Stargate SG1: season 5
Season 1; Season 2; Season 3; Season 4
Previously, on… the team got stuck four millions of light years away, with Apophis on their tail. It’s very much a frying pan / fire situation, as although Apophis seems to be dead – or at least everyone on his ship is – the ship is infested with Replicators. Whee!
Plus, Sam has kept her very cute pixie cut.
Meanwhile Teal’c has been brainwashed back to being in love with Apophis; there’s an entire episode of going through his backstory so that he can re-live how he got to being anti-Apophis. So that was traumatic, especially for Dr Frasier, who feels he’s being tortured by having pain meds withheld.
IMPORTANTLY! This is season 5! Which means episode 100! Which means “Wormhole X-treme”!!! I cannot tell you how often “It’s what I do” (etc) gets used in my house. I love everything this episode says about how the show thinks about itself. Why doesn’t someone who’s out of phase fall through the floor? And I’m pretty sure most of the cast of the show are folks who work on Stargate.
I really like that Stargate follows up on some of its earlier narratives, and there’s quite a few in this season. We go back to Cassandra, and the fact that there are still effects from Nirrti’s actions years before. And then we flip back to the planet of the Unas, because an arse has kidnapped some and enslaved them, and Daniel insists they need to do something about it. They’re not even being subtle about the metaphors in this one. In the very next episode we get some fallout from the Russians using the stargate. This episode is basically a variation on The Mummy?? Goa’uld was in a sarcophagus but because his priests rebelled, something was put inside to eat him while being kept alive by said sarcophagus… and the something is also riffing on Alien, coming out of a cocoon and scuttling around. When you factor in that it’s got a symbiote inside, which means it’s looking to find a new host, it’s an even closer parallel. More follow up stories follow: back to the Tollan. Narim has Sam’s voice as his house’s voice and that’s just creepy. And to connect another set of dots, the Tollan are secretly being bullied by the Goa’uld Tanith! We meet those arses the Aschen again. I have to see Kinsey’s face again though, so that’s less than awesome. A bit later in the season we get an episode harking back to that NID black ops team: this time, SG1 has to undo some mistakes made by those other arses. It’s further proof that those “my country right or wrong” types really are awful.
I have a weak spot for training-day episodes, particularly when there’s ongoing questions about whether this bit is still part of the training. But then in the next episode dammit we get Dr Rodney effing McKay and URGH. But at the same time we get some fascinating Russian/USA “negotiations.” A mid-season two-parter is a new thing! We discover there’s a scary new Goa’uld on the scene – Anubis, apparently banished by the System Lords a millennia ago, so thus begins a whole new epic arc (and we meet Ba’al, too, gotta remember that face). DESTRUCTIVE ASTEROID EPISODE! Why yes, definitely inspired by Armageddon. O’Neill even cracks jokes about having seen the movie. Hammond’s decision not to personally evacuate to the Alpha Site is a nice moment of an old white man being sensible… and then we have MacGyver O’Neill disarming a nuke with seconds to go. Hilarious. It’s followed by “The Warrior,” with a new Jafar leader bringing free Jafar to fight against the Goa’uld… but he is a Goa’uld himself, infiltrating and aiming to destroy instead of uplifting. It makes me so angry because it’s horribly realistic. Also horrible: the team meets the progenitrix of the replicators, which they only discover after she’s back at the SGC. Oops? Jack kills her, and it’s another nail in the coffin of Daniel’s belief in the whole SGC programme. And… a planet with people in Hollywood old-time-y Christian clothes and religious trappings (Amish??), complete with apocalyptic doomsayer, but they worship the Norse gods? Super weird.
The final two episodes are very dramatic. Daniel gets a massive dose of radiation by being an absolute hero, as we meet Jonas Quinn (look, he grows on me, and yet) and the Kelownans. Daniel and Jack have a touching moment; Jonas steals naqadria, and runs away to Earth. And look, some of the Daniel / Oma Desala conversation may be a bit trite pop psych “just be a good person,” but I found it properly touching this time: his lack of faith in himself, in the face of everyone else’s love for and belief in him. I may have shed a tear… but it’s not the finale, which is amazing. The next episode, we get Sam confronting the ambivalence of whether Daniel is alive or dead, and mourning the loss of SG1 as a team, which is also quite affecting. But more problematic for the galaxy is Thor being taken captive by Osiris (that arse), and Anubis himself is going to come interrogate him. We discover that Anubis’ host doesn’t seem to have a face?? Of course they get away… and as the team leaves for dinner, there’s an unexpected breeze and Jack gets a little smirk.
Meanwhile, in cameos: Larry Drake, whom I only recognise from that one episode of Firefly. I’ve started picking up on Peter DeLuise in the background – and of course he’s the Director in “Wormhole X-treme,” along with his brother Michael. Alexander Kalugin and Vitaly Kravchenko have minor roles in Chronicles of Riddick; Jen Halley and Rick Worthy are further BSG alum – and then there’s Boomer (CYLON). And, of course, John de Lancie as Colonel Simmons, who plays a spectacularly awful Pentagon official.
Finally, it’s season 5 and I’m still not sure why Daniel needs glasses. He takes them off and puts them on at what appear to be inconsistent times. Maybe I’m just an ignorant short-sighted person who doesn’t understand how vision works for other folks.
And. Um. I need to finally put this in writing. Zat guns look like dildos.
DVD extras:
- This is the era of the behind the scenes video diary. It was certainly… a time. Though Chris Judge’s diary is specifically about the episode for which he had the story idea, and how the episode was put together, so that was pretty cool. Richard Dean Anderson either didn’t want to play or didn’t get asked.
- Dr Daniel Jackson tribute. The montage of people saying “Daniel Jackson” is hilarious, especially the Jack versions. Flipping through the hair styles is also highly amusing. The techno version of the theme song, though, was not great. It does suggestion that maybe they weren’t expecting to get Michael Shanks back??
