Stargate SG-1/Discuss episode of the week

[Jerseycoconut]

THOR'S HAMMER

I didn't like this episode's character write up of Sam. Did anyone else find her cranky and unsupportive as the rest of the team?

After SG1 gets split up at the gate, Jack stays by Teal'c's side to make their way out of the mountain that has entrapped them by Thor's hammer and a Goa'uld, Unas. He would not leave Teal'c alone even though as a human, Col. O'Neill could walk out.
Daniel and Carter walk many miles on foot with a local, Kendra, to track down the missing members of the team. Sam whines the whole way.
Daniel helps Kendra face her fears as she returns to the place of her previous imprisonment in the mountain as well as being a host of a goa'uld in her past. Kendra in turn shares with Daniel her remorseful past of being a host and getting free of it, giving Daniel the hope of having his wife free of this same enslavement.

Eventually, both teams meet in the labyrinth in the mountain and try to rescue Teal'c. Daniel destroys Thor's hammer allowing for Teal'c's release, knowing it could have help free his wife. He makes the sacrifice and supports Teal'c as a team member.

I was surprised to find the writer was a woman.
Was it that it is still early in season one and Sam's personal character was not defined yet?

Jerseycoconut

[bftlovesRDA]

THOR'S HAMMER

I didn't like this episode's character write up of Sam. Did anyone else find her cranky and unsupportive as the rest of the team?

Was it that it is still early in season one and Sam's personal character was not defined yet?

Jerseycoconut

I don't know the answers to your questions. Will have to watch it again to take note.

Thanks for your good comments on this episode.

Anybody else want to comment on Thor's Hammer?

[bftlovesRDA]

I like this episode.

Thor's Hammer is different from the other episodes before it.
It has adventure and brings new knowledge, with a new mythology to explore, and new alien species : the big bad Unas and a species kind to humans: the Norse Gods, which we will learn about later on.
Jack and Teal'c also find ways to have humor in their misfortune, giving us many funny quotes like "Is Junior okay?" which is something that will remain through the whole series
"Teal'c, I think we just got the answering machine"
And the "Are you considering the same tactic as I? / Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" talk is really fun too

Thor's hammer is represented several times:
The big tower which analyses anyone who comes through the gate and beams goa'ulds into the labyrinth,
The symbol carved over the exit of the labyrinth,
and the exit itself, shaped as a hammer, where the device that kills goa'uld is, probably hidden inside..


I like the concept of it and the fact that it gave hope to Daniel, meaning it is possible to save a host from the controling goa'uld.
Too bad it had to be destroyed, but it would have been too easy to have this device around ^^

In my opinion it could have been avoided because the hammer destroys the goa'uld by getting them stuck. When Teal's gets stuck in it, Jack pushes him back into the room and he is okay. It happens again when Teal'c tries to maintain Unas into the hammer, Jack pulls him back into the room.
I can't help but think that if Jack had pushed him outside instead of back inside, Teal'c would have been doing well too and his symbiote would be fine, since the device was meant to stuck goa'ulds and there would be no human to push them out of it..
But again, for the purpose of the story, it was meant to be destroyed, so that the later situations that would require this device could be a little more challenging

Appreciate your explanations of different parts of this episode. Makes it easier to understand.

[Jerseycoconut]

Gonna put out for the next episode of the week


THE TORMENTS OF TANTALUS

When we want what's always just out of reach. . .

The SG1 team travel with Catherine, woman who ran the Stargate program at the being, to seek out Ernest, her fiance'. In just released government information it was revealed that in 1945 he was on a trial transported through the gate and unable to return to earth.
They find Ernest living alone on the planet for 50 years. He has adapted by trying to record discovered wisdom left by the ancient gate builders.
Daniel 'wants' this knowledge. It would enrich so many, maybe the answer to what he's been looking for.
A yearly storm which will destroy the gate approaches.
Daniel is in torment. He is faced with the choice of staying on the planet to gain this information or leaving it now and returning to earth.
Immanent destruction of the gate and having no chance of return, and he wants to stay.
In other words, stay & learn, like Ernest alone, or go home without the new knowledge and know it is out of reach.
The dialer device, not operational, is destroyed. With a quick [MacGyver like ] fix, Sam & Teal'c rig up a power source using electric from the storm.
Daniel is unable to make a quick decision.

