History Recap / StargateSG1S4E2TheOtherSide

* DiscriminateAndSwitch: The team initially assume that the Eurondans are uneasy around Teal'c because he's Jaffa, which isn't exactly uncommon among the planets they visit -- but then it turns out that it's actually because he's black, and the Eurondans are Space Nazis.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The Eurondans are revealed to be unapologetic racists who decided to commit genocide against those who don't practice eugenics.

As Alar's bunker starts to collapse, the team returns to Earth. Just before O'Neill and Carter leave, Alar runs up to them, begging to go to Earth with them and offering all his knowledge of Eurondan technology. O'Neill warns Alar not to try following them (the team had explained the iris, at least in broad strokes, previously). After exiting the gate in the [=SGC=], O'Neill orders the iris closed.

* BombersOnTheScreen: Through most of the episode we see the air war being fought on a fancy LCD table that is also for some insane reason, has physical models placed on top of it.

* DistressCall: The episode opens with the Eurondans contacting earth to request aid.

* HonorBeforeReason: At the end of the episode O'Neill causes Alar's death rather than let him be taken prisoner by [=SGC=], even though Alar had already expressed a willingness to exchange all his advanced technology just to save his own life. Given that Alar was basically Space Hitler (and would probably said anything to save his own ass), it seems O'Neill decided that letting him live was too high a price for said technology.

* PortalSlam: At the beginning of the episode, three Eurondans die this way when they attempt to reach earth through the stargate and end up splattering against the iris. Comes back at the end of the episode in even darker fashion when O'Neill ''deliberately'' closes the iris on Alar.

* SpottingTheThread: The Eurondans being mono-racial isn't in itself unusual, as many gate worlds were established as colonies using populations taken from a single geographical location on ancient Earth. It's only after O'Neill sees that the Eurondan's enemies are multi-racial, and that their discomfort around Teal'c seems to be based on race and not him being a Jaffa, that he realizes he's been taking the side of Space Nazis.

->''*[[KickTheSonOfABitch THUMP]]*''

* KickTheSonOfABitch: O'Neill orders the iris closed after Alar follows them through the stargate, giving him the "bugs against a windshield" treatment.

[floatboxright:
Series: Series/StargateSG1\\
Episode: Season 4, Episode 2\\
Title: "The Other Side"\\
Previous: "Small Victories"\\
Next: "Upgrades"\\
Recapper: Insert Witty Name Here]

For once, Stargate Command is being contacted by the people from another world rather than the other way around. However, these people, the Eurondans, sent three volunteers through their gate, who, of course, met PortalSlam deaths when they hit the iris. Their leader, [[strike:[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]]]] [[strike:[[Series/BostonLegal Paul Lewiston]]]] Alar, contacts the [=SGC=] by video and begs for their help against an enemy which controls most of their world. In fact, the Eurondans are confined to an underground bunker.

But on the way back to the gate, Alar says Teal'c should not return since he is "not like us", apparently meaning dark-skinned. At this point, Jack finally recognizes that he may have just made a DealWithTheDevil. After some digging, the team finds out the Eurondans' enemy are the "Breeders", so named because they reproduce with no set guidelines or strictures, and so come in all different shapes and sizes and colors. . . rather like the people of Earth. It turns out that while the Breeders did start the war, it was a preemptive strike and the Eurondans had been preparing to exterminate them for years before. Needless to say, the crew doesn't take too well to their new allies being [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Space]] [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Nazis]] and sabotages their defenses.

As [[strike:Hitler's]] Alar's bunker starts to collapse, the team returns to Earth. Just before O'Neill and Carter leave, Alar runs up to them, begging to go to Earth with them and offering all his knowledge of Eurondan technology. O'Neill warns Alar not to try following them (the team had explained the iris, at least in broad strokes, previously). After exiting the gate in the [=SGC=], O'Neill orders the iris closed.

!!"Th Other Side" provides examples of the following tropes:

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Did Jack close the iris on Alar just because he was an asshole and Jack didn't want to put up with him anymore? Or because he realized that, since the people of Earth are "Breeders" too, Alar would probably do something unfortunate once he figured that out? Jack doesn't say, and Hammond doesn't ask.

