And now we’re really getting into the cast shake ups. Richard Dean Anderson has mostly moved on and the powers that be have finally realized the team needs a new lead: So we get Ben Browder as Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell. I wouldn’t have minded Carter keeping the reigns and Browder certainly isn’t Anderson, but unlike the whole Jonas mess, he doesn’t try to be. He’s still a fairly straight laced military leader, but he’s his own kind and I really like it. It works out pretty well.

We also get Claudi Black back as Vala for an increasingly big role as the season goes on, which I also appreciate. It’s a bit weird having both Browder and Black after Fargate (on which they both starred), but it works. As I mentioned before, Black has wonderful chemistry with just about everyone, in particular Michael Shanks and is a fun addition to the team.

On top of all that, we of course have to have a new big bad: the Ori. We had a few mentions of them before, but now they’re back in force and really causing trouble. They’re… a little too faceless and all powerful to be as good a villains as the goa’uld, but I think (just like a lot of changes for this season) they work in their own way.

There are a few great episodes in this season. In particular: The Ties That Bind/The Powers That Be with Vala and Jackson synergy, Beachhead showing off the Ori, Ripple Effect (Parallel realities! So many Carters!), and Arthur’s Mantle (another parallel dimension story¹).

Unfortunately there are also more than a few weird/weak episodes, such as Babylon/Stronghold (Jaffa) and Collateral Damage (it just seems out of place in this episode).

I must admit, I’m not a huge fan of how hard they leaned on the Authurian myths for a lot of the anti-Ori plots. It makes some sense as a parallel to the goa’uld/impersonating gods thing, but it’s just a lot weaker. Especially with the ancients having been gone for so very much longer from our Galaxy, it just doesn’t work.

So it goes.

Still a great season and now only one to go before Atlantis! And a few movies. :) Man there’s a lot of Stargate; isn’t it wonderful?