As in our lives (which is why I like this episode), sometimes we need a friend to grab us by the collar to help pull us toward the right direction when we can't decide between our wants & needs.

Jack steers Daniel (thru talking & physically), towards the gate, all very close call thru the gate.

Catherine's torment was not being able to embrace Ernest for 50 years, now she can. Sometimes, it's a matter of 'wait'.
Hope & Hugs all around!

Jerseycoconut

[NiLa]

I am a bit late, but I want still want to give a short comment on Thor's Hammer.

I like the episode, because it is the first encounter of a new race of aliens, a friendly species obviously, because they protect a planet from the Goa' uld. The device Thor's Hammer has two pieces of technology. First the Goa'uld scanner at the gate, then the hammer itself which kills the Goa'uld symbiote and only lets the host survive. We learn that the device worked before on Kendra, and that she has memories of her life as a host, which gives Daniel hope in his search and rescue mission for Sha're.

The more weighs the fact, that he is the one who destroys the hammer to release Teal'c from the maze. Also a good decision from Jack to ask him to do it. It proves the bonds that grow in that early time within the team. As Jack said to Teal'c: "You are part of this family now." And that is a fact also Daniel has to accept, even if it destroys a possible rescue for Sha're, if he would find her.

The Unas, Jack and Teal'c have to fight in the maze, is a bit too static in my opinion. In later episodes, the Unas we encounter have a better "costume" (in a lack of a better word) and have more abilities for mimic etc.

But that is the only thing I don't like in the episode.

Anja

[bftlovesRDA]

Thank you, Anja, for your comments on Thor's Hammer. They also help me understand the episode better than when I have watched it by myself.

And, thank you, Jerseycoconut, for your review of the Torment of Tantalus. So what is Tantalus exactly? Is that the place where the scenes happen? The place where the hologram with all the elements/symbols shine on the ceiling? I thought the fact that Ernest was naked was sort of weird, but that's just me. Once again, Jack saves the day by pulling Sam down the steps away from the crashing stones. Neither of them are injured so that's a good thing. And, yes, Daniel is pulled towards wanting to stay and needing to go, sort of as usual for him. When the DHD fell through the side of the building, I really had no idea how they were going to get home but Carter's genius along with Jack's insight (where he mentioned Ben Franklin's kite/electricity experiment) got them home just in the nick of time.

Well, this was an interesting episode but not one of my all time fav's.

Here are some photos both from Thor's Hammer and from the Torment of Tantalus: (except for a few, the photos are Jack centric) (and some are dark and hard to see.....Oh well, trying to get some of the story across).

[bftlovesRDA]

Here are some screencaps from Torment of Tantalus (all thanks to Gateworld).....

[KateR]

Gonna put out for the next episode of the week


THE TORMENTS OF TANTALUS

When we want what's always just out of reach. . .

I've been so focused on working my way through MacGyver these past few weeks that I haven't really been able to participate in the discussions of MacGyver or the movies. (Although, after spending the day working on MacGyver, I have been trying to catch the reruns of SG-1 on CometTV, so I usually go through a major time warp every night at 11pm.)

But I thought I'd chime in here because Torment of Tantalus is one of my all-time favorites. (Not quite up to Solitudes and Abyss, but way up there.) Some of the earlier episodes were a little rough, but Cold Lazarus gave me hope, then The Nox, and finally Torment of Tantalus, convinced me that I would be a fan of the show even if it weren't for RDA.

To me, it was the kind of episode I wanted Stargate to be - it developed one step at a time, each step leading to the next, it had a sense of wonder and led in an unexpected direction you didn't see coming from the beginning, and it had suspense, humor, poignancy, all wrapped up together.

