"Between Two Fires" ( 5 x 09 )

Hey folks!! Sorry for the long, long, long wait. The holidays kept me very busy and I just.. kind of.. got lazy. But I’m back to having this updated regularly. So, hope everyone had a good Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/federal day off of work and is enjoying the holidays. The New Year is just days away!

Oh, and you guys should know that my parents very graciously have accepted my obsession by (A) watching season one with me every night (and even dealing with my giggling every time Teal’c so much as raises an eyebrow) and (B) even gave me a Stargate SG-1 t-shirt for Christmas. I’ll post a pic one of these days. It is a super spiffy shirt. It’s got the team and the Stargate and Serpent Guards and aahhh just awesomeness!

But enough about the holidays. Let’s watch some SG-1!

Hey, we’re on Tollana! SG-1 is in formal uniform, and Omoc has recently passed away. But here’s where it gets interesting: the High Councilor seems to imply that they’re ready to renew talks about the sharing of weapons technology. Hm…

We head back to base, and Narim has just handed Carter a device, which projects his holographic image and voice to them. He says that Omoc gave him a warning, saying that Earth was “in grave danger”… but nothing more.

Well. That’s ominous.

The next day on Tollana, O’Neill and Jackson meet with High Councilor Travell, and Carter and Teal’c have gone to talk to Narim. It turns out that with Omoc’s death, the Curia (kind of like our Congress) has made a sort of split on their non-interference policy. Gets better: Since they’ve grown so quickly, they’ve already begun to deplete their sources of trinium.

“Off the record”, the whole trinium thing is just a ruse… and in exchange, we get an ion cannon. You know, that thing that Teal’c operated like a BEAST to take down those Gliders?

Here’s your “big, honkin’ space gun”, Jack.

But it seems too good to be true…

Back with Carter and Teal’c, everyone’s favourite Jaffa expresses how he’s noticed how Narim has feelings for her, but before they can go any further, Narim himself shows up.

Oh my gosh, I bet that if Earth is recognized as having an ion cannon, it would an alien technology, and maybe it would interfere with that wonderful treaty we have! It would be a huge advancement; like painting a big red “SHOOT HERE” target on our planet. Maybe.

There are more problems, though, as we discuss back on Base. One single ion cannon won’t do us much good for the whole planet. Besides that, the Russians don’t like us very much right now and they’d have issues with it, too. Carter thinks we’d need at least thirty-eight of these to defend the planet. However, Hammond encourages the negotiations to proceed… but encourages O’Neill to remain skeptical of all things.

On Tollana, Narim reveals to them that Omoc’s death may have been part of a larger conspiracy – it just doesn’t make sense, given their advanced medical system.

Oh man. And I liked these guys.

When O’Neill and Jackson tell Travell they’ll need thirty-eight cannons, she merely says she’ll present their request… and walks off with no further argument. Hm… That’s suspicious…

Narim lets Teal’c and Carter into his home, and it turns out there hasn’t been a murder for as long as he can remember. The Tollans just don’t, which is why he’s had to be so sneaky about this. He shows them the logs, and it’s time to get reading.

As Teal’c works on one computer, Narim and Carter try to narrow the search. Jack and Daniel join them soon thereafter… and the Tollans have promised the ion cannons over time.

Uh… yay?

Teal’c finds record of an unscheduled ion cannon test, and that Omoc had protested. Gets worse. There are two hours missing from the records, maybe more. Maybe there’s our conspiracy.

Back on base in the Hangout, Hammond is concerned about what the Tollans would use our trinium for (“The Other Side”, much?), so they decide to try tagging the first shipment. Narim’s upset he’s involved with this, but he agrees to help them out… albeit reluctantly.

They are each given the phasing devices, as well as Tollan weaponry. Narim goes with Jackson and Carter to check out a communiqué. We learn that, a while back, when they fired ion cannons at a Goa’uld mothership, they were ineffective… but then the mothership just left. Oh man. This is getting crazy!

Meanwhile, Teal’c and O’Neill have adventure time and go check out the trinium we let them have. There is a little funny:

Teal’c: “Narim said in order for the device to work on both of us, we must hold hands, O’Neill.”

O’Neill: (Apprehensively) “…I know.”

(Oh suck it up, Jack. Be a man. He’s your bro.)

And he shakes off Teal’c’s hand once they get through. Ahaha.

In the room, they discover some very strange-looking devices… quite a few of them. And Narim knows what it is – it’s a weapon of mass destruction capable of phasing through anything.

And then the big bad Tollan comes in with her two henchmen.

Travell walks in and catches them…

…and then OH MY GOD GET AWAY FROM ME YOU BIG FAT SLIMEFACE. SLIMEFACE!!!!!

(…Ahem. It’s Tanith. And Teal’c is not here.)

OH THIS JUST MAKES ME SO MAD.

Guess what happened? Tanith had managed to get out of Apophis’ ship in an escape pod before the sun went supernova. How? Because he’s a slimeface. That’s right, he’s a slimeface, and Apophis was a jerkface, and Hathor was a creeper, and soon I hope his slimy face will be smashed INTO THE FLOOR by TEAL’C’S FISTS.

I mean I know that Travell’s just trying to protect her planet, but you don’t make deals with the freakin’ Goa’uld!!! Narim manages to escape though.

