04x19 Prodigy Recap
In which Sam meets an annoying mini version of herself and Jack pisses off the wrong type of bees.
Prodigy Transcript Here
We open with a shot of the Earth’s point of origin dramatically backlit on the SGC galactic map. Jack’s heading to General Hammond’s office to complain about his upcoming ‘ridiculous’ mission. Sadly for Jack, he was off-world for the memo that the General Ryan (AKA Big-Ass Four Star and Real Life USAF Chief of Staff) would be making a cameo. Luckily, Ryan seems to like him.
Ryan and Hammond lay out their hopes for a permanent off-world research station. Jack asks the question that establishes why only half of SG-1 is going on this Very Important Mission; turns out Carter’s working on the other half of the plot giving an astrophysics lecture at the academy and Daniel was originally supposed to direct this episode is too busy with SG-11.
Scene ends with General Ryan giving Hammond a cutesy (in a big buff AF Chief of Staff way) commiseration over having to deal with Jack.
Next, we get to geek out to Carter’s whiteboard math of doom. After she confuses the cadets with talk of ten dimensions and reassures them she knows how they feel, she ends on a not-so-subtle high note about the future. Everyone’s impressed except the snippy-looking blonde cadet.
After the lecture, the cadet undiplomatically points out an error in the whiteboard squiggles, and gets a verbal smack down from Professor Monroe for her trouble. But she’s captured Carter’s attention because she’s correct.
Cue opening credits. I’m going to pause here for a second to drool over Daniel as it’s the only chance I’m going to get this episode.
...
Damn. It’s Season Four, so instead there's the big scary Egyptian whatever-it-is. Sigh.
Moving on.
Jack and Teal’c arrive at a camp, and judging by the gas giant and two moons high in the sky, it’s the off-world one mentioned earlier. Sunglasses!Jack greets Major Griff and receives a fabulously sarcastic report on how thrilling the assignment is. Highlights: Doctor Thompson has lost his glasses (which is probably for the best because he won’t see what’s coming) and the electron microscope has broken down. Jack relieves Griff, only to be interrupted by Doctor Hamilton, who I believe has more right to be snippy than Hailey due to the poor actor being named Hrothgar.
Hamilton’s upset at still being short the generator parts he requested and Griff gleefully hands him over to Jack. Hamilton shows how deeply in touch he is with how the SGC runs by not knowing who Jack is. Similarly, he doesn’t seem to grasp that ‘alien’ is often a synonym for ‘you-don’t-know-squat-about-this-and-it-may-kill-you-for-it’. Good thing this episode will give him a field lesson.
At the academy, Carter is visiting a General Kerrigan. The general is unsurprised that Hailey has caught Carter’s attention. Hailey reminds him of Carter in intelligence if not in attitude. Hailey’s SATs were higher than Carter’s (dispelling a fanon myth that Carter scored a perfect 1600), but she has discipline problems. She’s a good shot and a good pilot, but she’s bored and if she keeps on insisting on doing things her way... Carter wants to talk to her, which is what Kerrigan was angling for all along.
Back on the alien planet moon, Hamilton is still in a huff. This time it’s because Jack told Doctor Lee (yay Bill!) he’d have to wait for Jack to check out the nearby caves before a survey would be allowed. Jack remains unmoved by Hamilton’s ire and uses the old O’Neill charm to convince him to wait. That goes about as well as can be expected.
And we’re back at the academy. Hailey’s working on a complex-looking experiment involving green lasers and unfashionable eyewear. Carter interrupts her to talk about her term paper on multiple realities. Hailey’s not impressed with her D, which she received because her topic was not the assignment. Carter thinks her theory is intriguing but there are too many assumptions to make it valid, such as matter traveling in both directions through a wormhole.
I have to pause for a moment to appreciate the irony of Carter dressing someone down for theorizing based on wild assumptions.
