"Eventually — inevitably — this program is gonna be disclosed to the American people and to the whole world, and I'd like to think that this little film that we're doing here might in some small way provide insight into what's really been going on here for the last six years."
— Emmett Bregman
A film crew led by journalist Emmett Bregman arrives at the SGC to film a documentary about the program in the event that it ever goes public, but find that most of the personnel aren't exactly thrilled at the prospect of being filmed. Meanwhile, SG-13 investigate the ruins of a city that could have been built by the Ancients, but soon come under attack by a Goa'uld drone.
"Heroes, Part 1" provides examples of the following tropes:
- 13 Is Unlucky: SG-13 is in danger and then in the second part of the episode, the mission to save them goes wrong.
- Attack Drone: SG-13 are attacked by a Goa'uld drone while exploring the planet.
- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Bregman has a mild form of this, frequently getting distracted and going off on tangents due to the strange things happening around him.
- Be as Unhelpful as Possible: Several of the base personnel seem to have taken this approach to dealing with Bregman's presence, though some are notably worse than others. Of the main characters, O'Neill simply walks away whenever Bregman attempts to get him on camera, Teal'c attends his interview but remains silent throughout, Daniel gives semi-sincere answers to Bregman's questions but can't seem to resist messing with him a little, and Carter makes a genuine effort but is overly nervous and doesn't come across well on camera. Only Fraiser seems to give something approaching a decent interview.
- The Bet: SG-13 apparently has a tradition of betting on what they're likely to find on the other side of the stargate, leading to this amusing exchange:Wells: An abandoned naquadah mine.Dixon: Boring. Good odds. Bosworth?Bosworth: I'm gonna put my money on trees, sir.Dixon: Bosworth's disqualified for being a smartass. I'll go with two-headed aliens.Wells: Hostile or friendly, sir?Dixon: One head good, one head bad. Balinsky?Balinsky: Oh, ruins of an ancient city.Dixon: Yeah, you wish.
- Blatant Lies:Kinsey: I have always been a strong supporter of this program.
- Bothering by the Book: Hammond makes it clear to Bregman that he intends to follow his orders concerning the documentary to the letter and won't allow the camera crew access to anything that isn't specifically mentioned as being cleared.
- Butt-Monkey: Siler ends up being the guinea pig for a new staff weapon-resistant vest insert designed by Dr. Lee, causing him to briefly catch fire after Teal'c shoots him.
- Continuity Nod:
- It's mentioned that Bregman's crew have been provided by the Pentagon after the incident on board the Prometheus.
- Bregman spends some time trying to get the characters to talk about major events that have happened to them over the course of the series, most notably Daniel's ascension and return to human form and Teal'c's defection.
- Bregman also reads an excerpt from Daniel's infamous lecture from the movie and asks why Catherine Langford recruited him to the project.
- O'Neill calls Kinsey out on some of his past indiscretions, including the time he tried to get the program shut down and the time he tried to blackmail Hammond into retiring.
- Fraiser goes over O'Neill's patient history with Bregman and mentions his getting artifically aged by nanites, his getting impaled by an alien time capsule, "the whole Hathor incident which he's asked her never to discuss", and his infection with an incurable Ancient disease. She also tells Bregman off-camera that she has an adopted daughter from another planet.
- Curse Cut Short: O'Neill launches into a foul-mouthed diatribe against Kinsey in the middle of the commissary while the cameras are still rolling, but most of what he says is drowned out by the offworld activation alarms.O'Neill: You smarmy, self-righteous, opportunistic ass... (offworld activation alarm blares) ...You are nothing but a limp-dicked... (alarms)...son of a bitch.
- Deadpan Snarker: Col. Rundell, the documentary crew's escort from the Pentagon, gets in a few jabs at Bregman here and there.
- Documentary Episode: The episode involves the filming of a documentary in the event that the stargate program ever goes public, with Bregman's crew trying to get interviews with the main characters and several of the scenes being given a "found footage" feel as they're shot from the perspective of his camera.
