I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this episode because there was lots of stuff that I thought was stupid or just annoyed me. However, for whatever reason, the material worked for me and made me think of larger issues in the world today - something I love about sci fi - so it wasn't a miss in my book. I rate it a solid, "Good." It feels as if the writers are hitting their stride for this team a bit better; makes the cancellation all the more sad to me.

The stuff I didn't like? Adria has all the charisma of soggy toast. Stop for a second and imagine what she'd be like if played by Claudia Black. This feels a bit like stunt casting to me. The borrowed Farscape glory worked well for p.r., why not grab someone from Serenity?

I thought the whole point of killing off the goa'uld was to get rid of tromping troops in the hallways and silly villains. Geez, it felt like old times with everyone running up and down torch-lit hallways, dodging clanky Jaffa. Poor Teal'c needs to check that his tretonin hasn't been watered down. The kick-ass guy who can shoot accurately in two directions at once was nowhere to be seen. At least surround him on 3 sides to take him down.

Speaking of weak Jaffa, I gotta wonder why Teal'c is so damned determined to free these guys because the dead one who was brought back to life to be interrogated sure did give up Dakara, the oh so sacred and holy planet from which all Jaffa sprang, awfully quick. Not to mention that for a race that is supposed to be made healthier and stronger in return for serving as incubators, the ranks sure do seem populated by some piss poor physical specimens. I'm just sayin'...

Landry continues to annoy me. Going offworld, without troops? Geez, the US prez doesn't wander into the UK, a solid ally, without the Secret Service. I didn't buy it and it was stupid. I didn't find the Patton/Dr. Phil stuff amusing, either. Beau Bridges can bring more to the table but he needs something to work off of and he wasn't getting it in this episode.

So, what did I like? Strangely, the Jaffa politics and some of the character beats for SG-1.

Jaffa politics normally bore me. I think they're whatever the writers want them to be that week with no real sense of why or continuity. We keep seeing "leaders" rise who, before the new plot came along, we've never heard of and never met. I find that annoying.

This week, however, I saw lots of parallels to the real world so I didn't care about the obvious red shirt Jaffa "leader." The Jaffas' "What Have You Done for Us Lately?" attitude that they copped to Landry's befuddled, "But We Helped to Free You!" and the way alliances shift after the immediate and common enemy is defeated -- reminded me of the U.S. and France. What to the Jaffa is, "Well, yeah, you helped but that was part of your strategy to defeat the goa'uld, not a plan to liberate us," is a different spin on the Tau'ri, "But, but, we saved your asses! You should be grateful and love us!" Each side is, to an extent, right without holding the monopoly. Damn, they need some diplomats involved. Or at least some representatives with brains.

I love the moral ambiguity introduced by the Jaffa use of a weapon that, last I recall, the Jaffa planned to destroy. Mass murder isn't acceptable, right? Ever? But what do you when nothing works against an enemy that draws its power from the worshippers? This was something I thought of early on -- does this mean that the only way to fight the Ori is to kill off all their worshippers? -- but I didn't think Stargate had the guts to go there. I'm so very glad to have been proven wrong. I wish Dakara had survived because I find this an interesting moral quandry. For all of Landry's outrage over the Jaffa killing some folks who happen to be humans on another planet, we killed Jaffa using the symbiote poison. Our hands are not clean, weakening our moral case.

An ongoing thing that I wonder at is the lack of respect given to Teal'c and Bra'tac within the Jaffa community. They were the match that lit the powderkeg, after all. I'd think their roles would have earned them a reverence we American reserve for the likes of George Washington. But then, the pliticking and squabbles within the Jaffa mystify me. Until I think on how they've been deeply divided over matters of religion in the past. And there's nothing, not even a common enemy, that can unite the sides in holy wars. I'd have thought if anything could unite Shiite and Sunni Iraqis, for instance, it would be an invasion by the U.S.

So, not perfect parallels but the messiness of real life reflected on my screen is actually welcome. I'm used to the ambiguity showing up on BSG but not so much SG-1. I wish I felt it was purposefully written in rather than being the product of my reading more than was intended in the "how can we make the Tau'ri look good this week?" plot. But whether it was intended or not, it gave me enough to go on and find my own points to ponder.

Other stuff I liked? Daniel bringing up Shau'ri. OK, yeah, it was weird that Vala forgot that she knew about Amaunet (*sigh*) but I'll lump that because taking Daniel back to his roots reminds me of the character I love and, I think, reminds MS what it was to be Daniel before his eyebrows and grimaces were Daniel's main communicative system.

I liked the foreshadowing of Ori plans for Daniel. OMG - you mean there's a plan? An arc? Could it be? Oh joy! :) I've heard only the barest of spoilers but I'm just excited to know there's some thought being given to a character arc again. Haven't seen that since...Season 3? Excellent. :)

The final motherhood line fell flat with me but I imagined millions of mothers out there "Amen"ing and not really caring that it's weird coming from Daniel. About Vala. I didn't really fault them, though, because I'm a desperate girl and any shout out to the female demographic of the audience that isn't all about how undesireable we are compared to boys in the 18-35 range makes me wibble. The whole last little scene left me unimpressed but my happiness over a Daniel character arc and thinky points about the messiness of international (intergalactic?) relations and alliances built on shifting sands left me quite happy.