Prisoners

Plot: SG-1 are sentenced to life imprisonment on a prison planet after inadvertantly aiding a fugitive. In the prison, SG-1 must enlist the help of a mysterious woman, Linnea, in order to secure their escape.


I've seen this episode five or six and I can't say I find it to be particularly inspiring any more. It's a decent enough watch, but the alien prison schtick (and I'm looking at Andromeda here) is a little over done by late 90s, early 00s science fiction.

Still, we get to see General Hammond's first excursion through the StarGate. He goes to negotiate (read: throw his toys out of the pram) with the race that imprisoned SG-1. Putting it nicely, they're described as xenophobic, worse, they're arrogant and aren't much interested in what the little man from Texas has to say.

So, it's up to SG-1 to save themselves. Linnea has developed a form of cold fusion using what looks like a glowy rock inside some hay. It's good enough to power the gate and they all escape back to Earth. Obviously Linnea has a secret that she's not yer shared. Her story of her involvement in a planetary plague was true enough, she just forgot to mention that she started it, destroying half a world. Linnea escapes with knowledge of the Gate network, eager to continue her evil deeds.

Linnea will be back in season three. Until then, SG-1 can shrug this one off as a bad job and move onward and upward.

Oh, and happy new year. :)

6 out of 10

In the Line of Duty

Plot: A Goa'uld escapes a dieing man by infesting Sam Carter. This Goa'uld is not what everyone assumes it be, however.


I'd say that this episode is most notable for really putting a new spin on the idea of the Goa'uld. So far, we've only been introduced to bad ones, but it transpires that there really are two sides to every tale. Sam is infested by Jolinar of Malkshur, who is a member of the Tok'ra. Daniel translates the worse as 'resistance', which helps to give some idea of what they're about. We learn a great deal about them in quite a short period of time, particularly how they live in harmony with their host, even building rewarding relationships. Most importantly, they oppose the idea of posing as Gods to enforce slavery upon people.

We'll see a lot more of that later in this series, as the Tok'ra play a fairly major part in it. They'll be an ally of Earth for years to come.

On top of that, we find that the Goa'uld can choose to leave the host if it wishes. Indeed, Jolinar gave his life to ensure that Sam lived. His life was lost after being found by a Goa'uld hunter. These hunters are the assassins of the Goa'uld world and are called The Ashrak. I'm not convinced that we ever see them again, but it's certainly an interesting concept. I think it ties quite nicely in with the idea of a Wraith Runner. The hunter and the hunted.

We also get the chance to catch up with Cassandra in this episode. She's played by Katie Stuart for the final time. We'll see her later played by different actresses, but she seems to be doing fine living with Janet Frasier, which is awesome.

This episode runs a funny parallel with the first episode of the last season, where Kawalsky was infested with a Goa'uld. This is a vast improvement on that episode for sure and helps to set up the major plot arc for the second season, the Tok'ra.

7 out of 10

The Serpent's Lair

Plot: SG-1 enlists the help of Master Bra'tac to save Earth from the Goa'uld invasion.


Season two really kicks off with a bang with this fine, fine episode. SG-1 are captured at the start of the episode, but are set free by Bra'tac, who helps them move to the other ship and to a pair of Death Gliders to escape the blast from the multitude of C4 they laid around the ship.

Bra'tac is in fine form again and we really start to see the makings of a strong alliance. He makes his first trip to the SG-C in this episode, it'll be the first of many. On the other hand, it wasn't quite the send of for Skaara that we might have expected. Klorel has control of the body for the most part and it's all a bit anti-climactic. We'll see him again, but not for a couple of years.

What's really awesome about this episode though, is that SG-1 genuinely saved the world. There was an invasion pending and they kicked some ass and took some names and returned home to a hero's welcome. There was a great moment as Sam, Jack and Teal'c were re-united with Daniel. They thought he was dead and he thought they were dead. Funny how they all make it through in the end though.

So I guess this means the Stargate program is saved. There are more adventures to come, but few will top this.

9 out of 10

Within the Serpent's Grasp

Plot: With the Stargate program shut down and the Gate due to be buried, SG-1 violate orders to go to the co-ordinates found by Daniel in the alternate reality. There, they find themselves on a Ha'tak vessel, headed for Earth. It's under the control of an old friend, Skaara.


So, this wraps up the season. It's not the best finale, but it's good enough. I realised that shutting the Stargate program down would have been a good mechanic for ending the show, had it not been renewed for a second season. If that had been the case then I imagine the events of this episode would have played out with a little more expediency, before a happily ever after ending. Of course, there would always have been chance for them to unbury the Gate at any point, should the show have been revived. But that's all speculation.

