Written by Robert C Cooper and directed by Martin Wood, absolute stalwarts of the show, setting up some pretty foundational lore.
We cold open on this funny little guy, in-media-res as the team is mid-rescue of an unknown populace of indeterminate origin, although based on the costuming and all the red-headed extras, I'm guessing they were going for a Celtic-inspired culture, even if this dude's beard and mustache are giving Edwardian.
Daniel rescues the man we will later find out was held as the host of the Askrak- badly burned, Daniel says to the medic "he's alive but I think he's going to wish he wasn't" - the irony being that after everything that happens, SG1 are going to be the ones who wish he wasn't.
Meanwhile, Sam is performing CPR on the man who was the unknowing host of Jolinar, who jumps into her.
It's a great opening, actually.
Briefing scenes get a lot of grief but this is a particularly good one - we get exposition on the background to the attack, but Daniel is absolutely correct there was a reason the Goa'uld attacked the Nasyans, and Jolinar knows that she was the reason but needs to deflect suspicion. We think the reason Sam is cold to Teal'c is because she's a Goa'uld, and even though we find out later that the Tok'ra are different, they still have a certain superiority and condescension/resentment towards Jaffa so it still makes sense. This tension will be mined effectively in later seasons.
We also see Jolinar doing a pretty good job of emulating Sam, and yet not quite getting it right. It's a great performance by Amanda Tapping playing Sam, Jolinar, and Jolinar pretending to be Sam.
A note on pronouns - in this episode Jolinar is referred to a "he" because they were originally inhabiting a male host and everyone (including Sam) just assumes the symbiote is also male. We find out later that symbiotes (presumably, other than queens) don't really have a gender, but can have a preference as to the gender of their host, and use the corresponding pronouns. It is revealed in a later episode that Jolinar prefers female hosts and is thereafter referred to as "she" so I will use she/her in this post and going forward.
None of this was controversial in the 90's, I don't recall it ever even being discussed in any way other than pertaining to continuity. If the show had come out today social media and youtube would probably be covered in "woke agenda" ragebait. Sometimes a show being a product of it's time can had positive implications as well as negative ones.
There's a nice touch in the scene between Dr Frasier and Sam, the post-mission protocols we never need to see but know must happen offscreen, with Janet checking the back of Sam's neck but of course finding no implantation scar because Jolinar entered through her mouth/back of the throat.
There's some really effective dramatic irony at play here where we know Sam isn't Sam but the characters don't, and yet we don't know that Sam had been taken host by a Tok'ra and not a Goa'uld. Lulling the audience into thinking they know what's going on only to reveal they actually don't can be very effective storytelling.
The Nasyans have been taken to the US Air Force Academy hospital - I suppose it was necessary as they needed medical care the base couldn't provide, but where are the quarantine protocols? What's the security clearance level of this facility?
Janet's assessment of burned man from the cold open hints that something is off as he's still alive after third degree burns to 80% of his body with no signs of infection. We see Sam clock him but it's unclear if she suspects he's host to the Ashrak.
Cassie returns and since she once had a naquadah bomb in her heart, can sense the symbiote in Sam. This is sadly the last time we'll see Katie Stuart as Cassandra, and the character won't reappear at all until season 5 - it's a shame since as Janet's adopted daughter and her closeness to both Jack and Sam she really could have been utilised more.
Jolinar threatens to kills her if she tells anyone, playing into our knowledge of how a Goa'uld would act, but with the benefit of hindsight an indication that while the Tok'ra aren't evil like the Goa'uld, they're not particularly nice either. Doubtless Jolinar never intended to follow through on her threat, but that's hardly the point.
Would she have let off the grenade in the gateroom however? The standoff is ended when the tranquilizer kicks in.
There's a nice Jack and Teal'c scene where Jack is clearly struggling with the situation - he's already lost his surrogate son and best friend to Goa'uld possession, now he's facing losing a member of his team, and we get glimpse of his and Teal'c's relationship as well, where in the same situation Sam might try to comfort him and Daniel might try to get him to talk it out, Teal'c instead gives advice and a harsh but necessary truth: "When you speak to her, do not see your friend."
Meanwhile, Daniel talks with Talia, the wife of Jolinar's previous host. She's played by Judy Norton, who was apparently Mary Ellen on The Waltons, a show I've heard of but never watched.
The facial decoration/tattoos the Nasyans have also kind of resemble a Celtic knot design. Or they could be an extrapolation of Nordic runes.
Daniel is particularly sympathetic because of Sha're, but his personal investment also tends to make him push a bit too far, as we've seen before. It is revealed however that Jolinar was lying dormant for months which is the first clue all is not as it seems.
You might wonder why Jolinar buries the lede on the whole Tok'ra thing, but I think it makes sense - the Tok'ra a secretive by nature and necessity, and Jolinar most of all given her work as an infiltrator and spy, she did not want to reveal her true nature unless she'd tried everything else first.
And try she does - it's unclear whether the glimpse of "Sam" we see is actually Jolinar allowing her to come though or a feint - I lean towards the latter because "Sam's" pleading doesn't seem like how she would act and she calls him "Jack" which she wouldn't do.
Next up is Teal'c - with Jack she tried to barter with Sam's life and the promise she would leave her as a host, with Teal'c she reminds him of the threat the Goa'uld pose and the help she could give them. It's only when that doesn't work she reveals her name and that she is a Tok'ra.
"It seems this Jo-linar is wanted in Gould town." The way RDA delivers dialogue is just chefs kiss.
There's a nice little transition of Daniel's reflection in the briefing room glass, as he points out they don't know what the Ashrak looks like, to the reflection of the Ashrak disguised as a doctor in the Air Force hospital. I see you, Martin Wood, and I appreciate you.
Daniel is deep in his feelings as he goes to see Jolinar but acting very deliberately, not looking at Sam-as-Jolinar and trying to be businesslike by claiming he only came to get a description of the Ashrak - Shanks always brings the subtext to his performance which I appreciate. It's also interesting that Daniel brought Teal'c for support - or maybe Teal'c took it upon himself to be that support for him.
"I will know his face only in the moments before he tortures me to death" is a great line, Tapping does a fantastic job of distinguishing Jolinar's dictation and cadence as different from Sam's.
Daniel tries so hard not to be affected by her (admittedly reasonable) arguments, keeping himself a step removed, until he can't anymore, stepping closer and finally making eye contact to address Sam and say he's sorry. And that's when Jolinar knows to bring out her big guns - she knows where Sha're is.
I think we're meant to believe Jolinar here, and based on what's to come, can assume that she knows Sha're is on Abydos which is what fits the timeline (I know there's a tie-in book that implies otherwise but I haven't read it). It does make me wonder how Jolinar knew where she was - perhaps she was a spy in Apophis and Amaunet's court?
It is interesting the different ways she tries to manipulate the team - with Jack she is borderline disdainful, refusing to answer questions but making promises, to Teal'c she gives orders but does reveal her identity knowing her it would mean more to him, and with Daniel she plays to the personal, dangling what she knows he wants most. Jolinar accurately pinpoints these three men, their relationships to Sam, and the information they'd be most receptive to. It's really well done.
However it's clear that Jolinar does not completely understand human nature or how to best get what she wants from them - if instead of promises and the insistence on blind trust, she had given them some information in good faith, for example told Daniel where Sha're was rather than hold the knowledge hostage, they may have been more willing to treat with her. You give the chocolate bar to get invited to dinner, you know?
But it's worked on Daniel at least, even though he agrees with Jack that Jolinar is playing on his greatest weakness, he points out that they have no other way of saving Sam. Teal'c supports him, although how much this is rational and how much is due to his own compromised emotions when it comes to Sha're is debatable.
LOL, Daniel removing his glasses to make an impassioned point is such as tv production the-glasses-are-reflecting-in-camera thing you just have to go with, since as a glasses wearer myself it’s not a thing that happens irl.
"I will never, never trust a Goa'uld." Heh, this line has some irony going forward.
Security at the SGC is terrible - a failure at the checkpoint doesn't set off a an alarm, really? This very high value prisoner being guarded by two men, and anyone with a keycard can access the cell? Especially when they know the Ashrak is on the loose.
The Askrak kills Jolinar, Teal’c kills the Ashrak, but now Sam has to live with the trauma of the symbiote dying inside her.
This is a great episode, and at least we do see at the end that Sam doesn’t just snap back to normal but struggles deeply with what she went though. Even though Jolinar was a Tok’ra, she still took Sam as a host without consent, trapped and suppressed her mind within itself, and bargained with her friends for her life. It’s Goa’uld coded behaviour! For Jolinar the ends justified the means and perhaps Sam understands that, but it’s still a massive violation, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Sam is forever changed by this experience down to a cellular level.
But you know my favourite thing about this episode? It doesn't revolve around Sam's love life - sadly this will not be the case for most Sam-centric episodes going forward.
...and naturally I have thoughts (hey, it’s me). Maybe they're belated, seeing as this show was released almost two years ago, but I've been on the outskirts of the Star Wars fandom for a while now. This in and of itself isn't usual - I tend to drift between my core fandoms in phases, but since TLJ the GFFA hasn't really been a pleasant place to be so I haven't really had a reason to drift back to it for any length of time.
Which isn't to say I've avoided Star Wars altogether, dipping in when something piques my interest like Obi-Wan Kenobi (which I liked aspects of but ultimately felt like just a setup to the show I actually wanted to watch), and have absorbed some of the rest through cultural osmosis. Andor is a show I've been meaning to get to for a while, although it has been praised to the point of being overhyped (and there was a whiff of Not Like Other Star Wars to the critical reception) so I was concerned it would not meet expectations.
But I was pleasantly surprised as how much this show felt spiritually and aesthetically in tune with the original trilogy, and especially A New Hope, as opposed to Disney!Star Wars. Even if the tone and content of Andor is very different, it feels in conversation with the OT in a way the rest of Disney’s output has not - building on the story we already know, rather than trying replace or rewrite it as something else.
Aesthetically, we have the 70's vibe of the set design and costuming in middle-class Coruscant, the stark white jumpsuits and surrounds of Narkina 5 evoking Lucas's early film THX-1138, even the way we are plopped right into the middle of the story with very little exposition, but still eased into the narrative is very reminiscent of the first act of A New Hope. Thematically, of course we’re seeing the Rebellion in its earlier stages - small disparate cells of seditious activity directly acting against Imperial interests that will become the somewhat ragtag but nonetheless organised and unified Alliance.
While Star Wars was a cinema pastiche throwback to Flash Gordan serials and Campbell’s hero’s journey as an antidote to the grimdark antiheroes of the 70’s, in many ways Andor brings things back full circle to the grit of neo-noir. It holds a mirror up to the OT and lets us see the other side of the coin - and the full cost of victory. So many people have to die for Cassian to make it to the Rebellion - just like Cassian himself will die for the Death Star plans to make it to Leia, like Obi-Wan will die to ensure those plans make it to the Rebellion, and squadrons of rebel pilots will die so Luke can ultimately destroy the Death Star.
