Line #20 Recap/StargateSG1S10E13TheRoadNotTaken


1	->''"Look, I know you want your Carter back as much as I want to go home, but we stand a much better chance of figuring this out if we work together."''
2	-->'''-- Lt. Col. Samantha Carter'''
3
4	A freak lab accident transports Carter to an alternate universe where the Stargate program was made public following [[Recap/StargateSG1S7E22LostCityPart2 Anubis' attack on Earth]]. After using the phase-shifting device to help defend the alternate Earth from an Ori fleet, she finds that ''President'' Landry is unwilling to let her return to her own universe.
5
6	Last appearance of General George Hammond and Dr. Rodney [=McKay=].
7	----
8	!!"The Road Not Taken" provides examples of the following tropes:
9	* TheAlcoholic: Alternate Mitchell has become one due to being denied therapy following his crash.
10	* AmicableExes: Carter was once married to [=McKay=] in the alternate universe, and he claims that they're still friends even though they divorced some time ago.
11	* ArmorPiercingResponse: Carter gives one to Alternate Hammond when he's angrily insisting why the [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica United States]] had to become a police state in the wake of Anubis' attack going public.
12	-->'''Alt!Hammond:''' You weren't here for the riots. You didn't see American citizens shooting each other over food, water and gasoline! [[PresidentEvil Hank Landry]] brought us back from the brink of chaos.
13	-->'''Carter:''' That was ''three'' years ago!
14	-->'''Alt!Hammond:''' The threat is still out there!
15	-->'''Carter:''' That's the problem! It ''always'' will be.
16	* BeingGoodSucks[=/=]NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Alternate Mitchell was upset at the violation of civil rights he saw and called the government on it. They responded by kicking him out of the military and stopped his treatment, leaving him a bitter wheelchair bound alcoholic.
17	* BigBlackout: Occurs as a result of the phase-shifting device requiring 80% of the US power output in order to put the entire planet out of phase.
18	* BittersweetEnding: The world Carter leaves behind is still pretty awful, but it's implied that [=McKay's=] elevation to serving as [[PresidentEvil Landry's]] main assistant and adviser will help put things back on the right path.
19	* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: Landry's aide implies without saying in so many words that he's willing to blackmail [=McKay=] to prevent him from helping Carter get back to her own universe.
20	* CallBack:
21	** The explanation Carter gives alternate Lorne for the difference between alternate universes and alternate dimensions is exactly the same as the one she gave to Mitchell in [[Recap/StargateSG1S9E18ArthursMantle "Arthur's Mantle"]].
22	** Carter uses a live TV interview with Julia Donovan to publicly speak out against the President, similar to how she utilized the platform to discredit Alec Colson in [[Recap/StargateSG1S8E8Covenant "Covenant"]].
23	** There are several references to the ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' episode [[Recap/StargateAtlantisS03E08McKayAndMrsMiller "McKay And Mrs. Miller"]], especially when Carter is talking to alternate [=McKay=].
24	* ComicallyMissingThePoint:
25	-->'''Carter:''' This is gonna come as a bit of a shock, but I'm not who you think I am.
26	-->'''Alt![=McKay=]:''' Oh my God, you're a lesbian! Is that what you're trying to tell me?
27	-->'''Carter:''' ''What?!'' No! [=McKay=]!
28	* CrapsackWorld: The alternate universe visited by Carter is, to put it delicately, ''horrible.'' After mass rioting and hysteria in the wake of Anubis' attack, the United States has become a brutal dictatorship under Landry that uses ImportedAlienPhlebotinum to maintain control. Also, Earth has abandoned its interstellar allies, leaving most of the Milky Way to the "mercy" of the Ori.
29	* DangerousPhlebotinumInteraction: Carter conducting her experiment with the phase-shifting device at the exact same time as her alternate counterpart was experimenting with drawing energy from alternate universes causes the two to interact and "our" Carter to be pulled into the other universe.
30	* DeadAlternateCounterpart: The alternate Carter is killed during her experiment to extract energy from alternate realities, which causes "our" Carter to be transported into her reality.
31	* DeadPersonImpersonation: After saving the alternate Earth from the Ori, Carter imitates her dead counterpart when giving interviews and at various public engagements.
32	* {{Determinator}}: Lampshaded when [=McKay=] asks Carter if she ever quits.
33	* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: The pianist at the celebration party is playing the Stargate SG-1 theme music.
34	* EmergencyPresidentialAddress: Landry gives one prior to the Ori attack on the alternate Earth, in order to justify the BigBlackout mentioned above.
35	* EntertaininglyWrong: When Carter returns, she wonders how the team did trying to find her. The team is forced to admit that they actually thought that Carter had been rendered into an intangible state as happened in an earlier episode. Carter has to laugh when she realizes that for the three weeks she was gone, the team took turns talking and "keeping company" to an empty room.
