In the Line of Duty
Summary by Cyber Predator
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Captain Carter is invaded by a Goa'uld
|Commentary|
|Episode Guide| |Stargate Collection| |Home Page|
Captain Carter is invaded by a Goa'uld
At debriefing, Jackson states there was no warning of the attack and the Goa'uld had seldom bothered the natives before. Teal'c states there is probably no need to find a reason for the attack, as the Goa'uld have destroyed entire cultures without reason before. Somewhat sarcastically, Carter suggests the reasons weren't made apparent to him because he is "just a Jaffa". The team glare at her, but Carter explains that Apophis did not share all his secrets with his former First Prime because he was simply a servant, and the others agree.
After debriefing, O'Neil reminds Carter she has not been checked by the medical staff since SG-1's return and sends her to the infirmary. Frasier examines Carter and finds an abresion on the back of her throat, and Sam explains she has had a sore throat recently. Nevertheless, Frasier takes a swab and says that Cassandra (Singularity) wishes to see her.
The next day, Carter goes to the Air Force hospital where the refugees from the Goa'uld attack are being held and looks at each of the wards. Before she can reach the burned man Jackson helped, Frasier insists Carter see Cassandra. When Cassandra sees Carter she is overjoyed, but when the two embrace a terrified Cassie retreats. As Cassie hides under a couch, Carter's eyes glow.
As General Hammund and O'Neil discuss relocating the refugees, Frasier calls the Colonel saying the Cassie wishes to see him, and only him. When O'Neil goes to see her, Cassie has locked herself in Frasier's office and huddled under the desk. Cassie says she is afraid that Carter will kill her, but O'Neil insists that Sam loves her and wouldn't lay a finger on her. "She will now," Cassie says; "She's a Goa'uld."
As SG-1 wait for their next mission, Carter is impatient to leave. As they approach the Stargate O'Neil secretly gives Carter a sedative which apparently have no affect. Frasier, observing from the control room, warns there was enough sedative to put an elephant to sleep. Knowing her cover is blown, the Goa'uld within Carter, Jolinar of Malkshur, reveals herself, threatening to detonate a grenade if the Stargate is not opened. The tranquilizers eventually work and Carter passes out.
When the remainder of SG-1, Dr Frasier and General Hammund meet to assess the situation, Frasier explains that Cassandra still has traces of naquida in her blood which may enable Cassie to detect the presence of Goa'uld. O'Neil adds that he had no idea Carter was a host until Cassie warned him, and that Frasier's examination revealed only an abresion at the back of Carter's throat. O'Neil recalls Carter giving mouth-to-mouth to a wounded refugee, and establish Jolinar entered through Carter's mouth. If the Goa'uld can take hosts without any signs, as with Carter, then all returning SG teams will now have to submit to a brain scan.
Teal'c warns that Jolinar has had more than enough time to plant an explosive. O'Neil yells to get the Goa'uld out of Carter, but Daniel reminds him such a tactic failed with Kawalsky (The Enemy Within). The team decide not to inform anyone else of Jolinar's presence and O'Neil is charged with interrogating the parasite. Meanwhile, the burned man Jackson helped through the Stargate grabs his examining doctor by the throat.
As O'Neil prepares to interrogate Jolinar, Teal'c advises him to make the Goa'uld feel foolish as a Goa'uld's pride its greatest weakness. O'Neil takes the advice as Teal'c warns him not to see Carter while interrogating the Goa'uld. O'Neil calls Jolinar a fool for being captured but Jolinar does not fall for it. Jolinar says only that she will not talk and must be freed.
Jackson goes to ask a female refugee, Thalia, some questions, showing a picture of Jolinar's previous host. Thalia says the host was her husband, who showed no signs of being a Goa'uld host aside from a scar on his neck which faded several months ago. As Jackson leaves the hospital, he passes the burned man's ward; he has completely recovered from his injuries and traded places with his examining doctor, putting on a Goa'uld ribbon.
