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Many thanks to Bethany Heard for writing a review of these Stargate episodes. All episodes were reviewed by Bethany unless otherwise stated.

Episode 1 -Children of the Gods Pt 1
Reviewer’s Rating: 9 out of 10
This is the story that puts the team together – Jack is seen being retrieved from his house... He seems to live quite the loner’s life, and isn’t all that happy when the USAF turn up and encroach on his quiet existence... He wonders about the world beyond, but is getting used to his life alone. Jack seems to be putting his life back together after the Mission through the Stargate a while back, that convinced him he still has a reason to live in spite of the death of his son – But that doesn’t mean he loves the idea of going back to the secret world of Stagates and Cheyenne Mountain, to do the bidding of the USAF. Once there, he approaches his duty warily but willing, if they’ll just trust him to do things on his own terms... So, he takes Sam Carter, his new colleague, capable but still itching to prove her worth as a female in the Air Force... And his old friends Kowalsky and Feretti on a Mission to the one Stargate address they know of, Abydos – To try and find out how and why and where a missing Cheyenne Mountain  Air Force woman has been stolen away to...  Jack’s pleasantly surprised when the Mission seems to be going smoothly step by step:  The Abydonians, including Daniel and his wife, Sha’re, are pleased to see Jack again... The adventure seems to open up again when Daniel shows Jack a map, on Abydos, that might show a network of other Stargates all over the Galaxy... But then, literally, disaster strikes! Apophis (A Goa’uld and false god) bursts though the Abydonian Stargate, striking out for his own nefarious purposes, and steals two of the most precious members of Daniel’s beloved new family; Sha’re and her brother, Skaara... Daniel is distraught; he deeply loves his wife, and, being an orphan, he’s already lost one family... He’s determined not to lose another!

Episode 2 - Children of the Gods Pt 2
Reviewer’s Rating: 9 out of 10
Daniel is determined that the Air Force should help hm rescue his wife and brother in law... He knows what it’s like to live without a family, and he doesn’t want to revisit that old territory... Or to let his father in law, Kasuf, suffer that loneliness... He is also terrified for his wife, of course... Jack, too, knows what it’s like to have to live life without your family and with tragedy... So, Daniel has an ally in helping to convince Hammond, leader of the SGC, that he should send Air-men on a rescue mission... Jack’s a loyal man. He doesn’t leave people behind, and Hammond, for all the responsibilities of leadership, all the unknowns out there, is of the same mould...  They know now, where Apophis took Sha’re and Skaara, because Jack’s injured colleague Feretti, who had been left for dead by the forces of Apophis, saw the address that was dialled up... So, Jack, Sam, Daniel and co head off on a Mission to a place called Chulak... Daniel is there as the foremost Stargate/Ancient cultures expert... Sam is there with her USAF and Scientist’s hat on, while Jack, of course, is the fearless, stubborn leader... But in spite of all of this, they still get trapped, thrown into a prison with lots of very afraid people, including Skaara, with whom they are reunited. They know that Apophis is going to Lord it over them! And he swans into the prison with Sha’re on his arm! Daniel, along with Skaara, lunges forward to save her. Jack and Sam have to hold Daniel back... Skaara is dragged away... And our heroes are left alone again with the other prisoners’, until Apophis First Prime, the Jaffa, Teal’c, turns up, charged with the responsibility of killing them all... Jack sees that Teal’c hesitates in doing this, possibly because he feels guilty for picking the likes of Sha’re out on behalf of his ‘Lord’ Apophis, whom wanted a beautiful young woman to host his new Queen... This appears to be the fate of Sha’re, whose eyes now glow as insidiously as Apophis’s. And, with a bit of luck, Jack just happens to be talking to the only Jaffa, it seems, in the land of Chulak, whom has had misgivings about the god-hood of Apophis... This is one step too far for him – He cannot kill this room full of people, and when Jack tells Teal’c he will make sure the Jaffa has a place to call home on Earth, Teal’c helps this roomful of suddenly very fortunate people, to escape their imminent death..! But for the moment at the very least, it’s too late for Sha’re and Skaara!!

Episode 3 - The Enemy Within
Reviewer’s Rating:  8 out of 10
In the midst of the beginnings of Hell on Earth, if Apophis has anything to do with it, the SGC is being bombarded with Goa’uld bombs!  Everyone is trying to believe that they can win the battle; Distraught Dr. Daniel Jackson included....Thankfully, a new ‘iris’, in essence an iron curtain to stop the bombs getting through and devastating The SGC and any other possible threat, has been added to the Stargate... But there is evil at the SGC, trying to break out, as well as the evil that is trying to break in through the Gate! It turns out that poor Charles Kowalsky (did Jack name his late son, Charlie, after this man??) was overtaken by a Goa’uld during the fight on Chulak recently... The SGC are nervous as hell, with the pressure of keeping the enemy away from their door... And, of course, they now have Teal’c to figure out! Is he someone they can trust, or is he another attempt by Apophis to undermine the security and safety of Earth?? But now, they also have to deal with the fact that Kowalsky has the enemy within him... He is strapped to an Infirmary bed, courageously coping with the fact that a snake is trying to shove him so deep into his own body, so far away from the driver’s seat,  to overwhelm him and use him as a vessel so completely, that he may as well be dead..! During all the attempts to save his life, Jack O’Neill, his old friend, is there to hold his hand, and tell him that it’s worth fighting..! The SGC medical experts rally around Kowalsky, making magnificent attempts to save his life, and give him back sole control of his body... But the Goa’uld within him tricks them all by shedding its snake-like skin, and Charles Kowalsky dies at the hand of his dear friend, Jack O’Neill, who, with his death, is given another guilt to live with..! This ep loses two points, in my estimation, for killing off Kowalsky – a character with so much personality and promise – whose presence would really have added some nice chemistry to the things that go on beneath Cheyenne Mountain..!

Episode 4 - Emancipation
Reviewer’s Rating: 6 and a half out of 10
On an exploratory Mission through the Stargate, Major Samantha Carter saves the life of Abu, a young man whose race has Ancestors among the Mongol tribes of Earth... His people live on this planet because, like the Abydonians, they were transplanted from Earth (known to the Goa’uld and Jaffa as Tauri!) many, many generations ago, by a Goa’uld... Abu is not exactly grateful. He was saved by a woman! And he decides to show his strength and cunning by kidnapping Samantha, in order to give her to the father of the young girl he is in love with, in return for the young girl’s freedom... Her name is Nya and her father is a tyrant. Sam becomes a part of his harem, making her getaway plans all the while... But she adapts them when she takes pity on the plight of Abu and Nya, and tries to rescue Nya from her terrible life... Jack, Daniel, and Teal’c, whom along with Sam, are now known as the newly formed SG1 (The SGC’’s foremost Explorers’) come to Sam Carter’s rescue... But she is asked to kick butt on this planet one more time.... The butt of Nya’s father, Turghan, most specifically, when she has to fight with him in one last attempt to save Nya from a terrible life in his ownership... Eventually, SG1 leave, after Sam wins the fight for Nya’s freedom and her own..! Nya and Abu are left to try and live happily ever after,  a life which hopefully involves knowing that women are not property!! This episode is entertaining, and not a bad story exactly, but loses points, in my opinion, for being rather formulaic, and a little short-sighted  in how the Mongolian people, (even if their society’s development was arrested by their isolation) are archaically and somewhat one dimensionally written for the purposes of this rather old fashioned piece of story telling... I like old fashioned, but not when it becomes detrimental to the strength of a tale!!! If this story had just been able to tone down its stereotyping ever so slightly, it would have earned at least one more point!!

