For those of you who aren’t watching Torchwood this season, you’re idiots.  This has definitely been the best season by far and looks to get even better; The episode title I’m getting ready to watch is “Escape to L.A.”.  Seriously, that’s an awesome title.  It has been a little weird since nearly all of it has taken place in the U.S., but I was a little shocked at the mainstream actors they were able to pull in to this season, mainly Bill Pullman and Mekhi Phifer.

Here’s what’s currently going on with SG-1 (start at the bottom if you want things to make sense):

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 13
44mins
“The Devil You Know” – During an attempt to rescue Jacob Carter and his Tok’ra symbiote, Selmak, SG-1 and Martouf have been captured on the Hell-replica moon Netu by one of its denizens, who is determined to use their information to overthrow the Goa’uld system lord Sokar.
-          So Apophis is still alive (go figure) and is now plotting to kill Sokar and take over his stuffs.  Jacob/Selmak have intel that Sokar was 10 x’s stronger than the Tok’ra had originally thought and was weeks away from killing the Goa’uld System Lords and taking over.  A bunch of stuff happens, SG-1 and friends are eventually able to ring up to Teal’c in the cargo ship shortly before moon Netu (Hell) blows up, taking out Sokar’s orbiting ship where Apophis and Sokar were having a lovers spat.  SG-1 gets away safely and don’t worry, so does Apophis.  Apparently he was able to ring down to the actual planet shortly before the moon exploded and took out the ship.  Episode ends with him looking out over his new empire…  

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 12
44mins
“Jolinar’s Memories” – The Tok’ra Martouf arrives at the SGC with troubling news: Maj. Samantha Carter’s father, Jacob, and his Tok’ra symbiote, Selmak, have been captured by the evil Goa’uld system lord Sokar.  Jacob/Selmak is imprisoned on a moon called Netu.
-          Carter discovers that Jolinar did the nasty with Sokar’s appointed ruler of Netu (Hell), Binar, in order to escape the planet some time before taking over Carter.  Carter thinks he helped her escape, but it turns out she used him to get free.  He starts to kill her but Nay-o-nak, Binar’s first prime, kills him with a staff weapon.  She’s returned to the pit with the rest of the crew, but not before remembering how Jolinar escaped.  She tells the team (SG-1 plus Martouf, Selmak/Jacob, and minus Teal’c) there’s a ring device in Binar’s quarters.  They then decide to break out, head to the ring device, and just as they’re about to ring to Teal’c in an orbiting cargo ship, Nay-a-nak busts in with guards.  He then  announces “You shall call me Nay-o-Nak no longer. From this day forth, I will reclaim my real name.” Then he removes his mask and says “Apophis!”.  Dun dun DUUUNNNN!!!!  To be continued… 

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 11
44mins
“Past and Present” – SG-1 travels to a planet whose inhabitants seem to be suffering from mass retrograde amnesia.  They have no memory of their lives before the unknown even they call the “Vorlix,” and they report that their elders and children are missing.
-          Linea jacked up another world.  This time she loses her memories and gets younger along with the planets inhabitants.  Daniel and Kira (Linea’s name after she loses her memory) start to fall in love for some reason, especially since Sha’re just died in the last episode.  So much for mourning…  Kira creates a drug that will bring back everyone’s memories and takes it herself, even after learning that she was Linea, the destroyer of worlds.  The drug works, but Daniel convinces her to lose her memory again rather than kill herself for the atrocities that she remembers Linea causing.  Oh, and the semi-idiot detective from Monk (Randy) is in this episode as one of the main characters.
-   This episode is full of plot holes, most I can’t remember, but here are the 2 biggest: If she returns to the world where everyone has forgotten their memory and they all start taking a drug to get those memories back, won’t she be suspicious when they don’t let her take the drug?  Why didn’t Linea get even younger when she takes the drug to lose her memory for the 2^ndtime?    