Hailey’s a touch defensive. How dare the major assume that she’s right and Hailey’s wrong? We get the idea that perhaps Cadet Hailey is unfamiliar with the premise of the show. Carter finishes off her lecture by telling Hailey she should have done the actual assignment and shows that her charm is working approximately as well as Jack’s.
We return to the forests of British Columbia the alien moon, where Jack and Teal’c have just finished scoping out the caves. He calls a very sarcastic Hamilton on the radio, informing him that the caves were dark and (unfortunately) monster-free. Teal’c doesn’t quite get why Jack is disappointed they didn’t find anything, but seems accepting of Jack’s desire that Hamilton be wrong. Jack’s boredom is interrupted by a strange buzzing sound, which may be what mosquitoes sound like to someone hopped up on LSD. Jack and Teal’c are joined by the real guest star of the episode, the Theoretically Intelligent, Non-Korporeal, Electromagnetic, Rapid, Buzzing, Energy-based, Lightning-bug Lifeform (TINKERBELL). As she zips directly through Canadian softwood alien flora, Teal’c says he’s never encountered anything like it.
Meanwhile, Carter’s been through Hailey’s paper again and is talking to Professor Monroe about it. She’s figured out what was bugging her about the equations. Turns out Hailey’s allowed for variations in the speed of light, which apparently works if you expand the frame of reference to include multiple universes. That sound you hear may be the pained keening of any physicists we have in the crowd. Carter sidesteps a curious question from the professor on why she’s so sure parallel realities can overlap, and just says Hailey’s insight is brilliant. Monroe informs her that it doesn’t matter. Hailey’s been in a fight and Kerrigan will have to expel her.
Hamilton, Lee, and Thompson are heading out to see if they can find Tink. Hamilton thinks Jack’s too busy polishing his M-16 to have a clue what needs to be accomplished. Amusingly, Jack is polishing his weapon (brief pause for a mind-gutter disconnect), but he points out it’s a P-90. Hamilton looks a little chagrined to have been caught being ignorant of automatic weapon nomenclature bad-mouthing a colonel, but that doesn’t stop him from further insulting Jack and the military as a whole when he’s told he can’t go play with Tink yet. Hamilton assumes there is no threat until proven otherwise. Jack assumes the opposite. Luckily, Teal’c dishes out this act’s best verbal smackdown, and we can move back to the other half of the plot.
Turns out the fight Hailey was in was because she was defending a classmate from disparaging remarks. General Kerrigan insists he’ll have to expel her no matter how smart she is. Carter says she needs to be punished, but she’s too brilliant to lose. Kerrigan doesn’t understand why Carter believes Hailey’s needed so much, but since he knows whatever project Carter’s got going on in Cheyenne Mountain is more important than the cover story indicates, he’ll play along. Hailey proves as stubborn as Carter hoped she would be, and Kerrigan turns her over to Carter. Lucky girl.
Talking to Hailey further reveals that at least part of her problem is that she’s constantly being compared to the Great Samantha Carter, which to be fair has to be annoying. Carter tells her to get over herself and finally seems to convince Hailey that there’s something worth sticking around for.
Hamilton and Lee are playing with test tubes inside the main shelter. Hamilton’s moaning about the Air Force. Lee’s watching Tink zip through the station’s wall. Lee grabs the camera, and they follow her when she heads back out, picking up Thompson on the way. The three scientists bolt out of camp, Lee showing why he’s the only character smart enough to score a recurring role by radioing Jack and Teal’c on the way.
The three scientists catch up with Tink and her posse and Hamilton has a nice, peaceful close encounter. Jack and Teal’c arrive just in time to be shown there isn’t any threat. Poor Jack.
We return to Earth, this time to the SGC. Carter’s brought Hailey with her, apparently without General Hammond’s prior permission. Hailey’s signed all the necessary documentation, and Carter’s charm is back to full strength because she somehow convinces Hammond to let Hailey through the gate.