Episode 5 - The Broca Divide
Reviewer’s Rating: 7 out of 10 (if for nothing more than the Jack and Janet scenes and Teal’c’s  ‘I am not Lucy..!’ comment!!)
It’s time for a little bit of anguish, some fun, and plenty of hormones running around the place when SG1 return from a planet where they are infected by something equated to The Broca Divide... There’s also room for some sweetness and sentimentality shown in Jack and Dr Janet Frasier’s compassionate scenes!  The Broca Divide is created by something like a pollen, and, on the planet through the Gate, it divides a society... But back at the SGC it is confined for the moment, and creating havoc among the likes of SG1; Hormonal havoc; There are lots of emotional outbursts, lots of hormonally driven arguments, and, probably a lot of sex being had in the locker rooms! Sam tries it on with Jack (she’d be dumb if she didn’t! I mean, who wouldn’t!??)... It’s all because this ‘pollen’ makes people act like much more basic, neandertholic human beings!! Only Teal’c, Daniel and Janet are immune... It turns out that this is because Teal’c’s larval Goa’uld, his symbiote (carrying them is the purpose of a Jaffa) saves him from the affects in its own effort at self preservation... And, as for Janet and Daniel – They both take antihistamines! Voila! A cure is soon served up for everyone (but not before Jack pleads with Janet to test the cure on him!) – On Earth and on the planet of the bronze age Minoan Society where SG1 first encountered and became those ‘Touched’ by The Broca Divide...

Episode 6 - The First Commandment
Reviewer’s Rating: 7 out of 10
A member of the SGC, who slipped through the recruitment net, and whom just happens to be Sam Carter’s ex fiancée from years’ ago, has gone rogue on a planet... A team sent in to extricate him are almost entirely annihilated... So, SG1 are sent in, to recue any survivors of the previous team, and rid this world of Sam’s ex, Jonas Hanson!! Hanson nearly gets the better of them all (Sam is furious that he still has power of persuasion over her!), but, at the last minute, Jack whom has been captured by him, and is being led to his death, sets himself free, and is helped by SG1 to convince the inhabitants of this planet that they have nothing to fear by overthrowing this unstable zealot Jonas Hanson! Desperate for his ‘god-hood’, Jonas battles with Jack, but soon the people of the planet on which they stand, join the fight, grab hold of Hanson, and tip him into the upturned Gate through which he was just about to send O’Neill to his death!!!

Episode 6 - Cold Lazarus
Reviewer’s Rating: 9 out of 10
This episode is tough to watch, because of the subject matter – the death of a child – Jack’s child, his and Sara’s son, Charlie…Charlie was a kid who always wanted to be just like his hero father, Jack… He was too smart for his own good – finding a way to get to Jack’s gun, but not smart enough not to play with it… This is the story of how he accidentally shoots himself. In a later episode, it is implied that Jack told him many times that guns were not toys – Though perhaps, his vehemence at that point is simply because, with a little scifi twist, he knows what’s coming… As you do throughout this story… The moment is superbly acted, and still hits you like a bullet itself… The only thing is, the Jack in this story feels the pain, like his own bullet to the heart… But he has no idea why… It’s a copy of our Jack O’Neill. This ‘man’ is totally non-threatening… He only wants to learn – But the man ‘picked’ for him to be a copy of is Jack O’Neill… And inside Jack O’Neill there’s this vile pain that the copy cannot get his head around… So, free on Earth, because no one yet knows of his copy status, he goes back home… Home to the place where it happened, and Sara, who now has her father living with her…’Jack’ does the grieving that the real Jack has never allowed himself to do; because real Jack was afraid he wouldn’t be able to put himself back together, because he didn’t want to cause Sara more pain by being seen to be weak, and because he didn’t feel he deserved the grief… Real Jack feels he deserves the pain of being undeserving of the natural process of grieving… The copy Jack is not like this at all… He only wants to make sense of this pain, get through it… So, he and Sara can talk like she and the real Jack never did… She is very worried for her ex husband, assuming his grief has overtaken him because of the years’ that he’s buried it along with his son,  as he seems to be breaking with reality in one way and finally realising it in another. ‘He’ asks for Charlie, but then, seems to realise all over again that the boy is dead, and is unable to hold back the grief this time around! Sara can see him grieve, which helps that part of her that can’t forgive the fact that the gun wouldn’t have been there for Charlie to shoot himself with, if it weren’t for his father, Jack… Eventually, the SGC members realise that the Jack that’s gone home to Sara is not the real deal, but a crystalline copy, created at the point of touch contact with the crystalline structures they found on a planet at the beginning of the episode…  (The real Jack has woken up, having been knocked out by the power surge from the moment he touched the crystal, and has come back through the Gate!)  SG1 have to go get copy Jack, who by now has gone to hospital, as Sara witnesses his crystalline structure breaking down/causing him problems! And later, in an abandoned part of the hospital, Sara is reunited with real Jack; the two of them get to speak with a copy of their son, (previously copy-Jack) before real Jack gets to escort crystalline copy-Charlie back to his planet… Set aside the scifi shenanigans that make the reunion, etc, possible, and this is a heart-wrenching, awesomely acted/written story – If you’re one to cry, you will cry yourself a river! It’s a story about human emotion, about grief, about finding the strength to live on after tragedy, and about what those in our lives whom have died will always mean to us..!

