“I’ve seen this movie… it hits Paris.”
- Release Date: 12th December 2001
- Season 5
- Episode 17
- Director: Andy Mikita
- Writers: Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
We open with an astronomer with a telescope. He is trying to get through to someone about his findings. He has been tracking an object for three nights and it’s very big and very close. He doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere when a convoy of cars turns up. At least someone seems to be paying him attention.
In a briefing with SG-1, Hammond reveals that this is an asteroid heading for Earth, and nobody else has spotted it as it’s coming from “above” rather than from within the solar system. It will hit earth and wipe everything out in sixteen days. It’s time to ask their allies for help – although Teal’c already expresses concern that the Asgard won’t interfere with natural disasters.
The Asgard, as predicted, say they can’t help as it will put the other planets at risk. As the System Lords deny ordering the Tollans to attack Earth, they would have to do an inquiry (which needs testimony from the now-dead Tollan) to back up. In short, they won’t help. The Tok’ra are also in disarray since most were wiped out, so there’s not much help out there. They have the means to blow it up, but no way to get to it. Daniel suggests the crashed cargo ship from the previous episode (I wonder what happened to all the other Gou’ald ships there). Carter thinks she can fix it with the right team. However, with the time it takes to fly back to Earth, it’s going to be very close. Meanwhile, the Alpha Site is being set up so some people from Earth will survive.
SG-1 head to the cargo ship with three extra engineers (including a very nervous Spellman). Over time, they manage to fix it, but can’t find any sign of a recall device, and Jack realises that these guys worked on the X-301 Death Glider that nearly killed him and Teal’c. The engines just about splutter back to life and the engineers are ordered to head to the Alpha Site while SG-1 head off.
We cut to them arriving in the Solar system, with the Asteroid now much closer to Earth as it has been 10 days since they departed. There’s three and a half hours before the asteroid will be too close to change its course enough. The plan is to fly into one of the biggest craters and set off their super powerful bomb to push it out of the way. However, the ship starts to malfunction and they lose engines and communication.
They’re about to crash into the asteroid, so they have to use thrusters to slow down – however, they’re not slowing down the ship as much as expected. Luckily, the ship goes into a colossal crater, giving them time to slow down so they don’t crash. However, the readings that Earth sees indicate that they approached the asteroid too fast and crashed. Davis is ready to accept defeat, but Hammond is holding on to the fact that there’s no confirmation of anything.
Jack and Teal’c take the bomb into a cave – the deeper they get, the better. While they get ready, Hammond is speaking to the president. He thinks SG-1 still has a chance. He also says that if they have failed, then there’s no going public now as it would just cause panic. Hammond also states that his place is at Stargate Command.
The bomb is taken down further into the asteroid (the magnetic boots can stick to the iron, so no zero gravity). As they head there, Carter says that the speed of their approach is bugging her. Their calculations for the mass of the asteroid is all off, and the core must be something much heavier than nickel and iron. This is uninterrupted by the asteroid going through the tail of a comet, so they get pelted with tiny stones. A few hull breaches form, but Jack loses contact with Carter. Even though the bomb has been armed, they have to wait before they can get back to the ship. When the storm has subsided, they head into the ship and discover no atmosphere – but Daniel and Sam appear to be alive and inside escape pods. Jack and Teal’c, still inside their space suits, repair the damage and let them out.
Fraiser visits Hammond, concerned that his name is on the list of people to evacuate, but he reveals that it’s his choice to stay on Earth, no matter what. On the cargo ship, Carter voices her concerns that something else is going on. After a scan, the core of the asteroid is discovered to be naquadah. They realise that this is a Gou’ald attack (the element doesn’t exist in this solar system) and that blowing off the bomb would set Earth’s atmosphere on fire and boil the oceans. So just as bad as a collision. Jack and Teal’c head back to the bomb while Carter works on the radio to get someone to contact the Asgard.
The radio is a no go (it can’t penetrate the rock) and Jack has to disarm the bomb as the control panel is damaged. The wires used were also wrong, so Jack just has to guess, cutting all but one in the end to stop the explosion. Back on Earth, they’ve passed the failsafe time. Hammond orders Major Davis and Walter to the alpha site, staying at Stargate Command on his own.
SG-1 seem to be out of options, they might be able to get the radio back if they sabotage the generator, but that would take time. Daniel mentions that the Gou’ald must have brought it here through hyperspace, which gives Sam an idea – they can extend the Cargo Ship’s hyperspace window and fly the asteroid through Earth, sending it safely to the other side. They do note that it will destroy their engines and they’d just have a few hours of life support left. They agree to do it.
They put the plan of action, with Carter having to wait until the asteroid is extremely close to Earth before initiating the jump (otherwise they could re-appear inside Earth). Carter initiates the jump and it works, with the asteroid appearing on the other side of the Earth and carrying on its path (although I do hope they mined it later). We get a brief cutaway with Hammond speaking to the president saying he reckons it was SG-1. On the cargo ship, SG-1 receive a message from a nearby ship which has come to investigate – it’s one of the Tok’ra, happy to give SG-1 a lift home.
This is the second time that Anubis has tried to destroy Earth while circumventing the treaty with the Asgard, making him seem like a big threat, even though we’ve yet to actually meet him. The twist on the Armageddon style story is also great, with plenty of good moments throughout.