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 10
44mins
“Forever in a Day” – During a rescue of captured Abydonians, including his father-in-law, Kasuf, Dr. Daniel Jackson sees his long-lost wife, Sha’re, watching the activity from a nearby tent.  Sha’re is actually the Goa’uld Amaunet.
-          Sha’re has big teeth.   Oh, and she dies.  Teal’c kills her.  But it’s legit; she’s using a ribbon device on Daniel and about to kill him.  Daniel gets all pissy and quits because he was only on SG-1 to find Sha’re.  And he hates Teal’c now.  But Daniel has a number of dreams where Sha’re is alive and trying to tell him about the Harsisis (the one who holds the secrets of the Goa’uld) son she had with Apophis.  Turns out he experiences a few days while only a few real moments pass because while being attacked by the ribbon device, Sha’re passes him a message as to the whereabouts of the Harsisis boy.  I think it’s funny that Sha’re has been in a few episodes since the beginning of SG-1 and this is the first time she gets more than a few seconds of speaking lines.  This is the first time we see any of the team out in the real world too (Daniel’s house in this episode). 

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 9
44mins
“Rules of Engagement” – Upon exiting the Stargate, SG-1 finds itself in the midst of battle.  A group of SG soldiers battles a Jaffa army.  Believing the soldiers to be the missing-in-action SG-11 team, Col. Jack O’Neill and the others provide assistance.
-          SG-1 is killed in the opening scene!!!  Ok, not really.  They’re shot with stun rounds by a bunch of kids running a camp for Apophis (they don’t know he “died”) to later be used to overrun the SGC.  The kids are fighting using Intars (non-lethal stun weapons that look like the MP5); we see these used later on Earth in a training exercise.  The warrier leader is injured by a live staff weapon, and SG-1 take the injured Jaffa leader back to the SGC by telling him they were taking him to Apophis.  They show him a video of Apophis dying, which convinces the kid to call off the whole war game thing.  They then travel back to the planet and show all the warriors the video.  

Oh, and I’ve decided to change up how I order the episodes so it makes more sense when scrolling.

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 8
44mins
“Demons” – SG-1 arrives at a medieval village and frees Mary, a young woman who has been left outside tied to a stake.  Simon, friar of the village and Mary’s friend, explains that Mary is a sacrifice for the demon that plagues their village.
-          Two actors appear in this episode in fairly prominent roles that also show up in other episodes (both in Atlantis even).  Simon is also the guy that puts Teal’c on trial in “Cor-Ai” for killing his father while serving Apophis.  Simon is also in “Epiphany” (Stargate Atlantis) as one of the people trying to ascend while in an Ancient created time-dilation field.  Sheppard goes through the “doorway” into the field, battles a dragon, and helps the people ascend.  The village canon in “Demons” is also the magistrate in “Condemned” (Stargate Atlantis).  I think it’s great that they have the 2^ndguy play what is basically the same character for both shows: a guy in with power who sacrifices his followers to the bad-guys on a regular basis.  Peter Deluise has a brief cameo when the Unas first shows up.  You just see his head as he shouts “The demon comes, the demon comes!”

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 7
44mins
“Deadman Switch” – SG-1 travels to planet PJ6-877 for a routine recon.  Almost immediately after arriving, they are snared in an invisible forcefield by alien bounty hunter Aris Boch.  Aris takes them to his cargo ship, which is completely invisible from the outside.
-          Aris the bounty hunter is of a race that is immune to being blended with a Goa’uld.  He’s the last of his kind and now acts as a bounty hunter to get more of a liquid that the Goa’uld got his people addicted to and which he now needs in order to survive.  They convince him to let them and a Tok’ra on the planet escape by appealing to his good side and their mutual hatred for the Goa’uld.  Sadly, we never see or hear from Aris Boch again. 

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 6
44mins
“Point of View” – Stargate Command is taken aback when an alternate-reality version of Samantha Carter and the deceased Maj. Kawalsky are found in a secured building in top-secret Area 51.  To transport themselves to present-day Earth, they used the Quantum Mirror.
-          Yay Quantum Mirror episode!  Apophis returns (alternate reality so I guess he’s not really returning) with facial hair.  Oh, and Teal’c kills himself.  Well, alternate reality himself.  With some chin-hair himself.  Daniel finally explains what “Kree” means, telling Jack it means “Attention, Listen up, Concentrate”, to which Jack adds “Yoohoo?”.   The writers stoke the Jack/Sam relationship fire a bit more by making them married in the alternate reality, and since Jack is dead in the alternate reality, the other Sam latches on to our Jack.  They kiss in the end while our Carter watches through the Quantum Mirror.   AWKWARD!

