Bad Guys

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S10 (Bad Guys)

A traditional 'Stargate' episode, the kind we just don't see so much of any more because it's hard coming up with new takes on visiting an alien society, but they did a pretty good job with this one, and series star Ben Browder partially came up with the story, following another tradition of cast members having bright ideas and getting credited. Although I quite liked the story I did have some reservations, mainly in the tone that was a little too far into broad comedy, what with Daniel getting outraged when the hostages start arguing amongst themselves, or the ridiculous night guard, second class. It wasn't the same without Carter along for the ride and it shows that the format doesn't entirely support more than four characters on a mission - her absence was meant to create more drama because they can't rely on her genius technical knowhow to get them out of the jam by starting up the 'gate, something she'd no doubt have sorted in a jiffy. Instead they have to rely on the less reliable Vala, and to her credit she was less annoying on this occasion and actually quite useful. If the series strayed too far above its humour quotient, almost becoming comedy drama rather than serious sci-fi action, undercutting the danger to our people a touch, and if Carter was missed, I was also so-so on the setting. It looked very much like a school building which made me wonder if they filmed in the same place as last episode for Mitchell's school reunion. I was even expecting it to be some kind of mirage or hallucination, maybe the aliens were reading their minds and recreating locations they knew.

It wasn't that at all, and so when you see a trophy case or a hallway it just looks like a redressed 'high school.' Not that that's a bad thing, but you shouldn't be noticing real world details like that. A mission for the whole team (bar Carter), is just what was needed this close to the end because soon there won't be any more. New ones, anyway. There are always the myriad stories from the past and I can see myself watching many episodes from the series again. So I was undecided through most of the episode if I liked it or was just pleased with the classic feel and the more standard 'reserved' aliens after all the quirky types of story and character we've seen this season. But I did like it, I can't deny it, and Mitchell's speech at the end about wanting to go home and all that, standing before the activated Stargate as the 'negotiator' (played by Ron Canada, a familiar Trek guest actor, and one who'd been on this series before, I think), persuading them they should be allowed to leave, was a high point. Really it would have been better to end it there and fade out on the aliens left behind, leaving it open as to what they decided to do about this newfound knowledge of a wider galaxy. Instead, the ending felt a bit negative and clumsy, Canada's character spinning a story that the 'rebels' were killed so the population won't know the truth, then Landry talking to the team about the 'gate not being contactable so they obviously made their choice.

If the story continues and we see a Prior arrive to wreak havoc on that world then fair enough, but it didn't strike me as a likely candidate for a sequel in the last four episodes, so I needed a more uncertain conclusion in which to speculate hopefully. Though this was denied, it remained a fairly fun experience and while it only just tiptoes across the line into the good category I'm loath to look too harshly upon a series that lasted so long and is about to finish forever. It was a new one on me that they have all these first contact protocols - either I haven't been paying enough attention (possible), or they've not really laid out such details as robustly as Mitchell does here (probable), saying the MALP is what they always use first before deciding if the people are a safe bet, basically. That didn't used to happen in all those old episodes where they just sauntered onto a new planet unaware of anything but the little telemetry from the MALP, and dealing with whatever problem came up, which was really a lot of the charm (and format!), of the series. Now it's all coming to an end they don't need to stick to format, plus things would have changed significantly after the threat of The Ori and their Priors.

I've felt Christopher Judge has been less engaged with his character this season, but that's probably because his growth just ended after last season where things were so integral with the free Jaffa and all that. He's sunk back into just the strong, silent soldier of SG-1 while Vala has been allowed the spotlight at full strength upon her. And we've had occasional episodes like this where Carter isn't part of it, or Daniel is off somewhere else, so it hasn't felt like quite the same series, in truth. It's what usually happens with a long-lived series that it outstays its purpose, loses focus or something along those lines and I think it's fair to say this season has been somewhat in that direction, though still pretty good for the most part. But an episode like this which is simple, contained, clean, is where the series' strengths lay, so that's probably where a lot of the positives come when seeing it. If it is the last traditional story then it wasn't a bad one to leave us with.

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