Stargate SG-1: S1.E2 ∙ The Enemy Within
August 7, 2024 4:07 PM - Season 1, Episode 2 - Subscribe
Doctors discover that a Goa'uld larva has attached itself to Kawalsky's brain, leaving Jack's friend needing to undergo a risky operation to stop the alien parasite from taking over and escaping Earth.
The team, now designated SG-1 are planning their next foray through the gate as they try to map out the variety of sites available to them and locate their missing friends. O'Neill asks that Teal'c be allowed to join his team but Gen. Hammond thinks that will be unlikely given that he is the host for a Goa'uld. Unknown to anyone, however, is that O'Neill's close friend, Maj. Charles Kawalsky, leader of SG-2, has been infected by a Goa'uld, an immature version that has not yet taken complete control of the host. Kawalsky is having regular blackouts during which the Goa'uld is trying to return to the gate. An MRI reveals what is wrong but it's unlikely the creature that has fused itself to Kawalsky's spine can be surgically removed. Meanwhile, Col. Kennedy arrives to question Teal'c who has pledged his loyalty to his new world.
The team, now designated SG-1 are planning their next foray through the gate as they try to map out the variety of sites available to them and locate their missing friends. O'Neill asks that Teal'c be allowed to join his team but Gen. Hammond thinks that will be unlikely given that he is the host for a Goa'uld. Unknown to anyone, however, is that O'Neill's close friend, Maj. Charles Kawalsky, leader of SG-2, has been infected by a Goa'uld, an immature version that has not yet taken complete control of the host. Kawalsky is having regular blackouts during which the Goa'uld is trying to return to the gate. An MRI reveals what is wrong but it's unlikely the creature that has fused itself to Kawalsky's spine can be surgically removed. Meanwhile, Col. Kennedy arrives to question Teal'c who has pledged his loyalty to his new world.
Although, and no offense to Jay Acovone, man am I glad the gave the Kawalsky character the boot. Just the wrong vibe for the show, and man am I glad they didn't go that way, with a bunch of chowderheads yukking their way through the stargate program for a decade.
I mean, it was a show that knew its audience: super nerds. Huuuuuuge nerds.
posted by Kyol at 7:34 PM on August 7 [5 favorites]
I mean, it was a show that knew its audience: super nerds. Huuuuuuge nerds.
posted by Kyol at 7:34 PM on August 7 [5 favorites]
I thought this was a good follow-up as well. Not as big and flashy; I think that would have been a mistake. A lot of stuff was thrown at the characters in the pilot, stuff they needed an episode to process and figure out a response to. In that sense, I thought the Teal’c and the sinister spook subplot was important. These guys are the US Air Force, so it’s important to let the viewers know how realistic the show is going to be. What kind of Air Force are we dealing with? This let them put it out front that these are the good guys and while there might be creepy spy types running around with their Machiavellian agendas, our heroes aren’t having any of it. They will push back against “ends justify the means” moral grayness, and they’ll win because General Hammond can call the President and the President will have his back. It tells us both who Hammond is and what kind of moral world we’re in at the same time.
That said, I do feel like the whole business w Teal’c needs some more fleshing out. Both his defection and his acceptance by the team feel too quick, unexplained, not really earned. Why did he back O’Neill instead of killing him? This is apart from the fact that he’s walking around their base with a Goa’uld in his belly! It’s going to take more than “Well, I liked the cut of his jib so when he said I should kill my comrades, throw away my whole life, and follow him into whatever completely unknown world he’s from, I said, sure, why not?” But they have like 10 seasons to work that out, I guess.
And I just have to say, if this is going to be an ongoing rewatch, I’m totally here for it! I’ve never really seen that much SG-1. (Even though I went on a couple press junkets for SyFy for much later stage Stargate projects.) I saw random episodes so the big arcs never gelled for me. But I do remember popping in on an episode that was entirely about briefing some newb from DC so they could explain to the viewers the baroque canon they’d been building up for several seasons. That didn’t sound promising.
So I’m very up for this. I’ve been watching Voyager for the first time recently and following along with the rewatch threads on that show, but all that discussion was seven years ago. It’s a little weird following along and commenting at this point. It will be nice to actually talk with people instead of adding little postscripts from the future.
posted by Naberius at 8:00 PM on August 7 [3 favorites]
That said, I do feel like the whole business w Teal’c needs some more fleshing out. Both his defection and his acceptance by the team feel too quick, unexplained, not really earned. Why did he back O’Neill instead of killing him? This is apart from the fact that he’s walking around their base with a Goa’uld in his belly! It’s going to take more than “Well, I liked the cut of his jib so when he said I should kill my comrades, throw away my whole life, and follow him into whatever completely unknown world he’s from, I said, sure, why not?” But they have like 10 seasons to work that out, I guess.