Episode 7 - The Nox
Reviewer’s Rating: 9 out of 10
SG1 travel through the Gate to some kind of Forest Planet… Having just got through the Gate, when they turn back, it has disappeared… SG1 were sent to this planet by pressure… The US government demanded that they see some return on all the money and resources spent on The Stargate Program… So, Teal’c tells them of a beast on a particular planet, a creature named the Fenri, and how it possesses the power of invisibility… Hoping to find out how the Stargate on this planet apparently has the power of invisibility as well, SG1, now on this misguided Mission,  march on through the forest… They need to find a way to get home after all… But the trouble is, they march right in on a hunting expedition, lead by Apophis himself, who is also looking for the Fenri… Hiding, SG1 formulate a plan to try and capture Apohis, and find out where Sha’re and Skaara are… But it all goes terribly wrong, and SG1 appear to be mortally wounded… However, they wake up in a little hut somewhere… And the Nox introduce themselves… They are the very private race,  whom live on this planet with complete invisibility (unless they allow people, like SG1, to see them!) – and it was they who made the Fenri invisible… They healed SG1, and also, one of Apophis’ wounded serpent guards, whom Teal’c goes to see… But is again wounded by when trying to stop an escape attempt by this foot soldier… Lya, one of the Nox family whom SG1 meet, is also very badly wounded by this man…But again, the Nox use their healing powers, and Teal’c, I think, is healed by his symbiote… After this, Nefrayu, the Nox child of this family, is fooled by Apophis, who finds him wandering in the forest, looking for adventure, inspired by SG1, but the Nox find their son and heal him also… SG1 are determined to rid the Nox planet of the impending threat of Apophis and his Guard… But before they can do them any damage, the Nox reveal that they are very much capable of defending themselves and their city… They send Apophis and co back home pronto, and allow SG1 to see their magnificent floating city in the distance, before revealing the hidden Stargate, so that SG1 can use it again, and return to their home as well… This episode is full of charm… And packed with invested emotion… It is beautifully put together, to draw the viewer into the Nox’ wonderful and rather magical Kingdom… I thoroughly adore this episode!

Episode 8 - Brief Candle
Reviewer’s Rating: 8 out of 10
SG1 set out through the Stargate to do their Exploratory stuff (!) and  find themselves on a rather Grecian or maybe, Greco-Roman planet (Argos)! It’s the start of a busy Mission for them, as the first thing they have to do when they step through the Gate is let Daniel deliver a baby! Because he does this so wonderfully, he and SG1 are welcomed by the lovely people of this planet, and are made rather a fuss of! One of the women takes a shine to Jack, and no sooner is he through warning Daniel and the others of the Garden of Eden, then he takes a piece of ‘cake’ from the beautiful young woman who has a bit of a crush on him! Very naughty Jack! Well, no, not at this moment – The naughtiness comes very shortly after the cake (which looks like a pizza, and is ‘only for Jack’) is eaten… The next morning SG1 awake, wondering why everyone seemed to fall asleep so soon, the natives included… But they are minus one member – Jack is not with them – No. He is in the tent with glorious Kynthia, who made him the cake! Sam is frustrated, and disappointed in a rather hung over Jack… But Jack realises something odd is going on… He may have been drugged, but everyone here is acting like they do this every day…. Only, they are a little worried as to why they slept in so late! And then, after Samantha discovers that the baby Daniel helped deliver yesterday (baby Daniel) is already about fifteen months old, (!) Jack begins to age rapidly…. SG1 go back to Earth to try and safely figure all of this out from a distance, but they leave Jack behind with Kynthia and co… Kynthia reveals to Jack that she thinks they are married (the cake was a wedding cake!) – and that to The Chosen, the Creator gives 100 Blissful days… Sam and Dr Frasier, back at the SGC, find that Jack has nanites in his blood stream, little robots that are mimicking the affects of ageing… Basically,  long since absent  and probably dusted,  Argos, the Goa’uld, took the chosen to this planet thousands of years ago, and rapidly sped up their ageing process, as part of an experiment… A day equals about a year in the life of the Argosians! Meanwhile, on Argos (the planet!) Jack and Kynthia are puzzled by the fact that while out walking and talking on the beach, they haven’t fallen asleep already, because it is way after sunset… Jack realises there is something wrong with the machine Argos left on the planet to make this sleeping happen, and thus, control the people and their nanites… He figures the people don’t have to be dependent on it, and convinces the whole village to help him tear down the machine which is an impressive statue of Argos… The people are afraid of being struck down, but are ready to stop the oppression, especially since they realise that not everyone only has 100 days to live! After that, SG1 arrive back through the Gate with the news that the affects of the nanites in Jack’s blood stream can be carefully reversed, as the nanites in him only were only programmed to mimmick ageing, so that he would stay on the planet and give up..! They also deactivate the Nanites in The Chosen, taking away Argos’ technology, and leaving them to live happy, and long lives… They promise to come back and help out if Argos ever returns, but it appears he never does, as Argos is never again mentioned throughout the show… So, it is nice to believe that The Argosians were left alone by any and all possible enemies out there, and continued to live in their little paradise, but for much, much longer than they ever before hoped!!!

Episode 9 - Thor’s Hammer
Reviewer’s Rating: 8 out of 10
On a mission to find Earth some allies against the Goa’uld, SG1 find out exactly why P3X-974 is off limits to the Goa’uld… The Simmerians (of  P3X-974) are protected by the technology of the Legendary Norse gods – In particular a device called Thor’s Hammer… It’s a piece of technology that detects Goa’uld symbiotes/larva in anyone stepping through the Gate, and, as they are caught in its beam, transports them to a secure cave somewhere else on the planet, where they go through a labyrinth  until they meet the second half of the device at the end… Jack tries to push his friend, Teal’c, out of the hold of the beam, and ends up being transported to the cave with him, where they come face to face with another Legend – An Unas, of The First Ones, a rather primordial looking race, who were the first hosts to the Goa’uld… The Unas in this cave has a Goa’uld inside him, and it’s intent on killing Jack and Teal’c! Meanwhile, Sam and Daniel, in their search to rescue Jack and Teal’c, encounter an inhabitant of Simmeria, named Kendra… She was once a host to a Goa’uld, who got deposited in the cave, and survived the Unas… The Unas, like Teal’c is at the moment, had been trapped there because of his symbiote, unwilling to step into the excruciating hammer device that threatened to kill him at the exit to the cave…  Kendra was saved when she overpowered her Goa’uld’s wishes, and braved the device at the exit of the cave, which left her symbiote dead, and her alive and free… After much soul searching to find that kind of courage once again, Kendra leads Daniel and Sam to the cave that holds Jack and Teal’c, who fight with and cunningly kill the Goa’uld infested Unas, by gunshot and the use of the  second partThor’s Hammer device. After so many years, and given the fact the fact that Unas are rather feral creatures, it seems host and symbiote have merged just too much to be able to distinguish any difference between what the host and the symbiote want… The Unas was absolutely intent on killing Jack and Teal’c, so it had to die… And Teal’c fights valiantly with the creature to make sure that happens, after Jack shoots it to weaken it… Teal’c holds the creature in the beam, and Jack rescues the Jaffa yet again by pulling him free at the last minute… Now, though, as Sam and Daniel turn up to rescue them, Teal’c appears to be stuck, because he cannot step through the device without dying… But he is willing to live in the Labyrinthine Cave for the rest of his life, because he knows a device like Thor’s Hammer could save many, many people, and protect Simmeria perfectly!… Goa’uld weapons do not work within the cave, so disabling the Hammer is impossible anyway… Until Jack asks Daniel to shoot it with a staff weapon from his position just outside of the cave… Daniel is horrified, because this device might one day save Sha’re and Skaara (I think we are meant to believe that a Jaffa cannot be saved from the larva they carry by this device, as their immune system, etc, are too interwoven with the survival of that larva, BUT hosts of fully grown Goa’uld can be saved!) – But Jack reminds Daniel that Teal’c is here right now, with them, and that they do not leave comrades behind… So, Daniel shoots the staff weapon and disables the device…  I think Jack asks Daniel in particular, to do this, because he needs to see how much he can count on Daniel, and because he wants Daniel to realise situations like this may occur… As for the old question of: Why couldn’t they just shoot a hole in the wall of the cave..? Well, I try to explain that away with, ‘it would make the cave collapse, or it was impossible because the device being inbuilt strengthened the rock around it..!’ SG1 leave Simmeria believing that, if any more Goa’uld do ever make it to Simmeria, at least the first half of the Hammer device, placed at the Gate, will transport them to the cave, while the Simmerians can call the SGC for help..! This episode is good; it’s enjoyable… But it loses two points for a couple of holes in the plot – Namely, proper explanation of why Kendra could be saved but Teal’c not, (from memory, I don’t think that is dealt with in any detail!) AND the whole thing about no sufficient explanation being offered as to why Daniel could not blast a hole in the cave wall rather than destroy Simmeria’s only defence, and the only hope of saving his wife’s life… I can’t believe that Jack would have been so cruel as to make him give up that much, if there was any other way..! It is just not Jack-like!!

