The recap was very useful as it went all the way back to one of the first meetings with Nirti, explaining what her goal has always been, advanced humans, then reminding us of her meeting and proposition of Jonas.  The purpose of the episode is illustrated quickly as Jonas has a vision of the future during the opening scene, then promptly passes out.  We were mistakenly under the impression that Jonas was not altered when put in Nirti’s gene-splicing machine – although that didn’t mesh with her offer of unbelievable power.

Jonas doesn’t seem too thrilled with the tests or the notion that he is ill.  The Goa’uld they speak of, Ba’al, is the same one that tortured Jack (“Abyss”) however no one mentioned it.  I would think that might be a good point to bring up, even if just an offhand comment from Jack.  Jonas shows he is very open to odd occurrences as he immediately accepts the idea of being able to see the future, there was even enough proof to make Jack believe without a long drawn out debate.

Dr. Frasier wants to operate (standard procedure) and always has a team member’s health in mind, but Jonas is so quick to argue against the surgery, wanting to keep the ‘tumor’ and use it as an advantage in their fights against the Goa’uld.  That kind of blind faith/ambition/sacrifice seems to support that Jonas wants to give more to the team, be more important.  Is his potential health sacrifice just to help people or to assist him with being more valuable to the team?  I was surprised that Frasier made the some connection.  There hasn’t been much in the way of emotional or personal connections made with Jonas (on his team or not) and here Frasier shows how well she watches those she cares for and tries to assist them in any way that would improve their health (either mental or physical).

Carter was told to sit out the mission to the planet out after Jonas shared his vision of her being hurt – just to be safe Jack had said.  Yet we hear about a medical emergency broadcasted through the base and Carter was hurt.  When we saw Jonas’ vision Carter was lying on the gurney dressed in only a black T-shirt yet she always wears a uniform through the gate, that little detail was perfect.  Any injury they suffer it’s assumed it happened from traveling through the gate; Jonas was no different yet he feels he should have known because of his penchant for hyper-observation.

The seriousness of the episode is broken up with Jack’s sarcastic and witty replies once he finds himself in yet another Goa’uld cell facing punishment for his insolence.  He and Teal’c share some incredulous, but humorous looks until Metet holds up the GDO and demands the code so he can destroy the SGC to impress Anubis.  It switches to Jonas who has a very long, very detailed vision of the destruction of the SGC after Frasier tells him that they can no longer wait to perform surgery.  Jonas takes his life into his own hands when he tries to control the visions in the hopes of discovering how Metet acquires SG-15’s GDO code.  The vision is not pretty as he watches the SG teams fall, including Jack and Teal’c as they are ambushed at the Gate but after they open the wormhole.

The ambush is thwarted when the spy Metet has within the villagers, sounded the alarm in reaction to the prisoners escaping; however he knew of the ambush (through Hammond’s warning) and made a decision to help his own people instead of the Goa’uld, but it was almost too late.  Everything ended happy: the villagers were released from their oppression from the Goa’uld, Jonas was recovering and the SGC was bringing the food to the celebration.  I’m a Daniel fan through and through, so I cringed slightly at Jack’s ‘we need you out there’ line, however it took him all season to warm up to Jonas so that comment was warranted as a long overdue validation of his place on the team.  Still doesn’t make me happy, but in terms of character development it makes sense.

Memento
Season 6, Episode 20

I liked the parallel between Earth and this new planet, the people there seemed to have a stable government or hierarchy, they appeared much the same as us on Earth and took precautions against threats in our image also..  That’s about where it ended that I liked, I found the episode slightly boring.  It was humorous to watch someone other than Jack take the fall for bad diplomacy though, the Colonel of Prometheus was an ass, not in just his actions but in general.  I felt like I was watching Captain Kirk revisited, the man was stiff and the delivery of his lines seemed so inhuman, so much so I really thought he was going to turn out to be a ‘plant’ for the Goa’uld – or something someone bad.  I didn’t care for the actor at all, just seemed lifeless to be the Colonel of a lightyear traveling ship.

