Product Description
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Stargate SG-1: S9 (VIVA/DVD)
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Stargate SG-1 soldiers on with this five-disc, 20-episode set
from the sturdy franchise's ninth season (2005-06), incorporating
numerous changes while continuing to distinguish itself as one of
the television's best sci-fi shows. Longtime star Richard Dean
Anderson makes only brief cameos these days, after seven seasons
as Lieutenant Colonel and one as Brigadier General Jack O'Neill.
Stalwarts Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, and Michael Shanks
(as Samantha Carter, Teal'c, and Daniel Jackson, respectively),
are still on hand, but with Season 9, Ben Browder (known to many
genre fans for his lead role in the excellent Farscape series)
takes over as leader of SG-1, the Stargate project's ace team in
the field. As Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, Browder effectively
projects the same kind of cocky irreverence that was Anderson's
trademark, but he has a ways to go before he fully equals the
latter's appeal. More engaging is fellow Farscape alum Claudia
Black as Vala (Daniel Jackson's one-time love interest and a
vixen, thief, and liar who becomes an integral part of the team
during the several episodes in which she appears), while Beau
Bridges is capable but uninspiring as Major General Hank Landry,
who runs the show back on Earth.
Then there are the bad guys. With longtime nemeses the Goa'uld
having essentially been eliminated, we now have the Ori, whose
agenda of domination through religion provides the season's
principal story arc. They're certainly a timely addition. With
their "Book of Origin," rejection of free will, and goal of
subduing all heretics and "unbelievers," the Ori resemble extreme
fundamentalists of various stripes; on the other hand, when the
U.S. talks about crusades and "ridding the galaxy of
evildoers," parallels to the Bush administration's war on terror
are obvious and unavoidable. Problem is, while we know that the
Ori are relentless, devious, and bloated with the pride that
always attaches itself to false gods, we can't actually see them.
They have semi-human apostles, called Priors, who spread
"enlightenment" and bad mojo (not to mention plagues of
carnivorous bugs) all over the universe. They have mighty ships
that that leave the good guys in dire straits in the climactic
battle that ends the season (typically, little is resolved,
leaving viewers to salivate for Season 10). But the Ori
themselves are kin to the all-knowing Ancients, who exist not in
recognizable physical form but as energy; unlike previous
villains, from the Goa'uld to the Replicators to Stargate
Atlantis' Wraith, when it comes to the Ori, there's no there
there. Meanwhile, the writers' replacement of the ancient
Egyptian iconography used in earlier seasons with various aspects
of Arthurian legend (Merlin, Knights of the Round Table, in
the stone) is sometimes cool, sometimes merely hokey.
As always, Stargate SG-1's production values and effects remain
first-rate, even as the stories become more character-driven and
less dependent on spectacular action sequences. The DVD transfers
are excellent. Special features are similar to previous box sets:
audio commentary on all episodes, featurettes focusing on sets,
props, and special effects, and five "directors series" entries
devoted to particular episodes. --Sam Graham