1x13 - Hathor
"We are the Queen of the Gods. We are the Mother of all Gods... From us, all others come."
- Hathor
General Thoughts on the Episode
We get to meet a new Goa'uld in this episode, the first female System Lord we've come across so far. While I quite like this introduction to a new face of the enemy, there are some things about this episode that do bother me a bit.
Firstly, why on earth are they dealing with this woman in such a casual way? She knows about the Stargate, she knows it's in the mountain, she knows about Ra... alarm bells, anyone? But no, that's ok - just let the strange lady onto the base and take off her restraints because the civilian thinks it's mean... Which brings me to my next point - Daniel recognises Hathor's name from Egyptian mythology and immediately recognises her connections to Ra - why on Earth did he not suspect that she is a Goa'uld? Especially due to the delivery of the big honking sarcophagus they've just had delivered to the base... They are all way too casual about her presence even before she starts breathing on everyone, and to just assume she's crazy is...well, crazy, I guess.
My other problem with this episode is the whole rape issue yet again - just like with Jack in Brief Candle, Daniel has been taken advantage of here and yet it just seems to have been casually brushed aside. He is chosen as Hathor's first Pharoah, the "beloved". In doing so, Hathor essentially drugs Daniel in order to have sex with him. Again, if this had been a man doing this to a woman, it would have been treated very differently. All that is really said on the subject when the team realise what has gone on is Jack's comment of, "Eww." Seriously? Argh, this makes me angry. But, moving on...
There are some interesting points in this episode. The sarcophagus is back for the first time since the movie. We learn that there are literally only a handful of women working at the SGC - "this man's army" indeed. This is also the first instance we see of Goa'uld mind control via something other than a symbiote taking over a host.
Jack is chosen as Hathor's first new Jaffa, which is kinda gross - I hate those pouches D: I'm glad he's able to be 'healed' in the end, but I'm not sure if that's something the sarcophagus shoyud even be capable of, should it...? I dunno.
Hathor is an interesting character. She's a Goa'uld, but we learn she is also a Queen - she can spawn more symbiotes when she has the DNA of another species to help her out with the procreation - in this case, sex with Danny-boy does the trick D: This is the first idea we've seen of how the symbiotes are produced, and it's obvious Hathor is a very dangerous enemy as she is a means for them to continue to grow and gain even more hosts. At the end of the episode we see Hathor escape to Chulak, which is an eerie thought after what we've seen of her capabilities. I do like the idea that we may be running into her again - she's rather intriguing and I did look forward to meeting her again back when I first saw this episode. I also like Suanne Braun's portrayal of her very much; she certainly has the presence of a queen:
In regards to which Egyptian goddess Hathor has chosen to assume the identity of, nothing explains to us her personality better than Daniel and Jack's little chat:
Daniel: Hathor was the goddess of fertility, inebrity and music.
Jack: Sex, drugs and rock & roll?
Daniel: In a manner of speaking.
I loved this from the moment I first heard it all those years ago, and it is still the way I think of and describe Hathor to this day! As a history and archaeology student, I find it very amusing xD
Speaking of amusing, there were a number of moments in this episode that I found rather funny. Hathor's use of 'the royal 'we'' is instantly noticable, and I do love Jack's response (even though I don't agree that he should just assume that she's crazy...):
Hathor: We are the mother of all pharoahs.
Jack: Of course we are!
Hathor getting Hammond's attention was priceless:
Hathor: You, with the crown of marble.
Jack: She... might mean you, Sir.
This literally made me laugh out loud. Ah, Hammond and his bald head, the butt of many jokes as the series progresses... The General's mesmerised smile whenever he was around Hathor was also rather sweet, the big cuddly bear that he is, bless him :)
I love how Janet and the rest of the girls decide to use their 'womanly wiles' to get themselves out of the brig:
"Ya know, using seduction wasn't in any of the AF training manuals I've ever read."
- Sam
We get some humour from Sam in these scenes too, which is always nice to see:
"Why do I feel like I'm in a 'women behind bars' movie?"
One of my favourite little scenes in the whole episode has to be when Sam knocks out Hammond with her gun:
Sam: Yeah, my career is over.
Janet: Don't worry about it - I can fix him up as good as new when this thing's over.
Sam: Great, so he can bring me up on charges.
In fact, there seem to be a lot of little Sam moments I really like in this episode, not least of which is seeing her take command (which I'll discuss a bit more later). I rather like her brief chat with hathor in the briefing room:
Hathor: You are an exceedingly beautiful woman.
Sam: Thank you, so are you.
I don't know what it is exactly about this that I like, but of course I do find myself agreeing with Hathor profusely ;) I also like the small moments we see the women chatting in the brig - it's a new view of things on the base as we've not been shown much about how the women feel about their jobs in the military up until now. I love Sam's exasperated comment, "Mama said there'd be days like this."