Teal’c and O’Neill pull Narim into some bushes, and when he mentions that the Goa’uld the Curia has made a deal with is Tanith, you can see Teal’c about to rage.

Oh, gets better. Turns out Tanith’s once again working with someone… with no name. (Is it that Ba’al guy? Anubis? I keep hearing about them.) Tanith knows this Goa’uld’s name. We’re just “forbidden” to know it. (Well you know what you slimeface you can just…)

And if they capture Teal’c, Tanith wants him for himself.

Yeah, Tanith, the only thing you’re going to get is TEAL’C’S FIST.

And Travell has thirty minutes to give Tanith a demonstration… by sending a weapon, activated, back to our blue little world called Earth.

Oh man Travell DO NOT DO THIS.

Meanwhile, Teal’c and O’Neill try to figure out how to destroy the weapons, but they’re soon surrounded by security. …And Teal’c looks awfully happy.

…And then an ion cannon fires… on one of their own buildings! The weapons facility!

With that, SG-1 goes straight to the Stargate, and the last we see is the Goa’uld wreaking havoc on Tollana…

And our guys get back safe and sound.

We get a transmission, and it sounds like Tollana is… well, screwed. Oh man.

Poor Carter!

Final thoughts… You know, I’m really getting sick of this whole “annoying guys showing up and Teal’c not being allowed to exact his revenge on them”. First Apophis, and now Tanith? Come on, writers, that’s just not cool. Tanith seriously needs to die. Now. Please. PLEASE.

That little rant aside, this episode seemed to have everything: treachery, politics, conspiracies, Goa’uld, explosions, CARTER’S FEELINGS, and just general awesomeness. But more than anything, it seems we have a really big problem… aside from Slimeface Tanith still being alive.

(Girlfriend killer!)

So there’s this big new Goa’uld in town. It seems like there’s this pattern of one super-powerful Goa’uld dying (usually at the hands/guns of SG-1) and then an even worse one takes his/her place. First it was Sokar, then it was Apophis, and now it’s this guy who’s apparently so amazing that we’re not even allowed to know his name. (I bet it’s that Ba’al guy. I bet it is. Unless it’s Osiris or something. OR MAYBE APOPHIS ISN’T DEAD.)

It doesn’t seem to fit Goa’uld as we know them. I mean, all the snakes that SG-1 encounters are very pompous and always want everyone to know who they are and what they do so that people will fear them, bow down to them, etc. If you ask me, the not knowing is pretty frightening.

But frankly, any Goa’uld that can scare the Tollans has got to be one of the most formidable enemies pretty much ever. In fact, I’m more concerned about whoever he is than I am about the Tollans right now. He just about convinced the Tollans to pull the trigger on poor little blue-and-white Earth. Luckily they didn’t… but still. I don’t think this Big Baddie is going away any time soon.

All in all, there’s a new bad guy in town, one of Earth’s best allies is probably gone for good, and the future… does not look good.

Hey, Thor, you in town? This Goa’uld’s starting to frighten me, and I don’t even know his name yet!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(Great. More problems.)

O’Neill: I can’t believe this. Another snake? They’re comin’ out of the woodwork!

Jackson: Apparently he’s so powerful we’re not even permitted to know his name.

Teal’c: Perhaps Tanith was merely being pompous.

Carter: …Or we’ve got a really big problem on our plate.

O’Neill: Better than Replicators. Do you think they’ll like this guy’s ship as much as they liked Apophis’?

Marie: My mom watched part of this with me! She thinks Tanith is CUTE!!!!

I CANNOT BE RELATED TO THIS WOMAN.

"The Tomb" ( 5 x 08 )

That’s kind of creepy. “The Tomb”. An all we’ve got is an image of Carter with a P-90… Nothing new. I dunno. I got nothin’.

We start off in some kind of wrecked city, and Jackson’s trying to figure out how to open up an entrance, which is inscribed with a dead language. (How convenient.) But Carter’s found something interesting:

An empty pack of cigarettes.

(OH, I KNEW THE CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN WAS INVOLVED!! This proves everything!)

Nevermind. They’re Russian.

(…He could still be involved! I’ve got my eye on you, Krycek! Oh, Mulder, you would be so jealous of me right now.)

Back on base, SG-1 reports their findings to Hammond, but as far as we all know, the Russians closed down their ‘Gate after the “Watergate” incident. Turns out that four Russians disappeared just before the events of “Watergate”. Why 338, though?

That’s not important. What’s important is that there’s going to be a Russian team accompanying SG-1 back to 338. (Deanna? Are you coming, too?) Turns out that the Russians have been wanting to get more involved with us over here. (Ah, you see what I said about how an alliance would be good?) Jack’s not happy about the decision, but it’s too late. The Russians are coming!

(Sorry. That was lame.)

Carter tries to encourage O’Neill to just give this a chance, but he’s concerned about trust.  And then Jackson has a line that literally just had me cracking up laughing: “The Russians are coming.” (For the record, I am legitimately blogging this as I watch. Lots of pausing.)

They go to the Hangout and meet the Russian team, led by Colonel Zukhov, and his team is comprised of Major Vallarin, Lieutenant Marchenko, and Lieutenant Tolinev.

