Hello again, Im back with another edition of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly and this time we are looking at Season 5!

Stargate SG1: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Season 1)

Stargate SG1: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Season 2)

Stargate SG1: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Season 3)

Stargate SG1: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Season 4)

Season 5 has always been a strange condundrum for me. On one hand it has some cracking episodes and on the otherhand it seems like a patchwork season with many "filler" episodes. One thing Season 5 does well is to build the tension about our mysterious new adversary after the demise of Apophis. This however, is also its weak point as we have to wait for over half a season before the big reveal but at least we get a few episodes about the meddling Earth politics. Once revealed though, we get to see the gravity of combining the knowledge of the Ancients with the evilness of the Goa'uld. The second half of Season 5 contains some memorable episodes and the (temporary) loss one of the main characters in the franchise. Surprisingly, it is also the first season where we dont finish on a cliffhanger.

SEASON 5

The Good - Summit - Episode 15 - I'll admit that this one was so tough to decide. In the end I chose the first part of the mid season double header because it bring the focus back to the show's mythology. The plot starts off well enough with another one of the Tok'ra's insane plans and rapidly evolves to showcase the inner working of the System Lords and the Goa'uld heirarchy. The viewers are kept on edge throughout the episode on whether Daniel will be caught and the timing of the release of the symbiote poison. The assault on the Tok'ra and the Osiris/Anubis reveal are timed to perfection and throw a spanner into the entire plan. Daniel's hasty improvisation and contrasting level headedness also provide the perfect insight into his character (while also showcasing Tok'ra's desperation). A cast of new Goa'uld, their histories and personalities are a breath of fresh air after Apophis' demise and the episode does a good job of breaking up the tension with the usual O'Neill humour. One of the must watch episodes in the franchise if you are a fan of mythology.

The Bad - Rite of Passage - Episode 6 - I must admit that I never really cared much for Cassandra beyond the initial episode as I felt that these episodes should have been used to develop many of the other minor characters in the franchise or revisit unfinished story arcs. Rite of Passage did nothing to change my mind. While the episode tries to delve into Nirrti's motives, I felt it focuses far too much on Cassandra's transformation and not enough on the actual motives. There are also some minor plot holes which leave the viewer with more questions than answers (how did Nirrti get through to Earth undetected when measures put in place to detect invisible/out of phase arrivals after the Reetou attack?).

The Ugly - Last Stand - Episode 16 - The second part of the mid season double header was a huge letdown. After the epic build up, the second part feels extremely rushed, lacking in pace and quite boring in parts. There are also some aspects that arent made crystal clear (i.e. why the Goa'uld population showed zero growth) and these are not helped by the fact that the episodes makes giant leaps in time across scenes (one moment we are the communicators are 9 hours away and the next they are there). I find the whole episode severely lacking in both plot development and the ending quite lame for a double episode. It's almost like the writer's ran out of budget and had to end the episode abruptly leaving me with a "That's it?!?" feeling.

The Honorable Mentions - Episodes 9 (Between Two Fires), 12 (Wormhole X-Treme!), 19 (Menace), 21 (Meridian) and 22 (Revelations) - The tail end of the season comes alive with our new Goa'uld protagonist as well as new developments in existing story arcs. Some of these could easily have taken the mantle of the "The Good" for the level of gut wrenching emotion (Im looking at you Meridian). Episode 9 sees the untimely end of the Tollan while Episode 12 injects some much needed humour to a season lacking pure comedic episodes like previous seasons. Who can forget the bratty android who is the source of the Replicator plague. Episodes 21 and 22 see us lose a core member of the team while our new enemy is finally revealed. Such a contrast of emotions make the end of Season 5 one of the best out of the series.

Hope you enjoyed and as always I would be very interested to hear the community's feedback and thoughts!