Redial the Gate: Thor's Chariot

[fignewton]

Later today, redial_the_gate goes live with the recap and fanworks posts for Thor's Chariot.

How is it possible for one season to have so many fantastic episodes!? And why didn't we get ever get such a consistently superb season again?

So much to love about this ep! As always, no real coherency in the following squee: just fangirling the episode and some meta-ish observations.

Love the teamy goodness in this one. The solidarity, the support for one another, the seamless teamwork as they work together. That scene in the beginning, when they argue with Hammond about their responsibility to fix their mistake on Cimmeria, is one of my absolute favorites:

Teal'c, stepping forward: "The destruction of the Hammer device to save my life may have caused this. If so, I am responsible."
Jack, moving foward too: "General, I gave the order."
Daniel, joining the others: "And I fired the staff at the machine."
Sam, lining up with the rest: "And I... was there."

Hee hee hee.

In fact, there are so many fantastic lines in this one!

Teal'c: "Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson. They will, in fact, calm up."

Daniel: "This is the Hall of Thor's Might?"
Gairwyn: "You were expecting something different?"
Daniel, flailing at the obelisk: "Well, uh, maybe a Hall?"

Daniel, to a hologram, holding up a finger: "Uh, excuse me? Could you, uh, please, just one second?"

Gairwyn is one of my all-time favorite guest stars. A strong woman, open-minded, with courage and faith in the strangers, and willing to do what she can to seek help. I couldn't help agree with the guy who blamed SG-1 for their troubles, but Gairwyn's trust in the team is delightful, isn't it?

And how cool is Cimmeria, with Gairwyn (despite skeptical guy - Olaf? - calling her "woman!" at one point) clearly considered one of the leaders? I adored the moment when Sam got her M-5 ready, and Daniel gripped his pistol, and Gairwyn drew her longsword just before they charged around a tree and confronted... Teal'c and Jack. :)

"Kendra and her family." I don't know why, but I always assumed Kendra never married. She seemed to be an outcast, except for open-minded people like Gairwyn.

The Asgard, subtly guiding the Cimmerians. Olaf spitting at Heru'ur, "Thor taught us to stand as equals!" "Thor taught us to have no fear of death!" The Hall of Might accessible only when someone is willing to do touch something that is "forbidden," which can mean either moving beyond superstition or an encouragement for healthy skepticism. Gairwyn did go down to one knee when "Thor" appeared, but under the circumstances, I think Olaf would've, too. :)

On the other hand... The test of wisdom assumed a lot, including that the Cimmerians would still be using the same writing/numeral system and that they would still be working with Base Ten. Was that fair, really? And on the third, personal hand, I don't think I ever quite realized how much that scene with pi, where Daniel supplied the translation and Sam supplied the math, inspired the puzzle from In Search of Possibilities. Best if we call it "homage." :)

Am I the only one who thinks the Asgard motif is one of SG-1's most beautiful pieces of music?

Loved Daniel for having the courage to tell Thor the truth. Loved Sam and Daniel both for how they got across the chasm (or didn't). Loved Jack and Teal'c in their confrontation with Heru'ur, and how Daniel's knowledge of myth fit so nicely with what Teal'c told Jack. Loved Teal'c for brilliantly shooting the staff weapon so Heru'ur couldn't fire at them, and that loooooong moment when they stared at each other and SG-1 suddenly acquired a brand new personal enemy.  Loved Teal'c and Jack showing off their prowess, and Olaf in turn hurling a battleaxe between them to take out another Jaffa. Loved the courage of the whole team in walking out and sparing the Cimmerians. Loved Gairwyn giving the credit to Sam and Daniel without hesitation, and again when she appeared before them after her visit to Thor, smiling and completely at peace with the confrontation of what Thor truly was and having a personal conversation with her former deity.

Here's something that struck me for the first time, and how fantastic is SG-1, that there's always something new to discover?

Daniel: "What happened? Did you run into Apophis?"

Huh? I thought they all assumed that Apophis was dead at this point - that he'd been killed when the two motherships blew up over Earth. They're certainly shocked enough two episodes later, in Family, when Bra'tac tells them that Apophis has taken Ry'ac.

 It is fascinating, though, to recognize that this is actually the first time that we meet a System Lord other than Ra or Apophis. It's also curious that Teal'c has apparently never discussed the other System Lords with the SGC - surely that would be valuable intel for Earth?

Do you think Daniel was joking about his "problem with heights"? I'd say he wasn't; I don't think the tone or the time suggested an attempt at humor. On the other hand, an unease with heights doesn't mean paralyzing fear when he's confronted with it. While it heightens his awesome Danielness (speaking as a shameless fangirl, heh) that he was willing to go and help Gairwyn instead of letting Sam go back to do it, we see him handling heights without comment on a number of occasions: 1969, for example, when he climbed up to release the upper latch of the huge crate that held the Stargate, or Crystal Skull, when he showed no apprehension about walking that narrow pathway. So I'd say yes, heights make him nervous, and he'll avoid them when he can, but he can work with it when he has to. It's also possible that toppling into the "chasm" and finding himself sprawled on a solid floor cured him of the problem, but I personally prefer the former interpretation.

And finally: "Asgard teacher"? An interactive hologram in Thor's Hall of Might? An actual Asgard? How come we never hear about this again?

Comments

[hsapiens.livejournal.com]

Consider this my placeholder comment. This is one of my all-time favorite episodes. It has my all-time favorite Teal'c-ism (I still giggle every time he says that line), it has teamy goodness, it has Sam and Daniel solving intellectual puzzles together in reasonably appropriate to their characters ways, and it has a very cool, non-violent message in that they go looking for weapons and they receive revelations and insight. Maybe not so helpful when Heru-ur is attacking, but the early SG-1 episodes often featured non-violent themes (or lessons that violence was counterproductive).

I totally adore this episode! :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Whee! You're using that icon! :)

Oh I so love this episode. And yes, it's Teal'c's expression - he's not joking here, as he is later on in the series! And yes, such wonderful teamy goodness as they all back each other up and work together so flawlessly. I love my team, and episodes like this - and The Serpent's Lair, and MiaB, and Fifth Race, and so many other S2 eps - let them absolutely shine.

I'll be right here, adoring it with you!