Stargate SG-1: There but for the Grace of God Rewatch
December 4, 2024 3:34 PM - Season 1, Episode 19 - Subscribe
SG-1 discovers a world made uninhabitable by the Goa'uld. O'Neill asks his team to move as quickly as possible towards the Stargate but Daniel Jackson touches a strange mirror and finds himself projected into a parallel reality.
While collecting artifacts on a distant planet, Daniel Jackson is knocked out after touching a mirror-like object. He awakens in the same room but is unable to locate the other members of SG-1. Assuming that they left without him, he dials up his return home but gets there to find that he is in a different reality. In this world, General Jack O'Neill and Catherine Langford are in charge of the Stargate program; Hammond is a Colonel reporting to O'Neill; and Sam Carter is a civilian scientist working on the project (and also engaged to O'Neill). More importantly, Earth is under attack from the Goa'uld who have already killed over 1 billion people. Carter believes that somehow, Jackson is from a parallel dimension. When Jackson learns the point of origin of the Goa'uld attack, he wants to return to his own universe, believing that his Earth will be similarly attacked.
While collecting artifacts on a distant planet, Daniel Jackson is knocked out after touching a mirror-like object. He awakens in the same room but is unable to locate the other members of SG-1. Assuming that they left without him, he dials up his return home but gets there to find that he is in a different reality. In this world, General Jack O'Neill and Catherine Langford are in charge of the Stargate program; Hammond is a Colonel reporting to O'Neill; and Sam Carter is a civilian scientist working on the project (and also engaged to O'Neill). More importantly, Earth is under attack from the Goa'uld who have already killed over 1 billion people. Carter believes that somehow, Jackson is from a parallel dimension. When Jackson learns the point of origin of the Goa'uld attack, he wants to return to his own universe, believing that his Earth will be similarly attacked.
Mod note: Changed to 'Rewatch' per user request.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 3:42 PM on December 4 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 3:42 PM on December 4 [1 favorite]
I so enjoyed Walter and ‘Colonel’ Hammond defending the SGC corridors. Walter in his little vest. So good!
posted by janell at 10:09 PM on December 4 [2 favorites]
posted by janell at 10:09 PM on December 4 [2 favorites]
Whenever you get Walter out of his chair in the gate ops room, it's fun.
One thing SG-1 does pretty well is setting up an impending doom.
One of my favorite moments is that of realization on Jack's face when he sees his decision to nuke the Jaafa homeworld come back to bite him in the rear. You have the zoom and pull to really hammer in the realization for O'Neil that he screwed himself, maybe the world, with his trigger happy retaliation. The thing though being, you can understand it, if about a billion people on the planet have already been wiped out by the Goa'uld attack. In his head space, he's desperate to do anything that might put a pause in the attack or at least be the figurative middle finger on the way to oblivion. Would big braid Teal'c turning traitor been enough to make a big difference? Maybe not, maybe it would have given more time for the SGC personnel to finish evacuating to the B Site.
But it is very dark. Everyone dies other than Daniel. Sam blows herself up with a grenade. Even Catherine very clearly gets taken out in the gate control room, though they had the decency not to show it directly. Hammond's gun jams and down he goes. Even alt universe Daniel is a goner, well, presumably.
I don't remember now how I felt about the Sam/Jack engagement in alt world. I did find it funny that when Daniel came back and mentioned it, the first thing Sam says, "That's against regulations!" As in it's only regulations being violated that she finds unsettling about this piece of news. I think it probably depends a lot on the development between the two when they were stuck in Antartica. It's definitely a subject the show flirts with going into the future. For those on Carter's hair style watch,, I think it's a long time before Carter sports shoulder length or past hair. Maybe even another show?
We got a small nugget for Catherine and Ernest, being in our timeline, they're living happily ever after. So a ray of sunshine in an otherwise somber episode.
posted by Atreides at 8:28 AM on December 5 [2 favorites]
One thing SG-1 does pretty well is setting up an impending doom.
One of my favorite moments is that of realization on Jack's face when he sees his decision to nuke the Jaafa homeworld come back to bite him in the rear. You have the zoom and pull to really hammer in the realization for O'Neil that he screwed himself, maybe the world, with his trigger happy retaliation. The thing though being, you can understand it, if about a billion people on the planet have already been wiped out by the Goa'uld attack. In his head space, he's desperate to do anything that might put a pause in the attack or at least be the figurative middle finger on the way to oblivion. Would big braid Teal'c turning traitor been enough to make a big difference? Maybe not, maybe it would have given more time for the SGC personnel to finish evacuating to the B Site.
