SG-1 Season 4 Analysis Part 4

This will be the penultimate post in this particular analysis, and after that, I'll move on to a different franchise. Here we go into the final stretch of the season.

16. 2010

This excellent episode is in my opinion one of the best of the series. The concept is played out beautifully in a believable near-future where the Earth is watched over by an advanced race of Humans known as the Aschen. The story and production values are sublime, and stylistically you can't go wrong with this brilliant offering. Balance this with some nice humor (at the mothballed Stargate Command) and you have a classic. Rating: 10 / 10

17. Absolute Power

Does the word "sublime" sound familiar? It should, because I just used it to describe the previous episode. Well, this is sublime as well! The scene where Shifu does his Ascension thing always gives me chills. This was the perfect way to end the Harcesis story, and a huge turning point for Daniel. I actually consider "Forever in a Day", "Absolute Power", and "Meridian" to be a sort of trilogy thematically bound by Daniel's "quest". Great stuff. Rating: 10 / 10

18. The Light

Hmm. I never found this episode particularly interesting or memorable. I consider it the weakest of the season. Of course, as with virtually every "SG-1" episode, I like parts of it. I like the concept of an addictive light and for the first time since Season 2's "Prisoners" we see some one obliterated by the kawoosh. But when one of the best things I can say about an episode is that I got to see some one die a reasonably horrible death never to return, maybe the episode just isn't that great... Rating: 5 / 10

19. Prodigy

A decent enough episode, but overall not one of my favorites. I have issues with the relatively numerous cliches in the story. In an episode like this, however, I prefer to talk about things I liked. The zat countdown, Bill Lee's first appearance, and the escape from the light bugs were all good. Also, if you have the DVDs with audio commentaries, be sure to watch at least the first 6 minutes of the commentary. You'll see what I mean. Rating: 6 / 10

20. Entity

A solid example of an episode that features decent plotting made great by characters and their interactions and emotions. If an episode like this turned up on a science fiction series without the heart of "SG-1" (I'm not going to name any names) it simply would not succeed, or at least not nearly to the degree that this episode works. On an unrelated note, I believe that this is the second time Walter is injured, the first being when the Goa'uld in Kawalsky messed with him in "The Enemy Within". Just some harmless trivia. All in all, a great one. Rating: 8 / 10

21. Double Jeopardy

The continuation of "Tin Man"! Com-traya! Bet-ter! Anyway, a solid action episode that does have some general issues (Cronus' underlord isn't exactly a memorable Goa'uld and I always found some of the story perspective a bit odd), but they are minor. I love the throwback to classic Season 1 haircuts, and anytime that SG-1 takes on a whole Ha'tak full of Jaffa and their Snakehead masters, you've got a formula for success. Rating: 8 / 10

22. Exodus

Ah, "Exodus". Why don't we blow up a sun and take out Apophis' fleet? One of the best ideas SG-1 ever had. Apophis had loomed like a beacon of impending doom throughout this season ("Upgrades", "The Serpent's Venom", even "Tangent") and now we're in the endgame. And by the way, it's a Jaffa Revenge Thing. 

Rating: 10 / 10

The final post for this analysis will be up soon, wrapping it up with some final thoughts; then, I jump franchises.

SG-1 Season 4 Analysis Part 3

Here we go into the middle of the season...

8. The First Ones

An enjoyable if flawed episode. There are many interesting things here such as aboriginal Goa'uld! However, what I must mention above all else is the introduction of the P-90. Anyway, regarding the episode itself, it is good but not outstanding. 

Rating: 7 / 10

9. Scorched Earth

An okay episode; the conflict between Jack and Daniel stemming from "The Other Side" is back, but by no means in full force. That said, parts of the episode were very well done.

Rating: 6 / 10

10. Beneath the Surface

Some improvements could have been made with this episode. The premise of SG-1's lost memories is not milked to its fullest extent, in my opinion. I liked what we got, but there should have been more. The resolution seemed lacking, as well. Another slightly above average but essentially okay episode.

Rating: 6 / 10

11. Point of No Return

Parts of this episode were great and other parts were generic, making the episode unbalanced. Tanner and his henchmen were not interesting to me, but the episodes had glimpses of brilliance. "Magnets" make their return from "Window of Opportunity" and as the image here indicates, Murray was great! Rating: 7 / 10

12. Tangent

A well-constructed triumph, unlike the X-301 itself. All of that "no joy" was certainly supplanted by a healthy amount of "joy" at the very end! Random comment: the matte of the planet's surface that Carter and Daniel find Jacob on is reused from "Need".

Rating: 9 / 10

13. The Curse

The look and feel of this episode is commendable. The story itself didn't carry its momentum to its fullest potential, but overall I enjoyed it. This is one of about two times that we see a Goa'uld in Egypt. An episode like this brings Stargate back to its roots in a lot of ways.

Rating: 8 / 10

14. The Serpent's Venom

"The Serpent's Venom", after "Upgrades" before it, emphasizes Apophis' rise to dominance. This is one of my favorite things about Season 4; Apophis' growing power makes Season 4 not only my favorite season, but my favorite era.

That said, the torture could have been a little better, but for the cause of the Jaffa Rebellion, it can be deemed necessary.

