Nemesis

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S3 (Nemesis)

Another season ender I found not bad, but not great. I don't know why Daniel was left behind as the team isn't complete without the four of them together, but it did give Hammond the chance to gain some sympathy when he tells Daniel that now he knows how Hammond feels every time they're away! The Replicators make their debut, talked up as the greatest threat the Asgaard have encountered. In most respects they are the 'Stargate' equivalent of 'Star Trek's Borg - they exist to expand, they're a practically unstoppable force and they operate independently while being part of a greater collective, only the Borg weren't made out of Meccano. They don't have the physical presence of the Borg, but they do have superior numbers as you can fit more of them onscreen than actors in suits. The CGI looks good, pretty much totally real, and they explode into little Lego bricks, pleasingly! The shot at the end as Carter, Teal'c and O'Neill fend off the Stargate from an overwhelming horde of the blighters is impressive, and although they never gave me the shivers or had enough personality to their substance they were reasonably threatening.

Thor's back again, this time about to die, and Major Davis also returns. Jack gets off some good baffled humour, and the internal sets of Thor's ship were pretty good - I half expected Daleks to glide into view! For some reason the title sequence is the original close-up of a sarcophagus from the pilot episode. Not sure why they brought it back at this stage of the series, but it always had an air of quality, more so than the slightly cheesy (or maybe just over-traditional) clips title sequence. I remember the sarcophagus sequence much more so I think I started watching regularly with Season 4.

Nothing much jumps out about this episode - I just knew they were going to cut to 'To Be Continued...' at that moment, and I look forward to joining the team again for further adventures. The episode could have been a very different prospect if Carter or Daniel had taken up Jack's offer of joining him on leave. I almost expected such a radically different premise, but I'm probably remembering future episodes where they do that sort of thing. The friendships of the team are what holds the series solidly together. I don't care too much about the Goa'uld, the Asgaard or the reams of lore that has already built up - it's those four main characters that I want to spend time with and, in my view, what made the series last as long as it did: Teal'c's solid warrior bravery, Carter's pleasant boffinishness, Daniel's eternal curiosity and excitement and Jack's wry, half-bemused attitude makes for a brilliant mix whether an episode is a good one or not.

Season 3 hasn't really lived up to it's billing on the internet as a brave new era or one that was much better than previous seasons. I liked it okay, there were a number of good episodes, though no single stand-out one as each of the previous seasons had. Much more has been filled in, recurring characters have become almost prevalent, and the series seems confident with itself. I sometimes found myself a tiny bit on the back foot with all the lingo which required a good memory of previous episodes, yet most stories didn't have much that I would want to revisit. Still, the series is fine, I still enjoy the characters and the CGI and production side only gets better. 'Stargate' of the 21st Century is what I know best, but I leave behind the 20th Century version with mixed feelings.

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