Singularity

(Reviews of Stargate SG-1 episodes through the eyes of a shipper)

This Stargate SG-1 episode is one that is fairly popular with the shippers of both Sam and Jack and Sam and Daniel. (With me being on the S/J side although if anyone out there wants to write reviews from the S/D side to accompany the S/J ones, please do and get in touch.) A warning to the S/D shippers reading this, though, I tend to be a firm believer that they are more like brother and sister than anything else…

Anyway, ‘Singularity’ is the episode in question, one of the only I’ve seen from season one (episode 15, I think) but one of my favourites. This is mainly because of the interaction between Amanda Tapping (Sam, as if most of us didn’t already know) and Katie Stuart (the young actress who plays Cassandra). Also, forgive me for any glaring mistakes – I’ve only seen the episode twice and am working from memory.

The review:

‘Singularity’ starts with SG-1 gating to P8X-987, expecting to find SG-7 preparing a telescope on the planet so they can witness a singularity (something to do with an eclipse and a blackout, I think?) The first scene is notable because of the cute scene between the SG-1 members. This happens Colonel Jack O’Neill surprises them with his knowledge of astrology and it is revealed he has a telescope at home that Captain Samantha Carter (and presumably the others) have seen – a telescope that he doesn’t just use to spy on his neighbours.

When they get to P8X-987, they are alerted to something being wrong when no one greets them. And then they find a body on the way to the village, someone who looks like they’ve been dead for a while. (Great special effects, by the way.)

Wondering why no one has missed the dead native, Jack sends Dr. Daniel Jackson and the Jaffa Teal’c off to the village whilst he and Sam go looking for SG-7. Unfortunately, they find them too late.

As Sam and Jack stumble (not literally) across the dead members of SG-7 who have suffered the same fate as the poor man earlier on, Daniel and Teal’c rush to join them, delivering the devastating news that everyone in the village has also died of the mysterious illness.

(I think this is where the opening credits come in.)

We see Medical teams in hazard suits, coming through the Stargate and then we see SG-1 in what looks like a quarantine area. (The person I talked to about this and myself had different opinions about where they were – back at the SGC base on Earth or in a temporary quarantine area on the planet. Both are possibilities so I’m not gonna pretend I know for certain.)

SG-1 are checked out by Doctor Janet Fraiser. (Coincidentally the name of a catalogue in the UK – minus the ‘Dr.’, of course – I’m a mine of useless information, I know. =0)) Having been then cleared for duty, SG-1 are given the all clear, allowing them to go and help tag bodies. An unsavoury, thankless task, I know but someone has to do it. They are all wearing protective suits except Teal’c, who is protected from infection by his symbiote.

Now things get really interesting. Sam tags a body but as she is turning away, a hand creeps out from a near-by bush and takes the tag. Sam sees movement and notices the tag is missing, then the bushes rustle as someone or something tries to hide…

Sam calls out but no one comes forward. She tells Jack what she saw, who came to her side the moment she called out. He tells Teal’c to go and see if he can find the mystery being and to show them his face since he is the only one not partially disguised by a suit. Jack also tells Teal’c to ‘look friendly’ – a comment I personally loved.

Doing as ordered, Teal’c talks gently to the person in hiding, telling them not to be afraid. A small hand reaches out to take the hand he has offered and he steps away from the bushes, bringing with him a very small and very scared little girl.

The young girl – Cassandra, although we don’t know it as this point – is taken to Janet’s temporary lab on the planet and miraculously, no sign of the infection is found in her. She appears to be perfectly healthy, except there are traces of naquada in her blood. (Naquada is the metal the Stargate is made from and this is a fact that becomes important later on so remember it!) During these tests, Sam talks to the girl, trying to let her know she’s safe with them and trying to find out her name.

Leaving the girl alone, Janet and Sam go to where the other members of SG-1 are waiting to hear something more - about the girl or about themselves, I can’t remember – sorry! They – and the child – are clear to leave. Sam suggests someone stays behind to witness and record the singularity as leaving without doing so would mean the natives and SG-7 ‘died for nothing.’ They now believe it was their interacting with the natives that caused the mutation of common viruses existing on Earth with those existing on the planet to make one nasty, deadly virus.

At this point, the girl comes racing from her room and firmly grabs hold of Sam’s arm, tugging her hand down so she can hold down so she can cling to it, hovering nervously behind her. Sam gives Jack a surprised look and he smiles a little, possibly sharing her surprise, saying that she ‘won’t be staying’. Teal’c proceeds to volunteer, with Jack also agreeing to stay.

Sam and Daniel take the young girl back through the Stargate with them to Earth, unknowingly beginning a tragic chain of events.

The girl has formed an attachment to Sam and after being shown to her standard SGC guestroom, she refuses to let Sam leave. The scenes between Sam and Cassandra are, in my opinion, handled very well and portrayed realistically. Congratulations to AT and KS for such sweet, touching scenes in which they both get to show a great deal of talent.

Skipping slightly ahead, as I know I’ve babbled a lot, Sam and Cassandra get closer, the trust growing between them. (Namely the picture scene. Cassandra paints a picture of herself on the planet, crying, surrounded by the dead bodies of her people. Sam draws herself as a stick-person and tells Cassandra she’s ‘not alone anymore.’ She – Sam – is there with her now and won’t leave her. I love this scene, I admit to wiping a tear from my eye at it but then I’m known for being sappy.)

Anyway, Cassandra stops Sam from leaving her in Daniel’s care by speaking for the first time, telling not asking Sam to ‘stay’. She proceeds in telling Sam her name and saying those words that were delivered and reacted to beautifully by both actresses – “it hurts.” Sam asks where and Cassandra points to her heart.

