|
Barely surviving the bombing massacre of a peaceful Jaffa
summit, Teal’c must go rogue to track down and stop a
Jaffa leader named Arkad who plans to take control of the
Jaffa nation and deliver them to the Ori...
Talion
is a Teal'c episode that sees him go all Terminator
as he sets out to avenge the needless death of so many of
his kind. It
also includes possibly the best Teal'c line in the history
of Stargate: "I am leaving. You are about to explode".
This
episode also sees the return of Dr. Carolyn Lam, as well as
the appearance of British actor Craig
Fairbrass (who Eastenders fans will remember as Dan)
as Arkad. I'm still not sure he was the best choice for a
Jaffa leader. A cockney alien stretches the bounds of believability
to the point of breaking. He's also not overly believable
when it comes to delivering his big scene at the SGC and he
seems to have discovered yet another way of pronouncing "Goa'uld
(as "Go-Old"). What next? A Prior with the accent
of a New York cabbie?
Fans
that like to nit-pick about continuity will also be pleased
to see a very obvious mistake in the editing process. As Teal'c
leaves the tent we see a slow motion shot of him and people
are running in front of the camera. The next shot shows the
first explosion, but just before it goes off we see villagers
walking, but none of them are running. As there were subsequent
explosions it's obvious that the scene with Teal'c was supposed
to follow the first explosion, with the villagers running
in confusion and panic.
This
episode gets bonus points for showing Teal'c as the warrior
that he once was; uncompromising and brutal when he needs
to be. There are some great action sequences too that really
help to sell this episode.
Andy
Mikita (director) and Christopher Judge (Teal'c) provide the
audio commentary on this episode. Highlights include the fact
that Mikita was, at first, uncertain about Fairbass's accent;
and the fact that executive producer, Robert Cooper's daughter
has a brief speaking role.
Vala’s
father, Jasec, contacts Stargate Command wishing to trade
information about a series of planned attacks on Earth in
exchange for sanctuary on the planet. Vala hasn't spoken to
Jasec for years and is not overly happy that SGC don't heed
her warnings that he is a manipulative con man...
Family
Ties stars Fred Willard as Vala's father, Jasec, in this
story about family and what they mean to us. To be honest,
if Fred Willard hadn't pulled out all the stops, this episode
would have fallen flat on its face. The episode really rests
on his shoulders - if we don't warm to him as a charming rogue,
a man who is just trying to make money any way he can, then
the story is pointless. This episode also sees General Landry
making an effort to get back in touch with his estranged wife.
There
is also a great dig at the network for cancelling the show:
Carter:
"The Stargate program just doesn't get the support
it used to from the people in charge."
Jasec:
"Why not?"
Dr.
Lee (in the background having solved a problem): "Eureka!"
Jasec:
"That's too bad, because after all your Stargate program
has accomplished for this network of planets I would think
that the decision-makers would show it the respect it deserves."
While
most of the above is pretty obvious, I wasn't aware (until
I listened to the audio commentary) that Eureka is
the name of the show that replaced SG-1 on the network.
Incidentally Lexa Doig, who plays Dr. Lam, guest stars in
an episode of Eureka.
Joseph
Mallozzi (executive producer) and Paul Mullie (executive producer)
provide the audio commentary. Here they point out that this
episode was shot a few weeks after they knew the show had
been cancelled; the fact that they had to redress Jasec's
apartment after the set dresser went a little crazy; and the
fact that Teal'c had to have a line overdubbed when he said
"two" instead of "three" in the line:
"Three words... 'be less annoying'" - apparently
no one noticed it until it got to the editing stage.
In an elaborate plan using Vala as bait to capture Adria,
SG-1 themselves are surprised when Ba’al intercepts Adria
from under them to use in his own evil plan...
Dominion
really would have worked a little better if it had been a
two-part episode, possibly even rounding off the season. There's
too much here to cram into a 40 minute episode. We have Ba'al
and Adria; Ba'al's plot to take control of Adria's army; and
Adria's plan which makes little sense if her Ori army is still
intact.
There's
(I'm assuming) an unintentional Carry On moment as
Landry asks: "Ba'al's in Adria?" There's
also a couple of jokes that revolve around Vala dreaming that
she was on a Strictly Come Dancing style show. Now,
whether Claudia Black was actually on a show in America that
was similar to this, or another member of the SG-1
cast was, is uncertain. It's never discussed in the commentary,
and it could just be the writers poking fun at such a lame
show.
Alan
McCullough (writer) and William Waring (director) provide
the audio commentary where they discuss the Comic Con auction
winner who appears in the episode; a funny line that Ba'al
actor Cliff Simon ad-libbed but was cut from the final edit;
and the fact that Dan Shea was knocked out during a stunt.
With extinction imminent, the Asgard hand over all their knowledge
and technology to SG-1, but not before the Ori launch an attack
trying to intercede...
Unending
is SG-1's final episode, in 40 minute form anyway. In all
honesty I thought it was a bit of a disappointment really.
I suppose it's a neat way of saying goodbye (for now) to the
characters we've come to know and love, but after eleven years
I was expecting a little more.
It's certainly not the conclusion that many would have hoped
for. Now, episode 200 was something special, this just feels
just like a normal (albeit cheap) episode, but with a heart-warming
final scene (which frankly could have been tacked on to the
end of any other story the writers had come up with).
There
were a few too many elements taken from Star
Trek: The Next Generation's final episode All
Good Things. Stick with me on this. There's the whole
time rift thing that needs to be tackled in order for them
to go back to their own time; the fact that we get to see
our heroes as old and wrinkly versions of their selves; and
the fact that we get to see alternate futures that span into
the characters' old age.
I
was also a little unsure as to how I felt about the fate of
the Asgard. It just felt so forced, and very unnecessary,
to have this included in the final episode - but then I never
particularly liked these Muppet rejects anyway. And what were
the Ori doing anyway after losing their leader? Would they
still carry on as normal?
Robert
C. Cooper (executive producer / writer / director), Jim Menard
(director of photography) and Amanda Tapping (Carter) provide
the audio commentary and, sadly, yet again I was unimpressed.
While this wasn't a bad commentary, there were only really
two moments that I though were noteworthy. These included
Tapping revealing that she and Chris Judge subtly attempted
to imply that Carter and Teal'c also have a relationship;
and the fact that Judge, Tapping and Michael Shanks all managed
to - after wrapping the final shot and having an onset party
- head on up to the observation room overlooking the gateroom
and steal a private moment looking at the gate in the same
way they did when they fist saw the gateroom on the very first
day the went onto the set.
As
I mentioned earlier, if this had been it for SG-1 I
would have been sorely disappointed, but as the show will
continue to live on through a number of TV movies it's not
such an issue.
Extras include the previously mentioned audio commentaries;
Stargate SG-1 Directors Series: Unending, featuring Robert
C. Cooper (15 minute behind the scenes look at the final
episode); Deleted Scenes with Introduction and Commentary
by Joseph Mallozzi (23 minute look at deleted scene (with
optional commentary on the episodes Morpheus; The Quest
and Memento Mori; Photo Gallery; and Production
Design Gallery.
Again,
sorry to harp on about it, but even the extras lack any real
acknowledgement that the America's longest running sci-fi
TV series has come to a close. It's such a shame that it went
out with a bit of a whimper.
Darren
Rea
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£11.98
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£12.99
(Play.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£11.99
(HMV.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£12.97
(Tesco.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£12.93
(Asda.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£12.93
(Thehut.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
