"Forever in a Day" wraps up the storyline of Daniel’s missing wife, Sha’re, that has been rolling along since the pilot. It is a sad and existential episode. There are a lot of good character moments packed in which more than make up for some of the moments which are trying way too hard to be surreal and meaningful. Overall, it is a worthy end to one chapter and the beginning of another. The episode begins with a big action sequence in which several SG teams are mounting a rescue operation for Abysonians being held by Amaunet/Sha’re. Daniel finds her standing near a tent. While attempting to recover her in the hopes there is some safe way to remove her symbiote, she gets the upper hand and nearly kills Daniel with her kara kesh hand weapon before teal’c intervenes, killing her instead.
The above summary is about the only aspect of “Forever in a Day” one can determine actually happened. Somehow, Sha’re sent a message passed Amaunet into Daniel through the kara kesh regarding the location of her child. He is the human offspring of two Goa’uld, known as a harcesis, and will be hunted down and killed by them for the knowledge of the Goa’uld he possesses. Daniel does not find this out until the very end in which he learns the child is stowed away on what was considered the mythical planet Kheb.
In the interim, Daniel suffers through a series of dreams which alternate from Sha’re having been killed by Teal’c to save his life and others in which she is still alive and guiding him to both discover the message about her child and forgive teal’c for his actions in saving him. Daniel resigns from SGC at one point, thinking it is pointless to carry on since his goal was to find his wife, but eventually comes around after several of those weird dreams. He eventually winds up back on the planet where Sha’re dies at the exact moment she does, but now with the knowledge he has to locate Kheb.
In many episodes of science fiction in which much of the story is revealed in the end to never have really happened, it is easy to feel gypped. I do not necessarily feel that way about “Forever in Day.” Perhaps it is because the grieving process for a loved one is still relatively fresh in my mind. I had dreams for weeks after my mother died in which she was still alive. It would take me a few seconds upon waking up to realize she was not. Such dreams are not uncommon during grieving, so I can appreciate the accuracy. I am empathetic, in fact. Nevertheless, some other aspects are weak. I appreciate Teal’c’s pain over daniel refusal to forgive him for killing Sha’re, but the entire sequence in which Daniel comes to forgiveness occurs only in his mind. Daniel verbally assures Teal’c he did the right thing even before Teal’c asks for forgiveness in the “real world.” Is this so there will be no lingering animosity between the two from here on out/? It is sort of the easy way out, there.
I have some issues with “Forever in a Day,” but I am still going to award four stars. It dares to be different while effectively tugging our heartstrings. “forever in a day” could easily have been confusing in executing its premise, melodramatic with Sha’re’s death and the damage done to Daniel’s relationships because of it, and a disappointing cop out when most of the episode happened in Daniel’s mind . Yet it all works, and that is not easy to do.
Rating; **** (out of 5)