There were some nice moments where Jack expressed so much with just a raise of his eyebrow or a twitch.  He didn’t seem to like the Colonel, and I think Jack felt he would’ve been better at the whole diplomacy thing; which knowing Jack, might not be that true, but he did show great restraint in all his dealings with the planet’s people/government. 

There was a line totally from Star Wars, well, it reminded me of Star Wars anyway and this is not a direct quote: Well if the old man isn’t right this is going to be a short trip.  LOL!  Han Solo said about the same thing in reference to Obi-Wan shutting down the tractor beam, I was amused by this and have just illustrated my dorkiness.  What I also chuckled at was the man that tried to shadow Teal’c and Jonas in the library (I think his name is Alex Kiakun) he played Hohne on “Andromeda” for a handful of episodes.  While the character of Hohne was blue with an elongated chin, I’m pretty sure it’s the same actor (I always have fun picking out the actors that have appeared on other shows I watch.)

In the end, good prevailed, the Governor who wanted to embrace the past, give his people something to learn and discover won out over the group that thought it better to hide.  Those people almost never seem to win.  And other than a few character exchanges and the fun guest stars, I didn’t find much interesting in this episode.

Changeling
Season 6, Episode 19

This episode was written by Christopher Judge, who plays Teal’c, and it was well thought out and a deep character driven story.  It was wonderful to watch.  I liked that you weren’t sure which events were the dream or reality.  You kind of assumed that the actions at the SGC and Teal’c as a Jaffa is what really is happening, but there was something ‘off’ about it that just didn’t ring true. Teal’c’s interactions with the team were odd but there was nothing concrete to say “this is a dream.”

There were many cute and humorous exchanges in the episode, my favorite was between Sam and Teal’c.  I think it portrayed a side of their relationship that is rarely explored.  They always have a strong camaraderie and trust between them, but fun is scarce and it was great to watch Teal’c make fun of Sam... even though it was still one of the dreams.  Everyone portrayed in the dreams, whether the fireman or Jaffa , was consistent in how Teal’c could view his friends.

I also loved the apron Jonas wore: “The New Guy” – that was so appropriate.  Teal’c shows us that he accepts Jonas, and treats him as part of the team, but still sees him as something new and unknown.  Teal’c was the first one to really accept Jonas after Daniel’s ascension (sparing with him) and it was nice to see him be affectionate when Jonas inquired about his state of mind after the nightmare in the fireman dream.

It seems O’Neill is O’Neill to Teal’c regardless of the reality – his appreciation in which he savors ‘real’ dreams is a look of pure bliss on his face.  Always there, in charge, supporting his team.  (As a side note, the use of Chief, which is a title here, can’t help but remind me of Jim from “The Sentinel.”  I think that title/nickname is forever ruined for me.)  O’Neill offers comfort as best he can and when he sees his crew is hurting he goes and suggests someone else that he happens to know, who happens to be Daniel Jackson.

Daniel Jackson is Teal’c’s source of information, sounding board, listener and advice giver.  Just the fact that he was in the role of psychologist in the fireman dream hints that Teal’c confided in Daniel often, would trust Daniel with a secret or embarrassing information first.  Daniel is also very consistent: “you can’t destroy one man’s life to save another” this is pure Daniel in it’s basic form.  Although his brush-off and distracted goodbye the first time was also Daniel when he has a new puzzle to solve, I thought it was a tad too abrupt.  When Daniel makes an appearance later he calls Teal’c by his name and states that “I haven’t left your side and that’s a promise” you know that Daniel is watching from his ascended position.  One might argue that he is influencing things, which he isn’t supposed to do, but it’s such a fine line that he seems to be walking.  He first appeared to Jack in “Abyss” in which he flat out said he couldn’t just get Jack out of there, but he stayed, talked, comforted Jack; here he seems to be doing the same thing with Teal’c.  When he friends are close to losing hope, Daniel appears and gives them that added something extra in order to pull through the dire situation. 

