Stargate SG-1

While exploring a long‑dead planet, the team recovers an alien orb, seemingly thousands of years old, and brings it back to their base during the mission. However, the artefact begins to behave strangely, ultimately taking several members of the team hostage.

Message in a Bottle is a programme formatted as an episode, belonging to the episodic genre. It typically follows a group of explorers as they investigate unknown locations, and the narrative unfolds within a single instalment. During the episode the crew discovers an alien orb that appears to be several thousand years old while surveying a planet that has long been dead. The planet itself shows no signs of life, reinforcing its dead status. The object, however, does not remain inert; it begins to act in an unexpected way and ends up holding some members of the team hostage. The orb’s apparent antiquity suggests it has survived for millennia, yet its behaviour on the barren world is anything but passive. Its actions are described as strange, implying that the artefact possesses capabilities beyond simple preservation, and it directly influences the situation by taking individuals captive. Its strange conduct hints at an intelligence or purpose not yet understood. The episode therefore centres on the team's confrontation with a relic that defies expectations, turning a routine archaeological find into a perilous encounter. By seizing members of the group, the alien device creates a tense standoff that drives the remainder of the story. The hostage situation forces the crew to make difficult decisions under pressure.