Stargate: "1969" & "2010"

Time Travel Device: Solar flares/Wormhole (via the Stargate)

Time Travel Outcome/Purpose: To get back to one's initial time; to restore society as it was originally.

Coolness Factor: Hey, it's Stargate! Seeing the characters in new roles (the past/the future).

Flaws: "2010" isn't really a time travel episode since nobody travels anywhere; they just talk about it--that's my fault (Kate). Also regarding "2010," I find it difficult to believe that NOBODY would notice the whole "we're not having babies" phenomenon. People just aren't that uniform in behavior; some people would keep their own doctors; some people would refuse the Aschen drugs; etc. etc.

Regarding both episodes, why do solar flares cause time travel?? Star Trek does the same thing (the Stargate writers KNOW their Star Trek), but it doesn't make any sense in Star Trek either. The sun is just a big gas star. Gas causes time travel?

Paradox: Samantha attempts to avoid the grandfather paradox in "1969" by not letting Jack influence the people the team makes friends with.

Kate says I love Stargate! It is one of my all-time favorite shows. Both "1969" and "2010" are from the early seasons (before Michael Shanks left and came back) when the episodes were still Star Trekky explorations of different worlds, rather than long-drawn out military affairs. I love these seasons!

"1969" is more fun than "2010" but not as deep. The premise of "1969" is basically the premise of Star Trek V: Voyage Home--get the team home from the past. Most of the episode is watching various characters try to fit themselves into hippy culture. Teal'c naturally does the best job. There's a nice moment with Catherine Langford (character from the Stargate movie) and some funny moments when the team first shows up in 1969 Cheyenne Mountain:

Major Thornbird: [You snuck in here] even though you achieved nothing?
Jack: Unless that was exactly what we were hoping to achieve.

(Actually, the entire exchange between Thornbird and Jack is extremely funny.)

But the episode is mostly an excuse to put Teal'c in hippy clothes. Although the script does cover some nice time travel issues.

"2010" has more grit (even though technically it isn't a time travel episode). What if we encountered aliens who took away all our problems (and didn't look like scary bug-creatures a la X-Files and Independence Day) but actually turned out to be far more villainous? Granted--as I mention above--the premise is a little strained. However, the underlying idea of a slow insidious invasion rather than a big, scary obvious invasion is classic sci-fi and brings up all kinds of questions about utopia and freedom and what power people should really be willing to give away. The humans in "2010" have given up all their military power for the sake of being protected. And it backfires. I'm not a huge fan of the NRA, but there's a reason the Revolutionary War patriots fought for the right to fight their own battles!

I enjoyed watching these so much, I'm going to start watching my four seasons all over again! I might even watch them all!!

Mike says that Stargate is definitely a lot of fun! I need to start watching from the beginning!

These episodes are pretty fun, and definitely take an interesting approach on time travel. In "1969," I really liked that the general let the team go--but sent along what they needed (the note). And the zany references to pop culture that hasn't happened yet, from competing franchises? Perfect.

I also liked that, for the most part, the episode employed pretty clean writing, covering most holes. "What about the tapes?" "Oh, those were in the boxes too." Nice and clean, let's tie up those loose threads and move on.

Despite this, perhaps the most frustrating thing about the episode is what they do leave hanging--like the hippy couple that helped SG-1. The episode seemed to hint that they were important, but no update, no information, no conclusion is ever given to the characters. It's frustrating and lazy.

I also enjoyed "2010," and I felt it was a great complementary episode to "1969." Not only does it reference the older episode, but it builds off many of the same ideas, and tackles it from another angle. Like Kate, though, I have a hard time believing the premise--there was at least one stubborn couple out there trying to have kids with their human doctor. And wouldn't the lower population of school age children (and thus, lower spending on schools) have been a big tip off? Sorry, I work in education.

I was also a little annoyed by the idea of the team dying to send the message, as at this point, the idea is cliche'. The great thing about time travel and alternate dimensions is you get to pay off on danger that doesn't normally exist for the main characters. You get to kill people off with no consequences. The problem is that there's no real weight to it if it's not real either. Ah well.

These episodes are a fun look at time travel, and a great introduction to a fun series... I'll have to give watching it a solid effort.