A stone is dropped in a pond, and we see the ripples but the stone itself sinks.
Overall thoughts
Tony Gilroy is the showrunner here, a veteran screenwriter notable for the Bourne films, and we can certainly see this influence at work. He also wrote The Devil’s Advocate, which is by no means good but I do enjoy in all its ott mythological monologues-and-accents glory, and seminal romcom (of my childhood at least) The Cutting Edge. He also wrote and directed Michael Clayton, which I have not seen but was nominated for several Oscars, including Original Screenplay, Director, and Best Picture (Tilda Swinton won for Supporting Actress).
Of course he's also a credited screenwriter on Rogue One, and I understand his contribution was mostly to the infamous rewrites/reshoots. I desperately want to read a full breakdown/bts of what went down with that film (well all of Disney-led Lucasfilm really) and see the deleted/original material, because I am fascinated. It's also interesting to note that Gilroy took over showrunning duties from Stephen Schiff pre-production. The show does very much feel like Gilroy wanted to make his own stamp on the Andor character and use him as a vehicle in his spy-thriller/political intrigue wheelhouse.
Reading some of Gilroy’s comments around the series had made me wonder how much of Andor being reflective/referential to the OT was intentional (on his part at least), and arguably Gilroy did overwrite the character of Cassian Andor so…there’s nuance. But as a story, to me it felt in tune with what I love about Star Wars rather than at odds with it, and that's what I appreciated most.
But first things first. B2EMO made it to the end! Finally, my expectations are subverted in a good way, because I love this little droid with all my heart. There are several key elements of Star Wars to me that separate it from other sci-fi/space fantasy and that is Jedi, distinctive aliens, and sentient droids. Obviously there's no Jedi here (nor does there need to be), my issues with the lack of aliens I'll address below, but when it comes to droids B2EMO fits right in, and we can assume is a precursor to Cassian's relationship with K-2SO.
Overall I thought the show was excellent (with a few caveats). What's impressive is the sheer number of characters and plots interwoven together, every conversation servicing character, the overall theme or setting something up that will pay off later, playing with coincidence and fate (the will of the Force), the interlocking domino effect. Arvel Skeen recognising the tattoo on Cassian's arm leads to a conversation of his history, but also sets up Skeen later offering to take and split the haul with Cassian (and getting killed for it). The raid on Aldhani triggers the Empire’s harsh new measures that gets Cassian sentenced to six years in prison, but also inspires the rebellion on Ferrix (via Maarva). The Aldhani heist is a triumph for Vel, but traps Mon’s financial contributions to the Rebellion by the Empire’s crackdown on banking, leading her and her daughter into an unwanted family alliance.
I'm a big proponent of Star Wars Dialogue is Good, Actually - not saying there's not clunkers or stilted scenes (the PT moreso than the OT) but there seems to be this weird consensus that Lucas-era dialogue sucks despite being some of the most quoted/referenced movies of all time. Lucas was creating a modern myth, of course a lot of it is arch and operatic. I love the dialogue in Andor too - which rightly gets high praise, and while it's arguably tighter, in many ways it's no more naturalistic than that of the Saga with everyone constantly speaking in metaphor, it's just pitched differently because this is a different genre (and the acting is uniformly excellent because they are actually interacting with each other and being competently directed).
There’s layers of meaning in almost every scene and subtle moments of foreshadowing that I really enjoy - Karis Nemik muses on the role of mercenaries in a rebellion that must use every tool and weapon at its disposal, and obviously Cassian starts out as that mercenary who will be pulled into the wider struggle, but this also foreshadows the importance of Han Solo - at first only out for the promise of a reward but ultimately instrumental in bringing the Empire down. But it’s not because he’s treated as a tool - as the Empire treats its workforce as tools - but because he’s treated as worthwhile, he’s valued as a person. The Empire casts people out while the Rebellion draws them in.
We also see this in the arc on Narkina 5, and the Empire’s tightening grip backfiring against them. In order to force the prisoners to speedily produce parts for the Death Star they work in close-knit teams, creating a close camaraderie ultimately allowing them to escape - because when you turn people into cogs of a machine, the machine can be turned back against you. Contrast this to the jockeying over position and territory and power in the ISB - they serve the Empire, but never at personal cost.
We see the Republic of affiliated systems from the PT turn into an Empire of conquered planets, where local cultures are subsumed into homogeneous Imperial rule. Even Corpsec is replaced by Imperial oversight, and we know that the Senate on Coruscant will be dissolved completely in ANH. But ultimately this ferments rebellion and unites the outcast and oppressed - the Keredians on Narkina 5 hate the Empire for their prison polluting the waterways, and so let Cassian and Melchi go. Cinta’s whole family was killed by stormtroopers turning her single minded focus to destroying them. The people of Ferrix respond to Maarva’s call and riot against the Imperial forces even though it will mean violent reprisal.
The Empire forges the weapons that will be used against them. As Nemik’s manifesto states: “The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.”
And yet we're not there yet - it's important that this is still a Rebellion and not an Alliance, a disparate collection of segmented sedition with a myriad of agendas we see run by Saw Gerrara, Anton Kreegyr, Luthen Rael. They won't be a genuine threat to the Empire until they join forces, share resources and intelligence, and unite behind a collective goal. Although there may be sacrifices in this as well - Separatists, Partisan Front, Sectorists etc mentioned by Saw will either coalesce under the Alliance to Restore the Republic or be driven further to the fringes.
The thrust of Nemik's manifesto is that freedom is a natural state of being, while oppression is unnatural, and even though Andor has nothing to do with the Jedi it nonetheless echoes their philosophy: that the Force is in a natural state of balance, while the existence of the Sith who tap into the Dark Side upset this balance. As we see in Return of the Jedi, the balance is ultimately restored by the return to that natural state buffeted by the most powerful forces - friendship, love, sacrifice - forces that ultimately drive Cassian as well. While much has been said of the moral ambiguity and nuance of Andor, it's not incongruent with the OT, if anything it reinforces its power and message.
HOWEVER, I have my nits to pick - the lack of aliens is a serious flaw (and in particular, the lack of familiar aliens). In some cases they can get away with it and make subtle commentary - Coruscant is stark and grey as the centre of bureaucracy in stark contrast to the vibrant metropolis of the PT. Seeing the streets populated almost exclusively by humans where once it was a melting pot underscores the Empire’s segregationist policies. However the dearth of non-humans elsewhere - Ferrix, Aldhani, even the prison labour camp Narkina 5 - is disconcerting. These are places meant to depict the oppressive rule of the Empire and this undermines the strength of the rebellion as a group of diverse species fighting against the Imperial monoculture. It's odd, for example, that we see all the characters from Ferrix return except Vetch, the muscle employed "just to stand there" by Nurchi (a nice moment with Cassian!), and that Maarva's funeral procession seems entirely human.
Ultimately, I think the setup is much stronger than the payoff, and while I appreciate the slow burn, the show does have sometimes have difficulty juggling the plots. Once set up, characters are parked waiting to be incorporated into the narrative (it feels like we watch Syril stare at his cereal forever) and looking back not much actually happens to a lot of them- there are a lot of threads left hanging and not much resolution. Which is of course because this was only intended to be season 1 of 5, with each arc a year of Cassian’s life leading up to Rogue One. But sadly Andor has been given a second season only, leaving 12 episodes to wrap everything up, so ultimately I fear the show will feel like a slow setup and rushed conclusion, which is a real shame.
Cassian Andor
I’m went into this as someone who doesn’t really have a strong connection to Cassian as a character - I certainly liked him in Rogue One! But let’s just say he’s not my blorbo. And this not the backstory I would have expected for the character five years before Rogue One as someone who has “been in this fight since [he] was six years old.”
Diego Luna has such a charismatic presence and it is nice to have a more internal, insular character, but it’s kind of sad that Cassian is really the least developed character in a show ostensibly about him. It’s not really his story, but he’s the fulcrum (pun intended) around which most of the other characters pivot; this is a story of the rebellion of which he is just one part. So, I can see if Cassian fans may have been upset by his lack of focus, and I personally would have wanted to delve a bit deeper into Cassian Andor on a show called Andor, you know? And it does feel a little bit skeevy that the actual Axis (pun intended) of the show is Luthen in his middle age white man glory, with a whiff of Gilroy’s self-insert about him.
I do wish LFL would abandon simply naming their shows after the main character - presumably it’s for general audience recognition and algorithmic reasons, but my god how boring. If the show had been marketed as the ensemble it actually is I would take less issue with the lack of Cassian focus. But sadly I’m not sure we know that much more about Cassian at the end of the show than we did at the end of the first three episodes - or really, what it adds to his character and arc we see in Rogue One.
Yes he’s further radicalised by his experiences and is now presumably "all in" on the rebellion, but the events of the show are kicked off by Cassian searching for his sister which is a motivation that is all but dropped thereafter - although at one point I was half-expecting (dreading) it to be revealed that Luthen's assistant Kleya Marki was Kerri (and sidebar, Kleya - what a stone cold bitch! I love a stone cold bitch).
This plot will likely continue in season 2, but it felt a bit undercooked and too deep in the subtext given the prominence it had in kicking off the narrative. We get a flashback to Cassian’s childhood, but ultimately it feels like lipservice to his Indigenous heritage rather than true engagement since we don't see him reflect on it in any way, nor does it seem to have any impact on his choices throughout the series that seem primarily motivated by his life and relationships on Ferrix.
We get a strong start to Cassian and Luthen that peters out - he's intent on recruiting Cassian, but then writes him off when Cassian flees after Aldhani and wants him killed, then goes all the way to Ferrix for him, but is about to leave without actually doing anything? I know Luthen's meant to be ambiguous, but this is one area where plot is obviously driving things not character. I get that it was important for Cassian to be the one to go to Luthen at the end and choose the Rebellion unfetted, but the relationship is undercooked. I almost feel like the series is a procession of things that happen to Cassian rather than a journey I was on with him. There's external forces, but very little internal focus.
However, what I did love about the show was the thematic resonance that was happening on a macro and micro level - while the show as a whole is a mirror/reflection of the OT, we also see dichotomy in the character pairings that are mirrors and/or foils of each other in various ways - we have the two sides of the conflict being Empire and Rebellion (with Cassian stuck in the middle), and we are also shown conflict within those two sides.
Cassian is without a reflective character pairing because his true mirror is Jyn Erso, and seeing Cassian’s struggles here does give real weight to his “you’re not the only one who lost everything” speech - in many ways the show is his journey from being Jyn, to being the man who says to her “we don't all have the luxury of deciding when and where we want to care about something.”
