“I’m portraying the character of Raymond Gunne, who portrays the character of Dr. Levant, which is based on the character Daniel Jackson, portrayed by the actor Michael Shanks, originally portrayed by the actor James Spader”
- Release Date: 8th September 2001
- Season 5
- Episode 12
- Director: Peter DeLuise
- Writers: Brad Wright, Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
Hammond is holding a briefing. An object has been spotted heading to Earth and it looks like a ship with an energy signature that measures a smaller one they encountered on Earth previously. That ship was what brought Martin Lloyd to Earth, the alien from “Point of no Return” whose buddies (who are still at large) made him forget he was an alien. SG-1 tried to send him back to his homeworld, but it was destroyed, so he’s been living on Earth.
We cut to a film set of what looks like a parody of Stargate, with very cheesy dialogue and overacting (the actors playing the actors do a great job). Martin seems to be the creator and consultant on the show, but the director (played by the actual director, Peter DeLuise) is dismissive and is happy with the performances made. Martin seems to be very out of the loop with nobody listening to him.
We see the opening titles to this show – called Wormhole X-Treme! – with SG-1 reacting to the show version of themselves, with Teal’c’s counterpart being a robot. Hammond explains that Martin sold the show to the studio, and that the Air Force is fine with its existence as they could have stopped it – this show could help cover up any potential leaks. Hammond has had Jack assigned as the show’s military consultant.
Martin is critiquing a bowl of apples with a pineapple in it (the pineapple being something DeLuise sneaks into most episodes), saying to paint some kiwis red, although the prop guy disagrees as the script mentions how Eden-like the planet is. Jack meets up with Martin, yet Martin acts like he’s never met Jack before. They think his mind has been wiped by his buddies again.
On the set, the lead actor is complaining about a romantic scene. The dialogue is all nice, but there are dead bodies littered around everywhere. The director argues that there’s no other sets, so they can’t be somewhere else, and that the initial script was wrong because the first shot stuns and the second shot kills. Martin points out that the third shot disintegrates, but the director tells him that that is a stupid idea (Stargate itself hasn’t used it for a while). Eventually, the director caves in and the extras are sent off.
The lead actor asks Jack for advice and they discuss the uniforms (which are camo with a hint of Star Trek) as well as why the aliens don’t wear camouflage. Jack suggests that them not wearing camo is why they’re dead, which helps the actor get into character. We cut to Tanner (who brainwashed Martin last time), who is disturbed that Jack has shown up on the set.
Hammond sends the rest of SG-1 to conduct surveillance to find out if Tanner is indeed back in the picture, and Fraiser confirms the use of mind. Carter’s equivalent from the show is asking questions about a scene. She’s supposed to be “out of phase” and can walk through walls and objects, but she’s confused as to why she doesn’t fall through the wall. Neither the director or Martin have an answer for her. Jack heads over to the craft services table and meets an undercover Teal’c (who is a chef again). He informs Jack that the investigation is still ongoing, although they do hack into the surveillance cameras.
Jack is with the executive producer and Martin, discussing issues with the show. They don’t want to show a spaceship in a scene, just show reactions. If Martin can find a way to show a ship that costs less than $5,000, he can have it. Martin also points out a flaw with one scene having two-way travel through a wormhole, but the exec doesn’t care. Jack tries to ask Martin where he gets his ideas from, but Martin says that writers can never explain where their ideas come from. He gets a call from Carter confirming Tanner’s involvement, so he gets a list of visitors for them to look through, saying that a general is doing a guest role.
They spot one of Tanner’s men and Daniel and Sam follow him to his house, but he manages to vanish. They do find a link to a warehouse that they decide to investigate, but they all need to pick up the pace before the ship arrives. Marty gets stood up by execs, who are saying the show needs a sexy female alien. Jack decides to tell him a truth – the Stargate is real, that Martin is an alien standard on earth with his memory erased. But Martin thinks he’s just proposing a new show.
They assault the warehouse but it’s not Tanner’s base at all, but an NID investigation, who arrest Daniel and Sam. Jack follows Martin to an unfinished set and Tanner comes up and disarms him. Jack tries to get through to Martin again, but it doesn’t work. Tanner injects Martin with something, saying it will help him remember. Tanner heads off, but Teal’c manages to find them, freeing them. Martin starts to remember, saying that he erased his own memory, due to his planet being destroyed and the real estate job the Air Force got him. Tanner needs Martin because the ship is coming back and the remote device for it is in his possession.
It turns out the scanner is being used as a prop, and it is currently on the location shoot they’re doing. They head off, and it turns out the prop buyer is an undercover NID agent, who alerts the rest of the team. The NID agents head off from the warehouse, leaving Daniel and Sam behind and saying they want to capture the ship.
At the location shoot, on a beach, Jack manages to get the “scanner” off the actor using it. However, Tanner turns up wanting it. There’s a stand-off when Carter calls Jack to warn him that the NID are nearly there. However, Marty spots something in the sky and rushes over. The ship descends during a scene being filmed, but Martin tells them to carry on filming. Tanner says they just want to leave, so Jack lets them go, with Martin staying behind to carry on his TV career. A few of the crew discuss the “special effect” they just witnessed saying they can fix it in post.
The episode ends with a little behind the scenes of Wormhole X-Treme!, but parody real-life behind the scenes (with the actual actors talking about playing actors portraying parodies), and the director telling an actor that it’s not a real show, although he still gets paid. It’s a bit of good fun to end this highly enjoyable episode.
