Stargate SG-1 Season 3 (1999)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Written by Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright, et al.
Directed by Mario Azzopardi, Peter DeLuise, et al.
Starring Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Don S. Davis, and Corin Nemec

Features:

• Trailers
  
• "Col. Jack O'Neil" featurette
  
• SG-1 Universe featurette
  
• SG-1 "Personnel Files" featurette
  

Released by: MGM
Region: 1
Rating: NR, suitable for 13+
Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Sci-fi fans should own it

The third season of SG-1 opens with the team still in the clutches of Goa'uld Hathor, and General Hammond (Davis) is scrambilng to call in all the favors he can manage to save the team. "Into the Fire" is far from the strongest episode of the season, but it certainly kicks things off with a bang. The effects are impressive as always, and the action sequences in this episode are some of the best the series has offered so far.

Season 3 also offers one of the first "revisit" episodes, with the SG-1 team returning to Orban in "Learning Curve." In a bit of a break from the purely episodic nature of the earlier seasons, there are also plot threads picked up from previous episodes in "Past & Present" and "Jolinar's Memories." It's nice to see the series taking chances with slow-developing subplots that stretch out in an episode here and an episode there across multiple seasons. While the show doesn't seem well-suited to taking such a direction consistently, it's always nice to see the show's creators experimenting with other possibilities for their narratives.

The performances throughout are excellent, as always. Chris Judge continues to develop his portrayal of Teal'c into a character with real depth and personality. Don Davis is as solid a character actor as has ever worked in television, and his General Hammond is utterly believable. The cast as a whole has gelled pretty completely by this point, which only serves to improve an already solid series.

Production values for the show are also quite high, as is to be expected of a series that was being funded by a premium cable network. Effects are solid, and the show avoids having to deal with "bumpy-headed human" syndrome with their alien races, simply by virtue of the show's cosmology. The only consistent non-humanlike presence on the show are the Asgardians, who are just really well-done Grays.

This is not to say that this set is without flaws. There are a few episodes that are a bit groan-inducing, particularly the Dom DeLuise cameo ep "Urgo." There are also a couple of plot concepts that get stretched a little thin to round out an entire episode. "Shades of Gray," while a great concept, starts to feel dragged out by the end of the show. The set also is a little weak on bonus material, providing a couple of brief info spots on characters and production and little else. No commentaries, which is a crying shame, and the bios provided on the show's characters and stars are smaller than what can be pulled from the show's website. If nothing else, just copy and paste what was already there for your DVD releases.

Despite these flaws, this is a set worth adding to any sci-fi fan's collection. SG-1 is one of the best things going in sci-fi television, and given the relative scarcity of new entries into the genre (and the generally mediocre quality of many offerings), those that like the genre can't afford to let this one pass 'em by.