Stargate SG-1: The Good, the Bad and The Ugly

[Lord Liaden]

Sometimes in a television series, when the person who's supposed to be in charge isn't the lead character, he/she is routinely defied by the lead, who acts like the real leader. Stargate Atlantis often suffered from that syndrome. But Don Davis left no doubt that Gen. Hammond was the one in command.

 

I watched an interview with Amanda Tapping in which she said Davis was a father-figure to the whole cast, especially in the show's early seasons. He was always accessible when they wanted advice or support.

[Ragitsu]

On 11/7/2020 at 7:29 PM, Lord Liaden said:

Sometimes in a television series, when the person who's supposed to be in charge isn't the lead character, he/she is routinely defied by the lead, who acts like the real leader. Stargate Atlantis often suffered from that syndrome. But Don Davis left no doubt that Gen. Hammond was the one in command.

 

I watched an interview with Amanda Tapping in which she said Davis was a father-figure to the whole cast, especially in the show's early seasons. He was always accessible when they wanted advice or support.

 

You're right. Not only did his character keep another character grounded, but the actor kept the cast as a whole grounded.

[Ragitsu]

 

Eerily prophetic?

[Matt the Bruins]

Don Davis being an absolute treasure of a man is the one single thing all the cast, crew, and fans of the Stargate franchise agree upon.

[Lord Liaden]

15 hours ago, Ragitsu said:

 

Eerily prophetic?

 

Chris Judge loved to tease RDA for not remembering him from that episode of MacGyver, when they met years later on Stargate.

[Ragitsu]

 

Was there any reason given as to why the Goa'uld (or any technologically equal or superior aggressor) didn't simply use a spare Stargate (on another planet, of course) to indefinitely tie up an enemy's Stargate?

[Pariah]

It was tried a few times. I know Anubis and Ba'al both did it. 

[Starlord]

You'd think Stargates would have call waiting.

[Bazza]

Or call forwarding and an answering machine function. 

[Ragitsu]

10 hours ago, Pariah said:

It was tried a few times. I know Anubis and Ba'al both did it. 

 

Sokar did as well. I'm surprised the non-Goa'uld foes (which weren't initially many, to be fair) didn't try their hand at blocking the Earth gate. I know, I know...from a writing perspective, it eventually seems like a stale way to amplify the drama, but it's still a solid strategy to try.

 

7 hours ago, Starlord said:

You'd think Stargates would have call waiting.

 

4 hours ago, Bazza said:

Or call forwarding and an answering machine function. 

 

Wasn't there an episode or two where the team dialed an address and went through the Stargate only to arrive at an entirely different planet?

[Pariah]

I think call forwarding on a Stargate would be a horrendously bad idea. I mean, can you imagine dialing Chulak and being forward to Delmak (Sokar's base of operations) instead?

[Bazza]

However there is call forwarding on Delmak that takes you to an unnamed planet not on any stargate maps. This is the start of a whole new adventure. 

[dmjalund]

On 11/20/2020 at 5:33 PM, Ragitsu said:

Was there any reason given as to why the Goa'uld (or any technologically equal or superior aggressor) didn't simply use a spare Stargate (on another planet, of course) to indefinitely tie up an enemy's Stargate?

a stargate connection can only last so long before it breaks off, so you can endeavor to dial out between connections

[BoloOfEarth]

7 hours ago, dmjalund said:

a stargate connection can only last so long before it breaks off, so you can endeavor to dial out between connections

 

IIRC, SGC did try to dial out but new wormholes kept coming in before they could finish dialing out, since they didn't have a DOD (dial-out device) and were slower.  It was like someone with rotary dial racing with someone using touch-tone. 

[Matt the Bruins]

Stargate Command used that strategy themselves to bump the Ori supergate from linking to the Ori home galaxy to one in orbit around a black hole in the Pegasus galaxy, with the black hole itself serving as a power source to keep that connection active indefinitely.

[Ragitsu]

There are some advantages to dialing with a comparatively primitive Earth computer (it's isolated from the gate network and it can store multiple addresses for future use), but you miss out on the advanced safety measures that are part of the Dial Home Device and quicker dialing. Also, the seemingly infinite power source included with the DHD is nice to have.

 

  

On 11/20/2020 at 9:44 AM, Pariah said:

I think call forwarding on a Stargate would be a horrendously bad idea. I mean, can you imagine dialing Chulak and being forward to Delmak (Sokar's base of operations) instead?

