Written by Katharyn Powers
Directed by David Warry-Smith
GUEST STARS
Alexis Cruz - Skaara/Klorel
Garwin Sanford - Narim
Frida Betrani - Lya
WHAT HAPPENED
We open with a planetary vista, then pull back to a pitched space battle. As planetside cannons destroy two battleships above the planet, a small fightercraft spins out of control toward the surface.
A few people look up to see the fighter crash into the dirt. Out of the shattered cockpit, we see Skaara -- the young Abydonan boy who befriended O'Neill and Jackson in the movie Stargate -- emerge. From his glowing yellow eyes, we can see he has been bonded to a Goa'uld.... (more
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ANALYSIS
"Pretense" would have been a nice episode even if it did not refer back to numerous previously-established elements of Stargate continuity.
The courtroom drama was well done and, as always, the writers and performers walked the tightrope between drama and humor with ease.
Still, "Pretense" played up the fact that this series is at its strongest when it builds on events from previous episodes. The return of Skaara is a nice tie-in with both the pilot episode, in which he was first kidnapped by the Goa'uld, and to the original Stargate film in which he first appeared.
Between Skaara and other returning faces like Narim or Lya, this episode is truly "old home week" for faithful viewers, demonstrating once again that this is a series that rewards patience even while making an effort to entertain on a week-to-week basis.
The danger of this, of course, is that a complicated internal continuity may make it hard for new viewers to join a series after it has already started.
As with Babylon 5, an arc-heavy series tends to discourage casual viewers, who find themselves frustrated and confused at having to know what happened in previous episodes in order to make sense of what's going on now.
As usual with Stargate SG-1, this episode managed to avoid the worst pitfalls of this. While old characters return, their actions and dialogue here deftly summarize what we learned about them in the past, providing new viewers with enough information to follow the current action.
Remarkably, one of the main weaknesses of this episode was the fact that it answered more questions than it raised, leaving the viewer with a sense of closure, not anticipation.
While this is not a "season premiere" in any sense of the word, it was still the first new episode in months when originally aired. Still, rather than leaving the viewers on the edge of their seats, "Pretense" left very few unresolved plot issues dangling.
All and all, another fun episode. It'll be good to have this series back.
WHAT WE LEARN
Skaara has been busy fighting in the service of the Goa'uld.
The Tollan have almost effortlessly adapted to life on "the new homeworld," and have already started building new stargates -- a technological feat previously believed to be impossible for any existing civilization.
DANGLING PLOT THREADS
Why did the Goa'uld send the mothership to attack Tollana? Is this only the first feint in a long struggle between the two advanced races?
If Skaara is back, does this mean we'll be seeing Daniel's son again?
TUNE IN NEXT WEEK....
A bizarre alien attempts to take over our heroes' minds in "
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