Stargate: SG-1 9.14: "Stronghold"
Written by Alan McCullough
Directed by Peter DeLuise
In which Teal’c uncovers an outside influence within the Jaffa Council when he pushes for democracy, while Mitchell visits a dying old friend, who has some interesting suspicions…
I happen to find the evolution of the Jaffa from an enslaved race to a more enlightened nation to be full of potential, so episodes like this are always interesting. Granted, the writers still aren’t taking full advantage of the storytelling possibilities available, but part of that could be attributed to the incursion by the Ori. The typical history for revolutionary movements for independence demonstrates how often success breeds civil war.
Sometimes that happens when the original oppressors come along and attempt to control one emerging faction within the new government. In a very mild sense, that’s what Baal attempts in this episode. (Or one of the Baals, anyway!) It’s closer to the truth to suggest that Baal was trying to take control of the entire Jaffa Nation through subversion of its ruling council. What I find intriguing is the fact that Baal is not completely wrong. He identifies a real concern and acts on it, probably with a great deal of self-interest, but if his methods were more reasonable, wouldn’t he be making a very good point?
On the other hand, this also continues to demonstrate how a beaten foe is not a completely docile foe. The Goa’uld will continue to look for ways to rise again, and the rise of the Ori presents them with opportunity. They have already taken a degree of control over human politics and they are making moves on the Jaffa. Resources that might have been devoted to containing and addressing the Goa’uld are now focused on a greater threat.
I was also a bit more impressed with the Mitchell subplot. Unlike “Collateral Damage”, which attempted to give Mitchell depth through a forced storyline that shoved the rest of the cast into the background. This time, however, the writers made the character development part of a more balanced episode, and I was far more pleased. (OK, it was a bit much for Mitchell to drag alien technology into the middle of a public hospital and then leave it there, but I’ll set that aside for the moment!)
What I didn’t buy was the suggestion that Teal’c was actually considering surrender and that he was ever in any compelling danger. I’m not sure if it was the writing or the editing, but it just didn’t gel. Similarly, the battle sequences were just plain wrong. How many times were people exposed, in the middle of the firefight, and not one shot was taken at them? It just didn’t come together very well.
In terms of the Jaffa election, it’s likely that Bra’tac or Teal’c will be heavily involved in the new government, if not elected to the highest positions. If the Ori become enough of a threat to require a stronger response by the Jaffa, then this would make sense. However, even if this episode had some good ideas in terms of the Jaffa/Goa’uld interaction, I still think the snakeheads need to stay well in the background. It just seems better to keep them out of sight until a strong role can be found for them.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 1/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 6/10
Directed by Peter DeLuise
In which Teal’c uncovers an outside influence within the Jaffa Council when he pushes for democracy, while Mitchell visits a dying old friend, who has some interesting suspicions…
I happen to find the evolution of the Jaffa from an enslaved race to a more enlightened nation to be full of potential, so episodes like this are always interesting. Granted, the writers still aren’t taking full advantage of the storytelling possibilities available, but part of that could be attributed to the incursion by the Ori. The typical history for revolutionary movements for independence demonstrates how often success breeds civil war.
Sometimes that happens when the original oppressors come along and attempt to control one emerging faction within the new government. In a very mild sense, that’s what Baal attempts in this episode. (Or one of the Baals, anyway!) It’s closer to the truth to suggest that Baal was trying to take control of the entire Jaffa Nation through subversion of its ruling council. What I find intriguing is the fact that Baal is not completely wrong. He identifies a real concern and acts on it, probably with a great deal of self-interest, but if his methods were more reasonable, wouldn’t he be making a very good point?
On the other hand, this also continues to demonstrate how a beaten foe is not a completely docile foe. The Goa’uld will continue to look for ways to rise again, and the rise of the Ori presents them with opportunity. They have already taken a degree of control over human politics and they are making moves on the Jaffa. Resources that might have been devoted to containing and addressing the Goa’uld are now focused on a greater threat.
I was also a bit more impressed with the Mitchell subplot. Unlike “Collateral Damage”, which attempted to give Mitchell depth through a forced storyline that shoved the rest of the cast into the background. This time, however, the writers made the character development part of a more balanced episode, and I was far more pleased. (OK, it was a bit much for Mitchell to drag alien technology into the middle of a public hospital and then leave it there, but I’ll set that aside for the moment!)
What I didn’t buy was the suggestion that Teal’c was actually considering surrender and that he was ever in any compelling danger. I’m not sure if it was the writing or the editing, but it just didn’t gel. Similarly, the battle sequences were just plain wrong. How many times were people exposed, in the middle of the firefight, and not one shot was taken at them? It just didn’t come together very well.
In terms of the Jaffa election, it’s likely that Bra’tac or Teal’c will be heavily involved in the new government, if not elected to the highest positions. If the Ori become enough of a threat to require a stronger response by the Jaffa, then this would make sense. However, even if this episode had some good ideas in terms of the Jaffa/Goa’uld interaction, I still think the snakeheads need to stay well in the background. It just seems better to keep them out of sight until a strong role can be found for them.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 1/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 6/10
posted by John Keegan | 16:45
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