Hailey’s suitably impressed by the gate and the kawoosh. She even manages a do-se-do with Carter during the trip through the wormhole, proving that she is indeed a prodigy as the steps are difficult to master in a dematerialized state.
She’s less impressed by the Canadian alien foliage, but Carter makes a quasi-believable explanation for the trees and points out the gas giant and other moons. Jack greets them, comments on his knees (spawning approximately ten thousand fanfic references), and tells Carter she needs to see something.
Turns out Hamilton and Lee have captured Tink. They think she’s an energy-based lifeform (which is good, ‘cause otherwise the acronym really sucks). Hailey says that’s not possible, and Hamilton admits that’s what they thought too, proving he didn’t read the memo about Oma Desala and Shifu. Hailey wonders if they’re hurting Tink with their electrified cage and is told that it’s improbable she can feel pain without a physical body. Carter thinks that a possibly-intelligent lifeform probably doesn’t appreciate being held against her will, and Jack orders Hamilton to release her.
Next, we see Thompson (who is somewhat confusingly named Bill) and Lee in two separate forest locations, conversing by radio about how they can’t find any more of the aliens. Thompson tries searching for ‘high frequency spikes’ and is almost immediately approached by Tink, who looks quite a bit larger and sounds pissier than before. Thompson tries to make nice, but Tink’s not having it and zaps rather painfully through his hand, then his body. A bunch of her friends arrive, and Thompson looks like he’s suddenly realized the fate of most guest spots on sci fi shows.
Lee hears screaming and runs over to investigate. Thompson is now lying on the ground, covered in welts and still being swarmed by Tink’s gang. Lee tries to call Colonel O’Neill, but his hand is attacked and he drops the radio. He panics and takes off running despite Thompson’s desperate and beseeching gaze.
Back at the station, Hailey is checking out the MALPs and other techie equipment. She’s impressed by Teal’c (and who wouldn’t be?) and wants to know if this is his planet moon. She hadn’t realized that the Stargate could go more than one place. You can’t really blame her, since it took everyone else more than a year to work that tidbit out, too.
Her further questions are cut short by Lee barrelling into camp, calling for Colonel O’Neill. He lets them know that Thompson’s under attack by the swarm, and Jack and Teal’c take off for the forest, leaving Carter behind to corral the scientists.
Jack and Teal’c are too late; Thompson’s covered in red welts and is quite clearly dead. We have a close-up on our intrepid heroes, and then we’re back at the station.
Carter’s bandaging the wound near Lee’s elbow, despite the fact that Tink clearly passed through his wrist. Jack arrives, pissed off that no one’s moving despite being ordered to get going. As they head for the Stargate, Hamilton’s protesting leaving, displaying a sense of self-preservation worthy of First Season Daniel. Jack’s adamant they’re leaving, but it’s too late. Tink and several hundred of her friends arrive, blocking the way to the gate and swarming towards the camp.
Jack orders everyone back into the main shelter, and turns to Carter for ideas on how to protect everyone. Sam just got there, but she unconfidently guesses zats might help. Jack’s not reassured, but they haul out the zats and SG-1 stands protectively over the others. There’s a moment of ominous buzzing, and then a small cloud of Tinks flit through the wall. Carter takes a shot, and the ones she hits disappear. Another cloud appears and attacks Hamilton. Teal’c shoots him, which saves his life and is no doubt cathartic. Jack’s probably wishing he’d done it.
After one more blast, the Tinks take a breather.
Everyone starts closing the shutters on the shelter and Carter checks the connections on jumper cables that are running from an electrical board to the frame. Teal’c’s on look-out, and when he sees Tink and her friends swarming, they electrify the shelter.
As long as they’ve got power, they’re safe. Lee asks Hamilton how long the generator will run. Like a mystery novel, the key piece of information that could keep everyone alive is known only by the dead guy. Thompson supposedly refilled the generator, but no one knows that for sure, and it’s way on the other side of the compound. Hamilton thinks they can rely on having about eight hours of power. Lee is more pessimistic; the generator could fail at any time. This may explain why Lee still has a job at the end of the series whereas we never see Hamilton again...
