is does not identify what the entire planet is like. Not all of Earth looks like Colorado Springs (or Vancouver really – but the rest of the galaxy looks like Vancouver so…). Carter has a line in Solitudes that cracks me up regarding this very thing. I bet after Earth has their own fleet of starships and they go back to planets they had explored through the gate, their minds will be blown. I am now curious about the geology and planetary science and size of Tollan.

 

If they knew where their new colony was based on looking at the stars, why not look at the star map and judge a much closer location and gate there? Earth was clearly eager to relocate them and help them early on. Instead of being an asshole Omoc could have made suggestions like that. They said they went around in ships for awhile and Omoc seemed pretty smug about knowing how the gate worked. Surely they had planets that they had gone to via Stargate that they could have gone to.

 

Why were they trying to bury or destroy their gate anyways? If they didn’t think primitive humans could gate travel, then surely they’d know that people going through the gate would send probes through before entering. If the Tollan weren’t doing that, then they’re idiots. They know about the Goa’uld threat just like we do. Who are they worried about returning to Tollan? Their new planet doesn’t even have a Stargate according to Omoc, so what is their issue? Why not just have a ship over their planet monitoring the situation? It seems like it’d be really interesting scientific data and they could see if the gate got taken out. If it didn’t, surely they’d be able to Macgyver a way to destroy from there. It’s not that hard to destabilize the dirt around it and get it buried. This isn’t even on the same level of the Asgard needing human help later, at least the solutions they got from Earth was more Earth military strategy. This is just simple usage of brains. For a more “advanced race”, they’re annoying me with their stupidity.

 

Where are Narim and Sam walking? Where do SG1 drag Hammond to? I know it’s Cheyenne, but how many access points are there? What is this random door they came out of surrounded by jeeps and other military cars. Wouldn’t the actual exit be through the mountain that we see in cutaway clips all the time? Seriously, how many ways in and out of the SGC are there because you still have to go through NORAD itself to get out, no? No wonder people escape and enter whenever they want to there are so many points of ingress and egress. Also, the bald eagle Narim and Sam see? ‘MURICA. Naming her cat Schrödinger is very Carter.

 

This situation is really the only one I can think of which it is appropriate for Carter to have that much makeup on while on base. They’re using her feminine wiles to get info on the Tollan. If Carter weren’t attracted to Narim in any way, I’d love to know her reaction to the situation. Lucky for everyone, there was a mutual attraction. Thus we get Carter boyfriend #2 (I guess Jonas Hanson would be 1).

No black widow curse for Narim yet.

Narim is actually a decent character. Despite everything being a bit too on the nose about him being into Carter, he’s probably more the leader that the Tollan needed; curious and interested about things rather than a smug superiority to the people who rescued them.

I feel that this attitude is what contributed to their downfall in the end.

SG1 may have had some superiority thing with the Nox when they first met, but they were eager to learn and questioned a lot and were being kind of polite about it. I thought the emotion device that Narim gave Carter was weird and probably impossible to make back when I last saw this episode. But recently, a guy was on The Daily Show with a really similar device. Rewatching this episode made me think of that thing, it looked cooler than the one Narim had as well. Technology! We're less primitive than before!

Also, who thought it'd be a good idea to reuse the actor - with no additional makeup or prosthetic- as Weir's boyfriend in Atlantis?

 

A great introduction of Maybourne. Weird that he ends up being one of my favorite recurring characters on the show. Tom McBeath plays him with just enough menace to make him almost more frightening than the Goa’uld, but with an earnestness that allows him to not fall into a 2-dimensional bad guy trap that I feel Simmons falls into later.

 

Why does their plan work? Daniel can’t be Court Martialed, but he sure as hell can get his credentials revoked. He’s entered into a contract with the military or the government, therefore he still has to follow their rules. I never worked for the military, but I did work for the feds at one point for school and they are very, very strict.

 

Despite all my questions, I really like this episode. A good call back to “The Nox” and a nice way to introduce some pretty important characters. I also liked that there were humans introduced who are more advanced than Earth. Too often the show liked showing other humans remaining too true to their ancestral roots. One of the top episodes of the season.

Edited September 19, 2014 by maculae

[solotrek]

117 Solitudes - Colonel? It's an ice planet. That's all there is as far as the eye can see.
If you haven’t seen the Macgyver gag, go watch it now. If you have, go watch it again. Because the Air Force was allowed to have script control, the last conversation between Jack and Sam became a serious source of argument. The Air Force said that under no circumstances would Carter be allowed to call him “Jack” because he’s her CO. The Stargate crew said that he was dying and she was just helping a dying man ease some pain. Apparently the back and forth went on for awhile and they actually filmed two versions. If you’re wondering why she never called him “Jack” outside of AUs or under some extreme moments, that’s why. He also calls her “Sam”. Jack always has a worse time than anyone while in Antarctica doesn’t he, nothing good ever happened to him there.

 

This is Siler’s first episode and I kind of love the anti-Scottyness of him.

No Sir, it doesn't work that way. 24 hours is the best I can do.

Dan Shea’s audition story is pretty funny. Because he knew everyone already being the stunt coordinator and RDA’s stunt double, he was over the top jokey in the audition. He thought he nailed it because everyone was laughing with him and seemed to have fun. Later one of the producers asked him what he was thinking and that he had blown the audition, so Dan Shea went back and re-auditioned.