Stats (the number of 0s here is quite remarkable – the show isn’t falling into the same tropes as in earlier seasons!):
- Sam gets a raw deal for being female: 0 (I’m keeping this in just so I can hold the show accountable) (she does get abducted but it’s not for being a girl)
- Someone falls madly in love Sam: 3.5 (ugh, Orlan; and Narim, you really need to get over it. And we meet Ambassador Joseph again; he’s just so bland; he doesn’t stick around long enough to fully develop feelings this time. I am not counting Rodney, because I choose not to acknowledge his comment on Sam being sexy. And look, I guess it’s cute, but it makes no sense that a Tok’ra symbiote would fall in love with Sam)
- Sam reciprocates: 0
- Jack gets seduced: 0
- Daniel gets seduced: 0
- Sam gets seduced: 0
- Teal’c gets seduced: 0
- The team brings dangerous stuff back to Earth: 1 (why would you bring an android back to Earth??)
- Something timey-wimey happens: 0
- Daniel
apparentlygets killed: 1 - Jack apparently gets killed: 0
- Sam apparently gets killed: 0
- Teal’c apparently gets killed: 0
- Jack gets replaced / mindwiped: 0
- Sam gets replaced/ mindwiped: 0
- Daniel gets replaced / mindwiped: 0.5 (half because one training day exercise)
- Teal’c gets replaced / mindwiped: 1.5 (back to First Prime, oh dear; and the training day exercise)
- Everybody else at the SGC gets replaced: 0!
- Sam and Jack have A Moment: 0 (… they’re getting fewer…)
- Maybourne gets thwarted: 0 (not a relevant category any more, now that he’s officially on the run as a traitor to his nation!)
- Extra special episodes where it’s not Maybourne’s fault / he actually helps: 2 (looking surprisingly svelte – the beard suits him; I mean, he’s still being a bit evil, but at least he helps out looking for Carter, and he feels bad about Teal’c getting stuck in the stargate buffer)
- My God Colonel Simmons is way worse than Maybourne: 3.5 (there’s that one episode where it’s not his fault but
he’s still really awfulhe takes advantage of the situation by shooting Jack and helping Conrad)
- Specific human cultures represented:
- None??
- Goa’uld encountered:
- Apophis (RIP! finally!)
- Nirrti (manipulative as ever)
- Marduk
- Tanith, you arse (not dead, sadly, at the start – but RIP halfway through)
- Whoever it was got put inside Adrian Conrad
- Osiris (why would a Goa’uld care that its host would be dressed as sexy as possible?)
- Zipacna
- Ba’al, Bastet, Kali, Morrigan, Olokun – at the System Lord Summit
- Imhotep (RIP?)
- Anubis!
Stargate SG1, s4
We left season 3 with Jack, Sam and Teal’c having just destroyed Thor’s ship to try and destroy the Replicators, but did our heroes get off via stargate?? We know at least one of the replicators survived… and we start the fourth season in a Russian submarine hearing weird things. More importantly Daniel has had a time to get a sleek haircut, around dealing with the consequences of not staying in bed after his appendicitis. And Teal’c has a WEIRD BLONDE SUPER-SOUL PATCH BEARD THING? (Which fortunately only lasts less than half the season.) And I think Sam has had a haircut too – well, it’s longer, and more curly. (And she gets a cute little pixie a bit later in the season, too, which really works for her.)
ANYWAY. We also learn that the most advanced Asgard ship is The O’Neill. THAT is hilarious – and the only thing funnier is that Sam tells them to use it as a bait and blow it up.
The episode with the Eurodans (which WordPress just autocorrected to European, which is… appropriate) is one of my least favourite episodes: the grotesque nature of Alar and his people is so insidious, and Jack is so easily swayed – until his buddy Teal’c is a problem – that I find it really hard to watch. BUT the immediate next episode is where the team gets magic strength armbands and that, too, is hilarious. As is Jack and Daniel’s competition for Anise’s attention. Anise/Freya’s outfits get outrageous across this season. I mean… And, of course, this brings us to the episode that sparked one million fan fics, because both Jack and Sam have to admit their feelings for one another. OOOOH. And it’s followed by the other episode that spawned a million fics, with Jack and Teal’c going all groundhog day. This is probably the episode I rewatched the most, back in the day. It’s just so funny (mostly). (There are, I think, a number of Daniel/Jack moments in this season that must also have launched a million fanfics, but I’m not as good at seeing those.)
Last season I commented there were no significant cameos, but then we get Deanna Troi! Marina Sirtis! With a Russian accent! Because of course the Russians found the stargate and got it open. This episode aired in 2000, which makes the maybe-friendly maybe-enemy storyline with Russia really quite fascinating. Meanwhile, there’s some other BSG alum – Alessandro Juliani, a Cylon (Matthew Bennett), and the fabulous Lorena Gale is briefly an archivist. And Steven Williams, whom I recognise from many shows, got to play a general. And holy shit General Michael E. Ryan who was an actual Chief of Staff of the US Air Force plays the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force. What. Even.
With such a long-running arc in terms of villainy – and the fact that the Goa’uld are a society, rather than just being Blofeld – I increasingly appreciate that the show occasionally pays attention to them as such. So you get the discovery that the Goa’uld originally took Unas as hosts, and then in this season the discovery of the probably Goa’uld home world – not to mention the history of the Tok’ra, plus the arguments between System Lords. Let’s be honest, SG1 is sometimes a very silly show, but there really are some deeply fascinating and thoughtful ideas throughout it.