Episode 10 - Torment of Tantalus
Reviewer’s Rating: 9 and a half out of 10
This, an episode that’s in my top 5 all time favourites of SG1, tells the story of Ernest Littliefield, fiancé of Catherine Langford (the character from the movie whose father discovered the Stargate in Giza!)… It loses half a point, because you have to be a little generous with the suspension of your ability to believe some elements of this story… Namely, that Catherine’s now OAP fiancé could be so sane after SO many, many years alone in the abandoned castle he could not return from, when Catherine’s father and his team sent one of their colleagues through the Gate for the first time…(where he got his food and water from, as well as his sanity, you’re not sure – But you assume he found such things in the area around the now crumbling castle that has been his home for 50 years!)… Just one line to show that they’d tried to explain how he managed would have been enough for that extra half a point – The closest you get is that Daniel finds out Ernest has pretended all these years, that Catherine came on the Expedition with him, and has already been at his side all these years! That’s almost enough – and, this is a truly, truly wonderful story, in which Ernest is finally rescued when Daniel and Jack discover old film footage that proves the existence of a mission through the Gate in the 1940’s… Daniel takes this proof to Catherine, who reveals that the man seen going through the Gate, to her surprise, is Ernest, the love of her life! Her father told her Ernest was killed one day in an experiment on the Gate – But would tell her nothing more than that it was an explosion that took his life… The SGC have records of the Gate address which Ernest travelled to, and Daniel and Catherine help convince Hammond and the others that they should try and rescue Ernest, or at least, find out what happened to him..! SG1 travel to Ernest’s planet through the Gate, Catherine along with them, and when they get to the tumbling old castle, they find Ernest… He’s naked, until he realises that he has a reason to be modest now, with other human beings around… So, he covers himself out with the tatters of the old ‘diving/space suit’ type thing that was designed for him to wear through the Gate in the 1940’s… Catherine is angry, to begin with that he apparently chose to go through the Gate, leaving behind her and his old life… But they soon realise that he did intend to come back… He couldn’t though, because the DHD was broken! And it still is… He’s never had what it needs to be fixed! While they’re all there with Ernest, and he shows Daniel a kind of ancient conference room, with runes, and a knowledge repository, another storm hits, and further devastates the old castle – Making it impossible to carry on dwelling there… With Sam’s scientific mind, Jack’s idea to harness  the electricity of the lightening, the employment of the helmet from Ernest’s old Gate Travel suit, and the help of Teal’c’s muscles, SG1 manually dial the Gate Address to Earth… Daniel is desperate not to leave the wondrous discoveries of the castle cornucopia, but Ernest tells him he cannot give up his life for such things, and Jack pleads with Daniel to see sense, and guides him back through the collapsing castle to the Gate, and to the safety on Earth… Later, when everyone is recovered, and Ernest finally has a change of clothes (Bless him!) – They dial up the address of his castle, but the Gate must have fallen to the bottom of the sea, irreparable, and unattainable, just like everything the castle once held within its walls… Daniel is reminded that Sam is working on the computer model of The Repository of Knowledge, and that he can study that… Then, everybody hugs! Well, Ernest hugs Daniel, and Catherine hugs Jack, then Ernest finally holds Catherine in his arms again…. And we are left to imagine them happily spending their twilight years together from now on! Everything about this episode is imaginative and magical, and good old fashioned story telling!! The plot is great… The character moments are written and performed perfectly, and the overall effect of all this thread weaving – is a transporting 45 minutes of completely engrossed escapism!!

Episode 11 - Bloodlines
Reviewer’s Rating: 9 and a half out of 10
After the SGC’s attempt to safely remove Teal’c’s larval Goa’uld proves impossible, Teal’c confesses to Jack that he left behind a family on Chulak… He tells him of his son, who in just a few days, is due to have his first implantation of a Goa’uld Larva… This will signify the moment he truly becomes a slave to the Goa’uld… Teal’c is desperate to go on a Mission to save his son, and is prepared to go alone… But the US government and the SGC worry that Teal’c might be about to double cross them, because, surely, if the story of his family is true, he would be less likely to willingly leave them behind..??? However, Hammond eventually okays a Mission to Chulak for SG1 to save Rya’c, son of Teal’c… Slipping under the ‘radar’, and arriving on Chulak successfully, disguised, SG1 discover the burnt out shell of Teal’c’s former home… But his mentor, Bra’tac is waiting there to let Teal’c know that his wife and son did not die in the fire… He though Teal’c might come to try and rescue his son before the ceremony in which he receives his first Prim’ta, and is there to help… Bra’tac was the first to help Teal’c begin to realise that the Goa’uld were not genuine gods… Sam and Daniel go on their own mission, reconnaissance at a nearby temple (where they find an ark – a big golden incubator, full of Goa’uld larva out in the open, because no one on Chulak expects anyone to need to steal a larva!) Teal’c, Bra’tac and Jack, go on a Mission to find Teal’c wife and son in a refugee camp outside the city… They are successful, and find Teal’c family just as the ceremony is about to begin… In the ensuing struggle, the Priest about to perform the ceremony falls on his own dagger and dies… Then, Teal’c’s wife, Dre’auc explains to Teal’c why she still wanted the ceremony to go ahead – Even though they had achieved some level of freedom and Apophis’ disinterest, by escaping to the refugee camp after Apophis’ attempt to kill them, sending a message of revenge and warning to Teal’c and all Jaffa Resistance… Dre’auc’s reason for convincing Apophis’ Priests’ that she and her son want nothing to do with the beliefs of Teal’c, is because Rya’c is gravely ill, and needs a prim’ta to help him live!! Jack promises that they will do all they can for Rya’c back at the SGC, but as they get nearer and nearer to the Gate, and being able to head back to the safety of Earth, Rya’c’s condition worsens, and Teal’c sacrifices himself by letting his son have his Goa’uld larva… It is then Teal’c who is dying, until Sam and Daniel come back with a larva (that they were planning to take back to Earth for study), which Bra’tac then implants in Teal’c to save his life! That done, SG1 make their exit – Teal’c tells his wife to tell Apophis’ guards that he kidnapped her and Rya’c, and Bra’tac promises he will come up with a clever enough reason for his going along with the whole event… So, Teal’c leaves, sad to have to leave them again, but happy that those he loves are reasonably safe! This episode is easy to invest in, emotionally, and with regards to the storyline… It is entertaining, intriguing, insightful in respect of showing you life on Chulak, and  revealing, in that it’s a story that reveals something of each of the characters along the way, as well as tells the viewer more of Teal’c’s story!... It also contains just the right amount of anxiety! One thing though, I would love to have known Bra’tac’s clever explanation as to why he went along with events when Teal’c turned up! Perhaps, he let  Apophis think that he was gathering Intel, or was trying to double cross them and hand them over to his Lord!

