Stronghold (2006) User Reviews (8)

Is Democracy Possible?

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 31 May 2021]

The Jaffa High Council is in a meeting to discuss the implementation of democracy in the Jaffa nation. One of the pro-democracy leaders. Ka'lel, is allied of Bra'tac and Teal'c, but out of the blue, she changes her position. One old leader, Maz'rai, tells Bra'tac and Teal'c that he will meet Ka'lel to discuss her new position, but in the next meeting, he changes his position too. What is happening to the Jaffa High Council members? Meanwhile, Mitchell meets his old friend Ferguson in a hospital and learns he is terminal.

"Stronghold" is an episode where the implementation of democracy in an oppressed nation is not easy. The political plot is shallow, and the drama of Mitchell is more interesting. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Stronghold"

Politics, subversion and loss

[uncleoyster · 8/10 · 2 February 2011]

This time we get to follow Teal'c and Bra'tac in their efforts to uncover a plot to subvert the Jaffa council, and I have to say it's good to get a Jaffa episode without any of the usual pigheaded, hostile nonsense they tend to spout. Someone's brainwashing members of the council, and for the sake of the Free Jaffa nation, our heroes must reveal the truth! We get some good scenes of interactions between Teal'c/Bra'tac and the council members, some of whom are old friends of Bra'tac, and the whole brainwashing story is pretty well carried out.

There's a "B" plot in this episode as well, concerning Mitchell and a war buddy of his (Ferguson) who is dying because of an aneurysm caused by a piece of shrapnel in his head. Mitchell feels he's to blame for the situation, and this leads to some rather touching moments between them. Turns out, Ferguson has guessed pretty exactly what Mitchell's top secret assignment is, which a frustrated Mitchell isn't at liberty to confirm. In the end, he decides to do it anyway, and Carter brings him a modified version of the memory device from "Collateral Damage". Nice continuity there. The scene where Ferguson gets to live Mitchell's memories of his adventures with SG-1, is very moving because basically a dying war hero for a short while gets to be part of something great!

All in all, the two separate plot lines come together nicely because of their underlying themes of bravery, guilt and loss. The show is on a hot streak now, without a weak episode since "Babylon". Sci-fi geeks everywhere; rejoice!

Good episode

[foster_baxter · 8/10 · 7 September 2020]

I have very few episodes I didn't like. That maybe be because I watch it for the entertainment. It's science fiction. Just watch and don't overthink it

Knowledge of Oneself

[fcabanski · 6/10 · 4 October 2015]

When asked how he resisted brain washing, Teal'c replied "To resist the influence of others, knowledge of one's self is important." That's good advice.

But the B plot, with Mitchell's guilt over his boddy's state caused by saving Mitchell, is lame. At one point Ferguson, the dying buddy, tells Mitchell he needs his out of control emotions. No, nobody needs out of control emotions.

This one furthers the ongoing Ba'al story line. It's a pretty good one. People often wonder if the Goa'uld could defeat the Ori. Ba'al tries to set it up by taking over the united Jaffa people. He fails, but he's right in that the Jaffa need a strong leader to defeat the Ori.

Somehow, the room filling alien technology that needed experts to operate has been improved to the point anyone can press play and pause. It only took a few weeks or whatever time one intervening episode occupies.

Votes for all

[Calicodreamin · 6/10 · 11 April 2022]

While a significant advancement made for the Jaffa hierarchy, the episode as a whole was mostly filler. The new character didn't have the depth required to elicit any emotional response.

Hmm, what about....

[slackersmom · 9/10 · 10 September 2019]

Couldn't the Air Force pull a few more strings and look into the Tok'ra to help Mitchell's friend Ferguson? I know the Tok'ra aren't embroiled in fighting the Goa'uld anymore, but they still exist, and will continue to need willing hosts. How is this different from Jacob Carter's situation? A healthy young body in exchange for healing an aneurysm..... sounds like a decent trade-off to me.

coffee machine scene

[davidmalaimo · 9/10 · 17 December 2021]

There's a great scene where mitchell bangs his elbow into a coffee machine out of anger and the end of the scene kinda lasts longer then you'd expect which i appreciated. Just wrote this review to say that.

I don't buy it

[Doc_Rancher · 5/10 · 29 March 2015]

I don't know if I believe this episode. Ba'al manages to brainwash quite a lot Jaffa, including members of the High Council? I really like Ba'al as an antagonist but last time I counted he had no spaceship and no Jaffa followers. What did he do? He waited for some Jaffa coming to Earth to abduct or kill him and somehow managed to overbear and brainwash them? And then somehow got his hands on a Ha'tak without a crew who would fight him and his few new followers? Highly unlikely, especially since this all must have happened off- screen and without even a hint to us viewers. After the last uninvited Jaffa on Earth I would think that no spaceship would come near Earth without detection. Furthermore Ba'al has to go undetected to Dakara to at least brainwash Maz'rai. No, I don't think I'll buy it. It's much more likely that some writer thought it was a good idea to involve Ba'al and didn't care how Ba'al would achieve this.

The other thing I don't buy is the Galaran mind device in the hospital. After "Collateral Damage" I wouldn't think Earth was willing to share technology with the Galarans. And certainly Mitchell (of all) would not attach himself again to this mind device to record some memories for his friend even if it's modified. If he should bring alien technology to the hospital then it's certainly Carter with the Goa'uld healing device. Maybe this wouldn't remove the shrapnel but it would be worth to try to fight the aneurysm to prolong Ferguson's life or even remove the shrapnel afterwards with an operation.

So what do we have here? Some good ideas (Ba'al trying to gain power again; Mitchell helping a friend) very poorly developed into a script that makes no sense if you really think about it. Annoyingly throwing away a good idea in the process. Wouldn't it be nice to see Ba'al secretly gaining more and more power over a few episodes while the SGC still looks for a way to fight the Ori and the Jaffa exploring democracy? This could have been a great B-plot with rising tension until Ba'al either really helps fighting the Ori or is defeated. A sadly missed opportunity. By the way: did Ba'al die at the end or some clone? And would it be possible for Teal'c to go through the Rite of M'al Sharran without a symbiote?

Beside these major issues the story is well written and we see some nice acting and as usual a good production. So it certainly is not all bad. By the way: why is the Hak'tyl member of the High Council named after Superman? Her name is Ka'lel and Superman's birth name is Kal- El. I guess comic-books are really all over the universe … ;- )