 

We get the introduction of the idea that too much power hitting the gate will get the wormhole to jump. I guess they were lucky that the Ben Franlkin thing they designed on Ernest’s planet didn’t get hit more than once. If this happened all because the staff weapons hit the gate, with the notoriously terrible Jaffa aim I’m kind of surprised this sort of thing didn’t happen more often.

 

This episode also brings to head a bunch of new plot issues. After Carter gets the DHD working, shouldn’t the Antarctica gate now become the primary gate of Earth?

That was how the Russians always tried to maintain an upper hand until 48 Hours.

The SG teams should be popping up in Antarctica instead of back in the SGC. Why did Carter not try to dial any other planet? I mean, that’s the type of troubleshooting I’d do.

If the 2nd gate has a different point of origin, doesn't that mean the symbol on the gate is going to be that point of origin? When the 2nd gate becomes the primary gate later on, shouldn't the point of origin be that?

 

I know Hammond likes greeting his teams when they come back. Perhaps greeting them at the gate with the iris open after they’ve come back immediately after leaving is not a good idea. Doctor Warner is the one mentioned in the episode. So he’s still around. Major Castleman is in charge of SG3, what’s the deal with that? Castleman was in charge for Solitudes S1, The Serpents Lair S1, The Fifth Race S2, and Fair Game S3. Colonel Makepeace is in command of SG3 in Broca Divide S1, Tok’ra 1&2 S2, Into the Fire S2, and Shades of Grey S3. There’s a ton of overlap in time there, so are we to assume that Makepeace was injured and Castleman was either his SIC or reassigned to the team as the CO during the time? But Major Warren also had command of SG3 during that same time period (Prisoners S2 & Foothold S3) and I don’t think there’d be two Majors assigned to the same unit. Anyways, I figure I’d point that out.

 

So this episode brings to head what I was complaining about last episode. The assumptions they make about planets simply due to where the Stargate is.

I think we're inside a deep crevasse of a glacier. If their Stargate's been overrun by ice, possibly on a planet in the middle of an ice age.

It's an ice planet. That's all there is as far as the eye can see.

Like I said before, they should just have a show based on one of their ships going to planets they had gated to before. Though I guess that was kind of the premise to SGU and all of the Star Treks.

 

I thought Carter’s “I didn’t know you could cook” line was weird. I don’t know about you guys, but boiling water isn’t that hard nor is dumping powder into said boiling water. He didn’t cook a gourmet meal. I think anyone who is career military can figure out MREs. Or you know, boiling water.

 

So the 2nd gate is only 50 miles from McMurdo. Does the show seriously want me to believe that it took McMurdo as much time to find them as it took Hammond and SGC personnel to fly down to Antarctica from Colorado Springs? Why are they playing the theme from Independence Day during the rescue? However, what’s great about Hammond going is that he truly breaks the mold of “hardass commander”.

 

I really like hearing about O’Neill back story. 9 broken bones including skull fractures? That number was actually lower than I thought. Though I guess it would go up with the broken ribs that he didn’t tell her about. The unofficial parachute jump over Iraq and Iran that happened in the 80’s could sadly be truth now. Though I guess it’d be over Iraq and Syria now. Where exactly did he go in 9 days? Turkey? Kuwait? Or maybe a fixer, because in the 80’s neither Iran nor Iraq had US military bases (I could be so wrong about this btw, I wasn’t around then and our lessons in school never really told us things like that) and sure as hell wouldn’t like the fact that the US had someone enter their country like that. For anyone who really cares about his back story (since I’m probably on some watch list looking all this stuff up for the story I’ll never write I’ll be darned if I don’t get it down somewhere),

O’Neill is probably more from the CRO part of Air Force Special Operations Command. It’s the only one that fits everything we know about his military back story. The rest of AFSOC is more medical or not as field/killing others/black ops intensive. Of course it’s a really tweaked up CRO making it seem more Navy SEAL, Delta Force, or Army Ranger than anything else, though AFSOC is the best trained at SERE. The training for it is both intense and insane and the attrition rate is one of the highest of any branch in the military including the other SOC groups I mentioned. They used to have to go through Indoc training with PJs so you can see here (first 3 parts are all indoc) what it’s like. One thing I took from the video is the never give up attitude and the need to constantly stay positive and be optimistic. That’s definitely an O’Neill characteristic. The training just gets more intense from there, more underwater stuff and a lot of parachuting.

 

I actually love this episode a lot. And the introduction of the 2nd gate is pretty important to the show. Also a Daniel/Teal'c pairing and Sam/Jack pairing is pretty fun to see. Though Teal'c doesn't really have much interaction with Daniel.

Edited September 19, 2014 by maculae

[kassygreene]

I think the way the Antarctic gate got retconned was that the crevasse had only recently opened up.  Ice moves all the time.  I always like the detail that there was a conical hollow in the ice from the kwawhoosh (or has my memory retconned that?).

 

That they would take the time to get all the way from CSprings to Antarctica before sending a rescue mission out of McMurdo has always ticked me off.  The synch of Sam's last try with Daniel figuring it out puts O'Neill and Carter lying down to die much too early in that time frame for them to survive, especially since that blanket wasn't pulled up over their heads.  But that's show business.  Colorado to Antarctica in just a few hours (and with zero weather delays) is no different then Mulder making the round trip from DC to Martha's VIneyard twice in less than two days, or Scully getting a phone call in Georgetown before dawn on Sunday morning and driving into a motel parking lot in Rhode Island less than two hours later.