I still get chills in that opening scene (partly from the music), when Daniel and Jack watch the video of the gate activating and Ernest going through. Then we have the connection to the original movie when we meet Catherine (who I really liked) and we get the flashbacks to the 1940s. So, you think it will be a rescue mission, and we'll go back and find Ernest and bring him home.

But wait... Ernest has been alone all this time, so the reunion is a poignant one, and he learns he will be going home.

But wait... The DHD is damaged and we may all be stranded there.

But wait... We discover a chamber with all the knowledge of four ancient races. Didn't see that coming, and I get chills again.

But wait... We have to make the decision of preserving all that knowledge or using the power source to return home.

But wait... The power source is protected and can't be used, so we try to hook up the MALP instead.

But wait... The storm drops the whole DHD into the ocean and we are stranded again.

But wait... Jack has a brilliant idea (love the fact that it is Jack that comes up with it) and we can use lightning instead, leading to the idea of manual dialing which gets used again later in the series.

But wait... The whole fortress is at risk and we are running out of time. AND Daniel decides he isn't going home. Moral decisions, conflict. And each character is so true to his personality - Teal'c's power dialing them home, Sam's science knowledge making it possible, Daniel torn and conflicted when confronted with losing valuable knowledge, and Jack absolutely in charge.

And of course, with seconds to spare, we all make it home, but the knowledge is lost.

The story begins as an intriguing flashback and a simple rescue story, and it ends by opening up a whole new direction for the series with the search for the Four Great Races. We don't know it then, but we will become The Fifth Race. I love the way the story keeps leading us in an unexpected direction, but mostly it is the overall sense of wonder I feel when I watch it, even now. (It's the same sense of wonder I get in Solitudes when Daniel figures out the second gate is on Earth.)

Basically, this was the episode where I forgave Robert C. Cooper for First Commandment ( ) and realized that maybe he was one of my favorite writers.

And then Brad Wright wrote Solitudes...

Kate

[bftlovesRDA]

Great summary of your impressions of Torment of Tantalus, Kate.

Thanks very much for your contribution.

[Juliette]

The Torment of Tantalus is an episode I really like.
First because we get to know more about the past and the history of the Stargate Program. What a shock when we see that they did manage to activate the gate in the 40's! But they kind of screwed up (or thought so, since they had so little knowledge about the gate) and buried everything so that nobody would know
I like the fact that we get to know Catherine a little more, I like her. She's the reason SG-1 exists, because if she didn't come talk to Daniel in the movie, the SGC wouldn't be there.

I also like this episode because we get to know a little more about the fact that there are (or at least were, we don't know yet at that point in the story) 'gentle' and 'nice' alien species out there and not only the evil Goa'ulds.
The fact that they found a univeral way of communication and that what we see (apart from being extremely beautiful) might hold the key to the whole universe.. it gives me the chills everytime
Getting back to the smallest natural element (even if atoms are actually a composition of smaller things) to create a new language, it's simply genius!

And for once Jack comes up with a useful idea

So what is Tantalus exactly?

Tantalus is a Greek mythology character, son of Zeus and father of Pelops (but not the one that experimented on people's aging process )
He was punished by other gods, they put him in a place with water and fruits he could never reach, so he could not drink or eat at all.
Thus the torment of Tantalus

Nowadays, it is said of people who can never reach their desires.
In the episode, it appears in many forms:
- the many experiments to get the gate to work
- Ernest's desire to go back home, and Catherine's hope to eventually be reunited with Ernest all these years
- SG-1's desire to get back home too, once they also get stuck
- Daniel's desire to understand all the knowledge of the four races and therefore his difficulty to let it go


So I really like this episode for these reasons and all that Kate said ^^

Daniel had Ernest's book where he wrote all he observed about the 'flying atoms', too bad we never heard of it again..

One thing I wonder is how the hell did Ernest survive all this time!? Where did he find water and food?
This planet looks like it's only made of rock