Urgo

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S3 (Urgo)

A reclusive alien story like they used to do in Season 1 before all the heavy Goa'uld stuff happened, and it was fun to go back to that kind of episode again. Every so often they like to do a slightly crazy, light and fluffy scenario, and this time it mostly took place in the base, with a short visit to a fascinatingly-designed futuristic lab. Urgo walked a fine line between endearing and annoying and I have to say, as no doubt the SG-1 team would agree, he crossed the line occasionally. Mostly it was quirky fun with the usual blank stares from bemused General Hammond and Doc Fraiser (who gets in a mention of Cassandra in case we forgot about her).

I have to say I twigged that it was going to be about aliens that wanted to experience other lifeforms and their habitats from the early experience of super-tasty food, but it could have turned into a sinister alien takeover plot without much trouble, so as much as you wouldn't want Urgo around for long, one episode was fine, and there was even time to get in some artificial intelligence/sentient life debate. So it doesn't go far into any aspect (it isn't too crazy or very intellectually stimulating), but as a one-off breather from the weighty matters of universal politics it worked nicely. Nevertheless I wouldn't recommend bringing Urgo back.

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