Serpent's Song (218)

[ZoSo]

I love how proud Jack looked right after they captured Apophis. I thought it fit his character well. I mean, he just "captured" one of the worst bad guys in the entire galaxy. Of course he's gonna be full of himself. Until he sees the host.

I love the actor that plays Apophis and he did an excellent job here. He always does a great job of showing fear subtly and it was far more apparent on his death bed. That poor host though. At least Daniel could talk to him. I loved the look of comfort on his face when Daniel started speaking to him in egyptian. He probably hadn't heard his language spoken in thousands of years.

I think this might not have been the first time Apophis (and the host) has died. The host says "..and now I awaken only to die again". Either he meant that he "died" when Apophis first took him as host or that they had both died before. I think it's pretty likely Apophis has died once before in his thousands of years. Those damn sarcophagi...

[Pic]

Such a serious episode focusing on a lot of serious themes. They Goa'uld who think they are so much more worthy of humans... the humans who think they are so much more righteous than the Goa'uld...
Who's to say Apophis didn't truly love Amonet? I know that idea certainly didn't set well with Daniel.

Folks have mentioned the opening scene when Jack comes through the gate backwards. Yes, great special effects. Plus, a great Jack comment before that when he rushed over the dune and discovered Apophis. "Holy Buckets". *snort
I mean, it didn't get the mileage that "Holy Hannah" gets, but it's still pretty funny.

I don't think Jack is really dark in this episode. He's annoyed, angry and either wants information or wants the enemy dead. As apparent in his frustration when her mutters "I shoulda shot him."

I also liked the little reminders of Sam's Tok'ra experience peppered throughout the episode.

Apophis, arrogant as ever, mocks Jack (and by extension, the Tau'ri) for displaying compassion for an enemy. Jack's reply was "that's why they call us the good guys" was delivered with such seriousness that I laughed at the drama of it all.

Another cleverly placed line (Jack, again) is when Daniel and Teal'c are telling Jack about this new bad guy, Sokar. Daniel refers to hims as basically being the original Satan. Jack says "isn't that special" and immediately the alarms sound that the gate has been activated. "Speak of the devil" Jack says as he leaves the room.

All in all, a good, solid episode.

[RononXSpecialist]

Goood Ep,
Gotta love Jacks "My Heart Bleeds For You" LOL!
We arent all the different from Goa'ulds if you look at it.. We War amongst eachother. Yeah we dont take people as slaves.
But we do think were better than most people.

[balo]

One of the best episodes from Season 2.

Great acting from everyone!
When they captured Apophis I really felt sorry for the host, only a few minutes to live after thousands of years controlled by a Goa'uld.

Rating 8 / 10

[Butlersgate]

damn good episode

[Dinoman]

After thousand of years taken over by a Goa'uld why the host suddenly come up and speak with Daniel? Is it because the symbiote is dying and lost control over his host? Have they ever consider sending Apophis to the Tokra and extract the symbiote in order to save the host?

[jelgate]

After thousand of years taken over by a Goa'uld why the host suddenly come up and speak with Daniel?

Daniel is the only one who speaks Egyptian. Remember Aphosis has been living for thousands of years.

Is it because the symbiote is dying and lost control over his host?

Yes

Have they ever consider sending Apophis to the Tokra and extract the symbiote in order to save the host?

They explain that in a future episode. The host has been throught the sarchpagus so many times and is so is old the body can not live without the healing properties of the symbiote.

[gateship15]

fantastic episode to see Apophis dieing and to hear the host after being locked away for so long this is an episode that i will watch again

[The Stig]

I love the scene in which teal'c confronts Apophis as he is dying. Great acting.

[Crazedwraith]

A review to meet Amonconway's Challenge.

A summary

Serpent's Song is a pretty significant episode. Carrying on from the opening episode of season 2 and the Teal'c episode Family we find out Apophsis although unexpectedly surviving his Ha'taks exploding has lost enough prestige and power among the system lords that they're all after him. Sokar in particular have been torturing the guy. He's escaped and now he wants sanctuary. So SG-1 being the self proclaimed good guys take him back to Earth. Where Fraiser fins out he's pretty much dying and they can't help without a sarcophagus. Teal'c and Jack are pretty much fine with Apophsis just snuffing it. but hammond wants to pump him for as much information as possible. So each of the team gets to interrogate him. Apophsis tries to bargin with Jack, Daniel tries to find out about Shaure and Teal'c just gloats.

Mean while the Tok'Ra arrive with a dire warning Sokar wants Apophisis back and he's not going to take no for an answer. To this end he dial earth and start firing off a particle accelerator at Earth's iris, slowly heating it up and threatening to melt it entirely but he has to redial every 38 minutes.

Fearful of an all out attack from space as well as Sokar's accelerator weapon Earth capitulates; cutting off Apophsis' medical aid and killing him in short order. Carter develops a fast dialing program to dial out as soon as Sokar hits the 38 minute window and they send Apophsis' corpse back to Sokar. Who apparently would prefer to beat up on Heru-Ur than continue his attack upon us after he got want he wanted.