Mon Mothma and Luthen Rael
The most obvious mirror/foil pair as the two sides of the Rebellion, although arguably we have a third prong in Saw Gerrara, and kind of a mirror in Luthen as Cassian’s mentor as Saw was Jyn’s - and I do wonder about the show that was a two-handed prequel with Cassian and Jyn growing up in different factions of the Rebellion, but alas.
The artifact Luthen gives Mon represents “a sun goddess and a serpent sharing the same mouth” representing their differing philosophical approach to fighting the Empire. As mirror characters they are alike in many ways - both of the privileged class and living double lives on Coruscant, but while Mon makes political efforts to move the needle on the Empire's activities in the Senate while also funneling money to direct but small rebel efforts, Luthen outright pokes the bear, sacrifices allies, and knowingly making things worse to swell the ranks of the rebellion on the hope it will speed up progress. There's more than a hint of the incrementalism/revolutionary dichotomy here.
It also raises a lot of interesting questions without (rightly) providing many answers - the struggle of the oppressed, the moral weight of insurgency and revolution. Is it right to intentionally provoke an oppressive power into reacting with violence in order to fuel a greater pushback against them? Is short term suffering justified if it achieves eventual victory, and is it right for the few to decide what is a justifiable sacrifice? What are our responsibilities to each other under the threat of/struggle against authoritarianism? As social commentary it's more timely than ever.
Whether Mon or Luthen is right for the viewer to decide, although as Leia tells Tarkin in ANH: "the more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." On the other hand, we know Mon survives to the end of the Empire while Luthen (I assume) will not. She will become a leading figure in the Alliance, and eventual Chancellor of the New Republic, while he will be another stone at the bottom of the pond.
This is foreshadowed in the dialogue (with a direct mirror reference):
“I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life, to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see. No, the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror, or an audience, or the light of gratitude."
Arguably however, the mirror is the show - we are the audience.
We know Cassian joins Luthen at the end of season 1, and will meet Mon in season 2, so it will be interesting to see him struggle between these two philosophies, although we can infer from Rogue One that he aligns himself (out of necessity) with Luthen's veiwpoint:
"We've all done terrible things on behalf of the Rebellion. Spies, saboteurs, assassins....And every time I walked away from something I wanted to forget, I told myself it was for a cause that I believed in. A cause that was worth it. Without that, we're lost."
Ultimately, the Rebellion needs people like Luthen and Cassian to make not only the physical sacrifice, but the moral one as well (noting our first introduction to Cassian is him killing an informant so he can escape) - people who play the Empire's game so Luke can ultimately reject the Emperor's.
But I had mixed feelings on the Mon Mothma storyline. It feels a bit off for Luthen to be her entrée into the Rebellion, when we know she’s been on the ground from the very beginning with the Petition of the 2000 (cut from ROTS, but still canon I assume). She just felt very isolated and fragile which is at odds with her quiet steel that we see in Return of the Jedi and Rogue One. I could maybe see this Mon in the early dark days, but only 5 years before ANH? A scene with Bail Organa would not have gone amiss just to give breadth to her rebellious activities.
We get to see Luthen visit Saw Gerrara on Segra Milo, why not give Mon a scene with Bail to show she has other irons in the fire rather than relying on Luthen? In Saw we see the rough and tumble of disparate rebel factions, I would have liked to see the political machinations of Mon and Bail to serve the metaphor even further.
She is more than just a bank for the rebellion, and I think in the effort to contrast Luthen and Mon there was a bit of disservice done to the latter.
And Mon’s loser husband - ugh. Okay they’re in some kind of arranged marriage but there’s very little substance, nothing us particularly revealed about Mon by including him. Other than her cleverly using his gambling debts to deflect her rebellion spending at the end, the story wouldn’t really have changed by him not existing, and in fact would have been improved by focusing more on Mon’s difficult relationship with her daughter.
But on a purely shallow note, I want her wardrobe!
Dedra Meero and Syril Karn
In some ways Cassian and Syril are the narrative foils and there are parallels between them - their conflict instigated in the first episodes, their maternal relationships, both essentially exiles for the middle section before both end up back on Ferrix where Cassian saves Bix and Syril saves Dedra. But I feel Syril and Dedra work better as mirrors, and their arcs also parallel and intersect.
In the Empire, Dedra and Syril are two sides of the other coin (there's quite a few coins in this metaphor). Regimes need bureaucracy, and you have the true believers, the status-climbers, and those just going along to get along. In Dedra we have the talented star of the prestigious Imperial Security Bureau, and in Syril the over eager Corporate Security officer, two arms of the Empire’s control, although the latter we see becoming obsolete as the former gains more control.
But they're both middlemen who chafe against the inaction of their superiors, both desperate to rise above their station (although those stations are quite far apart). Throughout the series their plots are mostly in parallel; they are reflections of each other without even having met.
It's uncomfortable to watch both of them on screen - all unblinking stares, sucked in cheeks, and pursed lips - fittingly repellent. I’m surprised Gilroy has said he wrote Dedra to be relatable - she skeeved me out from the first, someone clearly ready to step over anyone and everyone if it served her purposes rather than someone gradually drawn further into an authoritarian regime. There's the slight subtext of sexism - there's only one other women in the ISB briefing and Pendergast alludes to it, but that certainly didn't engender any sympathy or admiration from me.
In episode 7 Syril’s mother Eedy says “Everything says something, Syril” and chastises him about tailoring his uniform (just as he did in the first episode, a neat little character tell), and immediately after we see Dedra donning her uniform perfectly in sync with the rest of the ISB. He’s trying to stand out from the crowd, she’s trying to fit in - or, from a different perspective, Syril adjusts his collar to resemble the Imperial style as a signifier of where he wants to be, while Dedra is already there and still looking higher.
But both are thinking outside the rigid Imperial lines and command structures, both on the hunt for Cassian - although for Syril it's personal and Dedra it's about climbing the ranks. Both take it upon themselves to investigate against orders, but Syril’s attempts are clumsy and random while Dedra’s are clinical and targeted.
She identifies that “systems either change or die” to push the ISB’s fragmented and bureaucratic inefficiencies into a cohesive power structure, but while it wins her approval it doesn’t earn her any loyalty; her troops abandon her to the mob on Ferrix. Inexplicably though, Syril does manage to gain the loyalty of Sergeant Mosk, who was also punished for the initial blunder on Ferrix, but ultimately draws Syril back there to in search of Cassian.
The point at which they first intersect in episode 8, Dedra is on an upswing, she holds the power and sends Syril further down, but when they meet again in episode 11, the roles are reversed as he is the one to save her from the mob.
I just hope they’re going somewhere more interesting than his creepy crush.
Vel Sartha and Cinta Kaz
One of the major faults of Rogue One was its Smurfette Syndrome, where Jyn is a great female character surrounded by men, but Andor has pleasingly course corrected from this. See what happens when you don’t have one woman having to embody everything and bear the weight of her entire gender in the narrative (and therefore, also bear the criticism)? Andor happily treats its women as characters, not faux-empowering meme-fodder. Although there is perhaps some valid commentary that it’s still white women on the whole - Dedra, Mon, Vel, Maarva - who get the meatier roles, and I have my issues with Mon’s characterisation, but one thing I will give Disney LFL credit for is it’s ongoing efforts towards gender parity.
In Vel and Cinta we have two more sides of insurgency - from wealth and privilege in Vel, the cousin of Mon Mothma struggling with the weight of it all, to Cinta with her cold fire and unwavering drive, her family killed by stormtroopers and for whom the struggle will always come first.
Cinta’s cool reserve is a contrast to Vel’s nerves (as seen in the Aldhani raid); they’re coming from very different places even if their cause is the same. There may even be a bit of classism in the subtext - Vel leads the mission on Aldhani after asking for the mission from Luthen, when really Cinta is the one who is most committed, and she has to push Vel though several times when she falters.
Vel still has one foot in the Imperial world and the complications of rebellious machinations - worried for Mon and her family, wanting to prove herself to Luthen, jockeying with Kleya - but for Cinta none of that matters, she loves Vel but there's often a sense she's disappointed in her. There's a dichotomy within Cinta - she's not unfeeling, showing kindness to Cassian when he joins their group, yet accepting the mission to kill him later without hesitation.
It seems to me that Cinta is the revolutionary Vel wants to be but can't quite divest herself of enough to become - the metaphor is made explicit with these two - Cinta tells Vel: “I’m a mirror. You love me because I show you what you need to see.”
Which is a pretty interesting dynamic, especially as a romantic one, and I’m interested to see where it will go (and hope that Cinta will get more focus, even though I do love Vel a lot too).
Their storyline did run out of steam by the end through, was there any point to either of these characters being on Ferrix at the end? It very much felt like all the plot lines were being forced to intersect at the climax without all of them necessarily needing to. Although Cinta stabbing that guy in the heart was pretty cathartic.
Bix Callen, Maarva Andor, and Ferrix
I loved Ferrix as a location, with its own distinct aesthetic, culture, and populace - the work gloves all hung on the wall, the metal tapping warning system, the daily hammer and anvil (the Time Grappler, according to Wookieepedia), funerary practices. etc. The first few episodes set up Cassian’s community on Ferrix which we come full circle on in the final two, but I did have some trouble keeping track of who was who at that point.
It is interesting that the trope of “just another brick in the wall” is turned on its head here - rather than representing a cog in the machine, in Ferrix ashes of the deceased are mixed with brick and added to a wall in remembrance - a literal touchstone for Cassian as he remembers his adoptive father Clem. A wall is strong, a bulwark against outside forces, and every brick added makes it stronger. Stones dropped in a pond, bricks built into a wall - reminders of the dead that spur the will to fight.
I do love the relationship between Maarva and Cassian, especially in a franchise that has never really had an interest in mothers and sons. And we have another mirror in the overcritical and cold relationship between Syril and Eedy as the inverse of Cassian’s complicated but loving one with Maarva - contrast the reception Syril gets when he returns home to the one Cassian gets from Maarva, as ultimately Eedy's pointed disappointment is sharp where Maarva's is borne from love and concern for Cassian.
But again there’s a disconnect with the history we’re shown - Maarva and Clem kidnap/save Kassa from Kenari but we don’t really get any sense of how Cassian feels about it or the connection he has to his heritage/childhood. I’m not saying I need everything spelled out, but sometimes I feel the show does err too much on the side of subtext, and as a result we don’t delve as deep into some of the relationships as we could have. Even her final message to Cassian - that she loves him more than anything he could ever do wrong - is a beautiful sentiment, but is it earned? He hasn't really done anything wrong, arguably she did wrong by him by taking him from Kenari but it's never even mentioned, it doesn’t even seem to be a factor in their relationship as adults.
On the other hand, I didn’t mind the treatment of the post-romantic relationship between Cassian and Bix - there’s a sense of history there but it didn’t need to be explored further. Bix's involvement in the Rebellion is interesting though, it's implied she was recruited by Kleya through the black market but are her motives purely profit or does she have rebellious fervor? Luthen knows of Cassian through Bix - did she see him as a candidate for the Rebellion or just another person from whom Luthen could obtain tech? What piqued Luthen's interest from what Bix said about him?
