“Family” ( 2 x 08 )

The title screen has Teal’c on it. As well as Rya’c. Ooo, I like where this is going already!! Hee!

(Note to readers: I will attempt to restrain the Inner Fangirl. She’s rather antsy, though. This is your warning.)

We open up at the Base, and someone’s trying to get through the ‘Gate. However, it’s an SG-1 signal, and the only other person who has that transmitter is… Bra’tac. (Yay!!) So, obviously, this is some kind of emergency, because in the SGC apparently you can’t just pop on over through the Stargate just to say “hey”, maybe have a cup of coffee, go to a movie together.. No. It’s got to be serious business.

Bra’tac strolls through the ‘Gate (he is so Bra’tac!) and SG-1, as well as General Hammond, go down to greet him. Teal’c smiles when he sees his old friend… but it’s quickly lost at Bra’tac’s next words:

“I bring bad news.”

Aw man.

His son’s been taken by Apophis – who is, apparently, not dead.

(DAMNIT.)

Bra’tac explains at the Hangout that it’s most likely that Apophis and Klorel escaped through the on-board Stargate just after Jackson (back in “The Serpent’s Lair”). The target here clearly is not Rya’c himself, but Teal’c, since he was part of the team responsible for the destruction of the two pyramid ships, and thus much of Apophis’ army. Essentially, he’s using a kid as bait.

There’s a bright side, though. With such a small army, SG-1 thinks they can rescue Teal’c’s son and take down Apophis all at once. With that, they’re off on the next mission.

The crew actually uses their heads for once and goes in through the ‘Gate incognito, and doesn’t immediately strip off their robes. (Probably Bra’tac’s idea.) They come to a large, expensive-looking house, and it is Drey’auc’s. But how could she, an outcast, possibly afford it?
…I hate where this is going. But I can already see it, and I can already see Teal’c’s not going to be happy. This is The Count of Monte Cristo with aliens and less prison, and probably less driving people to suicide, et cetera.

They enter the elaborate house, and a look of shock passes Drey’auc’s face. She and Teal’c embrace… and then another man enters into the picture.

(No, no, no, no, no! I’m already cringing.)

You can almost see Teal’c’s suspicion as the Jaffa descends the staircase. His name is Fro’tak. Teal’c thanks him for taking care of his wife and son, but then Drey’auc stands at his side and…

(oh crap oh crap oh crap)

…Fro’tak tells him that, when it seemed he was gone forever, or even dead, she had their marriage annulled… and she married Fro’tak.

Okay, PAUSE RIGHT THERE.

I’m sure they had the best intentions. No, really. Drey’auc had to think of her son. Fro’tak probably just wanted to see that she was taken care of. Furthermore, she may have felt abandoned by Teal’c, even though we all know he was doing all this for the people of Chulak… and for his family. Still, it’s a little too reminiscent of The Dead Zone. Sarah waited, what, three or four years for Johnny Smith to come out of his coma? This is barely one Earth year.

Furthermore, I see this as more cultural than anything. Women don’t seem to have a whole lot of power in Jaffa society. Drey’auc seems to me to be intelligent and reasonably headstrong, but there’s only so much she can do alone. Fro’tak has provided her and Rya’c with shelter, money, et cetera. She had to pick the best option despite her husbands’ feelings.

Teal’c doesn’t agree with my assessment.

He quite literally launches himself at Fro’tak and tries to strangle him. O’Neill (who I think saw this coming) pulls them apart. Fro’tak and Drey’auc leave to let Teal’c try and digest this. While Teal’c more or less sulks/silently rages, Bra’tac insists that Fro’tak can be trusted… But they should still keep an eye on him. Teal’c just wants to kill the guy.

(Wow, I’ve never seen him so emotionally charged.)