The somewhat shocking threatened change in this season is Gen Hammond apparently getting shot of sending people off to die, which brings in Gen Bauer, who immediately splits up SG1 so he’s clearly a knob. And it leads to Jack making a deal with Maybourne, which I kinda love – he’s so spectacularly paranoid – but also talking to Senator Kinsey, which I could always do without. Although Hammond immediately comes back when his grandkids are not being threatened, it does subliminally signal that not all of these characters will last forever…
Given my comments on season 3, there’s remarkably little about children in this season. Shan’auc regards her symbiont, with whom she’s been communicating, as her child; Jack mentions his son once. And then you get the episode “2010” which sees Earth stealthily taken over by an apparently beneficent alien race that actually sterilises the population – which we learn because Sam is married but not to Jack, and trying for children. And then there’s the episode with young Loran, who’s somehow been surviving in the Goa’uld pleasure-palace by himself for ?years. Then, 2/3 through the season, we flip back to the Harcesis arc: the team meets Shifu, who gives Daniel information that would help against the Goa’uld and then an insight into what it might do if Daniel were to use it… and so Shifu goes on his way and Daniel acknowledges he needs to change. But still: not so many children.
There is, though, a bit more focus on Earth politics than previously. The Tok’ra and the US president meet, to come up with an accord; the Americans do some coordination with the Russians (and Maybourne, that arse, was already playing with them).
On a structural level: there’s a new credit roll. I dunno, does that mean they didn’t want to focus on a particular person on the cast anymore? Are they preparing for someone leaving? It’s a curious choice, anyway – having a faux-Egyptian sarcophagus (Osiris?) as the entire opening? – given that the Goa’uld had slowly seemed to be moving away from being the focus of the show. I’m also fascinated by the fact that the opening scene – the prologue, before the credits – doesn’t seem to be a uniform length. Have I actually timed their lengths? Of course not. But they feel like they vary. And I don’t usually pay attention to the directors with tv shows – it’s just not a focus for me – but I did notice that Michael Shanks directed an episode, which is cool.
DVD extras:
Mostly a bit dull and I didn’t bother watching, TBH, and the set up (Hammond and Frasier ‘talking to the screen’) is a bit cringey. However the one I did watch taught me that the Antarctic episode was shot with real ice and snow, and Sam’s falls down the “glacier” were real; and Daniel’s appendicitis was because Shanks had actually had appendicitis so they had to figure out what to do.
Stats:
- Sam gets a raw deal for being female: 0 (I’m keeping this in just so I can hold the show accountable)
- Someone falls madly in love Sam: 1 (we don’t see the falling in love, but she is married in the future…)
- Sam reciprocates: (as above… we assume it’s a love-match…)
- Jack gets seduced: 0.5 (because he manages to resist Freya)
- Daniel gets seduced: 0 (it’s a close run things with Sarah but then she turns into Osiris)
- Sam gets seduced: 0
- Teal’c gets seduced: 1 (mutual seduction, hello Shan’auc / goodbye Shan’auc)
- The team brings dangerous stuff back to Earth: 0 ( a fascinating change – they’re learning not to bring things back through??)
- Something timey-wimey happens: 2
- Daniel apparently gets killed: 1
- Jack apparently gets killed: 1
- Sam apparently gets killed: 1
- Teal’c apparently gets killed: 1
- Jack gets replaced / mindwiped: 1.5 (the androids are back! briefly, mostly to Teach Jack A Lesson, I think)
- Sam gets replaced/ mindwiped: 2.5
- Daniel gets replaced / mindwiped: 1.5
- Teal’c gets replaced / mindwiped: 1.5
- Everybody else at the SGC gets replaced: 0
- Sam and Jack have A Moment: 6 (sometimes they’re really brief but I see them)
- Maybourne gets thwarted: 1
- Extra special episodes where it’s not Maybourne’s fault / he actually helps: 1
- Specific human cultures represented:
- NONE! This is an improvement!
- Goa’uld encountered:
- Tanith, you arsehole
- Osiris (and Isis, I guess, although only as a dead parasite)
- Heru’ur (RIP)
- A newly sybaritic Apophis (will you not DIE?!
- Chronos (RIP)
Stargate SG1, season 3
… we jump straight back to Hathor threatening SG1 – did I mention Daniel’s non-floofy haircut? it’s so odd (but the bandana/cap is a much better option) – and the entirety of the SGC is mustered to go get our kids back.
More importantly, Carter gets promoted to Major! Hooray! And then Jack totally steals the award show by being beamed aboard an Asgard ship, what a diva. Still, it gives us Thor, and that the Asgards will negotiate with the System Lords on behalf of the Earthlings. And that negotiation will happen on Earth what could possibly go wrong. And we get ~foreshadowing~ of a “far worse enemy” in the Asgard’s home galaxy.
We see Sam being able to access Goa’uld tech thanks to the aftereffects of Jolinar’s presence, and we get another!alt!Sam, this time coming through the mirror, complete with a picture of her and Jack getting married. Which is honestly all very uncomfortable. (However, alt!Teal’c and alt!Apophis both have little goatees, and I know enough Star Trek that this made me very happy.) Then we get Martouf back again, needing Jolinar’s memories. I just don’t like Martouf, and there’s no good reason for it.
The range of cultures represented continues to expand – Nirrti from the Hindu pantheon (I have thoughts about using a living religion…); Yu from Chinese mythology (?); Aztec deities represented on a planet that seems to be entirely inhabited by very white people and has no connection to anything we know about Aztec culture. A medieval European Christian village! Guess it was only a matter of time before they tried it – but of course an American show couldn’t make Jesus a Goa’uld… and the Canon is an appropriately cartoonishly evil churchman. And then later we visit Sokar’s planet – Hell, basically – and O’Neill makes a comment about it being a “dry heat” – is that an Aliens 2 reference??
Despite the visit to Hell, this season’s most distressing episode is the one where Daniel is thought to have schizophrenia and treated appallingly. Michael Shanks really gets to shine in the episode, and it’s awful.
Furthermore, one part of Daniel’s story – his search for Sha’re – comes to an end, with Sha’re’s death at the hands of Teal’c. Once again Michael Shanks gets a chance to do some particularly poignant acting. And then he discovers that Amaunet & Apophis’ child is the Harcesis – a human born with knowledge of the Goa’uld. Thus begins a new quest – and consequently Daniel meets Oma Dasala, which is also the beginning of his rather epic story arc. (I’m having anticipatory grief.) This really is Daniel’s season.
