Formspring Question #421--Jack Ain't Back Edition

Is Jack still your favorite SG-1 character?

Yes, but I am basing my fondness for the character on the first five seasons or so more than the last few. Richard Dean Anderson’s lack of enthusiasm for playing the character has been coming through loud and clear in seasons six through eighth, and it is taking toll on my enjoyment. If his heart is not in it, the character suffers.

I completely understand Anderson’s attitude, mind you. His family was growing, so he wanted to spend time with them. He has both a bad back and bad knees. He had to endure a knee surgery and rehab after a fall just before the sixth season began filming. Playing a role in an action series with nagging injuries has to be difficult.

Frankly, as Stargate SG-1 has shifted focus away from the old dynamic of Jack holding the team together while philosophically sparring with Daniel and/or intellectually with Sam to each character coming into his or her own, the latter has filled the void Jack’s diminished role left. I am not saying jack should have just left the show rather than linger in a smaller role so the others could shine, but jack has become a far less compelling character in recent seasons.

Looking back on it, ”Menace” was a turning point for the character. That is the episode in which it is discovered the Replicators were created by a robot “child” named Reese as playthings that got out of hand. Jack destroyed Reese in order to stop the replicators from taking over earth the way they had Reese’s planet. There is debate among fans whether jack did the right thing or just killed her in cold blood. As much as one can kill a robot in cold blood. I think fans are adding an undue emotionalism to it because Reese was a pretty girl who acted like a naïve teenager. If the character had been played by a balding middle aged actor, no one would have thought twice about his destruction. But I digress. You can argue that jack may have felt he crossed a line there and began backing off from action, with few exceptions.

“Menace” is the turning point for the character for me. He has never been quite the same since. Most of my favorite jack moments come prior to that. Then again, the entire cohesive team dynamic ended around about that time, too. When was the last time the four SG-1 team members worked together all in one place in an adventure? “Revisions” would be my guess. The show shifted focus long before Ben Browder and Claudia black made it a “spin off’ in the final two seasons.