Counterstrike

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S10 (Counterstrike)

A sad and dispiriting episode, not because it's badly done, but because of all the irritating failures in it. There are allies who are really enemies and nothing is achieved except for a victory by The Ori in the guise of Adria, old orange eyes, and Vala's daughter, who is back and fully grown. And by the end of it she's destroyed the Jaffa democratic stronghold of Takara, which had already practically destroyed itself with a stupid new leader (played by David Andrews, Lorian in 'Enterprise' episode 'E2'), who discounts all the great things humans did to help them become Free Jaffa, saying it's in the past, and now believing the Tare's self-interest is as strong as the Jaffa's, quarrelling over the Ori ship that is successfully captured when the Ancient weapon on Takara, already responsible for defeating the Replicators, is used on a newly converted planet. Yes, a lot of lore to follow, but it's tragedy that is the hard thing to bear, in spite of the reassuring presence of Bra'tac, ever the voice in accord with the Tare, and thus vilified by the rulers, especially when he comes back bringing General Landry along to talk sense. Just as little sense is allowed to pass through the mind of Adria who mistakenly believes her Mother will join the way of Origin and embrace The Ori, but she has no mercy for anyone else (except Daniel, who they have a plan for, ominously).

I think it feels like such a sore episode to take because it starts out so positive. Yes, there's the horror of the Jaffa using their weapon to kill thousands who had converted to Origin, almost taking out SG-1 at the same time, but then they have access to an Ori ship, so maybe they can get it back to Earth and examine it, probe its defences, find weaknesses, use it against The Ori. And then, just as things are going swimmingly, or at least there's some hope, a small gang of Free Jaffa arrive to claim it as the spoils of victory, and the distrust seen in their leader runs deep in the ranks it seems by this group. It's so disappointing after so much was gone through for these people, and yet it's all forgotten. They only agree to work with Mitchell and Teal'c when it becomes obvious some third party is in control of the vessel (Adria). There was never really any hope of either salvaging the ship or taking it out, since she has vast Jedi powers that Darth Vader would be proud of: cancelling the C4 explosives Mitchell had planted on the power source for the engine which would have been Plan B if they hadn't been able to lift off before other Ori ships arrived to reclaim it. Teal'c and Mitchell realise when they're above Takara there's no option but to activate this C4 to prevent the Jaffa's home being obliterated, in direct opposition to the self-seeking Jaffa themselves. It shows courage and selflessness in an episode devoid of good qualities since bad people hold all the cards.

What more is there to say? They had an opportunity to get a leg up on The Ori, then the Jaffa show they do have a leg up, but both successes collapse into failure. The only good thing is that dummy, the leader of the Jaffa, was annihilated along with the rest of his misguided council, and though Bra'tac expresses dismay that the leadership's loss will cause the Jaffa to fracture, it could also be a chance for a good leader to take over. Him, for example. Not that he'd want it, but they need someone wise and experienced, not someone that wants to control things as so often seems to happen. Vala's philosophical about it all and ends the episode on a sad impression of inevitability and change, something that added a little depth to a depressingly negative episode. I suppose it's hard to dive right back into galaxy-wide threats and political opposition after such a fun episode as '200,' but maybe it came as a backlash to the news that this would be the end of the series, no Season 11 to come. I don't know, but I wonder, because it does pull on most of the threads of the season and doesn't exactly come out positive and upbeat. That's the trouble with complete serialisation: you can only really have lasting success at the end of the story. In this case it's the end of the season, but if it were more of a standalone story it would be the end of the episode so you get a dose of happy on a regular basis. Sometimes it can be hard to wait for relief like that. Though it was nice to hear Daniel talk of his wife, Share, something so key in the early seasons - you forget the backstories are long. Could there somehow be some form of reunion at the end?

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