So why don’t I tell you now how fabulous it really is?
PART I
The episode opens up and Carter is having some sort of really odd memory, or dream, as Jolinar, the Tok’ra she had been a host to. SG-1 figures that the dial-in she saw herself (er, Jolinar) punch into the DHD in the dream is the current location of the Tok’ra. The team decides to go to this planet and investigate, despite two rather major setbacks:
1. O’Neill still doesn’t fully trust the Tok’ra when they claim to be different than the Goa’uld.
2. Carter’s father’s cancer has taken a serious turn for the worse, but she goes with them anyways, primarily because she’s got a “feeling” about the importance of this mission. (Oh, Carter, you and your “feelings”…)
On the desert planet they come out to, the crew is more or less captured by the Tok’ra, as well as several guards, and taken to their underground tunnel system. They’re also very touchy about being called “Goa’uld”, but they are giving SG-1 a chance.
Funny thing about the Tok’ra, they have the same sort of deep voices as the Goa’uld, but even then they’re not super-creepy. Also they have nice faces instead of creeper ones, but you know, that’s all with the hosts. Also a good distinction with the directing and acting here.
One more thing: If Carter says “feeling” one more time I’m going to strangle her.
They meet Garshaw, an elaborately-dressed woman who’s apparently numero uno on the Goa’uld hit list. (I like her already.) The whole “distrust” issue is mutual. Garshaw, and Yosuf, her host, explain that the relationship between Tok’ra and host is truly symbiotic and entirely voluntary. Each shares the space and can “take over” when one or the other so chooses. The hosts live to be about 200 years old, since they do not use the sarcophagus. In fact, one host is dying, and the symbiote needs a new host.
…Hm… I know a guy dying of cancer who could probably use a little worm pick-me-up…
Anyhow, SG-1 collectively decides, “We’re not really into the whole host thing,” and the Tok’ra maybe have a bit of an issue with that. They believe that “alliance” = “being a host”. They’re also not happy about Apophis’ ships blowing up, because they had operatives on board them.
Martouf, one of the Tok’ra, goes on a walk with Carter, where she finds out that Jolinar was kind-of-sort-of… female. Well, more accurately, the symbiote doesn’t have a gender, but Jolinar always took female hosts. Well, anyways, Jolinar and Martouf, or perhaps Lantaf, the Tok’ra symbiote himself, were lovers. So, basically, Carter is feeling these conflicting feelings that she feels are affecting how she’s feeling now, since the host feels all what the symbiote feels, and vice versa. It’s like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Rejoined” all over again.
The Tok’ra council decides that SG-1 has really nothing of worth to offer them, not that’s worth the risk of exposure, but they’ll have to stay in these tunnels until the next move to a planet so the use of the ‘Gate doesn’t attract attention. SG-3 barges in and ruins all that to tell Carter that her dad is dying… So now we have eight people caught down here.
PART II
This is when the SERIOUS BUSINESS happens. Yeah!
More “feelings” from Carter! More snarky comebacks from O’Neill! More “let’s all be nice now” from Jackson! More “I can just stand here and be more awesome than all of you combined and then when I say something you know it’s going to be really important” from Teal’c!
Even as Garshaw admonishes the crew once again, she still doesn’t seem particularly cruel. Carter gets an idea, though: She might be able to convince her dad to be host to a Tok’ra. She knows he’s not one to lose a battle, and Garshaw confirms that the symbiote can cure cancer quite easily. (I see you rubbing your hands together evilly in the background, Maybourne!) The Tok’ra agrees to let Carter and O’Neill return to Earth. However, shortly after, they receive word that the System Lords (a couple of ‘em) are on the way.
…Oh man. There’s a spy!
They talk to Hammond, and even O’Neill admits there’s a very strong difference between the Tok’ra and the Goa’uld. Carter and Hammond go to talk to her dad, and they basically spill the whole story about the Stargate, Sam’s job, and that his only chance of survival lies in a little worm on another planet.
It’s crazy, but he goes with Carter and O’Neill to the ‘Gate (he’s getting around really well for a guy who’s dying), and they go through…
…Into a pretty chaotic situation. The Tok’ra are evacuating the tunnels and the two SG teams are helping them move supplies. O’Neill goes to find Garshaw while Carter takes her father to see Martouf and the symbiote which is about to save his life. However, Jacob is having second thoughts about the whole ordeal. He talks to the dying host and the Goa’uld within, Selmak. They actually connect pretty well with their mutual sort of dry humor, and he also talks with Saroosh, the host. As they learn a little more about each other, Jacob eventually decides that the benefits outweigh all the risks, and he’s not taking death as his final answer.
O’Neill talks to Garshaw and tells her she likely has a spy in her ranks: Cordesh. He saw him earlier with one of the communication spheres – a small one. They see Cordesh’s host, and he gets sucked into the crystals and that’s the end of him. Later, though, they do find Cordesh, and he’s taken a young woman now. The guards take him away, and will try to save the host, but the Goa’uld himself… he’s toast! And Garshaw’s officially accepted O’Neill as an ally. Fantastic!
