Stargate SG-1: Brief Candle
September 18, 2024 11:11 AM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe
On the planet Argos, Daniel helps a woman who is in labour. As a thank you, SG-1 is invited to a party. The team meets beautiful young people who party until sunset and then fall into deep sleep.
On a visit to Argos, SG-1 discover that a Goa'uld, Pelops, engineered the Argosian race to live for only 100 days. Colonel Jack O'Neill is inadvertently infected with the nanites that cause their rapid aging and grows older by the day, while the team try to stop the process before it is too late.
On a visit to Argos, SG-1 discover that a Goa'uld, Pelops, engineered the Argosian race to live for only 100 days. Colonel Jack O'Neill is inadvertently infected with the nanites that cause their rapid aging and grows older by the day, while the team try to stop the process before it is too late.
Jack being old though was fun, he definitely leans into it.
RDA clearly had a fun time channeling his inner grumpy old man, and by the end of the episode, I was really enjoying it.
Very racy that they have Jack actively sleeping with someone on a mission, even drugged I forgot that they had him do that.
This episode 100% felt like someone wanted to write a Star Trek episode with the perspective of either Kirk getting infected or Riker with an aging disease. But, I think someone pointed out that Jack is too professional to just run around sleeping with strangers on alien planets and the solution was to drug him. And on reflection, this is just the worse. I guess an STD was the only way the writers could figure getting the virus in to Jack's blood stream or something. I really can't remember if it ever happens again or not.
They don't really get into how he returns to his normal form also, I get that it just 'mimics' the effects of age, but those who've died are suddenly rising from the dead. And babys seem to grow normally, they're not all becoming infants again. I get it, but felt a bit of a cheat.
The big caveat was that Jack was infected late in life and somehow...meant his base DNA or whatever, was only forced to mimic the aging. It could have killed him, but once the nanobots were turned off, it stopped his body from trying to be 100 years old or so. Meanwhile, the locals are infected in uterus, presumably, and rather than mimic aging, it just rapidly ages them because the DNA and the programming are sync'd up? I dunno. Presumably, everyone now just ages normally.
Needless to say, this setup raises a lot more questions than were close to being answered.
I was also wondering about where the Argosians obtained their food. Was planting a crop a three generation effort? "Son, I will plant the seeds, but it will be up to your son to harvest them." And the crafts, are they very fast learners and can pass on mastery of crafting/making within a week or two? They indicated that their god provided for them in some weird way, so I wonder if there wasn't some kind of automated supply system to keep them enjoying their 100 days of joy. It's kind of frightening to think that a baby could be conceived and born probably in the same day or two? I guess that's a lot of quick experience for the midwives.
This episode was very much about focusing on Jack's experience and interactions and as a result our other team members were rather sidelined. I appreciate that Hammond very quickly noted, "Nah nah, we're not bringing in a plague here AGAIN."
posted by Atreides at 12:57 PM on September 18
RDA clearly had a fun time channeling his inner grumpy old man, and by the end of the episode, I was really enjoying it.
Very racy that they have Jack actively sleeping with someone on a mission, even drugged I forgot that they had him do that.
This episode 100% felt like someone wanted to write a Star Trek episode with the perspective of either Kirk getting infected or Riker with an aging disease. But, I think someone pointed out that Jack is too professional to just run around sleeping with strangers on alien planets and the solution was to drug him. And on reflection, this is just the worse. I guess an STD was the only way the writers could figure getting the virus in to Jack's blood stream or something. I really can't remember if it ever happens again or not.
They don't really get into how he returns to his normal form also, I get that it just 'mimics' the effects of age, but those who've died are suddenly rising from the dead. And babys seem to grow normally, they're not all becoming infants again. I get it, but felt a bit of a cheat.
The big caveat was that Jack was infected late in life and somehow...meant his base DNA or whatever, was only forced to mimic the aging. It could have killed him, but once the nanobots were turned off, it stopped his body from trying to be 100 years old or so. Meanwhile, the locals are infected in uterus, presumably, and rather than mimic aging, it just rapidly ages them because the DNA and the programming are sync'd up? I dunno. Presumably, everyone now just ages normally.
Needless to say, this setup raises a lot more questions than were close to being answered.
I was also wondering about where the Argosians obtained their food. Was planting a crop a three generation effort? "Son, I will plant the seeds, but it will be up to your son to harvest them." And the crafts, are they very fast learners and can pass on mastery of crafting/making within a week or two? They indicated that their god provided for them in some weird way, so I wonder if there wasn't some kind of automated supply system to keep them enjoying their 100 days of joy. It's kind of frightening to think that a baby could be conceived and born probably in the same day or two? I guess that's a lot of quick experience for the midwives.
