Stargate SG-1: The Enemy Within

• Release Date: 1st August 1997
• Season 1
• Episode 3
• Director: Dennis Berry
• Writers: Brad Wright

The first episode after the pilot and setting up that there are many worlds out there…and it doesn’t feature any gate travel at all. However, it does make one thing quite clear: SG-1 is a lot more serialised than a lot of other shows at the time, with this episode dealing with the consequences of the pilot: Kowalski getting taken over by a Gou’ald and Teal’c now being at Stargate Command. 

Earth is also under attack at this time, with the Stargate opening on a regular basis. Luckily, SGC have a device called an Iris – a titanium covering that prevents any matter from forming when coming out, with Jack and Daniel discussing the rather grim (put painless) fate if anything coming through is a living being – although Teal’c later suggests that they’re being bombarded with weapon and will presume they worked after a while and move on.

With the Gou’ald being an infant, it can’t take over Kowalski instantaneously, only controlling him for short periods of time, making Kowalski kill a doctor and attempt to leave through the Stargate. He eventually gets found out and tied up on some kind of surgical bed – the plan being to try and cut it out of Kowalski (after attempting to negotiate with the Gou’ald). However, the rather annoying Colonel Kennedy from the Pentagon wants to leave it inside Kowalski to try and get information out of it.

Meanwhile, Kennedy is also overseeing Teal’c, asking him questions about Gou’ald technology – something Teal’c can only offer little about as knowledge of “Gou’ald magic” is forbidden. He does pledge allegiance to Earth – or Tau’ri as Teal’c calls them – the birthplace of man, once thought long gone. Jack also drops in on Teal’c a lot and lets him know that in this country, they respect the rights of others and he argues that they can not lock Teal’c up. 

The surgery to remove the Gou’ald seems to go well, and Kowalski recovers quickly. He asks to speak to Teal’c – as testing aesthetics on his parasite led to the success of the surgery. However, it turns out to be a trap, only the shell of it was removed as the paradise itself hid elsewhere in the body. He overpowers Teal’c, activates the Stargate and tries to head out – with Teal’c standing in the way.

After a fight, Teal’c holds Kowalski’s head partly in the stargate, saying that they need to shut down the wormhole. This gives Kowalski a rather brutal death as the top of his head is vaporised, with the remains of the Gou’ald falling out. With Hammond backing him up, he’s permitted to join SG-1 and go out on missions.

It’s not what you’d expect for the first normal episode, but is effective in showing how dangerous the Gou’ald are and for setting up the more serialised nature of the show – of course, it’s still episodic, but there’s a lot that carries on between episodes.

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