 

By the way, I luuuv your recaps.  Please don't stop!

[solotrek]

I think the way the Antarctic gate got retconned was that the crevasse had only recently opened up.  Ice moves all the time.  I always like the detail that there was a conical hollow in the ice from the kwawhoosh (or has my memory retconned that?).

The cavern was a bit bigger than the kwawhooooosh just due the where the DHD was buried and where they made "camp". But I think my memory is going to retcon that to happen your way because I like that.

 

My question about the Antarctic gate is that since Jack and Sam were thrown threw it, that means it is now an active gate and that it could be dialed into. Since Carter fixed the DHD, that would override the gate at the SGC and become the primary gate.

It was explained that the Russians were able to operate their base using this theory and make their gate the primary gate when they knew a team was due back. And it was also what the Russians kept on using as leverage in 48 Hours.

There were teams going off-world around the clock to search the handful of gates that were deemed possible locations and each one of them dialed back to Earth. Using what we later learn, these teams should all be ending up in Antarctica. No? Even if it's because she had to reboot the DHD, any off world team is going to end up in Antarctica in the time it takes to fly down, defrost it, figure out how to remove it, get all the necessary equipment down to start dismantling it, pack all that stuff up. But I guess since it takes like 20 minutes to make that flight to Antarctica, not a big deal.

 

Colorado to Antarctica in just a few hours (and with zero weather delays) is no different then Mulder making the round trip from DC to Martha's VIneyard twice in less than two days, or Scully getting a phone call in Georgetown before dawn on Sunday morning and driving into a motel parking lot in Rhode Island less than two hours later.

I always thought the most egregious thing in the X-Files was the fact that after years and years of seeing insanely weird and basically unexplainable phenomenons, being abducted herself Scully would still mock Mulder about his theories. It's one thing to question them and try to ground him in reality, it's another to just eye roll and basically tell him how insane he sounds.  Bad Blood was a great episode for that. Though I do suppose that maybe we're seeing all their X-Files cases and the rest of their cases end up being really normal. Otherwise we'd just be watching a generic procedural or Scooby-Doo without the dog or meddling kids. So maybe Scully has earned her right to roll her eyes.

 

By the way, I luuuv your recaps.  Please don't stop!

 

Thanks!

Edited September 19, 2014 by maculae

[Goldmoon]

I am LOVING this discussion of SG-1.  I am a refugee from TWOP (Comtrya!) and am not doing a RE-watch but a WATCH.  I missed this series when it was on and almost as importantly, missed the intelligent byplay of the discussants on TWOP after each ep.  I started watching S1 in May and just started season nine last night. One thing, though.  Can we have episode threads or four episode threads to reflect the eps on each DVD?  If I can beat you to it - I will have to stop watching S9 and S10 and maybe take a miss on re-watching S1 to jump into S2 -  but I think I can catch up and have some fun too if discussions are broken into smaller bits.

 

General questions:  After watching almost all of S1 I suddenly fell head over heels in love with Daniel and became a Jack/Daniel shipper.  I have noticed that there are lot of Jack/Sam shippers out there on a site, I think is called, GateWorld.  What was the climate like on TWOP?  Lots of J/D?  Anti-Pete?  Maybe not a good thread to ask about Pete or Vala, but in general, were there a lot of Daniel/Vala shippers in S9 and S10?  I am sure I will have a lot of questions as I go along.

[kassygreene]

Staying off topic, if Scully ever believed Mulder's theories, he'd know something was wrong.  Which in fact happened in the episode I refer to as "The Trippy Underground Mushroom That Oozed Semi-Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate" episode.

 

Back to the show of this forum, I think that's it - the DHD wasn't connected to the gate until Sam chipped it out of the ice and fixed it with a hard reboot, so it couldn't override the other gate.  And they'd called off the search by then, so I could argue that the other teams were on some sort of minimum mandatory stand down after several days of searching strange environments.

 

As for Jack and Sam going through the other gate instead of dying - that's the programming of the Stargate system.  A gate with attached DHD (or also, as we later learn, the "Pegasus" gates - which this one ain't) will be primary, but any functional gate is a good port in a storm.  The original gate fried, and the active wormhole needed to go anywhere, to "safely" deliver its datastream, thus setting up every future fix when a Forced Quit was needed on an active wormhole.

 

In the end, any episode that gives me early J/S ship, Daniel making a perfect telephone analogy to the wrong person to ask, AND that fabulous MacGyver gag, is Good.

[solotrek]

General questions:  After watching almost all of S1 I suddenly fell head over heels in love with Daniel and became a Jack/Daniel shipper.  I have noticed that there are lot of Jack/Sam shippers out there on a site, I think is called, GateWorld.  What was the climate like on TWOP?  Lots of J/D?  Anti-Pete?  Maybe not a good thread to ask about Pete or Vala, but in general, were there a lot of Daniel/Vala shippers in S9 and S10?  I am sure I will have a lot of questions as I go along.

