“Secrets” ( 2 x 09 )

Hey! This DVD set has the promo trailers for each episode! That way, it’ll really feel like I’m watching the series. Except I don’t have to wait for the next episode to air seven days later. All right, so we’ve got a nosy reporter, the Stargate, Sha’re – wait, Sha’re?! She’s back!? Well, it had to happen eventually, I suppose. This should be exciting!

We open up looking through a camera into some kind of dark room. It zooms back out to reveal a screen; SG-1 is at the Hangout. If I understand correctly, it’s been one year (on Abydos) since Sha’re’s abduction, and now Jackson has to go back to Abydos to tell her father the bad news.

The issue is that Carter and O’Neill are due to be in Washington (oo, Big Wig debriefing?), but they joke about just ditching the awards ceremony (see, just wait ten seconds and I get my answer) to go with Jackson and Teal’c back to Abydos. However, they of course can’t do that and so they bid their comrades farewell through the ‘Gate.

The two exit the ‘Gate and Jackson reports to Kasuf that he has not retrieved Sha’re, but he hasn’t yet told him that she’s a Goa’uld. However, the man takes them into a tent, and Jackson sees…

…Sha’re!

And she’s pregnant?!

Kasuf says that she’s been back more than a season (I assume that’s about five months by their calendar) but neither Jackson nor Teal’c believe she is who she says she is. She approaches her husband lovingly, but I’m not buying it. But then she says something more:
“The demon (I presume she means her Goa’uld) sleeps because I am with child.”

Oh, that makes a little more sense. Probably has to do with using up energy from the symbiote in order to keep the child healthy. Furthermore, she says that the Goa’uld she carries is Amaunet, and if she (the Goa’uld) awakens, the child will be stillborn. And, of course, Apophis is the father. (Who else would be?)

And there’s a “true purpose”.

PLOT CHANGER ALERT! PLOT CHANGER ALERT! PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!!

Oh, maybe not that much. He just wants the child to be his next host.

But I really think it’s her in there. Her sobs are too real to be anything but the truth. It makes sense that the Goa’uld would be involved – or rather, need to not be involved – with the pregnancy. I can’t tell if Jackson looks on her with sympathy or contempt (as if she was in control? Come on, man) and then he walks off.

And we’re in Washington, D.C! I love this place. It’s such a cool city. Hey, if you ever go there, check out the basement gift shop of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. They have the original model of the starship Enterprise from the Star Trek films. As well as some great magnets.

…Um… anyways…

Carter and O’Neill are in formal uniform, and we learn that she worked here for two years. They enter a lobby, possibly of a hotel, and Carter is signaled over by Hammond… and she sees her dad!

Oo, just all kinds of fun things happening this episode.

Back on Abydos, Sha’re weeps into her father’s arms, fearing that Jackson no longer loves her. Teal’c, ever-wise, gently corrects her. However, things get a little bit awkward when she recognizes him as the First Prime who chose her (eep) and also as the traitor (darned right). She has memories through the Goa’uld, and even goes on to say that Apophis is no longer recognized as a System Lord.

(Really? Serves him right.)

Teal’c exits the tent and sits down next to Jackson. He wants to take Sha’re back through the Stargate, knowing that as long as she has Amaunet’s memories, she would be a wealth of strategic information. Jackson of course balks at the idea and refuses to even consider it. However, Teal’c recognizes that she will give birth, perhaps within a matter of days, and then Apophis will take the child and leave.

I have a feeling this might have something to do with the fact that Teal’c was the one who chose Sha’re to be Amaunet’s host. It seems they’ve become quite good friends in the past year-and-a-half, but I think some things are not easily forgiven and never forgotten.

We’re in D.C. again, and Carter embraces her father. He served with Hammond back during the cold war, and instead of telling him exactly what she works on, she rattles off something about deep space radar telemetry after Hammond gives her a look. Her father goes on to say that he wants her to get involved with NASA… as if she’s not going through enough space already.

In the tent, Jackson embraces his wife tightly and assures her that nothing which happened was her fault, and that he loves her. He wants to take her back to Earth with him.

In Washington, Carter’s talking to her dad and he’s already been speaking to Big Wigs at NASA. She convinces him to let it go.

Meanwhile, a journalist, Armin Selig, finds O’Neill in a bar. He knows about the Stargate, but of course O’Neill feigns ignorance. It gets worse: This nosy reporter captured a conversation from him and Carter where he jokes he can, “find [his] way around the galaxy” but not here, and then Carter saying how she used to work at the Pentagon trying to make SGC a reality.

That’s not good.

He still manages to pass off the “galaxy” reference as to an aircraft, and as for the “stargate”… he just kind of brushes it off and walks out.

O’Neill finds Hammond and tells him about what happened with the reporter. He agrees they’ve got a problem now.

On Abydos, Jackson explains to her what will happen back on the Earth base, and how, once she gives birth, they’ll have to lock her – Amaunet, rather – up for the safety of the compound. Nonetheless, she agrees to go with him and Teal’c.

Just as they get to the Stargate, the Goa’uld ship approaches. She briefly dips into Amaunet’s voice, only to return to her normal self. There’s no time to go through the ‘Gate, so they leave.

A Goa’uld appears, along with several of his guards, and it’s our creepy friend Heru’ur. (Man, at least give me Apophis!)

In a tent again, Sha’re is going into labour. Teal’c reports to them his findings that it was Heru’ur, and not Apophis, who came in the ship. He thinks they need to move, but of course it’s a little late for that. He’ll do what he can to hold them off, though.

