And so begins the two-parter finale, which wraps up even MORE threads while sending our team (all four of 'em!) on a wacky adventure into the past. This harkens back to the old days of the series (while tying into the current story arc and Atlantis), and the team's in fine form. One more week!
-We open with a look at the Daedelus, which is just being finished WITH an Asgard hyperdrive. Carter notes that because Daedelus was built with certain alien design considerations from the keel up, it has a slight advantage in performance over the class ship, which had its upgrades essentially tacked on.
-There are a few System Lords left (gonna have to make a list of possibilities - aside from Baal, we're short on known / seen Goa'uld still around) but they figure it's a matter of time before they're hunted down. Without Jaffa or Kull armies, they're little real threat, galactically-speaking.
-Catherine Langford has passed away. Not seen since the first season, she's been retired since then, supposedly living with Ernest Littlefield after they got him back. He didn't seem to be there, so he's probably passed away in the interm. Carter and O'Neill weren't at the funeral, which was a little odd considering their own, if probably more professional, friendship.
-Whoa! Though very attractive, Catherine's niece bleached her teeth WAY too much! Anyway, she gives Daniel back the medallion Cathy gave her (and that he gave back) from the very beginning of it all, during the movie. She also gives him ALL of her aunt's collection of artifacts.
-Hey! It's Dr. Redhead from SG-13, first seen in last year's "Heroes". But he seems to have transferred to SG-22... Guess Dixon couldn't handle him.
-The ZPM they discover was Ra's, used as a religious device - the old fart never knew what it was, or at least couldn't use it. They can't find it in the present, but they know where it WAS. And the have the time machine from "It's Good To Be King". Putting two and two together, off they go...
-From orbit, Teal'c notices the stars are different once they've made the jump. Carter says that this is because the Earth is in a different orbit around the sun. While this is correct, she is wrong about why. It's stellar drift that makes the stars look a little different. Earth having a slightly different orbit would make absolutely no difference in how the stars looked. Besides, orbiting on the sunlit side of Earth there's no way they can see the stars!
-This is a neat oppotunity to see how Ra (the Goa'uld) ruled ancient Egypt. He always wore his headmask, and his Jaffa (with Horus helmets, natch) were ubiquitous and had zat guns. Oddly, the Horus guards had a reddish tinge to their armor, like Apophis' Jaffa did after he returned to power. Teal'c swipes a helmet and proceeds to swipe the ZPM.
-Unfortunately, there was a sandstorm overnight which partially covered the cloaked jumper. someone saw a pile of sand partially covering the thing and alerted the authorities - they're trapped in ancient Epypt with no way to go home. On order to minimalize the effect on the timeline, they can't recapture it... They have no choice but to live out their lives in the past, and bury the ZPM in a place where a recent (a month or so before the present) dig would be able to find it and forward it to their present selves, thus skipping over the need to come back in the first place (forget causality here). So, they buckle down...
-And we find out that the new timeline's present is different enough to seriously screw things up. Daniel, a failed archeologist, is now a second-rate ESL teacher (!). Carter is a second-rate analyst at government aerospace office, and is WAY more nasally nerdy than ever. Jack is retired and runs a chartered fishing boat named Homer. As can be expected, the actors are REALLY enjoying this opportunity to play someone a little different than usual.
-The first two are rounded up by a moustachioed Major Davis, while O'Neill is approached by Major Samuels, the bootlick we haven't seen since the second season premiere. I'm a little surprised that Jack even known him, given how little he knew him back then. Funny way, how the world works.
-"Hello, my name is Carlos... Joo make me so hot."
-"...A-and just because my reproductive organs are on the inside and not the outside, doesn't-- God, that's horrible! Who would EVER say that?!"
-Brigadier General Hammond (woo!) is in charge of the Stargate complex (not SGC), which again is odd given his penchant ofr earlier retirement. He presents Daniel and Sam with the camera, which was preserved in a Goa'uld canopic jar we've seen before. Kinsey is President (!) and wasn't happy when he found out that Hayes was in charge.
