SG-1 Pick of the Week: Holiday

Greetings to SG-1 Picks of the Week and I think I have a rather amusing and slightly saddening episode for you this first day. It tugs on the heart strings, tickles the funny bone and in general is true to science fiction so grab your Ellis pack, prep you MP 5 and dive into the Ring of the Ancients.   This is Stargate: SG-1- Holiday.

 

Okay my nick knack collection needs moving, young man.

I do not have a sister, Spoiler. And if I did I wouldn’t let you near her.

This little excursion hails from Season 2 Episode 17 which starts us off in a distant world via the Stargate and there is a myriad of devices and objects of unknown origin.  As SG-1 proceeds to investigate they are greeted by an elderly man by the name of Ma’chello (Michael Shanks of Highlander, Escape from Mars, Stargate: Ark of Truth, Andromeda, Stargate: Continuum, Stargate: Atlantis, Burn Notice and Red Riding Hood) while dotty explains to the SG team that he is a freedom fighter against the Goa’uld and has been tormenting them for more than 50 years.  As he is showing a device of his own creation to Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) Ma’chello falls to the ground but Daniel seems fine.  

You know chili peppers burn my guts!

The team rushes Ma’chello back to Stargate Command in the hopes medical attention can help him.   Daniel feels a bit out of sorts and is informed by base commander General Hammond (Don S Davis of Malone, MacGyver, 21 Jump Street, Twin Peaks and Broken Badges) to go home and rest up.   Daniel is dropped off at his doorstep and proceeds to wander about, speaking to total strangers, explaining that he is new to this land and claiming his name is Ma’chello?   

The base’s doctor Janet Fraiser (Teryl Rothery of Robocop: Alpha Commando, Dragon Ball, Gadget and the Gadgetinis and Martin Mystery) has to deal with the senility of Ma’chello claiming to be Daniel Jackson.  You guessed it folks; it’s a body swap episode.   A staple of science fiction of the likes of Star Trek: The Original Series. This wacky turn of events also requires Christopher Judge (Teal’c) and Richard Dean Anderson (Jack O Neil) to play each other’s parts to a level that was killing me.  This also showed Christopher Judge in a different light and allowed him to have some inflection in his voice beyond, “Indeed.”  The turn of phrase and mannerisms makes me glad I do not have that many actor friends mocking and mimicking me.

 

You just beef??!

What is most enjoyable about this episode is we are not relegated to an alien world or the base sound stage. In fact, most of this episode consists of being out and about the town of alleged Colorado Springs i.e. British Columbia.   We got outside of the base people!  That is huge in of itself.

Michael Shanks gets the most daunting of jobs in double work as Daniel and Ma’chello and yes he is barely recognizable in the makeup and only you hardcore SG fans will spot that.  Of course I just gave that away.  Whoops.  Ma’chello also treats an entire restaurant to lunch on Daniel’s dime.  Makes you wonder how big of a bill that was on his credit card.  Yikes.