I don't think all these questions need answers, but it is unfortunate that she does get a bit Damseled, spending most of the runtime threatened, captured, and then tortured. On the other hand, there's less to criticise in employing that trope when it's not the only one at work and the breadth of female characters on the show.
I do wonder if we will see Bix, Brasso, and B2EMO again though, or if they’re a part of Cassian’s past he had to leave behind to fully commit himself to the Rebellion.
On nostalgia, fanservice, and the state of the Star Wars universe
A tangent into my frustrations with the sequel trilogy, skip if you’re allergic to salt.
Andor has been lauded for its lack of fanservice, although I’d actually argue it’s a show that (perhaps despite Gilroy's intention) is rooted in nostalgia. Well, perhaps not nostalgia per se, but it’s a show that relies on the audience’s knowledge and affection of Rogue One and the Original Trilogy, and it’s successful because it manages to feel authentic and fulfilling rather than ham-fisted and overly meta - a story set in the Star Wars universe, not about the Star Wars universe.
I know Gilroy intended this to be able to stand alone, but would the story have the same resonance if we weren't aware where Cassian's path leads, that the efforts and actions of Mon and Luthern, Vel and Cinta, Nemik, Bix and Kleya, are ultimately justified? Perhaps it would work in a generic sci-fi setting rather than the GFFA, but would we feel as much watching it? Personally, I think not.
Because nostalgia isn’t inherently bad. It’s a vital part of how we consume media - the stories that resonate with us in childhood will continue to resonate in adulthood because they are foundational, it's a shortcut to that incredible feeling of discovering something new that's nonetheless something very old. It's partly why Star Wars was such a success in the first place - a mix of myth and fairy tale, matinee serial and Kurosawa - a familiar story told in a new way. And like in Hadestown, "we're gonna sing it again and again."
The problem with nostalgia is when it’s empty; window dressing intended to evoke that feeling but without any substance behind it, so it feels cheap and unsatisfying. Andor doesn’t completely escape from this (blue milk, mouse droid), but most inclusions feel organic.
Sometimes I think we go to far decrying fanservice, and of course it's subjective - as I like to say, everyone hates it until they’re the fan being serviced. But there is criticism, and then there's dismissing any references to existing material as mere "fanservice" and therefore contemptible. For example, I’ve seen the treatment of Luke, Han, and Leia in the sequel trilogy defended because to actually have them interact at all would be “silly fanservice” rather than natural because, you know, they’re family.
The difference, for me, is does inclusion of a known character/object/trope/line of dialogue serve the character and/or story, or is it Leo DiCaprio pointing meme, designed for “hey it’s the thing” nostalgia and YouTube compilations with no substance behind it? Ultimately, is the inclusion Watsonian or Doylist - and if the latter, what of the former justifies it.
Mon Mothma or Saw Gerrara in Andor doesn’t feel like fanservice even though they’re existing characters, because it makes sense to include them in a story about the Rebellion’s beginning and they had a part to play in Rogue One, to which Andor is ostensibly a prequel. Conversely Leia and Vader’s inclusion in Obi-Wan Kenobi (even if I did enjoy them both) tip over in the side of fanservice because they really have no place in Obi-Wan’s story at that point and require fanwanking around their dialogue in ANH (and to be fair, Lucas was guilty of this as well). I don’t need to see random object or minor character no 6 from the PT/OT/Clone Wars, iconic catch phrase shoved where it doesn’t make sense, or obscure Legends reference divorced from context, just tell me a good story! Give me characters to care about! Make me feel something! Andor did that, where much of the other Disney Star Wars content has not.
This is my fundamental, and possibly at this point, irreconcilable, issue. Disney wanted to get away from Lucas-associated Star Wars as quickly as possible, replacing every character, planet, and theme with their own wholly Disney counterpart, killing off Han, Luke, and Leia so the old and classic couldn’t distract from the shiny and new, tearing down the conclusion of the original trilogy only to try and tell the exact same story (just not as well). They did it so quickly and so shoddily that many were understandably unsatisfied, leaving Disney to frantically course correct, going back to the well and shoving nostalgia bait into every conceivable project even (especially) if it had no place.
If they’d actually had any sort of plan for the sequel trilogy, if they’d made their focus to conclude the Skywalker Saga in a way that even approached emotional resonance, imo the vast majority of the audience would be happy to move on and embrace the next chapter - new characters, new stories. But people can’t move on from the characters they love because the treatment of those characters and the post-ROTJ timeline was so unsatisfying. Luke wouldn’t have needed to show up in The Mandolorian to try and placate the fans if treatment of the character in the ST hasn’t been so abysmal.
So LFL have been stuck in this weird ancillary storytelling space, where every project seemingly needs to be adjacent to the Skywalker Saga but not actually engaging with the Saga direct - Han has a prequel film no one asked for, Rey is a Skywalker for name recognition only, Luke pops up in pointless cameos but isn’t there when he arguably should be (just recast the damn role already!), we get young Leia in a story where she has no place rather than in one she does, who knows what’s going on with the whole Ashoka/Thrawn/Heir to the Empire stuff, Boba Fett is There with a parade of Hey it’s that character/ship/thing with no contribution to the actual storytelling.
What does this have to do with Andor? Well, Andor is perhaps the only quality tv product of the Disney era, which is fitting since Rogue One is imo the only quality film of the Disney era (TFA being retroactively diminished by what came after). Andor is the type of story Star Wars should be telling - expanding the universe, using known elements and characters where it makes sense to do so, not a collection of ideas on a whiteboard thrown in front of an LED screenstage and a bunch of meaningless easter eggs.
To be fair, this does seem what they are attempting to do with The Acolyte (which I am actually enjoying!) but the planned Rey-focused post-ST film…eh. Admittedly I never bothered to watch Rise of Skywalker, but where can the story possibly go? Is there any investment at all after the mess that was the sequel trilogy? I can’t see how the narrative can possibly be redeemed at this point, which is a shame because I do believe it started with a lot of promise in The Force Awakens that was squandered by a lack of vision, planning, and oversight, and the bizarre need to brutalise and kill off the legacy characters, marginalise the genuinely original and interesting new characters, and waste the immense acting talent they had at their disposal.
They’ve made no meaningful in-universe progress after the ST, the New Republic and Jedi have to be rebuilt again, except Rey is going to do it this time somehow, so what what the point of the last 30 years in the timeline? It’s different with Andor - we know where his story ends, but the series only makes Cassian’s sacrifice stronger, there’s emotional resonance in seeing his journey to Rogue One in knowing that it’s in service of the overall victory of the Rebellion (however undermined that victory is made by the ST).
But I digress. This rant really ended up being kind of off topic - apologies.
Anyway. Andor is good! I liked it! Looking forward to season 2!
After rewatching the original film I'm kicking off with the show's pilot - I actually watched both the original version and the "final cut" because there are aspects I enjoy of both. The final cut removes a few problematic elements and adds in some new material, but also cuts a few lines I really enjoy and the original version is really where my nostalgia lies, so... as always, my feelings, they are mixed.
Cold open with some redshirts - four men and one woman, sadly representative of the gender ratio the show will have going forward.
The unlucky Smurfette is Sgt Carol Weterings, not that I think she's ever mentioned by name in the episode.
"Probably the only thing it ever did was cost money." Heh.
I will say that Teal'c turning against Apophis at the end of the episode is nicely built - starting here where he examines the gun and identifies it as technology far advanced beyond the humans they’re used to dealing with.
When your name is above the title, you get introduced with an extreme close up.
The differences between the film and the show don't really bother me - I view the show as taking place in a very similar but alternate universe to the film rather than trying to squeeze them together - so O'Neil becomes O'Neill, Sha'uri becomes Sha're, Tyler becomes Charlie, Abydos is the closest planet to Earth, not the other side of the known universe, etc etc. But I consider the events of the film to be canon to the show universe unless directly contradicted.
But otherwise the pilot tries very hard to stick as close as possible to the film, to the point that Major Samuels states that General Hammond replaced General West.
Hammond says it’s been “over a year” since the events of the film, unclear exactly how much over.
The final cut has a longer version of the dead Jaffa, revealing one of them was a woman, and with all the changes to eliminate plot holes I don't know why Brad Wright put one back in. While we do see Jaffa women in the series, Goa'uld and Jaffa society is depicted as highly patriarchal and female Jaffa soliders are rare - we never see them in Apophis's ranks. It's an odd inclusion.
"What if the aliens get it?" "Well, they could be blowing their noses right now." hee!
"THANKS SEND MORE" Remember when Daniel had allergies? Give it a few episodes and the show sure won’t!
Amanda Tapping, doing her absolute best with some terrible dialogue. Brad Wright blames the "reproductive organs" speech on Jonathan Glassner, and it is terrible and thankfully removed from the final cut version, along with some other 90's era sexism from the bros. However there is one great moment, where Kawalsky asks "Have you ever pulled out of a simulated bombing run in an F16 at eight plus Gs?" and without missing a beat, Sam deadpans: "Yes." I love Sam.
"I'll give you exactly 24 hours to either return or send a message through - no Kleenex boxes, please." Hee, Hammond isn't quite the cuddly commander we know and love yet, but he has his moments.
It's very cute that Sam has a very similar reaction to the one Daniel had in the film just before going through the gate, although his was based in the wonder of something incredible and unknown, and hers is based in the physical manifestation of knowledge - says a lot about each of them and their similarities yet different perspectives - the marrying of these two points of view is what makes them such a good duo.
Michael Shanks, doing the James Spader impression that won him the role. He was only 26!
And of course Alexis Cruz, the only holdover from the movie (other than Erick Avari, who won't appear until season 2).
The original team sure did leave a bunch of weapons with the Abydonians, didn't they? I presume they taught them how to fire the guns because there's no way Daniel could/would have. He did however teach them very good English.
"Greetings from Earth, Doctor Jackson" - very cute, it's sad that Ferretti disappears into the ether by season 2.
Not the face of a woman who is shy, but a woman who knows how to make An Entrance. She even smirks a little as she walks over.
There is however a weird little moment where Sha're is reluctant to shake Jack's hand and looks to Daniel first - maybe she wasn't impressed about his little joke brushing by her husband? Both of these beats are removed from the final cut version which is probably for the best.
It's criminal Sha're doesn't actually get to speak in this scene, and in fact how few lines she has in the episode altogether.
It's disappointing, because Sha'uri was such an integral part of the film, and yet the show tries to get rid of her as quickly as possible to get Daniel on SG-1 and give him a core drive for the next three seasons. Her abduction is the precipitating event of Daniel's ten-year character arc and defining moment of transition from film!Daniel to show!Daniel, and yet she doesn't get a character arc of her own.