The end was perfect, with Daniel showing himself as ascended to Teal’c, giving him more reassurances that this reality was in fact real and that Teal’c had the inner strength to survive.  It seemed like the perfect way to end the journey Teal’c’s new physical form.  The biggest problem I had with the injection of the drug in place of the symbiote.  I would think that is a huge personal decision, and since Sam roused Jack from near death to ask/persuade him to take on the Tokra in “Frozen” – you’d think they would have tried a bit harder to get through to Teal’c to see what he wanted.  But they didn’t.  The General made the decision and it just seemed kind of impersonal when it was a very personal decision.

Overall I loved the episode, I love character pieces and this was a journey for Teal’c.  Maybe Christopher Judge can write another episode for season 7!  And of course it was always great to have Daniel back.  :-)

Forsaken
Season 6, Episode 18

This was a tired or ‘old’ plot in which something is taken for granted because it looks and feels normal or familiar while the truth fights to make itself known.  As viewers we always take what we see at face value, the humans are the good guys and everyone else (aliens) isn’t.  There were many things that pointed to the idea that these humans weren’t, as they seemed.  The fact that the ‘aliens’ had the same weapons as the humans, the photograph O’Neill found, and the weird vibes the group of humans gave off, were all subtle clues.

Once again Carter continues her track record with men, although this guy should be happy he’s still alive at least.  Jonas gets a kiss and the fact that he bumbled items in his hand kind of re-enforces the ‘geek’ in him.  While I have warmed to the character of Jonas I haven’t fully accepted him, and don’t need to.  Even though he orchestrated the capture of the prisoners I can’t help the feeling that the writers thought: well Jonas hasn’t done much lately, let him be the savior this time.

Overall it was an ok episode, some humorous bits but no real team interaction since they were too busy shooting and being duped by the mean old prisoners.

Disclosure
Season 6, Episode 17

For a clip episode I thought it was very well put together. They also didn’t use a lot of frequently seen before scenes, which I was grateful for. It kept my interest, even though the major characters weren’t there, but then again, I like Major Davis a lot, and so watching him was no chore. As a Daniel fan I was really happy with the fact that David mentioned him right away. The writers have impressed me that they haven’t ‘forgotten’ Daniel, like it happens in other shows when a lead character leaves. I know that Daniel is returning, but they were consistently referencing him from the beginning.

I thought Kinsey came across as such an arrogant SOB that I didn’t even remember feeling sorry for him several episodes ago when he was shot ("Smoke and Mirrors").  He was so irrational and so full of glee to rub Hammond’s nose in the SGC’s mistakes or near disasters. We all know that if all those things happened to one facility under one command, something would have changed – at least I’d hope so.

The card Hammond had at the end, Thor, was great. Can’t really turn your back on that kind of alliance, and Kinsey knew he was out-played and that’s good, maybe he’ll leave the SGC alone for a bit.

Paradise Lost
Season 6, Episode 15

O’Neill and Maybourne together. They are always funny, mostly due to Jack’s sarcastic wit. It’s fun to watch Jack get himself all worked up and then him intentionally try and bait Maybourne. While the whole idea was serious, I felt that it was almost a light-hearted episode.

Asking Maybourne for Jack to trust him seemed like such an oxymoron and yet Jack couldn’t not believe Maybourne... just in case. There were many little things that I enjoyed about this episode, like the quick responses and quiet comments that Jack made toward Maybourne. I liked that the core of the episode had Maybourne questioning Jack’s loyalty and reason for being there and fearing for his life. Normally it’s Jack that is paranoid of him, so the switch was fun to watch.

Ultimately, I loved that Jack figured out that the plant they had eaten was the cause of the paranoia. It seemed as though he went through things slowly and carefully, something we don’t get to see from Jack too often. He normally has Carter or Daniel (depending on the season) to take that side while he assess for any immediate physical threat. Watching Jack think out the problem was fun, it showcased why he was a colonel in the first place.

Part of me wishes that Jack hadn’t been so sympathetic toward Maybourne, the man that had caused him and his team so much trouble. Then again Jack shows his softer side in unexpected ways, plus I think he dislikes Kinsey more than Maybourne.

And just a little side note. This is the first episode where I noticed it, but Jack wore a beaded bracelet wrapped around his right wrist. I don’t think that would be part of the uniform and am curious about it. (and I did check and he was wearing it in the next episode too, "Metamorphosis".)