Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Orpheus (Stargate SG-1)" in English language version.
In Orpheus, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c must face up to some changes in their lives. "This was a requirement of the season in that we had some issues to deal with, the first being Daniel's return and what does he remember," says Paul Mullie. "Does he regret having been pretty much kicked out of the ranks of the Ascended? Daniel had all this power to effect change but he was also cast out after he tried to do just that. So basically he's trying to come to terms with being Human again and no longer having special abilities. The other issue was Teal'c being without his symbiote, which we kind of left dangling at the end of Season Six. The drug tretonin keeps his immune system going, bur it doesn't give him the same strength and regenerative powers that his symbiote did. Teal'c is a warrior. His whole culture is based on strength and charging into battle without really worrying about being injured because your symbiote will heal you. That's no longer the case with him. So we wanted ro do a story in which Teal'c is seriously injured and has to go through physiotherapy and the same type of painful recovery process that an ordinary Human being has to. He's still very much a more powerful physical presence than ordinary Humans bur he's nor the 'superman' he used to be, and he must learn to accept that." Adds Joe Mallozzi, "While Teal'c is trying to deal with that, Daniel is struggling with some unfinished business. He feels as though there's something very important that he has to remember and his and Teal'c's stories dovetail right in the middle of an off-world mission. Orpheus was written as well as directed by Peter Deluise and it turned our great."
for Orpheus in which our two characters share a strong spiritual bond. Daniel and Teal'c help one another reassert who they are and where their strengths lie. So that was a blast to do
Orpheus deals with how the loss of his symbiote has affected Teal'c psychologically. "The actual filming of the episode wasn't much fun due to the weather, which was absolutely horrible. We did a couple of night shoots and those were pretty rough. That said, it was all worth it. I've watched a director's cut of the story and it looks amazing.
Deluise took a page out of Greek mythology when he wrote Orpheus, which he also directed. "Usually stories with the word 'orpheus' in their titles are about characters going through their own personal hell," he explains. "In this episode Teal'c's [Christopher Judge] hell is that he no longer has his symbiote. In the past, he sort of took it for granted and came to depend on the strength that it gave him. This included being able to incur severe injuries during battle and later heal rather quickly. However, no_~ that he's on [the drug] tretonin, his ability to do this is severely curtailed. Teal'c isn't as strong as he used to be and of course in the Jaffa culture weakness is a major taboo. It's akin to death. So Teal'c kind of loses his mojo, if you will."Meanwhile, Daniel Jackson [Michael Shanks] is having flashbacks to when he was ascended and realizes that at one point he witnessed the capture of Bra'tac [Tony Amendola] and Ry'ac [Neil Denis] on an enemy planet. They're being worked to death at a labour camp and now Daniel 1s feeling guilty because he chose not to interfere. So he convinces SG-1 to mount a rescue mission and Teal'c has to rise to the occasion. The Jaffa warrior has no choice considering it's his son's life that's at stake, So they both have to experience these cathartic life-changing events. It's a pretty powerful story and one I'm really proud of."
McGuire chuckles when talking about the next episode, Orpheus. "That was the show that nearly killed us". Every single department - effects, costumes, props, set decoration, etc. We were on location out in Maple Ridge, which is a long drive for some of our people. However, at the same rime we were shooting Orphe11s we were finishing up work on the two-parter. All these Jaffa were being used in this story as well as Homecoming. Actors that needed robe our in Maple Ridge were also needed back here at the studios. It took a bit of creative juggling of the schedules to make that all happen. "Orpheus is set in a naquadah mine on a Goa'uld planet. We built a big grinding machine that was supposedly used to process the naquadah that was being mined. The labourers lived in a tent camp that we set up in a big round pit. There was a 'death pit' filled with skeletons and mannequins dressed in rags and covered with dirt and [fake] blood. We also brought in some kiddie pools that our set decoration guys, Robert and Mark [Davidson, who are brothers], surrounded with rocks and filled with coloured water and all sorts of nasty stuff to create what looked like bubbling tar pits. It was pretty neat."
For Orpheus, we spent quite some time at Jackson Pit. It was pouring so we dug trenches in order to keep the rain away from the sets.
In Orpheus, we had 60 costumed extras playing ragtag rebel Jaffa, all of whom had to be dressed and made to look scruffy," says director Peter Deluise. "It was a challenge to make sure they were all ready and in front of the camera at the same time. As if I hadn't already learnt my lesson. I did the same thing to myself again in Enemy Mine.
We rehearsed some great fight choreography for Orpheus. These guys really worked their butts off. It was raining and they'd keep falling down in the mud and then have to get up and do it all over again. At one point, Brad Kelly had to jump over a mortar. His timing was slightly off, though, and the thing exploded just as he jumped over it. Fortunately, it wasn't one of our standard gas mortars, so all he got was a butt-full of sparks. We made sure to razz him for doing that