This episode was very much about focusing on Jack's experience and interactions and as a result our other team members were rather sidelined. I appreciate that Hammond very quickly noted, "Nah nah, we're not bringing in a plague here AGAIN."
posted by Atreides at 12:57 PM on September 18
The baby born in the first five minutes is a dead ringer for General Hammond.
posted by biffa at 2:46 AM on September 19 [4 favorites]
posted by biffa at 2:46 AM on September 19 [4 favorites]
If you're wondering how he eats and breathes, and other science facts (la la la)
Yeah, this is one that's best not thought about too much. In addition to growing food and making stuff, how do they even learn to speak their language (modern English, strangely enough) in a couple days? I guess their brains are super plastic, but even so, that's a lot to absorb in no time at all. It takes normal humans years to learn all that stuff.
And why aren't there any old people around? If you get 100 blissful days, surely there should be some 80 or 90 day old people around? But no, everybody apparently stays young and beautiful until their hundred days are up at which point...what? They conveniently evaporate like videogame enemies? Something comes and takes them away in their sleep? It's like they lost track of the concept partway through and drifted into Logan's Run territory.
That said, I agree that they did a really good job with cranky old Jack. Anderson played it to the hilt with his voice cracking and his mannerisms. And the makeup job was suprisingly good - especially compared to "cast member becomes temporarily elderly" episodes on so many other shows.
It's probably a good thing that I'm not a showrunner. I don't know if I could have resisted the temptation to totally fuck with the audience in this one. I probably would have had Kynthia become pregnant from their liaison, and a day or two later Jack has a whole new son, one who grows up to be Richard Dean Anderson while everyone else is back on Earth working in the lab. By the time they get back, original Jack is dying, so they take his son back with them and the show carries on, except now Jack Jr. doesn't know anything about how to do SG-1 stuff and they have to teach him everything. (Possibly while trying to keep General Hammond from realizing that he isn't the same Jack they had before and taking him off the team.)
No, no way in hell they were going there.
posted by Naberius at 6:31 AM on September 20 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this is one that's best not thought about too much. In addition to growing food and making stuff, how do they even learn to speak their language (modern English, strangely enough) in a couple days? I guess their brains are super plastic, but even so, that's a lot to absorb in no time at all. It takes normal humans years to learn all that stuff.
And why aren't there any old people around? If you get 100 blissful days, surely there should be some 80 or 90 day old people around? But no, everybody apparently stays young and beautiful until their hundred days are up at which point...what? They conveniently evaporate like videogame enemies? Something comes and takes them away in their sleep? It's like they lost track of the concept partway through and drifted into Logan's Run territory.
That said, I agree that they did a really good job with cranky old Jack. Anderson played it to the hilt with his voice cracking and his mannerisms. And the makeup job was suprisingly good - especially compared to "cast member becomes temporarily elderly" episodes on so many other shows.
It's probably a good thing that I'm not a showrunner. I don't know if I could have resisted the temptation to totally fuck with the audience in this one. I probably would have had Kynthia become pregnant from their liaison, and a day or two later Jack has a whole new son, one who grows up to be Richard Dean Anderson while everyone else is back on Earth working in the lab. By the time they get back, original Jack is dying, so they take his son back with them and the show carries on, except now Jack Jr. doesn't know anything about how to do SG-1 stuff and they have to teach him everything. (Possibly while trying to keep General Hammond from realizing that he isn't the same Jack they had before and taking him off the team.)
No, no way in hell they were going there.
posted by Naberius at 6:31 AM on September 20 [1 favorite]
I probably would have had Kynthia become pregnant from their liaison, and a day or two later Jack has a whole new son, one who grows up to be Richard Dean Anderson while everyone else is back on Earth working in the lab. By the time they get back, original Jack is dying, so they take his son back with them and the show carries on, except now Jack Jr. doesn't know anything about how to do SG-1 stuff and they have to teach him everything. (Possibly while trying to keep General Hammond from realizing that he isn't the same Jack they had before and taking him off the team.)
This would have a legitimate chance of happening on Farscape, though.
posted by Atreides at 8:05 AM on September 20 [1 favorite]
This would have a legitimate chance of happening on Farscape, though.
posted by Atreides at 8:05 AM on September 20 [1 favorite]
It sort of did happen on Farscape!
posted by Naberius at 11:15 AM on September 20 [1 favorite]
posted by Naberius at 11:15 AM on September 20 [1 favorite]
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Jack being old though was fun, he definitely leans into it.
One other question, where do the Argives get their food? Is that also sped up? And if this was meant to increase evolution, but they are still bog-standard, does that mean it didn't work?
posted by Carillon at 11:15 AM on September 18