Stargate SG-1 1013 The Road Not Taken

[fignewton]

aurora_novarum’s recommendation to see Line in the Sand was a great one, so I trusted her enough to try this Daniel-free episode, too. I didn’t write down my reactions as I watched, so not only will this review be rather rambling, but it will also be out-of-order. Sorry. :) 

So, The Road Not Taken. An interesting premise, but a disappointing outcome.

First of all, I am convinced that this episode is supposed to come before Line in the Sand. This is Sam’s gadget that she was working on, that seemed to come out of the blue; and the references to Daniel seem much more immediate and post-Quest. So in my my mind, they accidently ran these episodes out of order, and in my personal SG-1 universe, The Road Not Taken comes before Line in the Sand. The extra time – two weeks of the ep itself, plus the weeks before the ep took place (as we learn in the AU) – makes character reactions in Line in the Sand so much more realistic, and it gives us Sam’s out-of-phase device. I admit that Sam does say, “And based on experiments in my reality, [the device is] one hundred percent Ori proof,” but that doesn’t have to refer to the incident in Line in the Sand; they might have been conducting minor experiments of some other kind. Try and convince me otherwise. :)

When I posted, way back when, about Pegasus Project, one of the things I specifically mentioned was my pleasure at how the writers gave us just enough Atlantis for non-SGA fans like me to follow along. This time, however, the writers seemed to assume that we would know about events taking place in the SGA-verse. So what happens to people like me, who don’t follow SGA? I have no idea what McKay’s “bridge” was, or who his sister is, or who Major Lorne was. There’s a vast difference between sprinkling tidbits for the SGA fans that they’ll pick up and enjoy without taking away from the SG-1 stuff; I’m sure there were lots of nuances in Pegasus Project that I missed, but it didn’t affect my ability to follow the episode. This time, they went too far, and I know I’m missing crucial information. And quite frankly, that’s unfair. If it was a SG-1 crossover taking place in an Atlantis episode, I wouldn’t even think of complaining; but this was an SG-1 episode, and I was left floundering.

I’ve discovered that it’s really nice not to be spoiled for upcoming episodes, because GEORGE!!! Squee-time, and out loud to boot. :) I was so pleased to see Hammond in the general’s chair, where he belonged! And it was a very familiar path that he was forced to tread – the necessity of following orders, but fiercely questioning the morality of those orders, and doing whatever he could to support his people.

I liked alt-Lee. He was compentent and intelligent, which he should be. I don’t mind comic relief!Lee if it’s in terms of personality, but I strongly dislike comic relief!Lee when they make him out as bumbling.

I’m going to have to meta this universe in a separate post, because there’s a lot of intriguing potential that we’re not quite seeing. Where’s Jack? Where’s Kinsey? Why is Sam only a major, and why doesn’t anyone seem to care that she’s dead? Is it horrible of me to say that I think that dumping Vala in Area 51 was actually quite intelligent of them?

Landry. I’ve never much liked him, so it was hardly a stretch to see him with this kind of behavior. I’m a little baffled, though, at the sudden and abrupt turnaround. He allowed Sam to go home because she made a pretty speech? Was this supposed to convince us that deep down, he’s really a good guy? Because all it did was convince me that deep down, he’s a man who is easy to manipulate.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about Sam’s dealings with McKay. The first time, her speech about “the Rodney McKay that I know…” was funny, especially because he called her on it so quickly. I have to admit that it was a distinct pleasure to get an AU where she isn’t married/engaged/mooning after Jack, but on the other hand, I would have liked at least a mention of Jack O’Neill. More on this in the inevitable meta post.

Mitchell was fascinating, because he was so different from the man we know, and it would have been relatively easy for him to get there. But that wig…! Is it the same one Daniel wore in Moebius or is that just a little too cynical? If they can manage nice hair extensions for Sam when the occasion calls for it, why not a decent wig for the men?

Prometheus as Air Force One was seriously funny, although Daniel already ran around that ship in a suit in S8, so they’re sadly behind the curve.

It was a police state, but they allowed Sam to wander around so freely? That made little sense, although it was fun to watch her fight when they did get around to taking her in. And I laughed at loud at the gag, because I felt, like in The Quest, part 2, that we were getting distinct echoes of former behavior. I’ll just bet that Sam bit someone, ala her biting Jack’s hand when she woke up in prison in The Serpent’s Lair way back in the season opener of S2.

Sam did look beautiful, but what was the point of all the PR, feel-good stuff if 80% of the targeted audience was without power and couldn’t tune in anyway?

I have to admit it, though: my favorite parts were really the teaser and the tag. Watching Cameron march smack into the force field, because Sam had written the warning sign but forgotten to post it – that was so perfectly Sam. And they spent three weeks talking to an empty room. That is adorable on so many levels. They had faith she was there, and they remembered Daniel in Crystal Skull and Mitchell and Sam in Arthur’s Mantle, and they wanted to offer moral support… Happy sigh for teamy goodness. And their refusal to say what they talked about. And Vala’s hug. Go team!

So, to sum up – once again, an episode gave me a lot to think about. But a lot of it didn’t quite fit. And it takes very strong blinders to ignore the blatant political commentary and enjoy the episode on its own merits.

Off to write some meta, and then to read other people’s reviews! It was quite an effort not to click on many of the posts on my f-list. :)

Comments

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

I did tell you I didn't like this one as much as "Line in the Sand" (but others love it so much more, so MMV).

I didn't think about the SGA references. Oops. Sorry about that. But you made a good point. That universal bridge thing is an SGA concoction that should've been technobabbled better.

Now, you should know Lorne, fig. He's actually mainly a recurring/random SG team leader on Atlantis that has become a fan favorite, but he's a crossover character from SG-1. He was in "Enemy Mine" as the guy who moved Daniel's artifacts because "they were in the way" (Jack had to send Daniel to his "happy place") and got nauseous when he saw what the Unas did to his friend.

The Cam/Sam moments at the beginning and teamy goodness at the end made it all worth it though, didn't it?

Plus, you think I'm going to tell you NOT to watch an episode with Bill Lee? Hee hee hee.

I'll have to read your meta for the ep, but I have a feeling you had a lot of the same problems with the AU I did. I think part of the issue is that unlike TBFTGOG and Point of View or even RE, this ep got rid of the urgent crisis about half way through. It was good they stopped the Ori attack, but in exploring this AU more, they kept minor points open to big plot holes...though some of my issues come out from early explanations, so that's not as true, but I think the fact so much took place post-crisis made my brain start to wander and get thinky and poke holes in their story. Heh.

Off to read your meta.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course! And Enemy Mine is a definite favorite of mine, so shame on me! And I really, really like that they took a minor character from SG-1 and transferred him over to SGA instead of taking only new and shiny characters; it only makes sense that there should be some people at the SGC who moved over to the Pegasus Galaxy! Are there are more like Lorne?

And yay for Bill Lee! Indeed. :)

Good point on crisis vs universe building. Universe building can be fascinating, of course, but not when they leave so many holes.

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

Are there are more like Lorne?

yep! :)

We see Novak (hiccuping engineering on PU) on the Daedalus quite frequently - she's actually fun.
And...uh....well, Rodney obviously.
Maybe others?