But it is very dark. Everyone dies other than Daniel. Sam blows herself up with a grenade. Even Catherine very clearly gets taken out in the gate control room, though they had the decency not to show it directly. Hammond's gun jams and down he goes. Even alt universe Daniel is a goner, well, presumably.
I don't remember now how I felt about the Sam/Jack engagement in alt world. I did find it funny that when Daniel came back and mentioned it, the first thing Sam says, "That's against regulations!" As in it's only regulations being violated that she finds unsettling about this piece of news. I think it probably depends a lot on the development between the two when they were stuck in Antartica. It's definitely a subject the show flirts with going into the future. For those on Carter's hair style watch,, I think it's a long time before Carter sports shoulder length or past hair. Maybe even another show?
We got a small nugget for Catherine and Ernest, being in our timeline, they're living happily ever after. So a ray of sunshine in an otherwise somber episode.
posted by Atreides at 8:28 AM on December 5 [2 favorites]
I also appreciate how these plot threads do a great job of portraying Earth/US military as kicking a hornets nest they don't even realize. They think they're the big fish, but it turns out they don't even know the scope of what they are bringing down. Always love plot threads where you slowly realize the implications of stuff you felt super comfortable about.
posted by Carillon at 11:26 AM on December 5 [3 favorites]
posted by Carillon at 11:26 AM on December 5 [3 favorites]
One of my favorite episodes - I've always liked the alternate universe trope in sci fi where actors who seem pigeon-holed or having limited range get to show off their craft playing with slightly different versions of their character, and I think this one is really well done. I just re-watched it recently and didn't think too much about the Sam/Jack relationship, but I remember that when I first watched it back in the day it definitely felt forced and didn't make any sense other than as a plot device (which, to be fair, this show has never been above using).
posted by Pedantzilla at 9:55 AM on December 6 [1 favorite]
posted by Pedantzilla at 9:55 AM on December 6 [1 favorite]
Although in this ep it isn’t even really a plot device, just a wierd non sequitur to sorta(???) increase the stakes of Jack’s ‘talk to Teal’c’ gambit?
posted by janell at 10:52 AM on December 6
posted by janell at 10:52 AM on December 6
I agree, it didn't serve as anything more than to a) establish alternate timeline different and b) add a level of gravity to Jack's decision to go face almost certain death. I don't know if it was to add to the stakes so much as add to Jack's character in that timeline regarding what he was willing to sacrifice. I say that only because it's revealed after Jack makes the decision.
One of my favorite episodes - I've always liked the alternate universe trope in sci fi where actors who seem pigeon-holed or having limited range get to show off their craft playing with slightly different versions of their character, and I think this one is really well done.
Sometimes you can tell the actors are just loving the opportunity to flex into something different which adds to the fun.
posted by Atreides at 12:44 PM on December 6 [1 favorite]
One of my favorite episodes - I've always liked the alternate universe trope in sci fi where actors who seem pigeon-holed or having limited range get to show off their craft playing with slightly different versions of their character, and I think this one is really well done.
Sometimes you can tell the actors are just loving the opportunity to flex into something different which adds to the fun.
posted by Atreides at 12:44 PM on December 6 [1 favorite]
I also felt like the Sam/Jack thing was forced; my mom did not.
This episode was so interesting; it's the one where they managed to really give SG1 more ambition narratively. Like Yesterday's Enterprise, we see a dark alternate universe. But when they come back to things related to this, they continue to do interesting things with the parallel universe concept, without overdoing it. This episode was the one that made me fall in love with SG-1.
posted by rednikki at 11:18 AM on December 9 [3 favorites]
This episode was so interesting; it's the one where they managed to really give SG1 more ambition narratively. Like Yesterday's Enterprise, we see a dark alternate universe. But when they come back to things related to this, they continue to do interesting things with the parallel universe concept, without overdoing it. This episode was the one that made me fall in love with SG-1.
posted by rednikki at 11:18 AM on December 9 [3 favorites]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
One thing that they bring up is the Jack/Sam romance. Curious if anyone whos on their first watch feels that's forced or if it registered as a thing.
posted by Carillon at 3:41 PM on December 4 [2 favorites]