Importantly, this season has some really fantastic Jack/Daniel interactions.
People I haven’t mentioned much: I really like Dr Janet Fraiser, and I’m so pleased that she appears more in this season – she even gets to go off-world! And he doesn’t appear often, but I also really enjoy Major Davis. Plus: there haven’t been many guest stars, or people who went on to become well-known, but Aaron Douglas (Chief Tyrol, of Battlestar Galactica) turned up as a Jafar for about 10 seconds in this episode, before dying. (Also the crystal skull, Indiana Jones should be ashamed for stealing it.)
I am realising that parenting is a significant thread running through this show. Apophis wants to make a human child who will become his new host; the Sam/Jacob Carter dynamic; Jack’s dead son (used against him again in this season) and his relationship with Skaara – who is finally freed! – and there’s a strong suggestion that Jack leaves Laira pregnant; Teal’c and Rya’c; the clone son from the Reetou, Merrin and other Urrone children of the Orban (do I remember ever being a little teary from an SG1 episode? No I do not. I think I’m getting old). The man looking for his child in Seth’s cult. Aris Boch lies about having a child to get sympathy; the Jafar practising to be an SG unit are basically children. And, of course, Cassandra. Looking forward, the question of children – relating to parents, how they develop – continues to be massive, especially in the last two seasons.
On a broader level there’s another incredibly significant through-line, too, about SG1 interfering with the way things are done, usually to what is perceived as the benefit of the newly-visited population (not quite always in the short term, but mostly in the long term). Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a show – or rather, it would be a very different show – if there weren’t this overtone of, frankly, colonialism. And of course, they don’t call it colonialism, and the SGC folks don’t want to actually live in those places. But they do want to trade for useful things, and they do feel more comfortable if everyone goes along with their same morality and processes. At least we do occasionally get folks like the Nox – and more obnoxiously, the Tollan – who refuse to give the SGC any tech because they’re too inferior. So that’s some balance.
And the season ends with replicators… (I have so many thoughts about replicators v Goa’uld insofar as enemies go).
You know what else season 3 brings? DVD extras.
Character featurettes:
- Capt (now Major) Carter: apparently it was important to have a beautiful woman! Bah. I did enjoy hearing her reflections on Richard Dean Anderson, and how odd it is to act before a blue screen; her description of Sam as the midpoint between Jack and Daniel is nicely observed.
- Teal’c’s feature is a sweet piece about Chris Judge’s acting career, and his enjoyment of the role.
- General Hammond: got his start as MacGyver’s boss’s double, and now plays O’Neill’s boss! That’s so cool!
- Daniel Jackson: Michael Shanks comes across as adorable. His comment about how the regular cast react when new directors come on board and then freak out at how huge a production it is? Hilarious.
Other bits:
- In the “Producing Stargate” featurette – which I assume was made for the DVD, so maybe a couple years after it aired in 1999? – Brad Wright, co-creator, suggests “at least ten seasons” for the show. Awww.
- Costuming! Interesting to hear Christina McQuarrie talking about how she’s certainly not aiming for any sort of cultural verisimilitude, and that she’s combined elements of various cultures. But she’s often only given seven days to costume an episode, so… that’s a whole thing from tv 25 years ago! They costumed hundreds of people for the pilot, and while other episodes have fewer it’s still a lot.
Stats:
- Sam gets a raw deal for being female: 0 (… does this mean the show is actually treating Sam properly??)
- Someone falls madly in love Sam: 1 (blergh, Narim – get over it)
- Sam reciprocates: 0 (you go girl)
- Jack gets seduced: 1 (well, it was a mutual seduction with Laira)
- Daniel gets seduced: 1 (
at least she’s not evil(hahaha she’s amnesiac Linnea) but it’s literally immediately after Sha’re dies soooo that’s rude) - Sam gets seduced: 0
- Teal’c gets seduced: 0
- The team brings dangerous stuff back to Earth: 2 (once wasn’t SG1’s fault)
- Something timey-wimey happens: 1 (plus one alt-timeline)
- Daniel apparently gets killed: 0 (but also that time Daniel went out of phase; turns out I love shows where actors have to not respond to someone who’s meant to be invisible)
- Jack apparently gets killed: 0 (briefly out of phase)
- Sam apparently gets killed: 0 (briefly out of phase)
- Teal’c apparently gets killed: 1
- Jack gets replaced / becomes an alien avatar: 1.5 (half because the Goa’uld binding didn’t take)
- Sam gets replaced: 0
- Daniel gets replaced: 1
- Teal’c gets replaced: 0
- Everybody else at the SGC gets replaced: 1
- Sam and Jack have A Moment: 2 (sometimes they’re really brief but I see them) (Jack and alt!Sam doesn’t count)
- Maybourne gets thwarted: 1 (serious lack of Maybourne in this season)
- Extra special episodes where it’s not Maybourne’s fault / he actually helps: 0.5 (because there was one episode where he was MEANT to help but instead he was an ARSE and only helped EVENTUALLY; at least he gave Carter the credit)
- Specific human cultures represented:
- Medieval European Christians?!
- Keb is vaguely Buddhist? the flutes, the architecture… the monk’s robes, speaking vaguely in koans… this one also makes me uncomfortable
- Goa’uld encountered:
- Hathor (RIP)
- Seth (distressingly, but appropriately, hot; RIP)
- Chronos
- Yu (we haven’t had many non-vaguely-Western deities, I guess this is a good thing?)
- Nirrti (again) (I had missed she’s meant to be a Hindu goddess… so yeh, another one from a living religion, not cool)
- Amaunet (RIP)
- Bynarr
- Sokar
- Reincarnated!Apophis
- did everyone forget Sokar had a sarcophagus? I had!
