Stargate Team Dynamics (Season Four)
Mar. 12th, 2005 03:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
butterflySo, a while back, I started to post about character dynamics on SG-1. Then, I was distracted and didn't finish.
One; Two; Three.
Now, there is Season Four.
Season Four is when the cracks become too obvious to ignore. Daniel and Jack grow apart, Jack and Sam twist closer, Teal'c finds happiness and despair and the need for revenge. Again, if I've missed anything, please let me know.
At this point in time, the Jack and Daniel relationship is under strain, especially on Jack's side. In The Other Side, Jack tells Daniel to 'shut up' and when Jack later apologises, Daniel never actually accepts the apology, just says that he's glad that Jack realized that he deserved one. There are times in the beginning when Daniel's absence is almost glaring -- he's missing from the team in Small Victories, gets left behind after his arm band fails in Upgrades and is not there to witness the Jack and Sam show in Divide and Conquer. This is also the season of Daniel joining other teams for missions. He's with other teams in The First Ones, The Light, Prodigy, and Double Jeopardy. Despite this, Daniel's longing to be closer to Jack again is shown more than once -- he races to the gateroom to see the team in Small Victories, dreams of Jack in Beneath the Surface, and goes right by Teal'c to reach Jack at the end of Tangent. In his dream of Absolute Power, Jack is the only member of the team that he welcomes. Their friendship, though less close, is still very powerful. Jack reaches out to Daniel in small ways -- offer of a powerbar, pushing up glasses -- and in larger ones, when Daniel is in danger. The Jack gets hit with a triple-whammy at the end of the season -- he almost loses Daniel (The Light), he almost loses Carter (Entity), and he believes that he's lost Teal'c (Exodus). He also sees his robot double die. All of that seems to have an effect on him, especially in his relationship with Daniel, as we'll see in the fifth season.
Jack's relationship with Sam gets more and more complicated this season. Their isolation with Teal'c seems to have brought all three of them closer together -- Jack and Sam joke together in Small Victories and she takes over his Thor-helping job. In The Other Side, we see the first hint of their incompatibility -- like Daniel (Bloodlines), Jack is capable of a certain kind of ruthlessness that just isn't in Sam's nature. They share a moment of danger and fear and despair in Upgrades and are forced to relieve it in Divide and Conquer, which forces both of them to actually think about the idea of being attracted. And then Jack lives day after day and one day decides to resign and kiss Sam. Again, the manner of the kiss speaks as to how very impossible it would be in actuality -- even when there were 'no consequences', Jack felt the need to resign before kissing Sam, and kissed her just before time would start over, leaving her no real chance to react. This was about kissing Carter, not about finding out if he and Carter would be any good together. In Beneath the Surface, Jack and Sam feel drawn together, even missing their memories (and, *weep*, Daniel feels drawn to Jack and Jack doesn't feel the same and tragedy... but it gets better in season five). In Tangent, it's Sam that Jack registers from the glider. Sam is the one who goes to talk to Jack in 2010.
Jack shares a lot with Teal'c in Season Four. They fly together and 'fish' together. They're... you know. Good friends. With that trust and respect. That they've had from the beginning. And yet, they aren't compatible on a 'casual friendship' level. When Jack tries the death glider, they almost die, and when he takes Teal'c fishing, Daniel almost dies. Interestingly enough, we get confirmation this season that even if none of SG-1 were working with him, Teal'c would still stay with the SGC because he believes it serves his best interests (Chain Reaction).
Daniel and Sam are shown as complementary -- there are several times in the season when they work together to reach a goal. At the same time, they're often in conflict -- Sam sides with Jack more and more in season four. Daniel is the person who understands why Sam had to try to contact the Entity in... The Entity. I can't think of a similar "Sam gets where Daniel's coming from" moment, though. We see some reactionary Daniel bitterness towards Sam in Absolute Power where he has her declared crazy and locked up in a white room.
Daniel and Teal'c's relationship doesn't change, though we do get to see that, shockingly enough, yes, Daniel does bear a little bit of bitterness over that little wife-killing thing.
Sam and Teal'c. I got nothing.
Again, the season ender sets up the next season's mood.
One; Two; Three.
Now, there is Season Four.
Season Four is when the cracks become too obvious to ignore. Daniel and Jack grow apart, Jack and Sam twist closer, Teal'c finds happiness and despair and the need for revenge. Again, if I've missed anything, please let me know.
