Star Trek wasn’t her only destination.
By Michileen Martin
| Published
To those dedicated to the grand fictional universe Gene Roddenberry began, Jolene Blalock will always be best known as T’Pol — Captain Jonathan Archer’s First Officer in the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise. But Roddenberry’s stars weren’t the only ones she traveled to. Before her time on Enterprise was up, Blalock appeared twice in the beloved sci-fi series Stargate SG-1.
Jolene Blalock made her first Stargate SG-1 appearance in the 2003 episode “Birthright.” On the planet Hak’tyl, the heroes encounter female members of the Jaffa race who save SG-1 from ambushers. The heroes soon learn that the women are part of a resistance force led by Ishta, Blalock’s character. Before becoming a rebel, Ishta was the High Priestess of Moloc (Royston Innes), a lord of the villainous Goa’uld. But after Moloc decreed that all young Jaffa girls would be sacrificed, Ishta turned on Moloc and built a resistance. Before the end of “Birthright,” she has a romance with Teal’c (Christopher Judge).
Jolene Blalock appears once more as Ishta on Stargate SG-1. In season 8’s “Sacrifices,” we find out Ishta’s resistance has become a part of the larger Rebel Jaffa movement fighting against the Goa’uld. Moloc is finally killed in “Sacrifices,” but not before he has the chance to capture Ishta and torture her. The episode ends with the freedom fighter promising Teal’c that she wants their still young relationship to continue, though she isn’t seen again on the series.
Less than a year after “Sacrifices,” Jolene Blalock made her final Enterprise appearance as T’Pol with the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise. “These Are the Voyages…” has endured as arguably the single most hated finale of all the Trek shows. The story is told from the point of view of Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and is set in the middle of “Pegasus,” a final season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the TNG story, Riker is conflicted about whether or not to tell Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) top secret but crucial information being kept under wraps by his unethical former captain. The Enterprise story unfolds as a historical recounting on TNG‘s holodeck, with Riker inserting himself into the prequel series to use their final voyage as a way to make his final decision.
One of the reasons the finale proved so disappointing is that it was one the writers never wanted to pen. Unlike most of its predecessors, Enterprise was canceled and didn’t get the chance to wrap things up on its own terms. Scott Bakula puts a large part of the blame on the fact that, unlike TNG and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Enterprise was dedicated to a single network (UPN) rather than being syndicated.
Ishta’s rebellion also gives Jolene Blalock more to do than play a visiting love interest. In “Birthright,” her warriors have escaped Moloc but still need Goa’uld symbiotes to keep their children alive, forcing them to raid Jaffa patrols. Carter offers tretonin as a way out, but accepting it means trusting outsiders with those children’s lives. Christopher Judge wrote both of Blalock’s episodes, including “Sacrifices,” which brings the struggle against Moloc to a close. That makes the two appearances a compact story about the price of freedom, with Teal’c’s romance woven into a much bigger fight.
