Overall Rating: 6.0
Pretty standard fare for SG1 with an admittedly creepy and disturbing bad guy...and some scary bugs too. LOL
Plot Synopsis:
On a routine survey of a planet (BP6-3Q1) mysteriously devoid of people despite obviously recent and advanced infrastruction, SG-1 encounters a swarm of "big, huge, HONKIN' bugs!" One of them stings Teal'c in the back and he is rapidly infested with an alien retrovirus. As it becomes clear that the virus is attacking his DNA and converting it into insect DNA and that his symbiote is only slowing this process, not stopping it, Carter calls in a renowned geneticist to assist Dr. Frasier in finding a cure. Teal'c tells O'Neill that if they reach a point where it looks like there is no hope for his recovery, he would rather die. The rest of the team is considerably more optimistic - that is until Colonel Maybourne arrives and orders Teal'c transferred to Area 51 for study.
Carter angrily confronts Dr. Timothy Harlow as he is the only one who could have informed Maybourne about the alien bug. With no recourse, Maybourne has Teal'c escorted out of the SGC in chains. En route to their base, Maybourne reveals to Harlow that he has no intention of helping Teal'c...he wants the transformation to occur becuase they need a lot of alien DNA samples to perfect "the ultimate biological weapon." Teal'c picks this moment to break his chains, beat the crap out of all of his captors, remove his own symbiote and escape into downtown Boulder on foot.
A recalcitrant Dr. Harlow returns to the SGC and promises to help SG-1 devise a cure for Teal'c. There are two problems, however. First, his symbiote is slowly dying despite their efforts to replicate the environment in Teal'c pouch. This problem is eventually solved by Jack, who accidentally comes up with the brilliant idea of added an electrical current to the fluid in the containment cyllander. Second, they need a sample of the insect's venom to synthesize an antiretroviral agent. SG-1 returns to the planet and leads one of the bugs back to the base where they shoot it down and gas it.
Teal'c, meanwhile, stumbles into an abandoned bilding in Boulder and the metamorphosis slowly changes him. What he doesn't plan is the tenacious presence of a young girl named Ally. She says her father was a cop and he taught her how to tell a good guy from a bad guy - she thinks Teal'c is harmless and wants to help him. At first he asks her to leave him and tell no one he is there, but then he spots a candy bar in her possession and realizes he needs food to complete the metamorphosis. He asks her to get more for him. When she returns with more chocolate, the cops and canvasing the neighborhood looking for him and she helps him hide better. Then on her way out she is caught by Maybourne's people and informs the Colonel that she doesn't like the way he smells so she won't tell him anything. Remarkably, they let her go.
However, as the SGC devises a cure and mobilizes to hunt down Teal'c before Maybourne finds him, Ally discovers that Teal'c has encased himself in a cocoon - the final stage of the transformation. She doesn't know that if he doesn't get help soon, as many as a dozen insects could come pouring out of his body at any time. Freaked by the sight of him, she threatens to get the police and Teal'c tells her instead to try to contact Jack O'Neill. And somehow, again rather incredibly, a twelve year old girl manages to get through to the top secret military base and talk directly with O'Neill! They arrive just in time to save Teal'c with their treatment and save the day. Maybourne still wants the alien venom, but Dr. Harlow regrets to inform the SGC that as soon as Teal'c is recovered the alien insect and venom samples will meet with an unfortunate lab accident for which he'll take responsibility. When he greets Ally a few weeks later he brings her a much more powerful water gun in payment for her help.
Writing: 6.0
Meh. Sorry, there's not a heck of a lot to say about the quality of the script, apart from a few giggle-worthy highlights which you'll find below. The script does have some rather silly scientific missteps and moments of incredible deus ex machina that I should note for the record:
1) When SG-1 returns to the bug planet, why were they not in kevlar SWAT-style suits of armor to defend against the bugs? Also...while scouting the planet in search for a single bug to capture, why did they willingly choose to investigate a building where they heard noise (um...it could be bugs, you know...lots of bugs!) so that we could get the crucial creepy footage we needed to understand the insect life cycle?
2) Why does Maybourne need Teal'c to brutally transform into a bunch of bugs?Can't he just grab some samples of the venom and experiment on his own? They even acknowledge this plot hole when they have Maybourne requisition the venom samples at the end.
3) How exactly does a pre-teen girl call one of the most top-secret bases in the world and get to talk to O'Neill? I know she had to talk to like 15 people (so she says) but this just strikes me as hard to believe.
4) So let's see here...the humans on this planet lived there long enough to evolve advanced technology and civilization and multiply to the millions. They must have been using the whole planet. Why then did this insect threat appear suddenly and why were they unable to devise some kind of defense? Heck of a tough sell there.
Acting; 7.5
There was nothing particularly good or bad about the acting in this episode. The normally outstanding Chris Judge was a bit weak this time around...I'm not sure he knew quite what to do with the state of his character in this episode. Colleen Rennison (Ally) did a credible job for a child actress, though I thought Scott Hylands was a bit flat.
Message: 4.5
This is about when the whole NID/civilian oversight/Earth politics are squicky running subplot started to annoy me. I'm all for trusting our military over wings of diplomats who've never served in the field and don't know what those personal bonds that form on the field of battle mean nor what is really going on in the world at large. But I refuse to believe the U.S. Government is run this poorly. Every time Maybourne shows up, he's there to do something spectacularly stupid and illogical. This time, he wants to turn an insect that annihilated a civilization at least as advanced as our own into a biological weapon...it boggles the mind. I'm sorry, but this is Hollywood (or Vancouver) elitism. The assumption that because our government does things that we don't fully understand or agree with, they must be lacking in intelligence, is just plain arrogant...and that's why the NID plot annoys me on levels deeper than the ones the writers intended.
Highlights:
O'NEILL: Might I remind you that this man has saved your slimy ass and the lives of everyone here countless times.
MAYBOURNE: I'm well aware of his contribution to this program, Colonel. I can't wait to thank him in person.
O'NEILL: General Hammond, request permission to...beat the crap out of this man? (LOL)
FRASIER: I don't understand it, sir. We've replicated nearly every condition the symbiote would experience in Teal'c pouch, and yet it's still dying.
O'NEILL: Carter, is there anything...
CARTER: I know, sir, I'm frustrated too. But I can't just access Jolinar's memories at will.
O'NEILL: Well it's too bad we can't just zap it with those paddle thingies like they do oon ER, or...
FRASIER: Wait a minute, that's it!
CARTER: I can't be that simple...
O'NEILL: What?
FRASIER: We replicated every environmental variable...
CARTERL ...except electrical current...and there's a small electrical current in every one of us.
O'NEILL: What?
FRASIER: Maybe it needs that field to survive...
CARTER: So all we need now is a small enough power source.
O'NEILL: What? (ROTFL)
ALLY: Teal'c! You're back!
TEAL'C: Greetings, Ally.
ALLY: You're OK!
TEAL'C: I am, indeed. Thanks to you.
ALLY: Ah, it was no sweat.
TEAL'C: To show my gratitude for your help, I have purchased a superior weapon for you. One with far greater range and firepower.
ALLY: WICKED! To you have time to play?
JACKSON: Uh, actually...(Ally squirts Teal'c in the chest and runs away giggling...Teal'c looks amused)...hm...I guess we shouldn't have loaded it, ey?
TEAL'C: How else could she defend herself, Daniel Jackson. (Teal'c squirts Daniel in the stomach and departs, going into hunter mode, Daniel is left to shake out his shirt - LOL!)
No comments:
Post a Comment