Sight Unseen

Sight Unseen
Production
Series	Stargate SG-1
Episode	6.13
Production #	613
Original air date	December 11, 2002 (Sky1) January 17, 2003 (Sci-Fi Channel) June 18, 2003 (RTL II) March 29, 2004 (AXN)
Story by	Ron Wilkerson
Written by	Damian Kindler
Directed by	Peter F. Woeste
More Information
Gallery
Transcript
Credits
Chronology
Preceded by	"Unnatural Selection"
Followed by	"Smoke and Mirrors"

"Sight Unseen" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis

After returning from a planet, Jonas Quinn is startled to see some bugs that no one else can see. Soon other Stargate Command personnel also start seeing the bugs. Attempts to contain the situation go badly and civilians start seeing them also.

Plot

SG-1 comes back to Stargate Command with a strange device which was built by the Ancients. While they talk about the device, Jonas Quinn suddenly sees a large, flying, insect-like being, which seems to fly through the wall. However, no one else witnessed the being. Nevertheless, Major General George S. Hammond orders the lock down of the base. The searches turn up nothing, so Jonas' comrades think he might be having hallucinations.

While Colonel Jack O'Neill leaves the base to go fishing, Major Samantha Carter and Jonas examine the device. During their research, Jonas again sees a large insect and is immediately examined by Dr. Janet Fraiser. Nothing unusual is found in the scans, but nevertheless, Hammond removes Jonas from active duty.

While talking with Teal'c, Jonas sees another large insect, however, this time Teal'c sees it too. Outside the base, O'Neill, while filling his car at a local gas station, sees an insect himself, pulls a gun, and shoots at it, much to the shock of the owner of the gas station. O'Neill calls Hammond to report the incident, only to learn several people in the base have begun to see the creatures themselves. In the SGC, Jonas and Carter again study the Ancient device and discover that it allows people to see entities from another dimension, or as Carter calls it, an "interdimensional bleed-through" effect. However, they are unable to ascertain how the machine affects people in this way, so they deactivate it by removing the power core, thus hoping to stop its effect.

Later, Jonas and Carter talk with Teal'c in the mess hall when a woman suddenly screams (it is assumed she saw one of the insects). Because of this, SG-1 (without O'Neill) brings the device back to its home planet. The insects continue to appear, so SG-1 takes it back to Earth again. They conclude that the device not only attracts the insects, but allows people to see the bugs by imparting a slight electrical charge which can then be passed from person to person. Hammond has Colorado Springs quarantined to limit the device's effect. Several military personnel are stationed in the nearby area, using the cover story of a chemical spill that can cause hallucinogenic side effects.

For a third time, Jonas and Carter inspect the device and deduce that they have to rearrange the device's control crystals to produce the desired "antidote." Meanwhile, the owner of the gas station, who O'Neill visited earlier, disbelieves the cover story and runs away. O'Neill pauses before pursuing the man, as a car crashes into a sign due to the driver seeing an inter dimensional bug on his windshield.

Back at SGC, Carter and Jonas finally discover the correct crystal arrangement and begin to pass on the “cure” from person to person. However, the owner of the gas station, named Vernon Sharpe, eludes authorities and hitchhikes to the airport. Meanwhile, Carter and Jonas find out more about Vernon through his grandmother to narrow down where Vernon might be. She reveals that Vernon doubts the cover-story because of his prior experience in the Gulf War, where he believed the military experimented on the troops with toxic chemicals.

Vernon arrives at the airport and unsuccessfully tries to board a plane before the military cancels all flights and shuts down the airport. O'Neill drives to the airport in pursuit. Vernon, now scared out of his wits, hides himself in a nearby hangar. O'Neill locates Vernon and shares deeply his personal concern for how badly the Gulf War Veterans have been denied help to recover from "seeing bugs" and other anomalies. When O'Neill touched him on the shoulder, it represented the first time a Gulf war Vet was "validated" for their suffering. O'Neill went on to explain about the bugs (the beings are aliens from the planet Melmac). Vernon agrees to keep quiet and O'Neill cures him of the device's effects.

