Sam and Jack are stranded on an ice planet and can't dial home. Daniel and Teal'c try to get them back but can't find them. It turns out they're actually in Antarctica and Earth has a second Stargate that an energy surge caused the wormhole to jump to. This sets up an important plot point for the future, including the spin-off series Atlantis.
First appearance of Sergeant Siler.
Tropes:
- Blood from the Mouth: O'Neill begins coughing up blood, an indicator that he is bleeding internally from his injuries.
- Despair Event Horizon: Carter passes it when she finally gets out of the cave and is greeted with nothing but ice for as far as the eye can see.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- It is established later on that a DHD automatically designates any Stargate connected to it as the primary gate, which completely supersedes the dialing computer back at Cheyenne Mountain and redirects all incoming gate travel to that gate. In other words, all of those returning SG teams should have ended up going through the Antarctic gate once Carter reconnected it. Furthermore, Carter never once tries to dial any other address other than the Earth for reasons that go unexplained.
- Fortunately, the show did go out of its way on their second trip to Antarctica to say that the DHD found here was basically dead already and stopped working almost immediately (with the implication that it didn't have a high enough charge to supersede the Alpha Gate), and as for Sam not thinking to dial another planet, she does have a head injury in the episode and was showing signs of some minor altered mental state along with being distracted by Colonel O'Neill's injuries.
- Also they thought that they were not on Earth, and that the problem was with the gate not dialing properly and not with the location of where they were dialing, so not trying another address makes much more sense.
- Earth All Along: It's revealed that O'Neill and Carter were sent through the previously-unknown second Stargate in Antarctica, which is why they were unable to dial Earth; they were already on it.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Daniel has one when he realizes they've been overlooking the possibility of a second gate on Earth.
- Frontline General: Hammond personally accompanies the rescue team to Antarctica at the end of the episode.
- Have You Tried Rebooting?: Sam tries turning the DHD "on and off again".
- Innocuously Important Episode: The existence and mystery of a second Stargate at the South Pole — and the implications — will eventually become very important (especially in the lead-up to Stargate Atlantis).
- Intimate Healing: Carter sleeping basically on top of O'Neill to keep him warm, and moving to his side when he is in pain.
- It Has Been an Honor: O'Neill tells Carter that it's been an honor serving with her when she leaves the cave. She later returns the sentiment once she's established that there's nothing on the surface.
- Major Injury Underreaction:
- O'Neill on his broken leg. Subverted in that O'Neill is clearly putting on a front. Furthermore, his insistence on moving around only exacerbates his multiple injuries.Jack O'Neill: You wouldn't think that jagged bone grinding into raw nerve would hurt, but it does.
- Sam was also injured in the gate accident with an obvious bleeding head wound. It's not clear if she has a concussion, but she is also showing signs of altered mental state throughout the episode. It is just overshadowed by O'Neill's far worse injuries.
- O'Neill on his broken leg. Subverted in that O'Neill is clearly putting on a front. Furthermore, his insistence on moving around only exacerbates his multiple injuries.
- Motor Mouth: Daniel starts rambling at a mile a minute upon realizing that O'Neill and Carter are on Earth, prompting an exasperated Hammond to demand that he cut to the chase.
- No One Gets Left Behind:
- Daniel and Teal'c flat out refuse to give up the search for their missing teammates.
- Carter initially refuses to leave O'Neill, who is much more gravely injured than she is, alone in the cave. She does eventually head to the surface to try and find help once it becomes apparent that the gate isn't going to work, however.
- Not That Kind of Doctor: Said word-for-word by Carter when O'Neill complains about her bedside manner.
- Not So Remote: O'Neill and Carter think they're on an ice planet, but they're really in Antarctica. It's still pretty far away from home, but a lot closer than they thought.
- Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?: Jack and Sam have to get some sleep, and cuddle for warmth.Carter: Um... Colonel?
O'Neill: It's my sidearm, I swear. - Phlebotinum Analogy: When Daniel realizes that there is a second gate on Earth, he uses a phone analogy.Daniel: [to Teal'c] What happens when you dial your own phone number? [beat] Wrong person to ask. [turns to General Hammond] What happens when you dial your own phone number?
Gen. Hammond: You get a busy signal. - Scotty Time: Defied.Hammond: Just tell me the minute we can send a probe through.
Siler: That'll be 24 hours, General, minimum.
Hammond: I'll give you half that.
Siler: No sir, it doesn't work that way. 24 hours is the best I can do. - Shout-Out: Of the musical variety. During the rescue of SG-1 at the end, the theme from Independence Day is used, possibly as a nod to the origins of Stargate.
- Single-Biome Planet: Subverted. Carter assumes they're stranded on an ice planet, but they're actually in Antarctica.
- You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: One of the few times that Carter and O'Neill use each other's first names.
- Worst Aid: Sam tries sharing a bed to help keep warm. Unfortunately, lying on top of a man with a broken rib isn't a good idea.