- he just won’t die
- I love the way he tells Teal’c “It is I, your god, Apophis” as if Teal’c could have forgotten his name
- Klorel
- Zipacna
Stargate SG1 season 2
We go straight from defeating Apophis in the first episode (following a cliffhanger at the end of the last season!) – including truly hilarious CGI of NASA’s shuttle, and also the hilarious suggestion that the shuttle could be launched with zero notice – to Sam getting infected by a Goa’uld, and suddenly we discover the existence of the Tok’ra. Again, not something I remembered starting this early.
Across this season we get reference to “the System Lords” as if it’s something we’ve been talking about for many episodes, but I’m pretty sure it’s not. Plus I remain confused as to why Daniel is compelled to wear that ridiculous floppy hat while Jack and Sam get caps. I mean, I understand it’s meant to make him look goofy – it’s the sartorial equivalent of his equally floofy and floppy hair. But still.
“The Gamekeeper” is one of the more harrowing episodes so far – Jack and Daniel being put through the emotional wringer as a game. And then very soon after, Daniel being corrupted by the sarcophagus – it’s fascinating that he’s played as the most vulnerable of the whole team because of his depths of compassion. Of course, this gets more complicated in later seasons, and I do love it as a continuing exploration of his character. It’s also an example of Michael Shanks actually being a good actor – he doesn’t get much opportunity to showcase a range of emotion usually.
Poor old Daniel only gets a bit of personal development in the first half of this season: in “Gamekeeper” we learn his parents were also archaeologists or similar and they were killed in a museum accident; his wife is largely forgotten. Still that’s more than either Jack or Sam gets. Teal’c gets much more – the whole Rya’c storyline is interesting enough, although I don’t love it. And I can’t begin to say how much I loathe the fact Teal’c calls his wife “woman” – something about a heroic culture requiring misogyny?
… the problem with writing this as I watch, rather than at the end – so that I don’t forget these oh-so-erudite points – is that then things change completely: the episode after I wrote the above, we get an episode I had completely forgotten: Sha’re is back home, pregnant with Apophis’ child. Daniel has to decide whether he can still love his wife after she has been raped (happily, doesn’t take very long to choose Yes – which is an interesting difference from Teal’c, who struggles to deal with his wife having agreed to a new husband so that she and their son could have a decent life). Tragically, they only have a brief period together before the Goa’uld returns. (Daniel also gets to threaten Apophis when the SGC have him as a prisoner.) And we get Sam’s dad in the same episode, an Air Force general still trying to organise his daughter’s life while he’s dying of cancer. Both of these events – the child and the fact that Papa Carter chooses to blend with a Tok’ra – have enormous repercussions for the next few seasons… and further in personal lives. we keep playing on the loss of Jack’s son, too, giving him new sons to connect with (and lose).
Meanwhile, the SG1 must finally face some consequences of their actions: they destroyed the anti-Goa’uld defence system set up by Thor, and then that planet gets invaded, so SG1 goes back to try to help out. And hooray, we get The Real Thor! – another case of “already??” Plus they go to a planet where they fear they might have introduced a disease – and for the first time there’s concern that this is something that might happen when meeting new folks. Along those same lines, I appreciate that the show does sometimes examine moral quandaries. Like whether they should just shoot that snakehead Apophis out of hand, or take him prisoner and try to make use of him.
Remember those useless end-of-season recap episodes that occurred when you had 22-24 episodes dropping weekly? At least Stargate has so far been somewhat clever – last season, Senator Kinsey being an arse but nonetheless making some uncomfortably sensible points; this season, the team seem to be in the future but are actually being held captive, and made to remember some of the peoples they’ve encountered. Still, I forwarded through all of the recap bits (again). The joys of the DVD.
Further opportunities for actual acting: Daniel being inhabited by Marcello, Jack and Teal’c swapping bodies (mostly this is a Chris Judge opportunity, not so much for Richard Dean Anderson).
Costuming hilarity: there’s one planet where the humans appear to be naked, with body paint. It’s very obvious that they have zips up the back of their outfits; there’s also wrist and neck edges. (Most of the actors in this episode, though, are wonderful physical actors.) PLUS I am 100% certain the only reason for the episode “1969” is so that they could put the team into those ridiculous outfits.
Stats:
- Sam gets a raw deal for being female: 0 (hooray! Progress!)
- Someone falls madly in love Sam: 1
- Sam reciprocates: 0
- Jack gets seduced: 0 (impressive! or sad, take your pick)
- Daniel gets seduced: 1
- Sam gets seduced: 0
- Teal’c gets seduced: 0
- The team brings dangerous stuff back to Earth: 7 (urgh Linea) (I’m including black hole gravity)
- Something timey-wimey happens: 4
- Daniel apparently gets killed: 0
- Jack apparently gets killed: 0
- Sam apparently gets killed: 0
- Teal’c apparently gets killed: 0
- This lack of dying is truly impressive across this season. Made up for by…
- Jack gets replaced / becomes an alien avatar: 3 (including swapping with Teal’c, etc)
- One instance of which basically turns him into MacGyver, I realised on this viewing)
- Sam gets replaced: 1 (inc. Jolinar)
- Daniel gets replaced: 2 (ish; can we count the whole multiple-sarcophagus-use experience? I say yes)
- Teal’c gets replaced: 1 (by Jack, etc)
- Sam and Jack have A Moment: 2 (sometimes they’re really brief but I see them)
- Maybourne gets thwarted: 1
- Extra special episodes where it’s not Maybourne: 1
- Specific human cultures represented:
- Native Americans (I don’t know enough about the history of representation of Native Americans to know just how racist this portrayal is… I suspect it’s a combo of somewhat progressive – they’ve got technology! they keep their culture despite the changes! – and racist: the costuming, apparent naivety… plus their spirits are “actually” aliens: which is true for every other culture too; is it worse to do this to a culture still living today? I suspect it might be)
- Goa’uld encountered:
- Apophis and Klorel (poor old Skaara)
- Heru’ur
- Amaunet
- Sokar (kinda)
- Hathor (my girl! that wig is so impressive)
Stargate SG1 season 1
I just realised I should have started this rewatch next year… for the thirtieth anniversary of season 1.
