Avalon, Part 1

In the Making

Summary | Analysis | Notes | Characters | Questions | Production | In the Making | Review

An Air Force pilot attempts to reassemble SG-1 after they have gone their separate ways. An old "friend" arrives on Earth asking for Daniel's help in finding an ancient treasure – and she won't take no for an answer.

EPISODE #901
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 07.15.2005
SYNDICATION AIR DATE: 09.18.2006
DVD DISC: Season 9, Disc 1
WRITTEN BY: Robert C. Cooper
DIRECTED BY: Andy Mikita
EXCERPTS WRITTEN BY: Brad Wright & Robert C. Cooper
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By Joseph Mallozzi
Writer and Executive Producer, Stargate SG-1

We were all in agreement. The back half of Season Eight was a perfect lead-up and conclusion to the series. Anubis had been dealt with, the Goa'uld and Replicators defeated, and the Jaffa were finally free. Granted, we had been wrapping up storylines since Season Five but in this case, we're talking major storylines.

So, what next? That was the question that presented us as we geared up for SG-1's ninth season. Well, it so happened that Robert Cooper had been toying with an idea for quite some time: a powerful new enemy that ... I can't tell you anything about at the moment.

Anyway, the lead-up to discovering this new enemy had to involve our main characters. Only we had to ask ourselves, what were our main characters doing after the events of Season Eight? They had finally succeeded in ending the threats that had loomed over this galaxy for so long. Teal'c had already made clear his intention to go help his fellow Jaffa build a free nation. And O'Neill ... well, O'Neill had moved on. And Carter ... would be "out-of-the-mix" for the show's first six episodes. And, well, Daniel had always wanted to go to Atlantis ...

We needed the team back -- but it didn't make sense for the SG-1 we knew to exist anymore. So that became new SG-1 team leader Cameron Mitchell's first mission: to get the band back together. Easier said than done, of course, because complicating matters is the return of an old friend with a hidden agenda.

  • Before being cast as Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Vala Mal Doran, respectively, Ben Browder was considered for the role of Colonel Everett in Atlantis's first season two-part closer "The Siege" I and II, while Claudia Black was considered for the role of Teal'c's love interest in "Affinity."
  • Vala's "limited gene pool" line was, of course, Robert's dig at all those who complained that Ben and Michael looked too much alike.
  • We knew Ben was a talented actor, and we'd been pleasantly surprised by his work ethic, but he totally won us on the first day of dailies. Specifically, it was his frenzied "Bullets bounce!" delivery that practically had us on the floor. We knew then he was gold.
  • Loved Merlin -- but that hat! It was ... certainly ornate. When he first appeared on dailies wearing that hat, I couldn't help but announce: "Mitchell ... Gryffindor! Vala ... Ravenclaw."