Jackson approaches his crewmate and basically tells him what I just wrote – that Fro’tak has given his family a proper home now. I feel for Teal’c, I really do, but I have to agree with Daniel. Besides, I find it hard to believe that Drey’auc truly has nothing left in her heart for Teal’c. Bra’tac echoes Jackson’s words, and having Teal’c’s word he won’t kill Fro’tak, retrieves the two. Teal’c says he will retrieve Rya’c, but refuses to lay eyes on his (ex) wife ever again.

He storms outside to sulk some more. (Jesus, give the guy a punching bag or something.) Drey’auc goes after him. She’s upset because he is the one who left her, and Fro’tak was her only refuge. And yet, she confesses she does not love him.

Knew it. Rya’c was the reasoning all along.

SG-1 and Bra’tac, with Fro’tak’s help, infiltrate Apophis’ palace, where Rya’c is being held. They break into the room…

…and the boy freaks out and tries to get away from his father. He yells for the guards, and they come, ambushing the team. Teal’c at last goes with them, his expression mangled between confusion, pain, and desperation.

Damnit, Apophis, why the kids!?

They go back to Fro’tak’s residence and report of Rya’c’s apparent brainwashing. Teal’c figures that this is Apophis’ way of punishing him for his repeated treachery. Our favourite Goa’uld manages to rub salt into the wound by coming on the sphere-TV-thing and publically broadcasting Teal’c’s presence and crimes. Worse yet, Rya’c stands beside him like a son and slanders his own father. Furthermore, there’s now a price on Teal’c’s head. I hate Apophis and his freaky voice, but he is a talented rhetorician…

Something Rya’c says about Drey’auc gives Teal’c hope, though. He believes his son’s broadcast of Drey’auc’s incorrect place of origin was a coded message of where to find him the following morning. Bra’tac and O’Neill are suspicious, but Teal’c is confident his son is merely fighting Apophis now.

Guards bang on Fro’tak’s door, looking for Teal’c and SG-1. Drey’auc guides them all to a hiding space, and Fro’tak stalls the guards and continues to feign ignorance. The guards leave shortly after searching the premises. (They kind of stink at this investigation thing.) However, Teal’c interprets this as a show of good faith, and he more or less trusts his friend again.

Later that evening, Teal’c and Drey’auc happen upon each other that evening. They hold each other’s eyes, and…

…I know where this is going…

…they kiss. Quite passionately. And Fro’tak sees. And runs off.

Whoops.

This can’t be good. Something tells me that Fro’tak isn’t quite as honourable as Teal’c.

Nope, he’s not. Fro’tak goes straight to the palace to tattle on Teal’c and then… wham! O’Neill jumps out and stops him. Go Jack!

He zaps him once with a zat gun – and it doesn’t quite have the desired result. Fro’tak still yells for a guard, so O’Neill is forced to shoot a second and third time.

…Wow. Well, I guess that’s what you get for being a traitor to your best friend in more than one way.

O’Neill returns, once again incognito in a Serpent Guard uniform. He reports the unhappy news about Fro’tak. Drey’auc merely says, “The fault is mine. I made vows I could not keep.”

However, the plan goes on. They make it to the plain Rya’c mentioned, shoot down the guards, and the boy embraces his father.

Wow, that was really fast. Maybe a little too fast. He seems a little too chipper, having just been kidnapped days before. Teal’c insists his son is fine, but there’s some tension between him and O’Neill. Jack is thinking of Cassandra (“Singularity”), but Teal’c is ever-confident in his son.

Nonetheless, they get rid of the guards by the ‘Gate and all go through together, minus Bra’tac. (Bye Bra’tac! I love you and think you’re awesome! Why? Because you’re BRA’TAC!!)

In the infirmary, Fraiser checks Rya’c out and confirms that he’s all right. But there has to be some kind of a catch. I know there is. There are over ten minutes left in the episode.

Drey’auc realizes that her son has two teeth replaced that were previously missing. Oh snap. Effects of the sarcophagus? A fake Rya’c? WHAT IS THIS?!

Fraiser goes to take a blood sample, and Rya’c freaks out again, screaming death threats. They put him out and into a holding room of sorts.

