SG-1: Inauguration

[Mabus]

Always found it interesting how they managed to occasionally mix politics into Stargate, though I have a feeling sometimes they kind of took a somewhat simplistic approach, with a good side and a stupid side, I feel they could have added a few more players, especially after the old ones were out of the picture.

Also while they try their hardest not to paint any political affiliation to the president(s) in Stargate, if Kinsey is, according to the actor, "evangelical Christian and a member of the Republican Party", then it's clear that Henry Hayes is also Republican, but I get the feeling that he wasn't initially in the GOP and only ran as Republican candidate due to, I don't know, better popularity maybe, since the guy doesn't feel Republican or Democrat.

I don't know which US president was most similar to Hayes, I'm not very versatile in US political history.

[Coyote's Own]

The President has been woefully misinformed.
As we know in hindsight it's Wales you need pressure in bringing Dr. Who back not England.

[Ixthos]

I really enjoyed Star Gate SG1, and liked how they mixed in advanced aliens, primitive planets, and covert groups on Earth, along with having to deal with politics. But, that said, I agree with what I recall Chuck saying and echoed by others, that Kinsey was thrown off the slippery slope. As someone who is a Christian and a fan of the genre and the show I found it very annoying that with only two exceptions off the top of my head (the medieval world with the Unas serving as a demon, and an episode in early season 9 where a reference was made to a belief that just because the Ori were powerful it didn't mean there wasn't someone even more powerful than them), the only overtly religious people with a Christian or hypothetically Christian view / Christian-like religion such as the Asgard protect planet which has a star they damaged when forcing a gate connection, are hypocrites or zealots. Kinsey started off as a plausible, reasonable antagonist, who was arguably right, or making decent arguments with what he knew. By the end he was an amoral hypocrite who invoked God to justify his self serving desires, and was the only character to openly refer to God while being obviously willing to do objectively evil things. I really wish there was more science fiction in a modern setting where the religious are given a fair portrayal, with heroes and villains who are religious and intelligent, not just hypocrites using religion as a fig leaf.

Still, I really liked this episode, especially its portrayal of Woolsey. He was a great character, an antagonist who was genuine in his motives, and so became an ally. And as much as I like the main characters, it is true that an outsider looking in could see problems. We know they are pure in their motivation, have gone through nightmares to protect the planet, have made hard choices and put the needs of others before their own. But no-one looking in from the outside can be sure of that. As much as my instinctual reaction was for the new president to leave them as they are, in retrospect he was right, and moral. And, of course, learning later on that he was an old friend of Hammond helped

This was a good breather episode before the end of the season, and set up for it very well.

[FaxModem1]

Honestly, I think that this was an episode that could do without clips. Having it just be scenes reusing the White House set from X-men 2(which is how they were able to do the plotline at all), would have been a better move, as it would have been like a Stargate version of an episode of The West Wing.

[clearspira]

I never liked Hayes - he often came off as an overly smug prick to me. I get that he is a politician but I still don't want to watch that. I think my go-to example for what I mean was his portrayal in Stargate Continuum where SG-1 spend YEARS trying to tell him that the Goa'uld are coming, and when they finally do, we get this gem:

Henry Hayes: So what's coming next?
Daniel Jackson: Death, slavery. More slavery, more death.
Henry Hayes: Look, if you want to say 'I told you so' go ahead and get it off your chest. But then you can do one of two things; you can help, or you can leave.
Daniel Jackson: Okay, bye! [starts to walk to the door]
Cameron Mitchell: Jackson!
Daniel Jackson: Right! I forgot to say, I told you so!
Henry Hayes: Now are you going to help or not?

Remember, the Earth, which is currently at a season 1 level of defensive capability, is about to get attacked by a Goa'uld fleet and Hayes is quite happy to dismiss the only three people in existence who know how to fight them.

[bz316]

One thing that kind of bugs me (and is only occasionally addressed) is the dissemination of technology to the public. It strikes me that, no matter how well-intentioned they might be, it's a pretty massive display of hubris on the part of the SGC to withhold potentially world-saving technology from the world on the grounds of "people aren't ready for it." I mean, think about what they've got access to. Naquadah is a clean source of power that they can actually mine on OTHER PLANETS. And they actually get good enough at designing naquadah generators that they can use it to power an ancient drone weapon. These things could end the energy crisis and climate change overnight without causing ANY environmental damage to any part of the Earth. And speaking of mining, effective sub-light engines opens the door to large-scale asteroid mining! No more relying on conflict minerals or methods that poison local air and water supplies to sustain the consumer electronics industry. And that's just the big stuff. Think about smaller things, like the "Zat Guns" or Wraith Stunners. These are perfect, non-lethal weapons that can incapacitate people without hurting them in any measurable way! Think about what a boon that would be for policing and home defense. The sheer volume of social problems that could solve in the USA alone is insane. But no, they hold it all back because they, a handful of un-elected military officials have decided, entirely on their own, that the societal status-quo is best for everyone. Does that not seem just a little nefarious to anyone else?

[TGLS]

The problem with Stargate is they want a background that resembles the modern day and not some futuristic setting, but they also want fancy tech. So they justify having both with a masquerade.

[Rocketboy1313]

The problem with Stargate is they want a background that resembles the modern day and not some futuristic setting, but they also want fancy tech. So they justify having both with a masquerade.

It is the same problem that happens in all super hero comics.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReedRichardsIsUseless

[AllanO]

The problem with Stargate is they want a background that resembles the modern day and not some futuristic setting, but they also want fancy tech. So they justify having both with a masquerade.

It is the same problem that happens in all super hero comics.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReedRichardsIsUseless

I mean as I said in the thread about Disclosure I think the implication of lots of episodes is that all this stuff is filtering into broader public. Clearly we don't see this given the desire to have present day backgrounds a lot of the time.

I would say in the case of super hero settings they could be in a sort of red queen scenario with super villains, alien invasions etc. smashing up the real estate every week they need massive technical advances just to rebuild back to where they were every week, and those events just proliferate more and more, so they must run faster and faster just to stay in place. The fact that they don't look like a perpetual war zone is a testament to the fact they are in fact far more advanced than us. Or at least that is how I would explain the apparent stagnation in super hero stories like those in Marvel or DC (to be fair sometimes cops in those have laser weapons and cool stuff, so I think its wildly inconsistent).

Or it could just be that the writers think spinning out implications like this is tedious and boring and too much change to the status quo dilutes "relatability" or makes coming up with reasons for conflict to difficult (it's hard enough isolating characters who have smartphones etc. ).

[hypocratus]

There is the fact that such advanced technology would radically change the status quo, likely in ways that are unseen. A naquadah generator is a clean source of energy or it is a highly effective pocket nuke equivalent. Stun weapons allow you to use them with impunity because there is no lasting harm so why not stun anyone that might be a threat.