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"Family Ties" is the eighteenth episode of the tenth season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis[]

Vala Mal Doran's father, Jacek seeks sanctuary on Earth, where he quickly delves into his old scamming tricks. Meanwhile, Major General Henry Landry plans to meet his ex-wife and daughter for dinner.

Plot[]

Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Vala Mal Doran arrive at Stargate Command wearing civilian clothing, carrying a lot of shopping bags. Carter says that they've just had a "Girls Day Out". Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and MSgt. Sylvester Siler are talking about a TV show, and Vala says that she was sampling Earth's "cultural offerings". When Mitchell asks what these are, Carter adds "pedicures, mochaccinos, and Victoria's Secret." Siler, distracted by their rather provocative clothing (dresses, high heels, and boots) walks back down the hall and into a door that opened behind him. Mitchell reminds them that they're about to go off-world in about an hour, and suggests that they lose the heels.

Major General Henry Landry is at the SGC and is contacted by a person from another world who reveals himself to be Jacek, who claims to have information that would protect Earth against an attack by the Jaffa Arkad. Arkad planned to use weapons grade Naquadah to destroy the enemies of the Ori. Carter states that Arkad was killed; however, Jacek states that his plans are already in motion, with cloaked Tel'tak cargo ships carrying weapons grade Naquadah, awaiting the order for the strike. Vala arrives and mentions Jacek's name - after which she reveals that Jacek is her father.

Landry agrees that Jacek is untrustworthy, but decides it's still in their best interest to take him up on his offer - against Vala's wishes. While they prepare for the mission, Landry goes to see his daughter, Dr. Carolyn Lam, and asks her to help him to arrange a communication with her mother, with whom he hasn't spoken for five years. Lam agrees to call her in his behalf.

SG-1 goes to the planet Jacek told them about, traveling on the Odyssey which is now under the command of Colonel Ian Davidson. With the ship's scanners they discover a small number of people with a lot of Naquadah; they destroy it and give Jacek the sanctuary he asked for.

While on Earth, Jacek proves to be a less than honest citizen, holding a charity phone scam (" Little 'Pepito' needs a new set of kidneys.."), selling "genuine stardust", and hustling senior citizen ladies in bingo games (with a cover charge). It turns out that there was one ship that left before SG-1 arrived, and that it has reached Earth and is awaiting orders. Jacek found out about the cargo ship on Earth from a Jaffa Te'rak he knew from a weapon smuggling operation he used to run. That was the reason why he made a deal with SGC - so he could come to Earth to take Naquadah, sell it, and then split the profit with a Jaffa.

When Jacek meets with his Jaffa contact, Daniel and Vala surprise him and accidentally kill the Jaffa. Once again Jacek tries to make a deal with SGC and claims that only he can find the cloaked cargo ship, because the Naquadah was marked by Arkad and he can calibrate detection systems to pick up its unique energy signature. Jacek convinces SG-1 to let him "disarm" the bomb he claims is on board, set to detonate if the ship moves. He claims that he has the override codes. SG-1 does not trust him, as he has spent his time on Earth continuously scamming everyone. Instead, they lead him to a cargo ship of their own and let him steal it; once he is gone and it's obvious he made up the existence of a deadman switch, SG-1 take control of the real cargo ship. After Landry hears that everything has gone according to plan, he rushes to the restaurant to meet with his daughter (Dr. Lam) and ex-wife Kim Lam.

The next scene shows the cargo ship Jacek stole on an unknown world where Jacek asks how much he will get for the shipment of weapons grade Naquadah. The "client", a human, notes that the shipment is nothing but lead bars and "these things", which turn out to be foam peanuts. Jacek explains that it's a virility enhancer and manages to con the human into believing the lie. Jacek laughs and says that they both "talk the same language".

The episode ends with Vala putting the new necklace her father gave her into a secret box where she kept the other jewelry he gave her, despite having told Jacek that she threw it away. She hears a knock at the door and hides the box beneath her bed after which Carter enters the room with a bottle and two glasses for a "girls' night in". Carter asks how Vala is doing and she explains that her father scammed them and they scammed him in return, with everything turning out OK in the end.

