“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!

“Message in a Bottle” ( 2 x 07 )

Hm… Reminds me of the beginning of that Star Trek: TNG novel, I, Q. With the whole girl-finding-a-message-in-a-bottle thing. But since I don’t think John de Lancie nor Peter David were involved with this, I’ll put my suspicions away and just see what’s going on.

SG-1 is in full-on spacesuits (first time I’ve seen that since the Hazmat suits of “Singularity”) on a planet that’s deserted and looks suspiciously like the moon. They discover some kind of device, a small sphere about the size of a softball, which is emitting E.M. frequencies. Jackson thinks it’s a time capsule of sorts. They decide to pack it up and take it back with them, hoping they can learn something from it.

Back on Earth, they get out of their suits and hook up the sphere. Jackson believes the writing, which can only be viewed zoomed-in, is instructions on how to open the capsule. Unfortunately, the Big Wigs over at N.I.D. want to look at it, too. Hammond will give Carter and Jackson twenty-four hours to try and figure it out, but beyond that, there’s nothing he can do.

Good ol’ General Hammond. Always willing to twist the rules a little to help out the team.

In the lab, Jackson and Carter continue to look at and X-ray the sphere. Just as O’Neill calls them away for their next mission, the sphere begins to rise in temperature – rapidly – and radiation levels. It opens up a bit, revealing a blue light within.

Just as O’Neill and Teal’c are about to throw it back through the Stargate to the original planet, it sprouts these huge spikes, and lodges itself in the ceiling, floor, and… between Jack’s shoulder and heart. It literally has him pinned to the wall. They shut the ‘Gate down, and the temperature stops rising. However, O’Neill is still staked through his shoulder, and he keeps shouting for Teal’c to shoot the object down. He’s got his staff weapon now, and he fires one shot, then another. The energy just keeps getting absorbed, and they’re not sure at all how to get him down.

N.I.D. is once again being pricks and now really wants to see this object, since they think it could one day be a valuable weapon. Of course, the focus here is freeing O’Neill, so Hammond more or less locks down the base

Nothing is getting through the pole keeping him pinned, and he’s contracted an injection. The sphere’s temperature continues to rise, slowly but steadily. Fraiser figures out that his infection has something to do with a virus/bacteria the device is continuously flowing into O’Neill’s body. However, it’s also affecting everything else. It’s indiscriminate – people and computers are all at risk.

In other words, we all seem to be… screwed.

But is Teal’c okay?

He sure is. He’s continued to stand at O’Neill’s side through this whole, terrible ordeal. Even when the Colonel tells him he doesn’t have to stick around, Teal’c, ever-loyal, says,

“Undomesticated equines could not remove me.”

(O’Neill) “Wild horses, Teal’c. It’s… That’s a joke. You told a joke.”

It’s enough to make O’Neill smile, though. In a way it’s also an indication of Teal’c’s further understanding of how to make light of a situation, as O’Neill so often does. It’s really been fascinating to me to see these two men grow in their friendship and the ever-present understanding between them. Ever since the pilot, and I’ll say it again, it’s been these two. They’ve got each other’s backs. In a way, they’re almost like Kirk and Spock… Okay, maybe not that close, but getting there!

Just as a Sergeant is almost through the pole with his welding tool, it shifts again and jams the pole further past O’Neill – and further into the wall. It’s not letting him go anywhere.

Carter figures out that they can starve the sphere of its energy – oxygen – but they need to work quickly. It’s started infecting the computers. Even the elevators are going down. And it gets worse – the lockdown Hammond initiated has a self-destruct countdown, and the virus prevents them from stopping it.

Jackson’s staring down a flickering computer, and he keeps seeing the symbol on the artifact. He thinks it’s trying to communicate with them through the computers. Carter proposes they do the opposite of what they just did – lower the oxygen – and see if they can get better communication. Maybe it’s even trying to use Jack as a vessel.

Oh, man, I hope this works!

Teal’c shoots his weapon at the sphere continuously, and then, even after Carter sees that he has no pulse, O’Neill starts to speak in a somewhat distorted sort of voice. The organism within Jack says that their race created the sphere in order to be taken elsewhere. It also states that, if the auto-destruct goes off, it/they will consume the planet. At the same time, it knows Jack’s thoughts and feelings. They offer to send it through the Stargate to a different planet, one that does not have a civilization yet, so that both species may survive.