They sit down and Jackson explains how a Russian scientist, Britski, discovered ‘Gate coordinates for P2X-388 among Babylonian cuneiform. Zukhov and O’Neill get into an argument about use of the Stargate, but Hammond gets them back on topic, and when Jackson confirms he can get them in, it’s “go” time.

SG-1 and the Russian team move out, our guys in the lead, and there’s definitely some friction remaining between Zukhov and O’Neill, but they head out as well.

On 338, Jackson figures out the code, and pushes in the stone tablets, revealing a passageway. (A tomb?) However, it’s also crumbling. Teal’c goes with the Russian team, while they send Marchenko with SG-1. (See? We can so make this work. They’ll love Teal’c. Well, they should.)

SG-1 goes down one passageway, and they find… a body. Oh, ew. Something ate him.

(And now I’m getting visions of The Mummy again. Great movie, by the way.)

Meanwhile, the Russian team finds a sarcophagus. (Never a good sign.) They go to investigate it, and of course Zukhov steps the wrong way and the place starts to shake apart. (That’s why you should listen to Teal’c when he tells you to listen to Jack.) The door suddenly slams on Marchenko when he tries to escape, and… yeah, that’s not good.

They reconvene at the sarcophagus, but the only thing in there is a corpse.

…Well, that’s not something you see every day; a dead body in a sarcophagus. But this one, too, was eaten alive.

…And there’s something nasty in the ceiling..!

Jackson figures out that the priests of this land sealed their Goa’uld, Marduk, in the Sarcophagus with whatever creature ate him alive, so he probably relived that… over and over. Ew.

“Okay. That’s officially the worst way to go.”

You said it, O’Neill.

They pair off in order to try and find an exit: Teal’c with Zukhov, Carter with Tolinev, and Vallarin with O’Neill. Jackson’s going to try and translate the writing on the wall.

Carter and Tolinev find a sort of cocoon and OH GOD A HUGE SPIDER oh that’s nastier than Replicators, but of course it skitters off before they can see it.

Teal’c and Zukhov find the body of Dr. Britski, and he had the same fate as the other Russian. Zukhov takes Britski’s personal log, as well as a shiny round medallion of sorts… But Teal’c is not aware of the latter. Hm…

Back with our girls, Tolinev hears the huge spider again, and it attacks Tolinev. Teal’c takes her away to safety, but it gets worse:

The Goa’uld is in the freaking spider.

Oooh my GOOOOD.

Back with Daniel, he discovers a sketch in Britski’s log of the medallion Zukhov picked off of him, but the Russian denies knowledge of the object. (Uh, dude, this is kind of a bad time to lie.)

Carter and Teal’c go off to investigate, and they think they might have a blood trail to follow.

Okay, between Carter being able to sense the Goa’uld and Teal’c just being… Teal’c, they’ve got to be able to hunt down this thing and take it.

But Tolinev’s condition is worsening…

As they’re walking, some huge ugly slimy thing falls from the ceiling – dead. Teal’c prods it with a gun and then slices it open. No Goa’uld, though.

Oh, snap. Vallarin had gone off to investigate some skittering.

I’ve got a bad feeling there’s a snake among us.

When O’Neill and Zukhov hear this, they immediately suspect each other.

But oh, wait! Zukhov picked the “eye of Tiamat” (that medallion) off of Britski! Maybe it’s him.

But it’s Vallarin who finds a ribbon device. It’s him. I’m sure.

Daniel thinks that there’s a rings transporter around here, so that’s probably our way out, and Teal’c finds the crystals which control the rings.

Vallarin apprehends our two colonels and, yup, he’s the Goa’uld. He’s even got a nice little shield. When Marduk threatens to gun down O’Neill, Zukhov admits he has the Eye and… instead tosses the Goa’uld a grenade. (Yeah! You rock on, Zukhov!)

…And then the place starts to collapse… and Zukhov is buried.

(But Marduk/Vallarin is still alive!)

Just as they’re about to ring out, Marduk rushes in and vows his revenge, and what does Jack say?
“You know, you guys always say that.”

And as they ring out, Carter hits the C-4. Bye, bye Goa’uld!

Back on base, Tolinev is back on her feet and fine. But this fledgling alliance between the Americans and the Russians? Doesn’t look like it’s going to work out all that well…

Final thoughts… You know, just when I start to get all excited over this Russian-American alliance thing, it just kind of falls through and makes everything oh-so-frustrating. It’s an interesting social commentary of sorts in that we can kind of get along with the Tollans, and the Tok’ra, and even the Asgard, but when it comes to an old rivalry on our own planet, we can’t even get past it?

I feel like the primary conflict was between the two highest-ranking officers of each respective team – our wonderful colonels. Both O’Neill and Zukhov are fiercely patriotic, loyal men to their causes and nations’ ideals. However, when they as leaders seemingly aren’t willing to work with each other, how can they possibly expect the rest of their teams to do so? There were times when Zukhov had the right idea, and times when Jack was in the right. The point is that they each let their pride get in the way, and that’s really not something I believe we can afford when facing an enemy so different from us.

There’s also the little issue with the fact that all four members of SG-1 came back alive, and only one from the Russian team – and just barely. Now I won’t point fingers, but I really think if they’d stuck together and “watched each others’ sixes”, as it were, at least three of the four Russians would have survived. (Let’s face it, Marchenko was screwed when he rushed at the exit.) Whatever the case, I’m sure this will have a lasting strain on the relationship between the two nations.

