A script completely devoid of meaningful dialogue about learning to communicate with an inferior species akin to Neanderthal still manages to be incredibly enjoyable to watch. Its strength is the wise decision the writers made to place Michael Shanks at the center of the action and let his enormous acting talent impress.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the story here.
The Skinny:
SABR Matt: I remember watching an adaptation of the story of Jane Goodall 's study of lesser primates - I cannot recall what network had carried it - but what stood out for me was that it seemed the intent of the production team to make the case that the lesser primates being studied were of the same intrinsic value as humanity. Now, although I firmly believe that part of our duty as the top of the food chain here on Earth is to defend animals from needless cruelty, maintain enough ecological diversity to keep Earth thriving, and preserve life whenever it is at all practical to do so, I will not sign on to any doctrine that presupposes that humans are on the same level as their animal brothers. Nor do I believe that simple sentience (simple...ha!) is the only thing that separates us. The Unas (the race first abused by the Goa'uld) are not, I believe, morally equivalent to humans simply because they are sentient. Later episodes will make this mistake, and I think it is a mistake...they will shame humans for daring to believe their way is the superior way. It smacks of cultural relativism - an idea of modern invention and of dubious logic.
HOWEVER...this particular episode, when viewed in isolation, does not make that mistake. Michael Shanks plays his role as the abductee with the appropriate distaste and yet the impressive resourcefulness and patience he's known for, which convinces me that at this time, the writers believed that the Unas in their world were sentient, but still too primitive to treat as possessing the same intrinsic value as the humans in their story. In fact, the bloody resolution to Daniel's impending doom feels very much in touch with reality. A tribal Neanderthal is not going to resolve his differences with communication...he's going to kill a few comrades to make his point and establish his dominance. Even while Daniel is learning how to communicate with the Unas, I never get the impression that he's becoming enamored with their way of life.
With that moral concern lifted, the strengths of the episode (primarily the acting and the creativity of the story board) shine through enough for me to want to praise this episode as feature-worthy. Michael Shanks was absolutely brilliant, as was Dione Johnstone (Chaka). The subplot involving a Goa'uld infiltration of other SG personnel on Chaka's planet isn't all that stunning, though I do enjoy Teal'c's way of ferreting out the bad guy.
Stephanie S: To be honest, when I watch this episode, the potential pitfalls vis-à-vis cultural relativism usually don't occur to me. I just sit back and enjoy watching Daniel trying to communicate with the big scary monster who's bringing him home for lunch. That's just classically Daniel - and it's classically Daniel at a point in the series when Classic!Daniel is starting to go the way of the dinosaur. And - darn it all - I like him better this way. Curing Daniel of his dweebiness was such a mistake.
Writing: 9.5 / 9.5
The subplot is only OK, but the plot involving essentially no dialogue is masterfully done and eminently believable.
Acting: 10.0 / 10.0
Megaprops to Michael Shanks and his guest costar.
Message: 7.5 / 7.5
This episode is a bit message-lite, but what message there is would seem to be that the best way to evolve and improve the well-being of your fellow men is to learn from those who are further along than you, as Chaka does. That's not something you see in modern sci-fi too often.
Highlights:
Not much in the way of verbal highlights here...a couple of video clips of the best interactions would seem to be in order!
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