Back with the Carters, just before the “blending”, we find out another thing that makes the Tok’ra different: As we saw with Sam, they enter the host through the mouth. That way it leaves no scar. The reason the Goa’uld enter through the neck is because they “don’t wish to remember the horror on their host’s face”. Cowardly jerks. Selmak enters into Jacob, and as Saroosh dies, Carter’s dad is knocked unconscious. It will be a while before he can be moved as the symbiote integrates itself and tries to heal him. Everyone else leaves, leaving only Jacob/Selmak, Sam Carter, and Martouf, who elected to stay with her.
Just in the nick of time, Jacob awakens, feeling like he’s got a major headache… but no cancer, and no other issues! He’s okay! It’s a wonderful thing! But they gotta get out of there before the Goa’uld smash the place! They do, indeed, get to the ‘Gate and head to Earth to meet up with the rest.
Selmak thanks Hammond, and then Jacob explains to the general that he is now not only better, but he also has acquired all of the Tok’ra’s knowledge as well. However, there’s no time to debrief or the like, because he, Martouf, and Garshaw need to get out of here. Carter and her father embrace and part ways, with his position as liaison and an alliance between the Tok’ra and Tau’ri in the works.
It’s a great day in the life of the SGC and everyone else. And now I’m just grinning like a fool.
Final thoughts... “Holy Hannah!”
Heck of an episode!! In terms of actual action, there wasn’t really much. We didn’t have a huge firefight, there were no epic ship explosions, but the plot and characters just took a major U-turn. Or, at least a left or right turn. I said this after Jolinar’s first appearance, but it still stands true: This changes pretty much everything we thought we knew about the Goa’uld. The Tok’ra are like what the Goa’uld could’ve been, but never were. We have two factions of largely the same species who took very different paths, and I’m very excited to see what will happen when a System Lord and a Tok’ra come face to face.
Secondly, Jacob Carter is incredible. I love his sort of dry humour, and his smile just screams that he was a charmer in his prime. He’s a very funny character and, I don’t know, I just really like him. I would’ve never imagined he would be a Tok’ra host, but it suited him surprisingly well.
After a bit of thinking I figured it made sense. He was on his proverbial and literal last leg. He was given a chance to not only live, but save another life, and also become a very important figure not only for his country but for his whole planet. Jacob seems like a pretty practical guy and I think this is going to work out well for him.
There’s an interesting scene between Garshaw and Teal’c, though brief, where each expresses admiration for the other’s cause. I’m curious as to what the Tok’ra think of the Jaffa. Certainly we know that the Goa’uld have made them a slave race; completely dependent on their masters and certainly their symbiotes. The Tok’ra have said again and again they don’t take hosts involuntarily – and as we’ve seen from Carter and Jolinar, they can leave. I know they affect Jaffa differently, targeting the immune system more, but still… Excited to see how all that plays out.
One aspect I’m not so sure about is the whole deal with Martouf and Carter. The thing is, since the symbiote and host are so intricately, closely connected, you do have concepts like past loves in lives coming into play. It’s not like Star Trek’s Trill race, where you were supposed to cut all past connections. Tok’ra society doesn’t have that taboo. I personally hope they don’t go too far into it (like I said, I’m growing a little weary of Carter’s “feelings”) but you know, it is what it is. If you ask me, she’s interesting enough without the remnants of Jolinar.
And of course I still have to address O’Neill and Jackson.
O’Neill probably has some thinking to do. He certainly connected well with Garshaw and by the end I’d say they were pretty closely acquainted. Of course now that one of his crew’s father has a symbiote, he’s going to feel a little better about that sort of thing. However, I don’t think he’ll ever be truly comfortable with the whole idea of the symbiote – though he likely won’t have issues with any Tok’ra or their hosts in themselves.
Jackson is a whole other story. He didn’t have a huge role in this but I don’t doubt he’s thinking about Sha’re. It’s been revealed to us that a Goa’uld/Tok’ra symbiote can leave without seriously harming the host… at least, as far as I know. While the Goa’uld is parasitic and the Tok’ra truly symbiotic, it’s my understanding they’re the same species on a biological level. Amaunet did spare him once. I swear, there’s something different about her.
All in all, like I said, amazing character-building episode. Plot and everything was great. And I just love the Tok’ra. Heck, I’d be a host.
PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY:
(The crew collapses after such an exhausting day.)
O’Neill: Whew! What a day.
Jackson: Absolutely crazy.
Teal’c: Quite the ordeal.
Carter: You’re telling me.
Jackson: So, your dad’s a host now. How about that?
Carter: I can hardly believe it myself. (She laughs.) I think they’ll be good for each other, though. He’s got another chance at life and I think he’ll live it up.
Jackson: Nothing wrong with that.
O’Neill: Teal’c, I saw that little smile when the Colonel was talking just after we got through the ‘Gate.
(He looks a little surprised, but says nothing.)
O’Neill: Come on. What was that all about?
Teal’c: I suppose it was merely pleasing to see the blending had gone so well. After seeing so many forcible takeovers of hosts, it is… refreshing to finally know the Tok’ra.
O’Neill: Maybe they can help out your people some day, too.
Teal’c: (Spacing off a bit) Perhaps…
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