DVD
Stargate SG-1
Volume 16

Starring: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks & Amanda Tapping
MGM
£19.99
21459DVD
Certificate: PG
Available now


The SG-1 team have recently relocated the Enkaran race to another planet, as theirs was unable to sustain them any longer. Not long after they have started to get used to their new surroundings the appearance of a mysterious ship threatens their existence. This vessel begins to terraform the planet, making it impossible for its new inhabitants to live their. The only problem is is that there is no other planet known to the SGC team that will suit the Enkaran's requirements...

Scorched Earth in principle is a good idea, but it never quite takes off as well as it should have. From the moment the team are 'beamed' aboard the mysterious craft you start to wonder whether the budget has been cut. Do aliens this far advanced really shop at the gadget shop? Yes, those not very trendy cylinders filled with water and rising air bubbles come into their own here. The set designer must have spent just over £100 on that set.

This minor niggle aside the episode rolls along at a steady pace and is quite nail biting. It could have been better. And for a series as consistently strong as SG-1, fans will be expecting more.

 

The members of SG-1 are enslaved underground on P3R118. Their memories have been erased and replaced with alternative ones, leaving them believing that this is where they belong. Back on Earth General Hammond has been told that his team has been killed leaving him no choice but to leave SG-1 for dead...

Beneath the surface is an extremely dark episode which is beautifully lit throughout. A bright blue is used every time we get to see the ruling classes on the planet and a murky red or green is used for the underground labour camps.

There is a real sense of tension as we wait to discover whether Hammond will give up the search before it is too late. A fine episode which sets the season back on course.

 

When a stranger leaves a message on the SG-1 switchboard for colonel O'Neill it looks like just a crank caller. However, this civilian seems to know a lot about the Stargate. O'Neill agrees to meet with him and realises he is just a crank when he declares he is an alien - he even has the colonel follow him into the woods to find his crashed space craft...

Point of no return is quite a moving episode and keeps you guessing until the last minute as to whether the crank is just that or a very simple alien. And just who are those mysterious men that are keeping a close watch on him?

This is one of the better episodes this season.

 

O'Neill and Teal'c are in the midst of testing a Gould/human hybrid spacecraft when Teal'c sets of a hidden trap embedded in the ship by Apophis. This sets of a chain of events that leave the two members of SG-1 heading back to Gould space. Unfortunately they don't have to worry about what will happen when they get there, as their life support will run out before then. With no allied ships in the vicinity it looks like our heroes are about to meet their maker(s)...

Tangent is an extremely well structured episode. It is also a very dark episode and O'Neill injects just the right amount of humour to keep this episode just the right side of depressing.

The 45 minutes devoted to this episode is just a little too short and the ending seems a little rushed. But, having said that, Tangent brings this DVD to a roaring conclusion.

 

In addition to the episodes there are audio commentaries for all the episodes, a look behind the SGC unit and previews for all the episodes on the next volume. Yet another excellent disc from MGM Home Entertainment.

Darren Rea

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