== (1.3) Emancipation

=== General

The best thing about this episode was the blue outfit that Carter wore for most of it. I mean, it was a really stunning and cool outfit, with that lovely blue silk or silk-like cloth, and the silver embroidery, and the headdress, and those beads... and, yeah, the comedy value of seeing four males lined up in a row being completely speechless looking at her...

The plot was clumsy. While they did actually explain eventually that the culture was unusually sexist because they were trying to hide their women from the goa'uld (ah, another reference to host-chosing!), it was rather too late in the day to save it from its overburdened cliches.

I liked the chieftan of the Shavadai, though. He got a chance to be stern and wise and thoughtful and progressive. And they did well casting the chief of the enemy tribe -- just one look and he looked like a nasty piece of work. The characterisation of the Shavadai son, though -- bah! Problem is, his actions drive the plot. And that's part of what makes it clumsy.

And what's with this tendency to hold knives under people's chins, instead of against their necks where they would be an actual threat? Were they trying not to give kids ideas or something?

I wonder where they got the silk for the dress, though. It must have been imported, because I doubt that these yurt-living people made it themselves. Mind you, the the people of the Russian steppes in the ancient world, were actually very good traders, between the West and the East...

One good point, also: the medicinal herbs which were worth trading for. Something that tends to be forgotten in later episodes, where the pressure from the military is to get technology...

=== Characters

Carter is all over the place here. One moment she's standing there scared and angry, the next moment she's being all macho, but not angry. I dunno. She comes off the loser in the cliches.

Jack is good at considering Carter to be one of his team:

"The hell with culture; a member of my team has been neutralized. That's a hostile act."

Nice little exchange at the end:

Jack: Damn. Guess I'm going to have to cancel that Oprah interview.\\ Teal'c: What is an Oprah?

=== Fiddly Details

Daniel is still travelling weaponless.

Note that this is not their second mission after the one which the previous episode ended with -- while it is still an early mission, an offhand remark by Jack, about a previous mission (where Carter had drunk something and ended up in a very embarrassing position) implies that there have been a few missions before this one.