Carter (Amanda Tapping) is given some time off, after she’s rendered unconscious on a mission. She was inspecting a device that may or may nor be a weapon. But she and SG-1 do not come back alone, there is a mysterious entity that has attached itself to Carter.

Ascension was written by Robert C. Cooper, and it first aired on 13 July, 2001.

The entity reveals itself to be Orlin (Sean Patrick Flannery), he’s slowly become physically real, and he’s cautioning Carter that they shouldn’t turn on the device, which yes, O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) believes is a weapon.

If it is a weapon, the government is super-interested, and they’ve sent Colonel Frank Simmons (John de Lancie) to make the decision on its use.

Orlin and Carter become closer, and he reveals that he is an ascended being, and when Stargate Command and Simmons finally realize that Carter was telling the truth about Orlin, and the weapon, the alien builds his own stargate.

It only has one destination, and he and Carter travel to stop the weapons test, but at what personal cost?

It’s nice to see a fun and playful side of Carter, she’s such a wonderful character and it shows that she can have a bit of a romance without just playing it as a simple love story. It can be intelligent, and have repercussions on the characters.

I’ve been a Flannery fan since The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, so it was great to see him here, and anytime de Lancie shows up in anything, that’s a good thing.

The Fifth Man was written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. It first debuted on 20 July, 2001.

Simmons is still around, and it’s a good thing, because Carter, Daniel (Michael Shanks), and Teal’c (Christopher Judge) return to the SGC with a strange request. They are demanding that Hammond (Don S. Davis) send a team and reinforcements back through the gate to rescue O’Neill and the other member of their team, Tyler (Dion Johnstone).

Other member of their team?

Hammond is immediately suspicious, but O’Neill is trapped on another planet, under attack by jaffa, and there is a Tyler with him.

Who is he? What’s going on?

Simmons begins to wonder what is actually going on at the SGC. It seems countless people fall under alien influence. Is the whole thing a security risk of galactic proportions? And what about getting O’Neill and Tyler back?

Fraiser (Teryl Rothery) begins to figure out what is going on when she is exposed to something that allows her to ‘remember’ Tyler as well.

On the planet, Tyler eventually reveals his true nature to O’Neill. He’s not human, he’s an alien that needs O’Neill’s help to escape the jaffa.

Happily, both O’Neill and the SGC learn what is going on at about the same time, allowing for O’Neill and Tyler’s rescue.

An entertaining episode but maybe I’m watching these episodes way too closely together, because it feels like its been done before. It’s still fun, and the character beats are solid, but this episode has a familiar feel to it.

Still Simmons is a nice addition to the political machinations that happen behind the scenes of the SGC. And his threats about Hammond needing to leave are appropriately bothersome.

I’m loving the rewatch of this entire series!