Episode 12 - Fire & Water
Reviewer’s Rating: 8 and a half out of 10
SG1 come home early from the planet Oannes, utterly traumatised and distraught, because they have witnessed the death of one of their number – Daniel Jackson… He burnt to death on the explosive surface of the unstable pockets of Volcanic activity found on Oannes… He was caught in the middle of one of them, while the remaining members of SG1 hid in a nearby body of water; though they tried to help him, they had no choice but to try and save themselves, since saving him proved impossible…. The whole of the SGC is shocked by the death of Daniel, without whom the Stargate Program would never have been born, and everyone mourns the loss of one of Earth’s foremost Protectors… SG1 are given help to come to terms with Daniel’s death, but they just can’t… They manifest conflicting memories and emotions…Even after Daniel’s memorial service, Jack cannot believe his death, and smashes up General Hammond’s car with a hockey-stick in complete anguish and frustration! Meanwhile, Daniel is revealed to be alive, captured by a male alien, who lives under water on Oannes, and believes that Daniel holds the knowledge of what happened to his mate, Omoroca, while she lived on Earth, thousands of years ago… This being is desperate to find out what happened to his mate, so, in sympathy, because Daniel knows that kind of separation anxiety too well, and because he hopes he will be set free after he has helped him, Daniel agrees to help Omoroca’s partner… Daniel then gets put into a contraption that retrieves facts from his mind, including anything he may once have unwittingly learned about a being named Omoroca… And, in the meantime, SG1, on Earth, with the help of the SGC’s psychiatrist, realise that their belief that Daniel is dead is an implanted memory, and a programmed response! So, they head back to Oannes to find any trace of Daniel, and arrive just in time to see him burst to the surface of the Ocean and swim safely to shore with his former ‘captor’… After a relieved reunion,  complete SG1 return back home… I love this episode – In spite of some rather far-fetched moments when Daniel is asked to step into the egg shaped (!) memory machine, and in spite of the alien’s appearance taking some getting used to, you can still believe in him, and have sympathy with him… The same goes for SG1 and what they are put through while this episode unfolds… Daniel’s Memorial Service, the wake held for him, and SG1’s reactions of grief (especially Jack’s, because you can already see how much Daniel is beginning to mean to him and why, and because Jack’s already suffered so much loss) are superbly portrayed… The separation anxiety between Daniel and the rest of SG1 is perfect!

Episode 13 - Hathor
Reviewer’s Rating: 7 out of 10
This episode is not rocket science – just a romp – quite literally, in some places! Unwitting Archaeologists’ in Mexico enter the tomb of Hathor, not that they really know it at the time… They’re certainly not expecting a Goa’uld to rise from a sarcophagus, and dispatch them to the afterlife – But that’s what happens! Free, and otherwise undiscovered by anyone else, Hathor finds her way to the home of the Stargate on Earth, the SGC…She’s a clever girl with lots of tricks and ‘techno-magic’ up her sleeves (except she has no sleeves in what she’s wearing – believe me!!)… Once at the SGC, she uses a little bio-chemical hormonal bewitchery to hold the men of the SGC under her power, and to lock the women up! Of course, we can’t be seen to show any Lesbianism on prime-time American family hour TV, so… Hathor doesn’t bother to use her pheromones and wiles on the women of the Base, though I think she probably would have/maybe should have… (though that would make a rescue attempt less likely!)  After all, Hathor is the goddess of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, as Jack is the one to point out before he falls entirely under her spell! And that kind of goddess would manipulate anyone, pretty much, to get what she wants! Just say there were some closet cases of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell among the soldier boys at the SGC – Well, by law of averages, there probably is (!) – Hathor got to them, too, didn’t she?? She dosed them up appropriately, too – So why not the girls!? Because that would be totally inappropriate! Probably sees women as competition! So, anyhow, Hathor uses her pheromone potion to get anyone she wants -  Anyone that is, apart from Teal’c, who is untouched by bio-chemical kisses, and she knows it, so she steers clear of him, locking him up all alone for good measure! Teal’c is unaffected by her manipulation because his goa’uld larva, protects him, and thus, itself, from anything that untoward..! So, while Jack is being turned into Hathor’s First New Jaffa, her First Prime (good choice girl!!), Daniel is being used as her love slave to provide something a little extra that should help any Goa’uld larva to survive and, then, when the time comes, thrive in a Host – And that extra something would be his DNA, obviously! I don’t think this is strictly necessary for Goa’uld reproduction – but hey, it’s Hathor, and she’s basically been a comatose nun for thousands of years – Then, awoken and invigorated,  she discovers darling Daniel, and well, wouldn’t you!???... Meanwhile, Hammond, along with the other men of the SGC, not to be forgotten, are either doing impressions of lovesick puppies, or macho Neanderthals out to impress the irresistible red-head (Hathor!)… All of this, the girls, led by Sam Carter and Janet Frasier, have to Battle their way through, occasionally taking a womanly wiles leaf out of Hathor’s book, and taking advantage of the boys’ doped up and easy to convince state – Though, of course, they never go as far as Hathor with our dear Daniel – No. Our girls just bat their eyes lashes and wiggle their backsides a bit – They’re much better behaved!  Except for them they clock some unsuspecting Airman swiftly around the back of the head with their P90’s (or whatever guns they’ve managed to liberate!) So, Sam and Janet make their way to Teal’c’s cell, and free him, too… Then, Teal’c, Sam, Janet, and the rest of the girls all head off to Hathor Head Quarters, somewhere in the SGC complex, where Hathor is having tonnes of babies in a nice warm bath (does she get labour pains too then!??) and is about to implant one of them into her beloved First New Jaffa, Jack O’Neill… Sam and co get there just in time – Teal’c rescues Jack from a fate similar to his own, Daniel plays the role of Prince and Protector, trying to come to the aid of the fair (!) Princess Hathor, and, as for Hammond… Well, he’s just the Southern Gentleman lovesick puppy… Sam and Janet shoot up the place, the bath and all the baby snakes are ablaze with fire… And, so, you would think, is Hathor!! But no! She slips away, and ends up escaping the dazed clutches of SG1 and co… She heads through the Gate to who knows where, leaving SG1 and the SGC to recover in her wake… Somehow, Jack’s barren larva pouch heals all up, and the pheromone overdose that hung like a proverbial cloud in the vaulted ceilings of the SGC, drifts away without Hathor there to constantly replenish (!) it! The men all try to brush off how easily they were fooled by Hathor and her hormones as well as their own..! It’s all done very light-heartedly… I mean, at least Daniel had a good time with a very hot ‘lady’ out of the whole experience – But the thing is, the poor boy was drugged and used by a snake! He vows to try and forget the whole thing… As do the rest of the SGC – But will Hathor let them!???

