Enigma

Plot: SG-1 arrives on a planet where a current cataclysmic event has left several people fighting for their lives around the Stargate. SG-1 take them back to the SGC, where it is discovered that they are part of a high developed civilisation, the Tollan. The SGC must fight to prevent the NID from taking them away for study.


Enigma is an intellectually satisfying episode that shows the Stargate programme's first contact with a clearly technologically superior civilisation. It turns out their world had been destroyed after a series of events had played out that started with them sharing their technology with a less advanced neighbouring planet. Understandably, they were a little cagey about sharing with the primitive Earth people. It was stimulating to see SG-1 try to learn as much as they could from the Tollan, all in good faith.

Their leader, Omoc, was played by Tobin Bell, of Saw fame. He's been in several other TV shows in recent years, notably 24 and Alias. I don't think there's even been a character actor that could play a mean, arrogant bastard as well as him. He was in fine form as Omoc, spending most of the episode looking down his nose at the regular cast members.

Also in the group was Narim, who has quite a thing for our Sam Carter. He's a bit more open with them, explaining how Quantum Physics is elementary science and how much he loves her, and his new cat. He's the first of Sam's love interests and we'll see him again as she rampages her way across the galaxy, leaving a man at every port. Narim is played by Garwin Sanford, who appears in a couple of episodes of Atlantis as Dr. Weir's fiancee.

That's not all. We're introduced for the first time to Colonel Maybourne. He's immediately up to his tricks as he seeks to take the Tollan away for study. He's easy to dislike and plays up well to the role that he's been set. Maybourne is a name that's easy to say with disdain, which Jack does so well. The obvious highlight of the episode saw General Hammond pulling rank to put Maybourne in his place, if only briefly.

In the end, the Tollan go through the gate to live with The Nox (remember them?). Lya shows up to escort them to the Nox homeworld, as Maybourne is desperately trying to hold on to them. Fortunately, Lya pulls off some seriously cool shit as she opens a wormhole back to the Nox homeworld without having to manually dial the gate. It's a cool trick that I don't think we see again.

This episode triumphs in reprising a couple of plot lines that were laid carefully at the beginning of the season. The Tollan and Maybourne are a couple of new ones that are added to a nice little pot of plots. SG-1 is really hitting its stride at this point as it quickly rattles towards that first end of season finale.

8 out of 10

The Nox

Plot: SG-1 travel to a planet in search of a flying animal with the ability to turn invisible. There, they run in to Apophis and three Jaffa, who are on the same mission. A confrontation with Apophis ends badly, with Jack, Daniel and Sam taking fatal hits from a staff blaster. Fortunately, a primitive, yet powerful, people, The Nox, rescue and heal them. SG-1 must do all they can to protect The Nox, even if they seem oblivious to the danger they are in.


The Nox are quite interesting, and are a good example of how SG-1 should never take appearances for granted. They appear simple, even primitive, but they have a great wisdom, power and knowledge underneath that. Their great floating city remains hidden from view of visitors and who knows what amazing things might be found there.

It will later be revealed that the Nox are one of the four great races. We first learned of the alliance between those four races in The Torment of Tantalus.

The Nox do feature again through SG-1 and this is a great example of Stargate's ability to lay foundations that can be built upon at a later point. Time and again, we see races, characters and other trends subtly introduced with scope to build plot on at a later date. Building a universe in this way must be fun to write. It's certainly fun to watch.

There was something a bit odd with the DVD during this episode. It seemed like they forgot to include the audio of Apophis' speech, so he was never heard during the episode, even though his lips were moving. Apohphis, as a God, likely had his speech enhanced during post-production and it's possible that the audio never made it to the DVD. If this happened to anyone else, or if anyone knows whether it happens in the TV showings then please feel free to comment.

At the start of the episode, we had our first example of Government agencies breathing down the SG-C's neck in order to get results. This is to become a running theme through the series. Some times it's interesting, other times it can be tedious and frustrating. It's one of those things where I can understand why the writers did it, it just never quite worked for me.

Finally, it was great to see Armin Shimmerman guest starring as Anteaus of the Nox. He was always a bright spot when watching DS-9. Sadly, this is the only episode that he appears in.

7 out of 10