If Heru’ur is an enemy of Apophis, maybe that would be the common enemy between the two SG-1  members and Amaunet? Maybe this won’t turn out so badly. Or maybe she’ll just try to kill all of them.

We’re in D.C. once more, and the reporter meets with O’Neill. He rattles off all sorts of facts about the SG program, where it is, what team O’Neill is on, and even that the two flahes in the sky months ago were actually alien ships blowing up. Jack just kind of scoffs at him and says this:

“If you’re gonna go ahead with it, I want to make sure you get one thing right: It’s O’Neill with two ‘L’s.”

Then, just as the reporter is walking away, he gets hit by a car… and dies.

Oh my God. CONSPIRACY!!

On Abydos, Heru’ur waits by the Stargate for Apophis. Meanwhile, a Horus guard is torturing Kasuf for information about his daughter. Teal’c storms in at the right moment and shoots the Jaffa down.

Sam is talking to her dad again, and she finds out he has cancer. (Oh! Sad!) That’s why he wants to see her go into NASA. He seems disappointed, and she heartbroken she can’t tell him the truth.

Sha’re is going through a very painful labour, and she almost doesn’t want to go through with it. The baby is a boy, and just like that, Amaunet is back. Teal’c comes back in, but he’s gone in-cog-nito! as a Horus guard. Obviously Amaunet doesn’t know this… but surely she would recognize his voice? I don’t know. I’m not complaining. Teal’c demands that Jackson hand over the child (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) before shooting a single time at the Goa’uld. They exit back to Kasuf, and hand him the child. Jackson tells him to go into hiding with the child, and he promises to, despite the fact that he may never see his daughter again. Jackson leaves him with the hope that he, as well as Sha’re, will never stop fighting the Goa’uld, and are sure to eventually prevail.

Back on the base, Hammond gives Carter and O’Neill their medals, of course honouring their valiance against the Goa’uld at the beginning of the season. Carter leaves and only a very distressed O’Neill and Hammond remain. All he says is, “It was an accident.”

And then we get to serious business back on Abydos.

Teal’c, still as a Horus guard, takes Jackson with him back to Heru’ur. (Playing with fire, much?) He reports to the Goa’uld that the Serpent guard took Amaunet’s child, and that the human with him was among the Tau’ri who defeated Apophis. (A lie, and a truth!) Jackson proposes an alliance, and Heru’ur pretty much laughs at him and says he’ll take over Earth soon enough.

Just as he’s about to use his palm weapon on Jackson, the Stargate whirls to life, the Horus guards become disoriented, and Carter and O’Neill come out to join the party. Then, O’Neill does something really super awesome:

He throws his knife through Heru’ur’s shield and straight through his palm device! Yeah!

Heru’ur is whisked back through his transporter and to the ship. Then, though, Apophis decides to join the party and enters with a few of his own Jaffa through the ‘Gate.

Just one big happy family.

Amaunet approaches Apophis and informs him that the child was taken by Heru’ur. (Ah, pitting them against each other, that’s a good idea. I see you in there, Sha’re!) She looks over at Jackson, hiding in the rubble, but says nothing. They dial home, and head back to Earth, Jackson still thunderstruck over what just happened.

Maybe something of the host does survive.

Final thoughts… Wow, a whole bunch happened in this episode. We’ve got conspiracy, secrets, Carter’s dad, Jackson’s wife, freaking Heru’ur, Apophis… Where could I possibly begin?

First of all, I can see the whole “secrets” aspect of this job really start to take a toll on some of the crew. Maybe not so much Teal’c, since he’s part of this secret, and I’m not sure what Jackson and O’Neill have left of family, but certainly Carter took it hard. Her father’s dying of cancer and she can’t even tell him that she’s living her dream of space travel. She wants to tell him so he can be happy with her and be proud of her. Furthermore, it was all over O’Neill’s face that he believes the death of the reporter was a conspiracy. I honestly wouldn’t doubt it. Hammond’s last words were more likely those of an order than a reassurance. Secrets every day.

Secondly, Jackson and Sha’re. I think maybe she’s stronger than she appears, or perhaps it is her fierce love for Daniel – and his, reciprocating – that was able to give her a little control. Surely Amaunet would have told her husband immediately of the presence of him and Teal’c, considering the latter is numero uno on Apophis’ hit list.

Well, him and the other three on SG-1.

As well as Bra’tac. (Yay!! Oh, wait, he wasn’t even in this episode.)

So, anyways, looking forward to seeing how she plays out in this whole storyline.

Which brings me to another thing: Heru’ur. I have a feeling he’s going to trample Apophis to the ground eventually. The guy’s a total nutjob but he knows what he’s doing. The two Goa’uld have now been pitted against one another, and of course neither will accept the hand of alliance against the other from SG-1. As Teal’c said back in “Line of Duty”, their greatest flaw is their arrogance. I still believe this will be the downfall of at least a couple Goa’uld.

Overall, excellent episode. Loved getting to see Sha’re again, and her relationship with Jackson. Also, Sam’s dad is pretty cool. I hope he gets to eventually find out the truth about his daughter. So many new plot lines and ways for this to go… onward, ever onward!

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY:

(The crew laments their losses and general… stuff that’s bothering them.)

O’Neill: I feel like I just killed a man.

Jackson: I feel like a terrible husband.

Carter: I feel like a disappointment.

Teal’c: I feel like a woman.

(Everyone turns to stare in surprise at him.)

Teal’c: …I was merely attempting to ‘lighten the mood’.