A Matter of Time (Stargate SG-1)
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| Stargate SG-1 episode | |
|---|---|
| “A Matter of Time” | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 16 |
| Guest star(s) | Marshall Teague as Col. Cromwell Teryl Rothery as Dr. Janet Fraiser Tobias Mehler as Lt. Graham Simmons Dan Shea as Sgt. Siler |
| Writer(s) | Misha Rashovich |
| Director | Jimmy Kaufman |
| Production no. | 216 |
| Original airdate | January 29, 1999 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "The Fifth Race" | "Holiday" |
"A Matter of Time" is an episode of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Major Henry Boyd's first mission commanding SG-10 is in trouble. The planet they're on is being sucked into a newly formed black hole, but due to increasing time dilation, they'll be pulled apart by the black hole's gravity long before they can dial the Stargate again. Hammond and SG-1, at first confused why their iris code is coming in so slowly, come to the conclusion they can't help SG-10. However, the Stargate won't shut down.
On the surface, five hours have passed. The Pentagon dispatches Colonel Cromwell and a Special Forces team to find out why the outside world has lost all contact with Stargate Command.
Hammond tries to call the President on the red phone, but finds it dead. In fact, they've lost all communications above sub-level 24. Hammond goes to the nearest secure phone above that: NORAD, main level. There, he's met by soldiers with guns and Major Paul Davis, who informs him that time is passing slower within the SGC, and the President wishes to conference with him aboard the aircraft.
When Siler can't disconnect the super-conductive interface (big red clamps that channel power to the gate) and they pass the 38 minute theoretical time limit for a Stargate to remain open, O'Neill suggests disconnecting its power at a more fundamental level. They pull the breakers connected to the Stargate's capacitors, and then the main breaker, which overloads, burning Siler and Teal'c and severing external power to Cheyenne Mountain. The Stargate is still active, drawing power directly from the black hole's gravitation and pulling smoke through the wormhole. Carter orders Lt. Simmons to close the iris.
Meanwhile, Colonel Cromwell has broken through into the SGC and intercepts Dr. Fraiser, on her way to the medical emergency. Cromwell's superiors, at the time he was dispatched, believe the SGC may be overrun by alien hostiles (see "Foothold" a year later). He escorts Fraiser until he meets up with O'Neill, who scoffs at the prospect of Cromwell 'rescuing' them.
Hammond returns from an 18-hour session with the President and Joint Chiefs. They've decided to initiate base auto-destruct to destroy the Stargate. He orders immediate evacuation, with O'Neill and Cromwell staying behind to give everyone else a head start.
On the surface, Carter realizes that the 5 minutes Hammond ordered them to wait translates to over 6 hours. She fervently believes no one, including her, understands how the Stargate is interacting with the black hole, and that destroying the base will likely not shut it down. Hammond inadvertently gives her an idea, reminding her of the second Stargate. Demonstrating with a doughnut, she says if they can focus a bomb toward the gate, the sudden burst of energy should cause it to jump to another world.
Cromwell asks O'Neill to forgive him for leaving O'Neill in Iraq as an MIA. He compares it to Major Henry Boyd's terrified face, still frozen a few seconds later on the screen. The control room glass shatters from the expanding gravity field, interrupting their shouting match. Carter comes in and apprises them of her new plan. Teal'c will deliver a shaped charge in a few days/minutes, and O'Neill and Cromwell will repel "down" to the gate in a G-suit to deliver the bomb. (Due to the time distortion, a remote timer could easily detonate too early or too late.) En route, the rest of the control room glass shatters, lodging in Cromwell's rope and a precursor to the iris failing, falling into the wormhole.
Cromwell lets go, knowing that one rope will not hold both of them. O'Neill arms the bomb and Teal'c, Carter and Siler are able to strong-arm him far enough from the explosion. Daniel, who has returned from a mission with SG-6, tells his friend "Well, this might be a little difficult to accept, but since you reported for duty yesterday, two weeks have actually gone by." O'Neill decides to sleep in.
[edit] Notes
- O'Neill saw the first black hole in the Stargate universe in "Singularity", though at a safe distance. His astronomy hobby is demonstrated in both episodes, as he instantly recognizes a black hole and its implications.
- The super-conductive interface elements are also highlighted in "Solitudes", when they melt due to the immense energy pouring through the gate and have to be replaced. In both episodes, O'Neill refers to missions to Iraq which went south, though these are likely different missions: 9 days vs. 4 months.
- This is the first time the 38 minute window is mentioned in this reality.
- Teal'c gets injured partially because he doesn't heed Carter's warning and his own advice to back away from the Stargate as the main breaker is pulled. However, it gives the story a more subtle opportunity to show the passage of time. "He'll be out of commission for a few days." Several days later, he's carrying a heavy bomb without difficulty.
- In this episode, Colonel Cromwell is dispatched by the Pentagon and Major Davis by the Office of the Joint Chiefs. In future collaborations, Major Davis liaises with the Pentagon.
- The black hole planet is P3W-451. The planet the gate jumps to at the end is P2A-870. See List of Stargate planets.
- The pure titanium iris is replaced with a trinium-titanium alloy. The "fail-safe" that should destroy the mountain base in the event of an iris failure is not mentioned.
- The P3W-451 black hole is used by SG-1 for a variety of tasks, notably to siphon away enough stellar material to cause a star to go supernova in Exodus and to indirectly attack the Aschen in 2001.
- In other occasions, the memory of the incident with the P3W-451 helped SG-1 solve or understand their actual problem, for example in episode Ripple Effect.
[edit] Quotes
- Hammond: Well, let me put it this way. Since you reported for duty yesterday, two weeks have gone by.
[edit] External links
- Official Stargate SG-1 site. MGM. Visited June 8, 2006. Most of site requires Flash.
- Screenplay (PDF). Distributed by MGM. Prepared by Casablanca Continuity. Retrieved on 2006-10-15. Linked to from Official Stargate SG-1 site. Also see Google's cache.
- Summary from SciFi. Visited June 5, 2006. Requires Flash.
- Summary from GateWorld. Visited May 3, 2006.
