Heroes: Part 2 (20 Feb. 2004)

The documentarian still a thorn in their side, SGC encounters an unforeseen predicament. With half of SG-13 off-world engaging enemy Jaffa, SG teams 1, 5, and 7 go in as backup. In the ... See full summary »

Director:

Andy Mikita

Writers:

Brad Wright (developed for television by), Jonathan Glassner (developed for television by),

Stars:

Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Dean Anderson	...	Colonel Jack O'Neill
Amanda Tapping	...	Major Samantha Carter
Christopher Judge	...	Teal'c
Don S. Davis	...	Major General George Hammond
Michael Shanks	...	Dr. Daniel Jackson
Saul Rubinek	...	Emmett Bregman
Robert Picardo	...	Richard Woolsey
Mitchell Kosterman	...	Colonel Tom Rundell
Gary Jones	...	Sgt. Walter Harriman
Tobias Slezak	...	Tech Sergeant Dale James
Christopher Redman	...	Airman Shep Wickenhouse
Julius Chapple	...	Senior Airman Simon Wells
Adam Baldwin	...	Colonel Dave Dixon
Teryl Rothery	...	Dr. Janet Fraiser
Jim Byrnes	...	Documentary Narrator

Storyline

The documentarian still a thorn in their side, SGC encounters an unforeseen predicament. With half of SG-13 off-world engaging enemy Jaffa, SG teams 1, 5, and 7 go in as backup. In the midst of heavy fire, O'Neill takes a staff blast to the chest. Many deaths from the encounter hit SGC hard and Senator Kinsey orders a full investigation into the matter.

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Plot Keywords:

media | journalism | tv crew

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Release Date:

20 February 2004 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

MGM Worldwide Television Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Emmett Bregman comes to ask Daniel to clarify what had happen in the off-world mission the camera is seen on the table the screen side to the camera, but when Daniel grabs the camera on the next scene it's seen to be on the table other way around, screen side not facing the camera.

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Quotes

Emmett Bregman: Why is that camera off? You don't know what you're doing here. Maybe *I* know what I'm doing here! These people are risking their lives for us. I wanna *see* what they're going through even if they don't want us to. And I want other people to see it! What do you think they're doing out there? Protecting and defending secrecy? That's a world of-of Mao, the world of Stalin, a world of-of secret police, secret trials, secret-secret deaths. You force the press into the cold and all you will get is ...

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Connections

Featured in Stargate SG-1: Citizen Joe (2005)

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Soundtracks

"End Title"
Written by Joel Goldsmith

User Reviews

What we fight for

Wow. When the episode started I was laughing and right now I am in tears. Really. The plot picks up exactly where we left, in a rather light-hearted way, with poor Bregman trying to salvage what he can from a series of useless interviews, while O'Neill and the others deal with the latest Jaffa assault.

Then things take a sudden turn for the worse as O'Neill is left for dead. Of course, we are stuck watching the aftermath of the battle from Bregman's limited point of view, and everything seems to confirm that he is the unseen casualty everybody mentions. Now this is probably silly but I really bought it, as I knew he was to leave the show at some point (and hadn't really contributed much recently).

As the shocked survivors try to cope, however, the NID suddenly barges in, questioning the SGC's motto that "we leave no man behind", essentially on financial grounds. To Hammond, the reporter now looks like the lesser evil, as *he* at least honestly wants to show the SGC in a good light, and makes several good points concerning secrecy and heroism. So Bregman gets the "live action" tape he wanted so much.

This is where the episode becomes simply brilliant. We expect to watch the dramatic dying message of a young father-to-be --the typical heroic cliché of every action movie ever made. But right when the reporter starts wincing, comes the real shocker: almost off-screen, so fast that it barely registers, a perfect parallel to Bregman's story of the war photograph. Obviously, O'Neill and the wounded soldier ARE heroes. Even Hammond, who has to put his grief aside to deal with petty bureaucrats when he'd obviously much rather fight alongside his men, is a hero in his own way. But who had really paid attention to Janet Frasier's presence on the field? Who had actually noticed her absence? Congratulations for punching me in the guts with *that* twist.

So the episode ends on a very sober, moving note, as Janet Frasier gets the send-off that she deserved. The episode thankfully avoids getting too tearful; granted, naming the newborn baby after her is a bit circle-of-lifey, but it is still touching. The best part, however, is the eulogy Teal'c (of all people!) writes for her, saying that Janet's particular brand of heroism, right to the end, consisted not in risking her life but in saving that of others. And I think Bregman's film says the same thing about the whole SGC.

So in a nutshell: Don't expect spaceships, alien technology and galactic stakes. This episode has nothing spectacular. It is simply beautiful.