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"Tin Man" is the nineteenth episode of the first season of Stargate SG-1.
Synopsis
SG-1 arrive on the seemingly abandoned planet of Altair and are soon knocked out. When they awaken with seemingly no ill-effects, they hastily return to Earth. There, they discover that they've been turned into androids. To ensure their survival, they are forced to return to Altair to work with the last remaining Altairan, Harlan, who maintains the power systems of the underground city, but soon learn Harlan is hiding something.
Plot
SG-1 arrives on P3X-989 and finds themselves in a huge complex and are, moments later, knocked unconscious by a mysterious light. They wake up dressed in new clothing and lacking their equipment, and soon meet a strange character named Harlan who claims that SG-1 are now "better." Harlan takes them through the complex to retrieve their equipment and then prepare to leave, ignoring Harlan's strenuous protests that they must stay.
Janet Fraiser examines the robotic SG-1.
The team returns to Stargate Command where they are sent to the infirmary and are examined by Dr. Janet Fraiser. When checking Colonel Jack O'Neill for a heartbeat, she hears a mechanical sound. O'Neill uses a scalpel to open his arm and discovers that they are androids. They are confined on Earth until they become too weak to function and convince Major General George S. Hammond to allow their return to P3X-989. Upon arrival, Harlan confesses to making them into androids but is not willing to "transform them back" to their Human form.
Jack O'Neill and his robotic duplicate.
Harlan himself is in fact also an android, the last member of an extinct race called the Altairan that was programmed to keep the giant facility on P3X-989 running. After helping Harlan to solve a malfunction in the facility they eventually find out why Harlan refuses to change them back; SG-1 wasn't transformed into robots but have been duplicated from the real SG-1 team, which is restrained and kept prisoner by Harlan. Harlan confesses his plan in which he would eventually release the real SG-1 team so that they would not know of their robot duplicates. He hoped that the robot SG-1 would remain with him and help maintain the facility.
After a small period of confusion between the real and robot SG-1 team, the robot team decides to stay with Harlan and bury the Stargate while the real SG-1 team returns home, despite the hesitancy of the robot Jack O'Neill, who naturally sees himself as human even though he knows he is not.
Appearances
| Appearances for Tin Man |
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Locations
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Notable Quotes
O'Neill: Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Colonel speaking. Welcome to P3X-niner-eight-niner where it's a balmy...room temperature. Fan it out!
(SG-1 begins to explore the compound)
O'Neill: Whoa…Well the lights are on…but there's nobody home!
Jackson: The technology seems advanced by comparison to what we've seen on most of the human-inhabited planets. Maybe they are more advanced than Earth.
Carter: They're much more.
Jackson: Well, it feels older…somehow.
O'Neill: I know how it feels. This place have seen better days.
Jackson: At least it doesn't appear to be a Goa'uld origin.
O'Neill: Teal'c, have you run into something like this?
Teal'c: I have not.
Carter: Computer.
(SG-1 arrives at what a control room, filled with banks of computers. Carter touches one of the computers, triggering an unusual sound.)
O'Neill: Well, that sounds ominous! Fall back.
(They are making their way back to the Gate when they are suddenly zap by a light and they all fall down on the floor.)
Harlan: Ah...Comtrya! Comtrya!
O'Neill: Daniel?
Jackson: I think that's a greeting.
Harlan: Yes, it is.
Jackson: Oh, well, then...Comtrya! We are explorers from a place called Earth. I am Daniel. Hello. (tries to shake hands)
Harlan: Oh, this is your custom, yes? (Simply copies Jackson, and doesn't shake hands) Hello. You are the leader?
Jackson: Oh, no. That will be...
O'Neill: Me! Colonel Jack O'Neill. Kum-bi-yah.
Harlan: Comtrya.
O'Neill: Whatever.
Harlan: Hubald, he was the creator of all this, but he died very early...too early...Many secrets with him, so long ago.
O'Neill: How long, exactly?
Harlan: Uh, exactly? 99,207,000 of your...hours.
O'Neill: (immediately) Well, that's 11,000 years.
Carter: How did you know that?
O'Neill: That's right?
Carter: (calculating) Yeah.
Jackson: Wait, how did you know that?!?