S1 definitely plays up the J/D dynamic so it's not surprising you feel that way. I feel that it's because those were the strongest characters of S1 not only in terms of knowing who the characters were but in terms of what RDA and MS were doing. Not sure about TWoP, but Gateworld and the fandom in general is J/S in terms of which ship is predominant. I think you'll see why as you get to S3 and then holy crap anvils from S4 and on. The top ships in the fandom would be: J/S; J/D; D/V later on. Some smaller ships that happen would be a lot of D/Janet early on and D/S. Anti-Pete is pretty prevalent everywhere.

But running a background check and stalking a girl after a date doesn't get you much love from most folks.

. Though a lot of anti-S/J people love Pete. so there you go.

Edited September 19, 2014 by maculae

[Goldmoon]

Thanks, Maculae.  I have watched Seasons 1 through 8 and have just started on Season 9 so I know about Pete.  I'm jumping the gun here by talking about 8 and 9, but plan to go back starting this weekend and try to keep up with discussing the seasons with you since discussing it and hearing other people's opinions triples the pleasure.  Glad you are here!

[theredhead77]

I am LOVING this discussion of SG-1.  I am a refugee from TWOP (Comtrya!) and am not doing a RE-watch but a WATCH.  I missed this series when it was on and almost as importantly, missed the intelligent byplay of the discussants on TWOP after each ep.  I started watching S1 in May and just started season nine last night. One thing, though.  Can we have episode threads or four episode threads to reflect the eps on each DVD?  If I can beat you to it - I will have to stop watching S9 and S10 and maybe take a miss on re-watching S1 to jump into S2 -  but I think I can catch up and have some fun too if discussions are broken into smaller bits.

Comtrya! We were doing season at a time, thread wise. The thought behind it was to allow people to jump in whenever without having a super thread or 200+ little threads. There are already threads for seasons 1-4 but since the re-watch kinda fell off the crazy train feel free to start threads for season 5 and beyond and post whatever thoughts you have. Or episode threads.  I do think spoilers were kinda being used to reflect major plot points in future episodes in case there newbies reading along. But that's just my opinion.

[Goldmoon]

I kind of dislike the thought of posting and searching in 214 different threads for each ep, but discussing 20-22 eps in one thread is too confusing too, at least to me.  I was thinking breaking up the eps as they are on the DVDs would give us about 50-54 threads so it would be easier to find an individual episode discussion.  I was thinking of starting threads with titles such as:  "S2:01-04: The Serpent's Lair/In the Line of Duty/Prisoners/The Gamekeeper"  Thoughts?  Would anyone be offended if I did so in the hopes of corralling the discussions of (for example) those four eps in one place?  And then "S2:05-08: ....." etc.

 

I didn't start writing anything down about the first watch through until season 7, and even then I didn't do a thorough job of close-watching.  I have been practically inhaling the series.  And although the month-per-season idea seemed to fizzle, I was reading the seasons threads, though the details were sparse.  Any chance we could re-shuffle the seasons re-watch to start with season two in October and do one a month?  Let me know what you veterans think!

[theredhead77]

I kind of dislike the thought of posting and searching in 214 different threads for each ep, but discussing 20-22 eps in one thread is too confusing too, at least to me.  I was thinking breaking up the eps as they are on the DVDs would give us about 50-54 threads so it would be easier to find an individual episode discussion.  I was thinking of starting threads with titles such as:  "S2:01-04: The Serpent's Lair/In the Line of Duty/Prisoners/The Gamekeeper"  Thoughts?  Would anyone be offended if I did so in the hopes of corralling the discussions of (for example) those four eps in one place?  And then "S2:05-08: ....." etc.

I'm offended.

 

Just kidding. I don't care but someone on the internet must be offended by something at all times. This was my turn. I hope I passed.

 

There is a the "re-watch planning" thread. While it's just the 3-4 of us now maybe that will get some more visibility for your proposal (otherwise, be Nike and just do it!)

[FormerMod-a1]

I just started my rewatch and am only through the 2part premier.  (I had internet issues).  Man I miss this show.  Hearing the theme gave me all the warm fuzzies.  And also made me feel old.  How long ago was thing?  Ugh.  Anyway, I love the little attempts to highlight different worlds in space - like Daniel saying "36 hours a day, all day".   I had also forgotten about the wormhole graphics, and how long they went on, and how long they allotted for them to go through, and the wormhole tracker they had (estimating when the Kleenex box would arrive).  I did not forget about the icing effect though.  At least I did remember the major things, like the plot.  I do like how Jack is the one with good observation and reading people.  He knew Teal'c was having doubts or not liking the current state.  No one else noticed.

[BkWurm1]

Quote

I love the little attempts to highlight different worlds in space - like Daniel saying "36 hours a day, all day".  

Which meant that although he'd been gone a year on earth, he'd only been there 8 months.  First time I did the math my head exploded, just a little bit.   

[FormerMod-a1]

FYI, I did watch some more eps, but I'm traveling the next few days to visit family and am not posting as much.  I will soon though.

[blueray]

Quote

Was it just SGC personnel? If so, why was Teal’c covering his tattoo? Why does he always need to cover his tattoo anyways? People have weird tattoos on Earth.

I always wondered this too. People do do weird things to their bodies lol. And Teal'c would just have to make up a reason that he has it, which he does in later episodes such as 1969.

