"Small Victories" is the first episode from season four of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. Penned by Robert C. Cooper and directed by Martin Wood, the episode first aired on the American subscription channel Showtime on June 30, 2000. "Small Victories" resumes the story of the season 3 finale, "Nemesis", in which the SG-1 team encountered the Replicators for the first time. As the Replicators threaten Earth and the Asgard home galaxy, the team must split to master their job.
"Small Victories" was another visual effects milestone for the series. The Replicators and the Asgard character Thor were computer-animated for parts of the episode. Some scenes were filmed in and outside of a Russian Foxtrot class submarine. "Small Victories" was nominated for Best Special Effects in 2001 for an Emmy, a Gemini Award and a Leo Award.
Plot
Confident that the destruction of Thor's starship has ended the Replicator threat to Earth ("Nemesis"), the SG-1 team returns home through the second Stargate that has been put up at Stargate Command. Shortly after they learn that a Russian Foxtrot class submarine has been hijacked by creatures whose descriptions match the Replicators, Thor arrives at Stargate Command and asks SG-1 for help against the Replicators in the Asgard galaxy. As Colonel O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) and Teal'c (Christopher Judge) go to deal with the hijacked submarine, Major Carter (Amanda Tapping) goes with Thor.
O'Neill, Daniel, and Teal'c try to obtain intelligence on the little self-replicating robotic invaders in the submarine, but they are forced to fall back. With Daniel's new theory that the Replicators are made up of the same materials they consume, the Replicators may be eliminated through sinking the iron submarine as long as the surviving Replicator from Thor's advanced ship is destroyed beforehand. Meanwhile, Carter witnesses a short battle against the Replicators in the Asgard galaxy during which five Asgard ships are lost. Carter notices the Replicators' attraction to new technology and proposes to use the O'Neill, an incomplete Asgard ship originally designed to fight the Replicators, as a lure to draw the Replicators into hyperspace and destroy them in the O'Neill's self-destruct. Thor eventually accepts the plan, the Replicators take the bait and are destroyed.
Back on Earth, O'Neill and Teal'c penetrate the submarine and find and destroy the original Replicator. When the other Replicators take full control of the submarine, O'Neill orders the forces outside to destroy the submarine and prepares for the end, but Thor beams the team onto his ship before the explosion occurs. With the imminent Replicator threat over, Thor promises that when the Asgard defeat the Replicators, he will come to assist Earth in the war against the Goa'uld.
Production
Writing and pre-production
Visual effects supervisor James Tichenor approached producer Robert C. Cooper after the completion of the season 3 finale, "Nemesis", and stated his confidence in his team's ability to create effects for a water-based episode. By that time, Cooper had already written the outline of "Small Victories" as the season 4 opener. "Small Victories" resumes the cliffhanger ending of "Nemesis" and alludes to events of that episode several times. The episode begins aboard a Russian submarine where one Russian says in his mother tongue that the noise in the torpedo tube might be caused by "one of the bugs from the other episode", an in-joke that the producers intentionally left without subtitles. Daniel Jackson's appendicitis attack from "Nemesis" is picked up, which was originally based on Michael Shanks' real-life appendicitis attack during the filming of the penultimate season 3 episode. "Small Victories" also continues building the relationship of O'Neill and Carter in mirroring a similar scene from "Nemesis". However, Christopher Judge, who in previous seasons sported a bald-shaven head as the alien Teal'c, returned to the set with a small blond chin beard after the hiatus, as the producers had not allowed his character to have scalp hair (until season 8). Judge shaved off the beard several episodes later after acknowledging its look as silly. The official Showtime website initially caused some confusion by listing Jay Acovone (Kawalsky) as a guest-star in this episode, which later turned out to be untrue.