Across this season, many things have happened! There’s a lot of Teal’c background, which I find fascinating: we meet his mentor, Bra’tac, who will become much more important across the seasons; and also his son, Rya’c, and wife, Drey’auc. There’s a whole episode about whether Teal’c is responsible for the deaths that he caused in the service of Apophis, which is a rather remarkable focus for an episode of 1997 television. There’s Daniel’s pain at losing his wife Sha’re, which is an ongoing feature across this season – Daniel is driven by the desire to get her back. There’s also an episode on Jack and his pain at the death of his son Charlie. Interestingly we get basically no background on Sam: there’s a brief mention of her having a brother, and that she misses her nieces, but that’s all. No tragic backstory! Oh also Sam has an ex-fiance, but given he goes fully Kurtz on an ultra-UV planet, that’s no loss.
Meanwhile, the SG1 team destroy a Goa’uld trap in order to rescue Teal’c, challenge the legal structure of another society, and get totally condescended to by the Nox because humans are still incredibly juvenile (but they’re a lot nicer about it than the Tollans). A new sarcophagus is discovered – surprise, Egyptian hieroglyphs rather than Mayan ones! – and it contains Hathor, who proceeds to entrance every man on the base; it’s unclear whether there are no lesbians or bi women, or if Hathor is just regressive. Also we get an episode featuring Catherine, the woman who brought Daniel on to the Stargate programme in the first place – and she’s definitely got a little intergenerational crush on Jack. I appreciate this further nod to the film enormously. And this episode is when we properly understand there’s more aliens out there – there was earlier the suggestion of Thor and his kin, but here we see script from four races that sends Daniel into conniptions. And ah, the Antarctic episode.
And then you get Senator Kinsey, asking questions about the Stargate programme – and for all he’s presented as a bit venal, a self-serving politician who cannot possibly understand the heroics of SG1… it’s hard not to see that he kinda has some points about military secrets, and the military wanting to spend money on fun new toys, etc. My goodness why am I now half on Kinsey’s side?? Do I miss this sort of filler episode? I really do not. Do I understand why they made them back in the day? Sure.
We learn there are more women in the SGC than Sam, Janet, and a few nurses!
Maybourne arrives!
Chris Judge’s downturned mouth gets more and more ridiculous across the season!
And in this season Richard Dean Anderson is the age I am right now.
Stats:
- Sam gets a raw deal for being female: 1
- Someone falls madly in love Sam: 1
- Sam reciprocates: 1
- Jack gets seduced: 2
- Daniel gets seduced: 1
- Sam gets seduced: 0
- Teal’c gets seduced: 0
- The team brings bad stuff back to Earth: 3 (sorry Cassandra)
- Daniel apparently gets killed: 2
- Jack apparently gets killed: 1
- Sam apparently gets killed: 1
- Teal’c apprearntly gets killed: 0
- Jack gets replaced: 2
- Sam gets replaced: 1
- Daniel gets replaced: 1
- Teal’c gets replaced: 1
- Sam and Jack have A Moment: 2 (not including alt!Sam & Jack)
- Maybourne gets thwarted: 1
- Specific human cultures represented: Mongols, Mycenaean, Minoan, Norse
- Goa’uld encountered:
- Apophis
- Hathor (dec.)
- Nirrti, indirectly
- Things I hadn’t realised turned up this early:
- The Nox
- Replicators
- Teal’c’s cap
- Daniel’s bandana
Stargate SG1 s1, e1-4
So I’ve finally caved. It’s been on the cards for a long time, but now seems to be the moment.
I’ve started a rewatch. How long will I last before I give up? How often will I watch? These are not questions I can answer – although I do have a big knitting project to complete…
The things I remembered from ep1: the tissue box; Sam making the comment about reproductive organs. I knew Charlie got a Goa’uld early on, but I forgot it was in the pilot.
So, things we already get in the first three episodes:
- The entirety of the early cast, including the dude in charge of the iris. I don’t remember whether the medic is the same one for a while or not. (But Janet appears in ep4 already, which I’m watching as I type.)
- Sam is already faced with the challenges of travelling while female, and the team are completely fine with her going along with the sartorial expectations. They do at least immediately interfere when they learn she’s going to get raped that evening.
- I won’t deny that I’m 100% here for the sexual tension between Jack and Sam (and yo, Primitive Sam trying to jump Jack’s bones in e4 is hilarious and I’d forgotten it already started at that point) (and I’ve changed this to be e4 not just e3). However, my delight in the Daniel/ Jack dynamic knows no bounds, and we already have that in spades.
- There’s a MacGyver reference in the very first episode. I giggled.
- There’s interesting questions about racism and misogyny in the show. On the one hand: out of four of the SG1 team, one is a black man and one is a woman. That’s good! There are a few black marines/ other SG personnel, and a few folks of Asian descent on base as well early on. There’s Dr Janet, and some of the nurses are women. But there’s no other women on SG teams – in fact I don’t think there ever is. Of the planets the team visits, there’s the excuse that the Goa’uld nabbed people from different regions on Earth, and that explains their general ethnic homogeneity. I don’t have a clear enough memory of the series to recall whether there’s something to be said for the planets they visit over all… but the Mongol-based planet is pretty primitive, with regressive patriarchal attitudes as well as simplistic clothing and ways of living; and then the Minoan planet is a lot prettier – amusing, and unsurprisingly, a distinct lack of bare boobs.
- Speaking of misogyny and boobs: when Apophis is choosing a new bride, he brings first the white, blonde woman – and we see her bare back, and that’s it. Sha’re, though – a brown woman – we see naked, full frontal, for a moment, and her boobs several times. It’s an interesting choice.
- The Jack / Teal’c dynamic is also delightful. Honestly most everything about Teal’c is a delight at this point.
- Episode 4: the first time the team brings back a disease and they Do Unexpected Things. I think this might be my favourite trope of all – definitely more than the “let’s visit a planet and fundamentally challenge their way of life.”
