amnesia tales:
beneath the surface
tonite's repeat was eppy 410, beneath the surface, which first aired 20000901, is perhaps my most favourite eppy ever. ash heather wrote this lovely jewel of an episode, which gateworld pithily summarises 410 as follows:
the members of sg-1 are used as forced labor in an underground alien facility after their memories are erased by the ruling élite.in fact, beneath the surface contains many fabulous fantasy tropes, some of which seemingly tap the best of "classic scifi" writing, namely the fantasy bits:
- amnesia stories
- underground cities
- ice-age worlds
- giant, mysterious machines (note that this is not the science fictional machinery-motif)
- casted societies of the future as envisioned by old-fashioned thinkers: workers versus elites et cet.
the show begins with reveille: a honking horn rouses brawny, comparatively dirty & uniformly ill-clad workers from their close-packed bunks. as the episode progresses, the eppy focuses on the strange experiences & memories of workers jonah, thera & karlan, who are first united when another worker, torg, goes on a rampage following a hostile dinnertime interaction between the two couples jonah-thera & karlan-kegan. torg begins shouting about how the first three (not kegan) are, in fact, members of a group that does not belong. other workers subdue torg & remove him.
the world of the workers is a dark one in both senses: living a grungy & brutal existence trying desperately to keep their civilisation alive as a relentless ice age grips their planet; they are trapped with only iced-over windows far overhead for daylight. their jobs are classic fantasy as opposed to science fiction: whistling steam pipes, overheating boilers, banging on & adjusting mysterious machines that will keep their fires lit & the glaciers at bay.
as jonah, thera & kegan begin to talk secretly (to kegan’s great irritation), they begin to realise that all is not right in oz.
we viewers have recognised the characters above as o’neill (jonah), carter (thera), jackson (karlan) & teal'c (torg). we are now introduced into the “real-world" situation of stargate command appears as general hammond ("homer") battles with the bitchy facility administrator caulder about the missing � sg-1. caulder claims the team went missing exploring a glacier, but the search & rescue units sent by homer are unable to find a damn trace of the team on the surface.
incidentally, their transmissions from the surface outside of the domed city make hoth seem normal: when i imagine a snowbound world it's like that of the domed city, which is unbelievably inhospitable, winds driving snow with such force that communication by video or radio is nearly impossible.
once workers' supervisor brenna faces up to caulder, it is even more clear that caulder is a dick: he keeps brenna at bay, apparently because of her low caste, & makes derogatory comments about how the workers are untouchable. literally.
the site also comments:
an advanced alien city sits in the middle of a planetary ice age. the elements rage around it, but the city remains protected by a giant dome. deep underground, the working class maintains the systems that power the great city – though they do not even know it exists. [...] living conditions for the workers are rough & their days are hard – but they believe it is an honor to serve, that they are helping their people survive an ice age (not altogether untrue).these comments are accurate. some of what i thought was interesting was that the characters, stripped of their situation, interacted in ways that normally are inhibited by their regularly scheduled rulebook. the disparity between the poor workers & the luxuriating cityfolk was also interesting, although highly impractical. they have high levels of technology but rely on ancient steam burners for power? true, it appears that in fact the situation is that the worker-set are self-fulfiling: mind-wiped criminals, not functional members of society at all.analysis
caulder's people seem to be at approximately the same technological level as earth, in spite of enduring an ice age. their weapons, for example, are chemical propellant firearms, just like earth's.
the alien civilization is highly advanced in the areas of metallurgy & chemical technology & offers to trade this knowledge for stargate technology, namely, working gate addresses.
the memory stamp did little to affect personalities, knowledge or natural abilities. o'neill remained courageous & wise-cracking & a leader. carter retained her scientific & engineering abilities, suggesting improvements to the plant to brenna. & jackson continued to be cautious, skeptical & persistant.
o'neill & carter were obviously close during their time on this world. they were at least good friends & seem to have just begun to explore the possibility of a more romantic relationship. when memories of their true relationship (and ranks) resurfaced, though, the two felt a loss at having to give that up.
the website also raises some interesting
unanswered questions- how long have the workers served the city without knowing about it?
- what (or who) has o'neill been dreaming about since becoming a worker? sam?
- has brenna also been memory-stamped? although she knew of the city & the truth of the workers' situation, she does seem to be a worker herself.
- how extensive was sam & jack's relationship during their time on this world?
- how long will it take for sg-1 to fully regain their memories?producer comments:
i think the script lacked an emotional core – it could have used a sam/jack focus. they love one another. it would only make sense for them to be together if they had no recollection of their former lives. the feeling was we had played that particular emotional beat in divide & conquer & there was a concern if we went that way in beneath the surface we would be overplaying the angle.– writer /producer joseph mallozzi
anyway, i know this is a pretty random entry but i wanted to say something. maybe i'll say something more useful later when i'm not so damn tired.
posted by Unknown @ 02:24
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