Stargate: SG-1
Season One Commentaries

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Here you can find my commentaries for all of the SG episodes from Season One. Usually you can find the commentaries right here, but every now and again I'll have to refer you to another file. The commentary will still be written by me and it'll still be a file on my site, but you'll just have to wait while it loads.

Children of the Gods

The Enemy Within
|Official Summary|

This episode is more appropriate as part two of the pilot. A Goa'uld which entered Kawalsky was seen to have taken him over towards the end of Children of the Gods, and in this epidode we see it destroyed. This episode is a good mythological episode, as it shows that removing a Goa'uld from its host can destroy the host. It also shows that young Goa'uld may not be able to take over their host yet, as is the case with Teal'c.

Another reason this belongs as part two of the pilot that Teal'c's character is explored more in-depth. In Children of the Gods, he seemed to be little more than a convenient character who helped SG-1 escape from certain doom: in this episode, we see just what Teal'c means when he says the Jaffa are a slave race to the Goa'uld, and learn just how ruthless a Goa'uld can be. Another point the episode makes is when Teal'c confronts Kawalsky's Goa'uld, not bending to its orders but helping the humans. This proves that Teal'c is loyal to anyone who will fight the Goa'uld.

The storyline is, unfortunately, let down by its predictability, which is a shame for such a mythologically important chapter. I personally would have like to have seen Kawalsky's Goa'uld act as a kind of mole inside SGC. That would have put a lovely spin on several episodes.

Emancipation
|Official Summary|
Given that almost all cultures on Earth have favoured men over women, it seems almost commonplace that an alien culture would have such a hierachy. But in Emancipation, the culture is that of Mongols; the dominant power in Asia during the time of Marco Polo. And the sexual discrimination, as it were, here is almost intolerable by modern standards; women cannot speak to a sovreign or even show their faces to anyone other than immediate family. This is a 'policy' which Captain Carter obviously loathes, since she is one of Earth's top scientists.

Aside from being somewhat politically-minded, this story is yet another rehash of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; two youths from warring families fall in love and try to be united against all odds. And this is probably where the story loses its footing; Carter becomes dowry for the lovers' marriage, despite the fact that both families still have their (violent) differences.

But this episode does have one memorable scene; in exchange for Carter's life, Colonel O'Neil gives a Mongul a pistol. The tribe continuously fire the weapon, proud at their new magic....but SG-1 rides off before teaching them how to replace the magazine!!

The Broca Divide

The First Commandment
|Official Summary|

It's interesting to note that in this episode, the enemy is not a Goa'uld but rather simply a nutcase of a human being. Another thing which this episode shows is how such a lunatic can easily become the ruler of a people and get everything he wants simply by teaching them the Bible and saying it's his biography; an interesting insight into human nature.

That the bad guy was Captain Carter's ex-fiancée could have been explored a bit deeper than it was in this episode. It seems to me that it's something they included simply to give Carter a social life, which isn't something every female character needs.

Cold Lazarus
|Official Summary|
In the movie, we meet Colonel O'Neil as a man who is suicidal over the death of his son. In Children of the Gods, it's shown that Skaara reminded O'Neil of his lost son, which is why he vows to struggle so hard in trying to remove Klorel from Skaara. In Cold Lazarus, we see a further investigation into O'Neil confronting the death of his son.

The Nox
|Official Summary|
This episode is one of moral conviction, showing how it's not wise to let primitive peoples have the wonders of advanced technology in case it is used for good instead of evil. That, and to establish that there are other races in the universe which may or may not be at war with the Goa'uld.

Brief Candle
|Official Summary|
For the second time in a single season, SG-1 are forced to combat something which is virus-related. Except this time, the 'virus' is the result of an experiment in speeding up a species' evolution, simply so a Goa'uld could know what their human hosts would become in years to come. This episode shows just how inconsiderate (for want of a better word) the Goa'uld are when it comes to races other than their own; to a Goa'uld, it seems, everything exists to give them more power.

The experiment here is using nanocites, which cause physical aging. However, it's only a computer simulation, and by destroying the computer the simulation ends and, given time, the affected return to their normal age, which is the only way Colonel O'Neil survived the process.

One thing to note in this episode is that Colonel O'Neil is taught by one of the affected natives to 'cherish every day'. This is probably a very important thing for O'Neil to learn, as in the movie and Cold Lazarus, it shows that O'Neil is still having trouble coming to terms with the death of his son. Later on in the series, O'Neil isn't as self-loathing as he previously is.

This episode is a good one to see once, but once you've seen it, that's it. A shame, really, for such a good concept.

Thor's Hammer
|Official Summary|
Since the story of the Goa'uld is based around Ancient Egyptian mythology, it seems appropriate that other ancient Earthern cultures would also have their footing from other planets. This was previously explored in Emancipation and will be explored again in Fire and Water.

The mythology being told here is that of the Norse god Thor, whom the day Thursday was named after. Thor is described as a just god, and here he protects the Cimmerians from would-be Goa'uld invaders.

The Torment of Tantalus
|Official Summary|
We all know about Greek mythology, and it's certainly a topic which I find facination with. And the ancient Greek Tantalus was not a very nice man; he had the cheek to invite the Gods to a cannibal feast! As punishment Hades, the God of the Underworld, sentenced him to stand in a pool of water but never to drink from it. (Though in another legend, a guest of Hades felt sorry for him and used a cup to allow Tantalus to drink.)

In this episode we learn that there's a kind of United Nations among the aliens, where the Goa'uld are the vertitable Saddam Insane. Among the members of this alien UN are the Asgard, whom we first brushed with in Thor's Hammer, and in the Season Two episode Thor's Chariot we learn are the little grey aliens who (supposedly) crashed at Roswell and who continue to abduct humans for weird medical experiments.