* IdiotPlot: After SG1 realises the nature of the Eurondans, they come to the very silly decision to attempt to sabotage the defence system from the inside of a location that was heavily defended by security troops, instead of simply leaving the Eurondans to their fate. They were lucky they weren't simply shot or taken hostage the moment they made it clear they were up to something.
** O'Neill ramming a drone into the fortress could easily have blown the whole place to kingdom come.

* FreezeFrameBonus: When O'Neill shoots down the manned bomber as his unmanned drone collides with it, there is a split second before impact that you can see the crew in the cockpit. While this is obviously to show that the bomber had men in it to provide a development of O'Neill getting personally involved in the war personally like Earth is doing in a wider sense, one of the co-pilots has black skin. That no-one else shown so far has, which potentially gives a sharp minded viewer a early revelation as to why the war is being fought.
* HeelRealization: O'Neill realizes that he's been unintentionally aiding racists when Alar makes a comment about Teal'c being "not like us."

* FreezeFrameBonus: When O'Neill shoots down the manned bomber as his unmanned drone collides with it, there is a split second before impact that you can see the crew in the cockpit. While this is obviously to show that the bomber had men in it to provide a development of O'Neill getting personally involved in the war personally like Earth is doing in a wider sense, one of the co-pilots has black skin. Which no-one else shown so far has, which gives the viewer a potential early revelation as to why the war is being fought.

* HonorBeforeReason: At the end of the episode O'Neill causes Alar's death rather than let him be taken prisoner by [=SGC=], even though Alar had already expressed a willingness to exchange all his advanced technology just to save his own life. Given that Alar was basically Space Hitler, it seems O'Neill decided that letting him live was too high a price for said technology.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Downplayed, but O'Neill gets a moment when he realizes that he and Teal'c have been killed several people after shooting down what he assumed to be unmanned drones.

As [[strike:Hitler's]] Alar's bunker starts to collapse, the team returns to Earth. Just before O'Neill and Carter leave, Alar runs up to them, begging to go to Earth with them and offering all his knowledge of Eurondan technology. After exiting the gate in the [=SGC=], O'Neill orders the iris closed.

But on the way back to the gate, Alar says Teal'c should not return since he is "not like us", apparently meaning dark-skinned. At this point, Jack finally recognizes that he may have just made a DealWithTheDevil. After some digging, the team finds out the Eurondans' enemy are the "Breeders", so named because they reject eugenics. It turns out that while the Breeders did start the war, it was a preemptive strike and the Eurondans had been preparing to exterminate them for years before. Needless to say, the crew doesn't take too well to their new allies being [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Space]] [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Nazis]] and sabotages their defenses.

Back at the base, Daniel points out they don't even know how the war started and that Hammond did say they couldn't offer resources which would turn the war. Hammond admits he meant military assets, but nevertheless agrees they should find out more about the war. At the negotiation, Daniel asks how the war started and Alar recounts how the enemy attacked them one day. Jack considers this sufficient and closes the deal.

Daniel, of course, wants to offer humanitarian help. Hammond agrees, saying they could not commit resources which would turn the the tide of an alien world war, and O'Neill is authorized to negotiate with the Eurondans, in the hopes that the [=SGC=] might be able to get some ImportedAlienPhlebotinum. It turns out the Eurondans are indeed very advanced and that they're willing to offer all their technology in exchange for heavy water, which powers their weapons. O'Neill agrees, to the moral outrage of Daniel:

* StockFootage: As revealed on the DVDCommentary, the background cloud footage in the cockpit [=POVs=] was recycled from ''{{Film/Firefox}}''. Incidentally, ''Firefox'' cloud footage was previously used in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', where it provided the background for the opening credits.
* TheTeetotaler: While the others all have a glass of something with their meal, Teal'c claims that he "does not consume alcohol". It isn't clear if this is a Jaffa thing or a personal choice.
** It's also entirely possible that Teal'c's symbiote filters out alcohol like other poisons, making his consumption of alcohol wasteful and pointless.

-->'''Alar:''' The power generated by your heavy water would be used to power our defenses, Doctor Jackson.

For once, Stargate Command is being contacted by the people from another world rather than the other way around. However, these people, the Eurondans, sent three volunteers through their gate, who, of course, met PortalSlam deaths when they hit the iris. Their leader, [[strike:[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]]]] [[strike:[[BostonLegal Paul Lewiston]]]] Alar, contacts the [=SGC=] by video and begs for their help against an enemy which controls most of their world. In fact, the Eurondans are confined to an underground bunker.

----