The Light

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S4 (The Light)

Another story, another example of Daniel acting out of character, right after he did so in the last episode. This time it's a seemingly addictive light show in a palace on an alien planet. 'Palace' might be going a bit far, but the sets were nice to look at, especially the light room, CG effects used to create a rippling, cascading beautiful fountain of light. These things always have a down side, and this one makes you suicidal if you leave for any period of time. Sergeant Barber may have the distinction of being the first person to be seen dying in the 'splash' of the Stargate's opening, I can't remember if we've seen it happen before - he was certainly the first to run willingly into the deadly eruption! He looked suspicious as soon as he was on screen and if he'd survived the teaser I'd have expected him to be taken over by something, but he didn't.

It's one of those episode which they didn't do so much by this stage of the series, where they visit a building or inside location on an alien world, find some technology and a denizen of the place, mix and match the pieces to create a story, usually about something going wrong because you can't have much drama if things go right, right? It felt like a Season 1 story, and that's no bad thing. There are no convoluted Goa'uld goings-on, or details you need to have memorised to fully understand what's happening, it's a purely standalone story, inoffensive, nothing special, simply a pleasure to be in the company of the main characters, but even in this we have some lore laid down. I think this may be the first time an entire SG team (SG-5), dies, but then again I'm probably wrong on that, but either way it's not something that happens every day. Teal'c reveals his age to the boy, Loran, they find hiding in the palace: 101, with 47 days to go until the big one-oh-two. I'm always wary of such age lengths as it's difficult for characters to portray the wisdom of so many years realistically. Teal'c has always been so serious and dignified so I suppose I can believe it in him. His dignity is the reason the humour works so well whenever he encounters something frivolous such as the toy gun Loran gives him.

The boy's story is quite tragic, more so than the faceless deaths that happen off screen to the SG team, which could be a problem as we should care about the teams, surely? Regardless, it becomes a sad mystery to uncover - the boy's parents became addicted to the light and died from their bizarre behaviour when Loran shut it off, leaving him to live alone. The addictive qualities might have been made more of in the action stakes as I imagined there might be more suicide attempts by SG-1, though Daniel's standing out on his balcony was effective (and we get another look round his pad), and reminded me of an old episode of the ITC series 'The Champions' when a substance causes Craig to hold himself out over the top of a building. I wasn't sure quite what O'Neill had done to get to Daniel, but it worked. In fact Jack had his diplomatic hat on through most of the episode, uncharacteristically dealing very well with everyone, in particular Loran. It's not the way you imagine Jack and Sam embracing, but they do grab each other in anger on the beach (a nice looking exterior), the only time Jack's less diplomatic!

It all ends happily, Loran gets to go off with them, though I doubt we'll be seeing him appear now and then like Cassandra (though she's not been seen for a while), and all four characters are there working together, so it's nice to watch. The haunting music that accompanies the light enhances the mystical mood, and it's all good. Light on substance, yes, but still enjoyable.

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