36	* ExpendableAlternateUniverse: Played with; Carter is willing to help out the alternate universe up to a point until she realizes just how bad things have become, but alternate Landry doesn't seem to care much about ''her'' universe and insists that she stay in order to replace their Carter, who was killed in the lab accident.
37	* ForWantOfANail: Several differences are apparent between the prime universe and the alternate universe shown in the episode, including:
38	** The existence of the Stargate program was revealed to the general public during [[Recap/StargateSG1S7E22LostCityPart2 Anubis' attack on Earth]]. Mass hysteria and panic followed, with other countries in the international community turning on the US. The US swiftly placed under martial law as a result.
39	** Atlantis was never discovered.
40	** Landry is President, and has an office at the SGC, rather than being based in the White House.
41	** The ''Prometheus'' is still in one piece and serves as Air Force One.
42	** Mitchell never fully recovered from injuries sustained in his crash and has been left in a wheelchair after funding for his therapy stopped. Major Lorne is commander of SG-1 in his place.
43	** General Hammond is still a two-star general in command of the SGC.
44	** [=McKay=] is a millionaire businessman who was married to Carter for some time.
45	** Carter is still a Major, Teal'c returned to the Jaffa following the defeat of the Goa'uld, and Vala is locked in a cell in Area 51 (which implicitly means that Adria doesn't exist in this alternate universe).
46	* TheGoodChancellor: Carter's parting words to [=McKay=] involve imploring him to become one for President Landry.
47	* TheGlomp: Vala impulsively rushes over and hugs Carter when she returns at the end of the episode.
48	* GreatOffscreenWar: Some cryptic dialogue from alternate Major Lorne hints that the United States and Russia went to war over the Antarctic weapons platform.
49	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: President Landry's explanation for the current state of the U.S. and the world. He's not happy about it, but the measures he's enacted has prevented the total collapse of society in the aftermath of Anubis' attack on Earth.
50	* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: The alternate Secret Service use Goa'uld pain sticks on protesters.
51	* InSpiteOfANail:
52	** The alternate universe SGC had visited Glastonbury, likely how they [[Recap/StargateSG1S9E2AvalonPart2 drew the Ori to the Milky Way Galaxy]], and had imprisoned Vala, but knew nothing about Atlantis. In the main reality, Vala only came to know Daniel and Earth (leading them to Glastonbury) because of [[Recap/StargateSG1S8E12PrometheusUnbound when she stole]] ''[[Recap/StargateSG1S8E12PrometheusUnbound Prometheus]]'', during its attempted mission to Atlantis.
53	** Alternate Carter was working on extracting vacuum energy from alternate realities, but in our universe that was [[Recap/StargateAtlantisS03E08McKayAndMrsMiller based on a technique]] [[Recap/StargateAtlantisS02E06Trinity first attempted by Lantean Ancients]].
54	** Alternate Daniel had been captured by the Ori [[Recap/StargateSG1S10E11TheQuestPart2 like in the main universe]].
55	** The alternate versions of [=McKay=] and his sister Jeannie [[Recap/StargateAtlantisS03E08McKayAndMrsMiller likewise have a poor relationship]].
56	* MovingTheGoalposts: After initially agreeing to help Carter get back to her own reality if she helps him defend his Earth from the Ori, Landry changes the terms of their deal and refuses to let her leave once he realizes how invaluable she is, both for her scientific knowledge and as a public figurehead for his press campaign.
57	* NotSoDifferentRemark: Near the end of the episode, Alternate Landry argues that the moral compromises he has made are not all that different from the moral compromises Carter makes in her own universe to keep the Stargate a secret.
58	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: [=McKay=] states he was given one when offered the chance of becoming President Landry's new scientific adviser.
59	* OppressiveStatesOfAmerica: Landry declared martial law in the US due to the rioting that followed the reveal of the Stargate program. This involves censoring the press and using Goa'uld cattle prods on unarmed protesters.
60	* PresidentEvil: Alternate Landry. The fact that he just acts like his usual self makes it even ''creepier.''
61	* SheCleansUpNicely: Carter dons a low-cut black dress to attend a swanky party with Landry after she helps defend the alternate Earth from the Ori.
62	* SomeKindOfForcefield: Mitchell walks face-first into one that Carter's using to protect her lab while she experiments with the phase-shifting device at the beginning of the episode.
63	* TheUnmasquedWorld: The alternate universe is a rather cynical take on what this trope can lead to.
64	* VillainHasAPoint: At the end, Landry points out that for all her moral grandstanding about freedom and government transparency, Carter helps cover up her universe's discovery of the Stargate and the wars that have been fought through it. Carter notably doesn't provide a rebuttal and sidesteps the point.
65	* WhatTheHellHero:
66	** Carter calls out the alternate versions of both Hammond and Landry after realizing just how far the police state has gone.
67	** Hammond and Landry give it right back to her when they point out that Carter is in no position to judge them. It's rather easy for her to make judgments about their universe when she doesn't have to live there. As alternate Landry puts it, they have nowhere to run to if things get too bad.

Context Recap / StargateSG1S10E13TheRoadNotTaken