Stargate SG-1 Minicaps / Season 2, Eps. 9-12

The Stargate SG-1 Season Two Minicaps reminds you to wear plenty of bug blocker for those pesky alien bugs.

Stewart here…

Let’s just make this quick: Teal’c has rescued his family, we found with Daniel that you need to say “no” to sarcophaguses besides drugs, and Carter’s Tok’ra possession has left her with some surprising new abilities and knowledge of the Goa’uld. And O’Neill has had the crap knocked out of him more than once. Just another day at the office for SG-1, I guess. So, back to it then…

“Secrets”

While O’Neill and Carter head to a ceremony in Washington, Daniel and Teal’c return to Abydos to see Sha’re’s dad. There they discover Sha’re, not quite possessed by the Goa’uld inside her, mostly because she’s pregnant with Apophis’ child/next host body! Not that the rest of SG-1 have it easier with Carter’s dad and a reporter who could expose the whole Stargate program. There’s a lot going on for the whole team this episode, along with some setups for the future.

“Agh! You suck at knife throwing!”

–Well, that’s a odd note to leave that nosy reporter storyline on, with him being hit and killed by a car. You think O’Neill believes that it was just an accident?

–Our first meeting of Jacob Carter, who is suffering from lymphatic cancer. It’s not like this will be important later on (actually it will, just read below for that).

–So this is another carryover from the Stargate movie, with the actor playing Sha’re’s father appearing in the same role here.

–A slight dig on the movie comes with O’Neill making that remark about not being listed as “O’Neil” in that reporter’s article, because that guy has no sense of humor. Kinda harsh there.

–We will see Sha’re again (both possessed and not) in a pivotal episode in season three.

“Bane”

Teal’c discovers this episode that alien bug bites suck. After running into a bug on a deserted alien city, Teal’c is affected by the bite as its rewriting his DNA. And even worse, if the team doesn’t retrieve a sample from one of those bugs, Teal’c could birth a lot more of these nasty things on Earth. Man, and you thought bee stings sucked.

“You have been hosed, Daniel Jackson.”

–Leave it to Maybourne and his NIB to screw things up by trying to take Teal’c away to be experimented on, leading to him escaping their custody.

–We learn how Teal’c got that tattoo on his head. It’s carved into his head and the scarring is filled with hot gold. Ow.

–Teal’c brief subplot with little girl Ally had a fun payoff in the revived Teal’c bringing her a bigger super soaker as thanks. Also, Daniel getting sprayed with Teal’c’s super soaker was apparently an ad libbed moment.

–“General Hammond, request permission to beat the crap out of this man?” Please, Hammond, grant O’Neill’s (and our) dream of punching Maybourne.

–“I hate to say it, sir, but this planet may have a giant pigeon problem.”

“The Tok’ra”

Following up Carter’s Goa’uld possession earlier this season, we dig further into the memories of that Tok’ra symbiote and find a clue that leads SG-1 to the current Tok’ra hideout. While there’s suspicion between both groups about starting an alliance against the System Lords, the Tok’ra have a current problem in needing a host body for one of their leaders. They would like Carter to be that host, but a second time around doesn’t sound all that appealing to her. Then there’s the added pressure on her of her father on his deathbed and her stuck in an underground base.

Hey, you thinking what I’m thinking? That brings us to the surprising plan: ask Carter’s dad to be the symbiote’s host! Well, they should hurry on that, because Goa’uld forces are converging on the Tok’ra base and, surprise, there’s a traitor in their ranks. This two-parter lays out some wonderful new developments for the series, and the extra length story allows for some breathing room in a story that would probably lose focus in a single episode.

Mind the rings.

–I think we can add Martouf to Carter’s Boyfriend Counter as “potential”. He’s at least interested in the symbiote that was in her anyway.

–Jacob took all that info pretty well. I mean, his daughter travels to different worlds and needs her to be the host for a parasite? Yeah, sure he’ll take the deal. Better than dying, I guess.

–Nice tech the Tok’ra have to build and dissolve a tunnel system. It’s also effective when the host of Cordesh kills himself out of guilt.

–Speaking of Cordesh (the symbiote), of course it tries to sneak away in another host body and fails.

–Aw, Hammond gets a bit to do this episode checking in on the dying Jacob and trying to dole out advice to Carter. Hey, he even sends another SG team through to get her back home.

(off-screen) “Dammit, Vinnie, I told ya to board off that dissolving cave!”

–“Direct translation: ‘very cool’.”

–Possibly a meta comment on SG-1: “Yeah, we do this at least once or twice in a week.”

–“Holy Hannah!”

–“You know in some galaxies, this is called loitering.”

NEXT TIME: SG-1 tries to find a missing team on a world of mysticism in “Spirits”, O’Neill must retrieve a stolen stone to save the team in “Touchstone”, a black hole becomes a serious threat in “A Matter of Time”, and O’Neill is infected with an archive of ancient alien information in “The Fifth Race”.