Review: Stargate SG-1 The Illustrated Companion, Seasons 7 and 8
by Thomasina Gibson
Published by Titan Books

by Karen Greim Mullian
© September 9, 2005

Fellow Daniel Fans,

Wanna save yourself some money??? Don’t waste it on Thomasina Gibson’s latest Stargate SG-1 The Illustrated Companion Seasons 7 and 8.

Did you know that Michael Shanks returned Stargate SG-1 in Fallen and apparently never showed up on the set again? That’s the impression you’d get reading this book. I genuinely try to stay away from the politics of fandom because it’s just beyond me how many of us are even watching the same show. That being said, this little tome is full of praise for everyone from Craft Services to the actors –– except for Daniel Jackson or Michael Shanks. Since Michael Shanks’s rejoining the cast for Season 7 of the best show on tv (and not just according to TV Guide) virtually ensured Season 8 and since his hard work and excellent performances throughout those two years led to Season 9 and now the likelihood of Season 10, it’s difficult to fathom why the author saw fit to virtually ignore both the character and the actor.

A blatant example of this ignorance was the episode synopsis for Evolution Part I: "Daniel sets off for Honduras to find the mysterious Fountain of Youth, which is grandfather thought might be the source for alien regenerative technology [the episode clearly states that Daniel knew exactly what he looking for]. All is going relatively smoothly, until Daniel and his colleague Dr. Lee are kidnapped by grave robbers." Grave robbers??? Since when are grave robbers synonymous with politically nondescript, but most likely Marxist rebels. Grave robbers don’t usually kidnap people and hold them for ransom.

Ms. Gibson would have done well to recheck other facts in her book. In the very next synopsis for Evolution Part II, the author mistakenly locates the scene of Daniel and Dr. Lee’s kidnaping as South America. Hondurans may or may not be pleased to know that they’re country has been relocated away from the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico and stuffed into the already country-crowded Southern Continent. She also wrote that Charles Shaughnessey, who played Alec Colson in Covenant, had starred in General Hospital. Oh, Thomasina!!! You seem to have confused Charlie for your buddy Richard Dean Anderson. Charlie was in Days of Our Lives. It's on his web page! [correction: CS was on GH, but only for a year; he’s best known for his role of Shane Donovan on DOOL which he played for about five years.]

Some of the biggest episodes scarcely mention Daniel; and when he is mentioned, his role in episodes such as Heroes and most of Season 8 (Icon, Avatar, Affinity, Endgame, Prometheus Unbound, Full Alert, Reckoning, for crying out loud) is largely overlooked. After absolutely no mention of what happened to him in Reckoning, the synopsis for Threads reads, "Daniel contemplates the meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything over coffee and waffles with ‘friends’.” What the frak?

In an effort to avoid being seen as a nitpicker (who, me???), I will say that there are some excellent pictures of Our Beloved throughout the episode guide, and the color photo section is to die for no matter who you favor in the show. There’s one that really blew me away, not because of its esthetic quality but because it reminded me that these people are all really great actors. The scene is from Lockdown when Daniel grabs the SF and starts shooting up the Gate Room. Behind Michael Shanks and the actor playing the SF is the "green screen" we’ve all heard so much about. Right in front of them is a camera. We fans get to see the finished product and tend to forget that, unlike in live theatre, these guys have to work with little more than their imaginations and their fellow actors’ reactions (scripts and directors notwithstanding). They don't see what we see on Friday nights on the SciFi Channel, not even the event horizon. Even before I heard Amanda Tapping’s comments on the Stargate SG-1 FanClub Kit #1 DVD about acting with the green screen, this photograph spelled volumes about how hard a job our heroes have to keep us entertained week after week.

Also at the end of the color photo section is the article, "torn" from The Ascended Times, entitled "Jackson Still Undecided." These are the little gems that fans pray for. The article is told from The Ascended point of view which is pretty funny. Next to it, there’s a short article decrying yoga as the path to Enlightenment. The subtitle says it all: "Your karma ran over my dogma." There’s also a little piece on the light that is the last thing most people as they pass on and the firs thing most Ascended beings seem to recall.

In Michael’s interview at the back of the book (there are interviews with Michael, Chris, and Amanda and an email from RDA, as well as Don Davis and several recurring actors), we are once more treated to Our Beloved’s self-deprecating opinion of his own performances. He speaks with surprise about the results of Prometheus Unbound: "It was too much fun making it, it can’t turn out that well."

Bottom line? If you’re an overall Stargate SG-1 fan or, like me, are anal about having complete sets of things, go ahead and get this book. There’s not a lot new here if you read the various fan magazines and articles online, but there’s a lot familiar, and that’s never a bad thing. If you feel that Daniel fans are regularly cheated one way or another, then put your money back in your pocket and borrow this one from a friend.