Appearances

Appearances for Sight Unseen

Characters Airman Major Samantha Carter Chuck (Mentioned) President William Jefferson Clinton (Mentioned) TSgt. Connor Flight Attendant Dr. Janet Fraiser Major General George S. Hammond MSgt. Walter Harriman Hitchhike Driver Neufeld Colonel Jack O'Neill Outta Control Driver Jonas Quinn Screaming Woman SF Guard SF Guard SSgt. Shandler Mrs. Sharpe Roger Sharpe (Mentioned) Vernon Sharpe Teal'c Ticked Off Passenger Locations Milky Way Earth Area 51, Nevada (Mentioned) Colorado Springs, Colorado Glenwood Market Piedmont-Hawthorne Airfield Stargate Command Astrophysics Lab Briefing Room Chief Medical Officer's Office Embarkation room General's Office Stargate Command mess hall Stargate Operations room Las Vegas, Nevada (Mentioned) P9X-391 Events Dimension observer incident Gulf War (Mentioned) Weapons, equipment and technology Duct tape Battle Dress Uniform Cell phone Colt M16A3 rifle Computer Control crystal Daniel Jackson's notebook Desert Camouflage Uniform Dialing computer Dimension observer FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon H&K MP5A3 submachine gun Iris Jonas Quinn's notebook M9 pistol Mobile Analytic Laboratory Probe Palm scanner Radio Red phone Service Dress Uniform Stargate Alpha Gate Sunglasses Tactical vest Walther P99 Science and biology Blood (Mentioned) Brain (Mentioned) CAT Scan Event horizon Gasoline Hallucinations (Mentioned) Kelno'reem (Mentioned) Magnetic resonance imaging Naquadria (Mentioned) Planet Radiation Sandstorm (Mentioned) Schizophrenia (Mentioned) Unstable vortex X-ray Vehicles Automobile Cargo truck Humvee Jeep Jonathan J. O'Neill's truck SUV Sentient Species Ancient (Mentioned) Human Kelownan Tau'ri Jaffa Languages English Ancient language Creatures Dog Interdimensional creature Organizations and titles Chief Medical Officer Doctor Medical practitioner Physician President of the United States (Mentioned) Scientist Astrophysicist Stargate Program SG-1 Technician United States Air Force United States National Guard Miscellanea 2002 ALF (Mentioned) Chocolate chip cookie Coffee Credit card (Mentioned) Dollar Fishing (Mentioned) Fruit Banana Grape Fruit cup Iris Deactivation Code Jaffa mark Jello Pancake Quarantine lockdown Sandwich Tea Yogurt

Notable quotes

Hammond: Welcome home, SG-1. How did it go?
O'Neill: Ah, General, you know how I love those sandy planets.
Teal'c: The wind was most pleasant.
O'Neill: Jaffa sarcasm at its finest, general.

Carter: You only saw a flash of this creature. Are you sure it wasn't some kind of hallucination?
Jonas: You're suggesting I'm delusional?
O'Neill: No. No, it's just... possible... that you were seeing something that wasn't entirely... yes, that's what we're suggesting.

Carter: (to Jonas) Colonel O'Neill asked me to go fishing with him, but to be honset, I find [studying alien technology] more relaxing.

Teal'c: (to Jonas) Colonel O'Neill requested that I accompany him on a fishing expedition.
Jonas: Ahh, I guess I'm the only one he didn't invite.
Teal'c: You are not permitted to leave the base.
Jonas: But still...
Teal'c: Be extremely happy that he did not ask.
Jonas: Why, you don't like fishing?
Teal'c: No.

Mrs. Sharpe: (to Sam and Jonas) Well, you seem like a nice enough couple.
Jonas: Oh, we're not...
(Sam stops Jonas by putting her hand on his hand)
Carter: Please, we really want to help.
(Jonas puts his other hand on Sam's hand to keep up the act)

Vernon: So what planet are they from?
O'Neill: Who?
Vernon: The aliens.
O'Neill: Oh. Ah, a place called Melmac.
Vernon: Isn't that where ALF is from?
O'Neill: Who?
Vernon: ALF, you know, on TV, the puppet.
O'Neill: Never saw it.
Vernon: No kidding?

