Prometheus Unbound

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S8 (Prometheus Unbound)

A delightful instalment in the unfolding 'Stargate' saga, from beginning to end, and might well be the standout episode of the season so far! For some reason I originally saw this episode out of the correct sequence back in the day, since Channel 4 broadcast this after the following episode, 'Gemini,' but it didn't end as I expected with a 'To Be Continued…', instead wrapping up rather quickly and leaving many things to be considered. Such as when the mission to contact Atlantis will resume, where was Vala going, and is Walter's surname Harriman? In a wonderful teaser sequence that is both comedy gold and reassuringly, comfortingly familiar, General Hammond makes a surprise return, much to our joy, as much as General O'Neill's! And he hasn't lost any of his gravity, very clear who's in charge there, in spite of the ranks being equal. Jack's so happy to see him he makes it obvious Hammond would be welcome to the chair again, Hammond taking it literally, and taking it, literally, his new chair just not comfortable enough! Interplay in that vein is expertly pinged back and forth throughout the episode - not, unfortunately between Hammond and O'Neill, who isn't required for the mission (something about heading to the Atlantis site because there's been no contact with them since they left, but we don't need to keep track of that as it's of no importance to the plot, other than as a motivation for getting them into space), though Daniel is for his language knowledge, and is requisitioned, along with Walter, which is where the whole name badge inconsistency comes in.

To the best of my eyesight, (and the relatively indistinct quality of DVD), Walter's badge appears to have the name Harriman, or something very close to it. It's enough that you can read it, but it could have been clearer, yet George Hammond is clearly emblazoned on his uniform patch, and Novak (the typically eccentric, nervously hiccuping doctor that Hammond requested for the mission, in a long line of genius types on the series, who also have neuroses issues), has a name badge that is huge in comparison. I assume they're all from different parts of the military or Stargate Command, at different levels, etc, which would explain the insignia variations, but I'm sure they knew regular viewers would be straining to see Walter's badge the most! The episode is full of in-jokes and typically quirky 'SG-1' humour, despite it being something of an atypical outing for the cast. Not least because only one of the main cast have any substantial part, with Jack only in the teaser and no sign of Carter or Teal'c at all. It's a shame, because it might have been even better if the whole team had had the opportunity for one last hurrah mission with Hammond, but then again it was so nicely formed and may have been such a success because they had time to concentrate on Daniel and his interactions with the mysterious Vala. Or was it Aeryn Sun?

Having seen Claudia Black's name in the opening guest credits, and having been unable to avoid seeing the DVD cover, it was no real surprise that she was in this one. I guessed the Kull Warrior-armoured attacker was going to be her, since she's a high profile actress, the distress signal was definitely female, and this solitary figure only incapacitates with a zat. I had a vague recollection she was in it before joining the cast in Season 9 (which I've never actually seen), but I was sketchy on it, so it was great to reach the point where she makes an appearance. I still don't know if Vala returns as Vala, whether they were setting up a character for the future, intending to bring her back as a regular, or whether it was a bit of stunt casting, since 'Farscape' (or even 'Pitch Black'), viewers might be encouraged to check out 'SG-1' if they hadn't already. Regardless of the writers knowing they wanted her down the road or liking her performance so much in this episode to invite her back on a permanent basis, she does a great job here as a sort of unpredictable, piratical ship thief, trying to get back to her people… before Baal hunts them down… or something like that… To be honest I faded out on the reasoning behind her actions, I was just enjoying her crazy presence so much, one minute violent and deadly, the next over-friendly and alluring, a mix of pain and pleasure that Daniel doesn't quite know how to deal with. There isn't much pleasure, but there's a whole lot of pain, with either of them taking the upper hand at various stages on the locked-in journey (the old chestnut of controls having been set and can't be unlocked except by password), a good, crunching fight scene (with Daniel getting punched, feet in the air, right over a console, which was quite hilarious!), and plenty of banter.

