Politics picks up with Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) talking about the oncoming goa’uld assault that he witnessed in the alternate reality, but he’s not only going to have to prove himself to O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Carter (Amanda Tapping) and Teal’c (Christopher Judge) and the SGC, but also the government.

And that means not only do we see Samuels (Robert Wisden) returning, but he’s also accompanying Senator Kinsey (Ronny Cox) who wants to shut the program down.

Can he be convinced not only of the goa’uld threat, but the benefits of continuing the stargate program?

And what better way to do that than through a clip show. Sigh.

At least we get Ronny Cox introduced to the Stargate Universe.

Written by Brad Wright with excerpt pulled from throughout the season by a variety of writers, Politics, the penultimate episode of season one, debuted on 27 February, 1998. At least the clips seem to work in favor of recapping the events of the season, given a quick primer for anyone who may have missed anything, and setting everything up for the season one finale and what is to come.

There’s a snide shot at Independence Day, and Wright delivers some smart and fun dialogue that lets the characters shine even in a clip show, which is always my least favorite kind of show. At least this time out, there’s a reason for it. It also saves on the budget, because almost all of it is set in the conference room, with all the visual effects and location work coming from the previously aired episodes.

I didn’t need a clip show to remind me of everything that happened this season, but it serves its purpose, to remind us what has passed, and preps us for what is to come.

But everything they tell Kinsey may not be enough, as he elects to close the program, giving us a To Be Continued as we roll into the season finale.

Within the Serpent’s Grasp closed out the inaugural season of Stargate SG-1 on 6 March, 1998. It was written by one of the showrunners, Jonathan Glassner, from a story by James Crocker.

Paperwork is being shredded and the entire SGC is about to be tucked into mothballs, but Daniel Jackson is pushing for the team to go through the gate before its shutdown to go to the coordinates Daniel has for the goa’uld homeworld.

Against orders, they head out on what may be one last mission (we know that’s not true, we’ve got nine more seasons to go). Passing through the gate they find that they are not on a planet, but on a goa’uld mothership, a ship headed right for Earth. Start the ticking clock, because now the race is on to find a way to stop the ship before it reaches its target.

Teal’c has his ma’tok, staff weapon, but on the ship they find more arms including the zat’nik’tel, or zat gun as O’Neill calls it, and they get added to the team’s armory. And they are gonna need all the help they can get, because the ship is loaded with jaffa, and… Skara (Alexis Cruz)!

Skara has been given command of this mission by Apophis (Peter Williams)! And both are intent on carrying it out to completion. Apophis refers to Skara as his son, which ups the ante for O’Neill and the team, as the hope to rescue him, despite now calling himself Klorel.

Unfortunately, things go badly for SG-1, Teal’c and O’Neill are captured, the ship is faster than Carter projected, arriving in our solar system earlier than she thought. When Carter and Jackson effect a rescue on their comrades, the team is able to escape, at the cost of Skara’s life, but the threat of attack is still hanging over Earth, literally, as the ship arrives in orbit, and we race towards a To Be Continued!

What a way to end the first season!