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Stargate SG-1 Season 7 Episode 22

Lost City (2)

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AIRED: 3/19/04

Using Jack's Ancient knowledge, SG-1 goes to a planet in search of Ancient weapons but soon learn that the weapons are actually hidden on Earth. Will SG-1 be able to make it back in time before Anubis' attack begins?

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (15)

Final battle for Earth.

9.9

By Parricida, Jan 11, 2011

When things cannot get bigger, they do. This episode was massive, I most say. Really, really impressive. One of the best. It had everything - the mystery of the ancients, the threats, treachery, lot of action and stunning, impressive visual effects. The Antartic scenes - the whole things with thrones and Ancients outposts.. it was just amazing. Also the emotions involved - Teal'c trying to say what he think but there was no reason. Ofcourse Sam.. and O'Neill saving Bra'tac when it looked so hopeless.

I just say - I loved the episode. The way it was massive, the story, effects, the sad ending. It was perfect.moreless
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Helluva episode!

10

By G3ckOz, Jan 11, 2011

Visually the best episode so far. The very first time we get to see Earth's x302 fleet with Hammond aboard the Prometheus pushing their offensive defense towards Anubis. Season 7 was filled with fill up episodes, more or less entertaining, but this one redeems everything. This is where i clearly noticed the difference of stargate past and stargate future. First time i watched SG1 was on tv getting an episode per week, but watching it now episode after another day by day, the evolution is absolutely incredible. I'd like to see more and more of such episodes, more rush and adrenaline, more space action and ancient weapons, after all this time humans finally need to get something for their efforts, and clearly this is where it starts.moreless
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Excellent

10

By scuttlecliff, Jan 05, 2011

History repeats itself as Jack O’Neill has the entire knowledge of the Ancients downloaded into his head just as Anubis begins his major attack of Earth. SG-1 must rush against time to stop Anubis before the knowledge kills Jack.

The true joy of these two episodes lies in seeing all our heroes (Jack, Sam, Daniel, Teal’c and George) gathered together at Jack’s house sharing a drink and trying to avoid talking about the tragedy that awaits Jack. From a drunken Daniel trying to get Teal’c to explain how deep he is to Jack’s Burns as Goa’uld analogy this one scene was the most heart-warming and perfect Stargate moment I have seen reminding me why I fell in love with this show in the first place. Then the bombshell dropped, Hammond had been relieved of command and the all Stargate activity suspended for the time being. Dr Elizabeth Weir has been appointed by the President as the new head of the SGC in an attempt to put a more media friendly face on the program should it ever go public.

If there were not a spin-off being produced, which would feature Weir as a central character and Don S. Davis departure from the series, I would wonder what was the point of Weir character in this story. She did nothing and I mean absolutely nothing at all for the whole hour and a half. She should up, talked to the president and then to Daniel for a few minutes and then did nothing at all but sit around while everyone else did all of the talking. Sure there was a lot going on but surly the writers could have given her at least one scene to shine, one where she doesn’t talk about being overwhelmed by everything. Since Jessica Steen will be replace for Atlantis maybe the producers decided to cut down her involvement to make it easier to accept a new actress in the part but so far I’m not impressed or interested at all.

While Part 1 may have been all talk and set up to save money for Part 2 I still was not board for a single second. After weeks of cameo appearances Jack O’Neill finally took centre stage bringing many of his trademark clueless expressions and sarcastic remarks (“Mr VICE-President”) yet also showing us a man who has to accept that he might be dead in a few days time. These episode tried to remind us who Jack O’Neill is and why he means so much to everyone he works with. I was surprised that Jack’s ex-wife was brought up even if it was a blink-and-miss-it moment but his sudden refusal to talk about it showed that even all these years later some old wounds still hurt. His feelings for Sam were also addressed but thankfully there was none of that “oh I love you” “I love you too” rubbish that some people might have being hoping for, instead they simply understood how they both felt about each other. In fact the way Sam said Jack name at the end spoke more about their relationship then a million soppy speeches could ever do. As good as the Jack/Sam scenes were the scene with him and Teal’c was better. Teal’c, a man of little words, tries to tell Jack how much he means to him. All Jack does is place his hand on the side of Teal’c face and the two men stare at each other and without a single word uttered they understand each other perfectly.

