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Retro Recaps: Stargate SG-1 – “Message in a Bottle”

Season 2 Episode 7 – The episode where Captain Carter is in charge. W00t!

Synopsis: While on a desolate planet resembling the Moon, SG-1 encounter a sphere. They take it back to Stargate Command for research and it starts to turn malicious. When Teal’c and O’Neill are about to toss it back into the stargate, it grows a series of spikes and latches itself in the middle of the embarkation chamber. One spike pierces O’Neill in the shoulder, pining him to the wall. Hammond locks down Stargate Command–nothing coming in and nothing going out–and the entire base goes into research mode led by Captain Carter. Once the sphere starts to infect the computers, Jackson realizes it might be attempting communication. Carter orders the sphere be powered up enough for it to gain sentience, and it manifests in O’Neill still stuck to the wall. SG-1 agrees to send the sphere to a primordial world. So the sphere disengages from its hold on the base and is sent through to a new home.

Stargate SG1 0207 1
Bendy pole or optical illusion?

This is the first (hopefully of many) episodes where Captain Carter is given a position of authority in a crisis. And I love how she performed with a level head. She expressed her doubts, which hint at her being unused to leadership, but she was still marvelous. And she made the right calls every step of the way. (Never mind that you should be realizing that Captain Carter can do no wrong in my book).

We got more whining about not being able to Science Enough by Jackson, which played like a normal occurrence among SG-1. No further comments there.

My second favorite part (after Carter’s leadership role) was the O’Neill/Teal’c bromance. In which Teal’c refused to leave O’Neill’s side while O’Neill was pinned to the wall. Teal’c even cracked a joke to amuse O’Neill! If I haven’t mentioned it before, I love the strong bond between O’Neill and Teal’c. And now that we’re one-and-some seasons into the show, I love that we are seeing more and more instances of their relationship.

There was a small arc with a lieutenant that had a crush on Carter, but it never went anywhere. That lieutenant was even on his deathbed by the end of the episode, and we don’t even know if he survived when the organisms retreated back into the sphere to send everyone to a new world. What happened to poor Lieutenant Harris? The world may never know. He probably died, but he could have also been eternally maimed and honorably discharged from military duty. I’m not ruling anything out.

I wonder if we’ll get an episode from the point of view of a world visited by SG-1. This is how it should go. Act 1 sets up the world and the characters, act 2 introduces SG-1 and the greater problem, act 3 is the gathering of knowledge and the formation of a plan, and act 4 is the execution of the plan which leads to a climax in the plot. And during the denouement, SG-1 leaves and the people of the world are forced to come to terms with the new society they’re going to have to build (because SG-1 is nothing if they’re not tearing down societies as we know it). Bonus points if there are one or two follow-up episodes featuring other SG-teams from Stargate Command.

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the face of the cheeky bastard himself

This week’s adorable mascot is Teal’c cracking a joke with a straight face.

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2 responses to “Retro Recaps: Stargate SG-1 – “Message in a Bottle””

  1. AceHall Avatar
    AceHall

    Hello, KT is it?
    I don’t know if anyone is monitoring this post anymore, as it is fairly old, but just in case, I wanted to add a little information to this post to round it out. As was the writer, I was curious about Lieutenant Graham Simmons survival, given that it was implied that there was no way to save him without more and different antibiotics–which could never get to him because of the “nothing-in-or-out,” “Wildfire – code: Red-Beta” complete lockdown status of the entire SGC that was in effect until well after all the little bug-gle-ies were all “deported.”
    Consequently–and as I have watched the series all the way through at least four times (with partial re-watches of favorite episodes in between)–after the very first time I saw this, I wondered what happened to “Simmons,” too. So I determined to keep my eyes open to see if he subsequently appeared in any other episodes.
    Voila! After a comparatively short wait, there he was just a few episodes later (eight episodes, to be exact!) in “The Fifth Race”! So he DID live. Isn’t that just marvelous news?! I guess? Well, at least ALL of the “red shirts” on this series were not just killed off willy-nilly as they are on so many other shows.
    Also, just to show that Stargate knew how to commit, “Simmons” showed up in other episodes all the way into 2002’s “Redemption: Part 1, season six’s two-part cliffhanger season opener. Since he was never seen again, and since I don’t remember right now, I’ll have to re-watch that episode with a knowing eye to see if I can figure out what happens to him. I have a sneaking suspicion that, as with most “red shirts,” in this episode he finally gets his “ticket punched,” so to speak–or is it his jersey retired? Oh, well.
    Finally, just to prove how many episodes “Simmons” was in (I think you mistyped “Harris” there toward the end), here is the complete rundown of all five “Simmons” episodes from IMDB:
    Stargate SG-1 (TV Series)
    Lieutenant Graham Simmons
    – Redemption: Part 1 (2002) … Lieutenant Graham Simmons
    – Serpent’s Song (1999) … Lieutenant Graham Simmons
    – A Matter of Time (1999) … Lieutenant Graham Simmons
    – The Fifth Race (1999) … Lieutenant Graham Simmons
    – Message in a Bottle (1998) … Lieutenant Graham Simmons
    Happy Stargating!
    Shawn H. “Ace” “Wanted to be on SG-1 FOR REAL!” Hall

    Reply
  2. AceHall Avatar
    AceHall

    D’OH!

    PS: I COMPLETELY forgot to add part of that to which I had already decided to respond. That part was, of course, that Amanda Tapping was the “Bees Knees,” as far as I was concerned. And except for her comment about the position of her genitals in “Children of the Gods,” I was CAPTIVATED by the tall, lanky, gorgeous, fresh-faced blond Canadian whose face was reflected in the “event horizon” of the “puddle” before her very first trip through the gate to Abydos. I paused the show just to marvel at her beauty. *SIGH!*

    SOOOO sad that it wasn’t until many years later, and long after when some middle-aged spread started to set in around her “edges,” that Tapping FINALLY decided to do some sexy, slightly revealing photoshoots. But it was TOO LATE! *SOB!*

    I mean, she STILL looked GREAT in a pair of jeans (how could she NOT with legs THAT long?!), but the bikini days were long gone. Sadly, this reflected almost point-by-point to my real love life. Which, much like Sam’s in the show, was pretty much non-existent until Pete Shanahan–who was a creep and a hustler and a fraud and a creep (wait, did I already say that?) and he was a “good cop” who arbitrarily broke FEDERAL LAWS–with his buddy in the FBI, was it?, who could have been imprisoned if anyone found out what he was doing for “good ol’ boy” “Shanny!” (or was it “Hanny” or “ShannyHanny” or who gives a crap!) to SECRETLY STALK HIS GIRLFRIEND!!! CREEP! Wow. Only a brother IRL of the guy playing the character (Peter Deluise, if you want someone to blame!) could have thought that THAT was a good idea…which was EXACTLY what happened.

    Anyhow, by the time that Stargate Atlantis rolled around, Tapping was tapped! Her beauty had faded like the last dying reflection of a destabilized wormhole’s event horizon! Well, at least I could move on to REAL women to date and such–which, for the record, is MUCH more fun.

    Ahh, youth! Where hath thou gone? Or some nonsense like that. Anyhow, now I’m old, I’m single AGAIN!, and so out come the old copies of Stargate SG-1!

    Dial ‘er up! Oh, and Harriman? Yes, ANY planet would be an improvement on THIS HELLHOLE, so dial away! Maybe avoid the “black hole” gates, but other than that, use your best judgment. And don’t forget that I still owe you that $20 from our Canadian Football bet! Yeah! So you need me to come back ALIVE. I’m just sayin’!

    Reply

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