“1969”
is a very unconventional episode for Stargate
SG-1, being this was the show’s first time travel episode. With the story simply being about the
Stargate accidentally sending SG-1 back to 1969, there are no aliens, no
ancient mythology, and very little action.
Just one time travel adventure across the United States in 1969.
Whereas
later episodes, such as “2010”, “Moebius”, and Atlantis’s “The Last Man”, focus on how characters fix alternate
timelines and grandfather paradoxes through time travel, “1969” utilizes the
causal loop, in which events in history are predestined by events in the
future, to drive its narrative forward.
For example, there is a sequence in which SG-1 gets some help from a
young George Hammond, then a lieutenant.
In 1999, General Hammond sent his own note back in time to Lieutenant
Hammond from 1969, remembering his first interactions with SG-1 in his own life
30 years before. Even the littlest
details, such as both 1969 and 1999 Hammonds noticing the stitched cut on Sam’s
wrist, are important Chekov’s guns of sorts, literally stitching together any
possible narrative inconsistencies. It
is these details that give the plot coherence.
Overall,
Brad Wright really cared about carefully writing an intricate story that does
not meddle too much with itself... when Jack isn’t knocking soldiers and
guards out with Teal’c’s zat, that is.
After all, Brad Wright once again figures out how to properly and tightly
write plausible science, such as the explanation as to why the Stargate sent
SG-1 back in time. Sam is given lots of
technobabble to spew out, and with such a limited slice of a 44-minute runtime
to spare, not a word of it gets wasted.
She explains not only how the time travel works, but how to fix it, and
even the minutest details are explained.
It gives the story a now-or-never objective that raises the tension
throughout the episode. Will SG-1 make
it back to 1999 in time? (No pun intended)
There
is plenty of humor in this episode, too, especially in a sequence where SG-1
goes on a cross-country road trip with a couple of hippies, Michael and Jenny,
en route to Woodstock. There isn’t much
to Jenny’s personality (given how wooden it is), but Michael shows plenty of flair as the cool
Summer of Love hippie you’d want to hang out with (kudos to guest actor Alex
Zahara for nailing that role). The
montage of SG-1, Michael, and Jenny travelling across the country along Route
66 to the East Coast makes for some really funny moments. But on a side note, it makes you wonder how
much time passed from SG-1’s arrival in 1969 until they reach their destination.
“1969”
is the right kind of standalone episode.
It tells a self-contained story that deviates from the common format of
the series to try something new, and excels at that. Moreover, it actually adds a little new
detail to the universe of Stargate. Time travel may not be the core of the Stargate mythos, but it does open plenty
of new narrative opportunities.
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