The Serpent's Venom

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S4 (The Serpent's Venom)

Heavy on the Goa'uld politics, but since they haven't featured too much lately, that's good news. Even better, this quickly becomes a mission with Jacob to stop an alliance between Heru'ur and Apophis, who, having taken Sokar's over fleet, is fast becoming the greatest threat to the galaxy, one that even the combined System Lords won't be able to defeat. Teal'c meanwhile, has gone to Chulak to stir up rebellion after an attack by Apophis left many slaughtered, only to be captured by Rak'nor, played by Obi Ndefo (better known to Trekkers as General Martok's son Drex in 'DS9'), who has issues thanks to his Dad believing in Teal'c when he rebelled against the Goa'uld, which got him and his family killed. Rak'nor wears a scar where his emblem was, but he turns out to be not such a bad chap after all, which was easy to anticipate since he was wincing quite early into Teal'c's torture by Terak.

Other predictable moments were Terak being sent to Apophis' ship in place of Teal'c, and the SG-1 team successfully rescuing their colleague, though it's a bit harsh that they end up making the situation worse as Apophis has somehow managed to cloak an entire fleet ready to take out Heru'ur if he tried any tricks. It's been a long time since we last saw that guy, but it doesn't look like we will again! Christopher Judge gives one of his best performances as the stubborn prisoner, holding out to the end against all forms of pain. He certainly looked in shape for it, but it's his strong beliefs that come through so well, eventually convincing Rak'nor whose side he should be on.

It would have been nice to see Bre'tak, but you can't have everything. I don't believe he was captured and killed, as that was most likely another tactic used by Terak to get at Teal'c. He knows he's won when the torturer smashes the Goa'uld 'webcam' in frustration that his abilities aren't making the traitor yield. It takes quite a long time before we get to the Goa'uld leaders, but a lot of knowledge coming our way and the update of where things are with the Goa'uld, is useful. Carter and Daniel get to do some brain work with the mines (which look like mini TIE Interceptors!), and O'Neill is always good company, to paraphrase Jacob. I wouldn't rate it as one of the best Goa'uld episodes, but it certainly does the job, and the CG effects for the ships and mines were adequate. The main thing is that it leaves you wanting to discover the aftermath of the SG-1 team's bungling, and what it will mean for Earth and its allies.

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