“Proving Ground” works in the same vein as Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “Lower Decks” as it features an action scenario as viewed from the perspective of young officers angling to become part of the main clique. Unlike “Lower Decks,” the cute chick does not get killed, which is a bonus. The SG-1 team is placed in charge of training new recruits for possible membership in SG teams. They are put through two scenarios--a situation in which they must determine who between Daniel and same is a Goa’uld and another in which they must recover an alien device. They screw up both because of a misjudgment from the squad leader, Lt. Kevin Elliot. Jack is not pleased. He has, as noted by Daniel and Sam, particularly hard on Elliott. It is pretty clear that is because he sees his own headstrong attitude problem in Elliott. One never wishes to gaze into an honest mirror.
What transpires through the bulk of the episode is hard to describe. Once the second training mission is over, jack gets a call about a foothold situation at SGC conveniently within earshot of the young squadron. A quick “ambush” in which Jack is wounded adds to the artificial nature of the situation. This is clearly another, unannounced training exercise. Aside from a brief red herring in which Jack is suspected of having been taken over by the nanotech that is “controlling” SGC personnel, there virtually nothing points to the situation being real. It should be pointed out that elliott shooting jack under the circumstances makes up for his error in judgment with the Daniel or sam is a Goa’uld blunder earlier. So why then does the music still try to ratchet up the tension? The faux pulse-pounding reaches the level of absurdity because it goes on even after the squadron itself realizes they are being tested instead.
I am not even able to get into the climax when Hailey, who makes a far less obnoxious second appearance, supposedly gets electrocuted amidst a dose of lethal radiation trying to shutdown the stargate in an effort to keep the alleged nanotech aliens from escaping. Elliot disobeys orders to go in and close the stargate and rescue her anyway. Her actions were a planned part of the scenario. It offers elliot the chance rectify his error in the second scenario--that is, he left someone behind to die that time. Because of his actions, he is offered an open SG position. The others will join SG teams as soon as positions are available. One assumes that means when other team members are killed. Welcome to the big leagues, kids.
Lt. Satterfield is played by Grace Park of Battlestar Galactica and Hawaii 5-0 fame. Check out this photo I found of her packing heat of two different varieties:
“Proving Ground” is difficult to rate. It has its good points. Hailey is a much more likable character this time around. Her arrogance is tempered enough for her to be an effective team player. She is no longer the type of snotty brat you want to give a swirlie to. I found myself rooting for the squad even though there was not much time to become emotionally attached to them. Thinking back to TNG’s “Lower Decks,” the entire episode was shown from the perspective of young officers we had never met before. We could see how out of the loop they were from Picard’s clique, yet they were doing their part even without knowing the big picture. It was easy to sympathize with how small they felt in their daily struggles. ’proving Ground’ does not delve into its characters with the same depth, yet I wound up rooting for them, anyway. A better effort should have been made to put some real tension in the story, but I am not going to nitpick.
It is peculiar how the airing order of ’Proving Ground” worked, however. It is the first episode aired in 2002 after a hiatus which stretched from September 2001--three days before 9/11, in fact--to the following March. That is a long time to wait for a new episode only to discover the main characters are going to mostly be background characters. How did fans watching the first run ten years ago feel about that? I imagine it taints the perception of ’Proving Ground’ for those fans.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
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