Deadman Switch

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S3 (Deadman Switch)

One of the few early episodes that I caught on original transmission on Channel 4, I always recalled this as a good one, and it lived up to impressions. I had this memory of a short-haired Goa'uld type on a planet, and something like him being trapped in a room or a ship and the SG team escaping him or something. That's where I assumed the title came from - that he had to be in some place to do something or something would happen like an explosion. All very sketchy, but it was almost ten years ago! In the event I suppose the Dead Man Switch refers to the bounty hunter's control of the Stargate, or his holding the crystal which would self-destruct the cargo ship, but the idea is sketchy and doesn't come across that well.

As for the character he was great fun and one of the best they've encountered, I think. Humourous, full of cool tech, and a sympathetic villain, he's a bit like some 'Star Wars' character that wandered in by mistake. He bounces off O'Neill very well, both of them being ironic, and I only wish we'd had the chance to see Teal'c fight him! This series does love its forest landscapes, but I think this is the first time we've been on a more traditional jaunt in the woods this season, with all the action happening on location. It does look attractive, a nice picnic spot, but the important things are the humour between captives and captor, the threat of Sokar looming in the background again and the change of heart at the end. If there was one character they should have brought back it was Aris, but I don't remember him ever cropping up again.

The effects of the ship, close and far from camera, visible or cloaked were excellent and show the power of CGI was really coming into its own as the clock ticked over into the new millennium, with not a dodgy shot in sight. If I had to complain it would be about the lack of a real story as the various runarounds disguise a thin plot. But because of the charm and fun of the characters that doesn't matter. Keep it up.

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