In the background of all of this Kinsey is still trying to push his own agenda and take direct control of the Stargate program. Kinsey is one of the series more repulsive characters always trying to weasel his way into a position of power or control without any regard for others. Now he is Vice President and just waiting for his chance to get the bigger office. But before he can take his seat in the oval office he still has enemies he wants rid of, namely Jack O’Neill. Unfortunately that was Kinsey’s biggest mistake. Kinsey’s reason for having O’Neill removed from the Stargate program are purely personal, the two of them hate each other and Kinsey allowed his hated of Jack to come first. Instead of just lying low and biding his time he tried to get rid of the SG-1 as soon as possible thus exposing his schemes to President Hayes who not going to fall for anymore of Kinsey’s crap. By allowing his hated to control him Kinsey quickly lost whatever power he had managed to obtain and is forced to resign or face, as Hayes warned, be shot.

While Kinsey may be a snivelling pathetic waste of a man who will run at the first sigh of total annihilation Anubis is a more traditional villain and as a result he is caricature of what a villain should be. Anubis is nothing more than carbon copy of Sokar with the same origin story and even the same actor playing the part. Both are a Goa’uld who was banished for being really bad even by Goa’uld standards. In that time they gathered a massive army and return to take over the galaxy. The only difference between them is that Anubis is part ascended ancient with knowledge of their advanced technology which gives him a major advantage over the other Goa’uld. Apart from that there is nothing that standouts about either character with both of them just serving to simply make the heroes jobs even more difficult. Stargate has always had a problem creating good villains for the heroes for fight and while Anubis represent military might to overcome as a character there is nothing truly evil about him. He didn’t even destroy a single city what kind of evil overlord is he anyway.

If there was not going to be a another season after this one this would have served as a great series finale much better than Season Six’s “Full Circle”. While I still rank that episode as the best episode of that season it did not have the epic scale or sense of closure that a true series finale requires. These two episodes had both and a lot more. The battle at Antarctica was massive and perfectly realised confirming that Stargate has the best special effects of any small screen series. The effect of the Ancient weapon destroying Anubis’ fleet was far better than some laser of lighting style weapon we’ve seen before but it did still remind me of the sentinel swarms from the third Matrix film but that film was nowhere near as good as this so I’ll let them off. We had some closure with the threat of Anubis being dealt with and Kinsey finally getting his comeuppance, only the fate of the central characters and the location of the lost city of the title remained unresolved. The fate of Jack would not have been so open-ended had this been the finale episode, although I fear a last minute rescue by Thor would have been hard to swallow so I can imagine that Jack might have died if the show was not to return for another season. As much as this would have saddened me to see him die I would have been able to accept this, as it would have felt like the natural conclusion to the story; Jack giving his life to save the world, how more heroic can you get than the noble sacrifice for the greater good. I can imagine many fans would have been up in arms about this conclusion and they have the right to their opinion but for my money that’s how I think and feel it would have ended.

The fate of the lost city could have been left over by the writers and picked up later when Atlantis started. The resolution of this storyline was nowhere near as important as the character arcs of the central four so I was quite happy for it to remain unsolved as long as we got the emotional ending we needed. Some might find it anti-climatic that the lost city is not discovered at all but that is not what this story is about. It’s about Jack and his quest to stop Anubis and save Earth, with search for Atlantis used as the means to get the hero and villain into finale conflict. This episode was about the climax of that conflict as Anubis is finally defeated and SG-1 save the world…again. The lost city doesn’t have to be found as long as we know that Anubis now defiantly won’t be the one to find it.moreless
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One of my favorite episodes so far!

10

By AvaAang112, May 30, 2010

One of my favorite episodes so far! This review will be for part 1 and 2 of Lost City and it doesn't pay to write two so I'll just write this one. Finally, Anubis is defeated, or so it seams. And the battle over Antarctica was awesome. Who would of though that it would have been O'Neill to use the high tech weapon. I know he had the Ancient knowledge downloaded into his head but it is still hard to believe. I guess they didn't find the lost city of Atlantis yet but the will. I give both episodes a ten.moreless
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One of the best...