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 5
44mins
“Learning Curve” – In the pursuit of knowledge, Col. Jack O’Neill, Teal’c and Dr. Daniel Jackson travel to the planet Orban as part of an exchange program.
-          The team is given the designs to create their first Naquadah generator from an 11 year old girl.  The planet’s inhabitants they’re working with inject some newborns with nanites so they can become experts in a field, then remove those nanites when they turn 12 and distribute them among the population.  This turns the kids into vegetables though, so of course SG-1 tries to get them to stop.  Jack takes the little girl that’s a “reactor expert” away from the SGC to a nearby school where me makes her paint with some kids.  When she goes through the vegetable-making procedure back on her planet, her nanites cause everyone to learn about art and the importance of playing with children.

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 4
44mins
“Legacy” – The SG-1 team discovers a room containing the corpses of a league of Goa’uld who challenged the system lords.  One holds a tablet; after Dr. Daniel Jackson touches it, he begins to hear voices and see nightmarish visions.
-          Daniel goes schizophrenic and starts hallucinating open wormholes everywhere because he’s infected with one of Ma’chello’s “Goa’uld killing machines”, tiny wormy-things meant to kill a Goa’uld and free the host.  Eventually Teal’c gets infected and they decide maybe Daniel wasn’t crazy after all.  Frasier, O’Neill, and Carter are in the same room when they accidentally release more “wormy-things”, and Carter is the only one not infected.  They realize it’s because she had a special protein marker left from when Jolinar died, so they centrifuge her blood (without balancing it though, even I knew you have to do that…), pull out the parts that aren’t blood-type specific, and inject the results into O’Neill and Janet, curing them!

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 16
44mins
“A Matter of Time” – While attempting to save the members of SG-10 from a black hole on planet P3X-451, the SG-1 team activates the Stargate and exposes themselves to the hole’s gravitational pull.
-           “Timey-wimey” episodes are fun, and this one is no exception.  We get our first glimpse of time-dilation with this episode and it comes up pretty frequently in later seasons. 

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 17
44mins
“Holiday” – When the SG-1 team stumbles upon the chamber of former Goa’uld enemy Ma’chello, they fall victim to his powerful body-swapping invention.
-          This episode has a bitter-sweet ending.  They finally get Daniel back in his own body, but Ma’Chello ends up being a decent guy so it’s sad, not to mention the fact that they don’t get him to translate the notes on his advanced weapons to help fight the Goa’uld.  Teal’c and O’Neill also swap bodies leading to some funny hi-jinx when Teal’c tries to shave O’Neill’s head because he’s uncomfortable with body hair.  We also get to see Christopher Judge (Teal’c) acting like O’Neill, taking full advantage of his sarcasm and facial expressions.

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 18
44mins
“Serpent’s Song” – Pursued by Goa’uld death rays, Apophis, former Goa’uld conqueror and sworn enemy of SG-1, throws himself at the mercy of the team, who grant him sanctuary.  Apophis is dying and promises all the knowledge of the Goa’uld in return for a new host body.
-          Apophis Is Dead!  For now…  Socar (fills the role of Satan) superheats the SGC Stargate by firing a particle beam at it, causing the gateroom to begin heating up to over 200 degrees.   They manage to dial out after Carter speeds up the dialing program, and send Apophis body through to be revived and tortured repeatedly by Socar.

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 19
44mins
“One False Step” – During a reconnaissance mission, the UAV plane crashes into a cactus-like plant on a planet inhabited by an unusual life form.  Sent to recover the plane, the team discovers those living on the planet are friendly, gentle and far simpler than humans.
-          I really don’t have much to say about this episode, it sucks.  A planet full of blue man group wannabes freak out and act spastic because the UAV hurt their tree, that’s it.   