And we thought the Tok’ra were difficult…

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(Well… that didn’t go quite as planned.)

O’Neill: Kind of a sucky day when you think about it.

Carter: Gotta agree with you there, sir. Three fine officers were lost today.

O’Neill: Yeah, well maybe if they’d listened to me…

Jackson: Jack! Not this again!

O’Neill: I’m just sayin’!

Jackson: And I’m just sayin’, let it go!

Teal’c: Will I be required to separate you two?

"Beast of Burden" ( 5 x 07 )

Hm… Sounds like something to do with those lovely Unas guys. Think about it – “beast” (they’re pretty beastly) of “burden” (they were the first hosts to the Goa’uld).

Don’t say ‘ka’ until you’ve watched it!

Oh, and there’s also an Unas on the title screen. That’s usually a pretty good indication.

We start out on… some planet, and there’s a camera watching an Unas. Suddenly, a group of men, one with a staff weapon, approach and one zats the Unas.

Back on Base, Jackson is watching the video…

The camera is indeed on P3X-888 (I believe that was the world from “The First Ones”), and Jackson shares his findings with the rest of SG-1 and Hammond. That Unas he witnessed the abduction of? Our good friend Chaka. (Aww! He was such a… um… relative… sweetheart!) Jackson wants to try and rescue Chaka, but O’Neill’s got an interest, too: These abductors have Goa’uld weapons but none of them seem to be Jaffa. Gotta wonder what that’s all about.

(Is there a jerksnake lurking in the background?!)

SG-1 goes to the planet Jackson had video of the abductors dialing out too, and it seems to be an agricultural society… and they’ve got Unas doing hard labour! (That’s slavery, man!)

While Carter and Teal’c hold down the fort, Jackson and O’Neill go see what’s going on. There’s definitely a slave trade business going down here. It also seems they know the language of the Goa’uld, since they refer to the Stargate as the Chappa’ai, but they also claim that no one has gone through it in years.

…Yeah, that’s a lie.

They meet Burrock, the head trader of Unas around here, and Daniel slyly plays that they’re just traders looking for an Unas. They join Burrock for a drink, but of course we know why they’re really here!

They go into a bar (or tavern, whatever) of sorts, and it seems they’ve got Unas doing all sorts of jobs. (This reminds me so strongly of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “North Star” it’s not even funny. Except we don’t have Trip and T’pol on a horse.) Burrock gives Daniel a strange look when he thanks the Unas for his drink, but Jackson quickly covers it up as “training”.

I think it’s possible that the people here simply don’t recognize the Unas as a sentient race, merely because they operate differently than most human societies. Of course that’s why we have Daniel here, Mister Revolutionary and all.

Turns out that years ago, there was a war between the people here and the Unas who served a Goa’uld – probably a System Lord. They don’t know what happened to that Goa’uld, but the humans triumphed over the Unas and turned the tables.

Yeah, this is so like “North Star”.

Burrock takes them to see Chaka, who recognizes Daniel immediately. (Aww!) But Burrock won’t let Jackson “have him back”… and I don’t think he and O’Neill are going anywhere. These guys have got zats.

(Hey, Carter? Teal’c? Now might be a good time to show up. Frankly, though, I’m not sure how thrilled these people will be to see a Jaffa… if they’re familiar with them.)

Hey, convenient! They’re sitting right there watching through binoculars. They’re waiting for a signal.

O’Neill gets the idea that maybe they just need to offer something in return, but Chaka seems pretty agitated – maybe even feeling betrayed? – that Daniel’s leaving him.

Outside, Burrock insists that they give him two Unas of the same line for Chaka.

Away from the others, we have a nice little Jack and Daniel practicality versus idealism debate. Jackson’s convinced there’s a way to save Chaka, but it might be easier said than done.

They go back up to where Carter and Teal’c are and O’Neill tells them the plan – tonight, they’re going to break Chaka out, and she and Teal’c are to provide cover as they do so. They hope to not hurt anyone in the process.

I just gotta say, it kills me and sends shivers up my spine every time I see one of the people hit an Unas with a pain stick. They seem like pretty tough fellows but I just remember what the pain stick did to Teal’c and… eurgh! They’re nasty weapons! I cringe every time. Frankly, I don’t think these guys are being much better than the Goa’uld – thinking of the Unas as so much lower than them that they can simply be enslaved.

That evening, Jack and Daniel move in, and break the lock on Chaka’s cell, but Chaka won’t leave without the others, who have been “marked for death”. (Thank goodness you’ve been studying that language, Danny boy.)

Carter stays behind, but Teal’c moves in closer as the villagers approach. They apprehend our SG guys and zat them.

The next day, Jackson and O’Neill are in prison cells, and Daniel gets Chaka (who’s a cell over) to toss him the radio. He tells Teal’c and Carter they’re both fine, and Carter says that she and Teal’c are being pursued by a search party. They’ll try to bring back help, though.

And all the Unas are learning from Chaka..! (Hey man, knowledge is power.) The other Unas seem to have recognized him as their passage to freedom, and have unanimously chosen him as their leader… and right here is where I’d love to have some insight from Teal’c. Right here.

