Stargate SG-1: Season 5

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Disc 1

Enemies

Synopsis: Caused by the explosion of the sun and the activated Hyperdrive SG-1s Ha’tak has been catapulted into another galaxy. But Apophis is also there with his huge motherhip. But as soon as they have arrived another ship is apporaching that attacks Apophis’s ship. It is the Replicators.

My Opinion: Nothing against a good deus ex machina now and then, but this time they’ve overdone it. First they land in a remote galaxy, then the Replicators arrive, then Teal’c has been brainwashed somehow and in the end the Replicators kindly bring SG-1 back home. Honestly! At least Apophis has breathed his last breath.

Threshold

Synopsis: Teal’c is still brainwashed. According to Bra’tac, the only way to get him out of this, is to remove the larva and bring him to the brink of death.

My Opinion: Even though the events that led to this were rubbish, this was a very good compensation. It showed us how Teal’c became the man he is and how Bra’tac tought him all this. A great character drawing.

Ascension

Synopsis: SG-1 discovers a device that could be a powerful weapon. But then Sam faints and has to be brought back to the SGC. When she is put on leave and comes home, she is awaited by a non-corporeal being. It declares that it comes from the planet Sam has just been to.

My Opinion: The most important information in this episode was the fact, that Teal’c has watched Star Wars nine times while Jack has never watched it. 😉 That aside this episode was a goof examply why in Star Trek a Prime Directive exists: Because it is not predictable, what happens if one interfers with the developement of a culture. But the extinction of that entire planet was also over the top, they simply could have taken the Stargate away.
The appearance of John de Lancie (Q in Star Trek: The Next Generation) was also nice, especially because it won’t be the last.

The Fifth Man

Synopsis: Sam, Teal’c and Daniel return to the SGC under heavy fire while Jack and Lieutenant Tyler are grounded. But the real problem is: In the SGC no one knows this “Lieutenant Tyler”. Only SG-1 can remember this man.

My Opinion: I liked this episode, too. Another fact has cought my eye here: Stargate SG-1 has found a good balance regarding the number of alien races. The universe isn’t as crowded with non-humans as the Star Trek universe. But it is also not as empty as the Battlestar Galactica universe. While most of the aliens are still humanoid they aren’t simply knobbly-nose-aliens but really alien-aliens.

Disc 2

Red Sky

Synopsis: The computer that controls the Earth gate doesn’t implement all safety precautions a normal DHD has. This allows the SGC to open a Wormhole through a remote sun and this injects heavy elements into the sun’s core. It starts with the sun going red but when the process can’t be stopped the remote planet won’t be able to support life any longer. SG-1 tries to undo their mistake.

My Opinion: A good episode about religious obsession and fatalism. I also liked how SG-1 tried everything to undo their mistake even against the resistance of the locals.

The Rite of Passage

Synopsis: Cassandra has become a teenager but suddenly her body goes haywire. She produces large fields of electricity and she can move metal objects. But she gets worse and the only remedy can be found on her home planet – Niirti experimented on the entire population.

My Opinion: I also liked this episode because it showed how much Sam as well as her stepmother Dr. Frasier care for Cassie.

Beast of Burden

Synopsis: Daniel is still watching the Unas on the home planet of the Goa’ulds, especially Chaka, the Unas that kidnapped him once. But then Chaka is kidnapped by people from another planet and put to work as a slave. Daniel tries to rescue him.

My Opinion: I like this episode very much because Daniel does anything in his might to help a non-human. This shows perfectly how Daniel perceives the world. But it also showed how problematic it is to interfere in another world’s way of living that are different to our own.

The Tomb

Synopsis: During the 37 days the russian Stargate program was active there has been an inoffical unit, too. They have gone lost on a planet and SG-1 and a russian team go after them in a joint venture.

My Opinion: In this episode the russians were portrayed as too much of a cliché. But the russian Colonel who has been introduced at the end will return and he will turn out likeable.

Disc 3

Between Two Fires

Synopsis: SG-1 attends the funeral service for Omac on Tollana. Omac died recently iof a heart attack. But a few days later the Tollans offer one of their ion cannons in exchange for a rare metal. SG-1 is both pleased and sceptical about this offer.

