The Other Side

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S4 (The Other Side)

Better than the season opener, this one gives us a proper moral story for the team, though not an original one: that of trading for superior technology with someone that may not use their gains to the right ends. The series gained a reputation as a dumping ground for 'Star Trek' actors that had left their series, and that tradition continues with Rene Auberjonois, better known as Odo on 'DS9', coming a couple of years after that series ended. Without his mask and Odo persona I've always felt the actor to be naturally prone to evil characters. Perhaps it's the cultured voice, so often an association with the suave villain, or perhaps the intense blue eyes and mannerisms he often plays with. Whatever the reason I didn't ever quite feel comfortable with him and his war. Although we aren't shown anything beyond what he tells us, the idea of only hearing one person's side of the story, added to the title of the episode, flagged up something fishy.

A first for the series is that some descendants of Earth are calling home, but the Stargate team are at first put on the back foot thanks to three people trying to reach Earth and dying when hitting the protective Iris. This didn't put them in an objective mood, at least Carter felt guilty and O'Neill was too concerned about the advanced technology to see the signs that all might not be well. The conflict between the military side of the team and Daniel's scientific or moral viewpoint, taken apart from strategic goals, was quite strong in the early episodes, but had been softened quite a bit as the friendships developed between all four characters. So it's slightly shocking to see Daniel and Jack so vehemently against each other again, but adds a bit of drama to what might have been a staid 'alien planet' episode without it. Alars' uncaring attitude to a mentally deficient pilot who damaged his brain thanks to overuse of the remote control fighter pilot technology is the first sign that these people may not be the noble afflicted they claimed to be.

'The Matrix' appears to be an influence, both visually, as we see thousands of people held in stasis pods, and narratively, as the planet's atmosphere was deliberately destroyed. The virtual reality simulation that actually transmits a drone fighter's view and control to a passive user is also very 'Matrix'. These flight sequences looked really good, as did the extensive sets, either corridors filled with detritus, or the campaign room with the fighter control units, or the meeting hall with its chandelier and lavish table. The episode really earns its stripes towards the end as Jack begins to smell a rat at Alar's wish that Teal'c doesn't return to his planet because the Jaffa is different.

O'Neill goes from only caring about the technology that would bring such advantage to Earth (General Hammond getting in a reference to Apophis being alive for those that can't remember what's going on with the Goa'uld), silencing Daniel, to giving him full permission to find out what's really going on, and discovering the Aryan-race kind of thinking that has meant anyone physically different to those in control are the enemy. It's not very original, but it's the kind of stories 'Star Trek' so often handled, and one of the aspects that always has elevated it above most other science fiction. 'Stargate' has toyed with such concerns before, but I'm all for them doing more of it, beyond mere action adventure, especially when costume, CGI, and guest actors combine as well as they do in this episode.

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