Jack is the closest thing to an Ancient Earth has, aside from that lady... who died. He's got genetic markers that act sort of like a biometric key? He's got the login to all the ancient's sh- stuff.

Maybourne and Jack may be two of the most resourceful humans on Earth... and Harry can't really go back, what with the "execution for treason" thing still over his head.

Honestly, desert island, You'd want Jack, Harry or Teal'c. Ancient civilization? Daniel or Teal'c. Alien Spaceship? Carter. Maybe Jonas, because of how fast he learns, but initially he'd be the bumpkin on the spaceship. Grateful Dead Cemetery was a bit of a shock, what with Harry being a Military man, but since infiltration is one of his primary skills, he may have spent some time as a hippie. More than SG-1 anyway.

It's actually not particularly shocking that Carter recognizes and can operate ancient technology, considering she developed the SGC dialing computer from scratch. The original 1994 Stargate Project? Kind of dipshits. They were using a TEXTBOOK to translate the cover stone, and Daniel IMMEDIATELY called it poo and threw it over his shoulder.

Essentially, The stumbling stones for Carter are regional issues rather than technological.

The medieval thing is intentional. People start building tech, the Goauld kill the poo out of the entire population.

I believe a time or two they've had complete tech bases under the surface, and keep the Ren-faire poo up top to avoid glassing.

Hell, even LOYAL goauld worlds get shot up for the hell of it. In the original movie, RA was coming to pick up some overdue video tapes Naquadah from the mines, and his idea of a "hello" was sending his udajeet fighters on strafing runs. (udajeet are death gliders without a canopy, like a convertible mixed with a fighter jet. Very Dumb, Very ostentatious, Very Goauld.

FULL ALERT:

The Kinsey problem comes to a head.
Speaking Russian has previously gotten Daniel into a considerable amount of trouble. On their unscheduled trip to 1969, an Airman asks him in Ruskie if he is a soviet spy.

His response? "Nyet."


My favorite part there is that Captain Kirk was captured by the US Military - in 1969!

It's Good to be King
That was entertaining.  More faux archaeology with the "ancients" leaving stelae with inscriptions that apparently foretold the future.  They'd buried some kind of ship with a time travel device.  For a reason that escapes me, Jack was the only guy who could fly it.  So they used it, not to reset time, but to go kick the ass of the Goua'ld mothership with what, Ares?  I can't remember which system lord.  That worked.  Nice.
The more entertaining part of the episode was King Harry Maybourne, who had been deposited on the planet by the Tok'ra and who mysteriously could make out the ancient inscriptions, so the people on the planet found him a seer and crowned him.  He confesses at the end to being a charlatan, but they like him.  Appreciated his engineering skills, etc.  So he gets to stay on the throne. A rare instance of honesty coming from this guy, who is usually there for some kind of comic relief.

Carter is her usual brilliant self, able to diagnose alien tech and to do a quick repair.  Sometimes the extent of her capabilities beggars belief.  But it was amusing to see the group back together again. 

One last thing.  And I don't think it's restricted to SG1, but a tendency in all SciFi shows.  You go to a distant planet and it's like stopping into a Renaissance Faire.  They're all wearing medieval clothing and living the life of happy villagers.  What's up with that?  I know the original Star Trek had more variety, but this show likes people from the 13th century hanging out in the Pacific Northwest.  A lot. 

That's just it, Danny refuses to be damseled, and in fact, hates her. It caries over.

Most shows do eventually slum it by handing characters the idiot ball because they have to fail in some way.

It was kind of flat.  Like pretty lady + pretty man should hook up.  Lame-o formula.  At least DJ resists.  I didn't know the actress.  Maybe she had a poo director, but she certainly wasn't deployed in any way that conveyed her skill as a thespian. 

Had a little caution been exercised, the problems that pervaded the entire episode could have been avoided.  But that's a trope that runs through the series.  If it were not fun, I wouldn't continue watching it.  Good lord.  Compared to "Girls," this is Emmy winning writing and acting.  After just one too many Lena Dunham episodes and I ran back to this like a traveler dying of thirst in the desert after a bottle of water.

Clearly you are not a Farscape fan.

Claudia Black played an ass kicker in that series, and they played with it in that episode.

Vala Mal Doran - This character is far more playful than her character in Farscape. There she was a facist soldier, here she's a former goauld host out just trying to make a living. She also tends to complicate EVERYONE SHE MEETS life up.  Naquadah is... insanely valuable. Room temperature superconductor, unparalleled Energy amplifier, it's the Double A battery of Goauld technology.

Hell, the entire game was kicked off when Earth essentially cold called a Goauld (Ra)'s Mining world (Abydos)

Weapons grade Naquadah, is in fact, the universal currency "out there".

Most of the stargate series earth weapons are enhanced with naquadah and potassium.

Many offworld earth bases are powered by naquadah reactors the size of a small boombox.

I bless'ed love that episode. It's unapologetically stupid, and an excuse to make both General Hammond and Daniel complete badasses.

Yes, Vala is sexually aggressive, but honestly, it's nice to have a woman doing that for once. Everyone jokes about Kirk...

Ironically enough, the people Hans Olo rips off in this episode take it personally. THEY'LL BE BACK.

I do wonder, from a purely economic base, if it was a good deal. First off, there is no bless'ed way Daniel is lifting those crates, prior episodes have established that four bricks of weapons grade Naquadah outweigh a honda civic.

Honestly, Prometheus Unbound might be one of my favorite episodes. It's dumb, it's fun, and it avoids tragedy. Huh, maybe that's why I hate the Ori War, it's just a series of losses.

While Prometheus Unbound may be a come from behind underdog victory, Earth retains their starship.

I also like that Hammond descends to pettiness in this episode, he steals the chair from his former office - And Walter!


The Hiccup woman was HORRIBLY out of place, I expected something terrifying to happen because of her, like an ALIEN or PREDATOR type situation, but nope, just for laffs… How the golly did that get past the editing review? On the BTS features many writers opine leaving their favorite writing parts on the cutting room floor... but she made the cut.

Only episode without Teal'c!

This just showed up in my youtubes:
When this show hit, it hit.