Episode 14 - Singularity
Reviewer’s Rating: 9 out of 10
SG1 think they are joining SG7 (another team!) on a simple fact gathering scientific mission to PX3-987, where they are heading to study a black hole through a very big telescope! Nice, simple, old fashioned Mission – Until they step through the Gate – And find the planet and the research base absolutely desolate… And EVERYBODY, natives and SG7, dead!! EVERYBODY that is, except for one little girl, Cassandra (nice non-alien sounding name – Because all the people SG1 come across have Ancestors from Earth in common – Which kind of explains why so many of them speak English – Daniel’s linguistic skills are often untested! – The Goa’uld must have imposed English upon all their slaves and captives, like some kind of Universal language!!)…. They are wary of why and how Cassandra is the sole survivor on her planet – And yet, they cannot leave the child, cruelly orphaned and abandoned, so they bring her back to the SGC… Daniel and Sam take her through the Gate, at any rate, leaving Jack and Teal’c on the planet, to collect the Black Hole data, and muse over what might have happened, trying to figure out who the hell did this and why and HOW!!?? Dr Janet Frasier gives Cassandra a complete health-check, and Sam baby sits Cassie, reading to her, and encouraging her to tell of anything she might know about what went on before SG1 saved her… When the results of Cassie’s health-checks all come through, no goa’uld, or infections/bacteria can be found, but there are small traces of the metallic compound Naquadah in her blood… The SGC medics are also hypothesising that it might just be possible that  the Earthlings of the SGC (SG7!) accidentally brought through a bacteria or infection that wiped out Cassandra’s people, and worsened or mutated, also killing off SG7… But then, their focuses switch, when Cassandra begins experiencing chest pains, and has a heart attack… A very small bomb device is discovered to be wired into her heart! They realise that the bomb was created by a Goa’uld named Nirrti, a System Lord (System Lords are the most powerful and influential among their race)… When the thin layer between the two sides of this awful device break down, an explosion big enough to destroy the entire State will occur… In the midst of all this, Teal’c reveals that he’s heard of Nirrti, and that one of the System Lord’s previous devices blew up tat the moment it and its host  travelled through a Stargate..! Death-gliders pass over Cassandra’s planet, back on a clear up Mission… Jack and Teal’c, in their hazmat suits (donned again when they venture outside – so why take them off when inside the research centre!?? Have I forgotten something!?? Is indoors an immune and safe haven?), narrowly escape the Death-Glider attack… They run down the ramp of the SGC Stargate, just in time to stop Cassie passing through the Gate with Sam and Janet in tow! The SGC have to then make the horrendous decision to take Cassie to an underground bunker, and let the bomb explode ‘safely’, killing her… But Sam cannot leave her, and makes the decision to die with her! Only, it turns out that neither she nor Cassie die! Sam later theorises that Cassie was far enough away from the Stargate to stop the activation and detonation of the bomb buried within her… And the bomb itself ‘dissolves’… Later still, it is decided that Dr Janet Frasier, whom has the less fraught schedule and more time to devote to Cassandra, will adopt her… And Jack brings Cassie a gift to ease her transition and understandable grief – a pet dog… Singularity is the first episode in an intriguing story arc that stretches almost the entire length of the series – But is never completed to its full potential, in my opinion, since Cassie is nowhere to be seen when she surely would be, after certain events in Season 7 – We have to imagine that she is indeed present at this time, and the lack of mention of her afterward, is because she goes off to College/University or gets a place of her own, and tries to make her own way in our world!!!

Episode 15 - Cor-Ai
Reviewer’s Rating: 8 and a half out of 10
This is a tough episode to watch, if like me, you squirm worriedly when you see our heroes in anguish and/or in deep trouble… SG1 travel to a planet where they run into instant danger … Teal’c later realise that this planet is one called Cartago, a dark place in his past… And though SG1 manage to convince the population that they are not working with the Goa’uld, and neither, now, is Teal’c, the people or Cartago want to put Teal’c on trial for what he and other Jaffa did to the people of their planet during an attack… So, Teal’c is put on trial for his life, and Daniel convinces the court to let him be Teal’c’s Advocate! Mind you, Teal’c also has to let Daniel convince him that he deserves an Advocate, since Teal’c refuses to let his SG1 comrades rescue him… Daniel, Jack and Sam all speak as Advocates and co-counsels for Teal’c in this court known as Cor-Ai… But the whole thing is already decided… Hanno, whose father Teal’c killed, leads the demands for Teal’c’s death! SG1 go all out to prove that Teal’c is a changed, and very courageous, man… Jack questions Daniel, in Cor-Ai, about Teal’c’s role in his wife, Sha’re’s enslavement… And again, the story thread last visited in Thor’s Hammer, that Teal’c Apophis’  troops of Serpent Guard whom Teal’c commanded in the field, captured Sha’re… While later, Teal’c himself actually picked her out of a room full of women to take to Apophis for inspection, where the Goa’uld and his Queen chose her to be a host, is raised… It is a tough topic for everyone involved in speaking it, but it leads to Teal’c testifying that he saved SG1 and others from his the plans of his master, Apophis, during SG1’s initial Mission to Chulak… And Daniel testifies that he can see that Teal’c hast truly turned his back on his old way of life (He explains that this is how he is willing to work with him)… During a recess after those particularly tough few hours in court, Daniel discovers that the people of this planet live in caves, to avoid coming into contact with any ambushing Jaffa, and that, if they do get caught up in an event like that, they will sacrifice themselves rather than leave any unfortunate behind to die alone… When back in court, Teal’c is called to explain more surrounding the circumstances of the death of Hanno’s father… He truthfully tells of how Apophis would have had everybody on the planet killed, if Teal’c had not followed orders, and killed one villager to make a point… He reveals that Hanno’s father volunteered… Meanwhile, Jack believes the trial is going badly, so he and Sam quietly return to the SGC to ask for possibly required reinforcements..! Back on Cartago, and in the middle of Teal’c’s Trial, Daniel continues along a line of questioning that gets Teal’c to admit that he chose to kill Hanno’s father, when the man volunteered, because Hanno’s father was crippled, and this would have caused the other inhabitants of this world to rally around him, and stay right beside him, in the end dying alongside him… Hanno is furious with grief, and cannot accept any of this truth… He demands that Teal’c be executed with his own staff weapon, and is keen to be the executioner! Jack and Sam, unsuccessful in getting Hammond to convince the President that they should be allowed reinforcements in a rescue attempt for Teal’c, return to the planet… But they find that they are not the only ones to return! Apophis’ Serpent Guard are back, led by Teal’c’s replacement, First Prime Shak’l, (last seen in The Nox episode!)… Hanno believes Jack orchestrated the whole thing in an effort to free Teal’c in the confusion, and insists on keeping Teal’c prisoner still. When Shak’l spots Teal’c as a Prisoner already, Teal’c and Shak’l face off… Teal’c kills Shak’l! He then goes on to defend the villagers, and they win the day as Sam and Jack arrive through the fight, to help everyone..! Because of his valiant efforts on behalf of the Villagers’ safety, Hanno realises that Teal’c actually is a changed man, and he sets him free… In an effort of good-will and compassion, SG1 offer Cartago’s people help that will strengthen their Defences against the Goa’uld, and harmony is slowly restored between SG1 and the long suffering people of this world…!