Jack’s not too optimistic, though: “Trust me, Daniel, a whole lot of people are gonna have to die around here before one Unas goes free.”

Meanwhile, Teal’c and Carter continue to try and evade the search parties, whom have gathered by the ‘Gate. Nowhere to go now!

Burrock enters the jail barn thing and he’s got a pain stick. He’ll spare them if they tell him where else the ‘Gate can go – no doubt to get more slaves. (Slimeball. MAJOR Slimeball.) When he asks Jackson why he cares so much about Chaka, Daniel finally reveals his findings: They’re not beasts. They’re sentient beings. (Ah, are you channeling your inner Captain Archer? …Nah, this is much more personal.) When he suggests that they free them, Burrock just laughs… and takes the pain stick out on O’Neill.

Teal’c sees this happen (oh yeah, things just got personal!) and he races off. No doubt thinking of his own pain at the hands of Terok… and who knows what Jerkface Apophis did to him to brainwash him.

When Jackson tries to tell Burrock to stop, he touches the stick to the metal of Daniel’s cell, and the shock is transferred to him. (Oh, oh god, I really really hate that pain stick.) And our boys? They’re pissed. But if they don’t tell Burrock what he wants to know, each morning and each night, he will kill an Unas.

And we’re back with Carter and Teal’c! Woo-hoo!

They’re now in the town, and Carter calls O’Neill on the radio, and she doesn’t think they’ll be able to get out of here, zero casualties.

Carter and Teal’c sneak around, plant some of that awesome C-4, and yup, we’ve got a diversion! While Teal’c leads off some pursuers, Carter blows the locks and the two SG and the three remaining Unas are set free. Dash to the ‘Gate!

They make it a ways, and Chaka initially seems to have an issue with Teal’c (…sigh…) but then they’re cool. They go to a seemingly unguarded gate, but sure enough, there’s an ambush waiting, and an Unas is taken down in the fight… And Chaka takes down Burrock.

Just as they’re ready to take Chaka home, Chaka expresses to Daniel that he doesn’t want to – he wishes to stay, fight, and free the others.

Final thoughts… AUGH. I really, really, really wanted some insight from Teal’c on this whole thing. Total missed opportunity if you ask me. I mean, the comparison was kind of sort of implied, even with humans being enslaved by the Goa’uld, but primarily I just feel frustrated. I felt like I was watching “North Star” again… except that that of course turned out happier than this, because Star Trek tends to end on a positive note in most things.

But I digress. This was a pretty darn good episode for Jackson and O’Neill, and of course it’s always interesting to learn more about the Unas. They’re one of the more “alien” species we’ve encountered in this series, and I confess I’m a sucker for the elaborate makeup jobs. I got totally spoiled with Deep Space Nine and even those last couple seasons of Enterprise (those Xindi were awesome) so I like… alien aliens. I get it, most of the people we meet are slaves or past slaves of the Goa’uld kidnapped from Earth and brought around, blah blah blah, but I can appreciate a good alien. I love to see that.

Other than that, I feel like I pretty much made all the points I wanted to make throughout the review. Not an incredible episode, but solid. Unas rebellion movement… I like the sound of that. Chaka’s the Teal’c of the Unas!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(Our next adventure takes us to “The Tomb”. That sounds… ominous.)

O’Neill: Well, I’m glad that we got ol’ Chaka together with his buddy to go free their people… or something…

Teal’c: It is hopefully they will be able to coexist in peace. We would not wish a war between humans and the Unas.

Jackson: I certainly agree with you there.

Carter: Hopefully they’ll use the zats.

Jackson: Yeah… So, I hear we’re off to “The Tomb”?

O’Neill: Sounds Goa’uld-ish.

(Cue cymbal crash.)

Teal’c: …Why was there suddenly that harsh sound?

Jackson: It means Jack was trying to make an amusing pun.

(Carter facepalms, but Teal’c just lifts an eyebrow.)

O’Neill: What? I’m dying to find out!

"Rite of Passage" ( 5 x 06 )

Sounds like a teenager kind of thing. Or something like that.

Guess I’ll just wait and see, huh?

OH YES IT IS.

You know how I know?

Because the first shot in the episode is a birthday cake that says “Happy Birthday Cassandra” and it has fourteen candles on it. But I think she’s like sixteen now.

We’re at Dr. Fraiser’s house (er, should I just call her Janet in this case? Haha) and Carter has joined them. Cassie is now a thoroughly bratty teenage girl and wants to go out with her boyfriend (or whatever), Dominic.

Out on the porch, he gives her a prism (aww!) and it’s very sweet and all and they go to kiss and awww young love!

…And then the lights explode.

And Cassie collapses.

(Wait, that’s not supposed to happen when you kiss someone! Even if you’re an alien!)

In the infirmary back on base (hey, side note, I just saw the opening credit, and the girl who played Ally in “Bane” is playing Cassie here!), Cassandra’s got a high fever and some sort of retrovirus. However, she starts to regain consciousness, and starts to talk about… forests. And stuff. And the lights flicker again.

At the Hangout, SG-1 (minus Daniel… where is he?), Fraiser, and Hammond discuss what’s going on. Fraiser can’t quite figure out how this virus is spreading, only that it is, and it has the potential to be life threatening. Jackson joins them (there he is!) and says that SG-7, when they had been on her world back during “Singularity”, had witnessed similar symptoms in teenagers there.

