TV Review – “Stargate SG-1: Season Three”

I’m finally getting around to reviewing that copy of
Stargate SG-1: Season Three that I picked up
dirt cheap way back
when
. Part of the reason I’m doing it now is
that we just got the results of that article from
Amazon.ca. You guys bought enough through our
referral for us to pay for a copy of Stargate
SG-1: Season Four
, which should already be en
route to Hitch, who will review it shortly. Thanks
for the support!

Cast

Richard Dean
Anderson
as Colonel Jack O’Neill

Michael Shanks
as Dr. Daniel Jackson

Amanda Tapping
as CaptainSamantha Carter

Christopher
Judge
as Teal’c

Don
S. Davis
as
Major General George S. Hammond

Teryl Rothery as
Captain Janet Frasier
Numerous notable guest
stars

Crew

Numerous directors and writers. The
IMDB page that
lists them can be found here.

Original Airdate

The third season aired during the summer of 1999.

Synopsis

These 22 episodes deal with numerous one-shot
stories,
the return of Apophis and his love child, further
developments with
the Tokra, Nox, and Asgard, and a new enemy that
terrifies the Asgard
but would be an afternoon puzzle for Wesley Crusher.
Summaries of the individual
episodes are available from the official
site
.

If there are more important milestones in this season
that I missed,
please let us know in the comments. (I’m only
following the show on
DVD.)

High Point

Episode ten – “Forever in a Day.” It’s a very nice,
and yet very
personal story that keeps a major character driving
forward in the
grand scheme.

Low Point

The new enemy introduced in the season finale. I
just can’t find
myself afraid of an enemy that looks like it could be
defeated by
placing it in a non-metallic container.

The Review

The originality of the show is still holding
up. The premise
allows for anthology-like settings with a recurring
cast of
characters, which is always a plus. The ongoing
stories are starting
to take a more prominent role, but they’d pretty much
have to if they
want to maintain plausibility. Episodes like
“Forever in a Day” and
“A Hundred Days” make good use of driving the
characters in new,
plausible directions. I give it 5 out of 6.

The effects are often great. In other
cases, they’re not so
good. The Asgard look terrible, as do their enemy in
most cases.
“Crystal Skull” had some serious issues, with matte
lines visible
around Carter’s head while half of Teal’c’s head
becomes transparent
and then disappears entirely. I give it 4 out of 6.

The stories are usually well assembled, and
often
thought-provoking. The lack of commercial breaks
gives more freedom
in story structure than we’d normally have, and the
writers can take
advantage of it. (I noticed some three and five act
structures this
season, too.) I really enjoy a lot of the writing
here, and give it 5
out of 6.

The acting is as good as always. The main
cast have a good
grip not just on their own characters, but on the
dynamics of the
cast. They really act like close friends who know
each other
extremely well, and in a few cases, even act in a way
that antipates
someone’s reaction, as they would in real life. I
don’t see that on a
lot of shows these days. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response was going strong
until the last two
episodes. “Crystal Skull” just felt like a prolonged
set-up for a
storyline they wanted to tell in a later season, and
“Nemesis” depends
entirely on a threat that doesn’t look like a threat
to me. I give it
4 out of 6.

The production is very well done, looking
more like a movie
than a television show most of the time. I am
curious about the
change in the opening credits for the last episode,
though. I felt
that the opening sequence was due for a change, but
I’m not sure why
they replaced it with a sequence that was closer to
the movie than the
series, and focussed entirely on the Egyptian ties to
the mythology
than the far more varied basis of the actual series.
I think the
original sequence was a better representation of what
the show was
actually about. Still, that’s a really minor part of
the overall
production, so I’ll give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it’s a strong series that deserves
better
marketshare than it’s been getting. I give it 5 out
of 6.

In total, Stargate SG-1: Season Three
receives 33 out of 42.

5 replies on “TV Review – “Stargate SG-1: Season Three””

  1. I Like The Bugs
    I know you were obfuscating a bit on purpose…I’ll just call them “bugs” and leave it at that. I found their initial appearance a bit uninteresting myself, but their threat (IMO at least) picks up a lot of steam in later episodes, especially once the Asgard’s weaknesses against them are explored. Cool origin, too.

    • Re: I Like The Bugs

      I know you were obfuscating a bit on purpose…I’ll just call them “bugs” and leave it at that. I found their initial appearance a bit uninteresting myself, but their threat (IMO at least) picks up a lot of steam in later episodes, especially once the Asgard’s weaknesses against them are explored. Cool origin, too.

      Yeah I felt the same way – but unlike the great technological threat in another SciFi show, the bugs actually get better as the show progresses with them – and the Queen actually makes sense, instead of being tacked on through a weak retcon.

  2. Missing IMDB link?
    There’s no link to the IMDB writer’s page.

    Anyway, This was on of the season’s I missed. along with most of the fourth. I’m looking forward to the next review. I didn’t have Showtime when SG was on there, and the local reairing was at some ungodly hour. With it on Sci-Fi, I actually get to watch. Not to mention that the four (five?) reruns every Monday make catching up easier.

    • Re: Missing IMDB link?

      There’s no link to the IMDB writer’s page.

      Anyway, This was on of the season’s I missed. along with most of the fourth. I’m looking forward to the next review. I didn’t have Showtime when SG was on there, and the local reairing was at some ungodly hour. With it on Sci-Fi, I actually get to watch. Not to mention that the four (five?) reruns every Monday make catching up easier.

      There’s also one a day every day of the week for those of you who get home far earlier than is good for you…

      The next season of Stargate will be reviewed by myself…I’m probably going to be reviewing a lot more forginingly since I’ve seen a lot of the show these days and will be more aware of surrounding stories.

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