In the Line of Duty (202)

[Lieutenant Sparrow]

I hate the Tok'ra I understand Jacks distaste for them.

Still a great ep though. Death Gliders to start off an ep is definitely good in my books.

[jelgate]

I'm at odds with this one. Thier are some things I like about this one while their are other things I just can't stand. I like the idea of rebellious of Goa'uld but I have to wonder what Jolinar was trying to achieve by threating human lives. Doesn't sound like Tok'ra that we see later. Its interesting to see how easily an Ashrak enters the SGC. A little too easy for my liking. I understand they are good at stealth but I have problems how he escapes security. Especially the palm scan check-in. Was no one watching? Although the end where Jolinar dies was fantastic.

[SG1Member]

I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but the Ashrak's weapon looks looks like the one Ra used in the movie to execute one of his guards. Could they be the same?

[SaraBahama]

One of my favorite eps! AT did an awesome job!

I agree with hlndncr's observations on Jolinar as an individual (not to cast aspersions on the Tok'ra as a whole). Perhaps the haughtiness and fluid ethics has to do with the fact that she was born a Goa'uld, and later went against her genetic memory, rather than being a child of Egeria (a Tok'ra by birth)?

Just a thought.

I'm glad the Tok'ra arc was added to the storyline, though.

[jelgate]

It was said in the past all Tok'ra come from Egeria. No exceptions

[SaraBahama]

"In the Line of Duty":

TEAL'C
The missing Nasyan is an Ashrak. A Goa'uld assassin sent by the System Lords to eliminate Jolinar.

DANIEL
That's the name of the Goa'uld in Sam?

TEAL'C
It is. Jolinar once tried to overthrow one of the System Lords but was defeated when Apophis joined the battle. He escaped during the slaughter of his armies.

I think it was this that implanted the idea that Jolinar was a reformed Goa'uld in my mind. The Tok'ra MO does not typically include leading armies into battle, but rather inserting themselves as covert agents into the ranks of the Goa'uld.

There is some additional canon indications that Goa'uld defection is possible:

'Crossroads':

ANISE
Correct, Dr Jackson. Egeria came to the Tau'ri to stop the Goa'uld from taking humans through the Stargate as slaves. Ra found her and killed her, but not before she had spawned our movement.

CARTER
Literally?

ANISE
Yes.

O'NEILL
Thanks for the image.

HAMMOND
Then the original number of Tok'ra is all you have?

ANISE
Very few Goa'uld came over to our side, but none in the past few hundred years. Our numbers have diminished as symbiotes unable to find new hosts died or fell in battle. That is why Shaun'auc's offer is so provocative. Until the symbiote is blended with a host we cannot be sure of the outcome. But if what she claims is correct we could one day increase our numbers.

[Starscape91]

Some things I noticed in this episode that we never see again is the academy hospital, the glowing stomach thing the Ashrak does to heal himself, and the hand print scanner. I agree with Jack I don't like the Tok'ra except for Selmak and thats because she's awesome!

[Matt G]

The laugh with this ep is that Sam's posession was spoiled in an interview C4 did with Amanda back when they were screening S1.

Either way...the day after I started in on SG1 S2 it was again 5pm and time for another ep. A few years later...I get the first part of S2 on DVD.

1. Sam's posession was still an 'eek' moment, I mean we didn't have a clue about the Tok'ra at this point.

2. Also yeah, very aggressive for a Tok'ra, I think the general assumption must have been that Jolinar mistook Sam's mouth to mouth for an invite. After that, hell knows what happens.

3. We also go on to see in S6 that...

Spoiler:

The Tok'ra have grudges against the Jaffa

which explains why Jolinar was so patronising with Teal'c.

4. Ashrak, like the concept, did think he was able to adopt Earth mannerisms a bit too quickly though.

Solid ep though they wren't going to top The Serpent's Lair. Decent first impression of the Tok'ra though I wasn't quite sure how big a deal they'd be.

[TheShinster]

This is one of my favorinte S2 episodes. I've seen this episode too many times to count and I know the series so well that it is hard to remember back to my first time seeing this episode and being shocked by Sam becoming infested with a goa'uld. Too bad you can only watch something for the first time once. In the perspective of Rewatch, I am reminded how pivitol an episode this is, with the first ever mention of the Tok'ra and Sam's exposure the Jolinar and all the things that went along with that. The writers were brilliant, throwing in the radical concept that there were "good" goa'uld and the introduction of a series changing ally.

[chaddergate]

A good episode, and a good way to bring in the Tok'ra. I ranks, for me, near the top of season 2.

[moondragon]

One of my favorite season 2 episodes! We have the first mention of the Tok'ra, opening a new storyline that becomes important in seasons to come. As mentioned above I was also shocked to see how easily the Ashrak was able to infiltrate the SGC. It found a way to easily become a member of the SFs, even fooling O'neill and Tea'c. Its great to know that in later seasons countermeasures have been put in place to prevent something like this. I pretty much agree with what everyone else has said with the Jolinar arc an how she was completely different than how the Tok'ra normally act. It is plain to see that this is where Jack's hatred and distrust of the Tok'ra comes from. Not only did Jolinar take Sam against her will, but it used her as a ploy to get Jack to set her free. In the end Sam's reaction after Jolinar's death was very spot on. She would be feeling depressed that her body was taken over. Even with Jolinar dying to save her life, she still has to live with the fact that her body was taken without her consent.

[ChulaksPrincess]

I really felt sorry for Sam in this episode. She went through something that, I believe left an emotional scar on her for the rest of the series, or at least most of it. I cannot imagine being taken against my will, sharing someone else's life, being hunted, and almost killed, even though I didn't do anything to the one seeking to end my life, and experiencing the scimbiot dying inside my body to save my life. Great galaxies, everybody,! I might have to be put away in a place for mentally ill people after that ordeal. In fact, I'm not sure that I could survive such a trama. However, Sam went through it, and lived to tell about her experience. She is an amazing and strong woman.

[Lunaeclipse]

I really felt sorry for Sam in this episode. She went through something that, I believe left an emotional scar on her for the rest of the series, or at least most of it. I cannot imagine being taken against my will, sharing someone else's life, being hunted, and almost killed, even though I didn't do anything to the one seeking to end my life, and experiencing the scimbiot dying inside my body to save my life. Great galaxies, everybody,! I might have to be put away in a place for mentally ill people after that ordeal. In fact, I'm not sure that I could survive such a trama. However, Sam went through it, and lived to tell about her experience. She is an amazing and strong woman.

Agreed. I thought the same thing about Daniel...not that he was a strong woman, but that he went through something emotionally taxing, not knowing whether he would live or die in Fire and Water.

[hedwig]

2. Also yeah, very aggressive for a Tok'ra, I think the general assumption must have been that Jolinar mistook Sam's mouth to mouth for an invite. After that, hell knows what happens.

I don't think Jolinar took it as an invitation. It was the only place to go, and the symbiote took it. Not to have done so would have meant it's death, so there was no place else to go. It took advantage of the situation in desperation.

[Dimes]

It's the reason they met the Tok'ra, so important episode!