(Nirrti, I see you smirking in the background!)

So SG-1 decides to go back to P8X-987 and try to find whatever cured the kids there and bring it back to Cassie.

It’s nighttime when they enter the forest, and they find a glowing handprint on a tree. (Fringe? Oh wait…) When Jackson touches the handprint, a fire springs up, and of course the two closest are… O’Neill and Teal’c.

(Adventure tiiiime!)

They find themselves in some kind of underground laboratory, and shortly thereafter they are joined by Carter and Daniel. The latter thinks that this place certainly must have something to do with the curing of the “mind fever”. O’Neill thinks it unlikely that Nirrti would help any of these kids, but that instead she was conducting some kind of experiment.

Carter brings back a sample from the planet, but Cassie’s situation is worsening. She mouths off terribly to Janet, and I really think this is the illness talking. Oh boy.

She’s been put in quarantine, and there’s seemingly no stopping this virus. Carter and Janet tell her of their Nirrti-experiment-theory, but the truth is, they don’t really know what to do.

Back on 987, O’Neill and Teal’c uncover some kind of device, and there’s a classic moment:

O’Neill: (Holding up the device) “What’s this for?”

Teal’c: “What do you think it is for?”

Uh… awkward, hehe.

Meanwhile, Daniel tries to figure out some more of Nirrti’s handy little notes, and the rings activate… but there’s no one there. (Ooo, spooky!)

…And we get the impression they’re being watched…!

The three guys go back to base, and Carter’s sat down to a game of chess with Cassie. But Cassandra doesn’t seem too optimistic right now.

“I’m changing into something. And there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

(Now what does that sound like, Miss Ally? …Oh, oops, wrong character.)

…And then she demonstrates what she means. She apparently has telekinesis now. (Whoa, nice.) But Carter reassures her that she doesn’t think anything different of her.

In the Hangout, Jack proves that he really does know something about magnets when he explains just how Cassie can move those pieces around. (Huh, that makes sense. Way to go, Jack! I always knew you were smarter than you let on.) But it gets better. A word Daniel hadn’t known (but Teal’c helped him out here) – hok’tar – really means “Advanced human”.

…So Nirrti wanted to have SUPERHUMANS so she could have a SUPERHOST and be a SUPERGOA’ULD!

Cassie, however, may be the first to actually succeed in this transformation.

Cassandra now tells Janet that she wants this to happen. But Janet tells her daughter she needs to fight this, rather than simply accept it. But will she take her advice?

Personally, I think Carter would be more likely to accept this sort of change than Cassie’s mom… primarily because, well, Janet’s her mom (adoptive mom, whatever) and it’s just maternal instinct to not want anything to befall your kids. Carter, on the other hand, was host to a Tok’ra for a time and I think better understands something like this – having some weird abilities. But we’ll see what happens.

…And some invisible force is typing into the keyboard..!

Speaking of instincts… When Carter joins her, Cassie asks the major why she didn’t leave her back in “Singularity” when the bomb was supposed to go off inside her. She then says that she has the same instinct that everything’s going to be okay with this. And indeed, Carter says she understands, and she’ll be here. (Aww… She’s so sweet!)

…And an invisible something goes into Fraiser’s office…

What the..?

No. No. That can’t be who I think it is.

..Okay, who are the only Goa’uld who can turn invisible?

The creeper, and… Nirrti.

I hate where this is going.

Cassie says that she saw (or rather, felt) a Goa’uld’s presence, and when SG-1 rushes into the infirmary, we find out that Cronus was the one holding her prisoner after “Fair Game”.

Cronus is dead.

Nirrti’s free.

To quote my favourite Colonel, “Aw, crap!”

She’s apprehended in the infirmary, and O’Neill gets her with a zat.

Way to go Jack.

They put her in a holding cell and Nirrti’s willing to play hardball – she’ll save Cassie if they let her go… with her invisibility device… and a sample of Cassandra’s blood.

See, this is why I hate the Goa’uld. They’re always pickin’ on the kids.

Cassie’s condition continues to worsen, and her fever’s up to 106. Ooohh man.

At the Hangout, Jack wants to do the bargain with Nirrti. The way he sees it, it’s just one more Goa’uld – they’ll take her down eventually. Hammond disagrees, and Teal’c… agrees with Hammond.

Hold on a second. I’m having the same reaction as Jack. “What?!”

All right, Teal’c, I know you’ve got the whole logical-needs-of-the-many thing going on here, but that seems just a little bit out-of-character. He goes on to say that just the information Nirrti possesses “would be worth the life of one”.

T, you’re killin’ me here!

Fraiser storms in on Nirrti (ooo, you do NOT mess with Mom!), pulls a gun on her, and… whoa. SG-1 and Hammond come in and the general tells Janet that he’s been convinced: They’ll go through with the deal. When Nirrti says that his word “isn’t enough,” he tells her this:

“Then I should remind you that the woman holding the gun on you is Cassandra’s mother.”

And at last she agrees.

She goes into the infirmary with a healing device (nice we still keep that around) and reluctantly takes care of her part of the bargain. And now we gotta do our thing.

