Stargate SG-1--"The Enemy Within"

I was warned Stargate SG-1 starts out slow, so I have braced myself. “The Enemy Within” needs to get out a lot of exposition regarding the Goa’uld while providing enough action to hold our attention. The episode does a decent job, but one feels like it is largely a throwaway story just to get the details out of the way. What it boils down to is conveniently proving Teal’c has value to SGC at the expense of a character introduced solely to bite the dust.

Said character is Maj. Charles Kowalski, the one who was infected by a Goa’uld larva. The larva is not yet mature, so it is having a difficult time maintaining control over Kowalski. He is suffering blackouts during which the larva is in control and attempting to access the Stargate. He is captured and restrained after a blackout during which he kills the doctor examining him and takes sam hostage. Now restrained in the infirmary, surgeons debate how they can remove the larva from Kowalski’s spine.

Meanwhile, Teal’c is essentially a prisoner because of doubts over his loyalty. Jack saw him stand up to a god in order to free innocent people, so he is ready to go to bat for him. That is not necessarily good enough for the military brass, which is where the loads of exposition come in. as a show of good faith, teal’c tells the visiting Col. Martin Kennedy everything he knows about the Goa’uld.

They are few in number, but very powerful. They control hundreds of worlds with populations literally enslaved. System Lords are in charge of various empires of planets. Thanks to the shield now placed on the Stargate, the goa’uld cannot invade earth via the Stargate, but they may build an armada within years or months to invade if they feel Earth is a threat. Most of the planets are seeded with ancestors of humans. What teal’c cannot reveal is intelligence about Goa’uld technology. The Jaffa consider it magic. What teal’c reveals to Kennedy is not good enough. He insists on taking teal’c to Washington fort study.

If you have not noticed Kennedy is a villain yet, understand that he does not want Kowalski to have the risky spinal surgery which will likely kill the larva because he would like to have a live Goa’uld to with which to communicate. Hammond will not sacrifice his officer for that, so the surgery goes on as planned. As a further act of hood faith, Teal’c allows the doctors to test sedatives on his larva in order to find one which will knock the little bugger out for surgery.

The surgery is a success. In fact, Kowalski makes a miraculous recovery which, absurdly enough, raises no alarm bells. He wants to see teal’c in order to thank him personally before the Jaffa is sent off to Washington. Kowalski reveals himself to be fully under the control of the larva even though it is physically gone. He and teal’c struggle towards the Stargate, where jack lowers the shield during the fight, slicing off the bsck of Kowalski’s head. Yikes. Having finally proved himself, Teal’c is assigned to SG-1 by the president himself.

“The Enemy within” is mostly all the stuff we needed to know about the Goa’uld, but could not all fit into the premiere episode. We never really establish an emotional connection with Kowalski, so he is largely a guest star. Jack is certainly a sympathetic character over the concern for his friend, but the heart string tugging is not all it could be. Sam is still an incidental character who spends much of the episode nursing a head injury from being shoved by the possessed Kowalski. Speaking of, how does one completely recover from spinal surgery in a matter of hour without raising suspicions, particularly when the issue that prompted the surgery is that he has been possessed by a powerful alien entity? It all boils down to “The Enemy Within” having flaws, but getting the job of tying up loose ends done so we can get the show on the road.

Rating; *** (out of 5)