The organism lets O’Neill go and restores all the computers, so they start dialing up the Stargate, one minute until the whole place goes ka-boom! O’Neill takes the sphere to the ‘Gate, pushes it through, and collapses. Just in the nick of time, Hammond and Carter stop the destruction. SG-1 helps their leader to his feet, and when Carter says she thought he was gone for good, his final words are these:

“Wild horses, Captain.”

Final thoughts… Okay, as much as I love the interaction between Teal’c and O’Neill, and I always do, this episode seemed… largely pointless. From one standpoint, it’s pretty exciting, with the tried-and-true fighting-against-the-clock idea. I thought the ending was kind of interesting, too, with them finally figuring out that the alien(s) was (were?) merely trying to communicate with them through O’Neill. Even the concept of the entity was kind of neat. And yet, this episode failed to truly captivate me in the larger sense of a plot.

That ending was pretty intense, though, with the auto-destruct ticking down to four minutes, then one minute, and then finally shutting down at the 0:01 mark. Also, if you ever check out (or re-watch, since I do believe most of you fine readers have already seen SG-1 in its entirety) this episode, watch Teal’c’s face at the end. Of course, I believe one should always watch Teal’c’s face, simply because it is nice to look at, but he really has some great expression going on. It’s strangely subtle but there’s never any doubt to Chris Judge’s acting abilities. Just spectacular.

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(The crew muses over the recent ordeal in the infirmary.)

O’Neill: Ugh, I feel like crap.

Carter: Uh, yeah, you just had a huge pole impaled in your shoulder and you suffered a massive infection. I’m surprised you don’t feel worse.

Jackson: Hey, guys, why do we keep having these sorts of reflective conversations in the infirmary?

Teal’c: It would seem our team is prone to physical injury.

O’Neill: (Chuckling darkly) You think? In our line of work, I’d say we’re damned lucky to be alive.

“Thor’s Chariot” ( 2 x 06 )

…Well. The title screen shows possibly the weirdest-looking alien I’ve ever seen. Could this be Thor in his “true form” or something? We already know that aliens influenced human history.

…Nah.

Let’s just watch and see…

We start off on Base, and (per usual) a klaxon blares and the iris closes over the Stargate. Nothing gets in, but they do pick up the faint signature from something the crew left on Cimmeria (“Thor’s Hammer”), and speculate that maybe the box was sent back through deliberately. Also, they think that Thor might be part of a race known as the “Asgard”. Why I don’t remember this is beyond me. Whoops. I presume they’re some kind of protector race.

O’Neill is slightly reluctant to go back to check on the Cimmerians, primarily because they had destroyed Thor’s Hammer (the de-Goa’uld-ing device, as Jack called it) in order to save Teal’c. Jackson, on the other hand, thinks that they will understand.

They send a MALP through, and the sight is not pretty. There’s been a brutal battle – and who would the culprits be but our slimy friends, the Goa’uld. Or, more likely, one Goa’uld and about a hundred Jaffa. The probe zooms in on a Jaffa, but he doesn’t have a serpent on his forehead. Rather, it’s a bird of some kind. However, Gairwyn (the woman they met there) is alive, and she begs them to come and help them.

Clearly, SG-1 is going to be paying for their misdeeds. In destroying Thor’s Hammer, they quite possibly left Cimmeria entirely open to attack. And now they’ve got to go back and fix it all up. O’Neill echoes this sentiment, and they convince the General to let them go.

They step out, and it’s a beautiful day… except for the dead bodies. That’s kind of a mood-ruiner. They also see a Goa’uld structure going up in the distance.

Gairwyn then approaches them and tells SG-1 that this whole ordeal began with a “great metal point coming out of the sky”. Teal’c clarifies and says it was a Goa’uld Ha’tak – a pyramid ship.