So Nirrti goes out through the ‘Gate, leaving O’Neill a little smirk and a strange sense of foreboding. But we’ve succeeded. Cassie’s fine again, and it’s a happy ending.

How’s that for a birthday?

Final thoughts… Well, we got one more Goa’uld running around. That kind of stinks. But at least Nirrti’s not a total “YOU WILL BE MY FIRST JAFFA” creeper like Hathor. Eeurgh. Thank god she’s dead. But Cassie’s alive and well. That’s good, right?

There are a few problems we run into here, though. Nirrti apparently intends to resume her experimentation on humans, trying to make the hok’tar a reality. There’s still the possibility that she will succeed. And besides, how many victims don’t survive the experiment? At first I wasn’t inclined at all to agree with Teal’c (there’s no guarantee they could get anything out of her, anyways, in which case Cassandra’s death would have been for nothing) but there may have been some merit to his claims. Frankly, though, I don’t think that Janet would have pulled that gun off of Nirrti anytime soon – like I said, you don’t challenge a mom when it comes to her kid! Really a great moment, if not somewhat seemingly out-of-character, for our lovely Doctor Fraiser.

I’m also curious as to how the Tok’ra will react to this… presuming that we tell them, after all. The SGC had a Goa’uld prisoner. I’m pretty sure the Tok’ra won’t be too thrilled to find out that we let her go. It doesn’t seem they hold the same value of an individual life as most of us do… or perhaps they are merely not as influenced by their emotions as we are. Maybe the whole attachment thing is kind of Tau’ri.

In any case, it was neat to see Cassie again (still laughing over the fact that she was played by the same girl who played Ally – oh, the irony) and especially to see her interactions with Janet. Sadly I believe this is her last appearance in the series, but I always wished they’d given Cassandra at least a cameo here or there, being Janet’s adoptive daughter and all. I dunno. Just a thought.

I guess that’s why we have fan-fiction!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(Anyone notice I’m starting to use first names more often?)

Sam: Uh, yeah, it’s kind of weird. Except for me.

Daniel: I agree, it’s weird. Especially when you say, “Jack and Jackson”… “Jack and Daniel” just has a better ring to it.

Jack: But when you put me in the same sentence as Teal’c it’s usually “O’Neill”.

Teal’c: Perhaps that is because that is what I call you.

Jack: Well, your name’s never changed.

Sam: Uh, sir, I think in the first blog she wrote she frequently referred to him as “the snakeheaded alien” or something.

Daniel: Yeah, and she also misspelled “Jaffa” as “Jaffra” and it looks like the word she used was “snakehead-suited-aliens”. And she capitalized the “C” in Teal’c’s name.

Jack: Didn’t she say she was an English major?

Teal’c: I believe she did, O’Neill.

Marie: WILL YOU GUYS LAY OFF?!

"Red Sky" ( 5 x 05 )

We start off with SG-1 literally tumbling through the ‘Gate (not landing on their feet like they all usually do) and Carter thinks it’s because they had to override some things back home to get a lock. Daniel, meanwhile, thinks that this could be an Asgard-protected planet. (Hey! Neat!) 

A group of natives approach them, and of course their leader has got the whole “He’s an enemy of the gods” thing goin’ for Teal’c, but then O’Neill sticks up for his buddy.

“Not anymore. Thor loves this guy.”

(Well, I suppose…)

The people are pretty happy that SG-1 is well-acquainted with Thor (okay, that’s a good sign), since Freyr (the god/Asgard of this planet, I assume) is their protector, and those two are both Asgard. Everyone seems pretty nice, except for this one guy, Malchus, who pretty much tells them all to leave.

And then… something weird happens.

The sky turns red.

(Huh, anyone reminded of “The First Commandment” (1x06)?)

Malchus comes back and immediately tells SG-1 it’s their fault. Oh man.

Elrad believes that this is the “will of the gods”, and they all go off to a temple to pray. So while Carter and Teal’c go back to get some better scans with the MALP, Daniel and Jack see if they can get in touch with the Asgard.

As they enter the temple, Malchus and Elrad plan on going to the Hall of Wisdom to speak to Freyr, and Jackson and O’Neill join them. They all find themselves in a hall of sorts, and once again, we get a hologram telling them that they basically… need to be brave.

Great. Another recording. And they’re transported back.

Back in the temple, O’Neill tries to convince the people that perhaps this is just a test, but Malchus won’t hear it, and he storms out, everyone following.

They reconvene with Teal’c and Carter, and Carter thinks that the wormhole getting here passed directly through this planet’s sun, and when they bypassed the safeties, they created some kind of shift with the wormhole.

Carter, Jackson, and O’Neill (no Teal’c this time; we wouldn’t want him getting into any sort of trouble with the Asgard tech) now enter the Hall of Wisdom, and are again greeted with the manly hologram. Carter “pulls the plug”, as it were, and the actual Freyr appears. O’Neill admits that they’ve maybe caused a little issue and might need some help fixing up. However, in the process, he inadvertently insults the Asgard as a whole and… yeah, not a good idea, Jack. It’s ultimately Carter who tells Freyr what happened, and he doesn’t seem happy that they bypassed protocols to get a lock here, and tells them basically that the people here are screwed.

“It is not the Asgard’s responsibility to undo every error you make with technology that is advanced beyond your knowledge.”

