Stargate In Significantly Fewer Seasons, Season 1: Suns, Serpents, Sons Of Serpents

While I was living in the intolerable flesh oven of Mesa, Arizona, I worked for a family who obsessively watched Stargate. I liked the family, and I liked the episodes, but it was the  fifth or sixth season, and things were constantly being explained to  me. Things I probably didn't need to know.

I'm not sure what possessed me to trackdown the movie, and start to watch the series it inspired, but I've decided to do another condensed series chronology a la my Star Trek and Doctor Who recommendations. I'm aiming for ten seasons of ten episodes each, but there's always some wriggle room.

Stargate is basically Star Trek where Earth is the ship most episodes originate from. There's a ton of classic sci-fi tropes, conspiracy theories, and completely incorrect science. For this chronology, I'm focused on interesting character studies, cool (even if technically incorrect) science, and drama that isn't quite melodrama (despite the swelling Stargate theme). I've left out some major episodes that introduce characters and plots that come up later because I care more about where a story goes than when it  begins. But each of these episodes should be easy to follow,even if you've never seen any previous episode.

Season One:
Suns, Serpents, Sons Of Serpents

 Episode 1: Ra, Ra, Sis Boom Ba! (Stargate The Motion Picture)
(O'Neill, Jackson, Langford, Skaara, Shau'ri, Kawalski, Anubis, Ra)

James Spader said the script for this movie was one of the worst he ever agreed to sign on for, but I really enjoyed this tale of what hapens when the military and an academic find a piece of technology that they don't understand, and allow it to propel them into the unknown faraway. They set up an interesting origin for certain ancient mythology that includes fighting the prettiest fake Egyptian god in the unknown universe. Don't forget to bring tissues.


Episode 2: Children Of The Gods
(O'Neill, Jackson, Skarra, Shau'ri, Kawalski, Carter, Teal'c, Hammond, Apophis)

A new cast takes over the  roles from the movie as, a year later, the military discovers that O'Neill, Kawalski, and crew sort of lied about what happened to Daniel Jackson and the survivors of Ra's wrath. They soon encounter Apophis who takes some prisoners to ensure that O'Neill and Jackson will have high personal stakes in the war with the Goa'uld for the rest of the series.


Episode 3: The Enemy Within
(O'Neill, Jackson, Kawalski, Carter, Teal'c, Hammond, Frasier)

During the last episode, one of the recurring characters was possessed by a Goa'uld symbiote. Stargate Command and SG1 must figure out a way  to remove the symbiote without killing the host it has possessed.


Episode 4: Torment Of Tantalus
(O'Neill, Jackson,Carter, Teal'c, Langford, Hammond)

Nobody told Catherine Langford (who was a major player in episode one) that the Stargate was operational, and that Daniel Jackson had returned to Earth. When they learn the truth about the early days of the gate, she joins SG1 in tracking down the first human to travel across the galaxy.


Episode 5: Enigma
(O'Neill, Jackson, Carter, Teal'c, Hammond, Maybourne)

Proving there's more life in the universe than just Earthlings, Goa'uld, and Jaffa, SG1 rescues a highy advanced and highly condescending race called the Tollan. We also see Maybourne be a weasely government slimeball. He's in many episodes of the show, but not many of them make the list, as I'm much more interested in SG1 exploring and meeting new races than I  am in their battle against corrupt politicians.


Episode 6: Within The Serpents' Grasp/The Serpents' Lair
(O'Neill, Jackson, Carter, Teal'c, Skaara, Apophis, Hammond, Bra'tac)

Aw shit, the Goa'uld are coming to Earth in giant spaceships to get their revenge on SG1. Except, daaaaaaang, SG1 isn't on Earth. They're on the Goa'uld ships. Lots  of family drama goes down as we approach the potential apocalypse.


Episode 7: Family
(O'Neill, Jackson, Carter, Teal'c, Apophis, Hammond, Frasier, Bra'tac, Drey'auc, Rya'c)

If Apophis can't have his revenge on the humans, he's going to mess with the Jaffar. He kidaps and brainwashes Teal'c's son.


Episode 8: Tok'ra
(O'Neill, Jackson, Carter, Teal'c, Hammond, Martouf, Selmak)

SG1 tries to form an alliance with a group of rebellious Goa'uld in an attempt to save Carter's father and come up with a strategy to defeat the false gods.


Episode 9: A Matter Of Time
(O'Neill, Jackson, Carter, Teal'c, Hammond, Frasier, Siler)

A SG team encounters a Black Hole. In an attempt to rescue them, Stargate Command accidentally makes it so that the Stargate can't shut, resulting in time significantly slowing down in  the command center, relative to the oustide world.


Episode 10: The Fifth Race
(O'Neill, Jackson, Carter, Teal'c, Hammond, Frasier)

O'Neill accidentally interfaces with alien technology, making him super smart but unable to communicate. But his discovery pulls another alien race into an alliance with Earth. It also suggests that the X-Files might exist in this universe.