Stargate: SG-1 9.20: "Camelot"

Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
Directed by Martin Wood

In which Mitchell and Daniel search for Merlin’s weapon in a village called Camelot, while Carter and Teal’c attempt to locate the Ori supergate and pull together allies for a defense…


Season finales for “Stargate SG-1” tend towards the apocalyptic, which is hardly a bad thing. It’s actually quite fun to see how bad things can get before the heroes find the technological/mystical marvel that saves the day. It’s a formula, sure, but it’s a winning formula, and anyone who complains about it now is forgetting that it’s no different than it was for eight previous seasons. Things didn’t suddenly change with the exit of Richard Dean Anderson.

If there is a difference, it’s in terms of scale. I don’t recall things being this bad since the end of the sixth season, and even then, there wasn’t such a feeling of hopelessness. Still, the concept is very similar: there’s something that SG-1 needs to find, an ultimate weapon, if they want to beat the Big Bad. The Big Bad could also use said weapon to achieve their own goals. Finding the weapon turns out to be a lot more difficult than anticipated, and things escalate as the hunt continues.

Back then, it was Atlantis, and the seventh season was more or less the search for the Lost City. (Of course, it was a little more complicated than that, but I’m summarizing.) This time around, the threat of the Ori has been nicely escalated since the beginning of the ninth season, so when they come around with their initial fleet of four ships (just four!), it’s not as though the audience has to remember why they were such a threat in the first place.

This is an episode of desperation, in terms of the characters, and I like that a lot. They know the timetable is short and the situation is looking not so smooth, and so they engage in a series of last-minute measures to prevent invasion. First, it’s finding Merlin’s weapon, which may or may not be in the village of Camelot. As with the previous episode, the symmetry with the season premiere is enjoyable, even if the Arthurian elements get a bit cloying after a while.

It seems to take a bit too much time for Carter to work out that the supergate can be realigned to allow the gate to be opened from their side to the Ori galaxy, and of course, that lost time becomes critical. The fact that Carter succeeds in installing the new hardware before the supergate opens will probably play into the tenth season premiere; I anticipate that the Ori will close the supergate for some reason, thus giving our side the chance to postpone further invasion.

I have to say, I enjoyed watching the Tau’ri fleet, the Jaffa Nation, and the Lucien Alliance getting beat down by what amounts to a scouting party. Those Ori ships are just plain fun. That’s another reason why I think the invasion will be limited at first. They prevent more ships from coming through for a while, deal with the few ships that have invaded, find a way past those defenses, and mount a stronger counter-attack by the time the supergate re-opens. I hope it’s a little more complicated than that, but even if it’s not, I’ll still enjoy it.

I have the feeling (especially after the previous episode) that Vala’s child will become the Ori’s evil (and probably fast-growing) emissary in the Milky Way, thus giving the Priors a central figure to rally around and a face to the enemy. And of course, that would give Vala a reason to join SG-1. (I predict a “we need to beat him, but as his mother, I might be able to get him to understand” subplot.)

I’m sure some fans will be less than enthusiastic, but I’m satisfied. This season basically gave me what I expect from “SG-1”, and the additions to the cast didn’t detract from that. In fact, I think this was the most consistent season of the series in quite a while. I look forward (with some small degree of trepidation) to the landmark tenth season!

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 9/10

(Season 9 Final Average: 7.3)