[DittyDotDot]

On 9/9/2016 at 10:46 AM, aquarian1 said:

I just started my rewatch and am only through the 2part premier.  (I had internet issues).  Man I miss this show.  Hearing the theme gave me all the warm fuzzies.  And also made me feel old.  How long ago was thing?  Ugh.  Anyway, I love the little attempts to highlight different worlds in space - like Daniel saying "36 hours a day, all day".   I had also forgotten about the wormhole graphics, and how long they went on, and how long they allotted for them to go through, and the wormhole tracker they had (estimating when the Kleenex box would arrive).  I did not forget about the icing effect though.  At least I did remember the major things, like the plot.  I do like how Jack is the one with good observation and reading people.  He knew Teal'c was having doubts or not liking the current state.  No one else noticed.

So, I've been watching S1 episodes over the last week or so. Partly inspired by you and partly because I saw it on Hulu and thought I'd take a stroll down memory lane while ignoring my actual life. OMG, they're all babies!! ;)

Anyway, I had forgotten how goofy some of the early episodes were. Not just the effects--which, the show is a product of it's time, so that's to be expected--but the actual episodes were tonally goofy at times. Like the one where Carter is trying to introduce woman's lib to the Mongolians. But, by mid-season, they really found their footing, I think. I really enjoyed the Tantalus episode ever so much.

I'd also forgotten how great this cast was together. They really sparked off each other and you could put them in any pairing to get something special. I think I'm gonna enjoy this stroll down memory lane! ;)

[ParadoxLost]

I too have embarked on a re-watch..  I'm through the first three episodes.  The effects aren't as glaringly awful as the last time I aborted a rewatch so frequency of viewing the early seasons seems important because last time I was shocked this made it past season 1.

Anyways...

I was struck that RDA had a really good handle on exactly who his version of O'Neill was right from the pilot. 

I was reminded why it took me so long to warm up to Carter.  The first introduction to Jack, et. all was awkward.  She kept getting saddled with all the awful MacGyver references that she (and probably no one) could pull off.  And the Mongolian episode.  I had forgotten the Mongolian episode.  I hate the Mongolian episode.

The characterization of Hammond was odd initially too.  It was like he has been beaten down for years by Jack doing his own thing and flaunting his authority.  He has this weird combination of trying to project that he's the leader in response to Jack making declarations while simultaneously caving to or commiserating with Jack that someone else may make the decisions.  It makes him come off somewhat ineffectual.  Its something that would make sense many seasons into the show but there should have been more of a firm chain of command in the beginning since they decided to go with a General who had no history with Jack.

Speaking of history of Jack.  I've got to say that some of my favorite scenes from the early episodes were the shared history between Daniel, Jack, Kawalsky, and Ferretti from the movies.  I can't think of another TV continuation series of a movie where they used the past history this well without it getting overly expositiony.  I think Jack taking Daniel home because he has nowhere to go is one of my favorites from the first season.

Another thing that I'd never noticed before is how early they showed that there was more to Teal'c than met the eye.  In the beginning scene of the pilot Teal'c actually shielded the blond soldier while her poker buddies were sending a hail of gunfire at them.

Lastly,  I know there was a point where I stopped being completely distracted that every planet they go to is filled with English speakers.  That point was not the Mongolian episode.

Edited October 5, 2016 by ParadoxLost

[DittyDotDot]

21 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

Lastly,  I know there was a point where I stopped being completely distracted that every planet they go to is filled with English speakers.  That point was not the Mongolian episode.

Oh my God! I had totally forgotten about how distracted I was by this in the first few episodes. I kept saying, why is it everyone speaks English...weren't these people taken from Earth before English was spoken in more places than Britain? Plus, wouldn't they have developed their own dialect over the centuries even if English had originally been spoken where they were taken from? I guess it's just one of those things you just go with at some point because by mid-season I didn't even notice it anymore.

Edited October 5, 2016 by DittyDotDot

[ParadoxLost]

1 hour ago, DittyDotDot said:

Oh my God! I had totally forgotten about how distracted I was by this in the first few episodes. I kept saying, why is it everyone speaks English...weren't these people taken from Earth before English was spoken in more places than Britain? Plus, wouldn't they have developed their own dialect over the centuries even if English had originally been spoken where they were taken from? I guess it's just one of those things you just go with at some point because by mid-season I didn't even notice it anymore.

I'm going to try to notice when it stops.  I kind of suspect that my annoyance lessened when they let up on the emphasis that the universe was populated by ancient peoples of Earth.  I think its the 'hey, they are descended from Genghis Kahn' in every way but the language that bugs me.

[theredhead77]

I think I just went with the theory that wormhole travel somehow enabled brain-level translation.

[DittyDotDot]

18 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

I'm going to try to notice when it stops.  I kind of suspect that my annoyance lessened when they let up on the emphasis that the universe was populated by ancient peoples of Earth.  I think its the 'hey, they are descended from Genghis Kahn' in every way but the language that bugs me.

Maybe that's when I started to just accept it's a thing of this universe, when it started seeming like there were other races out there too? I don't really know when I stopped asking why everyone speaks English?

Don't even get me started on the Mongolian episode, though!

[BkWurm1]

1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

I think I just went with the theory that wormhole travel somehow enabled brain-level translation.

Me too, but every once and awhile I get so frustrated that the show couldn't be bothered to spell a simple fix like that out.

[DittyDotDot]

10 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

Me too, but every once and awhile I get so frustrated that the show couldn't be bothered to spell a simple fix like that out.