From her own story, Vala used to be host to a Goa'uld symbiote in the domain of Camulus, the planet's Jaffa were overthrown with help from the Tok'ra, and she took the brunt of injurious feeling from the people, who couldn't distinguish between an unwilling host and the evil symbiote, until she was rescued by a sympathetic Tok'ra and healed. None of which explains how she got hold of a Kull Warrior's armour, somehow stole it or took out the beast inside (something which made me think of Kira's use of the Breen suit in that 'DS9' episode), and managed to make it fit her slender form - there must be some magical auto-adjustment feature that shrinks or expands the suit to fit the wearer since she looks as big as one of the Super Soldiers before she whips off her helmet and flicks her hair out in time-honoured tradition, not to mention that the bulky Dr. Jackson is also able to squeeze into it (not at the same time), when dealing with some aliens she'd set the ship on course to meet. It's pretty cool armour as, even when the user is human, it absorbs weapons fire, and since the dedicated anti-Kull gun (or whatever they're calling it), doesn't have any effect on a human wearer, we could be looking at the way to go for future mission uniforms if only the SGC can backwards engineer this alien technology - they'd be practically unstoppable against standard Goa'uld weaponry, so get on it!

Vala and Daniel make a fun odd couple, and though she fights dirty, she has an innate charm to her so that you never know whether to take her completely seriously or not. She's a bit like the endearing Jaylah from 'Star Trek Beyond,' except more experienced and less trustworthy, perhaps, and you certainly look forward to seeing her again as she fitted right in. And you never know who you might see again on this series, because although I may have had an inkling that Hammond might pop up again, I certainly wasn't actively expecting it, so it was such a nice surprise to have him command the mission. Since he's so high up now, the President (it would be nice if we could see that guy again), gave him this mission and his choice of Commander, and as tells Daniel, the rush of defending the Earth in the Goa'uld attack made him realise he wasn't ready for retirement, and in fact wanted to get in on the action. Way to go, George! Sitting behind the desk all those years must have dulled his senses, because he seems a lot sharper and active than he used to be, full of energy and enthusiasm like we seldom saw when he was commanding the SGC. I hope the same doesn't happen to the mouldering O'Neill…

I was hoping the little exchange Hammond and Jackson had about never leaving a man behind, and Hammond saying he wanted to see this mission through, didn't mean he was going to die heroically. They play that up, too, when he goes against Colonel Reynolds' advice and beams, sorry 'rings,' over to the abandoned cargo ship to retrieve the necessary crystals that will get the Alkesh going (after Vala abandons them all on it to steal Prometheus), being very un-General-like and getting his hands dirty when he could easily have sent younger men (he sounded like he was still sore about sending people to their deaths in that earlier conversation, so this must have been another reaction - maybe he isn't the best person to lead such missions if he's been compromised by guilt or the desire to make up for past bureaucratic red tape?). Creeping through dark, empty vessels always works (especially when you're wondering if a Kull Warrior might be lurking!), but I didn't think they were going to kill him off in such a meaningless, small way as to have him choke to death retrieving something to kickstart the ship, and also because it was such a setup to make us wonder, and they didn't, instead turning it into a hilarious scene where Reynolds, horrified, resigns himself to giving mouth to mouth to his respected leader, until just before contact, Hammond mercifully recovers consciousness!

The story doesn't suffer from the absences of most of the regular cast, and it's actually great fun seeing recurring characters like Walter and Reynolds, as well as new characters Vala and Novak, on top of Daniel and Hammond as regular or ex-regular alike, and has a very good balance of humour, which doesn't puncture the atmosphere if things are looking bad, but is suitably odd and skewed in that inimitable, embarrassed, almost British style. It's cool to hear of 'Atlantis,' and I was relieved that it didn't actually tie into that series (they're forced to return home after being dealt significant enough damage from gliders during Prometheus' landing on the planet Vala wanted to get to, to prevent the long journey they'd planned), not having seen it yet (the DVDs sit there awaiting the right time), but I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of cross-pollination in future, and I certainly hope they don't wait too long before bringing back Vala, or even Hammond for that matter, with this unfinished mission to accomplish once Prometheus is repaired. For those that like 'Star Wars' there are fun references, from the obvious, Daniel's on the spot cover for meeting the aliens ("Olo, Hans Olo"), which in fact looked very 'Star Wars' themselves, to the sight of Hammond's Alkesh looping around Prometheus and attacking gliders in the same manner as the Millennium Falcon cartwheeling round a Star Destroyer, while taking out Tie Fighters. And it all feels very Trekkie, what with starships and distress signals and beaming over to alien ships: the series rarely gets this good, ticking all the boxes, and I hope we get more of the same, full stop.

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