Review - Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Back in May, I took a look at the Roland Emmerich film Stargate. And, even though both Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin had every intention of continuing the story of the film with at least two sequels, franchise rights owners Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) opted instead to continue the Stargate story on television. And to accomplish this, MGM turned to Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, who began development on the television series Stargate SG-1. Wright and Glassner would eventually be joined as creative producers by Robert C. Cooper and Richard Dean Anderson, the latter of whom would Star in the series, along with such cast members as Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, and Don S. Davis. Later casting additions would include Corin Nemec, Ben Browder, Claudia Black, and Beau Bridges. 

        The series opens with the episode Children of the Gods, which sees a group of U.S. Air Force officers attacked by unknown warriors traveling through the Stargate, and they take an airwoman hostage. Seeking answers, General George Hammond, who succeeded General West as base commander, sends one of his officers to collect retired Col. Jack O'Neill to answer some questions regarding the first trip through the Stargate, as Hammond is concerned that the beings that the Stargate team that went to Abydos may be back, despite the fact that Ra was destroyed. 

       O'Neill reveals to Hammond that the bomb did, indeed, detonate aboard Ra's ship, but the ship was far above the surface of Abydos, and thus the Abydonians, along with Dr. Daniel Jackson, are still alive. O'Neill then has an idea for a message to Daniel in the form of a box of Kleenex, which Daniel sends back with a note on the side of the box: "Thanks. Send More." Agreeing to a mission, Hammond assigns O'Neill, along with his men Kowalski and Ferretti, to head to Abydos. This time, however, they are joined by Air Force Captain Samantha Carter, who is an expert on the Stargate project, and was initially meant to go through the Stargate the first time. 

      On Abydos, the crew reunites with Daniel, who shows two things: a dialing device used to control the Stargate, and a chamber that was discovered after Ra's defeat, with markings showing multiple Stargate addresses. Meaning, in a different manner than Devlin and Emmerich intended for the movies, the Stargate does go other places. Meanwhile, the warriors that attacked the base on Earth arrive, attack a few Abydonians and Ferretti, and take Daniel's wife Sha're. Needing to regroup, O'Neill, Kowalski, and Carter take Daniel back to Earth, where it's later revealed that the military is now opening a special division operating out of the base, renamed Stargate Command, with a series of SG teams going to multiple words to combat the threat of the armored warriors, meet new and benevolent races and cultures, and forge alliances between these worlds and Earth. The premier team is officially dubbed SG-1, and will consist of O'Neill, Carter, and Daniel. Also , Kowalski is given leadership of SG-2. 

       After Ferretti reveals the address the armored warriors went to. So, SG-1 and SG-2 are given a go to investigate this world: Chulak. It's here where we learn that the armored warriors are known as Jaffa, who are the loyal army of a parasitic race known as the Goa'uld. The Goa'uld that we deal with first is known as Apophis, based on the Egyptian god of darkness and disorder. And, Apophis' mate, Amunet, takes Sha're as a host, and Apophis' son Klorel does the same with Sha're's brother Skaara. One of the Jaffa, Teal'c, turns on his fellow Jaffa and helps SG-1, SG-2, and a slew of Apophis' prisoners escape to Earth through the Stargate. Unfortunately, in the next episode, The Enemy Within, it's learned that Kowalski is possessed by a Goa'uld. And, despite multiple efforts to remove it, the SGC fails, and Kowalski is killed, along with the Goa'uld symbiote inside of his head. 

         Now, something notable about the series in comparison to the movie is in multiple spots. In the movie, Ra was, indeed, the last of his race, whereas the Goa'uld in the series were a dominant force that Ra was part of. Second is spelling and pronunciation of some names. For instance, the movie had Col. O'Neil, as played by Kurt Russell, whereas the series has Col. O'Neill, as played by Richard Dean Anderson. And, while O'Neil in the movie was brooding, but also a quipping badass, O'Neill in the series is more of a jokester. The Stargate base, located at a fictional installation at Creek Mountain, Colorado, the SGC is now at the real life Cheyenne Mountain facility. Lastly, to accommodate Michael Shanks, who was having pronunciation troubles with the name of Daniel's wife, she is renamed from Sha'uri to Sha're. 

       The performances of the main cast was fantastic. Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks definitely fit the roles of Col. O'Neill and Daniel Jackson very well. Amanda Tapping as Captain Carter was fantastic, and she plays off the role of an Air Force officer and a science genius very well. And Christopher Judge as Teal'c is easily a favorite, as he truly plays this role of a man from another world, a man once loyal to the Goa'uld, but seeking to free the Jaffa from their oppressors, even at the cost of his wife, Drey'auc, and son, Rya'c. Don S. Davis as General Hammond is an interesting character, as he is a stern commander, but still kind-hearted and cares about everyone under his command, especially SG-1.  

