10.04 Insiders
Transcript link
Short synopsis: This is the one where Baal puts multiple Baals in play and scores.
I tried to do something different this time with the recap. It may help if you try to read it with Cliff Simon's voice in mind....
( The DVD arrives at Sam's house in a plain brown envelope. She puts it in her player and Baal's face appears on the screen. The video recording begins to play.)
Colonel Carter, greetings. If you're receiving this, it means my plan has succeeded. Don't be discouraged that you are merely human. I spent a lot of effort on this plan -- a plan, I should point out, which I would not need if I wasn't certain Earth and the SGC would never use the weapon properly. One of you would suffer some crisis of conscience (he rolls his eyes) and doom us all. You will fail. I will not. You should thank me, really -- is there a race more tedious and useless than the Ancients? Trust me, I was forced to work with Anubis for a time, and there was not a spark of reason or sanity in him the entire time. The Ori are worse. They all need to be eliminated before they destroy us all, and if the SGC will not do it, then I will.
I realize it's something of a cliche that the villain wants to explain his own cleverness, but, why not? You had a good run against me, but surely you didn't expect to triumph in every engagement? I didn't survive against Ra and his entire family for five thousand years because I can't adapt my tactics.
So, let me begin at the beginning. When I came to Earth, I thought it likely that none of you would leave me alone as I wished. The clones were meant to be my deterrent, and a distraction. I didn't have this particular plan in mind, then, but they worked out quite well.
My second piece of the plan was abducting Malcolm Barrett four weeks ago. I knew he was a trusted ally of yours, not to mention a persistent annoyance to my plans on Earth. I needed his assistance. An 'inside man', as you say. If it makes you feel better, you can reassure his superiors that his usefulness to me is at an end. I even gave him back to you alive, Colonel Carter, and that was... unexpected. So be grateful. I thought I might have to kill him.
I set up my plan, piece by piece, and put it in motion, knowing your own suspicions would give me exactly what I wanted.
First, I -- well, one of us; they're all me, though - I flew the al'kesh at Cheyenne. I had to get the SGC's attention and land close enough to be brought inside, instead of put somewhere else. That was the first place where the plan could have been thwarted - if I had been killed or put in a different location, it would have been automatically aborted. But it went to plan and your team took me inside. I've known about the dampener field meant to prevent a lock onto any signal since you put it in place, by the way. It made you... complacent.
I demanded to see SG-1 because you were known to me, and I could take advantage of that knowledge. I spun a story about how my clones have turned against me, it's so annoying, blah blah, and in exchange for your help against them, I would help you find Merlin's weapon. Which I knew you didn't have and couldn't find.
Meanwhile, Agent Barrett wanted Landry to transfer me into his custody. Which was not what I wanted, but I've found it often helps with manipulation to have an external force prodding the subject to action.
You all doubted my sincerity, but with the lure of my information to narrow down the list of addresses from the repository, how could you resist? I told you about the locator beacons -- which are not, by the way, in all the clones. In case you were wondering.
So you send out teams to find... me. And didn't you think it was all a little too easy, Colonel Carter? I did try to make it look good, but hopefully it crossed your mind at least once that I should put up a better fight than that. But that was all right, if you underestimated me. Human arrogance is what makes you all so predictable.
You found the clones, who told you they were the "real Baal', and you dragged them all back to the SGC. One after another. And meanwhile I had Barrett still trying to get a hold of me, and Landry trying to keep control of all of the clones and the situation, while all the while he was my unknown agent. It was fantastically amusing to know that if Landry had given into Barrett's demands, it might have ended my plan by taking enough of the locator beacons out of play, but of course he didn't. And you call me smug.
SG-1 tried to interrogate me, but it was laughable how bad you all were at it. Clones or not, Colonel Carter, I was interrogating enemies long before Earth humans were out of mud huts and stopped grunting, so your techniques ... let's say they needed work. Though at least Vala's attempt was more amusing, than the rest of you. he smiles a little, pleased with himself Barrett was getting very frustrated with the SGC's failure to learn anything. It really helps when you program someone, to make it a program they would follow anyway and make only... small modifications. Barrett came in to 'interrogate' me himself -- and he brought his weapon. I shot him. I could have killed him, you know, but I thought he'd serve better as a hostage alive.