My Opinion: A very sad episode because you have to assume that most of the Tollans have been exterminated and that Narim is most probably dead. It happened before that entire races have been killed but that were no-names and you’ve never heard of them before nor have you seen them. This is different.
Ironically the actor who played Narim – Garwin Sanford – will reappear as the boyfriend of Dr. Weir in the Stargate Atlantis pilot.

2001

Synopsis: After a piece of paper came through the Stargate (supposedly from the future) to never to visit a certain planet, the address is locked out of the computer. But on another planet SG-1 meets this race nonetheless: The Aschen. And once again the Aschen have a lot to offer and it seems hard to resist.

My Opinion: Interesting approach to continue the story from 2010. I especially liked that they worked in the smaller storylines, like the beginning relationship between the ambassador and Sam and Kinsey’s ambitions to become president.
But it was sad that they killed off the ambassador so soon.

Desperate Measures

Synopsis: After Sam has been kidnapped by unknown forces on Earth, SG-1 tries to find out what happened and where she has gone. For this Jack has to ally himself with Maybourne once again because the trails lead to the NID, the russian Stargate program and a terminal ill selfmade millionaire.

My Opinion: Another episode I liked because they’ve managed to combine a spy story and science fiction. And that people are willing to make a pact with the devil when the death is near.

Wormhole X-treme!

Synopsis: Martin Lloyd has once again “forgotten” who and what he is. But now he is a creative consultant on the set of a series: “Wormhole X-treme!”. It’s about three humans and an android who go through an intergalactic portal and fight against aliens. But simultaneously a real spaceship is closing in on Earth that was hidden behind Mars.

My Opinion: One of the funniest episodes (and the 100th) of the entire series. Maybe only the 200th episode is even more fun. Many of the crew of SG-1 had a cameo appearance but the best were Peter DeLuise as director and his brother Michael (who also played in SeaQuest) as the actor of the Colonel. It was also brilliant to point out some typical errors in science fiction series (“If I am out of phase and can go through walls, why don’t I fall through the floor?”).

Disc 4

Proving Ground

Synopsis: Jack trains a group of young recruits (among them Hailey and Lt. Elliot). He prepares them to become members of SG teams., But then a “foothold” situation arises in the SGC and Jack has to use them to repel the alien attack.

My Opinion: A very nice training scenario, especially the last part. It was a bit unfortunate that they revealed to the audience so early that the situation in the SGC is fake. When I watched it for the first time, I didn’t recognize Grace Park (Sharon Valerii in Battlestar Galactica) but back then I didn’t even know her.

48 Hours

Synopsis: After Teal’c has killed Tanith, his Al’kesh crashes into the Stargate and the wormhole is disrupted. But this traps the fleeing Teal’c inside the Stargate’s buffer and he isn’t being re-integrated. Sam tries to get him out of there, Daniel negotiates with the Russians about the second Stargate and Jack is looking for “alternate sources of information”.

My Opinion: In principle this episode reminds me of a “typical” transporter incident in Star Trek. But that doesn’t mean that they’ve re-used a script, the characters behave as they should be and the other story elements would prevent that this script could be used in Star Trek. I really liked the negotiations with the Russians and the “That didn’t happen in the simulations.” after the borrowed DHD blew up (of course only after Teal’c’s rescue). I also liked the first appearance of Dr. McKay who behaved exactly like he will do when he becomes a main character in Stargate Atlantis.

Summit

Synopsis: Daniel infiltrates a summit of the System Lords in disguise of a human slave. Among others, Yu, Ba’al, Bastet and Kali attend this meeting. The plan was that Daniel releases a new and deadly Tok’ra virus that would kill them all. But then Osiris arrives and claims to speak in the name of Anubis who wishes to return to this council. In the meantime, Lord Zipacna attacks the Tok’ra base and he, too, acts under orders from Anubis.

My Opinion: The thrilling element of this episode was to wait for the moment Daniel and Osiris run into each other. It was cool that it only happened in the last minute and that it would turn out to be a two-parter. Fortunately the titles don’t give that info away.

Last Stand

Synopsis: The Tok’ra base is under heavy fire and many have been killed. Martoufs former symbiote Lantash had no choice but to enter Lt. Elliot. Jack, Sam, Teal’c and Elliot/Lantash have to find a way to the Stargate. Daniel has managed to deceive Osiris with the help of the same drug he used to slip into Yu’s entourage. But he had to give up the plan to kill them all because that would bring Anubis into a very powerful position. And Anubis has already threatened to ignore the Asgard treaty and to attack Earth.