(You know, I really hate those things. They’re kind of ugly and clunky. More like a Star Wars ship than a Star Trek one. But I don’t think the Goa’uld were exactly going for aesthetics. Anyways…)

A couple of Jaffa advance on them, and they fight back, and are able to get away through the forest. These ground combat firefights are actually pretty cool, it’s just they’re hard to really capture in a blog format like this. They’re neat to watch, though, so that’s why you really have to just watch the series. (Hint, hint.)

Gairwyn takes the crew to the residence of the late Kendra. She was killed in the Goa’uld raid. Carter finds a glove-like device (the same kind that we often see on the Goa’uld – remember, Kendra was once a host, herself) and, surprise-surprise, Carter can activate it. She can make it work, but she can’t necessarily control it. Nonetheless, she takes a couple of the Goa’uld devices with her back to the Cimmerian hiding spot, deep in a cave.

SG-1 and Gairwyn (moreso the former) are met with hostility, primarily from one man, Olaf. He still resents them for bringing this plague on them, as it were. However, their promises may have been enough, and Olaf lowers his weapon. He, O’Neill, and Teal’c sneak past the patrols to get a look at who they’re facing.

O’Neill and Teal’c hide in the tall grasses, Olaf with them, and see a multitude of Jaffa bearing the mark of Horus, as we find out from Teal’c. The Goa’uld they defend is Heru’ur, the son of Ra and Hathor. The bird forehead marking is his, and some of the guards have very bizarre-looking helmets, not unlike the fashion of the Serpent Guard of Apophis. Oh, and Heru’ur is among the most feared and the worst Goa’uld pretty much ever.

The Jaffa capture Olaf, and Heru’ur reveals himself. He’s got an even creepier voice than Apophis… nor is he as attractive. (DANGIT.) He demands that Olaf tell him about SG-1 coming through the ‘Gate, but he refuses, and is tortured by the Goa’uld’s palm device. At that point, Teal’c and O’Neill jump in, shoot down the nearest guards, and grab Olaf. Before they both leave all the way, though, Teal’c turns and destroys the staff weapon with his own. An unusually frightened look – one I don’t recall even seeing around Apophis – crosses his face as Heru’ur’s eyes flash. Was there some kind of bad blood or ancient rivalry between Apophis and Heru’ur? Maybe. For some reason, though, the Goa’uld doesn’t even pursue them. Instead, he just sends his Jaffa after them. (Lazy.)

The three return to the cave and report their findings to Jackson and Carter. However, they have findings of their own. Gairwyn has told them of a fabled “Hall of Thor’s Might”, and the two think that there may be Asgard weapons or something in there. We also get a (unintentionally, by the characters) funny little dialogue piece between Jackson and Teal’c:

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to hole up in here until things calm down.”

“Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson. They will, in fact, calm up.”

…I love you, Teal’c. ♥

Ahem, anyways, Olaf, O’Neill, and Teal’c go off to lay down some explosives and Gairwyn, Jackson, and Carter go to find this hall of awesome-superness. And aliens. Don’t forget aliens.

What the latter group finds is some kind of obelisk. Jackson touches it, and they find themselves transported into a dark hall. A holographic Thor (not this dude again!) show up and says that they must prove themselves worthy. The floor suddenly falls apart between them and the next obelisk, and a very thin catwalk is in-between.

Uh-oh. I hope they all took gymnastics!

Carter goes first, and makes it across fine. Gairwyn starts next, but when the ground shakes, she falls and panics, insisting she won’t be able to get across. Jackson goes to her to help her up, and then the beam breaks… and the floor’s back!

The Thor hologram reappears and says that it was a test of selflessness and bravery. They now must complete one more task, though, before finding Thor’s Might.

Meanwhile, Teal’c and O’Neill are setting down charges, while Olaf keeps watch. When the Jaffa approach, they set off charges, and then take down the rest, O’Neill using his gun and Teal’c his staff weapon. However, Olaf gets the final hurrah when he takes down a Jaffa with his battle ax. (Sa-weet!)

The next task in the Hall is a riddle. It has to do with some runes, some shapes, numbers, and some random-looking drawings. Somehow, with all these, in a process I didn’t fully understand because I am not as smart as Daniel Jackson, they figure out that the answer is “Pi”. Yes, “Pi”. 3.14. They draw a radius into the circle, and an alien appears. But it’s not like the garden-variety-Stargate alien. It’s like… a really alien alien. It looks like one from off of those cheesy ‘60’s movies; the “Roswell Grays”.