Carter: Probably thought we'd damage him...
O'Neill: Perceptive little runt.
Harlan: All will be well, you will see. And your friend too.
Carter: What? Teal'c?
Jackson: You killed him!
Harlan: He was malfunctioning.
Jackson: How will all be well with him if he is dead?
O'Neill: Harlan, where have you been?
Harlan: Extremely busy.
O'Neill: I can see that. Doing what?
Harlan: Oh, ah, creating your synthetic others. Saving the planet. Busy, busy.
Teal'c: Was not a copy made of me?
Harlan: Oh yes, yes...but I had to disintegrate you.
Teal'c: I see.
Robotic Carter: We are identical, right down to the mole on our...
Carter: Hey! Shut up!
Robotic O'Neill: And don't even think about trying to send a bomb to make sure.
O'Neill: I wasn't!
Robotic O'Neill: Yes you were - I know you!
Notes
- The title (and the plot of a bewitched person trapped in a metal body) is one of many Stargate references to The Wizard of Oz.
- The character of Harlan is most likely named after science fiction writer, Harlan Ellison.
- The set of Altair is reused in the Stargate SG-1 episodes "Watergate", "Beneath the Surface" and "Proving Ground".
- The idea of replacing the body with robot or cybernetic parts was originally proposed for the Doctor Who villains, the Cybermen, and is very similar to the Star Trek episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". There was also a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode with the "Tin Man" title but a very different theme. The Doctor Who sixth series episodes "The Rebel Flesh" and "The Almost People" use a similar premise, with duplicates called Gangers (a play on the word doppelganger) used to handle hazards in an acid production factory.
- The way the Colonel Jack O'Neill robot uses the scalpel to cut into his arm and sees the machinery, is similar to the scene in Terminator in which Arnold Schwarzenegger does the same.
- The robotic SG-1 team reappears in the fourth season episode "Double Jeopardy" where they team up with the real SG-1 to free a planet from the rule of the Goa'uld System Lord Cronus.
- By the ninth season, Stargate Command has at some point recovered an android body from PX3-989. SGC scientists (who want Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell's backing) have modified the android, and hope to one day program it with the knowledge and memories of all SGC personnel. They are currently in need of funding for the ambitious project.
- Major General George S. Hammond's granddaughters, Tessa and Kayla, are named after Brad Wright's daughters.
- This is the last of three episodes of Stargate SG-1 written by Jeffrey F. King.
- This is the only episode of Stargate SG-1 directed by Jimmy Kaufman.
Goofs
- When SG-1 first steps through the Stargate, Colonel Jack O'Neill welcomes everyone to "P3X-989", but in the scene after the opening credits, he calls the planet "PX3-989". This name seems to be correct as later in the episode, Major General George S. Hammond calls the planet "PX3-989".
- After the machine has been shut off in the process of creating the synthetic of Teal'c, and the synthetic Colonel Jack O'Neill is looking in at him, Christopher Judge is seen to be breathing.
- However, this is not necessarily a goof, as Harlan said that the process wasn't complete. The second synth-Teal'c may have been far enough along as to breathe, even if he was not fully finished developing.
- At the end of the episode, when O'Neill tells robot O'Neill to get his cheek looked at, Christopher Judge can be seen momentarily unable to repress a smile.
- Although the second synthetic Teal'c was aborted prior to completion it can be seen standing behind robot O'Neill as he says farewell to the originals at the gate. Presumably he was finished as he is later seen in "Double Jeopardy" also.
Awards
Nominations
- Nominated Gemini for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series" (Jay Brazeau)
First Appearances
Characters
Race
Other Languages
- French : Les Doubles Robotiques (The Robotic Copies)
- German: Übermenschen (Super-Humans)
- Hungarian: Bádogember (Tin Man)
- Italian: Trasferimento di Coscienze (Mind Transfer)
- Spanish: El hombre de hojalata (Tin Man)
- Czech: Montér (Tin Man)
- Polish: Ołowiani ludzie (Leaden People)
External links
- Template:SciFi
- Tin Man on the official MGM website. (backup link)
- Tin Man on GateWorld. (backup link)
- Tin Man article on Stargate SG-1 Solutions' The StargateWiki