Stargate SG-1 9.10: "The Fourth Horseman: Part I"
Written by Damian Kindler
Directed by Andy Mikita
In which things go from bad to worse when a team brings the Prior’s plague to Earth and it cannot be contained, while a converted Garek begins swaying Jaffa to the side of the Ori…
After finally watching the “summer finale”, I understand why the producers had little issue with airing the previous episode immediately before this one. That episode was largely a prologue to this episode, especially in terms of giving the SGC a possible direction in the hunt for a weapon against the Priors. That’s a good thing, because they’re going to need it.
The writers are clearly shooting for a massive escalation of stakes in the growing war against the Ori, and since this is a two-part story, that means a lot of exposition. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work to anyone’s advantage, especially when a boring child actor is the one delivering the exposition. Of course, the writers were also trying to get past the background and get the story moving, so perhaps it’s all forgivable in the end.
So the Ori are basically like something out of Celtic folklore: evil faerie who gain their power from the directed belief of those who believe in their power. In turn, the Ori take the power and keep the evolved humans from advancing far enough to ascend on their own. Since the only other way to ascend is through the help of another ascended being, the followers of the Ori are basically screwed.
What I like about this is that we learn more about the Ancients themselves through the filter of what they didn’t become. The Ancients and their non-interference position are a lot more reasonable within this context. It’s not that they don’t want to help, so much as they know all too well what they could become if they are tempted. Anubis, it seems, is just a minor glitch when compared to what might have been.
The Priors are humans who appear to have been evolved as far as they can go without being ascended, and then kept in that artificially evolved state with no hope of true free will. I’m rather convinced that some kind of mind control is involved as well, though when someone is that fanatical already, just getting that sudden rush of power must be more than enough.
I always knew Garek would be trouble, but this is a twist I didn’t see coming at all. I give the writers credit for coming up with a twist in the arc that I didn’t anticipate. In fact, that’s something I can say about the season as a whole. It’s done a great job of taking me places that I would never have expected the series to go at this stage of the game.
Certainly I didn’t see the plague striking Earth! In my book, that’s a great bit of foreshadowing. Nearly every episode of the season to this point has now become a part of the overall context of the dire situation here. If the International Committee wanted proof that the Priors were a danger, then I think this fits that description.
While the Orlin scenes were annoying because of the actor involved (why not just use a different character and eliminate the queasiness of the situation?), they did help give scope to the situation and how far out of their depth the Tau’ri are. Against the Goa’uld, they had allies. Now they have enemies among the Jaffa, and there’s precious little that anyone seems to be willing to do. Certainly the Asgard and Tok’ra aren’t directly involved.
Whatever the case, despite the pitfalls of some awkward scenes and bad exposition, this was a good episode, if only because we’ve rarely seen the worst-case scenario play itself out so completely. Earth has been struck with a plague, the Jaffa are led by a murderous Prior, and there’s no assurance that the anti-Prior field is going to solve the problem. Like I said about the Ori all along…it’s been a long time since I’ve actually been this intrigued at how it will all play out in January.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
Directed by Andy Mikita
In which things go from bad to worse when a team brings the Prior’s plague to Earth and it cannot be contained, while a converted Garek begins swaying Jaffa to the side of the Ori…
After finally watching the “summer finale”, I understand why the producers had little issue with airing the previous episode immediately before this one. That episode was largely a prologue to this episode, especially in terms of giving the SGC a possible direction in the hunt for a weapon against the Priors. That’s a good thing, because they’re going to need it.
The writers are clearly shooting for a massive escalation of stakes in the growing war against the Ori, and since this is a two-part story, that means a lot of exposition. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work to anyone’s advantage, especially when a boring child actor is the one delivering the exposition. Of course, the writers were also trying to get past the background and get the story moving, so perhaps it’s all forgivable in the end.
So the Ori are basically like something out of Celtic folklore: evil faerie who gain their power from the directed belief of those who believe in their power. In turn, the Ori take the power and keep the evolved humans from advancing far enough to ascend on their own. Since the only other way to ascend is through the help of another ascended being, the followers of the Ori are basically screwed.
What I like about this is that we learn more about the Ancients themselves through the filter of what they didn’t become. The Ancients and their non-interference position are a lot more reasonable within this context. It’s not that they don’t want to help, so much as they know all too well what they could become if they are tempted. Anubis, it seems, is just a minor glitch when compared to what might have been.
The Priors are humans who appear to have been evolved as far as they can go without being ascended, and then kept in that artificially evolved state with no hope of true free will. I’m rather convinced that some kind of mind control is involved as well, though when someone is that fanatical already, just getting that sudden rush of power must be more than enough.
I always knew Garek would be trouble, but this is a twist I didn’t see coming at all. I give the writers credit for coming up with a twist in the arc that I didn’t anticipate. In fact, that’s something I can say about the season as a whole. It’s done a great job of taking me places that I would never have expected the series to go at this stage of the game.
Certainly I didn’t see the plague striking Earth! In my book, that’s a great bit of foreshadowing. Nearly every episode of the season to this point has now become a part of the overall context of the dire situation here. If the International Committee wanted proof that the Priors were a danger, then I think this fits that description.
While the Orlin scenes were annoying because of the actor involved (why not just use a different character and eliminate the queasiness of the situation?), they did help give scope to the situation and how far out of their depth the Tau’ri are. Against the Goa’uld, they had allies. Now they have enemies among the Jaffa, and there’s precious little that anyone seems to be willing to do. Certainly the Asgard and Tok’ra aren’t directly involved.
Whatever the case, despite the pitfalls of some awkward scenes and bad exposition, this was a good episode, if only because we’ve rarely seen the worst-case scenario play itself out so completely. Earth has been struck with a plague, the Jaffa are led by a murderous Prior, and there’s no assurance that the anti-Prior field is going to solve the problem. Like I said about the Ori all along…it’s been a long time since I’ve actually been this intrigued at how it will all play out in January.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
posted by John Keegan | 12:03
1 Comments:
Canada's next Oscar entry is C.R.A.Z.Y.
C.R.A.Z.Y. has been chosen to represent Canada at the 78th annual Academy Awards in the best foreign film category.
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