1x05 - The First Commandment
"I am the lord your god; there is nothing I cannot do. No one is greater than I. No one is more powerful than I."
- Jonas Hanson
General Thoughts on the Episode
As much as I love Sam as a character, and this episode provides us with a bit of her back-story, it's a pretty 'meh' episode for me overall. Nothing too outstanding takes place, imo.
We get to meet SG-9 in this episode, although they're not exactly having the best time. Their leader Captain Hanson has gone doolally, and for some reason one of his men (Baker) seems to be following suit. They kill their own team anthropologist, Franks, without a second thought, and the final team member, Lt. Connor, only just manages to escape. So, it's a pretty surprising start to an episode, when the team members don't seem to have been compromised by the Goa'uld.
One part of this episode that irritates me slightly is the show of insubordination by two junior officers. It may not take away from the feel of the episode, in fact adding to it with both Carter's and Connor's strong feelings on the situation, and even manages to add a little humour in the way Jack responds to them: "Does it say 'Colonel' anywhere on my uniform?" However, for a show that attempts to portray the USAF in as much a believable way as possible, this small section does let it down a bit.
Carter's refusal of Jack's orders to return to the SGC can be seen as fair enough - she believes she can get to Hanson due to her past relationship with him. They discuss it, and he comes around to the idea eventually. But Connor's "No, sir" just isn't justified - he is out for revenge and should know better as a military officer. For a Lieutenant and a Captain to stand up and refuse to a Colonel's orders in this way, having a lack of respect for such a superior officer - and the head of the mission, no less - is rather irritating and unbelievable in such a well-trained and important program as the SGC. Jack's response is also very lacking in believability, giving in way too easily for a special ops officer.
Anyways, moving on to lighter things ;) It is nice to have the brief explanation at the start of the ep for why there seem to be so many 'Earth-like' planets, apparently being due to the Goa'uld terra-forming so many of them before populating them with the humans taken from our planet. Guess the writers figured we'd already picked up on so many planets looking like British Columbia, eh? ;)
We get the first of many Wizard of Oz references in this episode, something we'll see again and again in the years to come. Here, Jack's "To Oz!" is backed-up later on by Sam's questioning of whether there are any "indiginous lions, tigers or bears" to worry about. I'm rather fond of these little Oz references the team drop in from time to time :)
There's a nice little nod to the god-awful MRE's the military were subjected to at that time, when nothing ever tasted like it should. Daniel's raction to the food, and playing with it in semi-disgust always makes me smile:
Daniel: This tastes like chicken.
Sam: So what's wrong with it?
Daniel: It's macaroni and cheese.
Hanson is just the right amount of crazy, making his behaviour believable enough when taking into account his personality, the 'god' image the SG teams are usually given off-world, and the 'sun sickness' making things worse.
Character Development
Sam: We get our first bit of history about Sam's personal life in this ep, as we are introduced to her ex-fiance in the form of the now-crazy Captain Jonas Hanson. We learn that she was the one to break off the engagement with him, and it's hinted that it was because of this controlling nature of his, that we see for ourselves as the episode plays out. She even tells Daniel that his actions seem familiar, as "he likes control."
I think it is safe to say that Sam was in an abusive relationship with Hanson, not necessarily in the physical sense, but definite mental/emotional abuse. This seems a little surprising at first, as Sam comes across as such a strong person - both physically and mentally - but on closer inspecton of her character (particularly as we find out more about her in later episodes), it seems entirely plausible that she could end up in a relationship like this without realising she was getting into such a mess. Her strength is still there though, as she breaks of the engagement with Hanson and has nothing more to do with him.
One sign of the abusive relationship they no doubt had at one point is in the moment when Sam gains the upper hand over Jonas in his tent. She points a gun at him, threating him in order to get hinm to cooperate, and yet he still manages to hold power over her. He speaks to her in such a manipulative way, not just in his words but the tone he uses, clearly something he's done many times before. Sam giving in so easily and letting him take the gun from her shows he is still able to hold this power of manipulation over her, and it's clear (IMO) that this is not the first time he has treated her this way:
"You had the gun. You appeared to have all the power. Yet, I was in control. That is the strength of a god."