The funny thing is, they did go out of their way on occasion to make it work. Like with the Nox, it took them time to learn the language. Which doesn't necessarily really make sense, but they're an advanced race so I can at least go with it. And the episode where Daniel gets taken by the fishman. But, then there's the Vikings... . 

I like the idea that the wormhole puts a universal translator in their brains. That works for me. ;)

[supposebly]

For a show that had a so-called linguist on board, which kind of puts the issue in the foreground, they quickly abandoned the "problem" like so many Sci-Fi shows.

Universal Translator in Wormhole, it is.

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, supposebly said:

For a show that had a so-called linguist on board, which kind of puts the issue in the foreground, they quickly abandoned the "problem" like so many Sci-Fi shows.

Universal Translator in Wormhole, it is.

UTW, not to be confused with a UTI.  :)

[ParadoxLost]

So I've just watched The Broca Divide aka Cro-Magnon Dan.  The alias because Daniel going Neanderthal with a girl on every planet is the only thing I remembered except for the costumes of the Minoan descendants. 

This is the episode that got SG-1 season one costuming committed to long term memory.  In my mind's eye, every other world is filled with people wearing this

Spoiler

Oh, and turns out that the costumes distracted me from the English in this one.

Anyway....So we start this episode with a SG-3 marines that can't act and a world so dark that the MALP couldn't send any video back.  But turns out the world is brighter than any night (and some dusks) on the Walking Dead by a lot and night vision goggles just make things darker, green and harder to see.

Then I had to talk myself off a slight PC ledge when in under five minutes Daniel forestalled the team from stopping a rape, SG-1 and SG-3 pulled weapons on aliens throwing rocks to stop that rape, and Daniel uttered the sentiment that they'd have to get used to being called Gods.  Then Jack ignored him and I got over it and reminded myself that season 1 was like this and there is a reason I don't rewatch it often

The bright side of season 1 rewatch skipping induced memory loss is that they did quick editing jumps from dead SG-3 marine with (with guppy death face)...and seriously is other SG teams getting lines equivalent to Star Trek red shirts.... to Carter's neck itches to this 

Spoiler

and I am on the floor dying because total surprise.  It didn't even jog a memory so it was like watching the gloriousness of it for the first time all over again.  And I was not and am not a shipper of theirs but the things I love about this are

- They Neanderthal'd Carter's hair but saved the massive unibrow for post sexy times

- Janet's introduction to this show is basically her telling Jack that Carter chose him as a sexual partner because he would give her the strongest offspring

- Jack telling Daniel that Carter tried to forcibly seduce him

- Shank's delivery of the line 'you poor man' for which I will forgive his character for anything he has ever done or will ever do

I've got say that when this show originally aired Daniel was my hands down favorite.  I'm really appreciating RDA this time around.  I kind of adore that he decided to interpret Neanderthal man as deranged howler monkey.

And not to gush, but Teal'c has officially arrived.  This is what I always loved best about his character, the byplay with Daniel Jackson and O'Neill.  First we are treated to Shanks and Judge doing that thing they do, which I can't really describe but I bet you know what I mean,, when the rest of the team is frothing at the mouth.  Then Teal'c has to come back and sad face explain to Jack that he lost Daniel Jackson.  Then he and Jack do that 'I'm from Earth. Well, I'm not and I do  not get your pop culture reference' thing.

So verdict is...  Slow to start, but once they let loose the mayhem things got good.  Really, the first episode where looking back its clear that who the characters were and how they related to each other really started to gel.

Edited October 8, 2016 by ParadoxLost

[DittyDotDot]

2 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

They Neanderthal'd Carter's hair but saved the massive unibrow for post sexy times

Oh, the unibrow was MIGHTY!!! I laughed, ever so hard. 

Now, hold on to your shirttails, because the Hathor episode is almost as goofy. ;)

[BkWurm1]

37 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

Oh, the unibrow was MIGHTY!!! I laughed, ever so hard. 

Now, hold on to your shirttails, because the Hathor episode is almost as goofy. ;)

Hathor, oh I can't wait to read the reaction the that gem. 

[ParadoxLost]

Hathor is not even on this disk so we have a while yet.  And yes, I remember a little of the goofiness of it but little enough that I think I’ll have some fun watching it again after so long.

Now on to The First Commandment

This is another one I vaguely remember, which is generous, and I find it hard to believe I have zero recollection of boulder head and yarn hair.  I should at least remember boulder head.

Spoiler

Edited because I just figured out who this reminded me of.  Its pre historic humpty dumpty. 

OK.  This is like the third SG team that they killed members of in four episodes.  No wonder they never made a sequel with another SG team.

Carter has an ex fiancée.  Huh.

His name is Jonas Hanson.  This bothers me on two three levels. The Jonas Brothers.  The Hanson brothers. And that season I skipped for reasons which I will probably yammer on about ad nauseam if I don’t abandon the re-watch by then.

Daniel now only needs his glasses situationally. And they decide to make this change in the first episode that everyone should be wearing UV protective lenses all the damn time lest their eye sight get destroyed.

It does not bode well that this is the stuff I’m paying attention to.

Carter’s ex is doing some serious egomaniacal nattering that is boring the heck out of me.  I now understand why I freed up part of my brain to remember something other than this.

Jack got bitch slapped by a SG-9 underling.  I didn’t think that was allowed.

