One False Step

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S2 (One False Step)

This was co-written by Michael Kaplan. Is that the same Michael Kaplan that is now a costume designer for films such as 'Star Trek XI'? At first I couldn't work out if the aliens were actually naked thanks to the tasteful shooting, but of course they weren't, thankfully. It's a bit puzzling as to what is going on, has a bit of a 'Prime Directive - should we or should we not have interfered' slant, and some rewarding little character moments. I love the understated, quite English scene with Jack and Daniel apologising to each other for getting shirty, without actually saying it, and the beautiful choral, but still very alien sounds the indigenous villagers emitted.

Very alien aliens aren't often attempted in modern sci-fi because of the difficulty in ensuring the audience understands what's happening, but once in a while a believable situation comes along. The aliens have no hostile, secret agenda, there isn't a guardian that comes back and gets annoyed with the SG team, and okay, the resolution isn't inspired or wonderful, but it does keep you guessing all the way, with the help of a few red herrings along the way - Daniel's sneezing, Carter's bleeding, the flying probe's fuel. But the setting is suitably different, without deep forests, sand dunes or rock quarries, and the people suitably odd, that it's more about the interference angle, and how some damage should probably have happened on other planets.

I'm not sure how well it would stand up to repeated viewings, but it does end happily, instead of the population decimation that seemed to be on the horizon. Have Stargate Command learned a lesson? I'm not sure, I have a feeling that there aren't many precautions that can be followed to prevent the introduction of viruses and such threats to alien worlds, but at least the writers have thought about it, at any rate.

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