I’ve just watched the Stargate:SG1 episode Rite of Passage, and thought it rated a mention. Basically, you have Janet Frasier, whose adopted (alien) daughter Cassandra has mysteriously taken ill. Turns out the Goa’uld Niirti, who was researching the genetic mutation of Cassandra’s people before she killed the lot of them to avoid being caught out, was behind it. Cassandra’s life-threatening symptoms have been genetically hard-wired by Niirti, and only Niirti can reverse the effects.

Because Cassandra is the only of her … READ MORE

The s9 episode of Stargate: SG1, Ripple Effect had me particularly up in arms over the everyone-loves-Carter action going on.

To recap, five years ago, Carter’s interplanetary quasi-boyfriend Martouf died in a hail of bullets because he had been brainwashed into betraying them. He turns up in the present day through a glitch in the separation between parallel universes as part of an alternate team from an alternate earth.

Needless to say, Carter’s shocked to see him. They fill each other in … READ MORE

The Battlestar: Galactica episode Home, Pt I showed me how easy it is to portray women as competent leaders in crappy circumstances - as easy as it is to do the same men. I need go to further in comparison then Sam Carter in Gemini.

In Gemini, Carter comes across her Replicator (evil robotic replicating devices) clone, dubbed by fans as RepliCarter. RepliCarter promises all sorts of pretty vague things, so long as the they help her. Against better judgement, Carter … READ MORE

In Stargate DVD commentaries, Peter Deluise described the short-lived Season Four character Anise/Freya as an attempt to replicate the popularity of Star Trek: Voyager’s Seven of Nine. He described both characters as “sexy female aliens” brought in to ramp up ratings among young male viewers. Then, he said, they decided their ratings were fine as they were, and they dumped Anise after a few episodes.

Let’s examine what Anise and Seven have in common so we may gain greater … READ MORE

I’ve been watching Star Trek: Voyager on DVD lately, and a single line of dialog has been stuck in my head for days. It’s a scene in which Q comments to Captain Janeway that she’s so authoritative but still manages to preserve her femininity. Now, Q is needling her at the time, so I’m not sure whether this reflects the view of the writers or merely the view of an antagonistic character. But it reflects a view … READ MORE

At the end of Stargate SG-1’s seventh season, General Hammond (Don S. Davis) - commander of the whole of Stargate Command - left the show. He was very briefly replaced by Dr. Elizabeth Weir as head of the base, until she could be spun off into her new series, Stargate Atlantis. Then Jack O’Neill - Hammond’s second in command - took over the base until Richard Dean Anderson decided to leave the show, and Jack had to be … READ MORE

Following the heels of Scarlett’s Fidelity is a Virtue, if It’s OTP article, which described how writers seem to think unfaithfulness is okay as long as it’s the “meant to be” couple cheating to be together, I wanted to address the issue of whether Sam Carter was a cheater at the end of Stargate’s Season Eight, or just a lovelorn babe. I’m continually struck by how women who criticize her behavior get accused of being judgmental due to jealousy, … READ MORE

We can’t catch every episode of every show, so it’s a good thing we’re not the only people on earth getting sick of some of the messages TV puts across.

This week, hsapiens informs us that Stargate has actually found a way to sink to a new low, as Sam Carter gives an enemy (Ba’al) everything he needs to wipe out all life in the galaxy because otherwise he says he will kill one person. Jack would have called Ba’al’s bluff. … READ MORE

Love her or hate her, Vala Mal Doran on Stargate SG-1 was introduced as a strong and vibrant character who was able to take advantage of great numbers of people or any situation. She used sex and sexual innuendo to keep people off guard, but she was also clever, intelligent, and shrewd. Her relationship with Daniel was adversarial, but also one of equals.

Now that she’s on the show full-time, in the latest episode (Morpheus) she’s suddenly acting childlike, mischievous, eagerly … READ MORE

As much as I love House, I have this creepy feeling of déjà vu whenever I see Cameron: she’s very clearly everything many Stargate fans felt Sam Carter became.

She has no leadership skills. She crushes on her boss, sometimes in a sugary teenage way, sometimes as a stalker (a dichotomy I’ve never seen a sane, stable person exhibit). She’s so repressed and uncertain who she is that when a drug-using HIV patient tells her how freeing his … READ MORE