The Sentinel

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S5 (The Sentinel)

Another episode I thought I knew was going to be about a single warrior from another place who is huge and dangerous and almost unstoppable, but we still haven't got to that one yet. Instead we have a fairly interesting story in which SG-1 attempt to clear up some of the rogue NID group's mess, the ones who were using the Stargate to go off and plunder other races' tech. Apparently they messed up a regressed race's high-tech defence system (the titular Sentinel), and now two of the culprits are recalled for the mission (in exchange for having death sentences commuted). As enjoyable as the episode itself was, there was thing constantly bugging me through the whole thing: where had I seen the actor who played Colonel Grieves before? I just couldn't place his slightly arrogant, loose cannon-ish attitude until we see him pull a gun on the poor Caretaker (whom I was expected to be an old guy with a long white beard, but they must have been eschewing the obvious that time), and some mannerism recalled B.C., the guy Sisko has to keep under control in the 'DS9' two-parter 'Past Tense'. He was very similar, but it wasn't the actor, Frank Military, after all - maybe they were related?

I was interested in the former NID operatives, and I felt the story made good use of them. At first I sunk into my seat at the heavy backstory opening which, while reminding me of previous events, was so sporadic through the series that I almost felt like a burden had been placed on me from the start - a recap should update clearly and simply to be effective. I even wondered if this might be one of those dreaded clips shows the series occasionally throws up to save money, but we were spared that. The story wasn't fantastically engaging, but it was shot and lit very well, whether it was the darkening woods around the Sentinel, or Merul's chamber with the candle burning behind him. It continued this season's high quality photography, but even better, it used all the characters of SG-1.

Daniel was shown to be more useful in this instance than Carter, and despite Grieves early on expressing a lack of belief in Carter's ability, I was still surprised she was left to man the guns with Teal'c as she'd usually be the boffin working out how to operate alien machinery. Teal'c gets to do what he does best; blasting enemies with his staff weapon, and little else (apart from the early misunderstanding of Daniel's sarcasm in the briefing - you'd think he'd recognise irony by now after serving so long with Daniel and Jack!), while the most important role fell to O'Neill as he tries to get through to Merul who simply can't understand his people's way of life could be over, that the Sentinel can no longer protect them, or that his people deserve such harsh treatment from the Goa'uld. O'Neill's biggest contribution comes when he orders Carter not to turn off the field around the Sentinel when the Jaffa are holding a weapon to his head. They didn't get around to threatening young Lieutenant Grogan, who, incidentally, seemed to be having a little nap rather than lying unconscious when they originally find him - he seems quite awake and well when SG-1 surround him!

Jack's example helps Grieves decide to take the action that saves them all, but it's all in the subtext as he looks at O'Neill and sees him prepared to give up his life to ensure the Sentinel protects the Latonans - something that is mirrored in Merul's decision to defy the Jaffa leader. We don't see if he's killed, but we can assume he probably was. This is one of those episodes that ends promptly, leaving us to surmise beyond it. I do wonder if Grogan had been threatened, if O'Neill would have relented, but I doubt it, and the Jaffa never got around to that tactic. I thought they should also have done a bit of Darth Maul-ing from 'Star Wars Episode I' when Maul is faced with a forcefield breaking up his fight and he snarls and paces back and forth while waiting to get through. I wanted a similar scene with Teal'c standing calmly in front of the enemies while they get angry, but instead they fire off a few shots, then stomp off.

Did Grieves know he would be one of the 'enemies' who would 'disappear' when the Sentinel was activated? I feel that he did, but he'd been inspired by O'Neill's selflessness and bravery to do it anyway, repairing the damage he had done and atoning for his wrongs. The other one, Kershaw, was already dead, which would explain why she didn't vanish, but it was a poetic and powerful ending that left on a thoughtful note. I'm not sure the theme came through strongly enough - I'd assume it was about fixing mistakes and redemption, but if the writing wasn't noteworthy it was a pretty solid episode all told. I would have liked to have seen this new System Lord we'd never heard of before, Svarog, but maybe he'll be back. I liked the dead man's switch idea which had been used so effectively before in the episode of the same name, and I was glad the story didn't go down the Organians route from 'Star Trek' of the Latonans proving to actually be very powerful beings who only seem simple. Oh, and it was extremely cool to see the SGC launch missiles through the 'gate, destroying the entrenched Jaffa positions. Not sure we've ever seen that before.

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