Daniel… I love ya; but seriously you are the only person who would try to convince people of the non-Godlikeness of a maniac currently trying to drop Jack down a Stargate to go splat by disarming yourself.  “It’s a machine.”  Let me prove that it’s not a God like power by ejecting the clip.  Because people who don’t know how guns work totally get what that means.

My mind wandered to Jack going behind a tree to swap clothes with a local twice during this episode.

Air Force macaroni and cheese tastes like chicken.  That’s about all I got from this one.

Next one is Brief Candle.  Someone earlier in the thread said that this one was awful enough that RDA got someone fired over it. I'm kind of scared;) The title doesn't ring a bell but I'm kind of thinking it might be that one where

Spoiler

Jack gets trapped on a planet and plays house with a woman for an entire episode. 

because that was worthy of a firing. 

Edited October 8, 2016 by ParadoxLost

[DittyDotDot]

8 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

Next one is Brief Candle. Someone earlier in the thread said that this one was awful enough that RDA got someone fired over it. I'm kind of scared;) The title doesn't ring a bell but I'm kind of thinking it might be that one where Jack gets trapped on a planet and plays house with a woman for an entire episode. because that was worthy of a firing. 

Yes, that's the one. While the tone was overly-preachy and the whole plot was silly, I think RDA put forth a good performance. I had fun watching and snickering, but it's a goofy one too. It seems to me, once they stopped trying to "recreate" history on every planet, the show got better. I'm almost done with S1--four episodes to go--and the episodes that are real standouts in my mind are ones like The Torment of Tantalus and Solitudes. Ones where they didn't have a historical race of beings to preach at, but found a way to ground the episode with the characters. These two are also episodes I didn't remember being in the first season and seem to unintentionally open up the show's mythology. 

9 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

Daniel… I love ya; but seriously you are the only person who would try to convince people of the non-Godlikeness of a maniac currently trying to drop Jack down a Stargate to go splat by disarming yourself.  “It’s a machine.”  Let me prove that it’s not a God like power by ejecting the clip.  Because people who don’t know how guns work totally get what that means.

Heh! I was so distracted by the stargate laying on the ground and how they had come through the stargate like that, I hadn't even thought of that. How they keep pointing their guns at people who wouldn't know what a gun was has been cracking me up though. And everyone just puts their hands up as though that's the inter-galactic sign of surrender. 

I've given the show a lot of lead-way in S1--just laughed at lot of it--knowing that it's a product of it's time and all that. TV was just so different 20 years ago, especially these genre-type shows. 

As a side note: do we need spoiler tags here? Doesn't the fact that it's a re-watch thread indicate we've all seen the show? Please correct me if I'm wrong and I'll add tags back in, though, I don't want to ruin anything for anyone else. 

[ParadoxLost]

18 minutes ago, DittyDotDot said:

As a side note: do we need spoiler tags here? Doesn't the fact that it's a re-watch thread indicate we've all seen the show? Please correct me if I'm wrong and I'll add tags back in, though, I don't want to ruin anything for anyone else. 

I think the convention is spoiler tags reference to any season beyond the thread season.  I spoilered which episode I thought it might be because I literally have no idea what season it was.  It wasn't that episode but more on that later.   The pictures I'm just collapsing with the spoiler tags because my posts are long enough as is.  Long winded as I am some times. 

Quote

Heh! I was so distracted by the stargate laying on the ground and how they had come through the stargate like that, I hadn't even thought of that. How they keep pointing their guns at people who wouldn't know what a gun was has been cracking me up though. And everyone just puts their hands up as though that's the inter-galactic sign of surrender. 

 

I am completely positive that they came through an upright Stargate.  Although now I have a vision of SG-1 going through the gate, just to get launched into the sky and fall back to Earth and roll down the ramp:)

I think once God complex ex fiancée realized Stargate Command was going after him (after he became aware of Sam's arrival), he knocked it over.  I'm pretty sure there were rocks in the middle of it at one point, so make shift iris.

Edited October 8, 2016 by ParadoxLost

[DittyDotDot]

23 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

I think the convention is spoiler tags reference to any season beyond the thread season.  I spoilered which episode I thought it might be because I literally have no idea what season it was.  It wasn't that episode but more on that later.   The pictures I'm just collapsing with the spoiler tags because my posts are long enough as is.  Long winded as I am some times. 

Got it, and thank you. I didn't want to be going against the thread, so to speak. ;)

23 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

I think once God complex ex fiancée realized Stargate Command was going after him (after he became aware of Sam's arrival), he knocked it over.

Ah, that makes more sense now. I must have missed that part. It's hard to keep my focus on a couple of these episodes where the nattering and monologuing gets a tad out of control. ;)

[ParadoxLost]

Brief Candle

SG-1 scares woman into labor.  Carter does her ‘what don’t look at me because I’m a woman’ thing. So Daniel does the delivery and a really odd post-delivery acting job.  A little bit of ‘I’m never doing that again’ stagger combined with a hesitant ‘I need to tell you that your child is a boy…lizard creature’ that never pays off.

Everyone is young and beautiful and a vague foreboding is stirring in me.  A memory of bad stuff to come that I can’t quite grasp.  Yep, there it is.  Jack is drugged with alien pizza and now there is psychedelic cinematography and belly dancing.

