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An experiment goes wrong leaving Lt. Col. Carter trapped
in a parallel reality where martial law has been enforced
and Earth is under attack from the Ori...
The
Road Not Taken sees Carter transported to a parallel universe
after a cloaking experiment goes wrong. However, the alternate
Earth that she end up in contains a few surprises. George
Hammond still heads up the SGC, Hank Landry is President of
America and Carter discovers that she was once married to
a familiar character whom she knows well from her reality.
Possibly
the most political episode of SG-1 to date, the story
examines how, if things were very slightly different, our
heroes might act in order to save their planet. While the
build up to the conclusion promises much, the end result doesn't
really work as well as it could have.
Andy
Mikita (director), Alan McCullough (writer) and Amanda Tapping
(Carter) provide the audio commentary on this episode. Highlights
include the issues with Tapping's hair; pointing out how bleak
the Internet is in the other reality; and Tapping's story
about a woman coming up to her during filming to ask her if
she would be so kind as to point out who the actors were on
the show.
When Daniel Jackson turns up as a Prior asking SG-1 to
aid him in a plan that might very well be a trap, it's up
to the SGC to not only save Jackson's life, but possibly end
the war with the Ori once and for all...
The
Shroud
sees some great on screen chemistry between Michael Shanks
and Richard Dean Anderson. It reminded me of the chemistry
the two used to have when Anderson was a regular on the show
and it was great, considering that this is the penultimate
disc in the series, that the show revisited that.
The
reveal that the Prior, that visits the planet, is in fact
Daniel is no great surprise. It's obvious from the first shot.
Whenever you see a mystery character from the back only, it's
an almost certain guarantee that it's going to be someone
you know. And, for viewers with the memory of a goldfish,
as the opening recap showed Daniel being captured by the Ori
it was pretty obvious who the prior was.
The
whole "Is he? Isn't he?" aspect of this episode
was also well handled. You spend almost the entire episode
being buffeted about not knowing whether Daniel is on the
level, or playing SG-1 in order to bring numerous Ori ships
to Earth. And the icing on the cake is that no matter what
you believe, the ending will still have a surprise for you.
I
also loved the way that Anderson was introduced in this episode.
There's no big entrance scene, he's simply sat in the briefing
room with everyone else.
Robert
C. Cooper (executive producer) and Andy Mikita (director)
provide the audio commentary. They point out that they were
painfully aware that revealing Daniel as the Prior was always
going to be difficult to do believably; the problems they
had getting Daniel to remove his hood because he was carrying
the Book of Origin; and Mikita beating himself, almost
embarrassingly, because he missed the continuity error of
Anderson's general stars.
After Netan and the Lucian Alliance, are undermined by
SG-1 yet again, a bounty is put on their heads. But, with
the team all off doing their own things how can they individually
hope to survive against some of the galaxy's most ruthless
bounty hunters...?
Bounty
is an interesting episode as Cameron Mitchell takes Vala Mal
Doran back to Kansas for his high school reunion. There's
plenty of embarrassing moments, as Vala still hasn't quite
gotten the hang of social etiquette. Meanwhile Daniel is nosing
around a library. It's not long before the bounty hunters
head for Earth to kill each member of SG-1.
The
episode is resolved rather neatly and there's even a great
Scooby-Doo gag in the closing scene.
John
G. Lenic (producer) and Jim Menard (director of photography)
provide the audio commentary. Here they discuss that one of
the stunts was cut for budgetary reasons; and the problems
they had with street lights that were turned off half way
through filming.
Mistaken for rebels on an alien planet, SG-1 must play
the part of hostage takers in hope of buying themselves enough
time to be rescued before they're executed...
Bad
Guys is an episode that was written by Ben Browder and
Martin Gero. Personally, I found it to be the most entertaining
on this disc. The plot is an interesting look at a disastrous
first contact situation.
There
are some great Vala moments here - including her trying to
prove what a master thief she is. The only things I really
didn't care for were the annoying screaming woman and the
rather quick resolution.
For
reasons unknown, there is no audio commentary on this episode.
Extras include the three audio commentaries already mentioned;
Stargate: SG-1 Directors Series: The Shroud featuring Andy
Mikita (11 mins look behind the scenes on The Shroud);
Life As a Tech with Gary Jones (20 mins tongue firmly
in cheek interview with actor Gary Jones who plays Walter
Harriman. This is possibly the funniest featurette I've seen
on any of the SG-1 discs to date. Jones wanders around
the set asking cast and crew what their favourite Harriman
moments are, as well as bragging about things he's never really
done. It was while watching this I wondered why they'd never
produced a Harriman centred episode - Jones is the King of
Comedy!); Photo Gallery and Production Design Gallery.
So,
four more episodes to go and it'll be the end of an era. Let's
hope the pack shot for the final disc looks better than this
one. Is that really Ben Browder?
Darren
Rea
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