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 20
44mins
“Show and Tell” – A young boy gains entry to the SGC and tells the SG-1 team he has come with his mother, a member of the invisible Reetou race.  The boy announces that the Goa’uld destroyed his planet, Reetalia, and now Reetou rebels intend to kill all human beings.
-          Brief cameo by Peter DeLuise as “machine gun guard” when “Charlie”, the boy genetically engineered by the Reetou, comes through the gate (they do an awesome job making him look like an Ewok here).  This is only Peter DeLuise’s 2^nd episode as Director and his first cameo!  Peter is one of the big names in Stargate as he directs about 60 episodes, produces 89 episodes, writes 23 episodes, and has an acting role in 20 episodes (thanks imdb).  He gets his family involved in the show in important roles later on, but those reading this kinda know all about Ergo and Pete Shanahan.

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 21
44mins
“1969” – A solar flare propels the SG-1 team to a military facility back to 1969.  Carrying a letter Gen. Hammond gave her, Carter is searched by a young Lt. Hammond, who tells them the letter seems to be from him, many years in the future.
-          Awesomesauce.  First time-travel episode!  This one definitely ranks in my top 3.  If you watch “1969” and “Window of Opportunity”, then you’ve hit the best SG1 has to offer.  The team gets help from Lt. Hammond, then travel with some hippies across the US in an awesome van.  They convince the hippies that they’re aliens fighting “the man” and just trying to get home.  They end the episode by having the team jump too far into the future and meet an aged Cassandra (Singularity) who helps send them back to the correct time.

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 22
44mins
“Out of Mind” – Awakening from what seems like cryogenic suspension, O’Neill finds himself in a futuristic version of the SGC.  He is told that he has been frozen for 79 years and the rest of the SG-1 team perished long ago.  But is it real, or a Goa’uld simulation?
-          The season 2 finale isn’t nearly as cool as the season 1 finale, but it’s still pretty good.  Hathor is finally killed off for good in this episode, yay fun.  I’m behind in writing, so I’m cutting this short

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 1
44mins
“Into the Fire” – Trapped on Hathor’s planet, Capt. Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson can only watch helplessly as Hathor implants Col. Jack O’Neill with a Goa’uld symbiote.  Gen. Hammond sends Col. Makepeace and six SG units to rescue SG-1.
-          Gen. Hammond gets to ride with Teal’c in an old-school model of the Death Glider, shouting a very enthusiastic “YEE-HAWWWW!” when he gets to act as the gunner, blowing up some Goa’uld stuff.  SG-1 gets away, Hathor is dead.

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 2
44mins
“Seth” – Capt. Samantha Carter’s father, Jacob, enlists the SG-1 team in his hunt for the ancient Goa’uld system lord Seth, whom he believes is hiding on Earth.  A computer search reveals that Seth has maintained power on Earth for thousands of years.
-          The Tok’ra show up with information that a Goa’uld has been hiding out on Earth for a while, so SG-1 travels to Seattle to take down the Goa’uld’s cult.  SG-1 infiltrates the cult and Carter gets to use a Goa’uld hand device to destroy Seth.

Stargate SG-1
Season 3 – Episode 3
44mins
“Fair Game” – Asgard leader Thor tell Col. Jack O’Neill that the Goa’uld system lords plan to attack Earth.  He offers his help in negotiating a peace treaty.  Three system lords attend the summit: Yu, Nirrti and Cronus.
-          During Carter’s promotion to Major (yay!), O’Neill begins a speech “Normally, I’m a man of very few words…” and is beamed away mid-sentence to an orbiting Asgard ship where Thor informs him of a Goa’uld plan to attack Earth.  The Asgard offer to negotiate a treaty between Earth and the Goa’uld, so the SGC gets to play host to 3 System Lords.  It comes to light that Chronus killed Teal’c’s father prior to Teal’c moving ot Chulac.  Chronus and Teal’c are attacked during a recess from the negotiations causing the Goa’uld to want to leave Earth and begin their attack..  O’Neill bluffs a little and gets Nirrti to tip her hand as the saboteur.  

