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| ==Plot== | ==Plot== | ||
| Daniel Jackson watches a film from ] of scientists successfully turning on the Stargate device. A man steps through the gate, but the wormhole then collapses. Jackson visits Catherine Langford, daughter of the lead scientist and fiancée of the trapped man, Ernest Littlefield, who she thought had died during an explosion in the lab. | |||
| {{plot|date=December 2007}} | |||
| ] is watching some film footage from ] of scientists working on the then newly discovered ], trying to get it to work. Not knowing about the effect of ] on the dialing (later discovered by ]), they should not have been able to turn it on. However, the film shows (much to Jackson's astonishment) that they managed to do so. After a man steps through the gate, the wormhole it created collapses, apparently trapping him on whatever planet he was transported to. | |||
| Jackson visits ], the daughter of the man in charge of the program back then. She recognizes that the man who went through the gate was ], her then fiance. Her father had told her that Littlefield died during an explosion in the lab. Jackson brings her back with him to ]. | |||
| After a briefing of events, including the discovery of the address of the Stargate destination, General Hammond agrees that SG-1 should attempt to bring Dr. Littlefield home. Catherine insists on joining the mission. | |||
| On the other side of the wormhole, they find Dr. Littlefield, emaciated but alive but that the Dial-Home Device is broken and hence they are stuck. While she works on a solution, Catherine and Ernest reconcile after years of separation. Ernest reveals a special room where a central device displays representations of atoms and basic elements. On the walls are a "book" in four types of writing and Jackson realises that the atoms are a kind of universal language. | |||
| On the other side of the wormhole, they find themselves in what appears to be something of a castle perched dangerously on outcropping rocks over a stormy sea and under a thunderous sky. Within, they find Dr. Littlefield, emaciated but alive. | |||
| Obsessed with copying the "book," Daniel wishes to stay. Ernest dissuades him, however, and Jackson leaves the book. They escape through the Stargate just before the wormhole destabilizes and shuts down. | |||
| Carter then discovers that the ] is broken and hence they are stuck. While she works on a solution, Catherine has her moments with Ernest - they are cold to each other at first (as they've been through a lot) but warm up to each other later. | |||
| ⚫ | Later, an attempt is made to open another wormhole to the planet to see if a return is possible. The attempt fails, but Ernest tells Daniel that one day he might meet the ones who wrote the book and tell him what it means. | ||
| Jackson also talks to Ernest, who has kept a journal all these years. He takes them to a special room where a central device, when activated by ], projects a light-display into the air. The light-display turns out to be a representation of atoms and basic elements. On the four walls are four types of writing, and both Jackson and Ernest believe this to be some kind of meeting place for four great alien races of the past. That is when Jackson realises that the atoms are a kind of universal language - to ensure universal comprehension the language has been reduced to basic elements common to all life. There turn out to be many pages of this 'book' and Jackson becomes obsessed with copying it down. | |||
| Carter works out that a lightning strike channelled into the gate may supply enough power to allow dialing it manually, enabling them to escape. In the meantime, the storm is becoming rough, and it looks like the castle will collapse. Daniel refuses to leave. | |||
| At the last moment, Ernest persuades Daniel to leave. Although the information held in the 'book' may be the source to understanding the very meaning of the existence of humans ("the Meaning of Life Stuff"), it would take more than a lifetime to study it all, as evidenced by Ernest, and there's no joy in knowing it all but having no one to share it with. Due to the obviousness of Ernest's wisdom on this matter, Jackson leaves the 'book' and they escape through the collapsing castle through the Stargate just before the wormhole destabilizes and shuts down. | |||
| ⚫ | Later, an attempt is made to open another wormhole to the planet |
||
| ==Production== | ==Production== | ||
Revision as of 16:53, 18 December 2007
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| "The Torment of Tantalus" |
|---|
"The Torment of Tantalus" is an episode from Season 1 of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. It is often referred to by fans as "the Meaning of Life Stuff episode".
Plot
Daniel Jackson watches a film from 1945 of scientists successfully turning on the Stargate device. A man steps through the gate, but the wormhole then collapses. Jackson visits Catherine Langford, daughter of the lead scientist and fiancée of the trapped man, Ernest Littlefield, who she thought had died during an explosion in the lab.
After a briefing of events, including the discovery of the address of the Stargate destination, General Hammond agrees that SG-1 should attempt to bring Dr. Littlefield home. Catherine insists on joining the mission.
On the other side of the wormhole, they find Dr. Littlefield, emaciated but alive but that the Dial-Home Device is broken and hence they are stuck. While she works on a solution, Catherine and Ernest reconcile after years of separation. Ernest reveals a special room where a central device displays representations of atoms and basic elements. On the walls are a "book" in four types of writing and Jackson realises that the atoms are a kind of universal language.
Obsessed with copying the "book," Daniel wishes to stay. Ernest dissuades him, however, and Jackson leaves the book. They escape through the Stargate just before the wormhole destabilizes and shuts down.
Later, an attempt is made to open another wormhole to the planet to see if a return is possible. The attempt fails, but Ernest tells Daniel that one day he might meet the ones who wrote the book and tell him what it means.
Production
- The title refers to the Greek myth of Tantalus, who could never reach what he kept grasping out for, and who is the origin of the word "tantalise", as Jackson is tantalised by the enormity of the "Meaning of Life Stuff" which he cannot possibly reach.
- Paul McGillion (Young Ernest Littlefield) would go on to play the recurring and later main character Dr. Carson Beckett in Stargate Atlantis.
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Reception
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. |
External links
- "Official Stargate SG-1 site". MGM. Retrieved 2006-06-08. Most of site requires Flash.
- "Screenplay" (PDF). Distributed by MGM. Prepared by Casablanca Continuity. Retrieved 2006-10-28. Also see Google's cache.
- "Summary". Sci Fi Channel (United States). Retrieved 2006-06-05.
{{cite web}}: Text "SciFi]]" ignored (help)