1969

Plot: A solar flare leads to SG-1 being sent 30 years back in time. There they enlist the help of a young George Hammond and a young Catherine Langford to find their way back home.


I'd seen this before and wasn't particularly looking forward to it. This was largely because I was under the impression that it was just a filler time travel episode ahead of the season finale. Admittedly I was wrong. It's actually quite a lot of fun and full of some really sweet moments.

Those sweet moments mostly relate to the fact that Hammond knew that this trip through the StarGate would lead to them being sent back to 1969. Thirty years ago he had helped them escape military custody and ensured that the events happened correctly again by sending SG-1 through the gate with a note. The idea of him knowing about this all his life and that he never knew if they ever made it back is quite an interesting one. For all he knew, this was the last time he'd see SG-1 but couldn't risk warning them for risk of damaging the time line.

Having tracked down the Gate, which was in storage in Washington D.C., SG-1 are able to dial back out. Unfortunately, they come under fire from base guards and have to jump through the gate ahead of schedule. This sends them far in to the future where they meet a 70-80 year old Cassandra. She's not able to tell them anything, but is able to send them back to their correct time. She even has one of those cool Nox dialling devices!

While in 1969, SG-1 are aided by a hippy couple in a grotesque love bus. They're sweet if unexceptional and help SG-1 to cross the country in search of Catherine Langford who can point them in the direction of the Gate. It's interesting that she acknowledges the incident that left her partner Ernest stranded on an alien world. Though at this point she believes he is dead.

This is one of those episodes that really adds to the lore of the show, by developing ideas of the possibilities of time travel in the show. It was about this time last season when Daniel travelled to an alternate dimension. This works in a similar vein to explore the possibilities of travel beyond simply going from Gate to Gate. It was lots of fun and a fine penultimate episode of the season.

The finale is up next. :)

8 out of 10