And I just have to say, if this is going to be an ongoing rewatch, I’m totally here for it! I’ve never really seen that much SG-1. (Even though I went on a couple press junkets for SyFy for much later stage Stargate projects.) I saw random episodes so the big arcs never gelled for me. But I do remember popping in on an episode that was entirely about briefing some newb from DC so they could explain to the viewers the baroque canon they’d been building up for several seasons. That didn’t sound promising.
So I’m very up for this. I’ve been watching Voyager for the first time recently and following along with the rewatch threads on that show, but all that discussion was seven years ago. It’s a little weird following along and commenting at this point. It will be nice to actually talk with people instead of adding little postscripts from the future.
posted by Naberius at 8:00 PM on August 7 [3 favorites]
Generally I'm going to try and post once a week so will be nice to give folks time to watch!
Also interesting how they establish and then change over time what the difference SG teams mean/do.
posted by Carillon at 8:49 PM on August 7
Also interesting how they establish and then change over time what the difference SG teams mean/do.
posted by Carillon at 8:49 PM on August 7
I always like how Stargate establishes right off the bat that they basically have no quarantine procedures, no safety protocols and no idea what they are messing with.
It's the TV show equivalent of the Terry Pratchett quote about a switch:
“Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH', the paint wouldn't even have time to dry.”
posted by madajb at 9:36 PM on August 7 [9 favorites]
It's the TV show equivalent of the Terry Pratchett quote about a switch:
“Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH', the paint wouldn't even have time to dry.”
posted by madajb at 9:36 PM on August 7 [9 favorites]
I watched this immediately after finishing 'Stargate' .
Wow, the depreciation in production quality was distracting. Especially the armour (instead of the Horus-looking helmets, they're cheap 'Red Sonja'-level cobra helmets.
Apophis (?) just felt really cheap. Especially compared to Jaye Davidson's incredibly apt portrayal of Ra.
I originally dug "MacGyver" (Richard Dean Anderson) as O'Neil but on re-viewing, he needs to prove that he can fit in Kurt Russel's army boots.
Same with Michael Shanks as Dr. Daniel Jackson replacing James Spader.
posted by porpoise at 11:52 PM on August 7 [1 favorite]
Wow, the depreciation in production quality was distracting. Especially the armour (instead of the Horus-looking helmets, they're cheap 'Red Sonja'-level cobra helmets.
Apophis (?) just felt really cheap. Especially compared to Jaye Davidson's incredibly apt portrayal of Ra.
I originally dug "MacGyver" (Richard Dean Anderson) as O'Neil but on re-viewing, he needs to prove that he can fit in Kurt Russel's army boots.
Same with Michael Shanks as Dr. Daniel Jackson replacing James Spader.
posted by porpoise at 11:52 PM on August 7 [1 favorite]
porpoise, you might be the only person I've ever seen that preferred the movie over SG-1. I'm not saying you are wrong, and I do enjoy the movie, but in my opinion he show offers so much more depth.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:59 AM on August 8 [3 favorites]
posted by Literaryhero at 4:59 AM on August 8 [3 favorites]
The funny thing is that the show eventually just says that RDA's O'Neil is not Russel's O'Neil by adding an L to RDA's character's name. This becomes official in-show canon!
posted by Atreides at 2:23 PM on August 8 [4 favorites]
posted by Atreides at 2:23 PM on August 8 [4 favorites]
Wait wait what, really? I never knew that!
posted by Kyol at 3:44 PM on August 8 [1 favorite]
posted by Kyol at 3:44 PM on August 8 [1 favorite]
preferred the movie over SG-1
I'm only saying comparing the movie to the pilot. I only ever intermittently watched this during the original run.
posted by porpoise at 12:42 AM on August 9
I'm only saying comparing the movie to the pilot. I only ever intermittently watched this during the original run.
posted by porpoise at 12:42 AM on August 9
by adding an L to RDA's character's name
lol, IMDB backs you up =D
posted by porpoise at 12:43 AM on August 9 [1 favorite]
lol, IMDB backs you up =D
posted by porpoise at 12:43 AM on August 9 [1 favorite]
It’s “O’Neill,” with two L’s. There is another Colonel O’Neil with only one L and he has no sense of humor at all.
