Stargate SG-1 "Enemy Mine" (7/25/03)
Jul. 26th, 2003 10:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmarleySo far, so good.
There were several reasons I didn't think I was going to like this episode. For one thing, the last episode featuring the Unas was depressing. For another, I was bummed at lack of Sam from the beginning, and later by lack of Jack. I was afraid of a happy ending getting pulled out of a hat, and I was afraid of the Close-Minded Colonel stereotype. I'm glad, therefore, that the only thing I had to fear was fear itself.
I'm still a bit disappointed about Sam being so much in the background. I've not kept up on behind-the-set matters, so I don't know if Amanda Tapping might have had another gig going, but I still missed Sam.
While I missed Jack, I realized pretty quick that it would have been difficult for the episode to really work with him in charge. Jack might have bitched and moaned to Daniel, but he would have known enough about the Unas to not have the attitude of the other colonel, whose name now escapes me. Plus, the moments he was around were wonderful, vintage Jack, so I put up with his absence for the rest of the episode.
In a lot of ways, this was a remake of "The First Ones," even down to the parallel teaser of the team member being dragged off. But it was "The First Ones" on a much bigger scale, with much higher potential for tragedy. But just as I liked "The First Ones," I liked this one every bit as much, despite having, in some ways, already seen the episode before.
The biggest difference between "First Ones" and "Enemy Mine" is that the Unas weren't just a few isolated tribes. They were many, they were organized, and Iron Shirt wasn't about to let them get kicked around. I loved the twist that turned it from the SGC having to decide whether or not they had the right to relocate a few Unas to the SGC realizing that they had never even had the power to do so. There was quite a bit of condescenion about the discussions of what to do with the Unas, arranging their lives to suit the convenience of the SGC while maintaining the unspoken assumption that, of course, the SGC wouldn't do anything actually bad to them. Whether or not they had the right became wonderfully moot, and I thoroughly enjoyed the upset of the perceived balance of power, and the realization that the Unas were, in fact, going to be ones to decide what happened to themselves and their planet. I think that's why I was more satisfied with the happy ending than I might have been otherwise, because it wasn't a neat little solution pulled out of a hat by the SGC to save the Unas, but rather terms dictated between potential allies.
I have to say, too, that the interaction between Jack and Daniel was wonderful. Ragging, baiting, snarking, and teasing, just like the good old days. Welcome back, Daniel.
There were several reasons I didn't think I was going to like this episode. For one thing, the last episode featuring the Unas was depressing. For another, I was bummed at lack of Sam from the beginning, and later by lack of Jack. I was afraid of a happy ending getting pulled out of a hat, and I was afraid of the Close-Minded Colonel stereotype. I'm glad, therefore, that the only thing I had to fear was fear itself.
I'm still a bit disappointed about Sam being so much in the background. I've not kept up on behind-the-set matters, so I don't know if Amanda Tapping might have had another gig going, but I still missed Sam.
While I missed Jack, I realized pretty quick that it would have been difficult for the episode to really work with him in charge. Jack might have bitched and moaned to Daniel, but he would have known enough about the Unas to not have the attitude of the other colonel, whose name now escapes me. Plus, the moments he was around were wonderful, vintage Jack, so I put up with his absence for the rest of the episode.
In a lot of ways, this was a remake of "The First Ones," even down to the parallel teaser of the team member being dragged off. But it was "The First Ones" on a much bigger scale, with much higher potential for tragedy. But just as I liked "The First Ones," I liked this one every bit as much, despite having, in some ways, already seen the episode before.
The biggest difference between "First Ones" and "Enemy Mine" is that the Unas weren't just a few isolated tribes. They were many, they were organized, and Iron Shirt wasn't about to let them get kicked around. I loved the twist that turned it from the SGC having to decide whether or not they had the right to relocate a few Unas to the SGC realizing that they had never even had the power to do so. There was quite a bit of condescenion about the discussions of what to do with the Unas, arranging their lives to suit the convenience of the SGC while maintaining the unspoken assumption that, of course, the SGC wouldn't do anything actually bad to them. Whether or not they had the right became wonderfully moot, and I thoroughly enjoyed the upset of the perceived balance of power, and the realization that the Unas were, in fact, going to be ones to decide what happened to themselves and their planet. I think that's why I was more satisfied with the happy ending than I might have been otherwise, because it wasn't a neat little solution pulled out of a hat by the SGC to save the Unas, but rather terms dictated between potential allies.
I have to say, too, that the interaction between Jack and Daniel was wonderful. Ragging, baiting, snarking, and teasing, just like the good old days. Welcome back, Daniel.