However I do think Shanks and Vaitiare Hirshon sell the relationship in the few scenes they have - they're very physically connected/protective of one another, perhaps concerned that Jack's there to take Daniel back with him (which is in fact the case). And of course Sha're, annoyed at being left behind while Daniel shows the others his discovery, gives him a very proprietary kiss to show everyone what’s what.
I think show!Sha're gets a bad rap, she's spunky and I love her. I just wish there was more of her.
Sam and Daniel insta-bonding. Daniel making an intuitive leap to solve the puzzle and Sam filling in the gaps with science to make it work, they really are kindred spirits.
The issue with the cartouche though is that the symbols look like hierogyphs, not star constellations/Stargate glyphs.
Back in the pyramid, there's a scene sorely missing here - imagine if rather than ogling Sha're, Ferretti had a conversation with her, giving us more of a chance to know Sha're on her own terms rather than just Daniel's wife and the object of others desire. Especially when Ferretti was on the original mission so knows she's more than a "beautiful woman" - it would also give additional weight to him being the one to remember the gate address where she's taken later on.
Teal'c clocks Skaara's gun as the same tech he saw on Earth in breadcrumb no. 2.
"Nothing good can ever come through this gate!" "You came through it , Daniel" I mean...I realise there are a lot of problematic white savior-y aspects to the show, but idk, this scene and the Abydonians all petting Daniel to say goodbye gets me. Sean Amsing as Tobay also returns in Full Circle which is a nice callback to this scene.
The final cut removes a reaction shot from Jack which I have mixed feelings about - I get that the focus probably needs to be on Daniel at that moment, but I do think it's important for Jack to appreciate how Daniel really found a home with the Abydonians and was appreciated and loved by them, and it's nicely played by RDA.
LOL, watch out for how many times Jack pats Daniel on the shoulder. Apparently that annoyed Shanks so RDA kept doing it, but it's also a nice little setup of their relationship going forward.
There's a second shoulder pat in the hallway.
Just two dudes, drinking beer, (not) talking about their feelings.
“She was the complete opposite of everyone else, she practically fell on the floor laughing every time I tried to do some kind of chore they all took for granted.” Underrated line, because it gives important context to Daniel and Sha’re’s relationship, and perhaps more importantly, how Daniel characterises her - she is the one who keeps him grounded, who teases him, there is balance to their relationship. There’s potentially an interesting parallel there to Vala in the later seasons, although it manifests in a very different way.
“I think she forgave me for what happened to our kid, she just couldn’t forget…I’m the opposite, I can never forgive myself, but sometimes I can forget.” This is a great scene.
The Final Cut removes all the “harem scenes” and while I can see why, we do lose a bit of context to Teal'c's involvement in the process as he is the one who chooses the women from the holding cell to go into the harem, and then from the harem to be presented to Apophis.
There was another missed opportunity to actually see Sha're interact with the other prisoners - she could have had a conversation with Weterings at least, find out she was from Earth, perhaps assure her that the others would be coming to rescue them.
To the surprise of no one I’m sure, this episode does not pass the Bechdel test.
But there is a hint of solidarity among the prisoners - first in the holding cell where the others hold Skaara back, and here in the harem Sha're squeezes the hand of another woman.
Weterings is killed by the hand device which keeps the electrical current aesthetic from the movie the show will later abandon - as Teal'c looks perturbed.
Daniel back on Earth immediately getting stuck into the coffee even though no one else is drinking, lol.
"Ra played a god, the sun god, he borrowed the religion and culture of the ancient Egyptians he brought through the gate and used it to enslave them." A bit of a change from the movie here, where it was the other way around - slightly less problematic!
Everyone is in dress blues except Kawalsky who is in camo, and Daniel, who is wearing Jack's clothes.
"Colonel I'd like to remind you that rescuing Dr Jackson's wife is a secondary objective." This line was removed in the final cut and I don't know why? It adds to Samuels’s bastardry.
Has everyone forgotten about Weterings?
Shoulder pat no. 3!
In the second harem scene, Sha're is now sitting isolated from the other women - did she argue with them? Just trying not to be noticed? What happened offscreen?
Also what's going on in the top left corner - it looks like the healing device! Maybe Sha're did throw down with one of the others and that's why she's on her own. I have to read into things, because the show gives us so very little of Sha're and it's a real shame.
She does get a good moment fighting against the guards though - earlier she was defiant and told them she wasn't afraid of them, here she bites one of them on the arm.
I understand from a narrative perspective why Sha're is the one who gets taken over, but it really is Schrodinger’s fridging - until she’s found Sha’re is both alive and dead for the purpose of the narrative, both Daniel’s primary drive and source of inner conflict.
Christopher Judge does so much with so little. Master of the cheek twitch!
Oof, the nudity. In isolation from everything else, it doesn’t bother me - it’s intended to be horrifying, not titillating, and is effective in conveying objectification and dehumanisation by the Goa'uld.
However, it was a studio request, Wright/Glassner regretted doing it, it doesn’t fit the tone of the show going forward, but most importantly Hirshon was pressured into the full frontal when she only agreed to topless, and for that alone it should be excised.
The puppet symbiotes are so much more effective than the cgi they use later. I don’t think there’s another scene in the show that really captures the menace of the Goa’uld like this one - the symbiote (who we'll later learn is Amaunet) slithering around on Sha're's body is just so visceral and horrifying. The glowing eyes before implantation is an effective touch.
Jack sticking Daniel in it with Sam by saying Sha're was a gift could be amusing, except the conversation gets cut off before Daniel can explain. It annoys me, because Daniel not "accepting" Sha're was actually the point? It's kind of important! I assume he does tell Sam the whole story later.
"Unless we want to get ourselves a really bad reputation, I just think we should avoid shooting the first people we meet on a new planet" is a nice follow up to Daniel's sarcastic "well that would have been an excellent reason to shoot everyone" from the film. At this point, Daniel doesn't appear to be carrying a weapon other than a knife. Oh, how that will change!
The Chulak priests speak "a derivation of Arabic" and something else - the Goa'uld language is meant to be similar to Abydonian, which is based on Ancient Egyptian. Of course modern Egyptian is an Arabic dialect that came much later, but perhaps we are to assume Goa'uld - or at least the Chulak vernacular - evolved along similar lines.
Jack unable to shoot Sha're when she stands in front of Apophis is a nice movie callback.
The final cut has a good extra scene between Sam and Daniel where he is quite delusional thinking Sha're might just be drugged, and Sam tries to talk sense into him. Daniel's blind optimism against Sam's pragmatic realism will be an important aspect of their relationshio going forward.
Shoulder pat no. 4!
Teal'c P.I. sees Skaara talking to Jack and starts putting pieces together - the weapons from the opening scene, the weapons on Abydos + Jack's watch, and Daniel helpfully supplying the Earth glyph.
Alexis Cruz is committed to the film pronunciation of Sha’uri, bless him.
“But you are a great warrior, we defeated Ra together!” Skaara’s faith in Jack is so pure.
Skaara gets a shoulder pat too.
"Another fine day on planet Kawalsky" - This line was removed from the final cut! What a tragedy. I get the sense Brad Wright feels a bit cringe about the campier aspects of the show, but it's part of the charm! To be fair Ferretti was more of the wisecracker in the movie rather than Kawalsky, but I love that show Kawalsky is a little goofy.
I'm sorry, what is this silver monstrosity? I guess a sliver of credit that after the nudity not going for a sexy alien outfit, but this is a hate crime. I also have a very high tolerance, and even affection for, silly Stargate headgear, but there's camp and then there's ugly.
Peter Williams as Apophis though: 10/10, no notes.
"They're going to choose...who will be the children of the gods." I do love it when they say the title of the thing in the thing.
The subtle moment where Teal'c motions that Jack should kneel is a nice setup - Skaara being very reluctant and angry about kneeling, and being the last to do so, is nice movie continuity. Skaara really gets shortchanged by the show after this episode.
"How much would I remember if you chose me?" I wonder if Daniel ever thinks that maybe him drawing the attention of the Goa'uld contributed to Skaara getting chosen. You know, just to really lay on the angst and guilt.
So the premise is that these Apophis underlings are choosing hosts for their children who are symbiotes ready for implantation, which doesn't really fit with what we learn about Goa'uld queens/reproduction later. We also learn later that Skaara is taken as a host for Apophis's son Klorel which doesn't sqaure with these two choosing him.
Headcanon time! This is actually Zipacna who we meet later arguing for Klorel at Triad - different actor, of course, but he wears a similarly silly hat. So Amaunet now has access to all of Sha're's memories of Skaara and she and Apophis decide that he will make a good host - maybe she also likes the idea of a family resemblance between herself and Klorel (I think we can assume he is also Amaunet's son?). But Apophis doesn't want anyone to know he's choosing a host for his offspring, so sends Zipacna out to do it for him.
This makes sense of Klorel later claiming that Apophis chose his host, and also gives backstory to Zipacna showing up in Pretense. And in the scene, the Goa'uld make a very quick decision to take Skaara, while the rest get very grossly examined people before choosing.
Shoulder pat no. 5!
"I have nowhere to go." Teal'c turning on his brother Jaffa to save a roomful of people, not expecting to survive himself, really hits.
"For this, you can stay at my place." hee!
Jack not wanting to hear it when Teal'c tells him Skaara is no longer himself is a turnabout of the earlier scene with Daniel. Not so flip now it's your Emotional Support Abydonian, are you Jack?
Kawalsky getting Goa'ulded doesn't seem to hurt as much as Sha're's - because the symbiote isn't mature, or because Amaunet is particularly sadistic?
Soon to be SG-1 posing for their album cover.
It was the late 90's when tvs were tiny, so everyone had to stand uncomfortably close.
Well, it only took...six months, but I'm back on my rewatch!
We start season 2 right where we left off, in fact I think the zoom to the team in the pel’tak is the exact final shot of the last episode reversed.
Sam’s instinct upon waking up blind is to bite the fuck out of Jack’s hand, lol. I love Sam.
Interesting that of the group Daniel regained consciousness first, especially on the heels of getting his brain melted from the ribbon device, but then I guess he’s had the most experience being KO'd? He does seem to be in more pain than the others, however.
Written by Brad Wright, directed by Jonathan Glassner, we got a double show runner episode!
We know things are serious because Hammond is in camo. Sadly, it does not say General on his uniform.
Ugh, Samuels is still around, but I love Hammond's palpable disdain for him.
Things are also serious for daddy Apophis, willing to hold off the attack on Earth until Klorel has been revived in the sarcophagus.
Okay, Daniel’s glasses are back, so was he wearing contacts the last episode and had to take them off after getting blinded by the shock grenade? I’m going to go with that because it’s the only thing that makes sense.
Bra’tac walking in and elbowing Jack in the face! lol, Jack’s really going through it this episode.