-Here, Cathy's dad excavated the Giza dig in 1934, not 1928. There was no gate found (Ra took it with him for some reason, following the uprising), but the cover stone was. Other artifacts recovered suggest that "our" Daniel left clues pointing to the second gate in Antarctica. They didn't find it, but they DID find the time jumper.
-Daniel figures out that the uprising against Ra happened in 2995BC, which means that Jack sent the gang back to EXACTLY 3000BC. BTW, the jumper can't travel in jumps shorter than a couple centuries.
-Note how everyone's wearing USAF patches... "USAF RESARCH INSTITUTE - INTO THE FUTURE". Um, is this real in any way?
-Rodney McKay (!!) is lead scientist at Cheyenne. He's still a lovable jerk, and still attracted to Carter, but he's not allergic to lemon.
-Carter figures out that the jumper's DHD was found to be capable of dialling the Antarctic gate all the way from Colorado... And used the accompanying seismic disturbances (something we've seen them use before) to pinpoint the lcoation of the second gate. They retrieve it, but are let go AGAIN just as they're installing it and preparing to send a team through.
To be continued!
Mark
Posted by Wes (Member # 212) on :
Overall a pretty decent episode, but its hard to follow Threads, which could of been a Series Finale IMO.
Cant wait till next week!
Posted by Mr. Turnbull (Member # 1323) on :
This was one hell of an episode, imho.
Me and a mate were watching this and spent most of it Marking out!
We can't wait for part two next tuesday. (That and the second part of Atlantis's Two-Parter) Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Sounds interesting. Going to have to wait to watch it the old fashion way, on Sci-Fi after they ruin the episode by spoiling it in the previews.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Episodes like this are why I categorically refuse to EVER EVER EVER go back in time. It never ends well.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Exactly, with all the technology the Ancients have, generating 1.21 gigawatts should be a breeze.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
You know, it's too bad they couldn't power the camera with the ZPM, and take more video.
And for my next trick, I'll power my wristwatch with a fusion reactor...
Posted by machf (Member # 1233) on :
Hmmm, why does this camera thing remind me of Das Jesus Video?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Observation 1: Carter should wear glasses more often. But maybe that's just my own personal fetish.
Observation 2: Alt-McKay is way more of a jerk than regular McKay was in his previous SG-1 appearances.
Ponderance 1: Where did alt-Jack pick up a Bob & Doug McKenzie-esque accent?
Ponderance 2: Anyone else think the events of 2995BC were a result of Jack getting fed up and starting the rebellion himself?
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
There had to have been something different about the rebellion if Ra decided to take the gate with him this time...
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
I wish they would have laid the groundwork for this time travel plan a few episodes back, though. I mean, it felt pretty rushed to me, in this episode.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mark Nguyen: -Here, Cathy's dad excavated the Giza dig in 1934, not 1928. There was no gate found (Ra took it with him for some reason, following the uprising), but the cover stone was. Other artifacts recovered suggest that "our" Daniel left clues pointing to the second gate in Antarctica. They didn't find it, but they DID find the time jumper.
They must have found the gate - since that's how they went through to find the jumper! And feel the vibrations!
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Just curious again about air-dates in different countries, Sol - Did you just see the episode?? Where are you and how did you see it aired? Cable or Free to Air?
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
"They must have found the gate - since that's how they went through to find the jumper!"
They (SG-1) LEFT the jumper BEHIND in the alternate timeline, so, no.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
The episode just aired Friday evening, March 18th in the nation that's paying for the thing. That's why they call it Sci-Fi Friday. THE BIGGEST NIGHT OF SCI-FI EVER! Twice, even.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
It must have been aired before though? I've seen it via bittorrent - before it was aired in Australia - where was it screened first anyone? The UK?
Oh, D'oh of course because that is how they were dialling the gate.
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
SkyOne started broadcasting the second half of season 8 before anyone else.
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