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August 8, 2001 - Stargate SG-1, Rite of Passage
The ladies take the spotlight.
Sorry for the possible lateness of this article, SG-1 fans! Your
humble geek demigod was busy attending the ultimate in geekiness, GenCon.
Nevertheless, I serve you, oh loyal readers and I write this review in the
hopes that you’ll forgive my tardiness.
So this week’s episode begins with Dr. Frasier’s adopted
daughter, Cassandra, developing a nasty retrovirus that grants her electromagnetic
powers at the cost of her health. Searching for a cure, SG-1 heads to Cassie’s
now unpopulated planet where they find a subterranean lab where Nirrti was
working on a freaky experiment: accelerate human evolution to create a super-powerful
Goa’uld host. Believing her to be dead, the SG-1 is quite surprised to
find Nirrti invisibly lurking about the SGC to check on the last survivor
of her experiments. A deal is struck and Nirrti cures Cassie of the illness
in exchange for her own release.
Cool bits about this episode mainly revolve around the female cast of the
show. Carter gets some screen time as well, playing the role of surrogate
aunt to Cassandra. Usually, Carter gets alienated by her intellect and is
relegated to finding the odd bit of alien technology or studying that odd
bit of alien technology in her claustrophobic little lab. I like seeing her
interacting in a non-scientific capacity; it develops her character just that
much more.
But this episode belongs to Dr. Frasier. Considering the recent trend of
episodes centering on a specific character (Teal’c and Carter have both
gotten the spotlight this season), I was wondering when the writers would
get around to devoting a story to the most often appearing but underdeveloped
character, Dr. Frasier. She’s been on the show since the beginning, as
I recall, and she’s still not in the opening credits. Bummer. We don’t
learn all that much about her in this episode, really, but at least we get
to see her forced into desperate measures when the only person who can save
Cassandra is the person who infected her in the first place.
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| One baaaad momma. |
I’m not sure how I feel about Frasier knocking out a guard, taking his
weapon and kicking down the door. Shouldn’t she be facing some
kind of probation or punishment for that kind of action? At least scold the
guard for being so easily taken down. Ah, well. It’s still cool as sin
seeing her aim a gun straight at Nirrti’s face and demand her assistance.
I suppose that scene could have veered dangerously close to the cheesy "mother
pushed too far" setups on a Lifetime original movie, but I liked it just the
same.
What was up with the Jackson’s solemn consolation of Frasier about
half way through the ep? Was it just me, or did he hold her hand a little
too long for it to be just a friendly reassurance? Frasier and Jackson...
I have to admit, I never saw it coming.
Finally, ah… Nirrti, played by Jacqueline Samuda. Two words:
Mee...ow. Samuda was born to play Catwoman somewhere, somehow. Any
directors listening out there? Snatch this kitten before she saunters away.
--Daniel
Solis has a thing for pale brunettes (Original
Article)
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