10

By green_arrow92, Apr 12, 2010

This is one of the best episodes of the entire series. I'll just do this review for part one and two. I like that whole moement when sg1 and Hammond are all sitting in O'Neills place drinking beer. It does suck that hammond got replaced and by someone who isn't even in the military. The first part was good but the seond part was even better. With all that ancient stuff in O'neills head again he starts doing some pretty weird things. but he leads them to a planet where they get a power source and go back to earth. It was really cool how General Hammond was commanding the Prometheus. This episode had everything a great story and an even better ending. later...moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Richard Dean Anderson	Colonel/Brigadier General Jonathan J. "Jack" O'Neill (Seasons 1-8)
Christopher Judge	Teal'c
Amanda Tapping	Captain/Major/ Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter
Michael Shanks	Dr. Daniel Jackson (Seasons 1-5, 7+)

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Jessica Steen	Dr. Elizabeth Weir	Guest Star
William Devane	President Henry Hayes	Guest Star
Marc Worden	Ronan	Guest Star
David Palffy	Anubis	Recurring Role
Tony Amendola	Bra'tac	Recurring Role
Ronny Cox	Vice-President Robert Kinsey	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (6)
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- Daniel says that the answer O'Neill wrote to 8 down on the crossword he works on during this episode was "praclarush." However, the crossword shown does not have an 8 down, nor is that word written anywhere. Also, Daniel says that the answer O'Neill wrote for 13 across was "taonas," but the crossword we are shown at the beginning of the episode shows the word "orbits" for 13 across. It is definitely the same crossword, though, because it includes O'Neill's droll answer to the clue about the atomic weight of boron, for which he wrote "fat."
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- After O'Neill uses the Zat to enhance the engines, the Zat makes the closing sounds, but when we see Carter holding it, it is still open.
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- When SG-1 is in the outpost on Earth and the Anubis hologram appears, even with SG-1's flashights pointing directly at him Anubis is casting a shadow in front of him when it should be behind him.
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- Carter states that the hologram of Earth doesn't look like the Earth today because the recording is several thousand years old and displays how the continents were before they shifted. Nevertheless you can clearly see the shape of Florida...
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- After Colonel O'Neill modifies the engines, it changes the background of the hyperspace tunnel since they are traveling at a much higher velocity. Yet the hyperspace tunnel seems to change back to the original blue during one scene.
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- Note the scene in the White House where Anubis' hologram appears. The bodyguards start shooting over and over but afterwards there are no marks. No bullet halls in the walls, no broken windows, no broken vases - not even smoke coming out of the guns. Plus you'd think that the sound of non-stop shooting would either cause some hysteria outside or at least cause more bodyguards to barge in.
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QUOTES (12)
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- Carter: Sir. I think you should know that General Hammond authorised me to take command of the team if I determine that...
  Jack: Do it now.
  Carter: Sir, I don't think that's necessary.
  Jack: I trust you. I'll make it easy for you, I resign. You're in charge.
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- Hayes: Will you shut the hell up!
  Wier: I'm sorry sir.
  Hayes: Not you, Doctor.
  Kinsey: Excuse me?
  Hayes: Consider your resignation accepted, Bob.
  Kinsey: You can't do that!
  Hayes: Oh please--I got enough on you to have you shot.
  Kinsey: This is the biggest mistake you will ever make.
  Hayes: But I think I'll stick with my original thought, which is shut the hell up.
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- Ronan: Can you hear us?
  Teal'c: Loudly and clearly.
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- Anubis: I am Anubis.
  Hayes: You've got to be kidding!
  Anubis: You are the leader of this world?
  Hayes: Henry Hayes, President of the United States of America. One nation among many.
  Anubis: No more! Bow before your god.
  Hayes: I don't think so! However, I am willing to discuss your surrender.
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- Daniel: Sphere. Planet. Label. Name.
  Jack: Following. Still. You. Not.
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- Lieutenant: What the hell was that?
  Hammond: That . . . was SG-1!
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- Daniel: Teal'c!! Teal'c, you gonna pull up, right?
  Teal'c: I am attempting to do so!
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- Sam: Sit down and take a look. ... That's an order!
  Jack: Easy...
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- Anubis: If you had technology, you would have used it.
  Hayes: Don't let the suit fool you.
  Anubis: You bring destruction upon yourselves.
  Hayes: Never going to happen.
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- Bra'tac: You may be younger . . . but not the wiser.
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- (Daniel grabs Jack's crossword)
  Jack: Hey hey hey! I'd like to at least finish that while I can.
  Daniel: 13 across, you wrote "Taonas".
  Jack: Yeah, so? What's it mean?
  Daniel: Well, I don't know, you tell me. 8 down you wrote "Praclarush."
  Carter: What's 8 down?
  Daniel: Umm... "Label." There's empty space, I think the answer is supposed to be "identification." (looks more closely at the crossword) 13 across is "sphere." Jack, this is it!
  Jack: Now, see, I assume we still speak the same language... mostly.
  Daniel: Sphere: planet. Label: name.
  Jack: Following still you not!
  Daniel: Praclarush Taonas! I think you wrote the planet where we will find the lost city in the crossword!
  Jack: Bit of a jump?
  Daniel: Why else would you do that?
  (Carter grabs the crossword)
  Carter: The clue for 7 Down is "celestial body", and he wrote "Uma Thurman."
  Jack: Yes...
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- Weir: Got everything you need? I think there's still a sink in the kitchen.
  Jack: Is that a joke?
  Weir: Perhaps...a bad one.
  Jack: Yes, very bad. But I sense hope for you.
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NOTES (13)
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- The theme music often heard in the background of Stargate Atlantis episodes is first heard while the team explores the Ancient outpost on Proclarush Teonas and aquire what is later known as a Zero Point Module or a Z.P.M. that is central to many plot lines for Stargate Atlantis.
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- Since "Lost City" had been conceived as a movie, a number of cuts, described by the producers as 'painful', had to be made. Some notable trims include the destruction of the Nimitz battle group viewed from the deck of the Spruance, President Hayes' speech, and SG-1 parachuting down to the Ancient outpost rather than using the Rings.
  
