Let's Review Stargate with Layla and You

With the opening of Season 2, we pick up right where that intense Season 1 cliffhanger left us: SG-1 stuck on a spaceship, ready to sacrifice themselves to save Earth… only for Apophis to come in and ruin everything. In this review, I get into why “The Serpent’s Lair” is once again the ultimate Stargate magic episode: high stakes, flying by the seat of our pants, and enough humor to make this a da...

We have arrived: it’s Stargate SG-1 season finale time! And this episode reminds you exactly why this show is so damn good. In this review, I get into why " Within the Serpent’s Grasp" is such a strong follow-up to " Politics ." SG-1 decide they can’t not act, so they go rogue — and good thing they did, because of course they were right. More right than even they knew. And just when the stakes cou...

This is an episode disliked by many where Stargate SG-1 isn’t so much about the sci-fi, but dares to dig into Earth’s political power structures — and how they might become the real threat. In this review, I dig into why " Politics " is not only a good episode, but a necessary one — not just because of Senator Kinsey and how uncomfortably real he feels, but because the creators use this episode to...

This is where Stargate SG-1 stops playing around and genuinely goes dark. This review really put me through the wringer and had me digging deep into why There But for the Grace of God works so well. The more I sat with it, the more it proved exactly why this show is so damn good. We are taken to a very dark alternate reality, yes, with some genuinely funny moments too, but underneath it all, this...

This is one of those episodes that charms you at first, but then quietly turns into an existential crisis. In this review, I dig into why " Tin Man" works so well for me: beneath all the humor and lovable O’Neillisms, this episode is asking some deeply uncomfortable questions about what makes you you . Harlan is kinda cute, a tad creepy, and rather tragic all at once — which is exactly why his cha...

We’re all caught up since relaunching this podcast earlier this year on YouTube. New episodes will now drop on Wednesdays, starting April 8th with " Tin Man ." So, now I’m curious: how has this experience been for you? 👉 Come join me in the YouTube community and share your thoughts. Hope to see you there! 🎵 Music credit: “Salty, Sugar, Sweet” — Jon Worthy Music

This is a short behind-the-scenes update sharing a few important changes. From here on out, the podcast uses a new, fully licensed theme song, “ Salty, Sugar, Sweet,” alongside a look at what navigating music licensing, accessibility, and sustainability has been like as a fully independent creator — without industry backing or built-in infrastructure. A few announcements since we last spoke: Amazo...

🚧 Exciting Changes Ahead!🚀 Hey, amazing community! 🎉 We're taking a short break to revamp and enhance "Let's Review with Layla and You" 🌟 During this "Under Construction" period, we're working hard behind the scenes to bring you even more insightful and entertaining content🎬✨ Stay tuned for updates and sneak peeks of what's to come! We can't wait to share the new and improved experience with...

👋I’m back, bitches! It has been quite the year, for all of us. As I’m still unsure what the future will hold, for myself and the world at large, this account will once again be the place where books, movies & shows will be reviewed by Me, Myself and I (and you!) to provide us all with some much needed educational & fun content to help us all get through the madness. Come join me on this J...

This is one of those episodes where you can actually feel Stargate SG-1 leveling up. Solitudes is a pivotal episode in the series, with two whoppers of a reveal that expand the Stargate universe in a way that makes this franchise so damn good: there’s apparently a second gate on Earth, and the Goa’uld are definitely not the original gate builders. Yeah, those ain’t small peanuts, peepz. And even w...

This was one of the first times Stargate SG-1 made me truly think about what Earth could become if we keep destroying our own planet in the name of consumerism. The Tollans’ planet has become uninhabitable even though they’re technologically far more advanced than us, and unlike the Nox, they don’t mind hurting our feelings by reminding us of that. With the introduction of the NID and Colonel Mayb...

In Part 2 of my Cor-ai review, we see Teal’c’s sentence handed down, and I return to the episode’s ableist framing. I unpack why the resolution frustrated me even more because the disability angle ultimately had nothing to do with it — and somehow that made it sting all the more. This is also where the Stargate SG-1 episode undercuts its own earlier justification. Teal’c’s survival has nothing to...