Character Development
Sam: As I mentioned above, we get to see Sam take command in this episode. I absolutely love seeing her take command! Her strong statement to Janet about Hathor, "I suggest we neutralise her," instantly shows us she means business. It's great to see her take charge of all the female personnel on the base; she definitely has potential for a command position of her own some day. I also love her smile as she knocks at that airman - she enjoys that way too much :p
Seeing Sam get thrown against the wall by Hathor's hand device and yet being able to get up moments later to shoot her and destroy the bath of symbiotes was just awesome! The adrenaline making her able to do such a thing after being knocked down so brutally shows just how kickass Sam really is ;D
Sam talks to Janet about always feeling like 'the girl' in her team (which, of course, she is,but we know what she's getting at). I think what she says here helps illustrateies the insecurities she definitely felt early on, and the need to prove herself to the men at the SGC:
"I can't figure out how to feel like 'one of the guys' with these guys, you know what I mean? I always feel like I'm 'the girl'."
I really do think it's just her seeing herself like this by this point, as she has already more than proving herself to the rest of SG-1 at least, but I'm glad to see that after this episode that part of Sam is pretty much left behind as she really does find her place in her team, in the military and as a woman (without having to be super-annoying-feminist all the time).
Janet: We learn that Janet has an ex-husband (a rather chauvanistic one at that!).
Sam/Janet: There are some nice moments between these two throughout the episode. They still refer to each other as 'Captain' and 'Doctor' at this point, but there is certainly a friendship growing between the two, as is evident is their discussions during their time in the brig, and the way they work together. It's nice to see that they'll both be receiving a commendation medal for their work during the Hathor situation, and how pleased they both are with this :)
Daniel: Even when he is under Hathor's influence, we still see a bit of the caring Daniel we know and love shine through, when he asks Hathor to "show mercy" to Sam.
Sam and Jack Goodness
There's a few little moments between our beloved Captain and Colonel in this episode. It's always rather cute seeing Sam trying not to laugh at Jack's lame jokes, and here we see that again as he makes a crazy lady joke and she attempts to hide a discreet little laugh :)
As Sam opposes to Hathor being kept "comfortable" on the base, and she can't seem to reason with Hammond, she immediately turns to Jack, despite the fact Hammond outranks him:
Sam: Colonel O'Neill--
Hammond: I am in command of this facility, Captain Carter, not Colonel O'Neill, is that understood?
Sam: But,Sir--
Hammond: Understood?
She then again turns to Jack, asking if he's going to back her up on what she is trying to say, and gives Hammond satisfied nod when Jack says, "Yes, Captain," before realising of course that he is acting almost as strange as the General.
Jack gives Sam a comforting pat on the shoulder as he tells her to "relax" after hearing her concerns about Hathor. Of course, he is still under Hathor's influence at this stage, so we can't really see it as anything other than him trying to get her to drop it.
It is sam's turn to rescue Jack in this episode, after finding him in Hathor's bath awaiting a symbiote. She speaks comfortingly to him as they get him out of the tub, and once he is free of Hathor's control sam tells him that it's good to have him back.
Of course, a rather tasty telling scene is the moment sam wants to check Jack's stomach after coming out of the sarcophagus:
Sam: Colonel?
Jack: Yeah?
Sam: Do you mind if I have a look?
Jack: At what?
Sam: You were, um... Uh... Let's just say you were wounded. *checks his stomach* Wow, that's a miracle.
Jack: Crunches.
LOL! Just love how Jack assumes Sam's checking out his rather handsome physique, and she definitely takes way longer than necessary to have a good look at his stomach here if you ask me... ;)
When Hammond tells Carter she'll be receiving a commendation medal for her actions, Jack looks proud of her as he tells her, "Nice job," and Sam just can't contain that cute little smile of hers :)
Fic Recs
Nightmares by Rachel500 (Aftershocks I, Ch. 13) - Daniel deals with the aftermath of Hathor's treatment of him, with a little help from his understanding team mates.
Fortnight by Denise - What if the episode didn't end the way it did? Instead, Sam managed to shut the gate down just in time and put the base on lockdown, meaning they are all stuck there along with Hathor...
From Perdition's Flame by Denise - an AU story; what if Hathor had escaped the SGC with Sam as her prisoner? Nominated in the 2004 Media West Fan Q Awards.
Denise's stories really are fantastic, and I recommend fans of Stargate fiction (especially Sam/Jack fans) to take a look at her many great works over on the Emerald City section of the Jackfic site. I'm a big fan of her writing, and I'll be linking any of her stories that tie into episodes as I do these reviews.