1969 (episode)

"1969" is the twenty first episode of the second season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis
A freak accident involving a solar flare and the Stargate causes SG-1 to gate to the Earth in 1969. While trying to figure out a way back, the team is mistaken for Soviet spies and is being transferred to another facility. However, young Lt. George S. Hammond comes to render assistance so that SG-1 can return to their own time.

Plot
A powerful solar flare crossing the path of the Stargate's matter stream causes the SG-1 team to be propelled around the sun and travel back in time 30 years. They arrive in the Embarkation room, which was then a top-secret missile testing facility, and are arrested by guards that think they are Soviet spies because Dr. Daniel Jackson can speak Russian.

While Colonel Jack O'Neill is being interrogated and using comedic answers (i.e. Star Trek and Star Wars references) to obscure their true identities, a young Lieutenant searches through SG-1's possessions and discovers a note stating that he should help them, a note Major General George S. Hammond had given Captain Samantha Carter before they left. While escaping custody with the help of the lieutenant, they discover that he is in fact General Hammond, 30 years younger, who recognized the note as in his own handwriting. He gives them some money to purchase disguises (which O'Neill promises to pay back, with interest), they swear him to secrecy, and hit him with a Zat'nik'tel blast to make it look like he fought them.

The SG-1 team must find a way home—if nothing else, Teal'c will eventually be taken over by his symbiote unless he can return to the present—but it seems apparent they are doomed to be stuck in the past. However, Carter sees that the note includes two dates and times, and grasps that the dates actually describe two upcoming solar flares on the opposite side of Sol. This information was identified from research on alternative applications for the gate she was ordered to work on by General Hammond. To use these flares as an effective means of getting back to the future, they must find the Stargate.

After a bold hitchhiking maneuver by Teal'c, SG-1 is able to travel across the country with a couple, Michael Clark and Jennifer Clark, who are heading to  in their bus. Late in their trip, the couple reveals that Michael has been drafted, and they are trying to decide whether or not to flee to Canada. O'Neill begins a response to Michael, but Carter stops him in order to prevent them from influencing the past. Michael is never mentioned again in the series, and his choice is not known. Donning a convincing accent, Daniel learns the location of the Stargate from Catherine Langford. SG-1 manages to activate the gate (stored in an old Washington D.C. armory) and run through while under fire from guards.

However, they arrive in an empty, dark gate room rather than in Stargate Command that they know. An elderly woman walks in, who, it turns out, is Cassandra Fraiser, and she tells them that they stepped into the Stargate a few seconds early and were sent far into the future. Long ago, Sam told her that she must rendezvous with them. She reactivates the gate to return them to their time. The team arrives back in the normal gate room with General Hammond waiting for them. He explains that as a young lieutenant he was ordered to escort 4 trespassers out of Cheyenne Mountain. In Carter's vest pocket he found a note requesting for his assistance. Obviously he followed its instructions. All he had to do was wait for the right time to give Carter the note. He remembered the cut on Carter's hand as he removed the handcuffs. General Hammond also reminds O’Neill of the money he owes him ($539.50, including interest).

Notable Quotes
O'Neill: Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise.

O'Neill: I'll be honest with you, Bob: my name is not Kirk. It's Skywalker. Luke... Skywalker.

O'Neill: Aunty Em! Aunty Em!

Michael: After the concert, me and Jenny, we're even thinking of crossing the border up to Canada.

Teal'c: For what reason?

Michael: You know, man. The war.

Teal'c': The war with Canada?

Michael: No.

Goofs

 * When the bus approaches Chicago, the is shown in the skyline, although its construction did not begin until 1970.

In other languages

 * French: 1969
 * Italian: Viaggio nel Tempo (Time Travel)
 * Spanish: 1969
 * Czech: Rok 1969 (1969)