Vala inquires about what the "boys" are doing. Carter explains that Mitchell is out on a date, Daniel is exhausted and that Teal'c has gone to see a play. Sitting down at his play Teal'c nods side to side in surprise, noticing the crowd of predominantly females; Teal'c is discomforted to find out that the play is The Vagina Monologues.

Appearances[]

Appearances for Family Ties

Locations

Events

Items

Vehicles

Sentient Species

Organizations

Mentioned

Notable quotes[]

Jacek: I suppose, for the benefit of your friends there, you're gonna wanna list all the reasons why I was such a bad father.
Vala: Oh I wish I could, but the wormhole can only be maintained for 38 minutes.

Landry: I made a deal. I'm not going back on my word.
Vala: Might I suggest a more liberal interpretation of the agreement? For instance the word sanctuary could mean anything from accommodations in an idyllic tropical setting to, say, lifetime incarceration in one of this planet's more unpleasant penal facilities.

Jacek: For once in the last 20 years could you call me "Dad'?
Vala: You haven't earned that right yet.

Lam: You know that grey sports jacket that you have with the patches on the sleeves?
Landry: Uh hum.
Lam: Don't wear that.

Teal'c: May I offer you a word of advice?
Jacek: Any input that would help me better myself would be greatly appreciated.
Teal'c: Perhaps three words: be less annoying.

Carter: But the truth is the Stargate program just doesn't get the support it used to from the people in charge.
Jacek: Why not?
Lee: (yells) Eureka! One down twelve to go!
Jacek: That's too bad because after all your Stargate program has accomplished for this network of planets, I'd think that the decision makers would show it the respect it deserves.

Cast[]

Main Characters

Guest Stars

Notes[]

  • In one of the many references the Stargate franchise makes to the Vancouver area, where the shows are filmed, Jacek's apartment number is 604, which is also the telephone area code for Vancouver.
  • In Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter's lab, Jacek comments, "I'm a bit disappointed in [the Stargate] facility. I was expecting more" to which Carter responds, "The Stargate program just doesn't get the support it used to from the people in charge." (referring to the International Oversight Advisory) Jacek asks, "Why not?". They are interrupted by Dr. Bill Lee who exclaims "Eureka!" This is a subtle/sneaky reference to the replacement show Eureka that took the place of Stargate SG-1 in SyFy's lineup of shows (though after the tenth and final season of Stargate had finished), a decision with which many fans disagreed. Jacek responds, "That's too bad because after all your Stargate program has accomplished for this network of planets, I would think the decision makers would show it the respect it deserves." "Network" refers to the SyFy Channel.
  • While Jacek states that his stardust was fake, technically all matter is stardust.
  • When SG-1 arrives to first meet Jacek, Vala repeats the famous line from Star Wars: "I've got a bad feeling about this."
  • Jacek refers to the events of "Talion".
  • This episode takes place over the course of more than three weeks. This is puzzling, since as a visiting alien Jacek would not have been allowed to leave the SGC until he had been fully cleared. Even Vala was not permitted to leave for several months, due to her previous stealing of the Prometheus.

Goofs[]

  • In several scenes, Vala Mal Doran's SG-1 and Earth symbol patches are on the wrong sleeves. This would happen again in the next episode.
  • After shooting Teal'c with a zat'nik'tel, Vala Mal Doran is seen with it closed immediately afterward.
  • At one point during the dialing procedure the computer shows five symbols to be encoded, CMSgt. Walter Harriman is saying six and the Stargate has seven chevrons glowing - all at the same time.

Other languages[]

  • French: Un Air De Famille (A Family Resemblance)
  • Italian: Legami Di Famiglia (Family Ties)
  • Spanish: Lazos Familiares (Family Ties)
  • Czech: Rodinná pouta (Family Ties)
  • Hungarian: A család köteléke (The Ties of the Family)
  • German: Familienbande (Family Ties)

Links and navigation[]

Smallwikipedialogo This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Family Ties (Stargate SG-1). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with SGCommand, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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