         For the first five seasons, which all aired on Showtime, Stargate SG-1 would see the main quartet of Col. O'Neill Capt. Carter, Dr. Jackson, and Teal'c explore several worlds, meeting the likes of the Nox, the Tollan, the Asgard, and multiple settlements based on old Earth cultures, such as Greek, Egyptian, Norse, and even a world whose people follow a Christian lifestyle practiced in the Dark Ages. And, we see multiple Goa'uld goes aside from Apophis, such as the likes of Hathor, Nirrti, Cronus, Yu, Heru'ur, Seth, Sokar, Osiris, and eventually the most evil Goa'uld of all: Anubis. Another faction of Goa'uld, known as the Tok'ra, are also introduced, and they are shown to be fighting on the same side as the warriors or Earth, known as the Tau'ri. But, to cement their alliance, Carter's father Jacob, who is dying of cancer, becomes host to a Tok'ra named Selmak, whose own host was dying of old age. As, unlike the Goa'uld, the Tok'ra only take voluntary hosts, and share a truly symbiotic relationship between symbiote and host. Also, we learn of a race known as the Ancients, who built the Stargates eons ago, but gained ascension and are now on a higher plane of existence. 

          In addition to the Goa'uld is the threat of the Replicators, a robotic race that takes over and assimilates various technologies, but are not immune to more primitive technologies like machine gun fire. So, while the more advanced weapons of the Asgard are not enough to defeat the Replicators, basic machine guns from Earth are easily able to destroy the Replicators. We later see that, due to a temporal distortion, the Replicators evolve to take on a more humanlike appearance. 

          Something else that really sets Stargate SG-1 apart from other sci-fi series is that humanity, by exploring the cosmos through the Stargate, is also able to advance human technology enough to create an entire fleet of fighters and battleships capable of interstellar travel and combat. It's genuinely amazing seeing humanity going from being outmatched in the face of a Goa'uld invasion to being fully capable of meeting them in battle with equally matching firepower and technology. 

        Unfortunately, after five seasons, Showtime looked to end production on Stargate SG-1. The main reason was syndication, as the show was also airing on regular television to accommodate viewers who couldn't afford Showtime, and so new subscriptions weren't in the range the premium network was after. Luckily, another network was willing to pick the series, which was at the height of popularity, up for new seasons. That network was Syfy (back when it was called Sci-fi Channel). However, one casualty of the change of network was the departure of Michael Shanks and Daniel Jackson, whose spot would be filled in Season Six with a new team member: Jonas Quinn, played by Corin Nemec. Jonas definitely added an interesting dynamic to the series. But, heading in to Season Seven, Michael Shanks returned, and Jonas Quinn was reduced to a supporting character once again. 

         Season Eight would see a big change in status quo, as Col. O'Neill would get promoted to General, and would be given command of the SGC, with Major Carter getting promoted to the rank of Colonel and be made leader of SG-1. This decision was made to accommodate two major cast changes. First, Richard Dean Anderson was looking for a reduced schedule as he wanted to spend more time raising his daughter, and Don S. Davis was departing the series outright, due to age and health reasons. 

          Something else that changed from the Showtime era to the Syfy era is the way a season would end. In the Showtime era, each season would end on a cliffhanger, which would resolve when the next season picked up. On Syfy, each season was treated as of it would be the last, and each season ended definitively, acting as a potential series finale as it were. 

       Luckily, however, the series was popular enough to keep going, and Syfy even began to greenlight spin-offs such as Stargate Atlantis, which we'll get into some time in the future. Ultimately, with the Goa'uld threat defeated, the plan was to end Stargate SG-1 and launch a second spin-off called Stargate Command. However, when enough lead cast members of SG-1 were able to return, the Stargate Command spin-off was reworked into a ninth, and eventually tenth and final, season of SG-1. Joining the cast would be Ben Browder as Col. Cameron Mitchell, a U.S. Air Force officer who was put in a situation that shook his confidence a bit, Beau Bridges as Gen. Hank Landry, who is a much more "down home" commanding officer, coming off more soft-spoken and friendly than a number of his predecessors, and Claudia Black as Vala Mal Doran, a former Goa'uld host turned cosmic thief, who has a flirtatious relationship with Daniel Jackson. 

        Acting as villains this time are the Ori, who are of the same race as the Ancients, but act as a force of dominance, converting as many to their religion: Origin. And, unlike the Goa'uld, who used advanced technology to pose as gods, the Original use magic and mysticism to add to the illusion that they practically are gods. Another element to the Ori's arsenal include a massive Stargate called a Supergate, which is more powerful, and much larger, than an ordinary Stargate, and can allow entire ships to move in an artificial wormhole. The Ori also introduce a powerful messianic figure known as the Orici, who is born as Vala's daughter Adria. And, I will say that it was awesome to see Adria being portrayed by the lovely Morena Baccarin. She was equally seductive and evil at the same time, and she was really awesome. 

       All in all, Stargate SG-1 was one of the finest television series in all of science fiction. Much like Star Trek before it, Stargate SG-1 put a lot of focus on exploration of other worlds, but took it in a different, and very bold, direction. It combined quality drama with epic action. It had somber moments, deep moments, and lighthearted funny moments. I can't recommend this series enough, and I give Stargate SG-1 a rating of 5/5. 

       Okay, so that will probably be it for the Stargate franchise for now, as it's going to take a while to get to my reviews of the other two Stargate TV shows: Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. But, I will get to both eventually. But, next time, I will be taking a look at the 2007 movie Ocean's Thirteen.