At this point in time, the Jack and Daniel relationship is under strain, especially on Jack's side. In The Other Side, Jack tells Daniel to 'shut up' and when Jack later apologises, Daniel never actually accepts the apology, just says that he's glad that Jack realized that he deserved one. There are times in the beginning when Daniel's absence is almost glaring -- he's missing from the team in Small Victories, gets left behind after his arm band fails in Upgrades and is not there to witness the Jack and Sam show in Divide and Conquer. This is also the season of Daniel joining other teams for missions. He's with other teams in The First Ones, The Light, Prodigy, and Double Jeopardy. Despite this, Daniel's longing to be closer to Jack again is shown more than once -- he races to the gateroom to see the team in Small Victories, dreams of Jack in Beneath the Surface, and goes right by Teal'c to reach Jack at the end of Tangent. In his dream of Absolute Power, Jack is the only member of the team that he welcomes. Their friendship, though less close, is still very powerful. Jack reaches out to Daniel in small ways -- offer of a powerbar, pushing up glasses -- and in larger ones, when Daniel is in danger. The Jack gets hit with a triple-whammy at the end of the season -- he almost loses Daniel (The Light), he almost loses Carter (Entity), and he believes that he's lost Teal'c (Exodus). He also sees his robot double die. All of that seems to have an effect on him, especially in his relationship with Daniel, as we'll see in the fifth season.
Jack's relationship with Sam gets more and more complicated this season. Their isolation with Teal'c seems to have brought all three of them closer together -- Jack and Sam joke together in Small Victories and she takes over his Thor-helping job. In The Other Side, we see the first hint of their incompatibility -- like Daniel (Bloodlines), Jack is capable of a certain kind of ruthlessness that just isn't in Sam's nature. They share a moment of danger and fear and despair in Upgrades and are forced to relieve it in Divide and Conquer, which forces both of them to actually think about the idea of being attracted. And then Jack lives day after day and one day decides to resign and kiss Sam. Again, the manner of the kiss speaks as to how very impossible it would be in actuality -- even when there were 'no consequences', Jack felt the need to resign before kissing Sam, and kissed her just before time would start over, leaving her no real chance to react. This was about kissing Carter, not about finding out if he and Carter would be any good together. In Beneath the Surface, Jack and Sam feel drawn together, even missing their memories (and, *weep*, Daniel feels drawn to Jack and Jack doesn't feel the same and tragedy... but it gets better in season five). In Tangent, it's Sam that Jack registers from the glider. Sam is the one who goes to talk to Jack in 2010.
Jack shares a lot with Teal'c in Season Four. They fly together and 'fish' together. They're... you know. Good friends. With that trust and respect. That they've had from the beginning. And yet, they aren't compatible on a 'casual friendship' level. When Jack tries the death glider, they almost die, and when he takes Teal'c fishing, Daniel almost dies. Interestingly enough, we get confirmation this season that even if none of SG-1 were working with him, Teal'c would still stay with the SGC because he believes it serves his best interests (Chain Reaction).
Daniel and Sam are shown as complementary -- there are several times in the season when they work together to reach a goal. At the same time, they're often in conflict -- Sam sides with Jack more and more in season four. Daniel is the person who understands why Sam had to try to contact the Entity in... The Entity. I can't think of a similar "Sam gets where Daniel's coming from" moment, though. We see some reactionary Daniel bitterness towards Sam in Absolute Power where he has her declared crazy and locked up in a white room.
Daniel and Teal'c's relationship doesn't change, though we do get to see that, shockingly enough, yes, Daniel does bear a little bit of bitterness over that little wife-killing thing.
Sam and Teal'c. I got nothing.
Again, the season ender sets up the next season's mood.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-12 11:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-12 11:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-12 07:53 pm (UTC)Ah yes the team dynamic of season four, I wish I could leave some insight but I can't really remember a lot of it, the things that do stick in my mind are:
In Entity the whole civilian/military thing really comes into play. Everyone thinks that they are going to loose Carter so they decide to blow up the computer (or something like that; like I said I can't really remember) but Daniel was like no it's wrong and Jack was like no Daniel we tried doing it your way, didn't work so were going to do it my way.
Then Daniel folds up his arms and says almost tentatively that Sam wasn't wrong in trying to communicate with it . . . he goes on to say that he realizes that Jack and Tealc's first reaction is to protect while Daniel's it to communicate, and Daniel gets this look on his face as he says this and walks away(I think) and that just really hits me.
I'm sure I'll think of something more later . . . hmmm
(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-12 10:03 pm (UTC)you and nostalgia_lj really go at it, but it's cool cause you guys till seem pretty to be good friends(I hope!)I was just reading what you guys had to say about the whole Sam/Jack thing in Threads
I've got nothing but respect for nos. She honestly sees a Jack/Sam thing and speaks out on what she sees. I always admire that in people.
Entity definitely is an interesting episode, character dynamics-wise.