"Stargate's characters
feel real" is a sentiment shared by many fans who love seeing their characters
allowed to learn and grow without fear that the "reset button" will erase
all development at the end of each episode.
"Although the Stargate
characters do 'out of this world' things and save humanity on countless
occasions, they have made mistakes. They've been involved in BIG messes
and have taken it like humans," says Lindsey McArthur from Perth, Scotland.
"They get upset, they get excited, they cry. It makes them approachable
and I love that."
From diversity comes strength
The four people making up
the SG-1 team lend themselves to especially rich characterization. A mix
of scientists and soldiers, their backgrounds, personalities and outlooks
on life are all enormously different.
Jack O'Neill, an Air
Force colonel with a background in Black Ops, who has never forgiven himself
for the accidental death of his young son. Daniel Jackson, the outcast
archaeologist who solved the mystery of the Stargate and found happiness
on an alien world only to have it ripped away from him when his wife was
kidnapped by a Goa'uld. Sam Carter, the career Air Force officer
and scientist who has earned respect and success in a very male-dominated
environment. And Teal'c, the alien warrior who turned his back on
his god to free his race from Goa'uld slavery.
Who would've thought they
could work together as a team? Yet these four have achieved a dynamic balance
that makes them far greater and more powerful as a team than they ever
were as individuals.
Now, halfway into the show's
fourth season, any hints of separation or rifts within the team unsettle
fans who treasure each team bonding moment and never want to see their
beloved foursome go their separate ways.
Dynamic duo
Jack and Daniel hold a special
place in the hearts in many fans. These two original Stargate characters
played the ultimate --deadly -- game of Survivor against Ra in the
original Stargate movie (1994) and lived to tell about it, providing
the foundation for the series to come.
All the characters' relationships
are unique and intriguing, and their interactions with each other are enjoyable
to watch. But Jack and Daniel in particular have developed a striking chemistry
and rapport that leaps off the screen and demands viewer attention.
"What keeps me coming back
week after week is the relationships between the characters, especially
the wonderful bantering/bickering, push/pull, friendship/antagonism between
Jack and Daniel," says Linda G. in Washington, DC.
"Jack and Daniel's absurdist
repartee rocks!" adds Australian fan Clancy, referring to the quirky dialogue
that is so often exchanged between the duo.
Food for thought
The humor displayed in the
series is also a plus for viewers who don't want to take their science
fiction so seriously all the time. Through the mouths and actions of the
characters -- especially the ever-sarcastic and flippant Jack O'Neill --
the show's writers freely poke fun at anything and everything from military
politics to U.S. government policy to science fiction itself.
In between all the on-screen
jokes about primitive humans from Earth, there are always the spoken and
unspoken questions about how much we really know about anything and how
important is the human race really is in the grand scheme of the universe.
"Stargate has always
been quite tongue in cheek, and not just in the dialogue. The sensibility
of the show has included an element of satire," says Clancy. "The nature
of sci-fi, as with satire, has always been to make us question what we
do and think in our lives now, today. Put them together and you have a
potent form of entertainment."
Fans especially love the
idea that humans from ancient civilizations were, over the course of millennia,
forcibly transplanted to other planets and used as hosts and slaves by
the parasitic bad guys, the Goa'uld.
Each time SG-1 discovers
one of these "lost" civilizations, we're given a chance to see how Earth
compares to the accomplishments of the long-lost cousins. Most of the time,
our heroes are the saviors, the hope of all those enslaved and terrorized
by the Goa'uld.
Then there are those other
races, like the technologically ultra-advanced Tollan,
to which we can't even begin to measure up. Stories like these -- and others
throughout the Stargate arc involving religion, morality and humanity's
ultimate place in the universe -- challenge viewers to think.
Even the very premise of
the show has sparked countless debates among fans over whether the United
States of America has the right to keep the Stargate a secret from the
rest of the world, not to mention endanger the entire planet every
other week.
Looking ahead
Stargate SG-1 is currently
half-way through its fourth season on Showtime, and just beginning season
three in syndication. With at least three dozen episodes to go, fans are
far from bored -- in fact, many are already hard at work writing letters
in support for a sixth season.
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