Orpheus (Stargate SG-1)
Meanwhile, Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) is struggling to piece together memories from his time as ascended being but fears that Teal'c's son Rya'c and mentor Bra'tac are in trouble.
Teal'c wakes up in the infirmary where Dr. Fraiser (Teryl Rothery) informs him that he was shot directly where his Goa'uld symbiote once was and as a result has suffered spinal damage.
In the meantime, Rya'c and Bra'tac witness an execution, at the hands of a Goa'uld serving Jaffa Commander (David Richmond-Peck), of several slaves too weak to work.
SG-1 along with Rak'nor and other Stargate Command forces embark on a rescue mission to Erebus, securing a position on a hillside looking down into the labor camp.
In the meantime, Teal'c enlightens Bra'tac and Rya'c about their plans to flee and the word is spread among the fellow Jaffa held prisoner in the camp.
[6][3] Shanks desire to see his character move away from a "passive observer" was also taken into account in writing "Orpheus", with Daniel Jackson becoming more "proactive" in pushing forward their cause in the episode and from this point onwards.
[8] In the previous season's episode "The Changeling", Teal'c loses his Goa'uld symbiote, a creature which until that point was responsible for keeping him alive, and is forced to instead begin using an experimental drug called Tretonin.
DeLuise wanted the character to be easily identifiable in shots and therefore had Richmond-Peck's hair dyed bleach blond, whilst in order to "make him look more evil" the director opted to give him a white, "goopy" eye, having Peck wear a contact lens.
[4] Tony Amendola, Obi Ndefo and Neil Denis all reprise their roles as rebel Jaffa characters Bra'tac, Rya'c and Rak'nor and Teryl Rothery also returns as Dr. Janet Fraiser.
[16][10] The mixture of 50 background actors and stunt performers were ferried between Jackson Pit and a location in Maple Ridge for the film of the episode "Homecoming".
[16][18] The crew had to dig out trenches to direct water flow away from the set, whilst stunt co-ordinator Dan Shea highlighted that a number of the performers kept slipping over and falling down during scenes due to the wet surface.
[17][19] In the pit itself, McGuire's production team designed and built a bucket-wheel excavator as the centre piece of the set, whilst smaller tents surrounded the mine itself.
[4] Additionally a combination of desaturating, push processing and using flashes of the original 16 mm film negative was employed by Woeste during post to make the sequences appear "removed from reality".
[20] The M. Night Shyamalan 2002 film Signs, although not directly named, is reviewed by Carter, with the character heavily criticising the fact the aliens weakness is water.
[29][30] Jayne Dearsley at SFX awarded the episode 4 out of 5 stars, calling writer and director Peter DeLuise "the man who seems to know Stargate SG-1 better than anybody else".
[31] Jan Vincent-Rudzki at TV Zone bemoaned the trope of "warriors who lose their honour", and was of the opinion that "Teal'c just wallows too much in self pity", awarding the episode 6 out of 10.
[34] Response from contributors on fansite Gateworld.net was largely positive, with reviewer Alli Snow praising Christopher Judge's performance as Teal'c as being amongst the highlights of the episode.
Another contributor, Lex, applauded the episode as a "master class in character development" in regard to the arcs of both Teal'c and Daniel, and praised DeLuise for fitting "vast and powerful" themes "into such a short space of time without any feeling of it being rushed or crowded".
[35] "Orpheus" was first released as part of the "Volume 32" region 2 DVD on February 2, 2004, along with previous episodes "Fallen", "Homecoming" and "Fragile Balance" which topped the UK TV On Video Chart the following week.
[40] A deleted scene was posted on June 30, 2003, on the Sci-Fi Channel website involving Daniel talking to Siler about the voices he's been hearing.
