There But For The Grace of God

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S1 (There But For The Grace of God)

This suffers by following an episode that has similarities in location and ideas. It starts practically the same as the last one, with the group entering an underground facility through the Stargate and Jack making some little comment. This time it's only Daniel that experiences something, but the old chestnut of an alternate reality is a bit close to doubles which was the core of the previous story.

Add to that the short time it takes for the alternate characters to believe Jackson's wild tale, and the lack of great differences, and the episode feels a bit like a budget-saver. It's only thanks to Michael Shanks' energetic performance as Daniel that the episode remains enjoyable. It was fun to have Catherine back, and it was a good way to set up the last two episodes of the season, but unfortunately they didn't quite live up to the hysteria generated here.

Jack's bold plan to hold Teal'c off for a few minutes was bound to fall flat on it's face since he'd just sent a bomb through to Chulak! And Daniel took long enough to work out what was happening! He would surely realise they weren't playing a joke on him. Also, I thought he needed the device to get back though the mirror, or was that what he meant in the cliffhanger ending about the enemy coming - was it from space or the mirror world he was anticipating attack from?

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