"Evolution" (Parts 1 & 2) are the 11th and 12th episodes from seventh season of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. Part 1 was co-written by Damien Kindler and Michael Shanks, with Kindler adapting the story into a teleplay, whilst part 2 was written by Peter Deluise and Damien Kindler, with Deluise handling the teleplay as well as directing the episode. Part 1 was first broadcast on August 22, 2003, on Sci-Fi Channel in the United States, with part 2 subsequently airing first in the on Sky One in United Kingdom on December 14, 2003, following the shows mid-season hiatus in the US.
In the episode, Stargate Command and its allies encounter a new enemy "Super Soldier", who is impervious to their weapons. Believing that the Goa'uld Anubis has created this enemy using Ancient technology, Dr. Jackson (Michael Shanks) travels to Honduras to investigate a similar device mentioned in legend. Meanwhile, the rest of SG-1 along with their allies Bra'tac (Tony Amendola) and Jacob Carter (Carmen Argenziano) hatch a plan to capture one of the soldiers alive.
The writers wanted to introduce a new enemy in response to more and more of the Jaffa defecting and turning against the Goa'uld, as well as creating a soldier that was a much more powerful adversary. "Evolution" part 2 broke rating records for the Sci-Fi Channel as the channels most watch broadcast to-date, as well as being the most watch episode of Stargate SG-1.
Plot Part 1
Teal'c (Christopher Judge) and Bra'tac (Tony Amendola) have travelled to a planet to investigate the meeting between two opposing Goa'uld's, Tilgath and Ramius. They arrive to discover that both sides were massacred by a single enemy soldier, who soon attacks Teal'c & Bra'tac. Initially the soldier seems impervious to their weapons, but is eventually killed by Teal'c and taken back to Stargate Command where they inform SG-1 and General Hammond (Don S. Davis). Jacob Carter (Carmen Argenziano) arrives and together, he and Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) examine the warrior, and soon make the discovery that it was created in a laboratory and given life by Goa'uld symbiote. They also determine that it was not Teal'c that killed the being, but rather it suffered a heart attack. Noticing similarities between the soldier's armour and the technology of the Goa'uld Sarcophagus, Jacob explains that a Goa'uld named Telchak created the first Sarcophagus thousands of years earlier, basing it on an Ancient device that has since been lost. Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) recalls that his grandfather, Nicholas Ballard, had conducted research on the supposed location fountain of youth, linking it to the Maya civilization. Jackson and Jacob believe that Ballard's research might lead them to the location of the lost Ancient device.
Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Samantha, Teal'c, Bra'tac and an SG team travel to a planet held by the Goa'uld Ramius. Believing that Anubis will try to finish the job and kill Ramius, the team plan to capture a super soldier alive. After the soldier is impervious to their stun dart and subsequent traps, the team are captured and imprisoned by Ramius. After being freed, the team are able to steal a Goa'uld cargo ship and use the ring-transporter to capture the super soldier.
Hoping to find the Telchak device, Dr. Jackson, along with Dr. Lee (Bill Dow) have travelled to Honduras, where Rogelio (Zak Santiago), a guide, takes them into the jungle in search of the temple described in Ballard's notes. After locating the device and escaping the temple as it floods, the group are captured by Honduran revolutionaries who believe them to be thieves they can hold for ransom money. Rogelio tries to escape but is shot.
The captured super soldier has been taken back to Stargate Command for interrogation, but the being is unwilling to say anything more than it serves Anubis. Jacob believes they can use a Tok'ra memory recall device to access its mind and in doing so they are able to identify Anubis' planet of operations. General Hammond informs O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c that Dr. Jackson and Dr. Lee have been kidnapped and likely taken into Nicaragua.
Part 2
In the rebel camp in Nicaragua, Daniel is questioned by their leader Rafael (Frank Roman), but refuses to tell him who they work for or what the device is that they recovered. Believing Daniel to be hiding something, Rafael tortures Daniel, but Daniel still refuses to divulge anything, so Rafael instead turns his attention to Dr. Lee. At Stargate Command, General Hammond informs O'Neill that there are ransoms for Dr. Jackson and Dr. Lee, and soon-after O'Neill is given the go-ahead to attempt a rescue mission. After O'Neill says goodbye to Sam, she, along with Teal'c, General Hammond, Jacob and Bra'tac hatch a plan to use the stolen Goa'uld cargo ship and armour of the Super Soldier to infiltrate Anubis' base of operations on the planet Tartarus.
In Honduras, O'Neill meets CIA Agent Burke (Enrico Colantoni), a former friend and comrade of O'Neill from his time in black ops. After Burke relays the situation to O'Neill, the pair begin to argue about their past, specifically their last mission together where Burke killed a member of their team in friendly fire and was subsequently discharged from the military. Burke decides to leave O'Neill to complete the current mission on his own. Meanwhile, in the rebel camp, Lee tells Daniel that he gave into their torture and told the revolutionaries everything he knew about the device, which Rafael activates.