Later, he awakes, Drey’auc at his side, and he throws another very teenage-like “I hate you!” tantrum when he realizes the teeth are gone. He truly desires to return to Apohphis. Fraiser has figured out that a virus was in each tooth. If he had bitten down, they would combine, multiply, sprad, and kill every living thing on the planet within a week.

Now, though, they’ve got to try and get Rya’c back on track.

Inside the room, Rya’c is more or less yelling uncontrollably at his father and refuses to listen to reason. I can’t imagine how Teal’c must feel, being so vehemently screamed at in hatred by his own son. It’s clear that family is possibly the strongest of values among the Jaffa. Thus, he still feels he is solely responsible for Rya’c’s condition. Rya’c is fueled by the loss of his father and the fact that Teal’c wasn’t there for a whole year. Thus, he was easily seduced by the father-figure in Apophis, and therefore was more readily controlled.

Nothing Teal’c says changes his son’s mindset, though. Apophis’ hold is too strong.

They are down to desperate measures. They come to rule out ECT, but think they can produce a similar effect from the discharge of a zat gun. It will be painful, but he would live, and more importantly, it could work.

Drey’auc and Teal’c enter together this time. With a pained expression, Teal’c fires the gun. After several excruciating moments, Rya’c awakes, with no recollection of the past events. He smiles broadly, genuinely, at the sight of his parents. We get this great little dialogue between him and his mother…

“Father! You have returned home?”

“We are not in Chulak, my son.”

“But we are with Father?”

“Yes.”

“Then, to me, we are home.”

The family stands outside the Stargate. Rya’c and Drey’auc are to be relocated to the Land of Light (from “The Broca Divide”), where they will be welcomed. (Ah, old debts… how they come in handy.) O’Neill gives Rya’c a baseball glove, which the boy proceeds to wear like a hat. (I just about died laughing.) O’Neill says he’ll just have to come visit some time and… explain a few things. Teal’c and his family depart through the ‘Gate, old wounds healed, and hope for the future restored.

Final thoughts… Wow, so much happened in this episode, but I pretty much covered all my thoughts within the review, so I really don’t have much to say here. It was awesome to see Bra’tac again (duh, he’s Bra’tac, the kind of guy you would flip out in excitement over seeing if you passed him in the grocery store or whatever) and Teal’c’s family again. I was a little (more than a little) surprised to see Apophis alive, but at least he’s not an ugly-face like Heru’ur.

Pretty much I loved this episode because it made me feel all warm and mushy inside. (“But Marie, you feel that when whenever you even think about Teal’c.”) Also, it gave the kind of closure for Teal’c’s family situation we never got with “Bloodlines”. If anything, his life seems more stable now that he knows his family is safe.

I still don’t think this is the last we’ll see of his family though, nor of Apophis. Tragedy’s always just around the corner.

Oh, and one more thing… If I write one more apostrophe, I’M GOING TO JUST BLOW MY MIND. At first it wasn’t so bad. It was just Teal’c and O’Neill. Maybe I’ll just start calling him Jack, haha. Also, never seen such range of emotion from Teal’c before his episode. His smile just warms my heart. <3

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY:

(Teal’c and his family have just left through the Stargate. The rest of SG-1 hangs out at the mess hall or somewhere like that.)

O’Neill: Well, we’ve managed to help Teal’c save his family… Again…

Carter: I’m happy for him, and for them.

Jackson: A little stability will be nice, and he can visit them now.

Carter: Not to mention he and Drey’auc seem perfect for each other.

O’Neill: They are married.

Carter: Yeah, I know, but what if we had some kind of weird fanbase? Like, if people knew about us and all that. Surely they’d never imagine Teal’c being with some other woman.

Jackson: I don’t know, Carter, that crazy internet thing that’s becoming so popular has the potential to be a scary place.

O’Neill: What would they call that? ‘Fan fiction’?

Jackson: I think that’s what it’s called. Really popular in Star Trek.

Carter: Eurgh. I hope that never happens to us.

O’Neill: You’re telling me!