 

You know what's funny? Delmak started out as Sokar's base before being claimed by Apophis (following the former tyrant's demise); later, the planet was ruled by Anubis. At least the Goa'uld know how to recycle real estate.

 

--- --- ---

 

 

[archer]

On 11/20/2020 at 12:33 AM, Ragitsu said:

 

Was there any reason given as to why the Goa'uld (or any technologically equal or superior aggressor) didn't simply use a spare Stargate (on another planet, of course) to indefinitely tie up an enemy's Stargate?

 

I think it was a gentleman's agreement among the Goa'uld not to behave that way among themselves.

 

They used spies, raided each other. and occasionally did pitched battles with starships. But they didn't use routinely use weapons of mass destruction or just go to enemy planets for the express purpose of stealing their stargate and stranding the enemy forces there. Honestly, you could dial in to a stargate, keep the connection open to block communications, and straight up put enough forces around the stargate to steal it on even the most heavily guarded Goa'uld planets. Even a fairly minor System Lord could have made himself a major player by taking out rivals using that tactic. In short order, you'd strand enough enemy forces on various planets to cripple your enemy and the enemy would have no idea it was happening because the Jaffa weren't allowed to use long-range communications devices.

 

They found the existing stargate network and used it for their advantage. But they didn't screw around with it before the Earthlings came along to mess up their balance of power, even though some of them obviously knew how.

 

The unspoken answer to why that didn't happen was that anyone who tried it would get their butts kicked by the combined power of everyone else. The stargate system must have been considered too important for them to let anyone try to muck around with it.

 

IMO.

[Greywind]

No. The Goa'uld wanted the real estate. All of it. They fought over planets when one system lord showed a weakness.

[Ragitsu]

21 hours ago, archer said:

 

I think it was a gentleman's agreement among the Goa'uld not to behave that way among themselves.

 

They used spies, raided each other. and occasionally did pitched battles with starships. But they didn't use routinely use weapons of mass destruction or just go to enemy planets for the express purpose of stealing their stargate and stranding the enemy forces there. Honestly, you could dial in to a stargate, keep the connection open to block communications, and straight up put enough forces around the stargate to steal it on even the most heavily guarded Goa'uld planets. Even a fairly minor System Lord could have made himself a major player by taking out rivals using that tactic. In short order, you'd strand enough enemy forces on various planets to cripple your enemy and the enemy would have no idea it was happening because the Jaffa weren't allowed to use long-range communications devices.

 

They found the existing stargate network and used it for their advantage. But they didn't screw around with it before the Earthlings came along to mess up their balance of power, even though some of them obviously knew how.

 

The unspoken answer to why that didn't happen was that anyone who tried it would get their butts kicked by the combined power of everyone else. The stargate system must have been considered too important for them to let anyone try to muck around with it.

 

IMO.

 

Maybe that's the unspeakable evil that Anubis committed: busy signal spam.

 

--- --- ---

 

 

[Ragitsu]

The episodes Prisoners and Past and Present got me thinking...if an SG team came across someone undesirable that could cause a lot of damage, under what or whose authority could they apprehend this blaggard? In particular, I am thinking of unaffiliated individuals and times when Stargate Command (as a proxy of Earth) isn't acting with permission granted by an alien government.  Do they simply take it upon themselves to be galactic police? Input from anyone with just enough knowledge of applicable law is much appreciated.

 

--- --- ---

 

[Ragitsu]

 

[Ragitsu]

Ah...The Other Side. I believe this was the (late night) episode that got me into Stargate SG-1. I find that the script/story still holds up even to this day.

 

 

 

 

 

[Pariah]

The moral of the story: When Daniel brings up questions like these, he's pretty much never wrong.

[Ragitsu]

22 minutes ago, Pariah said:

The moral of the story: When Daniel brings up questions like these, he's pretty much never wrong.

 

Too true. I can only think of two episodes where his diplomatic approach failed to generate any success (Entity and Beast of Burden).

 

You know, this makes me think of the balancing act DMs/GMs have to pull off when there's at least one social expert/advocate in the party. You can appreciate the effort and nuance put into a performance designed to defuse tension, but you don't necessarily want the silver-tongued to short circuit every potentially explosive encounter the way a warrior could with situations that are infinitely more interesting when fully played out.

[Lord Liaden]

2 hours ago, Pariah said:

The moral of the story: When Daniel brings up questions like these, he's pretty much never wrong.

 

"O'Neil was right. You're a pain in the ass. But you're worth it."