Product Description
-------------------
STARGATE SG-1 DVD:8TH SSN V1: Episode #8.1: New Order Part 1 -
When Carter and Teal'c fly to the Asgard world of Hala in hopes
of finding a way to revive O'Neill, they are attacked by
Replicators, who take Carter prisoner. Meanwhile, Dr. Weir and
Daniel Jackson attempt to negotiate a treaty with Goa'uld System
Lords who wish to unite against a common enemy. Episode #8.2: New
Order Part 2 - The Goa'uld send a mothership to Earth, demanding
that it prove its superior defenses. As Dr. Weir applies her most
expert diplomatic tactics, Daniel and the still unconscious body
of Colonel O'Neill are unexpectedly beamed aboard Thor's ship,
where Thor tries to access the knowledge of the Ancients. Episode
#8.3: Lock Down - When Jackson contracts a mysterious illness
from a Russian colonel, O'Neill is convinced that a contagion has
infected the base and orders a lockdown. But when Jackson reveals
that he was actually possessed by Anubis, who is now loose on the
base, O'Neill must discover the identity of the new host! Episode
#8.4: Zero Hour - O'Neill finds his plate full with a visit from
the president and negotiations between two warring tribes from
the planet Amra. But when SG-1 is captured by a Goa'uld System
Lord and he's forced to choose between the safety of the team and
the e of an entire planet, O'Neill begins to question his
competency!
STARGATE SG-1 DVD:8TH SSN V2: Episode #8.5: Icon - SG-1's sudden
appearance sparks a civil war on the planet Tegalus, whose
inhabitants were unaware of the Stargate's true nature. Intent on
easing the situation, Jackson stays behind as the team returns to
Earth, but finds himself pitted against a tyrannical religious
leader with no tolerance for those who don't share his beliefs!
Episode #8.6: Avatar - A virtual reality training scenario goes
terribly wrong when the simulation begins to learn from Teal'c,
trapping him and endangering his life. Jackson volunteers to
enter the simulation on a rescue mission. But will he be able to
rescue Teal'c or become a victim himself? Episode #8.8: Affinity
- Given clearance to live off-base, Teal'c tries in vain to blend
in as an ordinary civilian. But when his unwavering ethical code
compels him to help ordinary people in trouble, specifically, a
neighbor with an abusive boyfriend, he soon finds himself thrust
into the spotlight as the prime suspect in the boyfriend's
murder! Episode #8.7: Covenant - When a billionaire industrialist
threatens to reveal the existence of alien life at a press
conference, SG-1 is charged with the job of keeping him quiet.
Carter, who has worked with him in the past, tries to explain
that the information will cause panic, but ultimately she must
decide how far she is willing to go to stop this threat to
national security.
STARGATE SG-1 DVD:8TH SSN V3: Episode #8.9: Sacrifices - During a
meeting with Ishta's rebel Jaffa faction on planet Haktyl, Teal'c
receives some distressing news: his son, Ryac, intends to marry
one of Ishta's warriors. Refusing to give his blessing to the
marriage puts Teal'c at odds with Ishta even as they are ambushed
by enemy forces! Episode #8.10: Endgame - When the Stargate
disappears in a flash of light, Carter and Jackson's
investigation leads them to an industrial warehouse storing VX
rockets and vials filled with what appears to be nerve .
Meanwhile, Teal'c discovers the mass deaths of Jaffa, spread
across four planets. Could this horrifying event be connected to
the ? Episode #8.12: Gemini - The team receives a message from
a Replicator that looks exactly like Carter. Created by another
Replicator called Fifth, Replicator Carter was meant to serve by
Fifth's side. However, possessing Carter's personality, she
resisted Fifth, and escaped. Now on the run, she informs SG-1
that Fifth and his entire armada are headed their way, and that
she wishes to be destroyed! Episode #8.11: Prometheus Unbound -
Jackson embarks on a mission to search for the lost Atlantis team
aboard the starship Prometheus. But when an unseen Super Soldier
boards the Prometheus and incapacitates the crew, only Daniel is
able to escape. And if he is to save the Prometheus, he must now
face the Super Soldier alone!
STARGATE SG-1 DVD:8TH SSN V4: Episode #8.13: It's Good to Be King
- Hoping to warn Harry Maybourne of Goa'uld attacks, SG-1 arrives
at his last known whereabouts to find that he has been appointed
king of a primitive people and that he believes he possesses
writings by a time-traveling Ancient predicting these events. The
team is skeptical until they discover what appears to be a time
machine. Episode #8.14: Full Alert - When O'Neill finds the door
to his home forced open and former Vice President Robert Kinsey
waiting for him inside, his first instinct is to call the .
