Hi, I’m considering getting into Stargate. I only know it’s based on a movie and the franchise consists of 3 tv shows. I don’t know anything about the setting / plot.
I’m a massive Star Trek and Babylon 5 geek. I don’t know if Stargate is for me, though and I don’t want to invest many hours before I might find it’s not for me.
Maybe you people here can provide some info about the plot, pros & cons of the franchise and explain to me what got you hooked.
Looking forward to your replies.
PS: I don’t live under a rock, but somehow I managed to dodge everything about the franchise.
PSS: would I start with the movie and then SG-1? Are there other critical things to know?
Stargate SG-1 is the modern US Air Force exploring alien civilization by commute. It is a series where the four-man-band gets to go do crazy stuff and then come home for dinner. There is a constant looming threat of the ancient alien forces that have long ignored our planet coming to kick our asses, but most episodes are meeting the human diaspora throughout the galaxy or figuring out what happened on a planet where everyone is very dead. Occasionally there are action-heavy episodes and eventually proper space battles.
Basically it’s prototypical “humanity, fuck yeah” sci-fi, with a central cast of the guy who played MacGuyver, an engineer doing some MacGuyvering, an it-was-aliens archeologist who is totally vindicated, and Kratos.
SG-1 is a direct continuation of the original movie, but it fudges some details and has a different vibe. You should watch the movie because it’s good more than because it’s relevant.
SG-1 is fairly episodic. Watch the first three episodes for sure… and then maybe never watch episode four. Y’know the TNG episode “Code Of Honor?” The really uncomfortable one from the rough first season? Yeeeah that same writer did it twice. It’s not any better this time. Other than that, the first season’s a decent grab-bag of ideas. (“Fire And Water” is mediocre.) The final two episodes of the season are non-episodic plot stuff and a cliffhanger to the next season, which definitely becomes a pattern.
As dive-right-in examples… 2x15 “A Matter Of Time,” 3x14 “Foothold,” 4x09 “Scorched Earth,” 5x04 “The Fifth Man,” 7x05 “Revisions.”
Highlights that would benefit from familiarity: 2x14 “Touchstone,” 2x18 “Holiday,” 3x16 “Urgo” (very much guest-starring Dom Deluise), 4x02 “The Other Side,” 4x16 “2010,” 4x17 “Absolute Power,” 5x05 “Red Sun,” 7x06 “Revisions” … you may rightly infer that season four was particularly solid. The episode that absolutely everyone will namedrop is 4x06 “Window Of Opportunity,” and it’s not an ideal one to start with, but honestly it’s not awful either. It hits the right blend of serious plot stuff and fun character dynamics.
Oh. Right: SG-1’s first two-part episode was originally on Showtime, before they knew what they were gonna be about. That version has full frontal nudity. There’s a later one-part edit that’s a much closer introduction.
Stargate Atlantis is the same universe, but a different set of evil humanoid alien bad guys, and the home base itself is an uncertain environment. I for one was not a huge fan of that. Others really enjoyed it. Solid cast either way - baby Jason Momoa shows up and steals the show.
Stargate Universe really leaned into home base being mysterious and spooky, alongside character dynamics fraught with conflict. I didn’t make it three episodes in. It ended after like two seasons. Whatever its qualities as a premise, it was not the right fit for the Stargate franchise.
We don’t talk about the cartoon.
This was an amazing summary. Thank you. I think I’ll check it out tomorrow. And yeah, ‘code of honor’ was terrible. I watched it recently during another TNG binge. So, thanks for the heads up. I’ll watch that episode through a lense.
In light of the numbering weirdness for episode one and/or two, the one to avoid is called “Emancipation.” The screenwriter stuck with the show, and wrote a handful of good episodes… that just wasn’t one of them. Or two of them.