GateWorld - Stargate SG-1 Season Five: "Revelations"

Twitter | Facebook | FAQ | RSS

News Pictures Interviews Books Omnipedia Forum DVDs

This Episode: Summary | Review | Photos | Screen Captures
Production | Discuss

RATINGS SCORECARD
GATEWORLD - * * * 1/2
FAN POLL - 9.13

Season Ratings

EPISODE NUMBER - 522
DVD DISC - Season 5, Disc 5
ORIGINAL U.S. AIR DATE - 05.17.02
SYNDICATION AIR DATE - 05.12.03
WRITTEN BY - Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
DIRECTED BY - Martin Wood
GUEST STARRING - Anna-Louise Plowman (Osiris), Teryl Rothery (Heimdall), David Palffy (Anubis), P.J. Johal (Jaffa), Shaker Paleja (Jaffa), Martin Sims (Jaffa)

SG-1 must come to the rescue of their once-powerful allies when the Goa'uld attack a secret Asgard laboratory.

The Goa'uld Osiris leads the assault on a seemingly unpopulated planet from the pel'tak of her powerful mothership. But an Asgard battleship quickly arrives, demanding that the weaker vessel retreat. Osiris refuses, and Asgard Commander Thor fires on her ship -- to no effect. The shields hold, and Osiris proclaims that their days of bowing to the technologically advanced Asgard are finally over.

As SG-1 continues to deal with the passing of Dr. Daniel Jackson ("Meridian"), Stargate Command receives an unexpected guest: Freyr, a member of the Asgard High Council, arrives through the Stargate with an important request. A top secret Asgard laboratory has come under attack by the Goa'uld, and Thor has been killed trying to defend it. The Asgard ask SG-1 to take their Goa'uld cargo ship to the planet to rescue Heimdall, an Asgard scientist whose research is vital to the future of their race.

The team agrees, and departs for the distant world. They avoid detection by Osiris' ship, still in orbit searching for the hidden underground lab, and are transported beneath the surface by the Asgard. Inside the lab, they meet Heimdall. But he is not prepared to leave just yet -- the team first must rescue Thor, who is still alive on board Osiris' ship. He has been taken prisoner, and Anubis himself is soon to arrive to conduct his interrogation. The Goa'uld must not be allowed to obtain Thor's knowledge.

While Heimdall prepares his research for evacuation, Jack O'Neill and Teal'c transport aboard the Goa'uld mothership (masking their entrance by coinciding the transport with Anubis' arrival). Major Samantha Carter remains in the lab, using the Asgard scanners to aid them through the Goa'uld corridors. The two must disable the shield generator, so that Heimdall can transport them and Thor out.

Jack and Teal'c make their way through the ship's corridors, but are soon surrounded by Jaffa. Their transport up was detected. Carter uses the Asgard holographic projection technology to distract the Jaffa, allowing O'Neill and Teal'c to ambush them and escape -- but they are eventually caught and locked up.

Meanwhile, as Osiris continues her search for the Asgard lab, Anubis informs Thor of his plan. He has acquired new technology that will aid him in learning Asgard secrets: a device will be implanted into Thor's brain, forming a link with the ship's computer. His knowledge will simply be downloaded.

Thor is able to resist for a time, and uses the ship's internal communications system to synthesize his voice and speak to O'Neill and Teal'c in their cell. He is able to rewrite some minor security subroutines in the computer system, and opens their cell door. But they must hurry -- he cannot hold out against Anubis' technology for very long.

Below the planet's surface, Heimdall explains the nature of her vital research to Major Carter. The Asgard are clones, and have not been able to reproduce sexually for centuries. When an Asgard is near death, his consciousness is transferred into a new clone body, giving them a measure of immortality. But they have been unable to perfect cloning technology, leading to a controlled degradation with each generation. The Asgard are a dying race.

Heimdall shows her his discovery: a tall, humanoid-looking Asgard. It is one of their genetic ancestors -- an Asgard who left their home world some 30,000 years ago. The ship went off course and crashed on this world, in Earth's galaxy, where the Asgard found it six months ago. He could be the genetic key needed to save the Asgard. They transport the specimen back to SG-1's cargo ship, but Carter returns to the lab to help her teammates.

Osiris finally locates the secret laboratory, and arrives with a contingent of Jaffa. Heimdall and his research are gone, but Osiris does find Major Carter. She begins to torture her with a Goa'uld hand device, demanding to know where Dr. Jackson is. "He's dead," Carter tells her.

On board the mothership, Teal'c and O'Neill subdue a group of Jaffa and take their weapons, using them to destroy a control junction for the ship's shields. Before the Goa'uld can switch to back-ups, the Asgard transporter whisks them away to the cargo ship, along with Thor. Carter is also transported right out of Osiris' clutches.

The ship rises out of the atmosphere, but is pursued by the mothership. They have no way of escaping, but the Asgard cavalry appears in the nick of time. Freyr arrives with three battleships, and Anubis flees.

