TIN MAN

01.19 Episode 19 (#3971)
Airdate: February 13, 1998

On Altair, SG-1 is rendered unconscious and awakens to find Harlan, the odd but cheerful sole inhabitant of the planet. Harlan has made the team "better", but they soon learn what this means. Their bodies are now machines, implanted with their own consciousness, and they must remain on Altair to maintain their power supply. When they demand that Harlan return them to their original bodies, they discover the horrifying truth. Their consciousness has not been transferred, but rather copied, and while the original SG-1 team is free to go, the duplicates must remain on Altair for an eternity.

Written by: Jeff King
Directed by: Jimmy Kaufman

Guest Starring: Jay Brazeau as Harlan, Teryl Rothery as Dr. Fraiser, Dan Shea as O'Neill Alternate

Reference: Altair, Comtrya, Harlan, Kayla, Synthetic Duplicates, Tessa

DESTINATIONS & INHABITANTS

NOTES OF INTEREST

• Com-traya: Altairan greeting
• Technology had destroyed the biosphere of Altair, leaving it highly radioactive and forcing about 1000 survivors to live underground and to take on synthetic bodies for survival.
• Hubald, the creator of the synthetic technology, died, others left through the gate or were destroyed on the planet's surface. Wallace was the last to go, 11,000 years ago. Harlan, the last survivor of Altair, is more than 11,000 years old, and has been alone since then.
• The synthetic bodies have limited reserve power and must rely on a continuous stream of energy from the emitter, therefore they cannot survive for more than a few hours off the planet.
• The synthetic Teal'c malfunctioned because of a conflict of the two minds of host and symbiote.
• The synthetic O'Neill promised to bury the gate, making return impossible.
• Hammond's wife died four years ago of cancer. His granddaughters are Tessa and Kayla.

MEMORABLE REMARKS

• Ladies and gentlemen, this is your colonel speaking. Welcome to P3X-niner-eight-niner where it's a balmy... room temperature. [O'Neill]
• Well, the lights are on, but there's noooobody home. [O'Neill]
• It feels "older" somehow. [Daniel]
  I know how it feels. [O'Neill]
• Colonel Jack O'Neill, Kumbaya. [O'Neill]
  Comtrya. [Harlan]
  Whatever. [O'Neill]
• Better how?? [O'Neill]

FOR THE RECORD

• For crying out loud: 4 (including the synthetic O'Neill)
• Injuries:
  • O'Neill: stunned, knocked unconscious, synthetic duplicate made
  • Carter: stunned, knocked unconscious, synthetic duplicate made
  • Daniel: stunned, knocked unconscious, synthetic duplicate made
  • Teal'c: stunned, knocked unconscious, synthetic duplicate made