Stargate SG-1: Emancipation

• Release Date: 8th August 1997
• Season 1
• Episode 4
• Director: Jeff Woolnough
• Writers: Katharyn Powers

The fourth episode of Stargate SG-1 shares a lot in common with the fourth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Both were written by Katharyn Powers and also seem to be telling pretty much the same story. The big problem: the fourth episode of TNG was the extremely racist “Code of Honor”. 

Emancipation starts with SG-1 saving someone in Mongol style clothing from dogs. He’s very thankful, but freaks out when he sees Carter – a woman – who doesn’t have her face covered. His father (the chieftain) turns up and wants to execute Carter on the spot, but because she helped save the life of his son, he can let her live

SG-1 gets invited to the village, with Carter wishing to go home. It’s a society that oppresses and mistreats women – Carter seems to understand that the dangers to her are more than just death, but the men in the group ignore her concerns. Jack and Daniel spend most of the episode enjoying Carter’s discomfort, and they’re really not likeable at all.

At the village, they get shown some impressive medicine and Carter begrudgingly agrees to put on a dress and a face covering so as to not offend the men too much. Jack and Daniels, as though they weren’t being as bad, both oggle at Carter in a dress (which she hates). They go off to a party while Carter has to sit in a tent – before she gets kidnapped.

The boy that saved, Abu,  turned out to be who has kidnapped Carter, planning to sell her into slavery to a ruthless warlord, one who only mistreats his women if they refuse him. This is where the other major issue with this episode: Carter does not struggle. Some inexperienced young adult has tied rope around her wrists. Everyone knows Carter can get out of this herself right here. 

When they reach the warlord, the kid wants to trade Carter for the warlord’s daughter, with whom Simarka has fallen in love with. It might almost be sweet if it wasn’t for the whole selling another woman into slavery aspect. The Warlord refuses, gives him some money and keeps Carter. He asks what her skills are and she responds by saying she’s a warrior and a scholar – the work of men. 

She attempts to do “proper” jobs, and meets up with the warlord’s daughter, Nya, convincing her to stand up against her dad. She also hides a knife which gets her in further trouble when she is caught escaping, and the warlord almost whips his own wife as punishment before Carter accepts responsibility and ends up getting sexually assaulted with a kiss.

SG-1 and the chieftain turns up and barter for Carter, explaining that she’s their shaman and chieftain, which is why they’re trading so much gold to get her back. During this time, Carter helps Nya escape. Jack eventually trades a pistol (a great way of showing that this is nothing like Star Trek), with everyone leaving quickly before he runs out of ammo.

Shortly after, they learn that Nya was caught escaping and is sentenced to being stoned to death. Abu pleads to rescue her, but Daniel asks if there’s any ancient traditions or laws to help: there is one: challenging the warlord to a fight. But only a chieftain can do so. Naturally, Carter ends up challenging him. 

In another completely unsurprising twist, Carter only discovers that it is a fight to the death once the fight starts, with the warlord bringing out a large knife. Carter still wins and gets him to agree to Nya going free, no retribution towards the other tribes and shat she can go. She spared his life. They return to the original village and, as they leave, the chieftain frees the women. 

The episode ends with the only good scene, just friendly banter between the gang about discovering a potentially useful drug but nobody will ever know where it came from or who brought it back to Earth, with Teal’c asking “What’s an Oprea?”

It’s a really abysmal episode, which is particularly sad that this is the first standalone planet adventure. The shift to a different race from TNG does not help in the slightest and the show itself uses it to humiliate Carter instead of making a stance on this treatment of women being wrong.