One of the most prevalent features of science fiction is the uncanny – the exploration of a concept that is familiar to audiences, but tilted slightly. The genre has its established staples in all forms of media, and generally they involve spaceships, aliens, or technology a step beyond what a viewer might recognize. The most nuanced science fiction pushes the limits of the genre, and sometimes this causes the media in question to broach horror.
The Stargate franchise has three official TV series to its name, each lasting multiple seasons. This has allowed the franchise to drift into all kinds of territories, and that includes the disturbing. Stargate SG-1 had recurring body-snatchers in the form of the Goa’uld, Stargate Atlantis had vampiric swarms of Wraith, while Stargate Universe contemplated the formation of the universe, and humanity’s place in it. The weird, the wonderful, and the flat-out wrong pervaded these shows, and the most provocative episodes also end up being the most memorable.
Stargate SG-1, S2 E10: “Bane”
Think Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, only with more insectoid effluvia. In this episode, SG-1 visit a planet that has been devastated by in influx of giant bugs. One of the alien creatures manages to sting Teal’c, and the result is a painful and messy transformation, one which wreaks havoc on Teal’c’s body and mind.
There’s nothing more chilling than the loss of control over one’s own body, and for a warrior like Teal’c, it’s doubly frightening. The audience will experience that too, because when Stargate SG-1 does gross-out effects, it does them properly.
Stargate Atlantis, S5 E07: “Whispers”
Classic horror tropes abound in this episode, which has Beckett, Sheppard, and another Atlantis away team exploring the remains of a Wraith laboratory. The lab was set up by the Wraith Michael, an infamous antagonist to the Atlantean crew, particularly because of his genetic experimentation with humans and Iratus bugs.
Escaped experiments pick off the away teams one by one, showing how devastating Michael’s influence has become. The Wraith creations are worthy of a Guillermo Del Toro production, existing in the eerie space between human and bestial. Nothing good comes of a ghost town shrouded in mist, and certainly not in this episode.
Stargate SG-1, S7 E06: “Lifeboat”
While exploring an alien planet, SG-1 comes upon a crashed alien ship, which hosts dozens of bodies in stasis pods. An energy surge transplants the downloaded minds of the ship’s crew into Daniel Jackson’s body, which emerge as Daniel deteriorates.
The team learn that the crew escaped the destruction of their home planet, and with the desiccation of their physical bodies, they now have nowhere to go outside of Daniel. Everyone from traumatized children to tyrannical sovereigns take possession of Daniel’s body, switching the horror from existential to psychological repeatedly throughout the episode.
Stargate Universe, S01 E17: “Pain”
One narrative device that recurs all the time in science fiction is the hallucinogen, whether it is technological, medicinal, telepathic, or something else. In this episode, the crew of the Destiny suffer from hallucinations that appear to echo their worst fears: murder, rejection, imprisonment, and, more viscerally, snakes.
The crew’s deepest insecurities start to affect their relationships, causing them to mentally degenerate even as T.J. rushes to attack the source of the visions: alien ticks. A topsy-turvy reality makes this episode creepy, reinforced by the potency of the crew’s hallucinations.
Stargate SG-1, S05 E08: “The Tomb”
International relations intersect with the survival of a haunted house in this episode, which features SG-1 and their Russian equivalent stuck in a pyramid with a rabid Goa’uld symbiote. Both teams are hunting for the Eye of Tiamat, a mythical device that is sought after by both Russian and United States leaders.
Tension between the teams builds when the creature dogging their footsteps starts hunting them instead, possessing some team members and turning them on one another. Jump scares and unsettling imagery make this episode one of the spookiest productions of the show.
Stargate Atlantis, S05 E07: “Instinct”
A sure-fire way to grab the audience’s attention is to combine the creepy with the emotional, and this episode does that in spades. The Atlantis away team ventures into a twisted fairy-tale when they visit a town besieged by a demon, and learn that this mystical creature has Wraith-like tendencies.
The demon is revealed to be a Wraith girl who was raised human, but one with urges that have become irrepressible as she grows older. The story descends into tragedy as the girl’s adoptive father tries to save her from her nature, a Giuseppe with a bloodthirsty Pinocchio. Stargate Atlantis had great fun going dark in certain episodes, but this one tugs at the heartstrings.
Honorable Mentions
There are many more examples of the franchise taking an eerie turn. Honorable mentions include Stargate Atlantis, season 2, episode 12, “Epiphany,” which sticks Sheppard in a time dilation field, accelerating his life to several days for every minute of Atlantis time. Stargate SG-1, season 1, episode 14, “Hathor,” depicts a Goa’uld obsessed with fertility who assaults various members of the Stargate program. Stargate SG-1, season 3, episode 4, “Legacy,” shows the growing and inexplicable insanity of Daniel Jackson. All are memorable, specifically because they push against boundaries previously established by the franchise.
Every Stargate series has a distinctive premise, but all of them have episodes that take the concept of the show and expose its shadowy underbelly. The restrictions of what the series can depict are redeemed by the creativity behind and in front of the camera. After all, the most disturbing science fiction stories are economic with their use of horror, not needing excessive gore to portray the uncanny. An unexplained twitch or a single alien insect can set off the carnage just as well.