Rating: 9 / 10

15. Chain Reaction

There are a few questionable things about this one, but they are squeezed in between such great little moments as SG-1's triumphant return and General Hammond's farewell that I count it as firmly belonging in a stretch of great episodes.

Rating: 8 / 10

Many of these episodes were flawed but good. This marks the overall quality as less than the first third of the season, but the middle of the season is still a triumph even after a less than great stretch at its beginning. Even the less-than-outstanding episodes had considerable merits.

In Part 4, I'll go straight through the rest of the episodes.

SG-1 Season 4 Analysis Part 2

In Part 1, I mentioned the unbeatable Early Season 4 Atmosphere ™. This is hard to explain partially because it's an atmosphere and partially because it's not any one thing. It's something in the quality of the film the shows are shot on, the look of the special effects, the dynamics of the team, and last but certainly not least, Janet.

Seriously, she looks great! Anyway, this atmosphere is just a strange and delightful presence. 

The other thing to address is the comparison of Season 4's 1st 7 episodes to the first 7 episodes of other seasons. In my reviews of "Small Victories" through "Watergate", not a single episode received less than an 8. Let's go through the other seasons briefly. I'm looking for episodes in the first 7 of a season that in my opinion, warrant a rating less than 8.

Season 1 has "Emancipation".

Season 2 has "Need".

Season 3 has "Learning Curve".

Season 4 has none.

Season 5 has "Beast of Burden".

Season 6 has "Frozen".

Season 7 has "Enemy Mine".

Season 8 has "Affinity".

Season 9 actually comes the closest to not having any, but alas, there's "The Ties that Bind".

Season 10 has "Morpheus".

Of course, there were yet more in virtually all of these seasons, but I only picked what I considered to be the sore thumb in each. 

Season 4 has an outstanding first stretch of 7 episodes. Can it keep it up? In Part 3, I delve into the middle of the season.

SG-1 Season 4 Analysis Part 1

Let's get right into it: a multi-part analysis of my favorite Stargate SG-1 season, Season 4. I'm going episode by episode in chunks with some broader comments along the way. Just for the record, I'm not going to summarize the plots much at all, and I also can't guarantee no spoilers, so...

1. Small Victories

The resolution to the "Nemesis" cliffhanger doesn't disappoint. The team splits to battle the Replicators on two fronts in two galaxies. Carter works with Thor to stop a devastating attack on Othalla, while the rest of the team had their hands full with the little buggers on a Russian submarine. The show had never done an episode this broad in its action before and the Replicators continue to be formidable enemies. The tension is balanced with humor very well (as only SG-1 can do) and a great season opener.

Rating: 9 / 10

2. The Other Side

This is a gem of an episode that deals with morality like never before and never again. The opposed attitudes of Jack and Daniel are very effective in selling the episode's emotional power. I've heard comments that Jack's attitude here is unusually harsh. Well, it is, and in my opinion it serves the episode perfectly. Also, the intensity is supplemented with a couple of fun beats with Jack's reaction to the zombified pilot and the strange cup at the dinner table. That last comment may have seemed to come out of left field, but I find that I can never focus 100% on dark subject matter when it comes to Stargate SG-1! A solid effort.

Rating: 8 / 10

3. Upgrades

Upgrades! This is a delightful episode. Yes, Anise's attitude about the experiments left something to be desired (go Janet!), and yes, the episode strained a bit of credibility, but the concept and story are so great that I must count this in my top 10 of the series! Its only flaw, in my opinion, is a bit of a pacing issue; but it's only a bit of an issue! "Earth. Steaks. There's a difference?"

Rating: 10 / 10

4. Crossroads

This episode has grown on me upon repeated viewings. Lots of nice details (such as the Cronus flashback) permeate and enhance it. Sure, there are a few questionable aspects to the episode, but none so glaring that it undermines the story. In this episode, two revenges for Teal'c are set up: Cronus and Tanith. To my surprise, the scene at the end where Teal'c and Tanith vow to meet again gave me chills...

Rating: 8 / 10

5. Divide and Conquer

What an emotional train wreck! Holy buckets! Holy hannah! This is probably the most emotionally intense episode of the series (although "Heroes Part 2" comes to mind, that's beside the point). I just can't get over how devastating this episode is. Even so, I must mention one of my favorite scenes of the series, and it's a funny one. Daniel visits Jack's room. They talk about Freya liking Jack and Anise liking Daniel.

Daniel: Yep, I think that these are the Jack O'Neill moments I'll probably miss the most.

Jack: What?

Daniel: What?

Simply hilarious... but there goes that humor sneaking in again. Anyway, this episode was intense!

Rating: 10 / 10

6. Window of Opportunity

What can be said about this episode that hasn't already been said? Not much. This episode is great. It's hilarious. It's darn near perfect. Anyway, I'm sorry but that just happens to be the way I feel about it. What do you think?

Rating: 10 / 10

7. Watergate

Quite an intriguing episode: Earth's Stargate connected to a DHD for the first time after a long time away, wisp-like life-forms trying to get home, a gate in Siberia, Maybourne in the freezer, and a great, sturdy, Swiss submarine. That said, Marina Sirtis' Russian accent was a little forced.

Rating: 9 / 10

In Part 2, I'll go sort of broad in talking about how this first stretch of 7 episodes stands out as being so great especially in comparison to other seasons' first stretches. I'll also talk about the absolutely unbeatable Early Season 4 Atmosphere™.