Last Stand

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S5 (Last Stand)

This conclusion to the previous episode has some surprises and some very unsurprising developments. It is also slow and ponderous in comparison, letting the side down a bit after a good first part. The fight between Osiris, Yu and Daniel, followed by Yu's death at the hands of Osiris and Daniel's escape in the pod, picked up by Jacob and his ship's subsequent crash into the tree-heavy planet of the Tok'ra base almost saved the episode. But for the first half at least, the story revolves around people in rooms standing and talking or sitting and talking. Whether we jump over to the System Lords meeting hall, or the hallways of that vast ship, or back to the remains of the Tok'ra's underground base, there's little going on. There's a bit of politics with Yu opposed to Anubis' request to join the other Lords, a bit of history, hinting that Yu is the only one of the Goa'uld still around from the days when Anubis was banished a thousand years ago, and the connection between Carter and Lantash in Elliot's body is addressed. Teal'c gets to play with the crystal walls to create a way out for the stranded SG team, and everyone talks. A lot.

Though the historical significance of Anubis is interesting and how he was cast out by his fellows for unspeakable crimes, it doesn't really progress the story. If the Goa'uld thought his crimes were that bad he really must have been a demented tyrant since they aren't above a spot of cannibalism when they're peckish. Daniel mentions that he now knows why the Goa'uld population hasn't risen recently and the only thing I got from it was that the System Lords were busy snacking on their own kind and that was why the numbers had reached a plateau. I'm not sure if that was what I was supposed to get from it, but that seemed to be the only explanation. It sets up Anubis to be this extremely dangerous entity, but whether that comes to fruition or not I can't remember - after all, Sokar was set to be the nastiest thing since sliced symbiote and he didn't last very long. One thing bugged me a little was the question of time. I thought Goa'uld lived for thousands of years so how can it be that Yu was the only one still around from the days when Anubis was banished?

It was good that they dealt with Carter and Lantash, but it did come out a little heavy-handed as if they just had to chuck that in and get it over with, and as I predicted Elliot/Lantash died so there were no repercussions which could have been explored, though I did like the way it was directed with Carter's face in shadow as Elliot talks to her. One thing that was simply, but very effectively achieved was a way out of the cliffhanger ending - like before, when I had forgotten all about Osiris coming to the summit, Daniel's magic ring had slipped my mind because of misdirection. I had only thought as far as it working on Yu, so when he jabs Osiris with it that was a great moment. It did leave me wondering if Osiris was just play acting, planning to play games with Daniel by pretending she didn't know who he was, especially if she found herself standing in a room holding a dagger and can't remember why she's there or what she'd planned to do, but it remained a good resolution. It was also a clever get-out clause for Daniel to need more information, so preventing him from activating the weapon and allowing the story to continue. It would have been much shorter if he'd successfully killed all the Goa'uld leaders.

He still makes a blundering error by talking truthfully to the servant of another Goa'uld. Whether he was trying to turn him to his side or find out more information it was pretty thoughtless of him. That wasn't the only moment which didn't ring entirely true. I felt the first words out of Jacob's lips when he arrives on the Tok'ra planet would be to ask if Sam was alive, but he seems unconcerned. Granted, he is a military man and had probably accepted the fact she could be dead, put it to the back of his mind and moved onto the next practical course of action, but it would have been a nice moment if he'd shown some concern. That's a problem with the series sometimes that it get too bogged down in getting from story point A to story point B that it can forget to play all the drama. They made up for it with Lieutenant Elliot/Lantash's brave decision to remain behind so the others could escape.

This didn't make sense. What happened to "We never leave a man behind," as O'Neill was saying recently. Elliot was a bit quick to give up on life, even assuming the symbiote knew exactly how likely it was for them to live. The main source of confusion was that the team needed to get to the gate, but there were too many Goa'uld around. So they wanted to set off Daniel's toxin device and kill them, but they couldn't do it near Teal'c, Jacob and Elliot because that would kill them. So Elliot volunteers to activate it when the others have hidden, to clear a path to the 'gate. But how would they know when the effect had dissipated? How did they know Elliot would be able to do it - his hands might be restrained? How long would they have to hide for and where could they hide to protect the joined among them? All of this made little sense and it felt like what it was - an opportunity to have a selfless act, get rid of Elliot and end on a more affecting note than if they just walked back through the 'gate. Then again we don't see Elliot die so it's possible he didn't carry out the plan, was captured and could come back again (maybe as an enemy).

The episode neatly ties up most of part one of the story and sorts out a few odds and ends - Yu, last of the naysayers against Anubis, is dead, Osiris had time to know it was Daniel after all, and Anubis plans to wipe out Earth (as well as the Tok'ra), because he considers himself outside of the Asgard's treaty. In the last episode I had the impression the unnamed Goa'uld that sends Osiris to the summit was a servant of Anubis, but in this one I wondered if he was the man himself since he's never named. As it is, the events leave room for further developments that could be entertaining, even though this episode was a bit formulaic, not dealing enough with the character's reactions to their assorted situations.

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