I’m not regretting having started this rewatch. Some of the stories, at least, definitely hold up. Can’t say the same for some of the prosthetics….
Sugar, season 1
I was spoiled for The Big Reveal before I started watching Sugar. I’m a bit mad about it, I’ll admit – it would have been tantalising; it was still tantalising enough; but it did also make me move watching the show further up the list. So there’s that.
ALL THE SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1, stop reading now.
Seriously.
Continue reading →Star Trek Picard
What, did you think I was kidding about leaping into Picard?
So… this was awfully lumpy.
(Spoilers ahead.)
Things I loved:
I love Raffi. I love that Picard’s arrogance is shown to have terrible consequences for those around him, I love that she is broken and that she is consciously trying to put herself back together again, I love that she has enormous emotional reserves for those around her and that she’s also very angry about everything that’s happened. I love how complex she is. I love that she is so badass.
I love Elnor. An Australian accent in space!?!?!?! I love that he gets to just… say whatever is in his mind, I love his mad skillz, I love the way he makes decisions. He’s just generally awesome.
I love Rios. I love his ridiculous 5-part holograms with their ludicrous accents. I love his skills, his development from wannabe mercenary to something else, I love his general attitude and his relationship with Raffi.
I love Seven. That she is not in a catsuit and that she continues to just generally be awesome. I love that she is shown to be complex, to have had a complex life since getting back to the Alpha Quadrant, and has learned some serious skills in snark.
I love old Riker and Troi. So cute. Less convinced by the kid, but whatever. I guess including them is basically just fanservice, but even I – as a not-massive TNG fan – enjoyed seeing them.
I really liked that it was actually Hugh, as the Director! Definitely fanservice there but it made even me happy. It’s a neat call-back and despite his fate, I’m glad we saw him.
I kinda liked Narek. I know, I KNOW, this shows terrible taste on my part. But… he’s an intriguing character! Mostly! Competing principles are compelling! Not that he deserves to be in the front of the image I’ve chosen, though: that really should be Soji.
I don’t mind Picard as a character. Look, I’ve seen a fair range of TNG; I don’t know all his complexities but I know enough. I think this does a good enough job of capturing the man – although I’m sure there are some people who are pissed that he’s shown to have epic levels of arrogance and selfishness (… I think they were obvious in the original show, personally). I quite liked that they showed him in his less than perfect humanity (ahahaha; little in-joke there). Having to deal with not everyone jumping at your beck and call – well, not immediately – made this just that bit different.
So there were good bits. I liked the idea of a captured Borg cube, I was intrigued by the idea of synthetics being banned, and there were some really great cinematic bits. But goodness the plot was just… lumpy. Also, the sound mixing was dreadful; there were lots of bits where I found the dialogue really hard to hear, and then explosions were LOUD.
Part of the problem is just how much is going on in the plot. Romulans and synthetics and Borg and secret police and people harvesting Borg and Picard having brain problems and… etc. I like a complex story, I really do, but this felt like a bunch of different plot lines that didn’t get properly woven together – like someone had LOTS OF IDEAS and they REALLY WANTED all of them to be in the show JUST IN CASE it didn’t get renewed. And yes it felt like it was happening in all-caps.
I didn’t mention Soji above. I liked her well enough? But she wasn’t my favourite character. And this made me sad. It should have been a show that was overwhelmingly, for the second half anyway, about her developing as a person when she discovers her life is a cover-up. But I don’t think she gets much character development, overall. I don’t know what could have been changed; I do know that I was left feeling like she wasn’t hugely different from when we first meet her, and that doesn’t make much sense.
When I first watched the credits, I thought it looked like Picard was being put together. And then there’s the stuff with Data, and then the vague intimation of a brain abnormality, and I had a wild assumption that Picard was himself going to turn out to be a synthetic – or had been replaced by one at some point. And then I shook my head and told myself not to be daft. And then the last ten minutes happened. Whoa.
Will I watch the next season? Of course; eventually. I don’t think I’ll be keeping Prime in anticipation, or getting it as soon as the first episode airs. But I am cautiously intrigued to see where it goes next, especially if Rios and Raffi stay on board (and what was that cutesy little hand-holding between Seven and Raffi?!).
Star Trek: Voyager (after s7)
And then it just… ended.
Don’t get me wrong; I really am glad they got back to the Alpha Quadrant. I’m glad the writers had an opportunity to make that happen when, I assume, the show was cancelled (for all their faults, I think here of Firefly, and to a lesser degree Jericho). But. Wow. What a last episode. What a sudden, screeching halt. I guess if it had to be done that way, it was fine?
Don’t get me wrong #2: two Janeways? Who disagree with one another? I can’t be sad about that.
Janeway: I adore the fact that she’s just so damned complicated. I really, really didn’t like her for the way she went after that rogue Federation ship to the detriment of all. And the time she basically condoned genocide. And several other very dubious choices. But they were never choices she was forced into – that is, she actively chose those things, and believed she was right; it wasn’t a state of helplessness. And it was never being “emotional” in a silly woman stereotype. I am perversely pleased that I got a chance to be legit angry at her. I do not regret to watch all of Voyager mostly so that I had a chance to understand this pivotal character in Star Trek.
Chakotay: nothing will ever remove my pure love for this character. Nothing. He is a marvellous 2IC, he got some great storylines, and there’s basically nothing I would change.
Janeway/Chakotay: never in my life have I shipped a non-canon couple as completely, as wholeheartedly, as I ship these two.
I have taken to reading J/C fanfiction.
Seven of Nine: given my words above, you might think I am angry at Seven by the end of the show. You would be wrong, not least because I am capable of divorcing a character from the narrative choices made by showrunners. I do not like the Seven/Chakotay romance idea, but that’s largely because of the age difference (not necessarily a problem but made more problematic by her relative youth as a human) and the abruptness of it all. I was intrigued by the idea of her “practising” with a hologram of Chakotay (and can’t fault her choice), and choose to believe that she was continuing the experiment. ANYWAY, aside from all that, I do feel resentment that Seven was basically a long-running experiment herself, along the lines of “how long can we keep an actress in a catsuit OH LOOK AS LONG AS WE LIKE.” I liked a lot about Seven’s narrative arcs: her growth, her experiences, her comments on the rest of the crew… usually…
B’Elanna: I continued to enjoy her a lot, too. I like her attitude and her honesty and her competence.
