Reckoning

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S8 (Reckoning)

Well, the gang's all here, and things have just gone from bad to badder. It's one of those anthology episodes with so many stories going on it's almost hard to keep track, and, as is often the case with two-parters, a lot of it is setup and exposition city. Let me see if I can recap: first we have a mission of the Jaffa resistance for joint attacks all over Baal's domain (Master Bra'tac, yay!), only for Teal'c and Bra'tac's part to be interrupted by the unwanted attentions of the Replicators under 'Replicator Carter,' who beam Daniel away because he's got Ancient knowledge in that there head of his. In response, Baal's forces all over the place have their time taken up with battling this threat to the galaxy, and we find that Baal himself is actually playing second fiddle to a guy in a hooded robe who looks the worse for wear, and you quickly guess must be Anubis (who else would wear a big black hood?), making Baal the Darth Vader to his Emperor, only you can tell he's not exactly thrilled about his master's plans, especially when we learn of an Ancient weapon that can destroy all life in the galaxy. Coincidentally, this weapon oh so happens to be at the Temple of Dakara, the very place which Teal'c urges Bra'tac and the resistance to win back, as it's the most sacred site in Goa'uld existence, the very place where the Jaffa's subjugation began, and the place which would usually be heavily guarded, only it isn't because of the battles with the Replicators taking up all the bad guys' time.

They need a big win to recapture the flagging hearts and minds of the free Jaffa who are going back into Goa'uld service in droves due the unstoppable threat of the Replicators weakening their resolve and turning them back to a 'higher power.' Only, Teal'c and that lot don't know about this weapon. But Baal and Anubis do. And Anubis wants to use it as the only surefire way to exterminate the Replicators. Who also know about it, since bad Carter extracts that info from Daniel's mind, impersonating Oma Desala and giving him the choice to ascend again. Not that he remembers, you understand, just that somehow she pulls it out of him while his mind was open to the possibility and she babbles on in a New Age way to give him a false security. Baal doesn't want to be destroyed any more than anyone else does, so tells General O'Neill about it - he and Jacob, who's acting on his own initiative to bring the Tare some tech which enables a beacon on every Goa'uld ship to be tracked, which in turn shows that the Replicators are wiping out ship after ship after ship. Jacob wants to advise Baal to pull his forces back so that Carter, working with the Asgard Thor, can come up with a way to modify the Ancient weapon (the one they used before, not the new one on Dakara, or I should say the more ancient Ancient weapon!). But this would put Teal'c in danger, the crux of the drama, though it's not milked in the episode, Jacob's just a little put off that O'Neill didn't jump at the chance to pal up with Baal and sort out the problem together.

Okay, did I leave anything out? Well, there are also the System Lords having a meeting at which a representative of Baal urges them to give up and serve him, at which meeting nasty Carter turns up and goes all 'Terminator 2' on Yu, slicing him through the middle with a 'handy' sword. Would Yu believe it? The old man keeps coming back, though, so I suspect, with a bit of sarcophagus time, we haven't seen the last of him. He's about the only recognisable System Lord left, with a meagre remainder of the once great band of enemies. Unless some of them called in sick that day and didn't make it… Being a two-parter of course, the actual solution to everyone's stories doesn't happen in the space of this episode, with everyone about to converge on Dakara, the most popular Temple planet in the galaxy, which, despite musings on the great meaning of it, and the tough battle in store, isn't actually that impressive, nor do we see an epic battle to take it from the Goa'uld, it's more of an afterthought. Perhaps too much was crammed in, too many guest stars and too many other sets and settings drained the enormity of this part of the story? Or perhaps they were anticipating a big battle in Part 2, so didn't undermine it with one in the opening part?

I don't think I left anything out, but there's little to really examine, beyond repeating the events, simply because there aren't that many actual events, it's mostly setting up the pins for the strike. Anubis' surprise return is interesting, and it's great to see so many recurring characters return in the course of a single episode, but it also feels like they squeezed all of half a season's worth (or more), of Goa'uld mythology storytelling into one episode (two, including the second part), as if to brush it under the carpet a little bit, when in the past this was their core focus and the impetus of the series. Not to say it was the best thing about the series, because it wasn't - the Goa'uld were always played as unbelievable, over the top characters, moustache-twirling, with little to no sympathy value. Yet the series is the legacy of its original concept, something which has been woven through recent seasons despite not being the number one source of stories that it once was. So, while I sort of agree that the Goa'uld weren't the best of villains and races in general, I like that we're getting a bit of throwback, especially when it means we get so many familiar faces. I imagine they tended to avoid going into this stuff as much because newer viewers might not be as up to speed, having only watched for a season or two in the transitionary years, perhaps. The series tended towards the impenetrable in general, with lots of characters and races cropping up and continuing past stories, but that's probably one of the things people liked about it, and as long as you kept watching (like 'DS9'), you got what it was about, and if you didn't, you just sat back and enjoyed the interaction of the main characters.

They have some good interactions in this one, it just happens to be with other characters and not each other: so while O'Neill is gleefully annoying Baal with his flippant response to the big man's request for cooperation against the common enemy, as Jacob looks on aghast, Carter's busy with Thor (who has to resort to flying as far away from Earth as possible, since his ship is compromised by Replicators, and, like the Borg, they've adapted to the modifications to the Ancient weapon), Daniel's busy being kidnapped by the other Carter, and Teal'c is off with Bra'tac rallying the resistance. I like it best when the main cast work together, but I can't deny that it makes the story 'bigger' when they're all playing their parts across the galaxy and their roles are certainly integral to all that's happening, so I can't complain. I would hope for a little more integration with the various threads in part 2, however, and more focus. And, if anything, everyone bundling to Dakara should give us just that!

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