Stargate SG-1: Solitudes

Finally! At long last - and it took longer than I remembered - this show actually gets good. Really good actually. Solitudes (episode 18) is one of my favourite episodes of the entire series and even holds up compared with the best of a lot of other shows. Certainly it's enough to remind me why I loved this show.

Kind of looks like he's jumping into a pool.

The episode begins with Daniel and Teal'c returning to Earth at high velocity. The stargate is giving off unusually high energy readings and the two of them fly out of it and across the gate room. Unexpectedly, Sam and Jack do not follow. Neither Daniel nor Teal'c can explain their absence. They had been attacked by Goa'uld and forced to retreat through the gate, but it seems highly unlikely that both of them were shot down simultaneously in the brief time between Teal'c entering the gate and them making it through.

You can tell it was a serious injury because he didn't heal immediately.

The power surge has also damaged the gate, preventing any immediate attempt at rescue, and will take some time to fix. There's a great little dig at an old sci-fi trope here where Hammond is given an estimate on repair time for the gate and tells them they have half that, to which MSgt. Siler simply replies that it doesn't work like that and it'll take as long as it takes. It's the best.

I know TNG did a similar thing, but this one's better.

Through the episode the team at SGC try repeatedly to find Sam and Jack, to no avail. They send a probe through to the planet they fled but find nothing there but the still-hostile locals. They come up with various theories about where a malfunctioning stargate may have sent them, and begin searching those worlds, but eventually Hammond is forced to consider them missing in action and call off the search.

It would be remiss of me here to not point out the one thing that does bother me about this episode. We've been given no indication that there is any kind of plan to the way the SG teams explore the various planets and there is no reason to suppose that any particular planet is more or less likely to be a useful destination, so it seems to me that the search for the missing team members could simply be carried out as part of regular operations rather than as a disruption to them, but it's possible to come up with justifications for this so it doesn't detract too much.

This is the place they were running home from.

Oh, and similar to the quarantine thing I keep harping on, they bring up the possibility of Sam and Jack being captured and giving up the codes to open up the iris, which just made me wonder why they don't have duress codes; enemy captures and tortures you, you give up the fake code that alerts SGC what's happened. Oh well.

Meanwhile, Sam and Jack find themselves in an icy underground cavern. Jack is badly injured and neither have any idea where they are or how they got there, other than that they must have come through the nearby stargate - why they were sent here instead of back home is a mystery. There also doesn't seem to be a DHD anywhere nearby, so (at least for now) they can't dial out.

There's some nice shots that really emphasise their isolation.

So Sam tends to Jack's injuries as best she can, and the two of them spend some time bonding. Jack can't move too well (broken leg) but Sam is able to explore a little and finds a possible exit - but not one Jack can make use of - and the DHD. The only problem is that it's buried in a giant ice block. They have the tools to dig it out, but it's going to take some time.

But they have nothing better to do, so they dig it out. And it doesn't work. The symbols light up, the gate responds, but when Carter hits the final symbol - nothing. So they take a rest and then continue digging out the DHD. Sam is confident that if she can get to its workings she'll be able to fix it. And I know she's meant to be a super-genius and all, but that seems optimistic to me.

Honestly, that's some impressive digging.

And indeed she can find no problem with the DHD. Jack's condition ash worsened and their supplies are running low, so Jack orders her to leave him and try to make it to the planet's surface. She initially refuses and continues to work on the DHD - she even tries turning it off and back on again - but eventually she is left with no choice but to at least try to climb to the outside.

She's not happy about it though.

However, as she tries one last time to dial Earth, Daniel, back in the SGC, notices the gate vibrating, like as though someone were dialling it - but there is no incoming wormhole. This gives him an idea - a world they didn't think to check, but should have.

Teal'c's OK again now.

It's Earth. They've been on Earth the whole time. There's a second stargate on Earth. I don't know, maybe I'd see this coming more easily if I watched it now, but this twist came out of nowhere when I first watched this show and it makes perfect sense. They can't dial Earth because they're on Earth. OK, Sam should probably have tried dialling another planet - any other planet - but I'll allow that oversight given the stressful situation and how great this plot twist is. They're in Antarctica!

Inhospitable Ice Planet Antarctica!

Sam climbs outside only to discover that they're on an inhospitable ice planet - HA - and returns to the cavern. Jack seems not long for this world and Sam has given up all attempts at escape when the rescue team arrives. And now Earth has two stargates. Neat.

I've just got to say, if you don't like this episode - if you've watched this far and you're still not into it - give up. This show is not for you. But if you've been wondering up till how this show lasted so long and spawned those spin-offs and you thought this episode was a refreshing change of pace, stick with it. I won't say it's all great from here on out, but this is the bit where it gets good. You've made it.

Two gates! Think of the possibilities! (Actually there aren't that many)

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