Stargate SG-1

I’ve been meaning to post this for weeks because I finished this series ages ago, but I somehow managed to not do it. I don’t know how this happens all the time. It’s just one of those things, I suppose.

I should point out here that if you’re interesting in what I’m currently watching in real time, you should follow me on Twitter.

I’m not sure if this should be counted towards my regular series write-ups or whether it should be classified as a Things I Really Should Have Watched By Now post. God knows I’ve watched enough reruns of this show; I really should have watched the whole thing by now. Unfortunately, due to some personal prejudice from way back in the Sci-Fi Friday days when Stargate took the prime spot over Farscape, I was unwilling to devote the time needed to watch the show.

I mean, it is ten seasons and three movies, after all.

But given my unemployment this summer and the unrestricted access to my mother’s Stargate DVD collection, I thought it was about time I buckle down and actually watch the show.

It was worth it for episode 200 alone.

This is a great series and, with the exception of the occasional spectacularly awkward situation that I had to mute¹, I enjoyed every minute of it. Seriously. The rate at which I plowed through this show was faster than my epic marathoning of Xena. That’s impressive.

The team dynamics drive the show and team dynamics are a particular weakness of mine. I love analyzing the power hierarchies and personality interaction and this show gives me plenty to work with. Mostly because it seems that no one is ever really in charge from one moment to the next. I mean, the dynamics between Jack and Daniel alone could make for an extremely long and detailed analysis. Add in Sam and Teal’c and you’ve got a hell of a power fluctuation as different situations call for different expertise.

The series also uses another weakness of mine – the integration of mythology. This show takes themes and entities from our own history and reworks them into new stories. Egyptian myths are manifested in the form of the Gao’uld and Norse myths manifest in an alien race calling themselves the Asgard. Hell, even Arthurian legend played a prominent role in the final season. The perfect combination of my favourite things. Aliens and ancient myths. Awesome.

It was especially awesome to finally see these episodes in context. The show’s writers did an exceptional job in writing episodes that were understandable as independent stories, which is how I’ve seen most of them in the past, but I really like having context. It’s why I have to start a show from the beginning. And why I like spin offs so much. And sometimes why I watch spin offs before the mother show.

This one is definitely worth watching. I know I’m late to the game, but it was well worth it. It’s full of adventure and excitement and self-mockery, which is something lacking in most sci-fi shows still on the air. Definitely awesome times.

Next on Things I Really Should Have Watched By Now is Stargate: Atlantis. Surprise, surprise. Which should be sometime this week because I finished it weeks ago. I’m just behind on posting these write-ups.





¹ Oh, my inability to watch certain awkwardness. You make television so difficult sometimes.