However, Freyr does hook O’Neill up with the Asgard High Council, using that wonderful hologram communication technology. He speaks first with Chief Archon, and the Asgard echoes what Freyr said – they can’t help. O’Neill fairly points out that the Asgard are already interfering – the K’tau people think that they’re gods.

“Look, we made a mistake. A big mistake. And we’re very, very sorry. But we also saved your little grey butts” (Yes, you read that correctly) “from the Replicators, and now we want your help.”

Ah, Jack diplomacy…

But Archon explains that they still can’t. Part of their treaty with the Goa’uld says that they can’t advance the world in question in any technological way. If they did, they would be violating the treaty, and all the treaties would be nullified – including the one protecting Earth.

Well. That would be bad.

“Good luck, Jack, and see ya!”

They head back to the ‘Gate, and Carter thinks that if they can introduce even heavier, more stable elements into the sun, they could stabilize it, and save the K’tau people.

She goes back, and they plan to put the element on a rocket, launch the rocket into the sun, and then poof! No more red sky. It’ll take about three weeks, though…

…And three weeks later…

The rocket is in progress, just about ready to go out. Just as the last shipment comes through…

…the rocket blows up.

CRAAAAP.

O’Neill goes after Malchus after he finds out that two members of SG-6 are dead, as well as two of the K’tau people. And the rocket? Gone for good. Elrad convinces Jack to take his gun off of Malchus, and he reluctantly does.

O’Neill’s ready to get out of here and just forget about it, but Jackson convinces him that this place is still worth saving. He thinks that they could try to convince the people to relocate, and since they still have the super-heavy element, maybe they could still do something…

Daniel fails in his attempt to get them to move, but they won’t hear it. Jack even steps up with the “THEY’RE NOT GODS” argument, but if anything, it just antagonizes them further. Personally, I think that Jack must sound like a crazy man up there, like one of those guys off of Ancient Aliens, and I don’t see how he could possibly hope to convince them. The Asgard have been nothing but benevolent. Why believe otherwise? Jackson just hangs his head in shame as Jack prattles on, and Elrad finally asks them to just leave.

But Carter’s got one more trick up her sleeve. She thinks they can send the element through the Stargate to K’tau, but shut down the ‘Gate just in time to have the Maclarium stop in the sun, instead of on the planet.

So what do they do? They give it a whirl… and hope for the best.

They go back to the planet, and… well, the sky’s still red.

…Waiting, waiting… nothing yet…

Jackson goes to tell them “goodbye, the end is here” (mmm, hold on Daniel!)…

…and then the sun comes back to normal!

Teal’c thinks that the Asgard may have covertly interfered, and Carter and O’Neill concur. Maybe they used the launch of the element to cover their own actions. But as Daniel says, we’ll never really know for sure.

But hey! We saved the planet! That’s something to celebrate!

Final thoughts… Ah, yes. Another “all we did is show up and we screwed up the entire planet”. Just like “Thor’s Hammer”, “One False Step”… And, y’know, it might take a while, but things usually turn out okay. Well, all right, that whole thing on Cimmeria with Heru’ur (A DEAD FALSE GOD) could’ve turned out better, but hey, we got to meet the Asgard for the first time! And that was awesome!

Very interesting little ordeal we had here with a couple different concepts. I found what Freyr (and other Asgard for that matter) had to say in the whole “false god” idea. They had desired to assist this world, but couldn’t do so directly, so they more or less masqueraded as the gods of the K’tau original beliefs and just hang onto that until they were ready to know the truth. It’s a very different rationalization that the Goa’uld, who rule through fear and intimidation rather than as a truly protective entity. In truth, they’re really a lot less invasive than the Goa’uld in the societies they’re involved with. It does raise the question how many of their protected civilizations are privy to the knowledge of what the Asgard actually look like… but I suppose in the end it doesn’t really matter. God; alien; whatever. Might be a little peeved at first to find out they’ve been lurking behind a façade, but in the end I think I’d be grateful at the least!

I’d like to believe that the Asgard honestly and truly desired to help the K’tau people. They simply could not risk the collapse of all treaties with the Goa’uld in order to do that (you know, the whole “needs of the many” thing). At the same time, though, I wouldn’t doubt if they had perhaps given that Maclurian element a little nudge into the sun if Carter had been just a little bit off. (“Sshh, no one will know!” Wink wink, nudge nudge.) As we’ve seen, they can be kind of sneaky in a roundabout sort of way. But that’s what makes them awesome.

“You’ve gotta love those guys!”

Overall, a pretty good episode. Especially good work from RDA. I loved that scene with him and the Asgard Council, and his little shpeal to the K'tau about what the Asgard really are, haha. He really is a great actor.. there's a reason his name is "above the title"!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY:

(As of this writing, I have survived my first-ever university exam!! YAAAY!!!)

O’Neill: What’d ya have to do?

Carter: Quantum mechanics?

Jackson: Translate an alien text?

Teal’c: Defeat a First Prime in combat?

O’Neill: Convince a group of bureaucrats to keep your team together?

Carter: Stop a black hole from sucking in the planet?

Jackson: Persuade an extremely advanced race to spare another?

Teal’c: Battle a false god to the death?

Marie: Er… Actually, it was just a multiple-choice exam over some basic Sociology concepts.

(Everyone stares.)