Sci-Fi Showdown GATE-TO-GATE - Week 4 (08.04.06)

Welcome to week 4 of the KHYRON.NET Sci-Fi Showdown, Gate-to-Gate edition.

It's going to be hard to top last week's Stargate Sg-1. The episode, "The Pegasus Project," was my favorite from the past few seasons. Though from the previews, it looks like both shows are going to give it their all. Stargate Sg-1 will see the return of everyone's favorite cloned Goa'uld, Ba'al, while Atlantis will focus on Ronon's dark secrets.

So now 4 weeks in, is the Stargate momentum going strong? Let's find out.

Stargate Sg-1 ("Insiders")

We've seen a lot of Goa'uld system lords come and go on Stargate Sg-1: from Apophis to Anubis, each one has been defeated in some grandiose way (or, in the case of Apophis, many grandiose ways). Now 10 seasons in, the system lords have all come down to one--Ba'al. Though that may not be the most accurate of sentences, considering Ba'al has several clones working for him. Yup, Stargate has some big Ba'al troubles.

In episode 10.4,"Insiders," a Goa'uld ship comes screaming into Earth's atmosphere before being intercepted by scrambled fighters. Sg-1 rushes to the crash site only to find the vehicle's one occupant is none other than the infamous Ba'al (Cliff Simon). He informs the SGC that he knows the location of Merlin's secret weapon. In return for the information, he asks only that Sg-1 hunt down a group of Ba'al clones that are causing the original Ba'al some stress. With time running out to find the weapon, Mitchell (Ben Browder) and team go hunting Ba'als.

I was waiting for the continuation of the Ba'al plot line for a while now. He's certainly one of the more well-rounded enemies on Stargate Sg-1 (as opposed to the ultra-evil Anubis or uncompromising Replicators), and is played to good effect by guest star Cliff Simon.

Although little of the season's plot was advanced in "Insiders," it featured a great climatic battle sequence. It's been a while since we've gotten to see some human-on-human gun battles in Sg-1, so the final fight between the SGC soldiers and the Ba'al clones was refreshing.

In all, "Insiders" is a solid filler episode with a few good laughs to be had--most coming from a few smile-inducing Ba'al (pronounced "ball") puns. It was childish, but still good. Thankfully, after the episode's conclusion, it looks like Ba'al will play a big part in the Ori plot. I eagerly look forward to more Cliff Simon this season.

Rating: 6.5/10

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Stargate Atlantis - (Sateda)

The preview for this week's Atlantis episode had me a bit confused. From the looks of it, the show would focus on the backstory of Ronon (Jason Momoa). But what really caught me off guard was the style the episode would use.

In episode 3.4 "Sateda," Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and crew travel to a village that, unbeknownst to the team, Ronon stayed on for a period of time while running from the Wraith. Remembering Ronon on sight, the villagers take the team hostage--determined to turn them over to the Wraith in exchange for protection. After Ronon makes a deal to get the rest of his friends released, he is taken by the Wraithto once again be hunted for sport. After a series of flashbacks to his former life however, Ronon decides to make a final, heroic last-stand.

This episode was intense. So much darker and grittier than the usual Atlantis fare, it looked more like Battlestar Galactica than Stargate (which, unfortunately, only made me miss the absence of that show even more).

Although the start was slow, the episode was definitely worth it for the last 15 minutes. Ronon is one bad dude, and in this episode he proves it. Although the action sequences were immature and cliche at times (Ronon throws a grenade behind him and walks away from the explosion in slow-motion), it was so drastically different than what we have previously seen from Stargate gunfights.

It's just a shame that more of the episode wasn't dedicated to showing the backstory of how Ronon's planet fell to the Wraith. From the little they showed, it seems to me that it would make a more interesting show than the current Atlantis plot. Again, it would be like Stargate fused with Battlestar Galactica. Because, like I always say, everything needs more Battlestar Galactica.

Rating: 7/10

Thus concludes Week 3 of the Sci-Fi Showdown Gate-to-Gate review. Check back each Monday for new Showdowns.

~Khyron