And he’s Thor. This scrawny thing – an Asgard indeed – is Thor.

…Not quite what I was expecting.

The Thor image is also a real-time transmission, and Jackson speaks to him. He confesses that they destroyed his Hammer. Thor seems peeved that these Tau’ri interfered, and sends Jackson and Carter back to the first obelisk… but Gairwyn is nowhere to be found.

They return to the cave, and the odds aren’t good. They’re all outnumbered twenty-to-one and are forced out of hiding. Further, they are forced to put down their weapons, or all the Cimmerians would be killed. The Jaffa capture them and begin to lead them all away.

As they are walking, though, thunder rumbles up ahead, and suddenly, a huge ship descends from the dark clouds. It is, as it were, “Thor’s Chariot” – an Asgard mothership, Teal’c says. It zaps up all the Jaffa and sends Gairwyn back down. (It should be noticed that Heru’ur was away and escaped through the Stargate during all this.) She confirms that the Asgard have visited Earth often (thus the pop culture – how convenient) and are at war with the Goa’uld. However, Thor will not meet with them, as he feels the Tau’ri are still too young. He has replaced the Hammer, but it will “make an exception for the one called ‘Teal’c’”.

(Aww! That’s so great! I would make an exception for Teal’c, too. But who wouldn’t? Teal’c is amazing. And honorable. And he has such a way with words. And, frankly, pretty dang hot. I don’t have a Hammer above my dorm, Teal’c! You can come over! Really! I’m sure my roommates won’t mind!)

The mothership leaves, and the crew is left to ponder Thor and the Asgard people.

Final thoughts… Pretty neat episode, but it was a little slow until about halfway through. However, I can see a lot of recurring things coming up. Let’s go through them.

First, we’ve got another Goa’uld, Heru’ur. Maybe I’m just reading too much into the directing, but I swear there was something funny that passed between him and Teal’c. There must be some kind of history there I’m sure will play out in the future. Also, they have funny beak helmets, so maybe we’ll someday see funny snake helmets duke it out with funny bird helmets! Yeah!

Secondly, Carter did a little more exploring with her Goa’uld-like abilities. They’re faint, but there. I’m still wondering whether or not she retains these. They’ve shown up at least in passing nearly every episode since she played temporary host to Jolinar.

And finally, Thor and the Asgard. The writers seem to have taken the rather X-Files-ish route of explaining why there is all this intrigue in Earth pop culture about aliens looking a certain way. However, I suppose it only makes sense. The Goa’uld impersonated the Egyptian gods. It’s not so far-fetched to think that a race as advanced as the Asgard could actually be those Norse gods, and more. Like the Tok’ra, they’re a powerful force in the galaxy, and one I can see as being an ally to Earth and SGC.

All in all, I can see this as having been an overall very important episode in the larger story arc. Every episode, we’re meeting a new race that, in this plot, has a good chance of showing up again. It’s set up that way, and that’s part of what makes SG-1 so amazing.

REFLECTION/PREDICTION THINGY

(SG-1 talks about the Asgard.)

O’Neill: So, Daniel, you seriously think that the Asgards are the so-called “Roswell Grays”?

Jackson: The very same! Or – pretty darn close, anyways. Thor told us that his people had been to Earth many times before.

Carter: (Laughing) I wonder how that Fox Mulder guy – you know, the FBI nutjob who works in the X-Files division – would react to meeting an Asgard.

Teal’c: Likely the same as he would react to meeting me.

Jackson: I don’t know, Teal’c, you’re pretty human-looking. His partner… what’s her name? Sully?

Carter: Scully. Dana Scully.

Jackson: …Well, anyways, she’d probably explain you away as some kind of genetic anomaly.

O’Neill: Aside from Junior, and of course the… (He gestures vaguely to his forehead.) …I’d have to agree you’re a pretty convincing human.

Teal’c: I suppose that is a compliment?

O’Neill: It’s whatever you make of it, my alien friend.

“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.