Analysis
Like all episodes Serpent's Song has some good points and some bad points. It is undoubtedly very well acted by all members of its cast and the plot moves along the over arc fairly well. Apophsis has fallen and we hear rumblings of the next big bad: Sokar. Who we will see more of in Season 3. It also contains early example of what will become a major theme in season 4 and later which is tension between Earth and its allies in the Tok'Ra. The Tok'Ra are very critical of the SGC in this episode and pretty much try to command Hammond into doing want they want.

Still I can't help but feel that this episode is fairly clutter, The Tok'Ra and Iris attack scenes et up time that could have been used more to deal with the dilemma of what to with Apophsis. More time could have been used to expand Fraiser's role and her ethical objects to what they were doing. Or Daniel taking a turn to the dark side tried to get shau'ri's location out of him. (something akin to him gunning down helpless primta in season 1)

The Iris attack scene for example takes up time and is very cheaply solved. Carter whips up an extra quick dialling program in no time at all. One wonders why she hadn't done this before if it was so easy.

Some Highlights

• Christopher Judge's acting. Very understated but there's a certain smugness and delight in Apophsis' fall that comes over very well.
• Martouf/Lantash in the breifing scene. The two personalities are very distinct and have roughly equal screen time in the episode. Unlike most Tok'Ra who we mainly seem to hear from one personality (usually the symbiote) in this case we hear from them both and they are wildly different in the way they express their feelings.
• Fraiser, especially early on. Playing to role of the good doctor sticking to her guns as far as her ethics are concerned. Its not really and uncommon characterisation; most TV doctors are like this but Teryl Rothery does pull it off well.

[amconway]

Interesting analysis-and thanks for the addition to the challenge! I agree with you about the quality of the acting in this episode, but I fear I must disagree with some of your points.

I thought the action sequences were important as they raised the stakes, and added a time element, and tension to the mix. If it hadn't been for the attack, they could have kept Apophis, after all. There had to be a reason to give him back. Besides that fact that an action/adventure series, really need, you know, action.

Or Daniel taking a turn to the dark side tried to get shau'ri's location out of him. (something akin to him gunning down helpless primta in season 1)

Daniel almost did, although I don't see it as 'dark side', so much as part of Daniel's nature. He'll give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but once he's decided someone/thing is intrinsically bad, he can be very ruthless in fighting them. And he won't ever stop trying. The only thing that stopped him here was the emergence of the host, which gave us a wonderful moment of Daniel going from ruthless to compassionate in an instant. His ability to move between extremes like that is one of the most interesting things about the character.

Admittedly, it would have been nice if this had been a two-parter, so that more time could have been spent on all elements, including Sam's solution. This episode was just jam packed, and they did have to rush the end a little. At the same time, they were up against it, and the breakneck pace of the episode emphasized that.

[Crazedwraith]

Well one could argue that there was already a time limit in the episode; Apophsis was dying after all; that's a limit right there and then. Trying to pump him for information before he finally croaks. A task made more difficult by Fraiser getting in the way. That's an episode in and of itself.

Of course the Sokar subplot does serve several solid purposes; mainly it gets Apophsis' body out of Earth's hands. Meaning we don't get to study it at area 51 and of course opens the door for his eventual return.

Which of course is another problem I have with the episode since seeing the rest of the series. In the end its a pretty pointless episode. After all the fuss they make bout Sokar he's in what two more episodes? Three more if we count Demons with his Unas Lackey, then he takes a moon to the face and is replaced by our old friend Apophsis.


I do like the idea of Serpent's Song as a sort of two parter. Have all the interrogation scenes and so forth and have sokar only attack at the very end of the episode. When Apophsis has ironically, already died.

Heru-Ur at the same problem in THor's Chariot & Secrets they kept trying to built them up as a villian comparable to Apophsis and never followed through enough for us to see it was true. They just kept telling us how evil he was and never showing it.

[Gamira_The Goauld_Princess]

o it was great episode one of my favorite!!It was just awesome that apophis was depending of sg1`s mercy.and it was interesting to see the apophis` host.poor guy-trapped tousand years in his own body!!!Like Daniel said is unimaginable.

[mrscopterdoc]

• christopher judge's acting. Very understated but there's a certain smugness and delight in apophsis' fall that comes over very well.
• martouf/lantash in the breifing scene. The two personalities are very distinct and have roughly equal screen time in the episode. Unlike most tok'ra who we mainly seem to hear from one personality (usually the symbiote) in this case we hear from them both and they are wildly different in the way they express their feelings.
• fraiser, especially early on. Playing to role of the good doctor sticking to her guns as far as her ethics are concerned. Its not really and uncommon characterisation; most tv doctors are like this but teryl rothery does pull it off well.

I agree with this. Not one of my favorite epiosdes because I am not wild about Apophis. I love the part where Daniel gets tough with him.

[Lunaeclipse]

I loved that Jack had a darker side in this episode......"let me know when he is dead"........or something like that

I thought one of the best quotes was when he told Apophis to take it up with his god and then reminded him that he was his own god.