“Do you know all I have done to regain the trust of Apophis and join this campaign?” Referring the the end of Bloodlines I suppose, where I did have an issue with Bra’tac’s obvious betrayal so I appreciate they’ve addressed that here. Still, I think we can assume that if Apophis believed that Bra’tac did help Teal’c he would have been executed immediately, so perhaps it was assumed negligence on Bra’tac’s part rather than outright treason?
We breeze right past Bra’tac informing the others about Klorel without much of a reaction from Jack or Daniel, but given the circumstances I suppose to be expected (if unwelcome).
But we do get a “cross that bridge when we come to it” callback which I find delightful.
Klorel meanwhile is having trouble staying in control - he tells Apophis his host is “strong” and that he needs more time in the sarcophagus. This tracks with what we later learn about the sarcophagus side effects.
Apophis however is having none of it; it’s a Goa’uld eat Goa’uld world (literally, as we’ll find out in season 5).
Some lore quirks - Goa’uld society is highly patriarchal which makes sense from a feudalistic/imperialistic standpoint, but not really from a biological one. The Goa’uld genetic memory is passed through the female line, from queen to symbiote. So while Klorel may be Apophis’s son in that Apophis was presumably supplied the, er... "code", it’s Amaunet’s genetic memory that was passed on to Klorel.
On the other hand, perhaps this is why (as we are informed by Bra’tac) that it’s common for Goa’uld sons to turn against/challenge their fathers, as they have the memory of their mothers and ultimately see their father's as something to destroy and supplant - which is a core aspect of Greek mythology.
This will also come into play later with the Harcesis, as Apophis wants to create offspring with his own genetic memory, and perhaps it is Klorel's failure in this episode that spurs this decision. Or maybe not, I'm unsure of the timeline - is Sha're already pregnant and on Abydos at this point?
In this episode we see Apophis caring enough about Klorel to wait until he is revived, but also expecting him to prove his strength by overcoming his host and leading the attack. It is Klorel's test to prove himself as well as Apophis's chance to get his revenge on Earth - they both fail, with dire and long-reaching consequences.
Samuels suggests they send a bomb through to Chulak, to which Hammond disdainfully replies that he sees no military reason to do so. It's nice to see Hammond's growth from the first episode where he almost made the decision to send a bomb to Abydos, and a contrast to alt!Jack's bombing Chulak in the mirror universe at the end of last season.
Hammond also gets to gleefully deny Samuels’ request to go to the Alpha site. Get 'im, George.
“You are not a god. You are a parasite within a child, and I despise you.” What a fantastic line. Tony Amendola is so damn good.
Oh hey, Teal'c grabs Klorel to stop him killing Bra'tac with the ribbon device! Growth.
"Danny, watch our backs" - one of the few times Jack actually calls Daniel this in the show? It's certainly overused in fanfic.
And watch their backs he does, taking out three Jaffa even it it earns him a staff blast in the shoulder for his trouble.
I appreciate how physically affectionate Jack is in these early seasons, and there's nothing I love more than an emotional face touch.
Jack "never leave a man behind" O'Neill...doesn't want to leave Daniel behind, but Daniel points out that their plan is to blow up and die on the other ship anyway, which is sound logic.
Daniel doesn't point out that his plan is to drag himself to the sarcophagus, probably because if he did Jack would insist on taking him there himself before continuing the mission, and they don't have time for all that.
Teal'c uses Klorel as a hostage and then just lets him go before they go through rings? I guess it's dangerous keeping him with them since he'll slow them down or try to get free and they still need to blow the other ship/expecting everyone to die anyway but idk, it's still Skaara? Could have hung onto him just in case.
I believe that originally Apophis was meant to kill Klorel for failing him at this point but that was changed, and the shot we see of them both escaping through the rings is an obvious composite.
A correct change, because why would they kill of Skaara at this point, and so unceremoniously? Not to mention if Apophis was happy for Klorel to die he could have just attacked our team instead of letting them use Klorel as a shield.
Meanwhile, Daniel is getting sarcophagus treatment no. 2, which will become relevant this season. It also heals his clothes, maybe a superior model to Ra's.
The death gliders the team uses to escape will also become relevant down the line, one thing I do love about this show is the continuity and seeding storylines that will be picked up later.
A poignant moment for Sam in the glider looking up at Earth as someone who wanted to be an astronaut and go to space - she's seen so much through the Stargate, but it's the first time she's seen Earth from orbit in the way she's always dreamed.
Lots of face touching going on this episode, I dig it.
Absolute lol at Daniel hanging back behind everyone just waiting so Hammond can do a dramatic reveal. Meanwhile Bra'tac, already escorted away to be debriefed is like fuck my drag, right?
I admit I still don't understand the space monkey thing - I mean, I know the reference but don't really get why it's applicable to Daniel, or why Jack said it (or rather, RDA since it was an adlib) to indicate joy at Daniel being alive.
But hey, it's cute! One of those random Jack things.
Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️
Thank you, my friend! I'm going to limit this to Star Wars fics otherwise it would be impossible to choose.
In no particular order:
The Lady of the Lake - part of my A Year in the Life series, and I think this is my favourite for a few reasons. It's the conclusion of the series and I love a happy ending, indulging in some of my greatest Star Wars loves - Luke/Mara, One Big Happy Skywalker/Solo family + the Naberries (SkySoloBerries), and particular writing interests - mythology and folklore which play a big part in this story, in particular I love the story of the singing swan (which I may repurpose in original fiction one day) and Nabéire and the Morrígan.
Turn Your Face to the Sun - Obi-Wan chronicles his life on Tatooine in a journal - which sounds banal, but I really love this fic even if it is unfinished (I'm close, only a few chapters to go). In a way Obi-Wan as a character probably aligns with my writing style better than others, and I really enjoyed fleshing out his character during this time, but also Owen, Beru, and Luke as a family. If you were disappointed by the Kenobi tv show, perhaps this may be of interest.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother - A little bit of a cheat, since this isn't technically a series but a grouping of one-shots about Luke and Han's friendship (or thematically adjacent) - one of my favourite relationships/dynamics! Set at various times and adhering to various canons, nonetheless something I always enjoy writing about. But if I had to only pick one from this lot, it would be He Will Not Encumber Me.
Twin Hearts of Kyber - This started out as a little AU where Leia made it to Tatooine to collect Obi-Wan, who of course insisted on bringing Luke along too. I wrote a second chapter because I really wanted Luke to meet Breha and Bail, and then intended to write a third and final chapter where the twins meet Han, however the more I thought about it the more I wanted to explore how the story could unfold from there (and maybe bring Mara into it as well), but alas remains unfinished even in my mind. But I still love it, and do want to finish it one day.
Red Five - At over 200k words, the longest fic I've ever written, started in those heady days after TFA where there was so much hope and theorising about where the story could go. While technically a Luke/OC fic, the idea of Valara was very much as a Mara expy brought into the new canon. Originally intended as a one-shot, the fic grew into a total AU backstory to TFA with Luke and Valara as an emotional slow burn, the birth of Rey and her subsequent disappearance orchestrated by Ben, and then AU sequel to TFA as Luke and Rey reunite and search for Valara. Heavy angst with a happy ending (eventually), I'm really very attached to this fic even if I have been soured on the ST as a whole.
Lois Lane Costume Appreciation (Smallville seasons 4-5)
So in my recent* Smallville rewatch I had a whole new appreciation for the costuming, and in particular, my girl Lois and her colour story/clothing complementing Clark’s in different ways. We often see Lois and Clark wearing somewhat similar clothes - usually both in jeans, t-shirt, and jacket combo in either red or blue, with Clark in one colour while Lois is in the other. But I was particularly intrigued by yellow as the third element of the Superman triad, and while we don’t see Lois wear yellow as much as she does red and blue (or pink and white in the latter seasons) but it seems she is associated with yellow at pivotal moments in her character arc and relationship with Clark.
Standard caveat that I think a lot of this was intentional, but some things are probably me just reading into things and choosing to find meaning in in the visual storytelling. Additional caveat that red-yellow-blue was the standard colour palette of the show and the mise-en-scene relied heavily on this - particularly in the early to mid seasons - so it's certainly not exclusive to Lois and some examples may be coincidence.
But let’s talk yellow! (Expanding on this post)
Yellow is Earth’s sun Sol (in contrast to Krypton’s red sun Rao), the source of Clark’s abilities. It’s the heart of the Superman shield:
It’s the colour associated with the Crystal of Fire, one of the three components that make up the crystal that builds the Fortress of Solitude and houses the knowledge of the 28 known galaxies. The Crystal of Water (transference/transformation) is blue, and the Crystal of Air (symbol of the House of El) is red:
Fire is light and warmth; it can purify and cleanse. The crystal of fire had healing abilities, it's what restored Clark's powers in 4x08 Spell, and throughout the series, when Clark is injured and then healed by the sun, it's often accompanied by a yellow light.
The Crystal of Fire was also found in 4x01 Crusade where Lois first appears: as Lex unearths the crystal in Egypt, Lois comes across Clark (in the form of Kal-El) in a cornfield. (In what is likely a coincidence, Lois will return to Egypt in 10x01, and it's there she makes the decision to commit to Clark in 10x02, and she is possessed by the Egyptian goddess Isis in 10x05).
Yellow the colour of the Kent farmhouse, Clark’s home, as well as the kitchen (hearth) of the house. It's the flowers in the front yard that also draw their life from Earth's yellow sun (the barn is red, the sky is blue).
So basically yellow = healing/home = Clark's heart = Lois.
This kicks off in 4x02 Gone, where Lois wears Clark's red and plaid shirt, the first of several times Lois will wear his clothes over the course of the series. Clark is in a blue check, and it's notable that we first see them collectively in Superman colours for the first time when they are both together in the Kent house (in the yellow kitchen).
In 4x03 Facade Clark wears the same shirt that Lois borrowed, and Lois has a yellow top under her jacket (also note the blue blanket in the background of the barn).
We then see the same (or a similar) top without the jacket in 4x04, Devoted, where Clark and Lois banter and engage in some prolonged eye fucking eye contact. In this scene the primary colours are right there bright and bold, leaving no doubt that we've just been introduced to the Superman endgame.
Now, there may be an in-universe reason why Lois is wearing yellow here - it follows a football game, and yellow is one of the colours of Smallville High. However, Lois isn't exactly the school spirit type and she was wearing this top in the previous episode, so there's no doubt in my mind this was intentionally symbolic.
This is the final episode of Lois’s introductory arc, the end of the beginning, and a glimpse of the future.
We don't see Lois again for a while (and she spends most of 4x08 possessed by a witch). The next one might not count, but her cute breakfast themed pjs in 4x13 Recruit include red yellow and blue (and pink, a colour that becomes more symbolic for Lois in the latter seasons):
Sidebar, but Lois and her parade of themed pajamas delights me so much!
This is also the episode of an iconic save, where Clark goes all WHERE IS SHE on the freak of the week, and rescues Lois from drowning.
