2010

This might be the prettiest episode produced by SG-1. There was a grand plot, an interesting new race, and some great team moments. So why did I find it unsatisfying? Well, it fell into the alternate reality trap. Everything in this episode, essentially, never happened, which ultimately devalued the drama. There was some fun speculation, but it had little influence on the series as a whole.

I love to compare the superficial differences in alternate reality episodes. First off, Dr. Fraiser’s hair looked fantastic! She always struck me as the motherly type, but she looked down right foxy with that cut. I liked Sam’s gelled up hair, too. Daniel had a new pair of glasses, which are actually in style now. It took me a couple of moments to realize it, but Teal’c had his tattoo removed.

I thought the triangle between Ambassador Joe, Sam, and Jack was intriguing. It was pretty clear that Jack felt letdown by Sam, and Joe didn’t trust Jack. Since Sam sucks at dating, she must have picked Joe over Jack at some point. It was strangely typical of her to fall for a guy who was complicit in genocide.

There was one other thing that caught my attention. This was the first time I watched this episode since Don S. Davis passed away. It was sad to hear the toast to General Hammond knowing that he really is gone.

Oh, and Kinsey as the President was not a pleasant thought.

My Rating: 7/10

Chain Reaction

Jack turned to Maybourne, who was on death row for his treasonous involvement with the Russians, after General Hammond resigned his position on short notice. The NID had previously pressured Hammond to pursue weapon technologies, and they went so far as to threaten his grandchildren to achieve their goals. As much as it disgusted him, Jack offered to speak to the President on behalf of Maybourne if they could find the people who forced Hammond out.

Back at the SGC, General Bauer immediately started screwing things up. He gave Daniel a desk job, assigned Sam to build a bomb, and put Teal’c on SG-3. I know General Bauer was supposed to be a stereotypical hardass, but he actually reminded me of the Admiral from Hot Shots!. I kept waiting for him to say something like, “My eyes are ceramic. Caught a bazooka round at Little Big Horn. Or was it Okinawa? The one without the Indians.”

Jack and Maybourne’s hunt lead to Senator Kinsey. Everyone’s favorite person to hate had been involved with the NID all along. With the information they obtained from Kinsey’s computer, Hammond was able to return to the SGC and Maybourne was transfer to a more hospitable prison. Maybourne was last seen sipping a tropical drink with his arm around a woman. Presumably, he had escaped.

Fun tidbit: Oscar, Senator Kinsey’s dog, was actually Richard Dean Anderson’s dog. He was a cute doggy.

My Rating: 7/10

Politics

The opening scenes of this episode were surprisingly good, and Jack was in fine form. Within the first ten minutes, he made a Wizard of Oz reference, called someone Sparky, and got General Hammond to laugh. After that, it was just a clip show. 

Senator Kinsey made the interludes interesting. He was infuriatingly self-righteous and smarmy. Like Colonel Maybourne, he’s one of the villains everyone loves to hate. Sadly, he seemed like he would fit perfectly in the current Senate. 

The show ended after Kinsey decided to stop funding the stargate program. All operations were to be stopped immediately. 

My Rating: 4/10