Overall Rating: 6.5
When this script was originally written, I am wondering if the staff intended to do more with it than they actually did. The concept of a potential ally turning against you to deprive your common enemy of your bodies (for use as hosts) had potential that should have been explored and unfortunately never was. I won't hold that against this one episode, though. The action was solid, if unspectacular, but the dialogue was pretty weak.
Plot Synopsis:
The iris protecting Earth's Stargate from attack seems to malfunction (opening without authorization), but what comes through is not hostile. In fact, it's a small child with a warning to issue. At first, Hammond and the members of SG1 do not believe the boy's claims that his mother is with him (and invisible), nor do they buy his story that she's the one who got him through the gate. Not sure whether they can trust the kid, they subject him to a thorough medical exam to look for booby traps and the like. They find, instead, that he has been genetically bred (and that whoever did the breeding got it all wrong, leaving him likely to die very soon).
With this information, the team decides to hear the boy out. O'Neill still doesn't believe in invisible mothers, but he forms a bond with the child while discussing the threat for which the boy was sent. It seems the boy's "mother" comes from a race of aliens called the Reetou. A faction of these aliens have decided that the only way to defeat the Goa'uld (who have been hunting the Reetou for years and trying to learn how they become invisible) is to kill their hosts - humans - preemptively. They organize into terror cells and attack human worlds with massively powerful (and invisible) explosives. They get a big hint that there is a presence watching over the boy when Teal'c's larval Goa'uld gets fidgety. Seeking confirmation, Hammond calls on the Tok'ra. General Carter arrives with two others form the Tok'ra High Council and they break out a new weapon (trans-phase eradication rods - TERs) and search for the Reetou, finding her immediately.
Now believing the warning to be genuine, Hammond orders SG1 to scout a planet commonly used by the Reetou rebels as a staging ground and assess the threat. The Tok'ra and SG1 arrive and discover the planet is chock full of Reetou rebels. They flee to Earth to report on the matter. While Carter and Teal'c are instlaling palm-scanners to prevent any Reetou from accessing the iris controls, Teal'c senses a Reetou - at least one rebel Reetou has followed them back to Earth. Carter initiates base lock-down mode, but the boy's mother is killed by one of the rebels. The Tok'ra advise Hammond and O'Neill that Reetou strike teams could do a huge amount of damage on Earth and they usually travel in packs of five. Airmen fan out all over the base and hunt for rebels with the TERs, eventually SG1 manages to bag all of them. Seeing the grave condition of the boy who'd delivered such a timely warning, the Tok'ra agree to take him with them and repair his genetic faults with the help of a symbiote. He and Jack say their goodbyes and additional security measures are added to Earth's iris to prevent invisible enemies from opening it just by pressing a few buttons.
Writing: 6.0
Minor beef. Harking back to one of the worst episodes in Gate history as a reason to trust only O'Neill (and later, his team)...is not going to win me over. :) The bigger problem is the mushy dialogue. Apart from a few nice exchanges between Jack and Charlie, the script is deeply lacking in skillful use of language or lines that stick with the viewer. It's a solid plot, but rather blandly executed. And it would have been better had there been follow-ups involving the Reetou, I must admit.
Acting: 8.5
RDA shines in this episode. The strong leader stuff we get to see every day. The improvised sarcastic wit is legendary is Gate fandom. The softer side of his character comes out every once in a while, too. This episode allowed him to showcase all three sides to his character, and I think he managed to breathe life in a rather flaccid script with some very understated and skillfully done facial expressions and tones of voice at just the right moments. The rest of the cast was merely typical, as I don't think they had much to work with. Amanda Tapping and Carmen Argenziano (Jacob Carter) did have one potentially "impact" moment when Jacob was shot by a rebel Reetou, but I didn't really feel like they quite "nailed it," I'm sorry to say. It just didn't strike me as all that moving.
Message: 5.0
We all wub Jack O'Neill, but beyond getting to see how excellent he is with children, the show was standard sci-fi action fare and didn't include much of a moral. Except, perhaps, that terrorists must be confronted head on and vigilance is required to meet that challenge...the rebel Reetou's insane agenda could have been dealt with a little more aggressively than it was, though. The problem with a faceless, wordless bad guy is that we never get to hear their side of the story so we can see from where the evil derives. This may be why the Reetou never made another appearance on the show.
Highlights:
JACK: Here's a question. How do we deal with an invisible enemy?
CARTER: We need a way to detect them.
TEAL'C: I have that way, Captain Carter. It seems my symbiote can sense these creatures.
JACK: OK...limited helpfulness there, Teal'c.
TEAL'C: Explain.
JACK: Can your symbiote tell us exactly how many Reetou there are, where they're standing, what weapons they have?
TEAL'C: It was not that specific, O'Neill. It merely sensed a presence.
JACK: So..limited helpfulness. (LOL)
JACK: Charlie...I owe you an apology.
CHARLIE: I wouldn't lie to you, Jack!
JACK: I know, Charlie...now. Look, I want you to do me a favor, OK? Have your mother stay in this room until I get back. We're not going to hurt you. I promise. Either of you. OK? (Jack is very sweet in the paternal role)
CHARLIE: Mother says not to cry.
JACK: Crying's OK.
CHARLIE: She says the boys of your culture do not cry.
JACK: Not true! In fact, there's an official list of reasons crying can be a good thing.
CHARLIE: Mother's leaving.
JACK: Now see, that's an excellent reason. Mom leaving is, I believe, sixth, on the list. Actually 6 is Mom says she's leaving in a coupla days, five is...Mom is leaving immediately. Four is...Mom already left. Now three...three is a huge one...
CHARLIE: She's still here. She's leaving once she has told you everything that can help.
JACK: She's not taking you with her?
CHARLIE: She wants to leave me here with my own kind.
JACK: Well, for what it's worth, I think she's right. I think you should stay here...be with kids like you.
CHARLIE: I think I belong with you, Jack.
JACK: Charlie...before she leaves, do you think your Mom could tell us where to find these rebel Reetou?
CHARLIE: She says she'll show you the address.
JACK: That'd be great.
CHARLIE: Jack? Could I be your son for a while?
JACK: (long awkward pause) I don't know, Charlie; I don't think you'd want that.
CHARLIE: Yes I do. You'd be great. I can tell.
JACK: Tell you what...let's deal with these Reetou...then we'll talk. OK?
CHARLIE: OK (lots of pathos in this scene, though the words aren't all that mind boggling)
HAMMOND: (after hearing the report from the recon mission in which SG1 pinged about a zillio Reetou with TERs) So you would say threat assessment is high.
JACK: Oh yeah.
CARTER: There were a lot of 'em, sir.
TEAL'C: They are indeed invisible. (LOL)
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