Then it all worked perfectly. All the clones freed each other, cut the video feed, took hostages -- well, you were there, you know. The SGC was very helpful in locking down the three levels we were on, but I knew they would introduce the symbiote poison as soon as they could. The download finished finally, despite your attempts at subterfuge and delay, and I finally had the list of those addresses from the Ancients database. The only reason you gave it to me at all was because you believed I had no way out, but I have to ask you, Colonel, now that we have a moment... Was a list of planets worth your life? The lives of the other hostages or the guards who died because you delayed me? The only thing I wanted then, and now, is to eradicate the Ori as the enemies and plague on this galaxy that they are.
I gathered with the others so our individual locator beacons would combine into a strong enough signal to penetrate the dampening field and we made our escape. I lost a few clones to the poison, but we all knew the plan was dangerous. Now we can search for Merlin's weapon far more efficiently than the SGC ever could. When we find it, I will defeat the Ori and the Ancients and bring peace. Under my domain of course. (Baal smirks.) I could scarcely do a worse job than you humans do.
(The screen blanks.)
Questions:
1. When this episode aired, I recall a lot of criticism leveled at Sam. Did Sam do the right thing? Did she do the prudent thing? Whose fault, if anyone's, is it that the SGC lost this one?
2. How did Baal persuade/coerce his clones to all work together with this plan? They had to know some of them, if not all, would die. Was the SGC wrong about the Goa'uld having no capacity for self-sacrifice, or wrong only for Baal in particular?
3. What makes Baal such a special snowflake among Goa'uld anyway?
4. Daniel was absent this episode. Would it have made any difference if he'd been around?
5. Other than 'the writers made them do it because otherwise the episode would run short' - why not pump the entire SGC full of the symbiote poison?
6. Is there anything you want to say about this episode?
(As my last recap I want to say thanks to all the mods for all the fun this has been!)
Short synopsis: This is the one where Baal puts multiple Baals in play and scores.
I tried to do something different this time with the recap. It may help if you try to read it with Cliff Simon's voice in mind....
( The DVD arrives at Sam's house in a plain brown envelope. She puts it in her player and Baal's face appears on the screen. The video recording begins to play.)
Colonel Carter, greetings. If you're receiving this, it means my plan has succeeded. Don't be discouraged that you are merely human. I spent a lot of effort on this plan -- a plan, I should point out, which I would not need if I wasn't certain Earth and the SGC would never use the weapon properly. One of you would suffer some crisis of conscience (he rolls his eyes) and doom us all. You will fail. I will not. You should thank me, really -- is there a race more tedious and useless than the Ancients? Trust me, I was forced to work with Anubis for a time, and there was not a spark of reason or sanity in him the entire time. The Ori are worse. They all need to be eliminated before they destroy us all, and if the SGC will not do it, then I will.
I realize it's something of a cliche that the villain wants to explain his own cleverness, but, why not? You had a good run against me, but surely you didn't expect to triumph in every engagement? I didn't survive against Ra and his entire family for five thousand years because I can't adapt my tactics.
So, let me begin at the beginning. When I came to Earth, I thought it likely that none of you would leave me alone as I wished. The clones were meant to be my deterrent, and a distraction. I didn't have this particular plan in mind, then, but they worked out quite well.
My second piece of the plan was abducting Malcolm Barrett four weeks ago. I knew he was a trusted ally of yours, not to mention a persistent annoyance to my plans on Earth. I needed his assistance. An 'inside man', as you say. If it makes you feel better, you can reassure his superiors that his usefulness to me is at an end. I even gave him back to you alive, Colonel Carter, and that was... unexpected. So be grateful. I thought I might have to kill him.
I set up my plan, piece by piece, and put it in motion, knowing your own suspicions would give me exactly what I wanted.
