“Are you suggesting an alien conspiracy?”
- Release Date: 21st June 2002
- Season 6
- Episode 3
- Director: Peter DeLuise
- Writers: Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
We start off on a cargo ship with SG-1 (including Jonas), Jacob Carter, Major Davis (I didn’t recognise him at first without his shirt) and a redshirt scientist. They’re heading to a Gou’ald mothership which appeared above Earth and has then done absolutely nothing. Jonas is quite excited to be in space for the first time as his people had only started considering the possibility. When they get closer, they realise it’s the same ship that they rescued Thor from, and that there are no lifesigns, with all the escape pods used. But there’s also no damage, it’s just… sitting there.
They decide to use the ring transporter to head over, with Teal’c and Jonas stating behind – Jonas doesn’t like this but Jack says he has a reason and doesn’t have to explain himself. As everyone else leaves, Teal’c lets Hammond know that the ship has been abandoned and they’re going to see if they can salvage it. Jonas speaks to Teal’c saying he’s heard that he only got the role on SG-1 to avoid having a Russian, but Teal’c assures him that Jack would not pick him if he wasn’t confident in his abilities.
On the mothership, the self-destruct countdown appears to have stalled. It’s still active, it’s just not shutting down. Jacob realises that Jack wants to salvage the ship and warns against it, but Jack assures him that they’ll be checking everything out before they do anything with it. They can’t exactly trust it until they know what happened. They split up to check the computer lab (which is sealed) and make sure the hyperdrive works. Redshirt scientist wants to look at the shields, but Jack says it isn’t a priority. They also keep hearing a muffled sound from the ship’s speakers.
When Carter and Davis reach the computer lab, the door is sealed and it looks like the Jaffa have tried blasting it open. They ask Jack to bring them C4, and Redshirt scientist is sent back to Jacob. As Jack blows up the door to the computer lab, Redshirt scientist decides to check out the shield generators, who ends up bumping into some Jaffa ninjas.
Carter checks the computer and confirms that this was the ship that Thor was on, and speculates that, as Thor’s mind was linked to the ship, he effectively left a virus to force the Gou’ald to abandon the ship and then to send it to Earth as a gift for them. Davis is sceptical about this and wants to dive deeper into it, especially with the sound. Carter asks redshirt scientists for help, but he doesn’t answer. Jack heads to the shields to look for him and finds his body, he calls for everyone to meet up on the bridge.
The ninjas shoot Jacob in the back then disappear. Jacob is fine, but the ship is now on a collision course for Earth, heading for the sea south of Alaska. They activate shields and dampening fields to soften the impact and head for a ring room. As Jonas prepares the cargo ship, Teal’c has to throw him out of the way when the ninja Jaffa appear, but he manages to take them out alone. However, they manage to disable the ring system on the cargo ship so the rest can’t come aboard. They’re going down with the ship.
We cut to Hammond hearing news about a “meteorite” landing in the Pacific Ocean. They’re already planning on contacting the Russians, but now expect China to start poking their noses into it. When Teal’c and Jonas turn up, Hammond lets them know that the ship is intact and they’re presuming that everyone is alive. A submarine is already being prepared to take them to it. On the way, Jonas says that he was absolutely useless on the cargo ship, but Teal’c reassures him that he will get chances to prove himself.
Everyone on the mothership wakes up and they discuss the situation. Life support is fine for now, but they’ve got no way to repair the engines. There’s also signs of structural weakness on the lower levels, meaning potential flooding. Plus the self-destruct is still attempting to count down but is stalled. Carter wants to carry on investigating the lab and Jack escorts her.
On the way, they encounter a puddle – the ship is flooding. The automated systems trap them in that section of corridor and it starts filling up with water. Jacob frantically tries to rewrite the program while it fills up. Davis suggests blowing them out, but the explosion would definitely kill them. Jacob realises he won’t be able to do anything when the muffled voice talks and the security protocol is gone, and the doors opens.
Teal’c and Jonas arrive in the sub, and Jacob tells them to check on Jack and Sam. They eventually respond on the radio that they’re all right and are baffled when Jacob says he didn’t open the door. As Teal’c and Jonas meet up with them, Carter says they need to find out what is going on and can’t just leave.
They discuss if the virus is intelligent enough that it recognised Jack and Sam and saved them purposefully. The garbled message is cleaned up and it’s Thor, repeating his message from when Jack and Teal’c were in the holding cell. Carter realises that Thor didn’t create a virus – his mind is actually in the ship. As Thor is currently not regaining consciousness, Carter wants to take his mind from the ship, although the self-destruct would start counting down again. Davis doesn’t want to destroy the ship, but it’s not in good condition and Jack would rather save Thor. As Carter prepares this, Jack tells a reluctant Jonas to escort Jacob and Davis to the submarine.
As Jack, Carter and Teal’c extract Thor’s mind and the self-destruct starts, they discover that their way back is blocked by flood. Jack orders Jacob to leave in the sub and get to a safe distance. Their plan is to fly out in a glider, but they need to reconfigure the forcefield. Jonas says there’s a panel near where they are, so heads to it while Jacob and Davis have to leave on the sub.
Jonas has to dive underwater to reach the panel and holds his breath for a very long amount of time (apparently Corin Nemec did hold his breath underwater for nearly two minutes for the stunt). As Carter says the panel she’s at can’t access the forcefield, it activates, and Jonas swims into a ring transporter, rushing to meet the rest of SG-1 before they leave. They enter the gliders and escape, with Jack thanking Jonas, as the ship explodes. Jacob lets them know they’re fine and asks about Jonas, and Jack saying that all of SG-1 are accounted for makes Jonas realise that Jack has accepted him.
It’s a fun episode involving a Gou’ald ship going wrong, and shows that Anubis isn’t quite as all-powerful and capable of fully defying the Asgard. I also like how it took until his fourth appearance for the show to properly try to integrate Jonas into SG-1, as it helps the transition a lot.
Next: SG-1: Frozen
