Classics: SG1 6:1/6:2 - Redemption

Overall Rating: 8.5

There are so many elements to this episode that make it stand out as a better than average two-hour action story. Separately, none of them are that big a deal, but together, it just feels like the writers did a nice job utilizing all of their characters to tell an engaging tale.

Plot Synopsis:

Part I

Part I

The Skinny:

This will be a light skinny rundown. All you need to know about this two-part episode is that it's well written despite being characteristically "Stargate Simple." The writers here don't generally take high stakes emotional chances or think outside the box too often. Their creativity was best expressed when they were world-building...now that they're mostly living in the world they created, this is about when they started to run out of truly unique ideas. And despite that gripe, the episode still manages to be solidly entertaining with a great balance of humor and drama provided by a diverse cast and a diverse character based fully used. This is an ensemble episode from an ensemble show.

Writing: 8.8

The plot is interesting, but mostly backdrop for the action...what makes this script work is the larger than life characterizations. Jonas desperately scrambling for approval and coming up with the brilliantly simple idea that saves the day, Teal'c and Rya'c learning to understand each other's perspective and forging a new bond, McCay and his silly obsession with Carter (leading to much comedy gold)...good character work all around.

Acting: 9.0

The all-star guest cast is only short one believable Jaffa child. Neil Denis doesn't really carry Rya'c very well, but the rest...Amendola, Hewlett et al do a fine job here complimenting our regulars - up to and including Jonas Quinn...an underappreciated star.

Message: 7.7

For a show entitle "redemption," there seems to be shockingly little in the way of redemption in the actual plot. That's the problem that keeps this away from feature status. The Teal'c/Rya'c story carries this theme somewhat, but lacks in emotional power despite the dire circumstances and the thrilling conclusion. The rest is mostly just "damn we're clever and resourceful little bastards, ain't we!"