Jolinar promises she will find another host and send Carter back if she is let through the Stargate. O'Neil does not believe it is possible without killing Carter, though Jolinar insists it is possible but not easy. Jolinar explains her previous host was wounded beyond all help and dead before Jolinar changed hosts. As an untrusting O'Neil leaves the room, Carter's own personality emerges begging Jack to trust the Goa'uld, adding she is scared and doesn't want to be left like this. Jolinar then re-emerges, asking "What will it take?"
Jolinar demands to see Teal'c, explaining that she is a member of the Tok'Re, a group of Goa'uld who oppose the System Lords, and warns the Goa'uld are planning a second attack on Earth (the first failing in The Serpent's Lair). Teal'c then passes the information to General Hammund and Colonel O'Neil, explaining that when Jolinar attempted to overthrow a System Lord a Goa'uld Ashrak, or bounty hunter, was ordered to assassinate Jolinar. It is likely the Ashrak is now on Earth among the refugees and if the Ashrak succeeds in killing Jolinar, Carter will die also. Jackson corroborates Jolinar's story, as the Goa'uld was only hiding in her previous host.
When Dr Frasier receives blood test results from the burned refugee, Frasier realises he is in fact one of the base's doctors. The burned refugee, who is the Ashrak sent to kill Jolinar, then covertly works his way to SGC as an official escorting the refugees to SGC for relocation, using the Goa'uld ribbon on a driver but not killing him.
Jackson goes to speak with Jolinar, who asks why he did not come to see Carter sooner even though he cares for her as much as the rest of SG-1. Jackson asks for a description of the Ashrak, but Jolinar will not know the Ashrak until the last moment. As the Ashrak is a Goa'uld, he will have no trouble in locating Jolinar. When Jackson starts to leave, Jolinar states she is more useful to the humans alive; for a start, she knows where Shau'ri is.
Jackson informs Hammund and the rest of SG-1 that the Tok'Re do not believe in taking hosts against their will, instead taking hosts who are about to die and choose to live. O'Neil vows never to trust a Goa'uld. As the group talk, the Ashrak works its way into the SGC compound, killing a guard with the ribbon when a sensor goes off. As the Ashrak enters SGC, the driver he used the ribbon on reports having blacked out.
General Hammund realises the security camera to Jolinar's cell isn't working and sends security there as the Stargate begins to open. The Ashrak confronts Jolinar, saying she will die with dishonour; Jolinar says she dies with hope, and the Tok'Re will prevail. The Ashrak then uses the ribbon on Jolinar, and as security arrives they mistake the Ashrak for a doctor, who says Carter is dead. The security team take Jolinar/Carter to the infirmary. The medical team establish two brain waves within Carter's body, one Jolinar's and the other Sam's. Jolinar's brainwave is weakening rapidly and Carter's is weakening more slowly; Jolinar is dying and taking her host with her.
The Ashrak goes to the Stargate, taking Jackson hostage when he realises the Ashrak's identity. The Ashrak reaches the Stargate, ordering the team to open the gate or he will kill Jackson. Teal'c approaches, firing a Zat gun which hits both Jackson and the Ashrak; a second shot at the Ashrak kills him. "Thanks....I think," Jackson responds.
Jolinar is dead, but Carter's condition improves rather than following suit. Carter eventually wakes up from her ordeal, explaining Jolinar died so that she could live.
The character of Jolinar, the Goa'uld who takes control of Captain Carter, is certainly a different one to the Goa'uld we have been used to. The Goa'uld have constantly been shown as a race of bloodthirsty enslavers with no care for anyone but themselves. But this episode is the first exposure we have to the Tok'Re, a group of Goa'uld who oppose the bloodthirsty rule of the System Lords and who plan revolution. And when Jolinar is killed by the bounty hunter searching for him but Carter survivies, the host insists that the Goa'uld died for her, showing Goa'uld with a soul.
This episode opens up a whole new universe of plot lines; Jolinar insists he knows certain important points which are not known to anyone at SGC, and we learn in later episodes that Jolinar's presence has left a lasting effect on Carter. These effects crop up occasionally, but it isn't until The Tok'Re saga that they actually have an effect on the outcome of an episode.
While the outcome of the storyline in In the Line of Duty may be predictable at times, it still doesn't fail in the suspense department. I have only one regret with this episode: I didn't have a video to tape it!!