Tests are run and nothing but an iron deficiency is found. As Cassandra and Sam are leaving the infirmary, Cassandra collapses into Sam’s arms and needs to be revived, her heart stopping and having to be started with the defibrillator.

Meanwhile, as those on Earth piece together that the deaths of the natives and Cassandra’s illness are the result of a Goa'uld trap, Jack and Teal’c – back on the planet – notice a Goa’uld ship heading towards them. They run back to Stargate, barely missing being hit a couple of times and realise Cassandra is being used as a bomb. (The metal in her blood grouping forming a device that is acting like a ticking bomb – once the metals come into contact with each other, there will be a devastating, catastrophic result with a big nuclear reaction – or something.) We know this because Sam, Daniel and Janet have done an experiment using tiny extracts of the metals/substances and the results were not very hopeful.

On Earth, General George Hammond orders the girl to be taken back to her home planet. Jack and Teal’c make it through the Stargate as Sam and another SG team are preparing to take Cassandra home. Cassandra collapses because of the close proximity of the gate and has, according to Janet, lapsed into a coma.

General Hammond – and the President, I think – then decide that Cassandra, with an estimated hour or so left, will be taken and abandoned in a closed nuclear facility to eliminate the risk of fallout at large. The look of distress on Sam’s face and the looks of sympathy on everyone else’s are enough to make anyone see just how much she has come to love this little girl.

In the ride to the facility, Sam holds the unconscious child, gaining sympathetic looks from Daniel as she evidently struggles with her emotions. (Taking us back to a scene that was earlier in the episode that I haven’t mentioned. They have a limited conversation about how she’s not supposed to become attached emotionally because she’s military, something Daniel doesn’t understand as he’d not military. – Sweet scene for those of us who think Daniel and Sam are like brother and sister as well as the Daniel/Sam shippers…if there are any reading this.)

In the building, Jack offers to take Cassandra down but Sam tells him bravely that she’s okay with it. They share a look and it’s obvious he isn’t sure about letting her – he knows she’s already very much attached and doesn’t want her put through them emotional wringer anymore than she already has been. (Okay, so maybe I’m projecting but you can tell he cares about her.) He tells her it takes three minutes to get to the bottom, allowing a few minutes to get Cassandra settled and then she will have exactly three minutes to get back up as there are 28 floors separated by rock, lead and whatever else.

The elevator doors close and Sam leans against the wall, fighting a losing battle not to cry. And then the worst thing possible happens. Cassandra wakes up from her coma. ‘Go back to sleep.’ Sam tearfully pleads but the child says she’s not tired anymore. They get to floor 28 and Sam opens the bunker/volt door. She settles Cassandra in it and repeats the phrase she’s said throughout the episode – ‘You’re very brave’ – and hugs her before saying she has to leave and promising to come back.

As Sam closes the door, Cassandra calls out. ‘Sam?’ sounding scared, and maybe a little hysterical. Sam does her best to ignore it and gets in the elevator. This scene, to me, is one of the most memorable of the episode – and of all the Stargate episodes I’ve seen so far. Sam, angry, upset and confused, cries openly with frustration and sinks to the floor of the elevator. Then, in a moment of clarity, she gets up again, a look of determination on her face.

Back up top, the atmosphere is tense as SG-1 wait for their team member to resurface. A look of relief flashes over Jack’s face as the numbers start decreasing as Sam travels back up. Then Daniel speaks up: ‘Jack…She’s going back down.’ Jack mutters something – ‘the hell she is’ – and goes to the intercom. He calls for Carter, Captain Carter and then Sam, ordering her to get back up and then asking her to speak to him.

Sam opens the bunker/volt door and Cassandra leaps up into her arms and they share a sweet hug. They hold each other, clinging to one another, before Sam puts her down and goes to the intercom to answer Jack’s call. ‘She’s awake, Sir.’ The looks on Jack and Daniel’s faces say it all – they know there is no way she’ll be able to leave the little girl now.

Jack tells Daniel and Teal’c to leave, but it is obvious he himself won’t be leaving and from their expressions (well, Daniel’s), neither will they. In the bunker/volt, Sam and Cassandra hold each other as the clock on Jack’s watch counts down…

3…2…1…0… Nothing. Daniel, Jack and Teal’c trade a look, having felt nothing. Almost immediately, Jack is on the intercom calling for ‘Captain Carter…Sam.’ You can almost hear them breathe a sigh of relief when Sam answers, telling them nothing happened. She attempts to come up with an explanation for how she ‘just knew’ but all it comes down to is instinct.

The last scene is also one of my many favourites. We find out Cassandra is staying with Janet – not with Sam as Sam’s off-world most of the time. They (Sam, Cassandra, Daniel and Teal’c) are in a park and Jack joins them, giving Cassandra a puppy and telling her it’s an ‘Earth rule’ that ‘all children must have a dog’. Sam’s amused look over Cassandra’s head to Jack is sweet, with Jack looking vaguely embarrassed. He then takes the hint and gets Daniel and Teal’c to join him, giving Sam some time alone with Cassandra. It ends with Sam leading Cassandra to the swings, after promising to spend time with the little girl whenever she could.

My views:

Not much to write here ‘cause I kinda already interjected my views in the reviews (Sorry, I’m new at this!) but I would have loved to see some more Sam and Jack moments. There weren’t as many as there could have been with Jack spending quite a bit of time on a different planet to Sam.

I’d love to see what happened between the last two scenes, too. With Sam finding out here team mates stayed behind and having to face Jack after disobeying his orders.

Still, I absolutely adored this episode. It had everything from solid acting, great special effects and computer-generated effects with a touching story line. Personally, I loved seeing the maternal side of Sam and hope that Cassandra will be back in future episodes.

A great plot and a brilliant episode all-round. Even if I am a little biased.

Sam + Jack Shipper Rating - *** ½ /*****

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