  Hayes' speech was filmed and would have made the Stargate Program public leading to the multinational cooperation of the expedition in Stargate: Atlantis. A brief section of that speech would later be used in Stargate: Continuum.
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- This episode was nominated for a VES Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series. This episode won a Leo Award for Best Sound Editing in a Dramatic Series.
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- The "ghostlike" objects which formed the projectiles of the Ancient weapon are revealed in pilot episode #1-1/1, "Rising", of Stargate Atlantis to be machines when one gets loose and nearly downs the helicopter in which O'Neill and Sheppard are riding. It is referred to as a drone.
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- This episode marks the death of Her'ak (Michael Adamthwaite).
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- When originally televised, "Lost City, pt.1" and "Lost City, pt.2" were aired as separate episodes, the second part airing the week after the first. Each episode had its own opening and closing credits, guest stars listed, writers and title. When placed on the DVD, these episodes were edited into one episode approximately an hour and a half in length, under the sole title "Lost City".
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- The "Stargate Atlantis" pilot reveals that Atlantis was once at the spot of the outpost till it took off for the Pegasus Galaxy.
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- General Hammond becomes the temporary commander of the Prometheus, but is no longer a main character in the series.
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- There is a possible reference to MacGyver in this episode. In the scene where Teal'c finds Jack modifying the ring system on the ship, Jack appears to be arc welding using alligator clamps hooked to a car battery. A similar trick was used in the first season MacGyver episode "Trumbo's World," where Mac (Richard Dean Anderson) uses a car battery and a coin in the teeth of one of the alligator clamps.
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- Not only do Russia, China, France and Great Britain know about the Stargate, we find out Canada does too.
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- First aired in the U.K on March 9th
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- The seventh season is the only one in which Peter Williams (Apophis) and Tom McBeath (Maybourne) don't appear, not including clips from previous episodes.
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- The complex below the ice at Antarctica is not Atlantis, just an outpost of the Ancients. Carter says at the end that they have yet to find the lost city.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Star Wars: Misc.
  There are at least four references to the original Star Wars trilogy in this episode.
  1. Ronan (to Bra'tac): You are weak, old man!
  This is very similar to the Darth Vader/Obi-Wan Kenobi fight in A New Hope, where Darth Vader says "Your powers are weak, old man!"
  2. The battle over Antarctica is very similar in visual style to the battle of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back.
  3. Our hero is frozen in stasis at the end of the show as his beloved looks on, very similar to the end of The Empire Strikes Back.
  4. Sam starts to say something about her true feelings and Jack says, "I know," similar to what Han Solo says to Leia at the end of The Empire Strikes Back.
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