Carter lays out a map of the area. She thinks she’s got a way out. The stargate is a giant superconductor; once it’s activated, it would generate an electrical field more than strong enough to keep Tink away. Jack and Teal’c point out the minor problem of anyone attempting to dial the gate suffering a horrible death-by-Tink-bites. But Carter’s thought of that, too. Since the Tinks left Hamilton alone after he’d been hit by Teal’c’s zat, then the zat alters the body’s electrical field enough to repel them, though Carter has no idea how long it would last. Hailey suggests shooting Hamilton again, but is informed by Teal’c why that’s a bad idea. One wonders how long Jack entertains the notion anyway.
Jack asks why the bugs attacked in the first place. Carter’s theory is that they were reacting to the capture of one of their own. Hailey interrupts, using all the charm she displayed back at the academy. She’s been studying Doctor Thompson’s notes. It seems the moon was not created as part of the gas giant’s accretion disk, but is instead a captured rogue in a polar orbit, leading to some classic Jack O’Neill sarcasm. The moon entered the polar phase of its orbit when the Tinks were first encountered, and it was directly over the pole when they became violent. Since the moon is now beyond the pole, Hailey says the Tinks will go back to the way they were before in no more than a couple of hours.
Teal’c points out that the generator probably won’t last that long, and Hailey suggests holding them off with the ‘phaser-things’. Jack asks Carter what she thinks and she points out that if she’s right, waiting will make things worse. Hailey interrupts and declares that she’s right and Sam’s wrong. It can’t be coincidence that the Tinks attacked right when the moon was over the pole. Sam counter argues that it also can’t be coincidence that they attacked right after one of them was held prisoner.
Carter (somewhat bizarrely, in my opinion) declares that the theories are mutually exclusive. Hailey pleads with O’Neill not to discount her theory just because he trusts Carter’s judgement.
Jack says it doesn’t matter who is right. He’s going to run for the gate. Hailey doesn’t understand, and Carter explains that going for the gate risks only himself, whereas waiting risks everyone. Hailey might want to take that to heart if she wants to be a good officer.
A fabulously classic Teal’c and Jack moment occurs when Teal’c ignores Jack’s request to shoot him on the count of three. The others get Jack upright and he heads out, followed by all of Tink’s friends.
After a scenic run through backwoods BC the alien forest, Jack arrives at the gate. Tink doesn’t bother him, and he reports his progress before starting to dial the gate excruciatingly slowly. Unsurprisingly, the zat protection wears off when he’s about half finished. He manages two more chevrons before collapsing to the ground under Tink’s assault.
Luckily for Jack, Teal’c doesn’t have to obey orders and has followed. He zats something near the DHD and the Tinks back off. Jack hoists himself up and manages to finish dialling. The gate engages, Tink and friends take off for parts unknown, and Jack, now covered in painful-looking welts, declares he’ll never complain about mosquitoes again. Teal’c’s already plotting how to smuggle a zat with him the next time he’s dragged out fishing.
The others arrive. Lee telling Jack he deserves their thanks. Hamilton sucks it up and announces he owes Jack an apology, which Jack accepts with all the grace we’ve come to expect from him. They head on through, leaving Carter and Hailey to a few last minutes of bonding.
Hailey wants to know if it’s always like this, and Sam says “No, sometimes it gets really exciting”. Maybe if Hailey sticks around, she’ll get to find out if she was right, and if not, there will always be other planets moons.