In 4x16 Lucy we don't get yellow in the costuming, but at the end of the episode Lois and Clark grow closer, acknowledging that they're now friends, accompanied by some more prolonged eye contact. Clark then looks through his telescope a a yellow shooting star passing between a red star and blue star (to the background of Mark Joseph's Fly ("written in the wind...now it all begins..."), intersecting with a meteor in an explosion of light, much like Lois has barrelled into Clark's life, setting him on a new course towards his destiny.
This show, honestly!
Next is 4x21 Forever, where Lois has found some sleeves for her job at the Talon (which is heavy on the yellow/Egyptian decor), and Clark of course is in red and blue:
Clark's shirt is not the same one that Lois wears earlier in the season, but Lois does wear this shirt later in the series, so she certainly has a thing for Clark's red and yellow plaid!
As Lois and Clark investigate Chloe and Lana's disappearance, she puts on an orange jacket (orange is another interesting Lois colour - a mix of red and yellow that pops up at interesting points in their relationship).
It's telling that Lois very rarely wears prints - she's into bold, block colours, and other than plaid, so is Clark - they often wear complementary costumes, and/or are mirror images (or close to it) of each other, both in the colour and style of their clothes.
I'm not saying this is soulmate behaviour, but this is absolutely soulmate behaviour!
We don't see Lois in yellow again until season five.
Now I know there was a lot of criticism levied at the show for Lois's relationships with A.C. and then Oliver, but honestly I don't really mind - let Lois be a slut in charge of her sexuality! There is no shame here for a girl who attracts would-be superheros, and goes after what she wants. GTFO with "Lois goes through the Justice League" misogynistic line of thinking.
In 10x09 Mera alleges Lois is attracted to power, but I think it's more she's drawn to strength of character, as well as people who challenge her - characteristics Clark shares, and where Lois doesn't quite fit with A.C. and Oliver, she will fit with Clark. What's interesting is that yellow pops up here, but in ways that aren't quite in sync.
In 5x04 Aqua we have Lois in a red swimsuit and Clark in blue shorts, and she is lain a yellow towel when she is saved by AC.
Then as A.C. and Lois get closer, she wears a blue and yellow suit (so collectively, she owns swimming outfits in Superman colours) and then a blue t-shirt but pink shorts. AC also wears orange and green (Aquaman colours), so while we have the yellow and blue, we also have pink and orange which are on the same spectrum but not red - close but things aren't quite right.
Other than the straps on Lois's suit, yellow is also present in the scene with the flowers, and the stripes on the cup (the Kent family mugs are often yellow as well!). Clark is present in the scene long before he walks in on Lois and A.C. kissing - kicking off a pattern where Clark is suspicious/annoyed by the men Lois dates.
At the end of the episode we get Clark in red, Lois inbBlue, and the helpful yellow of the barn props, as Lois wonders how she's ever going to meet a guy that wants to save the world, not own it, and Clark assures her one day she'll meet someone even more special than A.C. The anvils, they be dropping!
This one may be a stretch, but Lois is wearing a light yellow top in the early scenes of 5x06 Exposed aka the episode where Lois poses as a stripper and gives Clark a lapdance, but perhaps more importantly where Lois flexes her investigative skills, first by boldly challenging Detective Sawyer, and then helping Chloe track down a serial killer. We often see Lois in yellow when she's making steps towards her journalistic career.
Next up we have 5x08 Solitude, where Lois is working at the Talon, and we get a very direct Superman costume reference with Lois's top and apron with the Talon logo in yellow where the Superman crest would be.
That Lex is really amused by Lois is delightful to me! I wish that they'd let them share more screentime!
She decides to take down Lex in this episode, and in doing so ultimately helps Chloe uncover Milton Fine's true motives - arguably without Lois she never would have been able to save Clark in the Fortress and Martha would also have died. It also sets up the future Lois and Lex dynamic and her quest to expose his criminal behaviour.
So shame on anyone who says Lois doesn't serve a purpose in these seasons or that she's "not iconic Lois yet". She's not meant to be! She's on a journey, just like Clark is.
There's also this jacket in 5x10 Fanatic and I can't decide if it's a very light yellow or not, but this is when Lois becomes Jonathan's campaign manager, integrating even further into the Kent family. While I don't agree that Clark and Lois had a "sibling dynamic" in these seasons (I'm sorry, siblings don't stare at each other like they do!), Lois was in many ways a surrogate daughter to Jonathan and Martha - they immediately took Lois under their wing, believed in her, championed her, and she in return was ride-or-die for the Kent family.
In 5x20 Fade we continue the pattern of Lois in yellow when there's a romantic interest for her that Clark takes issue with, although in this case he's right as the guy is a hitman. Clark wears a light blue shirt, while Lois is in a red dress with yellow/gold straps - the lighting is also extremely unsubtle:
Incidentally, this is also the episode where Clark accidentally sees Lois naked.
Later in the episode Lois also wears a yellow top and blue jacket, and in a deleted scene it's actually Martha who picks this outfit for her after Lois says "if you ask me, [Clark] needs to finish the chapter on Lana, turn the page, start dating again." It's a very sweet scene, and the future mother-in-law vibes are strong as Martha says, "If I'd had a daughter, I'd want her to be just like you."
Also important to note that Martha is wearing red in this scene, and there is a later scene that was not cut, in which Martha tells Lois rather anviliously "maybe you have to get through all the wrong men, so you can recognise the right one."
Martha choosing yellow for Lois, as if unconsciously knowing what it means, it actually something that it so personal. Also, the face of a woman who knows her worth.
Speaking of anvils, there dropping all over in 5x21 Oracle, where Lois wears yet another yellow top for Clark's birthday, and made him a red and blue cake with yellow candles - and we see later in the episode that the inside of the cake is yellow as well.
Lois also gives Clark a red and blue journal with his initials in gold, wrapped in paper that's red on one side and yellow on the other, with red yellow and blue ribbons. It's actually an adorable gift, and it's a shame there was never see Clark writing in it.
Now, how many yellow tops does Lois own? I actually think this one is the same as in 4x21, so with the one above and the tank top that's at least three (plus the bikini), which is not an insignificant number!
But wait, I spoke too soon, because Lois is wearing another yellow top when she and Lana walk in on Clark rifling though the dorm room later in the episode - there's a different neckline/bodice to any of the previous tops, but I wonder if this is a continuity error because when Lois confronts Clark in the loft later on it once again looks like the top from the opening scene.
Or maybe not? Her hair is obviously different, but I'm not even sure it's the same jacket? The lapels don't look quite the same either, maybe it's not even meant to be the same day.
Lois just chose extremely similar outfits I guess!
The scene in the loft is the infamous "piggybank" conversation, where Clark says, "There are times when I think you don't know me at all, then others when I think you know me better than anyone."
I mean? I MEAN?!?!?!?!
Clark is also holding the journal Lois gave him, which is a nice touch. This is ripe for fanfic potential (if it's already been done, drop a link!).
That's it for the first two seasons of Lois, stay tuned for part 2!
*Recent when I first started putting this post together several years ago, it's been sitting in drafts for an embarrassingly long time. In fact, such a long time, I've completed another Smallville rewatch since then (hence the impetus to finally finish and post this).
Lois Lane costume appreciation (Part III, seasons 8-10)
Part I - seasons 4-5
Part II - seasons 6-7
This is Part III of my appreciation for Lois Lane's costuming in Smallville, and in particular the colour yellow.
While the previous seasons relied heavily on the red-blue-yellow colour scheme, the soft reboot of the later seasons moves slightly away from it as we spend more time in gritty Metropolis. Although we still have primary colours in the setting - the Kent farm, the Talon, the Daily Planet, and in season 10 Lois and Clark's apartment - the costuming shifts to more muted tones. In season 8 Clark takes up the persona of the Red-Blue Blur, but to protect that identity he stops wearing red and blue in his civilian life, starting work at the Daily Planet in suit and tie to match Lois's business attire that she adopted in season 7.
Lois actually doesn't wear straight yellow as much these last seasons (other than a few notable exceptions), but is occasionally associated with gold. She still favours red and blue, but we start seeing shades rather than the bold primaries of the earlier seasons. Lois is also often costumed in pink or white at important moments - white being the colour of purity, but also Krypton/formal Kryptonian robes we see both Jor-El and Lara wear (as opposed to black which is Kryptonian military/solider coded). Clark wears a lot of black and shades of grey in season 9 as he is torn between his Human and Kryptonian sides, and between the philosophies of his father Jor-El and his would-be brother Zod.
Pink is of course a mix of red and white, and also a Superman I reference ("I like pink very much Lois"). Lana wore a lot of pink in the earlier seasons, so there is a precedent for it being used to denote romance/the love interest in the show's visual storytelling.
As Lois and Clark's romantic relationship develops, we rely less on the symbolism and subtext because it's up there on the screen. Lois becomes Clark's heart in the narrative, so we don't need to see it represented as visual foreshadowing. But there's still some key symbolism to explore in the presence of yellow and thematic-adjacent gold.
The first time we see Lois in yellow this season is 8x05 Committed, where Lois wakes up at the farm hung over after getting drunk at Chloe and Jimmy's engagement. She wore gold shoes to the party, and I think this is an instance where the use of gold was perhaps unintentional, but is a nice little detail. We then see her in Clark's yellow and red football jersey, with very nice placement of the blue sheet almost like a cape.
Since I doubt Clark wears this jersey on the regular, there's a good chance Lois either rifled through all of Clark's drawers and chose this to wear, or Clark specifically picked it out for her - either option delights me (and is ripe for fic potential). Also note Clark in his blue shirt for this scene, so together they complete the red-yellow-blue combination.
She then puts on one of Clark's plaid shirts over her dress, the one with the red, yellow, and blue print. This episode is of course when Lois (under duress) first declares her love for Clark so the return to and emphasis on the Superman colour costuming is appropriate. It also continues the tradition of Lois wearing Clark's shirts that started in 4x02 and we'll see several times going forward.
While we see plenty of Lois in red or blue in season 8, we don't see her in yellow or gold again until 9x01 Savior after Lois returns from the future. At the end of the episode, Lois is wearing a yellow top with her pjs right before her memories of the future are triggered, including her and Clark having sex. So Lois in yellow at this moment, having the experience of the future with a Clark that emotionally died without her, is narratively apt.
Now while Lois's memories are later erased and this timeline never exists, the events still happened for Lois, so an interesting quirk of the show is that Lois has sex with Clark before he has sex with her, but he ends up with memories of it and she doesn't.
In the next episode 9x02 Metallo, Lois wakes up from having more dreams of the future in flannelette pajamas with red yellow and blue helicopters. These pjs are reminiscent of earlier seasons, and it's likely that with Clark missing in action and feeling out of kilter with her visions, Lois is seeking the comfort of that time. She takes Shelby back to the Talon with her not only to smoke Clark out, but as a reminder of her time at the farm and the surrogate family that was the Kents (also note the yellow in her blankets).