Episode 17 - Solitudes
Reviewer’s Rating: 8 out of 10
Daniel and Teal’c are the only ones to make it back through the Gate, after which it promptly overloads! They, Jack and Sam, had got into a fire-fight during their Mission, and it is believed that Weapon’s Fire from the enemy overloaded our Gate, and redirected the currently absent Jack and Sam somewhere else… When he is sufficiently recovered from his injuries, Daniel obsessively works to try and figure out just where they ended up… And, when the lights on the SGC’s Stargate, momentarily brighten, and the Gate shakes with the effort to take an incoming ‘call’, he hits upon the theory that the Stargate acted like your phone does when you ring your own number with it… Because Jack and Sam are trying to dial in from a Stargate somewhere else on Earth!!! They are trapped in an ice cave somewhere in the Antarctic… But they do not really know where they are, Jack especially, since he is delirious from the pain of a broken leg coupled with the excruciating effects of extremely cold weather..! At one point, when he and Sam settle down to die, Sam having tried everything she can to fix the broken DHD nearby, and even go looking for help, Jack thinks Sara, his ex wife, is at his side… And starts talking to Sam as though he were talking to Sara… This moment, as moments in the previous episodes Cold Lazarus and Brief Candle have done, reveal more of Jack’s unresolved agony about how and why his marriage ended, and the grief  that he and his wife suffer, which he blames himself for… He wishes he had more days and more chances to express his apologies to Sara, and that is why his cold induced madness lets him believe Sam is actually Sara… Sam accepts death beside her commanding officer, glad that their presence consoles each other somewhat… But, in the nick of time, Hammond and SG1 arrive in a helicopter, just outside of McMurdo Base, and whisk Sam and Jack to safety and complete recovery… Jack may yet still have the chance to make his peace with Sara! In my days as a Jack and Sam Shipper, I adored this episode! And, I still do love it – Because it’s a brilliantly told, personal little story … But I still maintain that Jack & Sam Ship was ruined in the trade-off moments of the much later episode Threads (“Jacob’s dead, but here, you easy to placate people, we offer you Sam & Jack together on a plate – Swallow that one hook, line, and sinker!!!” Errr – NOOOOO!!!!) and Jack and Sam Ship was definitely NOT helped by the dumb/hokey-jokey out of character chaste kiss moment in the character degrading/reality bending/integrity bashing episode Moebius!!! I cannot stand that episode because I think it makes our characters and their reality less believable by making all the alternates look like idiots!!!  Dare I say it here, but though I occasionally do Jack & Sam walls (screencap artwork!) – I rarely dabble in Jack & Sam fandom these days! A good friend introduced me to the obvious delights of Jack/Daniel!! And I’m not just talking about the voyeuristic merits of two very pretty men getting it together – No! I am a complete convert and believer in the emotional side of their bond! They chase each other across galaxies, they confess all to one another, they challenge each other – They love each other, in my opinion! But that’s enough slash for this nicely neutral, censored site!!

Episode 18 - Tin Man
Reviewer’s Rating: 7 out of 10
SG1 wake up on a planet… They’re all dressed in black and their weapons, and equipment have gone… They find that they are in some kind of complex with an alien named Harlan… He apologises for their new clothes, and for taking away the things with which they came through the Gate… He says this was because he had to stun them, a safety protocol, but he seems friendly enough… As time passes, SG1 notice he is reluctant for them to leave, perhaps lonely… But eventually, they find that they have improved. Their physical strength, their co-ordination, etc… Is better than before… So, they retrieve their weapons from Harlan, who allows them to leave, but tells them it is not safe out there… When they get to the SGC, Dr Janet Frasier does test after test on them; she discovers Teal’c is without his symbiote, that she cannot find the heartbeats of any of SG1, and finally, that their blood is milky-white… Jack flips out slightly, and rips open the skin of his own arm, thanks to his increased strength… He seems in no pain at all from this extraordinary effort, and when he pulls back the skin of his arm, circuitry stares back up for the whole team to see… SG1 are robots! Armed with a thousand questions, and growing weaker, as if their batteries need charging, SG1 head back through the Gate to Harlan’s world!... Once SG1 are there, and realising he has to come clean, Harlan confesses that all of his people transferred their consciousness into robots, but eventually, they either went through the Stargate never to return, or killed themselves because their robot bodies had no end, and life eternal got a bit too much! He says he created ‘SG1’ to help him keep up with the repairs of this complex, and that he needs them to stick around! Teal’c does not heed any of this, and, apparently affected by the ‘loss’ of his symbiote, he leaves… When the complex suffers a break down, and the new SG1 are thus, in the heat of the moment, pressed into helping repair the damage, Teal’c returns, and almost inexplicably attacks Jack… Perhaps, because he wishes to force what happens next, or possibly, his outburst is due to plain old madness… Harlan is forced to kill Teal’c, but soon busies himself with making another… Therefore, the remaining members of SG1 mark II, theorise that Harlan still has access to the original, human, all organic SG1! They follow him, and discover that this is indeed the case..! The robot team wake up the real team, and this takes some getting used to for each of them… But eventually, they sort things out – Leaving our SG1 free to return to Earth, and robot SG1 not so free, having to stay behind because they have little choice… They cannot venture far… They bury the Gate to stop anyone from finding themselves in the same predicament again, and go ‘back’ to a life living alongside Harlan, who must have had to accept that they buried the Gate… This first Robo-Team episode is not rocket science ( it’s robot science more precisely!) but it isn’t a bad little story, just a little odd… Mostly because of Harlan’s catchphrase: ‘Kumtrya!’ (or however you spell it!!)