“Cor-ai” unexpectedly hit closer to home than I remembered. This episode frustrated and moved me in almost equal measure. In this Stargate SG-1 episode, Teal’c comes face to face with the people he harmed while serving the Goa’uld, and that alone makes it one of the more powerful early episodes. But the disability angle? That hit wrong in a way I couldn’t ignore. Once I started unraveling that thr...

Some Stargate SG-1 episodes confront danger head-on. “Singularity” forces us to look at the damage left behind. What begins as a seemingly quiet mission quickly raises uncomfortable questions about exploration and unintended consequences. Cassandra’s survival becomes a focal point for fears Stargate Command has already been circling: that even with good intentions, they might still leave devastati...

This is one of those episodes where I kept going: …what is happening right now?! In this review, I get into why Hathor just does not work for me, as it casually brushes past repeated male assault and undercuts its own female characters right when they should be allowed to shine. Not cool. It’s messy, it’s uncomfortable, so yeah — I call it out. And as I always do when an episode loses me a bit, I...

Only halfway into the season and this is already the second time Stargate SG-1 asks us to sit with grief — and this time, it got under my skin for a very different reason. What stayed with me most on rewatch wasn’t Daniel being presumed dead, but the forced closure and total lack of trauma care from the SGC. Throw Nem’s grief-stricken desperation into the mix, and we are right back in that all-too...

“Bloodlines” is another one of those Teal’c-centered Stargate SG-1 episodes that cuts straight to the bone. In this review, I revisit the episode that takes Teal’c back to Chulak, showing us the life he left behind and the cost of walking away from the belief systems he was raised in. We meet the family he left behind: his son Rya’c, his wife Drey’auc, and his mentor Bra’tac. This is where his sto...

In this review, I revisit “The Torment of Tantalus” , a Stargate SG-1 episode that blows a giant hole in what we thought we knew about the history of our Stargate. Apparently, when the Pentagon boxes up its files, it really forgets all about them. Here we meet Ernest Littlefield, the man who got the gate to work fifty years before Daniel ever figured it out, only to be left behind and forgotten. A...

Unlike the pacifist Nox, “Thor’s Hammer” introduces us to another, more hands-on potential ally in the fight against the Goa’uld. What begins as a mission to investigate a planet feared by the Goa’uld quickly turns into something much bigger: one of the first real suggestions that there may be powerful, benevolent forces in the galaxy — and that humanity might not be as alone as it fears. In this...

As I was watching this episode, all I kept thinking was: “Don’t roofie me and call it romance.” In this review, I dig into the part of Brief Candle that mattered most to me: the way it treats consent issues like a side note instead of the giant red flag they are. Add in all the plot holes, plus the questions it kicked up for me around ableist representation, and this turned into one of those episo...

This is one of those Stargate SG-1 episodes that doesn’t just humble the team; it might also humble some of our own assumptions as viewers. In this review, SG-1 comes face to face with an old enemy, and through Teal’c’s quiet sense of honor we’re introduced to the Nox: a people who challenge nearly everything the team thinks strength and protection are supposed to look like. Where SG-1 assumes the...

Welcome back, my lovelies! Don't fret, though the strike is still ongoing, content is still being recorded. To hold you over, here's another teasing snippit from one of the upcoming episodes to give y'all an indication on what the feel of these future episodes are, especially now the focus is on reviewing Stargate in all its glory, leaving behind our earlier attempts at Let's Review 2023 episodes....

Some Stargate SG-1 episodes stay with you because of the aliens, the tech, or the mythology. “Cold Lazarus” stays with you because it hits you right in the feels. In this review, I revisit one of SG-1’s earliest emotional episodes: the one where an alien encounter forces O’Neill to come face to face with the grief he’s been carrying since Charlie’s death, as this story gives both him and Sara spac...

Some Stargate SG-1 episodes ask what’s waiting for the team out there. “The First Commandment” asks what happens when the danger comes from Stargate Command itself. In this review, I revisit an episode where SG-1 is not dealing with an alien threat, but with the fallout of a man with narcissistic tendencies developing a full-blown god complex once he finds himself in a position of power. It’s one...

After the heaviness of the previous episode, Stargate SG-1 swings hard in the other direction. “The Broca Divide” brings back the funny banter, the sci-fi weirdness, and a lot of what makes early SG-1 so much fun. In this review, I revisit an episode that gives us some unforgettable character moments, our first appearance of Dr. Janet Fraiser, and a storyline that leans far too comfortably on the...