My Opinion: The mind can paint the worst pictures. They didn’t show how SG-1 “successfully” returned home and it wasn’t necessary. One can imagine how the surroundings of the Stargate had to look like, after Elliot/Lantash sacrificed himself and killed thousands of Jaffa with the help of the virus. I am torn when it comes to the Jaffa. In most cases they are simply the attacker who have to be shot in self-defence. On the other hand they are presented as slaves who have no other choice but to fight for their “god” and that makes their death deplorable. There was a similar dilemma in The Matrix, where all the inhabitants were potential enemies even though they were the persons to be freed.

Disc 5

Fail Safe

Synopsis: An asteroid closes in on Earth from a strange direction and it will hit Earth. SG-1 tries to repair a crashed Tel’tak (cargo ship) and then to land on the asteroid and to blow it up with the help of a Naqahdah-enhanced nuclear bomb.

My Opinion: Great moment, when Jack comments “I’ve seen that movie!” in the beginning, obviously referring to Armageddon. They nonetheless found a good, typical Stargate solution to the problem.

The Warrior

Synopsis: On a planet that isn’t ruled by a Goa’uld is a base of Jaffa. Some of their “gods” have been killed, some Jaffa simply deserted. Their leader is K’tano, former First Prime of Imhotep, who killed his “god”. But the ways of the Jaffa and the Tau’ri are different and Jack cannot recommend an alliance as long as K’tano is in charge.

My Opinion: This episode shows, how convincing charismatic leaders can be. It also shows that they haven’t necessarily the best for their followers in mind. I also liked the Matrix-like fight sequence.

Menace

Synopsis: On a planet whose population has been wiped out, SG-1 finds a disabled android in the forum of a young woman. After she’s been reactivated they find out that she doesn’t know about her artificiality and her state of mind is that of a child. But then she builds a present and toy for Daniel that is terribly familiar to SG-1.

My Opinion: Another episode where Jack and Daniel crash into each other about the way they should handle a very dangerous situation. But I honestly didn’t know whith whom I should’ve agreed.

Sentinel

Synopsis: A planet that is supposed to have a protection mechanism is attacked by the Goa’uld. Obviously the inofficial NID commando broke it when they visited the planet 2 years ago. Now they have to accompany SG-1 to fix it.

My Opinion: What I didn’t like about this episode was that they were killed in the end. That was to forseeable. And the fact that the Colonel sacrificed himself to save Jack didn’t match with the facts we learned about him in this very episode.

Disc 6

Meridian

Synopsis: SG-1 returns from a mission on which Daniel was exposed to a high and lethal dosis of radiation. He is still alive but he is going to die in a few hours time. Additionally there’s a dispute about how the accident happened and whether Daniel has caused it. The accident – they experimented on Naqahdriah (an instable isotope of Naqahdah) – has also led to the death of some Kelownian scientists.

My Opinion: A very good farewell episode for Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks wanted to leave the show). Everyone had the chance to say goodbye to him. But it was also the episode that introduced the character of Jonas Quinn (Corin Nemec, Parker Lewis in Parker Lewis Can’t Lose). I liked it.

Revelations

Synopsis: Thor’s ship has been destroyed by a Goa’uld Ha’tak. This means the Asgard can’t enforce the Protected Planets Treaty any longer – at least not as long as their main forces are engaged in the battle against the Replicators. Therefore they ask SG-1 to evacuate the Asgard Heimdall from a planet where he conducted important research.

My Opinion: Surprisingly for the first time in the show’s history this wasn’t a cliffhanger. But that could be in regard to the fact that the show was sold to another network after this season. But they still managed to open more new questions instead of answering old ones – especially the question of who and what Anubis really his and where he got the technology to defeat the Asgard. The weakness of this episode was that the Asgard allegedly had no resources at the begin of the episode but could send three O’Neill class ships in the end.

The Season – My Opinion: In this season the indirect and direct confrontations with the Goa’uld have intensified again and Anubis has managed to destroy the biggest threats to the Goa’uld: the Tollans are most likely wiped out, the Tok’ra are on the run and the Asgard are no longer superior. Now the humans are standing on their own again. I liked the season even though there were many sad episodes.

Season 6