We also see Catherine Langford for the first time since the movie, and her character is explored in a little more detail. We'll see Catherine later in There but for the Grace of God, and hopefully again in Season Two.

This episode is also a good one for morals, showing that knowledge is useless if you can't share it with others. And that it takes a great man to be content with what he has. This is a very good episode.

Bloodlines

Fire and Water
|Official Summary|

In Thor's Hammer and The Torment of Tantalus, it's shown that there are a number of races, at least four, other than the Goa'uld. Often these races are peace-loving ones who are trying to stop the Goa'uld from overrunning the universe. The Asgard (Thor's Hammer) are one such race, and their culture is based on the Norse legends of Earth. In Fire and Water, the culture of the aliens we're introduced to is that of Babylon.

It's good that we meet another race who oppose the Goa'uld, and at the same time we learn of which aliens introduced what I'm calling mind-wipe; the removal of one's memories and replacing them for another. But at the same time, the story is all about trying to rescue one of the team from probable doom. It's that slow pace which brings the episode down.

Hathor
|Official Summary|
This episode has its origins in the fact that Earth was once ruled by the Goa'uld before being kicked out after a rebellion. And of all the Goa'uld to be in charge of our wonderful planet, it had to be the Supreme System Lord, Re. This episode shows that Re is indeed the scumbag he's stereotyped into being, as he's quite prepared to bury his wife for ten thousand years just because they had a domestic.

This episode is also important in that it shows several aspects of Goa'uld phisiology. That is something which is always important throughout the series, in the never-ending quest to find a cure for a Goa'uld host. In this episode, we learn that a symbiot can alter itself to some degree, so that regardless of its host it will have some chance of surviving.

It is also refreshing to see Captain Carter leading this struggle against the Goa'uld, since all of her male comerades have succumbed to a kind of love potion Hathor has.

Singularity
|Official Summary|
This episode opens with a virus attack on a missing SG-7. SG-1 are sent to find them and find a sole survivor, a native of the affected planet. But SGC is put into turmoil when they learn that a kind of bomb, created using the Stargate element naquida, has been implanted inside her.

The young refugee, Cassandra, is a sweet little thing we all can adore. But it's Captain Carter who'll be the one who mostly falls in love with Cassandra. What this episode develops into is a race to save the world before succumbing to the naquida bomb, while Captain Carter finds herself more and more personally involved in the dealing.

We'll see Cassandra and the bond between her and Carter in the Season Two episode, In the Line of Duty.

Cor-Ai
|Official Summary|
So far, Teal'c has gone without reprisals from anyone for the crimes he committed while working for Apophis. But in this episode, he is sentenced to death for killing a man. Teal'c will offer virtually nothing in the way of a defence, leaving SG-1 desperately looking for a way to save him.

The race SG-1 encounter here are the main source of hosts for the Goa'uld. As a result, much of their culture revolves around running as far away as they can, as quickly as they can, when their Stargate opens. But none of the natives leave any of their own behind; they can run only as fast as the slowest of them. Therefore, when ordered to kill one of the natives during a near-riot by Apophis, Teal'c killed an old man. Which meant that though Teal'c did kill that man in cold blood, he did it to try and help the natives.

Much of this episode reads just like a court hearing; slow and boring.

Enigma
|Official Summary|
This episode shows just how primitive and intolerent Earthlings, past and present, can be. SG-1 rescue an advanced race from their dying homeworld, only to learn that the group do not wish to be rescued and are extremely unco-operative. But this advanced race are human; as Daniel Jackson explains, Earth went through the Dark Ages when technological developments were considered a sin. As a result, this race is thousands of years ahead of Earth.

Aside from showing prejudice against aliens by humans, this episode also shows the major scientific 'impossibilities' which may become reality given time, such as 'bending' of space and walking through walls. And while having nothing to do with science, Captain Carter falls for one of the refugees, whom we may never see again as they are relocated to a planet outside the Stargate system.

The plot revolves around SG-1 trying to relocate the refugees to a peaceful planet before the research and development bureau-bums from Area 51 get their hands on them. Which isn't really much worth remembering.

Solitudes

Tin Man
|Official Summary|

With every truly awesome TV series, there is always at least one episode where you just have to sit back, take a good, long hard look at it and ask "Why?"

Well, ladies and gentleman, Tin Man is one such episode. SG-1 disembark on an almost-deserted and technology-bound planet, only to be knocked out cold. When they later wake up, SG-1 realise they are no longer human and suspect that their minds have been transferred into robot bodies. But no, they are in fact robot clones; the actual SG-1 team have been recovering from the stun ray the native zapped them with.

Now, considering that we just saw Solitudes, which had just one almost-mundane task yet it managed to become one of the finest episodes we ever saw, you'd think that the bulk of the story - the robotized SG-1 team trying to get the robot scientist to return them to their original bodies - would come out trumps. Well, sorry to disappoint, but about half-way through this, I was just yelling at the telly; just turn them back into humans and be done with it!!

But no; we're subjected to 3/4of an hour of the native robotized scientist telling the robotized SG-1 team that he can't return them to their original body, but he won't offer an explination why. Despite the fact that Teal'c malfunctions and needs to be reconstructed, he still won't explain to the robots that they aren't the original SG-1 team.

The only memorable scene for me was to see the clones and the originals have a bit of a yell at each other, and where the cloned Captain Carter tells her original that they're perfect copies, right down to a birthmark which they have, but the original Carter cuts off her clone before revealing the location!

There but for the Grace of God

Politics

Within the Serpent's Grasp

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