To begin, here are the first 5 things that come to mind when thinking about the movie:
Campy – pleasantly so
Daniel Craig is a badass
Harrison Ford is OLD!
Fun to watch – good mix of action and dialogue 
Spielberg/Favreau combo FTW

I have to admit that I was a little let down by the movie as a whole, but let me explain!  I’ve been extremely excited for this movie since the first preview I saw months ago and have been hoping for something that truly fit the description of EPIC.  Unfortunately for me, it was just a really good movie. 

We saw the final Harry Potter movie this past weekend and I would almost put C&A up on the same level.  The storyline follows the basic “Western” format pretty closely (which is awesome), especially the main character’s development, even closing with someone riding off into the sunset.

I also have to point out that Daniel Craig has solidified himself as an awesome action star with this movie, propelling himself and his badassery far past Harrison Ford even in his heyday!  You should know that I’m quite the fan of Tom Clancy’s “Jack Ryan” series, and despite the fact that I associate Harrison Ford with that character, Daniel Craig still wins with “James Bond” and “Cowboys & Aliens”.

I give Cowboys & Aliens
a                  9 out of 10 Stargates

-    Pre-Screening of “Cowboys & Aliens”
·                              ·or·
-   Jim Butcher book signing

Now clearly she made the right choice, but her loss is our gain!  Go check out her blog as I’m sure she’ll be posting something about her chance to meet one of the biggest names in Fantasy/SciFi still around.  She’s at AngelChrys.com

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 14
44mins
“Touchstone” – When a group posing as the SG-1 team steals the climate-controlling Touchstone from the planet Madrona, the planet’s weather deteriorates, threatening inhabitants with imminent death unless the stone is recovered.

-          The storylines spawned from this episode can sometimes get tedious (NID sucks…), but this episode is fun to watch.  At one point, SG-1 has to travel to another planet then turn around and redial Earth so they can attempt to access the 2^nd gate found in Antarctica in Season 1.  We get to see Col. Maybourne again, and once again he gets put in his place  :)

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 15
44mins
“The Fifth Race” – In an ancient room, O’Neill receives the knowledge of the Ancients, the inventors of the Stargate, which is indecipherable to the rest of the team.  However, the vital knowledge is too complex for humans and will cause O’Neill to lose his mind.

-          YES!  Nearly every awesome aspect of SG-1 stems from this episode.  This is the first time we ever hear about the “Furlings”, a race the writers probably never explained on purpose, hoping to increase the mysteries that may be discovered just by watching the show next week!  We travel to the Asgard home world and Jack talks with them face-to-face for the first time.  And we get our first glimpse that the Stargate can send travelers outside our galaxy by using an 8^th gate address!  Seriously though, this is an awesome episode.  I’d have to place this in my top 10 of all time. 

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 11
44mins
“The Tok’ra: Part 1” – Samantha Carter has a vivid dream: she sees through the eyes of Jolinar, the Tok’ra or rebel Goa’uld, who briefly inhabited her body before dying.  Carter knows she must go on the mission with the SG-1 team to find the Tok’ra on planet P34-353J.
-          My feelings about the Tok’ra in Stargate are pretty conflicted.  On one hand, it’s finally an ally with which SG-1 should be able to utilize.  On the other hand, they’re a bitchy bunch and most episodes are annoying.  On top of that, they frickin kill off Martoof in a few seasons…

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 12
44mins
“The Tok’ra: Part 2” – The Tok’ra turn down SG-1’s request for an alliance against the Goa’uld because the earthlings don’t offer enough rewards to justify a security breech, as well as the fact that none will act as host for Selmak, a Tok’ra whose host is dying.
-          Uhh, see above.  O’Neill goes a long way to forge the alliance with the Tok’ra by pointing out a Tok’ra traitor twice.  We do get to see Jacob Carter, Sam’s dad, become a Tok’ra host, so that’s cool.   

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 13
44mins
“Spirits” – The SG-11 team has not returned from its mission to planet PXY-887, where they discovered Trinium, an element 100 times lighter and stronger than steel.  The inhabitants of the planet fire a Trinium arrow through the Stargate, wounding O’Neill.
-          I’m convinced Stephanie Meyers based the Native American shifters in “Twilight” on this episode.  Ok, not really, but that would be another way we could all rag on the books/movies…The “spirit” that protects the planet is “Zales”, who we all know to be a chain jewelry store.  This makes sense as this episode is about mining a precious metal.  Maybe I should have bought Jessica a Trinium wedding ring from Zales…DAMN! 

