Episode of the Week: Jack O’Neill Goes Rogue In ‘Shades of Grey’

FEBRUARY IS N.I.D. MONTH!

Jack O’Neill steals technology from the Tollan, and is forced to leave the Stargate program — prompting Colonel Maybourne to offer him a spot on his rogue team now working off-world.

Our rewatch of favorite moments in Stargate history continues! Each month we’ll pick a theme, and feature a key episode every week. Join us by watching the episode this week, and then head to GateWorld Forum (or posting below) to talk about it!

Meet the N.I.D.:

• The Founder: Colonel Harry Maybourne
• The Successor: Frank Simmons
• Hello … Neumann.
• Trying to Go Legit: Malcolm Barrett
• Evolved Into: The Trust

“Shades of Grey” Facts:

• The rogue operative Neumann was the first Stargate role for the versatile actor Christian Bocher. He’d be back in Season Five to play the Daniel Jackson-esque actor Raymond Gunne (“Wormhole X-Treme!”), and again as Torrell in Atlantis‘s “Condemned.”
• Lt. Clare Tobias (Linnea Sharples) was written to be something like Samantha Carter’s opposite number on the rogue team. She is an engineer who Sam beat out for a position at Stargate Command.
• There’s a weird little continuity error in the episode’s dialogue: When he first meets Jack O’Neill, Neumann apologizes for having shot at him in the hangar at the end of “Touchstone.” But in that episode the men SG-1 found there were actually caught unawares, and never returned fire.
• “Shades of Grey” established an important piece of continuity with respect to Stargate physics: Jack keeps his arm from fully re-materializing when he returns to Earth, which prevents the N.I.D.’s sending gate from shutting down (so they could escape to another planet). (The same trick plays a pivotal role in the climax to the SGU premiere, “Air, Part 3.”)
• When the episode first aired it was pretty shocking to have Steve Makaj‘s character Colonel Makepeace turn out to be the mole. Makepeace had been a staple of the show’s supporting character roster, having debuted back in the show’s fourth episode.

“Shades of Grey” on GateWorld:

• Episode Guide
• Photo Gallery
• Screencap Gallery
• Discussion Forum
• Stargate SG-1 Season Three Podcast
• Interview with Tom McBeath (2004)

Download “Shades of Grey” now from Amazon or iTunes!

Rewatch “Shades of Grey” this week! Then post your comments below, or head over to the “Shades of Grey” discussion thread and see what people were saying back in the day. What are your favorite moments?

Every month we’re featuring a new theme from Stargate’s 17 seasons. Watch the weekly episode with us join in the fun!