The Ties That Bind

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (The Ties That Bind)

A wild goose chase, yes, but a modestly fun one, if maybe not that wild, very little chasing and no goose to speak of. Just like Vala it continually subverts expectations and is never quite the episode you think it's going to be. Or maybe Vala isn't a good example (I'm not sure she's a good example of anything, unless it's a crook, a thief, and a vagabond), because she's lied and twisted everything so much that you always expect it, that is the expectation! But she does it again when she tells some phoney story about being stoned and cast out by her own village to try and get in Daniel's good books, and that merely because she's bored, and I actually believed her for a moment, I thought it was a genuine vision of the real Vala, but the truth is we see the real Vala all the time, she doesn't have a filter, nor does she conceal anything once you get to know her devious nature, and that's why she works so well opposite Daniel, because he's world weary enough that he never believes her and she makes him weary. Witness the funny parting when you know she was going to steal something, Daniel knows and takes it off her. Then, like a magician using sleight of hand and a diversion, she wants a goodbye hug and of course you know she's snatched it back off him, but what's fun is that he knows it too, and she doesn't get away with it. So their interplay is fun, to Vala just a game to entertain herself, but for Daniel a bit of a chore when he has to put up with her for even longer than anticipated.

Yes, she hasn't gone away yet, the parting is such short 'sorrow' as the effect of the bracelet technology, which they were finally free of, continues even without the bracelets being active and connected, probably something to do with using the other Ancient tech when they visited the Ori. So Vala's back - I had to wonder how she got back, because surely she'd have collapsed in the same way Daniel did when they were too far apart. I assume she felt some early signs of illness and hop-stepped it back to Earth again. Because if there's one thing for sure, she certainly didn't have any friends to assist her if we go by the catalogue of associates she's ripped off or left in the lurch, and this is the episode where we meet some of them. First up is Wallace Shawn, the scientist of another planet whom she robbed the bracelets from in the first place and who may have the answer to their little bond. Why does he always seem to play lecherous old men? He's most famous for being slimy leader of the Ferengi, Grand Nagus Zek throughout 'DS9,' and a crook in 'The Princess Bride' - okay, so the dinosaur in the 'Toy Story' films is a departure, but then he's not old! The bond for the solution to their bond is a necklace that belonged to his Mother, which Vala also heartlessly stole, so that leads them to Inago, a post-Goa'uld Jaffa trying to make a living as a trader in weapons and artefacts (doesn't anyone care about a trader being held up at gunpoint in a marketplace? You'd think the local constabulary would have been alerted when they pull out weapons!). He wants a power coil which ended up at some monastic place, and lo and behold the hypocritical monk there, Caius, is also a former associate and demands his ship back, which she'd 'borrowed.'

Again, it seems this story is going to be a straight-up 'swap the items until you get what you need,' but then the Lucian Alliance get introduced to Earth and the SGC, though Vala had encountered them before (and they would go on to be the main opposition/compatriots of 'Stargate Universe'), with their flotilla of stolen ex-Goa'uld ships and their mercenary band. So then it becomes a sort of heist to get back Caius' ship and the chain goes on until we get back to Shawn's character who thanks them kindly then suggests there's no way to remove the bond keeping Daniel and Vala together, but he thinks it'll probably dissolve of its own accord in time! It's a fun, if largely uneventful episode in terms of important doings, or it would be, except that it introduces both an enemy that will be integral, and other concepts such as the post-Goa'uld existence of Jaffa, struggling to live, as well as the struggles with budget Stargate Command is under. That last is the most ripe for discussion and further exploration as it mirrors the real world production of these two shows that were now being made side by side, with 'Atlantis' getting the attention, the budget and being considered the new hope for the franchise, while 'SG-1' can't even, well, get SG-1 together! I wonder if it was a comment on the realities of TV production by the writers, couched in the in-world realities of an old programme no longer seeming very relevant any more compared to what the Pegasus Galaxy could offer.

It's quite sad, really, if not entirely surprising, since the military/civilian tension had always been there from the beginning, ironically mainly exampled by Dr. Jackson as the outside voice. Now he's the insider and the General says they're going to have a civilian watchdog put on them to make sure things go as they 'should,' when you'd think, because the military is beholden to the government, the SGC would be at the top of the list for requiring money and autonomy - they even mention that Dr. Weir's Atlantis project is civilian run. It's something that would rise to a head by the time of 'Universe' when power struggles between the two sides were a regular occurrence. I like that things haven't, even four episodes in, settled down to the way they always were. I don't like that Colonel Carter has yet to show up in person (and even then only on a video in the first episode), but this must be why Vala has been afforded so much exposure - she's still credited as a Special Guest Star, after all. But in reality things don't reset and go back to normal, especially after such a series-ending season ender, with this season almost an afterthought, a chance to see what would have happened after those events of the Goa'uld's defeat (though they do say that there are still Goa'uld out there, they're just a lot less powerful without their Jaffa soldiers). A bit like if 'Voyager' had continued for an eighth season and we saw them back on Earth or doing missions for Starfleet. Oh how I wish we'd seen that!

Teal'c comes back, but only as a favour to Daniel, not for the benefit of Mitchell, who still holds out hopes of getting the gang back together. Each episode you think this is going to be the one where we see Carter, Daniel and Teal'c working under Mitchell, returning to the business of exploration, visiting the thousands of remaining unexplored 'gate addresses in our galaxy, and they keep putting it off. But not in a padding way, not in a treading water way, a way that increases the anticipation for that inevitable happy event. And in the meantime, Vala is great fun, even when she is messing things up. She does redeem herself a little by pulling some tricks on the Lucian ships that come after them, and she's so often in high spirits and having fun you can't help but be swept along with her, although Daniel is intelligent enough to discern her psychology, and though fooled for a second, he's quick to see through her every move. It's like a tennis match or some kind of game, and she's a tricky customer, but we're with Daniel as he deals with her.

As well as Wallace Shawn, there's another fairly prominent Trek actor in the mix, none other than Surak himself, Bruce Gray (he'd also played a recurring role of Admiral Chekote, if two episodes can be classed as that, in both 'DS9' and 'TNG'), as the guy holding the purse strings firmly closed against the SGC, charging them to operate on thirty percent of the budget, basically because they're pretty much irrelevant now. All it needs is some new discovery to band the SG-1 team back together, get the powers-that-be invested, and Mitchell's problems will be over. Or just beginning, as he finds out what kind of adventures these veterans are used to. Maybe they'll keep Vala for a bit longer, and I hope they do because she does work well with the cast, even if she can be a little too much sometimes. With a civilian observer that could shake things up even more and while the formula of the series has yet to settle into something familiar, although the wry humour and well-judged physical comedy is still there, we're four episodes in already, and it doesn't feel like it, so the time isn't being spent unwisely or lacking in entertainment value, and that's the important thing.

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