"The Light" ( 4 x 18 )

“Don’t look into the light!” Maybe someone dies. Maybe someone’s dying.

The scene starts off with a Jack having lost some kind of bet, so he hands it off to a guy, Lieutenant Barber, to give to Daniel. He claims it’s “sports-related”. However, the light moment is ruined when Barber suddenly rushes into the kawoosh of the Stargate…

…and is disintegrated.

…Holy crap.

Jackson comes through with the rest of the SG team he was with and O’Neill gives him the bad news. They all meet in the Hangout, and determine that perhaps there was no real explanation behind Barber’s suicide. Daniel distractedly tells them of the Goa’uld palace he was studying on the planet with some kind of pretty light. He’s brought back some kind of device, and plans to work with Teal’c on translating it.

That evening, they are indeed working together, and Teal’c points out that he’s seen some sort of figure moving in the background on the recordings. Jackson, meanwhile, is becoming very frustrated with the device he brought back and feels the need to go back to the planet now.

He even goes to Hammond and tries to convince him to let him go back, even though he’d just have to wait until morning, but Hammond’s not budging.

The next morning, Jackson doesn’t report in, so O’Neill goes to his apartment… and finds him teetering on the edge of the balcony. He’s strangely despondent, but Jack convinces him to come back inside after he snaps back to his senses.

They’ve put Daniel in the infirmary, and Fraiser confirms that he and the other members of SG-5 all have slowed neurological function – which explains the depression.

Jack takes the rest of SG-1 to P4X-347 to look for anything strange. They poke around a bit, until they encounter a rather elusive teenage boy. However, also there is a colour-changing fountain of light, and they’re all entranced by it – especially Carter and Teal’c. Hm…

Personally, I just think the look on Teal’c’s face is nothing short of hysterical. He looks like a kid who’s just been taken to Disneyland. “It is most difficult to believe that something so beautiful… could be dangerous, O’Neill.”

Jack eventually manages to drag them away from the light, and they set off to try and find the boy they saw earlier.

They find the boy, no older than maybe eighteen, and he says his name is Loran. When O’Neill asks about his parents, Loran says that his parents aren’t here. He also says he doesn’t know anything about why SG-5 got sick.

He takes him back to the ‘Gate, and introduces Loran to Hammond, who’s radioed in. The general’s got bad news: Everyone in SG-5 is dead, and Jackson’s in a coma.

While Jack goes back through to base, Carter stares at the  light some more, and Teal’c talks to Loran about where he’s from. Turns out that his folks were explorers, but he doesn’t say anything more.

There’s a bit of a funny scene when Loran pulls out a toy gun and shows it to Teal’c. We also learn something about Teal’c: They don’t have birthdays on Chulak. (Aww…)

By the way, Teal’c is apparently 101 YEARS OLD. Dude, what?! He doesn’t look a day over forty!

Loran: “You don’t look that old.”

Teal’c: “So I’ve been told.”

Loran tells him to keep the toy gun – as a birthday present.

Fraiser figures out that when one leaves the planet, it’s like a drug withdrawl – your dopamine levels start to decline the moment you step off. He ends up taking Jackson back to the planet, where he yells for Carter and Teal’c, but they’re too busy gazing at the light. Daniel does eventually wake up, and O’Neill manages to drag his teammates away from the light, which I think is the culprit here.

Jackson turns the light off with the device he’d gotten from here, and guesses that this was used as some kind of Goa’uld “opium den”. However, their symbiotes kept them from getting too addicted.

So, pretty much, Teal’c’s going to be okay, but the rest of them – including Loran – are probably screwed.

O’Neill, Teal’c, and Carter start to walk along a beach, and Jack and Carter start to argue. At least they recognize they’re in withdrawl… but Teal’c’s found something else.

Two skeletons.

They return to the palace, and Carter realizes that it’s probably not the light which keeps them addicted, but something else. (Something being emitted? Like a soundwave or something? A la “One False Step” (2x19), maybe?)

Loran reveals a control panel on the fountain device, and tearfully confesses what happened to his parents: They became addicted to the light and never heeded his advice to stop looking at it. After a time, he stopped giving them food and shut off the light and the device. They eventually ran out to the sea and drowned, though he had turned the fountain back on.

Okay, so, if his parents have been gone for seemingly quite a while, how has Loran survived? They must’ve had quite a bit of food and supplies if he’s been fine thus far, or at least he knows the lay of the land and where to find edibles… But I suppose that’s kind of superfluous in the overall scheme of the story.

Carter, Jackson, and Teal’c work on the device, and figure out that if they just turn it down little by little, they’ll be fine. A few weeks, and they can come home.

And hey, Loran can go back with them, too!

Final thoughts… Well, that was kind of a fun little episode. I particularly liked this episode for the scenes with O’Neill and Jackson, since I feel like they’re often yelling in each other’s faces, but this episode showed the true nature of their friendship… As much as they may argue, they are still bonded so tightly. I think in many ways Jack sees Daniel as a sort of younger brother he’s got to protect, since he often seems so naïve. It’s an interesting dynamic that’s been there since the Stargate film.

The plot itself, while strange, was kind of intriguing. I feel like closer to the end there was a hidden sort of “drugs are bad” message, but in many ways I won’t go into I can certainly relate to Loran’s situation with his parents. It’s a sort of warning against addiction, because in the end, everyone’s a victim.

I think it’s neat that they’re bringing Loran back with them, but what’s going to happen to him now? I know with Cassandra she was adopted by Dr. Fraiser… I wonder if any orphaned kids they ever bring over are put into some kind of special foster program.

All in all, good development for O’Neill and Daniel, and also we got to finally find out how old Teal’c is (still shocks me). Loran letting him keep the “non-functional weapon” was pretty great! Also an interesting little note about how not every danger we face on these planets is so… obvious.

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(After a few weeks, Jackson, O’Neill, and Carter return with Loran.)

O’Neill: It is good to be home!

Jackson: Well, I’m not feeling anything… wrong.

Carter: We should be fine now.

Loran: It’s been so long… It feels good to be out of that palace.

(Teal’c enters the embarkation room and meets his team at the bottom of the ramp.)

Teal’c: Greetings, O’Neill. I except you are all well?

O’Neill: Yup, as far as we know. How are things here?

Teal’c: Quite well. We defeated seven system lords, freed the people of Chulak, liberated sixteen planets, discovered the cure for cancer, and found Waldo.

(Everyone stares at him.)

Teal’c: I believe Doctor Fraiser would like for you all to be checked out in the infirmary.

(Another pause as he leaves.)

Jackson: He found Waldo?! That’s amazing! I can never find him in those stupid pictures!

(And suffice it to say, I think Teal'c also discovered the wonderful world of sarcasm and boredom.)