Episode 19 - There But For The Grace Of God
Reviewer’s Rating: 7 out of 10
I find this episode tough to watch because it depicts SG1 really going through some crap! ‘Thankfully’ a lot of it happens to an alternate universe’s SG1 Team… It all starts when our Daniel finds a magic mirror, and what does he do?? He does what he’s famous for! He touches the deadly artefact, and gets himself into trouble! In a flash, he is transported to an AU, but, at first, he has no idea that that is what has happened… He assumes that the others from SG1, in a hurry to get away from the radiation on this world, has left, thinking that he was right behind them, as he should have been… So, he steps through the Gate of this world, back to the Gate of Earth, but it is not his Earth! He finds himself in an SGC run by Catherine Langford, and though he knows everyone, no one knows of him… Things have ‘changed’. Sam is a Doctor of Physics, engaged to Jack, because, here, at this SGC (known as the SGA in actual fact), and with her a Doctor, Military Regulations cannot come between them (neither can Daniel, since Jack doesn’t know he exists! Sorry! Had to say it! I’ll shut up now!)… Teal’c is not known to the SGC either…  Because Daniel mentioned Catherine’s fiancé, Ernest, she begins to trust his story, and this is when he gets introduced to this world’s Jack and Sam… He asks them if they still went to Abydos, and if they know about Chulak… It is apparent this world has been ravaged by the Goa’uld, and all too well knows of their existence..! Sam says that the latest casualties are Washington and Philadelphia… Jack is under the impression that Daniel is crazy! But Catherine gets Daniel to write down the Gate address to Chulak… Later, Daniel is busy looking at artefacts with Catherine, telling her more of what happened to him, and how he got here, etc, when he hears the Gate activate… He is appalled to see Jack sending through a Nuclear Bomb to Chulak’s co-ordinates!!... Shortly after this, Daniel speaks with Carter, and realises, at last, that the Mirror must have sent him to an AU… He does some internet research, and finds out that, in this reality, he died before the SGC (or SGA!) could learn of him… Then, things start happening – in response to the fact that Jack sent through that Nuclear Bomb to Chulak! The consequences begin with the Goa’uld dialling in so that the people on Cheyenne Mountain cannot dial out… And it isn’t long before a Goa’uld ship comes into Earth’s air-space, and lands upon the Mountain!! While Teal’c turns up, and with the other Serpent Guards, begins to invade the Mountain, Daniel hurriedly shows Jack, Carter and Catherine the videotape he has with him, of his own reality, and the world on which he found the Gate… He pleads with them to spare the time and effort, in the midst of all this, to send him back to the corresponding planet in this Universe, from which he came here, thinking this was home… Because he wants to get home, and warn his people that an attack similar to the ones here, on Washington and Philadelphia, will probably happen! He wishes to show them the Gate address that the SGA have gathered, from Intel, and see if a similar ambush is planned in his Universe…  Meanwhile, Jack bravely goes to try and ‘talk’ to Teal’c… He takes with him the videotape of Daniel’s, showing Teal’c himself in this other reality, hoping to get him to change sides, like our Teal’c did… But this Teal’c is seething with pain and anger, the pain and anger that nothing matters anymore, because his child is dead; and was killed by Jack’s bomb… It is a pain Jack is familiar with, and he knows he stands no chance, when he realises what he has done, of getting through to this Teal’c… Teal’c shoots him dead… And heads to the Gate-room… Sam, who goes to retrieve the Mirror’s remote control (obtained previously, by Daniel?), is captured by Jaffa… Catherine dials out to the planet from which Daniel came, but she too is surrounded then, by the Enemy… Teal’c comes into the Gate-room and manages to shoot Daniel, but only in the shoulder, as Daniel steps through the Gate, leaving Teal’c behind to accept his fate as our Jack was once willing to when he was going to stay behind on Abydos with a Nuclear bomb – Teal’c simply stands there, inviting and welcoming the death that comes when the SGA self destructs! Daniel, in the mean-time, is back on the Mirror planet in this Universe, and steps through to his own Universe, from there… When he is reunited with his SG1, who have been faithfully searching for their friend;The first thing Daniel tells them is that the Goa’uld are on their way to Earth!!!

Episode 20 - Politics
Reviewer’s Rating: 7 out of 10
In the midst of Daniel’s attempts to get someone at the SGC to listen to him about the impending attack on Earth (detailed in the previous episode) – A Senator arrives at Cheyenne Mountain… His name is Kinsey and he is absolutely brimming with the zealous conviction that the Stargate Program is a waste of time, and not the best way to protect Earth! He unveils a plan to shut down the SGC, to the horror of everyone who works there! He believes Isolation and better defence systems are the best way to protect God’s Creation, and that ‘mixing it up out there’ with aliens will be the death of us all… Basically, he believes that abstinence is the best way forward..! Daniel, Jack, and co, obviously, do not! They are ‘sick’ with worry, most especially Daniel because of what he is convinced is coming! But Kinsey will listen to no one! He dismisses Teal’c’s warnings, and Teal’c himself, thinking that Teal’c has his own reasons for saying this. Or believing what he does, and he views Daniel as hysterical! Sensing that nothing can be done, Teal’c asks to leave the SGC, and Hammond soon announces that the SGC will shut down permanently!

Episode 21 - Serpent’s Grasp
Reviewer’s Rating: 10 out of 10
This, the first of a brilliant two parter, sees SG1, against orders, head through the Gate to the co-ordinates Daniel got from the alternate universe he visited… They’re desperate to stop any plan that may be brewing, and know that they must attempt to save the world before the chance, and the Stargate, is taken from them…! Thus, dressed all in black, they surreptitiously through their Stargate, and find themselves on a Goa’uld Pyramid ship… The troops upon it, which they spend the episode hiding from, are preparing to assault Earth, just as Daniel predicted!! Whie navigating around the pyramid ship with Teal’c’s help, they stumble upon the Goa’uld Klorel, who is inside the body of Daniel’s brother in law Skaara! Can Skaara be reached if SG1 capture him? They must try! And, they do! Zatting Skaara/Klorel, causing him great pain, they successfully disrupt  Klorel’s control of Skaara, and very carefully, they speak to the traumatised Abydonian, who does his best to tell them everything he knows…  Then, Apophis and his guard turn up, rescuing Klorel… They order the death of Jack, and the removal of Teal’c’s symbiote, which will be his Execution…  At this moment, Skaara appears to take back some control, ordering the serpent guards to take Jack and Teal’c to the ship’s control room, to see the ship approach Earth, leaving their Executions for later, when they have had time to consider the death of Earth… Carter and Daniel, hidden from view, but watching every moment of this, set some C4 charges to go off within 24 hours, giving themselves and Jack and Teal’c that amount of time to escape… They secretly follow Klorel, Jack, Teal’c, and the Guards to the Control Room, where they are meant to see just how close they are to planet Earth… Once there, Sam and Daniel. Jack and Teal’c having gone in ahead of them, rush into the control room to effect a rescue attempt of Jack and Teal’c. In retaliation, Klorel snatches at Daniel with his hand device, and attempts to kill him, forcing Jack to shoot to kill… Jack is devastated, but has no time to grieve, though he regrets causing for what he sees as the second time, the death of a child, by his gun… He can only watch in a double dose of grief and anticipation, as Earth comes into view through the pyramid ship’s forward screen….

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