Holiday

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S2 (Holiday)

Far from leaving me sad at Machello's death this unexpected story left me grinning thanks to the body-swapping escapades of Teal'c and O'Neill! Early on I thought I could see where the episode was going - they re-use the same sealed room seen a few episodes ago (it may not have been sealed this time, but it was the same set, I'm sure), and they give us a new perspective from the top of a gate as it opens, but as soon as I saw the old man I questioned the quality of the makeup as I could tell it was a younger man. In true Corporal Jones of 'Dad's Army' style I suspected this old man was going to get up to more physical exertions than a real old man would be capable of, and I was only half-wrong.

When it quickly became a body-swap story part of me groaned inwardly (the symbiont perhaps?), and part of me held out hope for an entertaining tale. Body-swapping may be a cliche in sci-fi, but more often than not it creates enjoyable scenes for the characters involved and I was not disappointed. Michael Shanks does a good 'confused, of alien world', but the plaudits must surely rain down on Christopher Judge who got to prove what an actor he is with such hilarious mimicry of Richard Dean Anderson's mannerisms. Anderson had the easier job of restraining all emotion, something his character tends towards anyway, except in outbursts of irritation or sarcasm that Judge got down pat. It must have been a joy to exercise their acting chops in different ways and it's only a shame Carter and Hammond didn't get in on the action (can you imagine?).

The title had already given away that this was likely to be a less serious type of installment, but there were good scenes throughout and the body-swapping wasn't over-used, indeed it left me wanting to see more of the Teal'c/O'Neill exchange for pure comedy's sake. I didn't buy the sudden illness of Teal'c and that avenue of 'suspense' didn't last long thankfully. Are we supposed to believe that if the big guy goes without sleep for a few hours he could die of any illness he happens to contract? We also didn't get to hear why he wanted a shaved head (I may have forgotten an earlier explanation).

Melodrama and poignancy were attempted, but it was the pure fun of the acting that made the episode. I suspected it was Shanks playing the role of Machello when he was lying on the hospital bed, talking to Carter, and from being critical of the makeup I took a U-turn and realised how successful it had been - although I had suspicions of the truth I wasn't really sure until right at the end when 'Daniel' talks to the old man and there's a slight change in the look of the shot that denotes a visual effect. I was glad of the credit at the end just to confirm it, even so.

I wondered if there was going to be a twist at the end that the 'new' Daniel would escape, but they could rejuvenate the real Daniel in that machine on the planet and it would turn him back into the Daniel we know with some techy explanation that the mind imprints the physical identity onto the technology, or something. But all around a jolly enjoyable episode and one worth seeing again when you know who's who! Twice in a row Dr. Frasier's medical rooms have played host to a dying victim on her beds - she might begin to get a bad reputation...

***