—Jack O’Neill, “Secrets” S2E9
posted by jabah at 10:03 AM on August 9 [6 favorites]
—Jack O’Neill, “Secrets” S2E9
posted by jabah at 10:03 AM on August 9 [6 favorites]
Wow, the depreciation in production quality was distracting
yea, thing is, that now we have much higher-resolution TV's - back then everyone was watching NTSC, 720 × 480, so shows made for tv often had a lot less detail in the design, because it just wouldn't show up when broadcast anyway. It's also why shows back then would be 22-25 episodes a season. With less needed to fill the screen, a lot of corners could be cut, and there was just way less data to handle on a day-to-day basis. Production on shows like this would typically be handled by 2 teams that would alternate episodes, so each team would have about 2 weeks to finish each episode so that it would be broadcast weekly. This is not to say that people were doing a bad job of it - just that you needed to make sure you put in the work where it was needed, and where it was going to be visible when people watched it on their home tv's. Nowadays every tv show has to be of the same quality as if it were going to be in theatres, so the detail is amazing, but the number of episodes in a season is way less. Try to think of it not as bad production quality, but just a totally different set of standards that were optimal at the time it was made, if that helps?
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:10 PM on August 9 [5 favorites]
yea, thing is, that now we have much higher-resolution TV's - back then everyone was watching NTSC, 720 × 480, so shows made for tv often had a lot less detail in the design, because it just wouldn't show up when broadcast anyway. It's also why shows back then would be 22-25 episodes a season. With less needed to fill the screen, a lot of corners could be cut, and there was just way less data to handle on a day-to-day basis. Production on shows like this would typically be handled by 2 teams that would alternate episodes, so each team would have about 2 weeks to finish each episode so that it would be broadcast weekly. This is not to say that people were doing a bad job of it - just that you needed to make sure you put in the work where it was needed, and where it was going to be visible when people watched it on their home tv's. Nowadays every tv show has to be of the same quality as if it were going to be in theatres, so the detail is amazing, but the number of episodes in a season is way less. Try to think of it not as bad production quality, but just a totally different set of standards that were optimal at the time it was made, if that helps?
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:10 PM on August 9 [5 favorites]
NTSC
For sure. 1997 - I was a sophomore in college with ad-based 14.4k dial-up (we didn't get fiber in the dorms until '98 or '99, I think, but regardless it was cable or VHS on CRT televisions). I get it, it was just jarring since I recall SG:U as "modern"-ish; I totally got floored by time warp back to '97.
otoh, 'Babylon 5' was 1993–1998.
Also, maybe a compliment to 'Stargate' the movie's production quality.
Thanks for the insider details on tv production 'back in the day!'
posted by porpoise at 12:58 AM on August 10 [1 favorite]
For sure. 1997 - I was a sophomore in college with ad-based 14.4k dial-up (we didn't get fiber in the dorms until '98 or '99, I think, but regardless it was cable or VHS on CRT televisions). I get it, it was just jarring since I recall SG:U as "modern"-ish; I totally got floored by time warp back to '97.
otoh, 'Babylon 5' was 1993–1998.
Also, maybe a compliment to 'Stargate' the movie's production quality.
Thanks for the insider details on tv production 'back in the day!'
posted by porpoise at 12:58 AM on August 10 [1 favorite]
'The X-Files' switched (from 4:3 NTSC) to... widescreen (only?)/ HD in 1997.
Anyways, watching forward, the production quality gets up to par pretty quickly. Just a pilot thing I guess.
posted by porpoise at 1:06 AM on August 10
Anyways, watching forward, the production quality gets up to par pretty quickly. Just a pilot thing I guess.
posted by porpoise at 1:06 AM on August 10
I can remember watching SG1 when it was first syndicated on a Sony TV like this one (obsolete even then), maybe six inches diagonal and black and white, but the only TV at work when I was working late.
posted by jabah at 7:23 AM on August 10
posted by jabah at 7:23 AM on August 10
Yeah, this era of television is kind of fun to watch from almost 30 years later because so many technological changes end up on screen. I keep an eye on when cell phones become common enough to be just a thing the characters are expected to have, and when they change from flip or candybars to unidentifiable black slates, although I don't think that happens in SG1. Also, computer display technology moving from gigantic CRTs to nondescript and easily dressed up LCD panels.
posted by Kyol at 10:05 AM on August 10
posted by Kyol at 10:05 AM on August 10
Thanks for the insider details on tv production 'back in the day!'
happy to share - if that sort of thing is at all interesting to people I'm sure I'll have more stories as we go through the series
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:17 AM on August 11 [2 favorites]
happy to share - if that sort of thing is at all interesting to people I'm sure I'll have more stories as we go through the series
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:17 AM on August 11 [2 favorites]
5_13... back in the day details are always fun and welcome.