But he changes his mind - and allies himself with his Kinsey -
when he learns that the rogue organization known as The Trust
plan to ally themselves with the Russian government! Episode
#8.18: Citizen Joe - At a tag sale, civilian Joe Spencer comes
across a small stone that gives him visions of SG-1 in action.
Delighted, he shares the stories with anyone who will listen. But
when he inadvertently learns that SG-1 really exists, his
excitement turns into obsession. As he slowly alienates everyone
around him, Joe resolves to expose the truth about SG-1, no
matter the cost! Episode #8.15: Reckoning Part 1 - Teal'c and
Bratac believe the time is right to lead their people in an
uprising against their Goa'uld masters. However, their plan
suffers a setback when an army of Replicators begins to
systematically take control of Goa'uld ships and Jackson is taken
prisoner. Meanwhile, O'Neill consults with an old alien ally
about the decimation of the Goa'uld by another, more powerful
enemy.
STARGATE SG-1 DVD:8TH SSN V5: Episode #8.16: Reckoning Part 2 -
Goa'uld system lord Baal reveals to O'Neill that he has been
taking orders from Anubis, long thought to be dead. In the face
of a losing battle with the Replicators, Anubis seeks a powerful
weapon that could destroy all life in the galaxy. Afraid of the
consequences of such an event, Baal pleads with O'Neill to
persuade Teal'c and the rebel Jaffa to destroy the temple where
the weapon is buried. Episode #8.17: Threads - With a climactic
battle behind them, the team turns towards personal matters. But
unbeknownst to them, Anubis prepares one final attempt to take
power! Meanwhile, Jackson awakens in a way station between the
living world and the world of beings that have "ascended." When
he learns of Anubis' campaign, will he ascend himself or try to
find a way back to save his friends? Episode #8.19: Moebius Part
1 - Jackson receives documents that point to the location of a
ZPM in ancient Egypt. Hoping that the energy source could be used
to power Earth's defenses and open a wormhole to Atlantis, SG-1
uses an Ancient time machine to travel back to 3000 BC. But after
the team locates the ZPM, Egyptians discover the time machine,
and SG-1 must find a way to retake it without altering the
timeline! Episode #8.20: Moebius Part 2 - SG-1's attempt to
recover a ZPM from 3000 BC has altered the timeline, leading to a
present in which the Stargate was never discovered! The
alternate-reality Carter and Jackson convince a reluctant O'Neill
to take them on their first mission through the Stargate. But
when the team is captured by Teal'c, once again the First Prime
of Apophis, can they convince him to join their side?
.com
----
The beat goes on for Stargate SG-1 in this five-disc set
containing all 20 episodes from the show's eighth season. If that
beat is now a bit more faint than in previous years, that's not
particularly surprising when a franchise has been around this
long; what's more, if Season 8 has some fairly odd aspects to it
("Threads," which appears to have been planned as the final
episode of the entire series, is followed by two more in this set
alone
not to mention an unexpected renewal that led to an
all-new Season 9), that too isn't exactly unusual in the wacky
world of series television.
Some significant changes are apparent in Season 8. Jack O'Neill
(series star Richard Dean Anderson) has been promoted to
Brigadier General and is now top dog (as he puts it, the guy who
"spent my whole life stickin' it to the man" now is the man). The
existence of the stargate, an artificially created "wormhole"
through which one can instantly travel to different worlds light
years away from Earth, is no longer a well-guarded secret. And
Stargate Command itself now exists primarily to "develop new
weapons and technologies to defend the planet" from our various
alien antagonists--principally the "Replicators," relentless
little bug-machines poised to take over not only Earth but the
entire galaxy.
The rest of the SG-1 core cast (Amanda Tapping, Christopher
Judge, and Michael Shanks) is intact. But whereas Anderson, who
has steadily reduced his role in the show, wasn't much missed in
Season 7, one wishes there were more of him this time around;
O'Neill's general insouciance and aversion to techno-speak are a
welcome antidote to the kind of sci-fi gobbledygook (discussions
about "a time dilation field on the planet Hala" and such) that
now threatens to take precedence over the action and fine special
effects that distinguished earlier seasons. Most of all, while
there are still all manner of villains (Anubis, Ba'al, the
ever-present Goa'uld) to contend with, as well as a few good guys
(the Asgard, the rebel Jaffa) to help our heroes fight the good
fight, Stargate SG-1's writers and creators may be running out of
steam. Hence we get an episode like the very peculiar "Citizen
Joe," featuring Dan Castellaneta as an average guy who sees
"visions" (i.e., clips from past episodes) of the SG-1 team in
action and becomes obsessed with proving that the whole stargate
project really exists; an uneasy combination of self-parody and
self-congratulation, this episode, while not unamusing, sticks
out like a sore thumb.
Bonus features include audio commentary (mostly by the various
directors) on 19 of the 20 episodes, along with photo galleries
and one featurette per disc. --Sam Graham