-          In this episode we learn of the negative effects the Goa’uld sarcophagus has on a person.  Daniel goes darkside, the rest of the team nearly die in a Naquadah mine, then Daniel gets engaged and addicted to the sarcophagus.  OK episode all around.

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 6
44mins
“Thor’s Chariot” – The SG-1 team returns to the planet Cimmeria after learning the Goa’uld have invaded.  Previously, the SG-1 team destroyed “Thor’s Hammer,” the planet’s instrument of defense against the Goa’uld.  The team makes some striking discoveries on the planet.

-          SG-1 finally get to meet Thor’s race, the Asgard!  I really like this episode, not sure exactly why though.  Any episode with the Asgard is cool, but I probably like it because they have to play Indiana Jones a little to finally meet Thor.

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 7
44mins
“Message in a Bottle” – While exploring a now-dead planet, O’Neill and the SG-1 team find an orb that sends out electromagnetic signals.  They think it is a time capsule of some sort and are intrigued by its power source, which seems to have lasted for millennia.

-          Jack dies for the 2^nd time, but only sort-of because he’s being possessed by an alien organism.  The alien organisms leave eventually after SG-1 agree to send them to another world better suited to them.

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 8
44mins
“Family” – Teal’c’s mentor, Bra’tac, arrives unexpectedly through the Stargate with shocking news: The Goa’uld Apophis survived the destruction of his ship and has now kidnapped Teal’c’s son, Rya’c.

-          This is our first brainwashing episode, a foreshadowing to when Teal’c is later brainwashed by Apophis.  Oh wait, Apophis is still ALIVE!  I think they’ve killed him 2-3 times so far (he refuses to die) but I think he ides for realz later this season.  

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 1
44mins
“The Serpent’s Lair” – As a fleet of Goa’uld warships heads toward Earth, threatening to destroy it, the Stargate facility prepares for the worst, sending the best and brightest of American society through the Stargate to a safe Alpha site.
-          Stargate writers should offer a course on how to properly resolve the perfect season ending cliff-hanger in one episode.  We get to see the first death of Apophis (yay), silence some SGC program nay-sayers (yay), and save the entire freakin’ planet, all in one episode.   Oh, and Daniel dies for the 2^nd time.  Don’t worry, he comes back, glasses and all….

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 2
44mins
“In the Line of Duty” – O’Neill and the SG-1 team are on a mission to Nasya, hoping to rescue the survivors or a planet that has been attacked by the Goa’uld.  During the rescue, Dr. Samantha Carter’s body is taken over by a Goa’uld, which returns to Earth.
-          Tok’ra!  I guess I should have started that with *spoiler alert*, but the only people reading this have either seen every episode of Stargate ever, or don’t give a crap.  We get our first glimpse of the Tok’ra, first Goa’uld assassin (Ashrak), and the writers come through yet again by expanding ideas from this episode and establish a huge chunk of Stargate cannon.

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 3
44mins
“Prisoners” – While exploring a seemingly insignificant planet, O’Neill and the SG-1 team are approached by a ragged figure who pleads for their help from a pursuer named Taldor.  They try to defend him, only to discover that the man is a fleeing murderer.
-          Beware Linea, destroyer of worlds!  (apparently I’m just starting them all this way)  SG-1 gets imprisoned for trying to help some scared dude and escape with some frail, old lady who has licked cold fusion (who knew a ficus was the solution to all our problems) and turns out to be a mass murderer on a global scale.  Way to go team!

Stargate SG-1
Season 2 – Episode 4
44mins
“The Gamekeeper” – O’Neill and the SG-1 team travel to P7J989, where they discover a beautiful garden and a dome full of strange metallic chambers, each containing an unconscious person.  As the team inspects the chambers, they are trapped and knocked unconscious.
-          Ok episode – fun play with multiple levels of reality.  Very little from this episode really “matters” in the grand scheme of the show though.  We learn more about Jack’s and Daniel’s past (not that they taste great with Coke).  The “Gamekeeper” is unable to read Carter’s mind, making this the first time we’ve been told that there was some sort of lasting effect from when Jolinar occupied Carter in S2E2.  Writers must run out of ideas a few seasons down the road because they have the SGC “adapt” the VR technology from this episode for military training purposes (who thinks THAT’S gonna work out…?).  More to come!

