Family Ties

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S10 (Family Ties)

Mildly entertaining. That's about the best I could say. It deals with Vala's Pa, bad parent, serial scammer, and his 'desire to change,' to be 'better.' Since Vala herself went through such a change of heart she gives him a chance, though only after much suspicion and Daniel's prodding. And Jasec lets her down yet again. It ends quite sweetly in that we see the box of 'treasures' in which she stored the worthless trinkets her even more worthless Father gave her over the years, is still kept secretly by her under the bed, a sad sign that she still wishes she could trust him. Wasn't so keen on the actual final scene where Teal'c attends some extreme female comedy artist's show and finds himself extremely uncomfortable. Other than that it's quite a gentle space opera, practically a bottle episode for mostly taking place on the base. There's a little bit of to-ing and fro-ing, but it's almost all on Earth. I find it quite appealing in some ways because it felt like old 'Stargate,' with stuff happening in their personal lives and people mooching around at Stargate Command. At the same time it also felt like old 'Stargate' because it didn't really go anywhere or do anything, one of those sort of episodes. It's good to tone things down when we're about to gear up for the big series finale, or so I imagine, so I didn't hold it against it.

What else to say? There was a nice thematic parallel between Vala not wanting to give her conman Father another chance, and General Landry's sudden wish to open lines of communication with his ex-wife and Dr. Lam's Mother, saying that family is so important. I thought in the previous episode where Lam showed up after barely appearing for most of the season, that it was a shame they didn't actually do anything with her, so at least they were setting up this episode, which in turn may be setting up Landry for some kind of happy ending. I'm pretty sure O'Neill becomes head of the SGC by the time of 'Universe,' so I could see the old General stepping down to spend more time with family. Or I may be reading too much into it and it was simply a nice parallel the writers liked. I still feel Lam was a lost character that showed promise when she was first introduced, but it's too late to worry about that now. I liked seeing the main cast about the base, and though Jasec was an irritating man, he was also mildly entertaining, as was the SG-1 team conning the conman, though I felt they should have made it so the ship he stole went to automatic pilot and took him back to base. But then they'd have had to deal with the character on a more permanent basis, either locking him up or forcing him to leave through the Stargate, so I can see why they preferred him to escape.

It may also be that they're leaving him in play as part of the final proceedings against The Ori so that he can swoop in as an ally, guilt finally getting the better of him and making him realise he regrets the way he treated his daughter. I quite liked that they didn't go the usual route where he sacrifices himself in a moment of redemption or does something selfless to protect his daughter, even if he was the stereotype of the awful parent barging into their child's currently successful life and causing upset. It continues the season's preoccupation with Vala, but I suppose I'm past it now. It hasn't been the best season by a long shot, but it was better than nothing. And they still have two shots at impressing me and wrestling this old steer to the ground after ten years of solid adventures.

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