Point of View

Stargate SG-1 Season 3 Episode 6 - Plot: Alternate reality versions of Samantha Carter and Charles Kawalsky use the Quantum Mirror to travel to this reality in order to find refuge from a Goa'uld attack.

Alternates

The alternates arrive through the Quantum Mirror in to Area 51. There are some key differences. Firstly, Carter never joined the Air Force and is part of the StarGate programme as a Doctor. It seems that she fulfilled Daniel's role in figuring out how to use the Gate. This probably explains how Kawalsky is still alive. If Daniel didn't go on the Abydos mission then he didn't stay for a year and didn't set the events the led to SG-1 travelling to Chulak and meeting Teal'c. Thus, Kawalsky never got infested by a Goa'uld symbiote.

In the alternate reality, Sam and Jack were married. It's once again shown that they could easily be an item, if only they didn't have things like rank in the way. Alternate Jack died fighting the Goa'uld attack, led by Apophis.

Having two Carters in the same reality begins to cause problems, as alternate Carter suffers from entropic cascade. Following this, SG-1 works to plan an assault on the alternate reality's SG-C in order to oust Apophis, his First Prime Teal'c and the rest of the Jaffa by contacting the Asgard.

The Assault

The assault goes well, as Teal'c removes his alternate and takes his place as First Prime. He's able to stop the torture of General Hammond by Apophis and creates sufficient distraction for alternate Sam to go through the Gate to the Asgard homeworld.

Meanwhile, Daniel is captured by the Jaffa midway through using the Quantum Mirror's remote to find the correct reality. Jack and Teal'c surrender to save his life, but they are all in danger of being killed by Apophis, until the Asgard show up at the last minute.

Teal'c and Daniel travel back, as Jack and alternate Sam share a goodbye kiss.

The Review

Ah, the wonder of possibilities. I love these episodes, where we see what could've been and what could be. Much like the Atlantis season 4 finale, which I've just reviewed.

It's always good to see Kawalsky, this is the last time we'll see him until Moebius though. Alternate Sam was interesting. Much the same, but also subtly different. She gives our Sam a very frosty reception due to the fact that she joined the military. Her struggles with Jack's death in her reality are compounded by coming face to face with our Jack. He does well in a very difficult position and I'm sure he managed to help her through the problem.

I thought the set up of the episode worked well. The first half being taken up with the implications of the alternates arriving from their reality, whilst the second half showed the assault on the Goa'uld. Neither part really dragged on longer than it needed to and the development of an action sequence helped to keep it fresh and fun.

8 out of 10

There But For The Grace Of God

Plot: Daniel falls in to an alternate reality where he never joined the Stargate programme and Earth is under a Goa'uld invasion.


So SG-1's multiple excursions in to alternate realities and time-lines starts here. This is probably one of the better ones, as Daniel has to convince the alternate SGC that he is who he says he is. Notably, Jack is a General and is in charge, while Hammond is his right hand man, still under the rank of Colonel. As you can imagine, Jack has little time for Daniel and it's left to Catherine Langford to fight his corner.

What I particularly enjoyed about this episode is that it did bear some relevance to the actual ongoing plot. The fact that the alternate Earth is under attack means that our Earth is probably likely to be under a similar threat. The alternate Earth received a transmission detailing the gate address of the origin on the Goa'uld attack and Daniel is able to take this back with him.

It was also interesting to consider what would have happened if Daniel had never accepted the invitation to work on the Gate. They probably wouldn't have figured out the Gate at the time they did. Daniel wouldn't have spent a year on Abydos, which means he wouldn't have uncovered the Abydos archive of Gate addresses. It also means that the team would never have gone to Chulak in search of Sha're and would never have met Teal'c.

As will become the norm in alternate realities, Sam and Jack have hooked up in the alternate Earth. Infact, they're engaged. Rank always comes between our Jack and Sam, but I always enjoyed the very subtle development of that relationship through ten seasons of SG-1.

Finally, this episode establishes that a stable wormhole between Gates can only be maintained for a maximum of 38 minutes. This'll provide an interesting basis for a number of episodes of SG-1 and Atlantis for years to come.

With the forthcoming Goa'uld invasion, this episode launches the plot in to the final 2 episodes of the season in a tremendous way.

8 out of 10