OH GOD TIME TRAVEL. YES.
Today’s video file for “1969” is available here, and you can find all my Mark Watches videos in my Dropbox folder. This episode was commissioned by Alexandria. Thank you very much!
Let’s do this!
- I just love time travel, okay? From the cheesiness of Doctor Who to the mind-melting complications of Primer, it’s seriously one of my favorite things to read about. I AM GUESSING THIS IS WHY THIS EPISODE IN PARTICULAR WAS COMMISSIONED. And lord, this was fun.
- While there were moments that were complicated and confusing, I believe the writers handled the two time jumps incredibly well, using humor and some decent sci-fi science to keep me informed. The main confusion I had was based on the fact that I completely misunderstood General Hammond’s message. I swear to you, until the last two minutes, I thought that Hammond had written the message for Carter, that she and the SG-1 team were supposed to go save someone. At those times. This is because I forgot that Hammond’s first name was George. Cut me some slack! This was the third “episode” of the show I’d ever seen! Okay, I take it back, you can make fun of me.
- This also meant that this episode was the first time I’d seen the team on Earth! Including a version of New Mexico that looked like Vancouver. Oh god, I love when shows try to make Vancouver look like other places in the world. I laughed! I have been in New Mexico! It doesn’t look like that! But I’m just being facetious. This episode was a treat, and the temporary distraction of the shooting locale was easily overshadowed by how neat this was.
- Essentially, this is an episode about a time travel loop that is rooted in one man’s desire to save his friends. AND I LOVE WHEN SCI-FI IS EMOTIONALLY GROUNDED. That’s the best kind of sci-fi for me. While it was certainly entertaining to watch the team figure out the logistics of time travel in 1969, I cared more about how Hammond was able to bring his friends back.
- That being said, I didn’t even need to spend that much time in this fictional universe to understand how endlessly hilarious it was to see these people in late 60s garb. IT’S AWESOME. Oh my god, Teal’c’s outfit is fantastic. (Oh my god, can I also say how weird it is to use the possessive apostrophe in Teal’c’s name? It just looks so strange, y’all.)
- O’NEILL IS CAPTAIN KIRK AND LUKE SKYWALKER. Bless his heart. I’m getting the sense that, largely, O’Neill gives zero fucks at any given moment in time.
- Oh, Michael and Jenny. See, I initially thought their whole purpose was to make Woodstock references and act as immersive characters. And then Jenny casually reveals that Michael got drafted, and in an instant, this episode gets REALLY FUCKED SERIOUS. Look, my father served in Vietnam, and to this day I believe that’s the reason he passed away so young. I don’t exactly have positive thoughts about that war, so yeah. Holy crap, and then O’Neill can’t even tell them the future GODDAMN HOW FRUSTRATING.
- This wasn’t a terribly complicated episode, but it was a blast, y’all. I love time travel. I love it so much.
Monday, we will discuss the fourth season episode “Window of Opportunity”!