Questions to ponder:
1. How patient would the military really be with a cadet like Hailey?
2. Is this glimpse into Sam's backstory interesting to her character development? Why or why not?
3. Who was right? Carter or Hailey? Both? Neither?
4. Whatever became of Doctor Hamilton?
5. What are Daniel and SG-11 up to while all this was going on?
Prodigy Transcript Here
We open with a shot of the Earth’s point of origin dramatically backlit on the SGC galactic map. Jack’s heading to General Hammond’s office to complain about his upcoming ‘ridiculous’ mission. Sadly for Jack, he was off-world for the memo that the General Ryan (AKA Big-Ass Four Star and Real Life USAF Chief of Staff) would be making a cameo. Luckily, Ryan seems to like him.
Ryan and Hammond lay out their hopes for a permanent off-world research station. Jack asks the question that establishes why only half of SG-1 is going on this Very Important Mission; turns out Carter’s working on the other half of the plot giving an astrophysics lecture at the academy and Daniel was originally supposed to direct this episode is too busy with SG-11.
Scene ends with General Ryan giving Hammond a cutesy (in a big buff AF Chief of Staff way) commiseration over having to deal with Jack.
Next, we get to geek out to Carter’s whiteboard math of doom. After she confuses the cadets with talk of ten dimensions and reassures them she knows how they feel, she ends on a not-so-subtle high note about the future. Everyone’s impressed except the snippy-looking blonde cadet.
After the lecture, the cadet undiplomatically points out an error in the whiteboard squiggles, and gets a verbal smack down from Professor Monroe for her trouble. But she’s captured Carter’s attention because she’s correct.
Cue opening credits. I’m going to pause here for a second to drool over Daniel as it’s the only chance I’m going to get this episode.
...
Damn. It’s Season Four, so instead there's the big scary Egyptian whatever-it-is. Sigh.
Moving on.
Jack and Teal’c arrive at a camp, and judging by the gas giant and two moons high in the sky, it’s the off-world one mentioned earlier. Sunglasses!Jack greets Major Griff and receives a fabulously sarcastic report on how thrilling the assignment is. Highlights: Doctor Thompson has lost his glasses (which is probably for the best because he won’t see what’s coming) and the electron microscope has broken down. Jack relieves Griff, only to be interrupted by Doctor Hamilton, who I believe has more right to be snippy than Hailey due to the poor actor being named Hrothgar.
Hamilton’s upset at still being short the generator parts he requested and Griff gleefully hands him over to Jack. Hamilton shows how deeply in touch he is with how the SGC runs by not knowing who Jack is. Similarly, he doesn’t seem to grasp that ‘alien’ is often a synonym for ‘you-don’t-know-squat-about-this-and-it-may-kill-you-for-it’. Good thing this episode will give him a field lesson.
At the academy, Carter is visiting a General Kerrigan. The general is unsurprised that Hailey has caught Carter’s attention. Hailey reminds him of Carter in intelligence if not in attitude. Hailey’s SATs were higher than Carter’s (dispelling a fanon myth that Carter scored a perfect 1600), but she has discipline problems. She’s a good shot and a good pilot, but she’s bored and if she keeps on insisting on doing things her way... Carter wants to talk to her, which is what Kerrigan was angling for all along.
Back on the alien planet moon, Hamilton is still in a huff. This time it’s because Jack told Doctor Lee (yay Bill!) he’d have to wait for Jack to check out the nearby caves before a survey would be allowed. Jack remains unmoved by Hamilton’s ire and uses the old O’Neill charm to convince him to wait. That goes about as well as can be expected.
And we’re back at the academy. Hailey’s working on a complex-looking experiment involving green lasers and unfashionable eyewear. Carter interrupts her to talk about her term paper on multiple realities. Hailey’s not impressed with her D, which she received because her topic was not the assignment. Carter thinks her theory is intriguing but there are too many assumptions to make it valid, such as matter traveling in both directions through a wormhole.
I have to pause for a moment to appreciate the irony of Carter dressing someone down for theorizing based on wild assumptions.
