cast: Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Christopher Judge, Don S. Davis

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Rated: not rated (content warrants a PG)

reviewed by Charity Bishop
 

I was not born a sci-fi girl. You would be more likely to find me camped out in front of a costume drama as a child than eagerly anticipating the next installment of a space series, but over the years my tastes and interests have changed. You will still find me tuning in to BBC America whenever a costume drama is on, but now I also have a sci-fi channel addiction. The staple of Sci-Fi was for years Stargate SG-1. I can see why. It's cleverly written and has fantastic characters.

When last we saw SG-1, thus named for the first team that heads up the Stargate Expeditions, they were trapped inside a Goa'uld ship intent on the destruction of earth. The Goa'ulds are an alien race whose survival depends on choosing humans (or similar creatures) for hosts. An ancient race responsible for many of the mythology of earth, their recent encounter with SG-1 has left them thirsting for blood. Unfortunately for them, SG-1 is on one of their fighter vessels. The team consists of war-tested Colonel Jack O'Neal (Anderson), the street-smart intellectual Captain Samantha Carter (Tapping), the brilliant but socially stinted Dr. Daniel Jackson (Shanks), and Teal'c (Judge), an alien "carrier" with a baby Goa'uld in his chest. With the team separated and Daniel badly injured, they have only a few hours before the ships are near enough to earth to cause mass destruction.

In their attempt to save the galaxy from the Goa'uld, Sam inadvertently becomes a host to one of them. That is when they discover that not all Goa'ulds are the same... there is the dominant, possessive, cruel race of self-professed gods who enslave empires and the Tok'ra, a rebel alliance of Goa'uld. This is woven throughout the episodes, which are stand-alone but also follow a structured mythology. There are some wonderful stories in the second season, from the body-jumping "Holiday" to time travel in "1962." But the lure here is more the characters than the stories, for while wonderful, they would be nothing without the likable nature of the leading men and woman. It's not hard to like the wise-cracking O'Neal -- and audiences get a chance to laugh when his personality is accidentally transferred onto Teal'c for one episode. Sam is a likable heroine, very smart and able to hold her own with "the boys," who look after her but also know when to stand back. Daniel's geekiness is adorable, and I really have started to like Teal'c.

You really should start in the first season, but if you didn't, you shouldn't have too much trouble following the plot. The only complaint I have that in both this and the first season, the final episode contains kind of a summary of previous events. Having seen them all in their individual episodes, it often makes the finale rather repetitive. That's a minor complaint, however, since overall the production is brilliant. The CG-1 is impressive for a series but it's the unique costume design and approach to other worlds that is the most interesting. The Stargate allows for travel between different civilizations across the galaxy and as such, we get to meet some truly interesting people. One world is a prison, another has a mute civilization who thrives based on auditory sensors, and yet another is infected by deadly insects. Of course, there are villains on some worlds, too.

Content is extremely mild and hardly worth mentioning. There is a reasonable amount of violence -- a few shoot-outs between SG-1 and Goa'ulds that sometimes cause death and/or injury. People are knocked unconscious or subdued by force. In "Show and Tell," giant bug-like aliens spatter when shot. There is rarely any blood or gore. Language consists of occasional profanities. There's no sexual content, but in "One False Step," they encounter a semi-human alien race that do not wear clothes, but instead, protective outer shells. The form-fitting costumes give the illusion of backside nudity. Different members of the team wake up naked in the finale, but anything graphic is covered with a sheet. (We do see a bit of cleavage on Sam, as well as her bare back when she sits up.) There is a lot of mythology about the Goa'ulds that implies they were the inspiration for many Egyptian gods. One episode ("Spirits) has a hint of Indian mysticism in it, but it turns out to be something unexpected.

Viewers who are not accustomed to the "strangeness" of sci-fi might not enjoy the series, but being a fan of the Atlantis spin-off series, as well as various other productions in the same vein, I found SG-1 a welcome way to spend my evenings. In many ways, Jack, Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c have become friends of mine, and the conclusion of the season left me hungering for more. If you do decide to try it out, prepare to be in for a fun, ten-season ride... because this is just the beginning!