Seriously, really bad on SG-1 for seeing Jack get roofied and not intervening when the locals separated them. 

The only thing that could make this worse is to send the rest of SG-1 back through the gate so raging, aging Jack can spend half the episode alone with the hippy dippy locals.  So that is what they do.  And now Jack is consoling the poor little naïve one month old who drugged him, then had sex with him, and thinks she is married to him. 

Oh, everyone is cured.  I’m shocked, just shocked said no one ever.  Jack will revert to his normal age and everyone else will age from that point in time; because that makes sense.  So the show does the hand wavey because a centenarian can’t lead SG-1 but Stargate Command can’t be responsible for a crap ton of infants.

I actively dislike this episode and I am totally ok with RDA getting someone fired for this if that is what happened. 

BTW…are these replicating nanos related in any way to the

Spoiler

Replicators?

[ParadoxLost]

Cold Lazarus aka The Blue Crystals

This one I remember stuff about; mostly because of Daniel and Jack.  I ate up scenes where they called on their past, shared movie history in the first season.

So on to the actual rewatch…

Scene: planet corn meal where blue crystals have been shattered by someone.

Flashbacks: to remind the audience that Jack is not Jack in case you forgot that during the first commercial break or joined the show late.  Because that makes more sense than blue crystal Jack (who I’m calling BCJ for the rest of this post) paying attention to these aliens talking about his fellow crystalline life forms, most of which who have been brutally murdered.  Used much more effectively later on.

Google: A thing that didn’t exist during the original airing of this episode.  But now I know that I could buy a cigar memory box, just like Jack’s, off Etsy for $9.99 if I wanted to.  Why I decided I wanted to know more about that cigar box, I cannot say.  I also hit pause long enough to determine that Google was founded the week month that “Bane” aired.  And weird… Showtime decided to just skip the month of September airings for just season 2 and 3.  I was probably annoyed by that.  Because that was before BSG/SyFy introduced the eleven month wait between half seasons and cable in general just said f’it and cut seasons in half.  And Etsy was founded between seasons 9-10.    And maybe I’ll buy some throw pillows to honor the completion of the rewatch. 

Spoiler

Nah.  Sorry.  A demonstration of how the viewing experienced has change over twenty years.  I’ll try not to do that again. Unpause episode.

They spent all the money on off world sets: Stargate Command is a gigantic base in a mountain with multiple undgerground levels.  And yet, there is one locker room and to maintain male/female privacy Stargate Command has worked out a time schedule when the locker room converts from male to female so everyone can change into their civvies. I am not kidding.  Sam actually tries to chase BCJ out of the locker room because it’s time for it to be the women’s locker room, she said while checking her watch.

Awkward: the definition of Sam trying to engage BCJ in personal chit chat.

Neener Neener: The reaction I had the first time I watched the scene where Daniel enlightens Sam on the fact that Jack was married and got divorced after his son’s death. Daniel and Jack friendship supremacy, proven.  It was juvenile.  But I was a juvenile.  Feeling didn’t reoccur so I’m all grown up now.

But all kidding aside…  RDA was fantastic in this one.  And it was really clever to find a way to emotionally deal with Jack’s loss of his son and wife while still respecting that Jack never would have initiated it.  It got me in the feels.  Gave some closure.  And I got all weepy when BCJ transformed into Charlie.

Edited October 8, 2016 by ParadoxLost

[BkWurm1]

I remember Jonas, Sam's ex but I didn't remember the Gingerbread Man people in that episode.  Brief Candle will forever be icky since Jack banged a technical infant.  But then Jack was doing a lot of Capitan Kirk'ing with the natives all through the early seasons. 

I don't remember the Blue Crystal Jack episode at all, lol. 

[DittyDotDot]

Okay, I finished S1. Laughed my ass off at There But For The Grace of God. That ponytail sported by Teal'c to show us he was a very different person and Carter's long hair...I don't know, I think they tried a bit too hard to show us how different things were instead of finding a tighter line to walk. I also found Politics unnecessarily tedious, but I remember this sort of clip show was common back in the day, so whatcha gonna do? And, it seems they just didn't have enough story to fill the finale so they filmed all those scenes of the serpent guard marching to and fro while the team members skulked around hiding. Pretty impressive set piece, though. But, oh my, how will they get out of this pickle? ...on to S2 to find out! ;)

5 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

I don't remember the Blue Crystal Jack episode at all, lol. 

It's weird to me that this is the one S1 episode I remembered most before re-watching. I had a distinct picture of Jack and his son walking hand and hand and a distinct picture of the crystals trying to mimic Carter. It's weird because I don't remember it as a particularly good episode, but just something about it stuck in my mind. Whereas, most the other S1 episodes I had totally forgotten about til I watched them again. Especially the Mongolian episode. Although, I'm not upset that I didn't waste memory space for that one...not one bit. ;)

21 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

And maybe I’ll buy some throw pillows to honor the completion of the rewatch. 

OMG, those throw pillows are absolutely adorable! Too funny the things one can buy online. ;)

22 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

Oh, everyone is cured.  I’m shocked, just shocked said no one ever.  Jack will revert to his normal age and everyone else will age from that point in time; because that makes sense.  

Ha! I might need to start using a phrase I often use in the Supernatural threads, "Logic and reason have no place here." Although, it would've been funny if all the "natives" were regressed back to infants and the team standing there bewildered.