Ex Deus Machina

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S9 (Ex Deus Machina)

I already knew there were to be multiple clones of Baal in the series so it was no big reveal for me. It's a choice in keeping with the style of the series, which was to deal with Earth-based issues, usually politics, but also with dangerous organisations such as The Trust, so it's really in keeping with all that, with the added political balance of the Jaffa council on Takara and Gerak's tendencies towards inflicting violence and aggression on their former oppressors. It's the kind of episode they liked to do every so often in the old days, full of intrigue and low on action - lots of talk, enjoyable for those invested in the series, touching on things that had been, or were still, relevant. Such things as Janet Fraiser's adopted daughter, Cassie, or Pete, Carter's boyfriend, two elements I didn't expect to come back. Maybe they still won't make a reappearance, maybe it was just for the longterm viewer to enjoy the references, but equally it could be jogging our memory in preparation for a return. After all, with the focus on the Ori for the opening barrage of stories this season, it's weird to go back to Goa'uld villainy, Jaffa politics and bad guys on Earth. And only in the previous episode we were given a precedent that set up this episode: when the fat Goa'uld they had 'helping' them revealed his kind don't need to speak in that effected voice. And one episode later they're using it for Baal so he can appear human.

Somehow this seems like a bit of a cheat, bending a long established, if not rule, then norm would be a good word. The fact that the Goa'uld always talked in those ridiculous vocal effects was one of the things that made them such hammy villains, yet it was also their call sign. If Baal sets himself up as some CEO of a human company and talks normally it somehow lessens his power, like he's had to stoop to the level of his enemies. That said, the cloning process must make him superbly naive if he thought the SGC was going to let him have a comfortable retirement on Earth, especially as he threatened to blow up a massive bomb if they bothered him. That's not the best way to get them to leave you alone! So I'm not really sure what Baal's plan was. Did he want the SGC to come for him, not to mention Gerak's men? Was it a setup for some fiendish plan; an experiment; a test? None of it makes much sense to me. Baal was entertaining as an enemy because he was so cocksure and arrogant. Putting him on Earth in a suit and tie and speaking in ordinary tones lessens him, but I wonder if it was a game plan to try and tidy up the series' style to make it more accessible to those that weren't into it? Creating a new enemy with the Ori, new main cast and now making the Jaffa and Goa'uld remnants more realistic seems to be a goal for them, and when you see how far they went with it up to 'Stargate Universe' you see they were trying to be different and a lot less cheesy, though that had been their style.

One thing that was a unique spin and had the advantage of never having been done before, was having a Jaffa ship pop down to Earth with a team of soldiers that break into your average offices and have a firefight with Baal's blokes. It's not something you expect to see as they always kept the Shakespearean over-the-top aliens largely on other planets, especially those of the Jaffa soldiers. Somehow their lunking great staff weapons look out of place amidst modern computer monitors and glass windows! But if Baal is trying to encourage Gerak's power base to grow then he might have an idea, since the guy seems as much of a warmonger as his predecessors, so if things don't make sense perhaps that's all part of the plan? I didn't think much of the coming together of SG-1 as a team, either. I'm still not sure why Carter is still there and accepts the SG-1 patch Mitchell hands out expectantly, rapidly after a meeting as if to avoid them declining it. You almost expect him to throw them at his intended team and run from the room with fingers in ears! It's like they didn't have Amanda Tapping for the first few episodes and wanted to create some drama by not having the team show up and get down to it again so easily, yet they haven't really used that potential or done anything with it. They may as well have been SG-1 from the beginning of the season and made up any old reason for Carter not being there if they were just going to sort of fall back into line like this.

It isn't that I don't want SG-1 to be SG-1, I do. But if you're going to make things different and make us wonder if the team will reform or not, especially when we know they're most likely to, at least give us a strong dramatic reason that brings them together and makes them realise where they belong. So far we haven't had that. Carter is sounding like she could just as well still be head of R&D, Teal'c has his people's politics to worry about, and Daniel missed his mission to Atlantis so might as well stick around. It's a poor use of the situation, but then the series (and franchise), has never been known for its tremendous writing and plotting skills. They do what they do best in this episode, which is using the myriad people and past, and moving them around on (more of a draughts board than a chess) board - chess would be too intelligent an analogy for what they do. I make it sound as if I didn't like the episode, but it certainly held my interest. It was nice to see Agent Bennett again, though I only just about remembered him. Nor did I really recall what The Trust was all about. And it didn't matter. We got a reasonably engaging story, the gang are back together, and Baal's causing mischief with a bomb integrated into a building. But it's also annoying to watch Gerak messing up what the free peoples have fought for and none able to oppose him effectively. I prefer it when things go well and we really need O'Neill to put his big mouth in it and make us care.

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