Beachhead

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (Beachhead)

It's beginning to feel a lot like 'Stargate'… All you need is Lieutenant Colonel Carter, the missing piece of the season (aside from O'Neill, but he was definitely gone, despite being 'on the phone' to General Landry during this episode). Speak of Carter and she shall appear. It was only a matter of time, but six episodes in and she is, at last, back on the team, however temporarily. She was only going to be called away from her fascinating new job for reasons of galactic security, and the Ori converting a Jaffa planet into the means to power a 'Supergate' which will be big enough to allow an entire fleet of ships, or whatever nasty big stuff they have lurking on the other side of the galactic divide, would surely qualify. Not that it's Carter that really saves the day. It is, surprisingly, Vala, who seemingly perishes in the sabotage of the Supergate, halting the latest Ori plan with one little vessel. It should have been expected that she was going to do some kind of selfless act (not that she would have been certain to do it if she thought she was going to end up vaporised or worse, 'act' being the operative word), though it was more a case of exasperation that no one was listening to her idea so she took matters into her own hands. It was a convenient way to get rid of her, at least for now, and there's no doubt at all that she's safe and sound on the other side of the singularity, a new arrival in the Ori's galaxy, waiting to be rescued.

They do like planting seeds, and the predicament of Vala is a big one. I'm surprised we didn't actually see her wake up somewhere captive and it's all left to the conclusion she must have died (Teal'c's statement that she will be mourned wasn't said with much conviction!), though with Carter's caveat she could have been sucked in. Mitchell never passes up the opportunity to bug Carter about coming back to the team, his dreams of leading the complete SG-1, like some kind of groupie, still not fulfilled, even with ticking off Carter for this one mission. They missed a trick by not showing the four of them walk up the ramp and into the 'gate to strident music, making do with the preliminary approach - maybe they thought we'd seen it enough times in the opening credits that we didn't need to see it in an actual episode, which is fair enough, but reforming the team was a big deal and it should have been celebrated. I will say that Carter's reappearance wasn't enough to make a standup episode, the logistics of getting everyone to the point where they're on the ship and doing the 'Star Trek' thing, or 'beaming' down to a planet in similar style couldn't be approved for its slight tediousness. All that stuff with a fat old Goa'uld who shows up wanting to help them against the Ori, it was faintly unnecessary. We know the Goa'uld are two-faced nitwits, we don't need to see one.

I suppose it's a kind of shock that he worships the Ori and was the instrument of their plan. It throws up questions: how did they contact him, why did he choose to believe them, and other existential quandaries of that nature. I guessed their own weapons were the means to power the forcefield way before brain-box Carter ever did, as it was the clear and logical takeaway from the drama: they have no way to destroy this forcefield that is slowly expanding to envelop a planet and become the titular beachhead of the Ori, and then Gerak shows up and starts hammering at it, so what could happen except it turn out that the energy from their own weapons was being absorbed and they'd have to convince their 'nallyfoes' (neither ally, nor foes - a new word I've coined, possibly originating in Ancient Jaffa), to stop the attack before it's too late. Only it is too late. I do love all that starship stuff, probably because it does remind me of Trek, which I prefer, but also it's something else of the old days (even Cap'n Pendergast is back for more - I wonder what missions he and his crew undertake when they're not at the beck and call of SG-1), and, whether it was plodding around in space suits or the three original members of the team working together, there was a feeling of 'this is Stargate.' Just a touch, mind. It still has a more modern feel than the creaky old episodic visits to the latest human culture run by the Goa'uld or whatever comforting tropes we expect from it, but then again we haven't got O'Neill along.

One disappointing thing is that Carter is all business and we don't see her interact with Vala. Daniel keeps telling her to keep it zipped so she mutters away in the background while Carter's at the fore spouting her technobabble like a trooper, just as she always did, and nary the two shall meet. Not that we tended to see Carter out of duty mode, she was always more comfortable in brain mode than fishing in Jack's pond or having a laugh with her colleagues, but that's put in greater contrast by the fact we see the other four playing basketball. Vala is obviously more suited to that aspect, they only keep her around because she's the wifi dongle Daniel must stay near so he doesn't die. Fortunate that the effect of the bracelets has just about worn off when they get separated as they do. There was also something attractive about having some good old Goa'uld ships blasting a planet, and that the Tare are at least not in opposition in the current state of affairs, though Gerak is no fan of Teal'c. Where's Bra'tac, I want to see he?! Did they always have a tiny viewscreen at the front of the Prometheus? It was dramatically small, especially when compared to Trek's widescreen monsters, but then they do try to at least be slightly different from their greatest inspiration, and this being written by one of the main writers helps it all to have an authentic 'SG-1' atmosphere where sometimes you suspect they're trying too hard to be ironical or funny. In conclusion, nice to have you back Carter. Not quite there, but nearly. The Ori don't stand a chance.

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