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

The Gamekeeper

Ploy: SG-1 arrive on a beautiful, fertile world and are taken captive by devices that generate simulated environments based on the team's past experiences. SG-1 must find a way out of the environment for themselves and the other captives within it.


I've always liked this episode for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it guest stars Dwight Schultz, who we all know and love as The A-Team's Murdock and Star Trek's Reginald Barclay. Schultz always adds an air of colour and quirkiness to the shows that he appears in. This is no exception. As the somewhat eccentric Gamekeeper, he is guide and imprisoner and attempts to convince SG-1 that they would be better off in the virtual environment. Schultz is the second Star Trek alumni to appear in SG-1.

The other reason for my enjoyment of this episode is the chance that it gives for us to explore pivotal moments in the lives of Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill. Both moments are traumatic and The Gamekeeper grants Jack and Daniel the opportunity to change what happened for the better, even if the task seems very unlikely considering the ever changing variables within each scenario.

Jack's scenario is a black ops mission that resulted in the death of his then commanding officer. Jack was a Captain at the time and is unable to prevent his CO from being gun downed by enemy combatants, even with the help of Teal'c. Most excitingly, Kawalsky was part of that mission, leading to a welcome return for Jay Acavone in the role. Jack explains that of all the missions he went on, this was the one that went the most terribly wrong. It helps to explain a lot about his character, particularly his loyalty to his comrades.

Daniel's scenario is set in the New York Art Museum and revolves around the death of his parents. They die after being crushed by a falling stone exhibit that they are in the middle of constructing. We've heard little of Daniel's family up to this point and it was interesting to see how they fit in to his life. It's suggested that Daniel was quite young when this happened. His youth at the time leads to him being unable to convince his parents to move away from the exhibit, they disregard his protests as childishness. We see a lot of Daniel in his parents, particularly the fact that they wear glasses and an apparent love of ancient history.

The devices that generate the simulated environment return in season 8. They're used by the SGC for training purposes.

Plenty of talking points arise from this episode. It's an intriguing look in to the past of both Jack and Daniel, helping to flesh out the characters in much the same way that several other episodes did in the first season.

7 out of 10