• Hi Guest!

    The costs of running this forum are covered by Sea Lion Press. If you'd like to help support the company and the forum, visit patreon.com/sealionpress

Alternate History and Stargate. Part 4.

"An unintended side effect from this shows up in a Stargate Atlantis spinoff novel, and the mirror is mentioned once again when alternate realities show up through other means, but it was genuinely destroyed and never appears again."

Hey, I found the only other person who read those books!
 
+1 for all the points made about "Seth", not only did they do an X-Files type story they did maybe the most X-Files type story with alien conspiracies, 90s style militia cults, and the ATF being the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard of US federal law enforcement agencies. I have to imagine an exchange like this must have been had during the pitch:

"So, the most popular sci-fi shows on TV now are Star Trek and The X-Files. Which would you say this Stargate is closest to?"

"Yes."

"Thor's Chariot" is an example of one particular type of episodic storytelling that I think Stargate SG-1 did better than any other television series: sequel episodes. Not story arcs but where a particular standalone episode was given a direct follow up. "Thor's Chariot" to "Thor's Hammer", "2001" to "2010", "Past and Present" to "Prisoners", "Shades of Grey" to "Touchstone", "Beast of Burden" to "The First Ones", "Wormhole X-Treme!" to "Point of No Return", and more I'm probably forgetting.
"Legacy" to "Holiday"

The observation that Daniel Jackson might have found a very similar but actually different universe might have been noted at the time since they essentially acknowledge it at the end of "Moebius" way later in season 8: "Close enough."

I remember the last time I watched "Deadman Switch" properly noting how much Sam Jones's character feels like he would become a recurring character or at least feature in one of those sequel episodes I've talked about before. Not sure if that was perhaps the intention but something intervened but his eventual reappearance is heavily hinted.

I can forgive "Rules of Engagement" coming as it does shortly before "Jolinar's Memories"/"The Devil You Know". This wasn't the era of grown men throwing hissy fits over the slightest hint that could be constituted as a spoiler if you squint hard enough. Stargate SG-1 is still an episode show at heart albeit one that did have its characters and situations evolve. "Rules of Engagement" might have been intended as a reminder for those that may have missed "Serpent's Song" or were hazy on the details. Each episode (or two-parter) stands well on their own. I do have a lot of love for Goa'uld gulag guard Apophis, but wish after this introduction the character sort of became like Gul Dukat in the middle seasons of Deep Space Nine. His status has been completely lost following his fall from grace and he becomes a more chaotic force with his back up against the wall. As it was done, he feels like this weird stopgap between Sokar and Anubis. The latter two share a lot of similarities that I wonder if plans changed at some point as to the Big Bad intended to replace Apophis.

"Foothold" is another interesting one for me that's neither Star Trek nor The X-Files, but more like something from SG-1's estranged father: The Outer Limits. Maybe aside from the TARDIS the Stargate is one of the best plot generators ever devised in science fiction given how many different stories they can do from it.

"Crystal Skull" was one of the very few episodes of SG-1 I caught in its original UK airing after becoming disenchanted with the first season in its original airing. It was a step up but not enough to lure me back in yet.
 
"An unintended side effect from this shows up in a Stargate Atlantis spinoff novel, and the mirror is mentioned once again when alternate realities show up through other means, but it was genuinely destroyed and never appears again."

Hey, I found the only other person who read those books!
Sadly no, I just read about it on the wiki!
I remember the last time I watched "Deadman Switch" properly noting how much Sam Jones's character feels like he would become a recurring character or at least feature in one of those sequel episodes I've talked about before. Not sure if that was perhaps the intention but something intervened but his eventual reappearance is heavily hinted.
Judging by Thomasina Gibson's series guide (which was made with close collaboration with the showrunners I believe - lots of interview quotes etc) I think he was definitely intended to be a recurring character (or sequel character) but it didn't work out.

"Rules of Engagement" might have been intended as a reminder for those that may have missed "Serpent's Song" or were hazy on the details.
That's a good point.

I do have a lot of love for Goa'uld gulag guard Apophis, but wish after this introduction the character sort of became like Gul Dukat in the middle seasons of Deep Space Nine. His status has been completely lost following his fall from grace and he becomes a more chaotic force with his back up against the wall. As it was done, he feels like this weird stopgap between Sokar and Anubis. The latter two share a lot of similarities that I wonder if plans changed at some point as to the Big Bad intended to replace Apophis.
Agreed, that would've made sense. Apophis' own end when we see it - though looked at objectively rather than from a story perspective it certainly looks final, so are most of the times a comic book villain (or the Master, etc.) dies - almost feels anticlimactic after the way he was brought back. Also agree on Sokar/Apophis. As I said in the text, what I really notice with Sokar is how he is somewhat reminiscent of the Emperor from Star Wars without obviously being a ripoff or copy-paste of the character (Disney take note).

"Foothold" is another interesting one for me that's neither Star Trek nor The X-Files, but more like something from SG-1's estranged father: The Outer Limits. Maybe aside from the TARDIS the Stargate is one of the best plot generators ever devised in science fiction given how many different stories they can do from it.
Agree about Stargate being possibly the best plot generator other than Doctor Who. Speaking of which, would you agree with my point about the Foothold aliens being very Zygon-like? I first had the thought when watching the episode, even though I was only slightly familiar with their appearance in classic Who and the series hadn't even come back yet at the time, much less featured the Zygons.
 
Agree about Stargate being possibly the best plot generator other than Doctor Who. Speaking of which, would you agree with my point about the Foothold aliens being very Zygon-like? I first had the thought when watching the episode, even though I was only slightly familiar with their appearance in classic Who and the series hadn't even come back yet at the time, much less featured the Zygons.
I hadn't but now mentioned I do see the similarities.
 
Back
Top