Hailey’s a touch defensive. How dare the major assume that she’s right and Hailey’s wrong? We get the idea that perhaps Cadet Hailey is unfamiliar with the premise of the show. Carter finishes off her lecture by telling Hailey she should have done the actual assignment and shows that her charm is working approximately as well as Jack’s.
We return to the forests of British Columbia the alien moon, where Jack and Teal’c have just finished scoping out the caves. He calls a very sarcastic Hamilton on the radio, informing him that the caves were dark and (unfortunately) monster-free. Teal’c doesn’t quite get why Jack is disappointed they didn’t find anything, but seems accepting of Jack’s desire that Hamilton be wrong. Jack’s boredom is interrupted by a strange buzzing sound, which may be what mosquitoes sound like to someone hopped up on LSD. Jack and Teal’c are joined by the real guest star of the episode, the Theoretically Intelligent, Non-Korporeal, Electromagnetic, Rapid, Buzzing, Energy-based, Lightning-bug Lifeform (TINKERBELL). As she zips directly through Canadian softwood alien flora, Teal’c says he’s never encountered anything like it.
Meanwhile, Carter’s been through Hailey’s paper again and is talking to Professor Monroe about it. She’s figured out what was bugging her about the equations. Turns out Hailey’s allowed for variations in the speed of light, which apparently works if you expand the frame of reference to include multiple universes. That sound you hear may be the pained keening of any physicists we have in the crowd. Carter sidesteps a curious question from the professor on why she’s so sure parallel realities can overlap, and just says Hailey’s insight is brilliant. Monroe informs her that it doesn’t matter. Hailey’s been in a fight and Kerrigan will have to expel her.
Hamilton, Lee, and Thompson are heading out to see if they can find Tink. Hamilton thinks Jack’s too busy polishing his M-16 to have a clue what needs to be accomplished. Amusingly, Jack is polishing his weapon (brief pause for a mind-gutter disconnect), but he points out it’s a P-90. Hamilton looks a little chagrined to have been caught being ignorant of automatic weapon nomenclature bad-mouthing a colonel, but that doesn’t stop him from further insulting Jack and the military as a whole when he’s told he can’t go play with Tink yet. Hamilton assumes there is no threat until proven otherwise. Jack assumes the opposite. Luckily, Teal’c dishes out this act’s best verbal smackdown, and we can move back to the other half of the plot.
Turns out the fight Hailey was in was because she was defending a classmate from disparaging remarks. General Kerrigan insists he’ll have to expel her no matter how smart she is. Carter says she needs to be punished, but she’s too brilliant to lose. Kerrigan doesn’t understand why Carter believes Hailey’s needed so much, but since he knows whatever project Carter’s got going on in Cheyenne Mountain is more important than the cover story indicates, he’ll play along. Hailey proves as stubborn as Carter hoped she would be, and Kerrigan turns her over to Carter. Lucky girl.
Talking to Hailey further reveals that at least part of her problem is that she’s constantly being compared to the Great Samantha Carter, which to be fair has to be annoying. Carter tells her to get over herself and finally seems to convince Hailey that there’s something worth sticking around for.
Hamilton and Lee are playing with test tubes inside the main shelter. Hamilton’s moaning about the Air Force. Lee’s watching Tink zip through the station’s wall. Lee grabs the camera, and they follow her when she heads back out, picking up Thompson on the way. The three scientists bolt out of camp, Lee showing why he’s the only character smart enough to score a recurring role by radioing Jack and Teal’c on the way.
The three scientists catch up with Tink and her posse and Hamilton has a nice, peaceful close encounter. Jack and Teal’c arrive just in time to be shown there isn’t any threat. Poor Jack.
We return to Earth, this time to the SGC. Carter’s brought Hailey with her, apparently without General Hammond’s prior permission. Hailey’s signed all the necessary documentation, and Carter’s charm is back to full strength because she somehow convinces Hammond to let Hailey through the gate.
