Children of the Gods

Plot: It's a year after the first mission to Abydos and the Stargate lies dormant deep within the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Apophis, along with several Jaffa, travels to Earth through the gate, killing four Airforce personnel and kidnapping one. This leads to General Hammond bringing Colonel Jack O'Neill out of retirement to go back to Abydos and bring Daniel Jackson back to Earth in order to discover more about this new threat.


While Daniel is showing Jack and Sam Carter around Abydos, Aphophis shows up and kidnaps Skaara and Sha'Re. Daniel joins Jack and Sam on a mission to Chulak, where it is discovered that Apophis is selecting a host for his wife's symbiote. Captured by Apophis, Jack, Sam and Daniel must rely on a mysterious Jaffa for help.

So, the pilot, that most unusual of TV events. The early concepts are never really that fleshed out enough to prevent frustration when the viewer returns to watch them 212 episodes later. Still, Children of the Gods isn't a bad one. Sam Carter is a dynamic introduction to the O'Neill-Jackson dynamic and The plot makes a nice re-introduction to the Stargate universe for those that had seen the Stargate a couple of years previously.

The first half of the 1 hour 40 minute pilot is rather plot heavy, but this is made up for by some fine action sequences towards the end, particularly with Teal'c, who quickly proves himself to be a righteous badass. There is a little annoyance in the rescue scene, where Teal'c suddenly turns on the other Jaffa to help O'Neill and the crew. It almost smacks of Deus Ex Machina. Almost.

Throwing a spanner in to the works right at the end by having a symbiote secretly take host of Kawalsky was a clever move. This really helps to encourage viewing of the next episode, which is always a good thing for a pilot to have, especially for that difficult second episode.

I'd never seen the R rated version of this episode. It doesn't quite make day time viewing as Sha'Re appears fully nude at one point. I'm not sure I want to go in to details about the connotations brough about by having a symbiote writhe around on her naked body, but you can probably understand what I'm alluding to.

So, with a computer full of possible gate addresses, a team of four and a mission to find and rescue Sha'Re and Skaara, the season is well set up. Not bad at all. :)

8 out of 10