Overall Rating: 6.2
For the most part, I think this episode was an attempt at quirky comedy and pathos that misfired due to mediocre acting and an unspectacular script. It's not a bad hour...but it could have been better.
Plot Synopsis:
SG-1 is once again ensnared in trouble while scouting a planet on which their probes picked up energy signatures worth investigating. This time, they are literally ensnared...in a force field trap set up by a bounty hunter named Aris Boch. Boch claims (first) that he's the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy and (second) that he's not after SG-1 despite all of them possessing some value in trade. He offers to free them all if they help him catch a Goa'uld named Keltar. Seeing no real alternatives, Jack agrees to the arrangement and he and Daniel head out with Boch while the other two are imprisoned on "his" cargo ship. At this point, Boch appears to spectacularly screw up when, in order to facilitate his plan to send Jack in to stun Keltar, he hands Jack a Zat. Naturally, Jack fires at Boch and appears to incapacitate him. They steal his weapon and flee back to the cargo ship, but are unable to liberate Sam and Teal'c. They appear to be running out of time when the ship's self-destruct mechanism starts rapidly counting down. However, when it reaches zero, nothing happens - that is until Boch returns, informs the team that only he can fire his own weapon, that the self-destruct mechanism was not armed (and now is) and that he is unaffected by Zat blasts. He just wanted to watch SG-1 sweat a bit.
Now seeing no alternatives once again, Jack, Teal'c and Daniel work together to disarm the Goa'uld weapons surrounding "Keltar." When they capture him, the man claims to be Tok'ra (and named Korra, not Keltar). This explains why Boch insisted that Sam not accompany the other three on their hunting trip. While all of this is going on, Sam questions Boch about why he's doing all of this. We learn (from Boch's limited responses and from Korra's informative talk with Jack) that Boch's race is immune to Goa'uld blending and that, for this crime, his people were largely slaughtered and the rest enslaved and made addicted to a chemical called Roshna to keep them in line. Boch's son is enslaved and he hopes one day to capture a prize valuable enough to buy his freedom and the freedom of his son. He also doesn't believe that the Tok'ra are any different than the Goa'uld...Sam tries to convince him of the key differences, but he's not buying in. And when Jack's team and Korra make a break for the gate (which has been temporarily disabled by Boch), he goes after them with the cargo ship (which we learn is not actually his, but Sokar's...stolen by Korra).
Their escape once again foiled, they are all brought aboard the cargo ship and Sokar hails Boch from orbit. Boch confirms he's got something juicy for Sokar before Korra reveals his true nature by nearly committing suicide with a cyanide pill. Suddenly convinced that the Tok'ra really aren't like the Goa'uld, Boch is conflicted about his duty and Teal'c offers himself in Korra's place to save Tok'ra lives since he is the most valuable member of SG-1 to the Goa'uld System Lords for his betrayal. On the way up, however, Boch has a final change of heart; he and Teal'c eject in escape pods and the cargo ship self-destructs - hopefully fooling Sokar into thinking Boch is dead. Boch tosses a bottle of Roshna to Sam so that it may be studied and his people one day freed from their dependence on the drug. He promises he can survive by trading with other Goa'ulds and goes on his way.
Writing: 6.5
I think Boch's change of heart happened a little too quickly to be believable and this is what is robbing the episode of what could have been a likable quality. The problem I have is that Boch has doubtlessly done a lot of bad things in his time as a bounty hunter in service to the Goa'uld. Like Teal'c, he's got a lot to atone for, but unlike Teal'c, we never really see that play out. He just changes his mind in response to one un-Goa'uld-like action and we're expected to be moved by his plight. I don't want to be totally unsympathetic here...I just don't think the show was ambitious enough (again!) to explore the real consequences of Boch's lifestyle. They were going for quirky humor and the jokes weren't all that funny.
Acting: 6.0
Sam J. Jones, I hate to say, was pretty uninteresting as Boch. Amanda Tapping was probably the strongest of the regulars in this episode, and even with her, I'm having a hard time pointing a finger at anything she did that caught my eye. This is one of those episodes that you watch, it's there, you have a few chuckles, and then you don't really remember what you saw - and that's partly because the acting just doesn't pull you in.
Message: 6.0
They had an opportunity to make a point about the dangers of stereotyping someone to keep things simple in your mind and I think they partially whiffed there. They had a chance to make a statement about the inherent self-destructive nature of selling your soul for creature comforts or even for survival and they definitely whiffed on that as well...Boch doesn't change...not really...he goes right back to the Goa'uld to continue his service to their every hunting need. He lets Korra escape, but that one life doesn't pay back a life in league with the devil. I just don't see how this episode really takes a stand on...anything. Hence the par message rating.
Highlights:
JACK: And who might you be?
BOCH: I am Aris Boch - bounty hunter. Perhaps you've heard of me?
JACK: Nope.
BOCH: Really? Well that's disappointing. I'm the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy!
JACK: Sorry...not ringing any bells. (heh)
JACK: OK, I see the flaw in your plan. We're exactly one zat-gun short of actually...having a zat-gun.
BOCH: Zat-gun? I suppose that is a time saver. (heh) That shouldn't be a problem. (whips out a zat)
JACK: You're giving me a working zat gun? (in disbelief at how stupid Boch appears to be)
BOCH: Why not? You trust me - I trust you.
JACK: Ah. (fires the gun at Boch - LOL!)
JACK: How does one Goa'uld fire from several places at once?
TEAL'C: Tachs
JACK: Tach-nicotals?
TEAL'C: (insert 8 syllable word beginning with Tach - Jack stares blankly back) Tachs. (LOL)
No comments:
Post a Comment