Cast

Main Characters

• Richard Dean Anderson as Colonel Jack O'Neill
• Amanda Tapping as Major Samantha Carter
• Christopher Judge as Teal'c
• Corin Nemec as Jonas Quinn
• Don S. Davis as Major General George S. Hammond

Guest Stars

• Jody Racicot as Vernon Sharpe
• Gary Jones as MSgt. Walter Harriman
• Teryl Rothery as Dr. Janet Fraiser
• Betty Linde as Mrs. Sharpe
• Michael Karl Richards as Guardsman
• Raimund Stamm as Hitchhike Driver
• Jennifer Steede as Flight Attendant
• Jacob Chaos as Ticked Off Passenger
• Brad Dryborough as Outta Control Driver
• Jacquie Janzen as Frightened servicewoman
• Peter Kufluk as TSgt. Connor (Uncredited)
• Nickolas Baric as SSgt. Shandler (Uncredited)
• Mike Cook as Neufeld (Uncredited)
• Mario Ferrante as SF Guard (Uncredited)
• Katina Robillard as Screaming Woman (Uncredited)
• Oleg Palme Feoktistov as Man at Airport (Uncredited)
• Finn Michael as Passenger (Uncredited)

Notes

• Colonel Jack O'Neill tells Vernon Sharpe that the aliens are from the planet Melmac. Melmac is a fictional planet from the television series ALF which ran opposite Richard Dean Anderson's series MacGyver in the late 1980s.

• Sharpe's comments about government testing on military personnel during the Gulf War is likely a reference to the conspiracies surrounding the controversial disease known as Gulf War syndrome.

• The device featured in the story, as well as its effects of allowing people to view creatures of another dimension, is similar to H.P. Lovecraft's short story "From Beyond". In fact Stargate SG-1: Roswell shows that SG-1 (mainly Vala Mal Doran) inspires Lovecraft's ideas in the first place which would make his story based on these events.

• The model used for the device is later used in the Stargate: Atlantis episode "Hide and Seek" as the device that attracts and contains the Shadow creature.

• The hangar at the last scene bears striking resemblance to the one from "Redemption, Part 1".

• This episode takes place "over three months" after the events of "Shadow Play".

• Brad Dryborough (Outta Control Driver) is also known for playing Lt. Louis Hoshi in Battlestar Galactica.

• Jody Racicot (Vernon Sharpe) is best known for playing Dr. Hans Zarkov in Flash Gordon.

• The airplane in the hangar is marked WestEx (Western Express Airlines) with a little maple leaf symbolizing Canada.

• The airplane inside which Vernon was trying to hide bears the logo Anderson Air on its side.

Goofs

• The rightmost chest X-ray film in the Dr. Janet Fraiser's office is upside down.

• When Jonas Quinn is studying the crystals from the device there is Goa'uld writing on the crystals, not Ancient.

• Close to the beginning of the episode, Colonel Jack O'Neill swipes his ID card the wrong way on the elevator card reader. This is a common occurrence throughout the series.

• 30 minutes into the episode, the driver's license for Vernon Sharpe shows as a Colorado license. The license used is a Washington state driver's license with Colorado written where Washington should be. There is even a picture of George Washington on it.

• 11 minutes into the episode, O'Neill is pumping gas into his pickup, but the gas pump lever is in the off position.

Other languages

• French: Hallucinations (Hallucinations)
• Italian: Visioni Invisibili (Invisible Visions)
• Spanish: Ilusiones (Illusions)
• German: Die Unsichtbaren (The Invisible)
• Czech: Karanténa (Quarantine)
• Hungarian: Láthatatlan Invázió (Invisible Invasion)
• Russian: Невидимый Мир (Invisible World)
• Japanese: 幻覚？奇妙な虫 Genkaku? Kimyō na Mushi (Illusion? The Peculiar Bugs)

Links and navigation

• Sight Unseen at the Internet Movie Database
• Sight Unseen on GateWorld. (backup link)
• Sight Unseen article on Stargate SG-1 Solutions' The StargateWiki

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Sight Unseen (Stargate SG-1). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with SGCommand, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.