-          Awesome episode! This episode exemplifies nearly everything that is great about the show as a whole. Alternate-Reality and Time-Travel episodes are definitely the best episodes in the show, and this is the first of many. This episode starts a chain reaction/thread that leads to the season 1 finale, and did I mention that it’s awesome?

Stargate SG-1
Season 1 – Episode 20
44mins
“Politics” – A powerful U.S. Senator vows to shut down the Stargate project despite Daniel Jackson’s warnings of an eminent Goa’uld invasion.

-          Senator Kinsey sucks. That’s the only thing to be gleaned from this episode.  Oh, and clip shows suck too. But, this episode is semi-necessary for the upcoming Season 1 finale, so I’ll let it slide…this time. Unfortunately for all of us, Kinsey weasels his way into 10 more episodes in the shows run. I don’t remember what happens to him in the end, but I like to imagine that he was eventually taken over by the Goa’uld and shot by Jack

Stargate SG-1
Season 1 – Episode 21
44mins
“Within the Serpent’s Grasp” – As the government prepares to mothball the Stargate project, O’Neill and the SG-1 team take an unauthorized trip through the gate in an attempt to stop the Goa’uld invasion.

-          The season 1 finale is probably one of the biggest reasons the show lasted for 10 seasons, spawning 2 movies and 2 spin-offs. SG-1 go rogue and set off to destroy Apophis once and for all (oh really?), in order to save Earth from complete destruction! Seriously, watch this one.  I am posting this as I’m just getting the episode started because I don’t want any distractions for it, so you KNOW it’s awesome.

- Here we meet the Tollan people, a race run in this episode by Jigsaw.  Yeah, that creepy guy from the Saw movies.  He’s a jerk here too, but eventually comes to trust Daniel Jackson because come on, who doesn’t love that guy?  Must be the glasses.  Oh, and we meet Col. Maybourne for the first time.  He plays a pretty big part in some of the upcoming seasons.

Stargate SG-1
Season 1 – Episode 17
44mins
“Tin Man” – A strange man implants the consciousness of the SG-1 team in robots.

- SG-1 eventually find out their consciousness has been cloned and implanted into robots.  Good episode, they call back the clones later.  Oh, the Teal’c clone gets killed because the 10,000 y/o dude who cloned them (Harlan) didn’t realize that the Goa’uld in his pouch wasn’t good, so he merged their consciousnesses…what a tool.
Stargate SG-1
Season 1 – Episode 18
44mins
“Solitudes” – A Stargate malfunction leaves O’Neill and Carter stranded in an icy crevasse on an unknown planet.

- It’s Antarctica!  We learn that there’s another gate on Earth and it’s been buried under ice in Antarctica for some time now.  OH!  And the writers explain why the Stargate no longer vibrates (a concept never previously explained, most people just ignored it) and they actually USE IT AS A PLOT POINT!  I’m sure there’s a writing term for magically explaining something away (we installed frequency dampeners).
One of the best lines in the show comes out of a blooper from this episode:
Carter – “we got belt buckles, shoelaces and a piece of gum. Build a nuclear reactor, for cryin’ out loud! You used to be MacGyver, MacGadget, MacGimmick… now you’re Mr. MacUseless… Dear God, I’m stuck on a glacier with MacGyver!”

**UPDATE**
I published this post before I finished the last episode but made an amazing connection during the final scene!  As Carter and O’Neill are being rescued there’s a theme being played that I quickly recognized as being way to close to the main theme used in Independence Day.  Enter IMDB and I’ve now learned that the SAME GUY DID THE MUSIC FOR BOTH!  He ripped off his own theme from ID4 and used it 2 years later as a mini-theme in SG-1 (his name is David Arnold if you want to check).  I should probably have known this already, but he’s the composer of the SG-1 title theme.

I can go to sleep happy now