The red/yellow/blue plaid shirt from 8x05 shows up again in 9x04 Echo for what should have been Lois and Clark's first date, and we see Lois cut off the sleeves to get ready for Monster Trucks. This means she kept the shirt all that time and brought it out specifically for their date, and I find that extremely cute. It also shows how far they've come - when she borrowed his shirt in 4x02 she presumably returned it as he's seen wearing it later, but this shirt she never returned, and it seems Clark never asked for it back either. I do kind of wonder about a cute AU where the monster truck date happens and what Clark's reaction would be to her wearing this.
Then Lois wears a gold dress when she catches up to Clark after he stands her up which is an interesting transition. This is also a scene where Clark hears how vulnerable she is, not only in her feelings for him ("this was never about more than a story - maybe it never will be") and in general ("they always leave").
This is a crucial step, but given the moral question around Clark hearing Lois's thoughts and using that information to his advantage that Chloe articulates, it's important that this wasn't their first date and that while it progresses Clark's understanding and appreciation of Lois, it doesn't actually progress their romance.
However the end of the episode we do get this lovely shot with the burnished gold of the Daily Planet behind them.
I'm going to take a detour from yellow just for a second, to point out that in 9x06 Crossfire the new tie that Clark bought to wear to the Good Morning Metropolis interview is a similar shade of orange as Lois's bridesmaid dress in 8x10 (I first made this observation in the tags of this post).
Orange of course is a mix of yellow and red, and is also a colour we occasionally see Lois wear - notably in 4x01/02. In this context it represents that Clark and Lois are close but aren't quite there yet thematically, but it's also made clear that Clark bought this tie specifically to the interview and seeing that orange is a colour he rarely (if ever) wears, it's not a stretch to think this was either a subconscious choice, or that Clark thought of her (and how amazing she looked in that dress) when he saw it.
In 9x12 Warrior Lois wears a Wonder Woman Amazon Princess costume which is red, blue, and gold but this one doesn't really count much since it's a WW reference, but the end of this episode is another important step forward in their relationship ("you asked me what my dream was and it's this - with you, Lois").
In 9x15 Escape it's tartan galore - above the bed and on the pillows at the McDougal Inn where Clark and Lois intend to take their relationship to the next level.
The tartan on the pillow, notably, is very similar print to the plaid shirt from 8x05 and 9x04, as is the tartan costume Lois chose to buy when they visited the "world's biggest ball of yarn". It is certainly the plaid pattern of their relationship!
Lois is back in gold in 9x18 Charade (one of my favourite episodes!), undercover to try and protect the Blur's identity - and is still wearing the gold bodysuit under her coat later in the episode when she's abducted by Maxwell Lord.
In one of the most pivotal scenes for Clark and Lois's relationship, (with some very prominent yellow and blue lighting), Lois knows the Blur has just saved her (after she saved him by destroying the photograph revealing his identity), and could very easily turn around to see who he is, but actively chooses not to.
While in 9x02 she asks the Blur to "let me see your face" now she accepts that "I can't know who you are. I'd give anything to see your face, to know you're name. But you can't protect us if we know who you are." She has gone beyond wanting to know the Blur for a story, or as a boost for her own ego - she understands the burden he carries and doesn't want to add to it. This moment must have meant to much to Clark after years of everyone feeling entitled to his secrets, for Lois not to make any demands of him but to trust him implicitly.
10x04 Homecoming is of course the pinnacle of symbolism of Lois in yellow, exactly six seasons after 4x04 with Lois leaving Smallville High, Lois takes Clark back there for the reunion. Again, the in-universe explanation for Lois wearing a yellow dress could be school pride, but it's not a coincidence that she's back in yellow for the 200th episode, where she and Clark exchange I Love Yous for the first time, and Clark flies.
The reunion is important to Lois, she dresses up, straightens her hair, and remembers all their classmates even though she was only there a short time. Clark wears his letterman jacket but is less than enthused to be the centre of attention. However by the end of the episode the jacket is gone - the future Lois takes it off him, and he doesn't put it back on, symbolically leaving behind his youth and ready to embrace his future.
In 10x07 Ambush we see Clark and Lois post-coital with Lois wearing Clark's jersey, calling back to 8x05 but an indication that while she is his destiny, she is also a link to his past. This is a nuance that Clark will learn to embrace at the end of the season - to become Superman, but to always hold on to Smallville.
In 10x12 Collateral Lois wears a red shirt with a gold belt while Clark is in red and blue - even in the virtual world a nod to the color scheme, and in this episode Clark flies with Lois in his arms in order to escape the dreamscape.
At the end of 10x17 Kent, we see Clark and Lois in their domestic bliss, with Lois again wearing one of Clark's plaid shirts with a yellow shirt underneath. This is the episode they decide to move to Metropolis, after Clark returns from the mirror universe where he saw alt!Jonathan.
This is a double callback, since it looks an awful lot like the yellow tank she wore in earlier seasons, and the plaid resembles the one she borrowed in 8x05. However we know that shirt got cut up in 9x04, so this likely means that Clark went out and bought another one, and then Lois commandeered that too! I love it.
In 10x19 Dominion Lois and Clark move into their new apartment in Metropolis, and for almost the entire episode Lois is wearing Superman-adjacent colours - blue jeans, mauve top, and a yellow belt. The latter is particularly interesting given that many versions of the Superman suit include a yellow belt, and at one point we get Lois in a classic superman stance.
In this episode we see Lois as a fully integrated member of the team, overruling the plan to blow up the gate to the Phantom Zone and delivering the line "Being a hero's wife means never accepting defeat."
This is actually the last time we see Lois in yellow, although in the finale we see her in gold skirt/belt in her post-wedding outfit.
But there's another side to gold, as season 10 introduces us to gold kryptonite that could permanently remove Clark's powers away (the Star Blade in earlier seasons is also yellow/gold). Do I think this undermines my argument for Lois as representing yellow/gold as Clark's heart/family? Not at all.
Yellow is ultimately symbolic of Clark's humanity, arguably the most important aspect of being Superman - he's an alien who is undeniably human.
There’s an interesting dichotomy in the yellow sun giving Clark his powers, but gold kryptonite as the substance that can take those powers away. This does fit in with Lois being his strength, as well as the linchpin of his human life - the heart of both Clark and Superman.
So take this with a grain of salt (since I know the Crisis cameo was not well received by most), but consider all of the above, and how we see the Lane-Kent’s for the last time. First, Clark in yellow gloves (inherited from Jonathan) working on the farm and unaffected by green kryptonite:
Clark said he gave up his powers - was this with gold kryptonite? It's unclear if this is something Clark chose to do, or had to do, perhaps to save the world, or was a temporary thing while he and Lois raised their daughters (sidenote, I love Clark as a girldad). I personally like to think that Clark would become Superman in this continuity again, when he's needed.
But for now last time we see Lois and Clark they are in red and blue, muted from the bold primary of Superman, but undeniably present, a reflection of their true selves even without the powers or destiny. And yellow is still there, in the farmhouse, the home where they are raising a family together:
We pick up right where the last episode left off, Daniel getting his shoulder wound treated and trying to explain the alternate reality to his sceptical team.
It’s funny to see the team not really believing Daniel because it’s still early in the run, whereas later on any of them could say the weirdest shit happened and the rest of them would just roll with it no questions asked.
Jack: “And you were there, and you were there, and there’s no place like home.” Daniel: “As a matter of fact, you were there.” Heh. Is Daniel just frustrated or did he not get the Wizard of Oz reference? Works either way.
I’m curious how the team thinks Daniel got shot by a staff weapon if it was all a dream though.
“Yes but the defining event, the death of Ra, took place in both worlds.” A bit of a logic leap by Daniel but hey, it’s what he does.
This is a clip show. I give SG-1 a lot of credit for actually making an effort with their clip shows, always building them around an in-universe plot to give context and cause. They’re still annoying to watch in these days of binging, but they’re as successful as they can be.
Written by Brad Wright (not including excerpts) and directed by Martin Wood.
“How’s our boy?” I find this very cute? Hammond really is the mama duck to SG-1’s ducklings, the epitome of restrained affection.
His absolute and obvious disdain for Samuels is also a real treat. He rolls his eyes!
Samuels is played by Robert Wisden, who was also briefly in Smallville as Chloe's father Gabe. Both shows were based in Vancouver, and both ran for ten seasons, so there's quite the guest star crossover.
In a private meeting with Jack, Hammond goes from “this is what I look like when I’m not laughing, Colonel” to almost laughing when Jack cracks another joke. I love Hammond so much.
I think Ronny Cox as Kinsey is actually the longest running villain in the entire show? Apophis finally bites it in season 5, but Kinsey makes it all the way to season 8.
“And this must be the drain through which the money flows” is such a great line for a pontificating blowhard politician, as is his hypocritical speech. You immediately know who Kinsey is, and you hate him even though he’s actually right about a lot of stuff.
“Oh you’re right, we’ll just upload a computer virus into the mothership.” lol, the shade at Devlin/Emmerich here.
We get a date for the Chulak mission - 10 February (presumably) 1997. The computer in the previous episode indicated it was December 1997 so assuming time was the same in the alternate universe, it's been approximately 11 months since the pilot which seems about right.
The purpose of the mission is described as “to rescue both Dr Jackson’s wife and her brother, and determine the Goa’uld threat” which is the first mention we’ve had of Sha’re and Skaara in a while.
lol, Jack looking to Sam to give the correct pronunciation of Goa’uld because he doesn’t want to.
Lt Colonel “secondary objective” Samuels being the one to read from Jack’s report about Skaara being chosen really twists the knife.
“Because what is right cannot be measured by strength.” Great Teal’c line.
Argos gets discussed and it’s mentioned that SG-2 made recent contact with them - a nice little background aspect of the show that they do check in on the worlds they’ve visited from time to time.
Much is made of the lack of benefit to the Stargate program - guess that wonder drug from Emancipation didn’t pan out? Or maybe everyone just wants to forget that episode happened.
Sidebar - with all the clips it’s obvious that Daniel’s hair has been getting longer throughout the season - irl because Michael Shanks’ hair was shorter and was growing it out as filming progressed to get that Daniel look, but my headcanon in universe is that Sha’re used to trim it for him on Abydos, and since her abduction he can’t bring himself to get it cut
There’s an ongoing metaphor by Kinsey for the Stargate being a Pandora’s Box that’s kind of apt, the box (jar) being a gift from the gods intended to punish mankind after Prometheus gifted them fire, with humanity as Pandora, eternally curious and unable to resist peeking inside.
The show never had a Goa’uld character who took on the persona of Prometheus, Epimetheus, or even Pandora, which was kind of a missed opportunity.
Samuels the slimeball is “sorry it had to end like this” and Hammond rightly tells him to gtfo.
Nice crossfade, Mr Wood.
The Stargate shut down, the threat of an imminent attack - all in all, a good setup going into the season finale!