- Engaging Chevrons: Hilariously lampshaded in Bregman's interview with Sgt. Harriman:Harriman: Well basically, when the gate is dialing, I say "Chevron One encoded, Chevron Two encoded..." and so on, incrementally, up to the seventh chevron, um... which is a little different, because that's when the wormhole connects. Uh, when that happens, I — I like to changes things up a bit and just say "Chevron Seven, locked".
- Fatal Family Photo: Wells makes a big deal of showing off the ultrasound scan of his unborn child, and sure enough, he's the first to get hit when shit starts going down. Though this is subverted in the second half of the two-parter, when it's shown that he survives.
- A Father to His Men: Hammond makes it clear that the safety and wellbeing of his people are his top priority and he will not look kindly on Bregman doing anything that might endanger them.
- Friendly Address Privileges: Something of a Running Gag throughout the episode involves Bregman repeatedly insisting that Col. Rundell address him as "Emmett", and Rundell repeatedly failing to do so.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Carter tells Bregman that a lot of people on the base aren't really keen on the idea of being made out to be heroes, since as far as they're concerned, they're just doing their jobs.
- I'm Okay!: Siler does this after he gets set on fire while testing the new vest inserts.Siler: (as someone liberally douses him with a fire extinguisher) It's all good. I'm fine.
- Insistent Terminology: Rundell makes it a point to correct Bregman that the military personnel are airmen, not soldiers.
- Intrepid Reporter: Emmett Bregman.
- Kinda Busy Here: Gets discussed when Bregman asks Daniel to try and film some of the "action" next time he goes offworld.Daniel: See, that's the thing: when there is action, I'm usually too busy to be pointing a camera. I'm running, shooting, translating what bad guys are saying, that kind of thing.
- Married to the Job: Fraiser states that nobody on base really has much of a social life due to the demands of the job.
- Milestone Celebration: In-universe, the "official" reason for the documentary is the 1000th trip through the gate. O'Neill comments that there should be a cake.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Discussed; the characters are perfectly aware that the documentary is being made as insurance in case the program ever goes public, and speculate on how things would change for them if that were to happen.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Carter states that O'Neill has a habit of pretending that he isn't as smart as he really is.
- Oh, Crap!: When Daniel translates the coding of the attack drone encountered by SG-13 and realizes it's also a long-range communicator and an ambush is likely on its way to the planet.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: Much of the episode is filmed in the style of a fly-on-the-wall documentary.
- The Quiet One: Teal'c answers most of Bregman's questions with silence, stating that while Hammond ordered him to attend the interview, he did not stipulate that he actually had to say anything.
- Replacement Flat Character: Col. Dixon and Dr. Balinsky of SG-13 are basically O'Neill and Daniel from the very early episodes, back when Daniel was a hapless geek and O'Neill constantly hovered over him.
- Running Gag: O'Neill still isn't getting all his memos.
- Self-Deprecation: Fraiser refers to "the Hathor incident" which she's been asked never to speak of, a reference to the episode in question being considered one of the series' worst by fans and writers alike, to the point where it could almost be considered Canon Discontinuity.
- Spectacular Spinning:Bregman: (after Carter has just delivered a lengthy and incomprehensible spiel of Techno Babble) Could we get a shot of the gate spinning?Carter: (dully) Sure. It's really cool, steam comes out of and everything.
- Straight Man: Col. Rundell embodies this trope, in sharp contrast with the excitable energy of Bregman.
- Strictly Professional Relationship: Carter insists that her relationship with O'Neill is this when Bregman tries to imply that there might be something romantic between them.
- They Killed Kenny Again: Dixon and Balinsky hang a lampshade on Daniel's tendency to repeatedly come back from the dead.Balinsky: Oh, Dr. Jackson is gonna die when he sees this!Dixon: What, again?Balinsky: Funny.
- Trap Is the Only Option: O'Neill acknowledges the likelihood that the team will be walking right into an ambush when they head out to rescue SG-13, but they don't have a choice in the matter because they're not prepared to leave their people behind.
- Troll: Daniel receives a page while talking to Bregman and acts like something of vital importance has come to light, setting off at a dead run for his office. Bregman urges his crew to follow, but when they arrive it turns out the excitement was over nothing more than a run-of-the-mill fax, and Daniel admits that he "just wanted to see if they would chase him".
- True Companions: Carter explicitly states that she considers the team to be family.