Saw this episode a few months ago and was pleased and oddly disappointed. It seemed unrealistic (within the boundaries of the story) that they would jump so deep and without resources and care. Like wandering off into the woods on a far away planet. But it was interesting that they'd jump into the Gould themes so quickly that were core to all the later stories. Probably had to do more that they were needing to get through a first season with normal expectations that it'd be the only season.
posted by sammyo at 8:31 PM on August 11 [1 favorite]
Saw this episode a few months ago and was pleased and oddly disappointed. It seemed unrealistic (within the boundaries of the story) that they would jump so deep and without resources and care. Like wandering off into the woods on a far away planet. But it was interesting that they'd jump into the Gould themes so quickly that were core to all the later stories. Probably had to do more that they were needing to get through a first season with normal expectations that it'd be the only season.
posted by sammyo at 8:31 PM on August 11 [1 favorite]
The impression I had is that SG-1 and SG-2 were going out exploring like that because the USAF realize Earth badly needs better technology and also intel if they are going to fight the Goa'uld.
This episode is being asked to do a lot of work: introduce the deeper history of the Stargate universe, establish the Goa'uld's history, their abilities, their motive for being Earth's enemy, and also convincingly portray the process by which Teal'c gets added to SG-1. I think it does the first job really well; great writing on that front, and the second job less well - but this is a common trope in military fiction and sci-fi; an actual military would never trust a former enemy combatant enough to integrate them so thoroughly with the team. And T'ealc never goes through any kind of training, or is given a rank, etc. That alone seems weird - what happens if O'Neill and Carter are killed in battle? Is Daniel (no rank, not actually in the military) in command? T'ealc? What happens if two SG units are in battle together and O'Neill, the other SG unit's CO and Carter are killed? Do T'ealc and Daniel take orders from the ranking member of the other SG unit? Can they be court martialed if they disobey said orders? Do they have to follow General Hammond's orders? It's a mess.
That said, the alternative would have been to take like half a season to get T'ealc trained and have him officially be a member of the Air Force, which again, would be sus also, not to mention a drag since he'd not be able to go out a-gating with the rest of the team. Instead we get this episode, in which the exigent circumstances and the larger strategic value of having a defector on staff as a source of intel outweigh those concerns and T'ealc joins up, which preps us for the fun episodic adventures coming our way, so I'm fine with it.
posted by A Most Curious Rabbit at 4:52 PM on August 13
This episode is being asked to do a lot of work: introduce the deeper history of the Stargate universe, establish the Goa'uld's history, their abilities, their motive for being Earth's enemy, and also convincingly portray the process by which Teal'c gets added to SG-1. I think it does the first job really well; great writing on that front, and the second job less well - but this is a common trope in military fiction and sci-fi; an actual military would never trust a former enemy combatant enough to integrate them so thoroughly with the team. And T'ealc never goes through any kind of training, or is given a rank, etc. That alone seems weird - what happens if O'Neill and Carter are killed in battle? Is Daniel (no rank, not actually in the military) in command? T'ealc? What happens if two SG units are in battle together and O'Neill, the other SG unit's CO and Carter are killed? Do T'ealc and Daniel take orders from the ranking member of the other SG unit? Can they be court martialed if they disobey said orders? Do they have to follow General Hammond's orders? It's a mess.
That said, the alternative would have been to take like half a season to get T'ealc trained and have him officially be a member of the Air Force, which again, would be sus also, not to mention a drag since he'd not be able to go out a-gating with the rest of the team. Instead we get this episode, in which the exigent circumstances and the larger strategic value of having a defector on staff as a source of intel outweigh those concerns and T'ealc joins up, which preps us for the fun episodic adventures coming our way, so I'm fine with it.
posted by A Most Curious Rabbit at 4:52 PM on August 13
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posted by Carillon at 4:11 PM on August 7 [1 favorite]