PRE-REVIEW: FULL CIRCLE
This article includes some minor SPOILERS for the Season Six finale of Stargate SG-1, as well as Season Five's "Meridian." While I tried to keep the details as vague and spoiler-free as possible, you may want to turn back if you want to know nothing about this episode going in!
 The end of another year of Stargate SG-1 looms, that time of the season when the show's writers, cast and crew pull out all the stops. It seems like every season finale is an effort to push the show into new territory, and to put SG-1 into a situation more perilous than any they've ever faced. "Full Circle" is no exception.
"Full Circle" has the benefit of having almost been the final episode of Stargate SG-1, so there's even more motivation to go out with a bang. It's not only a tremendously satisfying story, filled with the humor, action and emotion we've come to expect from Stargate -- it's also one of the best episodes of the last six years.
What makes this show great? "Full Circle" seamlessly meshes anything one might list: action, humor, emotion, special effects, character growth, unexpected plot twists. Big Jack fan? You'll love this one. Daniel devotee? Don't miss it! See sparks between Sam and Jack? The episode has, quite literally, something for everyone.
But it's not a matter of conscientious catering to different segments of the show's fan base, of which some past episodes have perhaps been guilty. "Full Circle" tells a concise, charged story, and manages to include everything that makes the show great -- and in the most natural of ways. Writer Robert C. Cooper -- who has previously penned some of the show's best, including my own favorite ("The Fifth Race") -- delivers a nearly perfect episode.
So, without spoiling anything too terribly, let's take them one at a time!
 Most pressing in "Full Circle" is the stunning return of Daniel Jackson, who has spent the past year as an ascended being. Though he has visited his friends a couple of times in his noncorporeal form, he's insisted on the Ascended's Prime Directive. Yep, "the Others" won't allow him to interfere in the business of the un-ascended. Now, we learn that even the rebel-with-a-cause Oma Desala would stop him if he tried to get involved, to prevent "the Others" from bringing down their wrath.
But Jackson has learned that his former home of Abydos is in trouble; Anubis in on the way, searching for the mythical Eye of Ra. Daniel must decide just what atrocities he is willing to sit by and allow to happen. The character's anguish -- and final decision -- makes for some of his best scenes to date.
Ironically, Daniel's long absence from SG-1 is the only thing (as an ascended being) that could have made this wonderful character development possible. For fans who have felt the pangs of his absence, it is a wonderful redemption of a Jackson-less year, and absolutely true to his character. Just how has he been changed by this experience, and where do his loyalties lie? We know what the Ascended are about, but what does Daniel bring to their table?
And what about Jack O'Neill? The good colonel is in top form here, not afraid to find the perfect wise-crack to inject into these trials and tribulations of galactic proportions. It's helpful that here he has one of his favorite foils -- Herak, the cocky and single-minded Jaffa we met back in "The Other Guys." Jack returns to Abydos at the prompting of Daniel (though he's surprised that no one thinks he's crazy for claiming to have seen Danny), and must decide just how far to trust his friend -- who has become something bigger than Jack can even wrap his brain around.
 Teal'c is also in top form, doing battle with the army of Anubis in one of the most stunning visual effects in the show's long history. Yes, it's good that actor Christopher Judge is a former football player -- he needed it for this play!
Jonas holds his own here, even under the shadow of Dr. Jackson. And when Daniel notices that Jonas is using his old stuff, the new guy delivers my favorite Jonas line ever! After a year on the team, Jonas has finally matured into a 3-dimentional character for whom we really care. He may not be a warrior, or an exceptional archeologist, but he is what he is -- he's us, along for the ride and doing everything he can to contribute. He's come a long way.
My one and only gripe about "Full Circle" lies in its use (or lack thereof) of Samantha Carter. Amanda Tapping is in top form as O'Neill's second. But after a year of mourning, when Sam finally sees Daniel again with her own eyes, the episode briefly stumbles. Sure, Daniel has other things on his mind -- but their reunion is jarring in its lack of emotion. Standing in the very same building where they first met six years ago, we expect much more.
And would you believe that's all in just the first half of the episode? The show marches on with massive revelations about the Stargate universe, from the true nature of Anubis to just who the Ascended are. Yep, those bread crumbs that the writers have been leaving in a neat little path for the last several years finally lead somewhere.
 And just wait until the good Dr. Jackson dares to enter the lion's den and ... shall we say, "open up a can of whoop-ass" on Anubis! Daniel's scenes with the biggest baddie since Ra evoke imagery from both the original film and Luke Skywalker's confrontation with the Emperor in "Return of the Jedi."
"Full Circle" is nowhere near predictable, and leaves viewers with not one, but three major twists at the end -- twists that left me simultaneously gaping and scratching my head. Stargate truly has come full circle -- from the sands of Abydos under the iron fist of Ra to the streaking death gliders of Anubis, from an Air Force colonel too angry with the universe to trust anyone to a well-adjusted hero willing to follow his friend into the fire. Daniel, too, has come full circle -- from a hapless geek who helped save a world to a powerful being who finds himself seemingly unable to save it again.
Season Six certainly goes out with a bang. "Full Circle" is easily one of the best hours of television the show has given us. But what does the future hold for SG-1's seventh, and probably final season?
This episode leaves us with a tantalizing set-up: a search for a mythical place that could hold the answer to the salvation of the galaxy. But with that, the episode finally leaves us pondering the answer to a fundamental question: Is it really advanced technology that can save us, or is it a helping hand from those who not only have the power to overcome evil, but are motivated by the desire to do it?
Rating: * * * *
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