Back at the S.G.C., Carter reports that the Asgard managed to remove the device from Thor's brain -- and that the technology is unlike any they've ever seen. But Thor himself has slipped into a coma, and his prognosis is not good. But, with help from the android recently found by SG-1 ("Menace"), it looks like the Asgard may have finally turned the tide in the war against the Replicators.

As SG-1 leaves the base for dinner, they feel a sudden breeze in the corridor. Could it be Daniel, still watching over them? O'Neill smiles as he enters the elevator.

PRODUCTION

"We will definitely be shaking things up [in Season Five]. ... I'd like to see a consolidation in the ranks of the Goa'uld as well as a consolidation within the ranks of the Tau'ri and their allies. I'd like to see the Goa'uld up the ante. To hell with the Protected Planets Treaty!"
(Writer/producer Joseph Mallozzi, in a chat with the Sam/Jack Horsewomen)

"We're introducing a new villain [Anubis] at the end of Season Five, one who'll become our primary antagonist throughout Season Six. Next season will be SG-1's last. But what I'm planning is for Season Six to build towards a climax that actually is a 'Stargate SG-1' feature film."
(Executive producer Brad Wright, in an interview with Cinescape.com)

"Sam was upset, but I'd say she was more upset with Jack rather than at Jack. She would love to help Jack come to terms with Daniel's passing, but she also knows that she must let him grieve in his own way."
(Writer/producer Joseph Mallozzi, in an online chat with the Sam/Jack Horsewomen)

"In actual fact, we (SG-1) think he [Anubis] has gone away at one point, but he hasn't. Then, just when we think we're going to see his face in 'Summit' -- which doesn't pan out the way we expect either. I didn't actually get the idea till we were in prep for the episode, but Anubis is a cloaked figure kind of like the emperor in 'Star Wars' -- and when he turns towards you -- well, let's just say that everyone is in for a bit of a surprise. We're going to have a lot of fun with him."
(Executive producer Brad Wright)

"This was the first story we'd ever done with a character that was entirely computer generated. In this case it was a member of the Asgard, Heimdall. However, in order to do this we needed a real person to stand in for the alien, so we asked Teryl Rothery (Dr. Janet Fraiser). She wore a black leotard with a picture of Heimdall painted on the front of it and a [stocking] mask. It was important to hide Teryl's face so that the other actors wouldn't automatically look at her but, instead, at the alien's face while we were filming."

"Unfortunately, there was a problem in that Heimdall was shorter than Teryl. This meant that on the front of her costume, the alien's head was right in the middle of Teryl's chest. To further complicate things, we stuck two little lights over the alien's eyes to make it easier for the actors to focus. Lucky for us Teryl has a great sense of humor because Rick and Chris would crack up when they had to talk to her chest. Naturally, all the shots of Teryl were taken out in the end and replaced with CGI images of the alien. Brad Wright (executive producer), who cut 'Revelations,' said he could not keep a straight face whenever a shot of Teryl's chest and those two little lights came up on the screen."
(Director Martin Wood, in an interview with TV Zone magazine [#152])

"One of the things we did not want to do was leave Showtime with a cliffhanger. That wouldn't have been fair to its audience. Brad, Paul Mullie and Joe Mallozzi (producers) were very conscious of this as they wrote the episode. We still get to say farewell to our Showtime viewers while also hinting at what lies ahead for those at The Sci-Fi Channel. The last shot of 'Revelations' is an homage to Daniel Jackson. It's especially moving in that it shows only three not four of the characters we've come to care about."
(Director Martin Wood, in an interview with TV Zone magazine [#152])

"We had all assumed that we would end our run on Showtime with a fifth and final season. And we did. On Showtime. But late in the show's fifth season, we received word that SG-1 had been granted new life. We were moving to SciFi for a sixth and presumably final year. There was much rejoicing, but also a bittersweet farewell to a place we'd called home for those five years. Showtime had been very, very good to us and, in as a final thank you, we elected to break tradition and not end the season on a cliffhanger. That way, we figured, our Showtime fans would have some closure, yet also have the option of continuing SG-1′s adventures elsewhere."
(Writer/producer Joseph Mallozzi, in a post at his blog)

"Our final farewell to Showtime and Daniel Jackson ends with the suggestion that while D.J. may be physically gone, he'll always be there in spirit. I remember thinking the gust of wind that catches Jack's attention in the final scene (and his subsequent reaction) was perhaps too subtle but, in retrospect, I guess I was wrong because all of our fans caught it.

"Another aspect of this episode I recall is the tiny spiked interrogation device Anubis tells Thor he will implant in his brain. Every time we watched that scene in dailies, I imagined the following dialogue:

Thor: Even should you succeed in implanting the device in my ear -
Anubis: Oh, it doesn't go in through your ear.
Thor: Well, my nose then. Even if you succeed -
Anubis: No. Not in through your nose either.
Thor: Well then, where – ? Oh. Oh $%&@!

"I always wanted to hear an Asgard curse a blue streak. Now that Stargate is done, it stands out as one of my biggest regrets."
(Writer/producer Joseph Mallozzi, in a post at his blog)