The Fourth Horseman: Part 1 (2005) User Reviews (5)

It hits the fan.

[uncleoyster · 9/10 · 1 February 2011]

First I though, "poor Damian Kindler, getting stuck with writing the Jaffa again"... I'll say this much; he does a damn fine job this time.

The episode starts when a Prior returns to Dakara and finds Gerak convinced that Origin is the way to go. From there, the main plot threads center around three things: The Jaffa and their possible fall to Origin,the work on the anti-Prior device and the Prior plague hitching a ride with SG-6 and running rampant on Earth.

There's an ominous tone all the way through this one, and I like it. They build the suspense nicely with the plague spreading too fast for the military to contain, until they just have to admit they've lost control. Earth is actually vulnerable! This makes the Ori, again, a bigger threat than the Goa'uld ever seemed to be (although they did have their moments).

But it wouldn't be SG-1 if they didn't spice it up with a little humour. The scene with Carter and Dr.Lee in the lab, for instance, made me laugh. He's rambling on and on, and there she is with her earplugs in. Hah. And then, enter the creepy kid. Sorry, Orlin. Orlin?!? The previously ascended guy who built a Stargate in Carter's basement? He's a kid now? They give us an explanation equaling "a kid's brain has more room for all the ancient knowledge then an adult brain", but I'll assume that's technobabble for "the actor who played him last time couldn't make it". Never mind; he gives us some backstory on the Alterans and the Ori - which is awesome!

We're of course revisiting the Orlin-Carter romance, which Carter certainly is past but Orlin is not. There is a conversation or two about this, but the images they invoke are just icky and the whole thing is best forgotten. And speaking of forgotten: Orlin's deteriorating condition makes the plague-fighting part very suspenseful. Will he manage to do what he needs to do before he's useless? Exciting!

The episode ends on Orlin's brain slowly dying, the USA closing its borders and Gerak stepping into the Jaffa council's chamber as a Prior!

The Plague

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 28 March 2021]

When SG-6 returns to Earth, they bring a plague released by the Ori, it becomes a pandemic that affects the whole planet. Meanwhile, Gerak meets a Prior in Dakar and tells that the Book of Origin is to be followed by the Jaffa and tries to convince the Council. Orlin returns in the shape of a child to keep more information in his human brain and discloses the truth about the false promises of the Ori. What will happen to the human race and to the Jaffa?

"The Fourth Horseman: Part 1" is one of the best episode of the Ninth Season of Stagate-SG-1. All the segment are highly attractive and the Ori Plague in the present days of Covid-19 is more realistic than never. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "The Fourth Horseman: Part 1"

Quarantine

[Calicodreamin · 7/10 · 10 April 2022]

Watching this episode in 2022 hits different than it would have back in '05. Decent storyline and while a good character to bring back, would have been better with the same actor.

Good Sweeps-Week Double Ep.

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 25 January 2016]

Carter's Ascended boyfriend Orlin comes back, sort of, well... Mini Orlin.

How did we get here? Back in one of the Vala-Episodes, where she tried to recover some of her treasure from one of her former slave planets, a Prior appeared and infected them all. At the end of that episode, we thought the Prior had cured everyone.

Well, guess what, he didn't. And now, one member of an SG team returns to the embarkation room after an Ori Prior had "Blessed his Head". He's sick. Pretty soon, everyone is, even after a solid effort to quarantine everyone. So the world is on Lockdown.

But then Mini-Orlin shows up and thinks he can make a cure. But he doesn't have much time because he's not allowed to remember anything from when he was ascended and he's forgetting fast. Meanwhile, Carter and Dr. Lee had MacGuyvered a Gadget that can prevent the Ori's magic sticks from working. But only for a short time and they don't know what frequency to use. So they have to go to the Sodan Planet to test it on Cancerman (William B Davis). Gerak is trying to make the Ori Religion the Official State Religion for the Free Jaffa Nation. But he has questions, so the Ori suck him over to the Ori Galaxy and do a little Brainwashing on Spin Cycle.

With all that is happening in these 2 episodes, the main focus is Gerak, because he has to either acquit himself or become a tool to re-enslave all of his own people. It's up to Teal'c to reach him, but most of his efforts fail.

I don't know if I liked Cameron Bright ("Six" from "UltraViolet) as the post Sean Patrick Flannery Orlin, didn't seem to be the same character. In "Fragile Balance" Michael Welch did an excellent Mini-O'Neill (two LLs)- But O'Neill had been developed for years. Orlin was only in one episode... But I think the Casting department should have tried to match personalities like they did in Fragile Balance, because that kid WAS O'Neill, looked like him, talked like him, was him.

But that didn't detract from the development of story and the other characters, Cameron Bright was adequate, and in the end had an acceptable showdown with William B Davis.

This is Good Stuff

[fcabanski · 8/10 · 3 October 2015]

SG-1 gets solidly back into the Ori story. So many things happen. The most important is the explanation of how the Ori use followers and why the ascended Ancients don't interfere.

Ascended Ancients can't help without falling to the temptation of using humans for their energy. Luke 16:8 "And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light." The explanation that the older Jaffa on the council, facing their own mortality, turn to the Ori for the hope of an afterlife is very nice.

Orlin, now appearing as a boy, is sacrificing himself to help against the Ori. That's powerful.

Louis Gossett Jaffa wants to spread origin. He doesn't want to spread it by force. That's some kind of character development. But when he comes back as Louis Gossett Jaffa prior, there's going to be trouble.