We see something similar a little later, when he uses 'flattery' to attempt to get Sam on his side when trying to convince her to help him with the device, telling her he will make her his 'goddess'.
In other news, we see, yet again, Carter taking action when she sees someone in trouble - going off on her own knowing that she will be captured. It's good to see her determination, but it's a bit irritating, too as it shows the writers still aren't quite sure how they want this character to behave. The Sam Carter we come to know and love does not make these sort of insubordiate, rash decisions, instead being known for her meticulous way of thinking things through before taking action. Also, she would at least let her CO know where she was. So I'm glad to see this messy side of her character soon disappears.
Teal'c: He's learning to smile! Haha! Still needs a bit of work though...
Sam and Jack Goodness
There is more shippiness to this episode than it seems at first. Though it's not exactly 'shippy', I found it interesting that Jack seems to already know at least some of Sam's past relationship with Jonas Hanson, as is evident in their chat about her going with them in order to 'get to him'.
The most telling scene of this episode of course is the discussion between Daniel and Sam about Hanson and Sam's previous relationship with him. The whole thing is just priceless in it's execution! We are clearly meant to see at least some similarties between Hanson and Jack, as the camera deliberately pans to him at key points during this discussion, and even Daniel looks back at him knowingly at one point:
Daniel: Oh. What did you see in him?
Sam: I don't know. I guess I've always had a soft spot for the lunatic fringe. He was...he was charming.
Daniel: That's good, charming is good.
Sam: I don't know. I should be more surprised by this than I am, but I'm not. You know, he had this in him, Daniel. Too many years of Black Ops.
Daniel: Well that's typical of are government's evaluation of solders. The crazier they are, the more extreme situation they seem to be put in to.
Jack too is charming, and apparently part of that 'lunatic fringe' seeing as we're shown a clear shot of him as Sam says this ;) Of course, Jack also has many years of Black Ops under his belt as well. This ties in well with Daniel's statement about the crazier the officer the more extreme the missions they are given - he even looks to Jack as he talks about this, clearly thinking about the suicide mission Jack was sent on during their initial trip to Abydos. Sam doesn't yet know about this part of Jack's history, his near-suicide and all, so does not see him in the same way that Daniel does at this early stage.
Other nice little moments include Jack's face as Hanson back-hands Sam - boy, is he pissed! Also, their little chat at the end is nice, and shows us a glimpse of the concern Jack has for his 2IC as he is able to comfort her with his words (Sam's teary-eyed appreciation and Jack giving her Hanson's Bible to keep are nice touches):
Sam: I had the chance to end this, Colonel; he literally asked me to do it.
Jack: Killing a man is no badge of honour, Captain.
Sam: I know.
Jack: Look, I'm no expert on this thing. I generally read one commandment, and I think it's the first.
Sam: 'I am the Lord your God, and you shall take no other gods before me'?
Jack: Okay, so it's not the first one. I'm talking about the 'no killing' one. No matter what the reason, every time you break it, you take one step closer to Hanson.
Sam: Thanks.
Jack is talking from experience here, and he knows all too well how killing mercilessly chips away at your soul over time. It's almost as though he is trying to safeguard Sams innocence just that bit longer, while he still can, as he knows better than anyone that over time the job they're in, with killing on the front line, means you can never go back to the way you were in the days you started out in the military. This is Sam's first glimpse at Jack letting her in on his more personal thoughts and feelings, the acts he's had to commit in his past that help make up the man he is today.
Fic Recs
Moving On by polrobin (Embrace me series, Ch. 2) - This is a gorgeous little piece that shows Sam coming to terms with what has happened to Hanson, and Jack's way of helping her through it. Fantastic episode tag.
Gods and Monsters by polrobin (Campfire Stories, Season 1, Ch. 5) - Set during the episode, this missing scene has Jack and Sam discussing her past and how they need her in this mission.
Talking Strategy by Rachel500 (Aftershocks I, Ch. 5) - Each of Sam's team mates in turn attempt to get her to open up about her feelings following the events in 'The First Commandment'.
Thank you to Ikorni for the banner :)