Hailey’s suitably impressed by the gate and the kawoosh. She even manages a do-se-do with Carter during the trip through the wormhole, proving that she is indeed a prodigy as the steps are difficult to master in a dematerialized state.
She’s less impressed by the Canadian alien foliage, but Carter makes a quasi-believable explanation for the trees and points out the gas giant and other moons. Jack greets them, comments on his knees (spawning approximately ten thousand fanfic references), and tells Carter she needs to see something.
Turns out Hamilton and Lee have captured Tink. They think she’s an energy-based lifeform (which is good, ‘cause otherwise the acronym really sucks). Hailey says that’s not possible, and Hamilton admits that’s what they thought too, proving he didn’t read the memo about Oma Desala and Shifu. Hailey wonders if they’re hurting Tink with their electrified cage and is told that it’s improbable she can feel pain without a physical body. Carter thinks that a possibly-intelligent lifeform probably doesn’t appreciate being held against her will, and Jack orders Hamilton to release her.
Next, we see Thompson (who is somewhat confusingly named Bill) and Lee in two separate forest locations, conversing by radio about how they can’t find any more of the aliens. Thompson tries searching for ‘high frequency spikes’ and is almost immediately approached by Tink, who looks quite a bit larger and sounds pissier than before. Thompson tries to make nice, but Tink’s not having it and zaps rather painfully through his hand, then his body. A bunch of her friends arrive, and Thompson looks like he’s suddenly realized the fate of most guest spots on sci fi shows.
Lee hears screaming and runs over to investigate. Thompson is now lying on the ground, covered in welts and still being swarmed by Tink’s gang. Lee tries to call Colonel O’Neill, but his hand is attacked and he drops the radio. He panics and takes off running despite Thompson’s desperate and beseeching gaze.
Back at the station, Hailey is checking out the MALPs and other techie equipment. She’s impressed by Teal’c (and who wouldn’t be?) and wants to know if this is his planet moon. She hadn’t realized that the Stargate could go more than one place. You can’t really blame her, since it took everyone else more than a year to work that tidbit out, too.
Her further questions are cut short by Lee barrelling into camp, calling for Colonel O’Neill. He lets them know that Thompson’s under attack by the swarm, and Jack and Teal’c take off for the forest, leaving Carter behind to corral the scientists.
Jack and Teal’c are too late; Thompson’s covered in red welts and is quite clearly dead. We have a close-up on our intrepid heroes, and then we’re back at the station.
Carter’s bandaging the wound near Lee’s elbow, despite the fact that Tink clearly passed through his wrist. Jack arrives, pissed off that no one’s moving despite being ordered to get going. As they head for the Stargate, Hamilton’s protesting leaving, displaying a sense of self-preservation worthy of First Season Daniel. Jack’s adamant they’re leaving, but it’s too late. Tink and several hundred of her friends arrive, blocking the way to the gate and swarming towards the camp.
Jack orders everyone back into the main shelter, and turns to Carter for ideas on how to protect everyone. Sam just got there, but she unconfidently guesses zats might help. Jack’s not reassured, but they haul out the zats and SG-1 stands protectively over the others. There’s a moment of ominous buzzing, and then a small cloud of Tinks flit through the wall. Carter takes a shot, and the ones she hits disappear. Another cloud appears and attacks Hamilton. Teal’c shoots him, which saves his life and is no doubt cathartic. Jack’s probably wishing he’d done it.
After one more blast, the Tinks take a breather.
Everyone starts closing the shutters on the shelter and Carter checks the connections on jumper cables that are running from an electrical board to the frame. Teal’c’s on look-out, and when he sees Tink and her friends swarming, they electrify the shelter.
As long as they’ve got power, they’re safe. Lee asks Hamilton how long the generator will run. Like a mystery novel, the key piece of information that could keep everyone alive is known only by the dead guy. Thompson supposedly refilled the generator, but no one knows that for sure, and it’s way on the other side of the compound. Hamilton thinks they can rely on having about eight hours of power. Lee is more pessimistic; the generator could fail at any time. This may explain why Lee still has a job at the end of the series whereas we never see Hamilton again...