Jacob, in the armour of the Super Soldier travels through the Stargate to Tartarus, where upon arrival, is taken by a Goa'uld named Thoth to be examined. Suddenly Anubis (David Palffy) enters and calls Thoth away. With Thoth gone, Jacob is able to deactivate the sensors, allowing Sam, Teal'c and Bra'tac to land in their Cargo Ship. Jacob, Sam & Teal'c then find a Goa'uld queen symbiote, which is being used by Anubis to birth Goa'uld to create more Super Soldiers. They plant explosives on the queen and continue exploring the base until they find a room with thousands of Super Soldiers being addressed by Anubis. Thoth discovers them, but is swiftly killed, which sets off the alarm. The Super Soldiers pursue them, with one of them making it on board the Cargo Ship, but luckily Bra'tac and Jacob are able to eject it.
O'Neill and his guide find Telchak's temple, where Burke is waiting nearby, having changed his mind and decided to help. They then come across Rogelio who is still alive. As O'Neill and Burke continue tracking, Burke reveals that he killed their fellow team-member on their last mission after realising the soldier was a traitor and was about to kill him, but withheld it in order to protect the man's family. In the rebel camp, after learning that Rafael is using the Ancient Device and seeing him kill one of his own men, Dr. Jackson and Dr. Lee manage to escape and flee into the jungle, but are soon chased by Rafael and his men. As the revolutionaries catch up to Jackson and Lee, O'Neill arrives and kills them. A rebel who has been reanimated by the Ancient Device then starts attacking them, but is soon blown-up by Burke.
Production Writing and Development
Part 1 of "Evolution" was written by Damian Kindler and Michael Shanks, with Kindler also handling the teleplay, whilst part 2 was written by Peter Deluise and Kindler, with Deluise also writing the teleplay. Although uncredited, producer Robert C. Cooper also assisted.
Shank's had been working on a number of stories, one of which would have been a sequel to the season 3 episode "Crystal Skull", with Daniel's dying grandfather Nicholas Ballard returning and Daniel subsequently finding his notes on the Fountain of Youth. Robert C. Cooper had been developing his own ideas surrounding the Goa'uld using a device to create a new soldier, which upon Shank's pitching his stories for season 7, Cooper felt that some of their ideas paired well together. Subsequently, Shanks worked with Damian Kindler to further adapt the story into what would become part 1 of "Evolution".
Peter Deluise wrote part 2 of "Evolution" with Kindler. In an earlier draft of part 2, Deluise had O'Neill end the episode with the line "we didn't die this time!", but subsequently removed it as he felt it was too on the nose.
Super Soldiers
The Super Soldier, also referred to as "Kull Warriors" and "Anubis' Drones" are a Goa'uld foot soldier introduced in "Evolution" that go on to feature throughout the subsequent seasons of SG-1. Over the course of SG-1, the enemy Goa'uld armies, made up of Jaffa soldiers had been slowly defecting and turning against the Goa'uld. Showrunner Robert C. Cooper felt that the Jaffa were no longer imposing, nor enough of a threat as a villain due to how frequently SG-1 successfully defeated them. Due to Jaffa being enslaved by the Goa'uld, Peter Deluise felt it had also become "distasteful" battling them.
Cooper wanted to create a much more powerful adversary than the Jaffa, as well as noting they wanted "one that would relish the challenge of dealing with, and have a little more fun with. We don't mind shooting this guy; he's bad and deserves to be destroyed". Influences from Mary Shelly's Frankenstein's monster and James Cameron's Terminator were noted by Deluise in what they hoped to meld in order to create their new foe. Prior to completing the script for "Evolution", the writers took their ideas to Art Director James Robbins, who worked a conceptualising the look of the villain. Robbin's initially envisioned a soldier more aesthetically similar to the Jaffa warriors, with broad-armour and a staff weapon. Cooper wanted the soldier to be more sleek and high-tech, as well as noting the Ancient influence and so Robbin's redesigned the soldier, opting for a design that features wrist-mounted weapons. Inspired by the episode "Cure", where a Goa'uld symbiote birthed its offspring without passing on its genetic memories, the writers expanded upon this by giving the super soldiers a "blank slate" Goa'uld symbiote that would be responsible for the soldiers physical enhancements. This would be coupled with what was imagined as a reanimated cloned being underneath the armour, created in a laboratory by the Goa'uld Anubis.
As the script for "Evolution" was completed, one of the key considerations for Production Designer Bridget Maguire was creating armour and a being underneath that could be taken apart, piece-by-piece, something Maguire noted the show hadn't done much of before with actual beings. The armour was formed of around 50 different pieces, some of which were vacuum formed, whilst others were hand-moulded from leather and plastic. Maguire and Robbin's had considered having the soldiers skin fuse to the armour as the SGC dissected it, however felt it may end up too gratuitous. Todd Masters and MastersFX worked on the prosthetic face for the creature underneath the armour.