First, I -- well, one of us; they're all me, though - I flew the al'kesh at Cheyenne. I had to get the SGC's attention and land close enough to be brought inside, instead of put somewhere else. That was the first place where the plan could have been thwarted - if I had been killed or put in a different location, it would have been automatically aborted. But it went to plan and your team took me inside. I've known about the dampener field meant to prevent a lock onto any signal since you put it in place, by the way. It made you... complacent.
I demanded to see SG-1 because you were known to me, and I could take advantage of that knowledge. I spun a story about how my clones have turned against me, it's so annoying, blah blah, and in exchange for your help against them, I would help you find Merlin's weapon. Which I knew you didn't have and couldn't find.
Meanwhile, Agent Barrett wanted Landry to transfer me into his custody. Which was not what I wanted, but I've found it often helps with manipulation to have an external force prodding the subject to action.
You all doubted my sincerity, but with the lure of my information to narrow down the list of addresses from the repository, how could you resist? I told you about the locator beacons -- which are not, by the way, in all the clones. In case you were wondering.
So you send out teams to find... me. And didn't you think it was all a little too easy, Colonel Carter? I did try to make it look good, but hopefully it crossed your mind at least once that I should put up a better fight than that. But that was all right, if you underestimated me. Human arrogance is what makes you all so predictable.
You found the clones, who told you they were the "real Baal', and you dragged them all back to the SGC. One after another. And meanwhile I had Barrett still trying to get a hold of me, and Landry trying to keep control of all of the clones and the situation, while all the while he was my unknown agent. It was fantastically amusing to know that if Landry had given into Barrett's demands, it might have ended my plan by taking enough of the locator beacons out of play, but of course he didn't. And you call me smug.
SG-1 tried to interrogate me, but it was laughable how bad you all were at it. Clones or not, Colonel Carter, I was interrogating enemies long before Earth humans were out of mud huts and stopped grunting, so your techniques ... let's say they needed work. Though at least Vala's attempt was more amusing, than the rest of you. he smiles a little, pleased with himself Barrett was getting very frustrated with the SGC's failure to learn anything. It really helps when you program someone, to make it a program they would follow anyway and make only... small modifications. Barrett came in to 'interrogate' me himself -- and he brought his weapon. I shot him. I could have killed him, you know, but I thought he'd serve better as a hostage alive.
Then it all worked perfectly. All the clones freed each other, cut the video feed, took hostages -- well, you were there, you know. The SGC was very helpful in locking down the three levels we were on, but I knew they would introduce the symbiote poison as soon as they could. The download finished finally, despite your attempts at subterfuge and delay, and I finally had the list of those addresses from the Ancients database. The only reason you gave it to me at all was because you believed I had no way out, but I have to ask you, Colonel, now that we have a moment... Was a list of planets worth your life? The lives of the other hostages or the guards who died because you delayed me? The only thing I wanted then, and now, is to eradicate the Ori as the enemies and plague on this galaxy that they are.
I gathered with the others so our individual locator beacons would combine into a strong enough signal to penetrate the dampening field and we made our escape. I lost a few clones to the poison, but we all knew the plan was dangerous. Now we can search for Merlin's weapon far more efficiently than the SGC ever could. When we find it, I will defeat the Ori and the Ancients and bring peace. Under my domain of course. (Baal smirks.) I could scarcely do a worse job than you humans do.
(The screen blanks.)
Questions:
1. When this episode aired, I recall a lot of criticism leveled at Sam. Did Sam do the right thing? Did she do the prudent thing? Whose fault, if anyone's, is it that the SGC lost this one?
2. How did Baal persuade/coerce his clones to all work together with this plan? They had to know some of them, if not all, would die. Was the SGC wrong about the Goa'uld having no capacity for self-sacrifice, or wrong only for Baal in particular?
3. What makes Baal such a special snowflake among Goa'uld anyway?
4. Daniel was absent this episode. Would it have made any difference if he'd been around?
5. Other than 'the writers made them do it because otherwise the episode would run short' - why not pump the entire SGC full of the symbiote poison?
6. Is there anything you want to say about this episode?
(As my last recap I want to say thanks to all the mods for all the fun this has been!)