Carter lays out a map of the area. She thinks she’s got a way out. The stargate is a giant superconductor; once it’s activated, it would generate an electrical field more than strong enough to keep Tink away. Jack and Teal’c point out the minor problem of anyone attempting to dial the gate suffering a horrible death-by-Tink-bites. But Carter’s thought of that, too. Since the Tinks left Hamilton alone after he’d been hit by Teal’c’s zat, then the zat alters the body’s electrical field enough to repel them, though Carter has no idea how long it would last. Hailey suggests shooting Hamilton again, but is informed by Teal’c why that’s a bad idea. One wonders how long Jack entertains the notion anyway.
Jack asks why the bugs attacked in the first place. Carter’s theory is that they were reacting to the capture of one of their own. Hailey interrupts, using all the charm she displayed back at the academy. She’s been studying Doctor Thompson’s notes. It seems the moon was not created as part of the gas giant’s accretion disk, but is instead a captured rogue in a polar orbit, leading to some classic Jack O’Neill sarcasm. The moon entered the polar phase of its orbit when the Tinks were first encountered, and it was directly over the pole when they became violent. Since the moon is now beyond the pole, Hailey says the Tinks will go back to the way they were before in no more than a couple of hours.
Teal’c points out that the generator probably won’t last that long, and Hailey suggests holding them off with the ‘phaser-things’. Jack asks Carter what she thinks and she points out that if she’s right, waiting will make things worse. Hailey interrupts and declares that she’s right and Sam’s wrong. It can’t be coincidence that the Tinks attacked right when the moon was over the pole. Sam counter argues that it also can’t be coincidence that they attacked right after one of them was held prisoner.
Carter (somewhat bizarrely, in my opinion) declares that the theories are mutually exclusive. Hailey pleads with O’Neill not to discount her theory just because he trusts Carter’s judgement.
Jack says it doesn’t matter who is right. He’s going to run for the gate. Hailey doesn’t understand, and Carter explains that going for the gate risks only himself, whereas waiting risks everyone. Hailey might want to take that to heart if she wants to be a good officer.
A fabulously classic Teal’c and Jack moment occurs when Teal’c ignores Jack’s request to shoot him on the count of three. The others get Jack upright and he heads out, followed by all of Tink’s friends.
After a scenic run through backwoods BC the alien forest, Jack arrives at the gate. Tink doesn’t bother him, and he reports his progress before starting to dial the gate excruciatingly slowly. Unsurprisingly, the zat protection wears off when he’s about half finished. He manages two more chevrons before collapsing to the ground under Tink’s assault.
Luckily for Jack, Teal’c doesn’t have to obey orders and has followed. He zats something near the DHD and the Tinks back off. Jack hoists himself up and manages to finish dialling. The gate engages, Tink and friends take off for parts unknown, and Jack, now covered in painful-looking welts, declares he’ll never complain about mosquitoes again. Teal’c’s already plotting how to smuggle a zat with him the next time he’s dragged out fishing.
The others arrive. Lee telling Jack he deserves their thanks. Hamilton sucks it up and announces he owes Jack an apology, which Jack accepts with all the grace we’ve come to expect from him. They head on through, leaving Carter and Hailey to a few last minutes of bonding.
Hailey wants to know if it’s always like this, and Sam says “No, sometimes it gets really exciting”. Maybe if Hailey sticks around, she’ll get to find out if she was right, and if not, there will always be other planets moons.
Questions to ponder:
1. How patient would the military really be with a cadet like Hailey?
2. Is this glimpse into Sam's backstory interesting to her character development? Why or why not?
3. Who was right? Carter or Hailey? Both? Neither?
4. Whatever became of Doctor Hamilton?
5. What are Daniel and SG-11 up to while all this was going on?