Stargate SG-1: Urgo

 “Ooh, how did I ever get along without that wonderful, constant companion?”

• Release Date: 26th January 2000
• Season 3
• Episode 16
• Director: Peter DeLuise
• Writers: Tor Alexander Valenza

When a MALP sends back footage of a tropical planet, so SG-1 are sent to check it out for a possible location of an off-world research base. As they head into the Stargate, Jack is teasing Teal’c by saying goodbye in lots of different languages. They head through the Stargate and reemerge back at Stargate Command, with a load of troops and a concerned looking General Hammond – they’ve been gone for over 15 hours.

After initial medical tests, they all seem fine, yet act oddly in the briefing. They each take a sip of coffee to discover that its absolutely delicious, with Teal’c downing a boiling hot kettle full of the coffee, despite it being extremely hot. They manage to figure out that the MALP received fake information, with one frame showing a strange alien lab.

While SG-1 are kept under guard, they’re still allowed to go about their business on the base. Jack eats some dessert pie and soon the rest of them seem to sense this and join in. They get called to the infirmary again – more in-depth scans have found a tiny, microscopic device in each of their brains. They’re all linked and, as the device seems to be able to influence SG-1, they’re quarantined.

While they sit around – with Sam doing work, Daniel and Teal’c playing chess and Jack playing on a Game Boy Colour (perhaps he’s playing a puzzle game called Stargate), they hear a voice calling them boring. An eccentric looking man appears and they all address him as “Urgo”. Carter quickly works out that Urgo is in their brain chips and Jack asks a random soldier if there is an intruder – nobody else can see Urgo. He keeps trying to get them to go out and do new things – he wants to experience stuff. He also says that returning to the planet would mean he would get scooped out and SG-1 would be killed.

Hammond says that there’s no chance that they can go on missions as long as Urgo could possibly influence them. While Urgo can’t directly control them, he can put suggestions into their head. Carter comes up with a plan of using an Electromagnetic pulse to stop him, with him pleading for them to keep him. It works, but Hammond wants to keep an eye on them for a week.

After a meeting with Dr Fraiser, Sam starts singing Row Row Row Your Boat, with Daniel, Jack and Teal’c joining in from their different quarters. When SG-1 are informed about this, they realise that their plan has failed, and Urgo reappears. He does say that it worked temporarily, but it reset. There’s only one plan left: go back to the planet and hope for the best. Urgo says they’ll be killed again, but they don’t believe him. They manage to speak to someone on the other end – a booming voice called Togar. After they say they can see Urgo, Togar says that there’s been an error and that he’ll remove him.

As they get ready to go, Urgo changes his track: SG-1 aren’t in danger of death, he is. Sam realises that Urgo might actually be sentient, as he ticks all the boxes. Jack says they still have no choice but to go, as they won’t be able to continue their missions if they don’t. 

In the alien lab, Togar looks exactly like Urgo. Before Urgo is removed, they plead to him that Urgo is alive and propose the idea of Togar putting Urgo in himself. His people experience new things vicariously though others, so perhaps Urgo can encourage him to try new things himself. Togar and Urgo both reluctantly agree. After the process is completed, SG-1 are sent back through the gate with no memory of what happened, and missing another 10 hours of their life.

This episode is a ton of fun and Urgo is an absolute joy to watch. Seeing the main cast act against nothing in some of the cuts is also great, and they all do a wonderful job, not to mention the bewilderment of the people who can’t see Urgo, which must have been difficult in the scenes where the viewer can see him.