In Stargate’s Legacy Adam Barnard looks back at some of the Stargate franchise’s finest episodes. Read more here!
“What the hell is going on?”
A baffled Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell speaks in a long, southern drawl — far deeper than we’re used to. And we as the audience are wondering the exact same thing.
After a wormhole anomaly occurs during an unscheduled offworld activation, SG-1’s I.D.C. pops up and the team saunters out of the event horizon with no sign of danger.
And things only get weirder.
During the debrief, SG-1 drops erroneous statements ranging from the planet they visited to current dealings of verifiably deceased allies. As the situation progresses from odd to unsettling, the gate activates again — this time, at SG-1’s scheduled return time. Lo and behold, SG-1’s I.D.C. code pops up again, and in walks the team … only to face themselves already at Stargate Command.
Given the show’s gradual shift toward darker and increasingly serialized storytelling, Season Nine’s “Ripple Effect” represents a compelling stand-alone hour of Stargate that encapsulates everything we hold dear about the show: high stakes, scientific quandaries, technobabble, team chemistry, mystery, betrayal, and ultimate triumph over a sinister forces. Except this time, the sinister force turns out to be an evil version of SG-1.
The first alternate SG-1 to arrive has less-than-admirable intentions, playing dumb while they scheme to hijack the Prometheus and travel to the Pegasus Galaxy. Their goal: steal Atlantis’s Z.P.M. to power their Ancient Antarctic outpost, their insurance policy against an imminent Ori invasion.
“Janet. This may look like home to you, but it’s not. This is not the Stargate Command you left, we’re not the Daniel and Teal’c you know …”
Teal’c chimes in: “In our reality, Dr. Janet Fraiser died two years ago.”
Daniel and Teal’c are the first to come face to face with Dr. Fraiser (guest star Teryl Rothery), who is currently serving on an alternate SG-1. “Ripple Effect” takes place two seasons after she was killed in the pivotal two-parter “Heroes” (analyzed in the previous Stargate Legacy entry), and her appearance is a bittersweet turn of events. And Sam Carter encounters an alternate Martouf (J.R. Bourne), years after our Martouf was killed in action (“Divide and Conquer”). She learns that in his universe she and Martouf shared a romantic relationship that lasted for some time, although it eventually fizzled out and ended with her finding someone else. Their current reunion, however, is not devoid of passion, and if not for the poorly timed entry of a new Asgard colleague they might have just rekindled some of it.
The dramatic core of the episode, however, goes beyond fun and sentimental alternate reality encounters. Many ethical dilemmas are raised as the team deals with a uniquely personal and urgent conflict. About halfway through the episode, General Landry approves a mission to close the reality breach, stranding alternate Fraiser and her team — among many others — in our reality. But Janet’s earth was just infected by an Ori plague, and if she doesn’t return with the cure the planet could face extinction.
Regardless of their motives, these alternate teams are interested in harvesting the best parts of our reality to enrich their own. It’s a dangerous precedent to set, and no alternate team can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they’re telling the truth. It’s all the more reason for Landry to stand his ground.
And so tough questions arise throughout this episode. In a time of crisis, whose reality is more important? What is the rubric for valuing human life? Is it ethical to piggyback off your own work from another universe? How are personal lives affected by revelations from alternate selves?
Finally, would our SG-1 plan a cross-reality heist to potentially save the lives of our universe from the Ori … at any cost?
Would we still like them if they did?
She doesn’t clarify, but the ambiguity makes it all the more special.
Ultimately, the attention to detail and sincerity of “Ripple Effect” solidifies its legacy in the Stargate universe, landing it a spot on the shelf of beloved SG-1 classics — ripe for rewatch and analysis for many generations to come.
Series Introduction (Video)
“Window of Opportunity” (SG-1 Season Four)
“Heroes” (SG-1 Season Seven)
“Childhood’s End” (Atlantis Season One)
“Midway” (Atlantis Season Four)
“Broken Ties” (Atlantis Season Five)
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