“Need” ( 2 x 05 )

…Well, that’s a really vague title. Maybe “we all NEED some-bo-dy, to le-e-ean on!” or something along those lines. But since you guys probably don’t want to hear me singing over the internet, I’ll just be quiet and hit “Play”.

Hey, we’re at the Stargate, and there are some guards… and some priests… and they’re sending some naquadah, the raw Stargate element, through the ‘Gate. Teal’c mentions that it is highly valued among the Goa’uld. They look off in a different direction, and there’s a huge pyramid. Jackson runs off after a hooded figure he seems to recognize, and it’s a red-headed woman. She goes to the edge of a cliff, as if to jump off…

…and Jackson runs up to pull her back.

Just then, several guards show up and point their staffs at Jackson, as well as the rest of SG-1. The woman is apparently a princess… and SG-1 is in trouble. Of course.

They are all brought in to a chamber of sorts, and the princess introduces her father as Pyrus the godslayer. He asks them what Goa’uld rules there, and of course O’Neill informs him that there is none. Pyrus accuses him of being a liar and sends the four of them to work in the mines.

In the mines, Carter explains that she didn’t feel anything off of Pyrus, so she doesn’t think he’s a Goa’uld. (Oh, God, now that she’s got a little tiny part of Goa’uld in her she’s going to start having feelings and she feels funny around Teal’c? That’s not creepy at all.) Teal’c echoes her idea.

They continue to work into the night until they are unshackled, and they take advantage of the situation and escape. However, Jackson is caught under rubble from a staff weapon explosion.

The princess speaks with her father, and he says that they have “little naquadah to spare”. A Goa’uld sarcophagus appears and out steps Jackson, perfectly a-okay. She introduces herself to him as Shyla. She’s now being very friendly and takes him along to a forest. She says that he is “her destiny”, and that’s why she’s being so kind to him and treating him so well. She believes they are fated to be together.

O’Neill, Carter, and Teal’c are still in the mines. Jackson comes to see them and explains what happened. He says that he can’t get them out just yet, but that he’s “working on it”. They all give him weird looks as he leaves, and it’s all very… awkward.

That next evening he has dinner with Shyla and her father. He says he got his name by killing a Goa’uld 700 years ago, and that the sarcophagus has kept him alive all this time. However, it is also revealed that they continue sending naquadah through the ‘Gate so that the System Lords don’t find out that the Goa’uld they assigned to this world isn’t really there anymore.

Jackson tries to convince her that the rest of SG-1 is the priority, and she kisses him, more or less agreeing. He climbs into the sarcophagus once again, at her suggestion, and the doors slip shut.

Jackson comes to see the team again, and it’s been days since they’d seen him. They’re upset because he’s prancing about, living as royalty and spending his days in the sarcophagus. He no longer needs glasses. While they’re toiling – dying – he’s becoming what I believe is addicted to the sarcophagus. Maybe the effects aren’t permanent.

He goes on to say that Shyla wants him to marry her, and when O’Neill retorts, Jackson gets extremely upset and says that he’s more or less got it under control.

Back in the castle, he says that he will indeed stay and marry Shyla, even after SG-1 is free.

In the mines, Carter wakes up from some sort of dream… or a vision? (If this becomes a recurrence it could get kind of annoying.) She says that she has this flash of intuition that the Tok’ra don’t use the sarcophagus because it’s dangerous, and that it “changes” you. It’s somehow connected to his soul.

Jack goes to see Jackson, and Daniel’s really living the good life now. He says that Shyla agreed to let him go back to Earth to straighten a few things out, and so he’ll just take SG-1 with them.

They do go back through the Stargate, and Jackson’s feeling extremely… “antsy” is the best way I can put it. I really think it’s a physical symptom of withdrawal from the sarcophagus. Carter goes on to speculate that perhaps it is what made the Goa’uld such dangerous people. He refuses to believe that.

In Hammond’s office, Jackson collapses and… yup, he’s suffering from withdrawal. They’ve had to strap him down, but he’s going to be okay. Maybe.

Jackson escapes from his hospital bed, and O’Neill pursues him. Jackson is all sorts of dangerous, irrational, paranoid… pretty much all-of-the-above. He goes so far as to pull a pistol on O’Neill. The colonel insists that he can get through it, and that “he knows what it’s like”.

Hold on. Did Jack have a drug addiction in his past? Some kind of other addiction? Hm… I hope we get some elaboration on that!

Anyhow, Jackson breaks down crying and the violence spell seems to be over.

It’s been a day or so, and Jackson seems to be okay. However, he still wants to go back to Shyla’s planet and perhaps show her new ways of mining the naquadah so they don’t have to use slave labour to get it out.

Jackson does, indeed, return to P3R-636 and to Shyla. Her father has died. Jackson tells her that the sarcophagus is dangerous, and tells her not to use it. She fires a staff weapon at it, and embraces Jackson one last time.

Final thoughts… I have yet to be as impressed as I was with “In the Line of Duty”, but this was a pretty solid episode. We learned some important things about the Goa’uld technology of the sarcophagus and even its addictive properties. It’s further insight into the overall characterization and ego of the race – and perhaps its dependence as well. Perhaps it is only when the individual is seriously injured that the sarcophagus does only good. When the individual is fine, it becomes addictive like any sort of prescription drug.

Kind of unusually, it reminded me of the whole marijuana debate. In fairly recent years, scientists have discovered all kinds of medicinal uses for the plant – it can help anyone from epileptics to cancer treatment patients. However, at the same time, it can be very addicting and addle the brains to the point where one thinks they need it to survive. Of course, marijuana isn’t usually this addicting, but it’s an interesting analogy of sorts.

In terms of the overall plot of the series, we learn of a couple more interesting things: the naquadah and Carter’s still-lingering connection with the Tok’ra, Jolinar. Obviously the naquadah is highly valued among the Goa’uld. I think that maybe they use it to power their ships or weapons or something. Maybe even in the Death Gliders. Maybe it’s something SG-1 can use against the System Lords.

…And also Carter. I’m not quite sure what I think of this whole Goa’uld-insight thing she’s got going on. What I’m just wondering, mainly, is if it’s something that stays relevant throughout the series. Will it ultimately spell out some sort of doom for her? Will it simply fade away? Are there any other side effects of sorts to this connection?

There’s also her relation with Teal’c, at the very least as comrades. I’m not sure quite how the Tok’ra feel about the Jaffa in terms of superiority (or, rather, inferiority) but maybe she’s merely sensing the Goa’uld symbiote in him.

So many questions, so few answers!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(Hey, the next episode is “Thor’s Chariot”! …That can’t be good.)

O’Neill: Aw, Jesus, we have to go to that guy again?

Teal’c: I do not look forward to it.

Jackson: I don’t know, he could be a really nice guy…

O’Neill: Daniel, he more or less tried to kill Teal’c the last time we were around his cronies! Well – indirectly, anyways!

Carter: Can’t we just skip out? Let some other crew take the mission?

Jackson: I don’t think so… the script’s already been written. We just have to roll with it.