But the one thing that Stargate: SG-1
had which none of the Trek sequel series had, one of its saving graces that kept
me watching the show through all ten years, was its wonderful sense of humor.
SG-1 wasn’t afraid to poke fun at itself, or at its rich, imaginative universe.
Sure, sometimes the humor was a bit forced and over the top, such as in
Wormhole Extreme, but at least Stargate dared to
push the envelope. Many times the series could get a smile from either the way
O’Neill stared at something in utter puzzlement, or from a genuinely funny scene,
such as in the seventh season’s Orpheus, where
Sam--while casually working out in the gym with Daniel--tears apart the
lame-brained logic behind a recent and popular science fiction film (the name of
which is never mentioned in the episode, but it’s obviously Signs,
and the criticism of the SG-1 writers--who were speaking through Sam--is right
on target).
The series’ eighth season saw another major change in that Don Davis’ General
Hammond was promoted. His replacement as commander of the Stargate Command was
none other than Jack O’Neill, who was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.
Things didn’t stop there, because O’Neill then promoted Carter to Lt. Colonel,
making her the leader of SG-1, which remained a three person team with just her,
Jackson and Teal’c. The eighth season would be the last season that Richard Dean
Anderson would be with the series, but in reality, since O’Neill became desk
bound for the better part of the season--leaving Carter, Daniel and Teal’c on
their own during the majority of their off-world missions--it pretty much felt
as if he had already left. And the sight of the goofball O’Neill fumbling his
way through making strategic SGC command decisions was often painful to watch.
It was hard to put much faith in a commander who cared more about the cafeteria
menu than anything else. As much as I liked O’Neill, promoting him to top dog
was a mistake. I found myself missing General Hammond’s quiet authority as
overall leader of the SGC, as well as having O’Neill back in the field, where he
was at his best.
Still, as a Sam Carter fan, the eight season was enjoyable for me because Sam
got to take center stage--whether assuming command of SG-1, or grappling with
the more personal issue of dealing with a romantic relationship (and no, not to
O’Neill), to even doing a halfway decent Emma Peel impersonation aboard an alien
ship in Endgame (complete with shiny leather jacket). But I still sorely missed
the fab four dynamic of O’Neill, Carter, Daniel and Teal’c that served the show
so well in its early years. What’s interesting is that the eighth season does
not end on a cliffhanger, and that the finality of its last few episodes could
very well serve as an overall series finale. But Stargate: SG-1
returned for a ninth season, this time without Richard Dean Anderson, who left
for good. The new commander of the SGC was played by Beau Bridges, a solid film
and TV actor who did a good job handling the role of General Landry, O’Neill’s
successor.
The new cast additions didn’t end there. Claudia Black, who first played
interstellar con-woman Vala Mal Doran in the eight season’s fun
Promtheus Unbound, would reprise the character for
the first few episodes of season nine as one of SG-1’s newest members. She would
be an unofficial stand-in for Sam Carter, who was busy working aboard the
Prometheus (a storyline that covered the real-life pregnancy of star Amanda
Tapping). She would become a series regular in season ten. Season nine also had
Claudia Black’s co-star from the late, great Farscape, Ben Browder,
joining Stargate: SG-1 as the new commander
of its flagship team, Colonel Cameron Mitchell. For Mitchell, Browder was
basically playing a more toned-down version of his John Crichton character from
Farscape, and it worked very well. Newly assigned
to SG-1, Mitchell struggles at first just to get the band back together. Sam
Carter, Teal’c and Daniel Jackson have all gone their separate ways and are at
first reluctant to rejoin, until a new threat on the horizon convinces them
otherwise.
The Ori would replace the Goa’uld as the main villains in the final two seasons
of Stargate: SG-1. Led by the Priors, a group of
missionaries with highly advanced powers, the Ori attempted to spread their own
particular gospel about the book of Origin, which worships highly evolved energy
beings who are ultimately bent on ruling the universe. The Ori, with their
religious zealotry (all those who do not worship them must be destroyed; so is
the will of the Ori) often came off as being far more heavy-handed than the
Goa’uld, who were merely power-mad egomaniacs with a fondness for the finer
things in life. Yet, thankfully, the show never lost its self-depreciating sense
of humor, and the Ori--who eventually launched a massive crusade to "cleanse"
the galaxy of non-believers--created a far more heightened sense of urgency as
SG-1 struggled to find both weapons and tactics to battle this new threat.
