This is pretty much a filler episode, obviously written to use a very small budget. It's not terrible but it's also not great. The performances are the only thing that save it. I just wish it could have been a little funnier, especially to take even more advantage of how delightful it is to see the actors play other characters. Or I wish it had a faster pace with a bit more happening besides Machello going to a diner for ice cream. Or maybe Machello needs more character development. Also perhaps it would have been better to not have the switch be discovered so quickly? Machello also seemed to make realizations about himself way too fast and easily at the end. The script needs a rewrite when it comes down to it.
I feel Machello's character should have been comparable to Linnaya (can't remember how to spell her name) from a while back. They both were in only one episode. They both seemed to have enough power or brains to match a Goa'uld. I like to think Lannaya actually was a rogue Goa'uld but we just didn't find that out in her episode. She had entire planets fear her. He had a planet love him enough that they died to protect him. She was considered bad yet she was benevolent to our team. He was considered good yet he displayed evil tendencies. The difference is so very much happened in in her episode and we learned so much about her. Every time I see her episode, I'm so disappointed her character was not recurring. She could have added to the overall story. Unfortunately, not very much happens in this episode and his character is undeveloped. It's not sad when he dies. It doesn't feel like a great loss.
But, like I said, this is worth watching just to see the performances. If you are open to the story, I found it very easy to just believe I was watching O'Neill while looking at Christopher Judge, for example. I kept getting so sucked in to watching our familiar characters in different bodies, that every so often I'd remind myself to be more detached and enjoy their acting technique. But I'd pretty much immediately forget because I believed Judge was Jack and I was watching Jack like I do in every other episode. It's a shame Judge hasn't been in more shows so he could show more range. He's very underrated.
Speaking of performances, I find the idea that Teryl Rothery is a bad actress because the series as a whole is not great with realistic medicine, as suggested here, to be ridiculous. She doesn't write the show. She does what is asked of her. If this show had any medical advisor, they were either ignored or didn't know what they were doing. But that's part of the whole series' problem. For example, in this episode they didn't even know how to put on a nasal cannula, let alone operate equipment or do advanced CPR. I get how the show doesn't work if the team had to be quarantined for a month after every mission. I'll suspend disbelief for that. But put the oxygen on correctly. It's not hard. Again though, that has nothing to do with the acting. And it's not even the character's issue because it's the entire medical team, the procedures they follow, and the settings they are given.
But back to this specific episode. It's fine. Just not very memorable for one reason or another. For die hard fans only.
I feel Machello's character should have been comparable to Linnaya (can't remember how to spell her name) from a while back. They both were in only one episode. They both seemed to have enough power or brains to match a Goa'uld. I like to think Lannaya actually was a rogue Goa'uld but we just didn't find that out in her episode. She had entire planets fear her. He had a planet love him enough that they died to protect him. She was considered bad yet she was benevolent to our team. He was considered good yet he displayed evil tendencies. The difference is so very much happened in in her episode and we learned so much about her. Every time I see her episode, I'm so disappointed her character was not recurring. She could have added to the overall story. Unfortunately, not very much happens in this episode and his character is undeveloped. It's not sad when he dies. It doesn't feel like a great loss.
But, like I said, this is worth watching just to see the performances. If you are open to the story, I found it very easy to just believe I was watching O'Neill while looking at Christopher Judge, for example. I kept getting so sucked in to watching our familiar characters in different bodies, that every so often I'd remind myself to be more detached and enjoy their acting technique. But I'd pretty much immediately forget because I believed Judge was Jack and I was watching Jack like I do in every other episode. It's a shame Judge hasn't been in more shows so he could show more range. He's very underrated.
Speaking of performances, I find the idea that Teryl Rothery is a bad actress because the series as a whole is not great with realistic medicine, as suggested here, to be ridiculous. She doesn't write the show. She does what is asked of her. If this show had any medical advisor, they were either ignored or didn't know what they were doing. But that's part of the whole series' problem. For example, in this episode they didn't even know how to put on a nasal cannula, let alone operate equipment or do advanced CPR. I get how the show doesn't work if the team had to be quarantined for a month after every mission. I'll suspend disbelief for that. But put the oxygen on correctly. It's not hard. Again though, that has nothing to do with the acting. And it's not even the character's issue because it's the entire medical team, the procedures they follow, and the settings they are given.
But back to this specific episode. It's fine. Just not very memorable for one reason or another. For die hard fans only.