The episode itself seems to drag a little, especially as it's mostly just shots of SG-1 running around the corridor of the Ha'tak vessel. Fortunately, we do get introduced to a new toy. The 'Zat'nik'tel', or Zat Gun is shown and used for the first time. It's a Goa'uld version of a pistol and is fired once to stun, twice to kill and three times to disintegrate a victim. I always liked how the Goa'uld are fairly careless with their weapons, allowing SG-1 to take countless Staff Blasters and Zat Guns back to Earth for use on missions. Pretty handy.

This episode marks a new chapter in a journey that was started in the pilot. We finally learn the fate of Skaara. He was implanted with the Goa'uld son of Apophis. No word of Sha're, but Jack is able to bring Skaara back under control of his body, if only fleetingly. This'll provide an interesting episode later on as Skaara and Klorel, his Goa'uld, fight for control over the body.

We also get our first experience of hyperspace in this episode. Teal'c claims that the Ha'tak vessels travel at ten times the speed of light, though this is proven to be false as they arrive in orbit around Earth much faster than that speed would allow. Of course, hyper flight capable ships will become a large part of the show in the future. For now though, there's still a lot of Gates to explore.

The episode ends with the Ha'tak vessels arriving in orbit of Earth. Death Gliders are ready to deploy, but SG-1 have planted C4 around the whole ship. I'm sure they'd blow themselves out of the sky before they let Earth perish. But what about the 2nd ship?

8 out of 10

Politics

Plot: Senator Kinsey arrives at the SGC with the intention of shutting the Stargate Program down. Before making his final decision, he hears testimony from SG-1, involving them explaining details of previous missions.


Ah, the clip show. It's like committing televisual heresy. This one was really by the numbers. An arbitrary frame for showing several clips to sum up the season ahead of the finale. In all honesty, this wasn't the worst I've seen. In the frame, Senator Kinsey arrives to shut down the SGC. Apparently they can't justify spending 7.4 billion dollars a year on exploring the galaxy and expanding Earth's horizons to untold levels.

There's some fine retort from SG-1. In particular, Teal'c put in a strong argument to try and convince Kinsey. It was interesting because Teal'c has tended to take a back seat to Earth matters.

Notably, this episode carryies on almost immediately from the end of the last episode, in which Daniel arrives from the alternate time line with portents of a Goa'uld invasion. In this, it really forms the 2nd part of a 4 episode series that runs until the season 2 premiere. We've not really seen episodes link together in this way yet and it works quite well.

The clips included episodes such as the pilot, Children of the Gods, The Nox, Singularity, The Enemy Within and Brief Candle. It also included a clip from the film, in which the Goa'uld mother ship lands on the pyramid on Abydos. That's the first and last time that we'll see such a reference to the film.

All told, it wasn't the most terrible of clip shows and the writers did a good job of really making Kinsey look like a complete ass in the end. I've got one episode of season one to go. :)

6 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

Solitudes

Plot: Daniel and Teal'c arrive back at the SGC without Sam and Jack, who were supposedly right behind them. A malfunction with the gate diverted the wormhole, sending Sam and Jack to an icy cave, where they must find a way to get the DHD working and dial home, before Jack's broken leg and internal bleeding cause him serious problems.


I thought this was a very special episode. Harrowing for sure, but intriguing as well, as we're introduced for the first time to Earth's 2nd gate. Yes, when the worm hole jumped, it jumped to the closest gate in the network, which happened to be on Earth. Unfortunately for Jack and Sam, they couldn't figure out that the gate wasn't working for that reason. As Daniel put it, it was like trying to dial your own phone number.

This is the kind of episode where we really see the relationships between the characters grow. In this case, the ordeal that Sam and Jack have gone through will serve to really strengthen their bond. Sam really showed her strength in not giving up, whatever the circumstance. She tried everything to get that DHD working, including turning it off and on again. At the SGC, we see a similar bond, as Teal'c and Daniel unite to try and find their friends, first off world and then on.

Of course, I knew that they were on Earth for the entire episode, but it must've been a real Planet of the Apes type moment when viewers saw this for the first time. It's a cleverly written episode that's well played by the SG-1 crew.

The second gate will prove useful as a plot device in many future episodes. It's amazing how much drama an extra device can provide, but also the possibility of jumping a wormhole from one gate to another can develop exciting themes.

There are only three episodes following Solitudes in this season and I'm looking forward to seeing how it'll all play out. :)

8 out of 10