B’Elanna/Tom Paris: dear God I came around to B/T. I can’t believe it.
Naomi Wildemann: I will never understand the seeming necessity for including a child character. That said, if there had to be one, Naomi was usually ok. I didn’t enjoy the one ep where she was hiding on the holodeck with the kids’ characters blah blah, but overall she wasn’t written too saccharine.
Neelix: eventually blended into the background, I guess? I still don’t really care for him but he did have some good moments. And quite a good end to his narrative, I thought.
The Doctor: continues to be a pain in the butt.
Harry: continues to just be a bit bland. Sorry, Harry; you are a henchman, not a leader.
Tuvok: I love that Tim Russ got to show a few moments of not being Vulcan; it made Tuvok all the more remarkable as a character. Like Seven, I like Tuvok for the contrast he provides with the rest of the crew, as well as for his own contributions.
I spent… a lot of the last few months pretty obsessed with Voyager. Clearly; seven seasons is a lot of television. And now it’s done. I feel somewhat bereft! (well, I would be feeling more bereft were it not for the admission made above about J/C…) This is the first Star Trek I’ve watched end to end, aside from Disco, which of course is not yet finished. I crammed seven years into about four months, which I would probably not repeat, but again – I don’t regret it. It was fascinating to see narrative choices, and reflect on late 90s tv choices, and all of those sorts of things.
And now that I’m done with Voyager, I can start of Picard.
Star Trek: Voyager #2
Previously, on Star Trek: Voyager… (my take on it anyway).
I’ve just started season 5 so I thought I’d offer some more ruminations.
I continue to love Janeway. I think I particularly love that I don’t always like her and the decisions she makes – she’s allowed to be flawed, and occasionally vicious, and the sorts of things I dislike in other captains: egotistical, mildly imperialist, and so on. I am unconvinced by the number of away missions she herself leads, and especially when she and Chakotay both go. Really? you’re taking your entire command structure to an unknown planet? That seems… unwise. Anyway, “Night” is an amazing episode for suggesting Janeway may not always cope, although the fact that it comes back to her being all self-sacrificial due to guilt was a bit passe. She’s had a few awesome Ripley moments, too, which I enjoyed very much. She can be both a cerebral scientist and a gun-toting soldier.
I have nothing much to add about Chakotay. My love for him remains pure and unsullied. The opening of “Worst Case Scenario” therefore had me very worried, at the idea that he would be a mutineer, although it was clear something hinky was happening… the revelation about the holodeck story and how that all plays out is magnificent. “Year of Hell” was exceptional and I was hugely impressed by the stress everyone, but perhaps especially Chakotay, was put under… although less impressed by the “it was all a dream!” retcon. “Unforgettable” made me deeply uncomfortable because I was never entirely sure that the alien who claims Chakotay used to be in love with her was actually for real. At this point I can absolutely see why there are people who ship Janeway and Chakotay; especially after their little holiday alone on a planet that kept them alive. I am reserving judgement.
I was so sad that Kes left, especially so abruptly. I was particularly sad that it happened literally as Seven of Nine arrived, making it seem like only so many women are allowed to have the screen. Kes had some great episodes – I am very ambivalent about “Before and After”, though: while I enjoyed Kes having centre stage, I was unconvinced by either the Tom or the Harry relationships. In fact I found them a bit squicky. I’m glad the show had a place for someone like Kes, even if she didn’t continue for the whole series.
And so, Seven of Nine. My first question is about how Jeri Ryan felt about acting in a body stocking with her underwear clearly visible. I think she’s fantastic, and working in that sort of situation just makes her even more remarkable. I was grumbling a bit about the costuming and then discovered that apparently her appearance on the show made ratings rise 60% so… yeh. Guess that worked out for the show and Ryan just had to put up with it, right? I think Seven is a fabulous character. I love her development as a character, and as a human; I love her struggle with human inefficiencies, like politeness, which let’s face it a lot of us get impatient with occasionally. “One” was fantastic in the way it examined what it would be like to go from part of the collective to completely alone; almost every interaction between Seven and Janeway is a delight to watch.
“Retrospect” nearly made me stop watching the show. In it, Seven exhibits anxiety during a routine medical, and the Doctor works with her to uncover repressed memories of having been assaulted and Borg nano-stuff taken from her by an alien Voyager is currently trading with. Said trader denies it all, there’s a chase and the trader ends up dying. People start by believing Seven, but then everyone gradually changes their mind. The analogy to rape cannot be ignored, and neither can the all-too-familiar story of a woman’s word being ignored. Seven’s distress is ultimately dismissed. There is no further help for her in dealing with the memories – and even if they’re false, they’re still present and still distressing. All of that is horrifying and basically had me sitting there thinking “this is 45 minutes explaining why #MeToo was necessary.” And then, to top it all off, the show ends with a focus on the Doctor, not on Seven: the Doctor feeling remorseful about trying out his new psychologist subroutine, and “oh no maybe I did something terrible I feel so bad.” So the show manages to make a rape-analogous narrative coming back to being about a man and his inadequacies.
I decided I would keep watching, obviously. And there are a lot of good reasons to do so – not least Seven herself who keeps being awesome (although I am ambivalent about the episode “Drone” where she kinda gets a weird version of the Magical Pregnancy).
I have little more to say about the rest of the crew. Tom manages to be slightly less annoying as things progress although he’s still a pain in the butt; the way he treats B’Elanna infuriates me. B’Elanna continues to be awesome, Harry is fine but rarely stands out, Neelix is never going to be a favourite. I remain keen to watch the rest of the series and look forward to discovering what happens to them all. I assume they get home but I have no idea how!
