Emancipation

Plot: SG-1 travels to a planet populated by descendants of Mongols. The Mongol tribes view women as subservient, leading to Sam being kidnapped and traded to a brutal warlord, in exchnage for the hand of the warlord's daughter.


This episode felt a little weird to start off with, mostly because the Mongol descendants thing doesn't seem to fit in with the way the show eventually pans out. Having planets populated by long lost Earth civilisations feels very short term.

It's not long until that fades away, however. The episode quickly becomes enjoyable, as Sam's defiance in the face of subserviancy leads to some classic adventure.

The episode is notable for the fact that SG-1 head back to the SG-C with some new anisthetic, that could prove useful for medical studies. It's this mechanic of bringing back new technologies for study on Earth that creates a MacGuffin that is the basis for many of the early missions.

I was also surprised to hear SG-1 allude to a previous mission, showing two things. Firstly, that not all missions are shown in episodes and secondly, that the team by this point has already gained some experience in gate travel and in meeting other cultures. I'd like to think that this helps to give the show a good pace from the start.

This episode was an acting debut for Crystal Lowe, in the role of Nya. She has since gone on to appear in films, such as Black Christmas and Snake on a Plane.

Emancipation is classic SG-1 and is a perfect example of what the show was all about at the beginning.

7 out of 10