Fragile Balance (Stargate SG-1)

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“Fragile Balance”
Stargate SG-1 episode
Episode no. Season 7
Episode 3
Guest stars Michael Welch as Young Jack O'Neill
Carmen Argenziano as Jacob Carter/Selmak
Ed Hong-Louie as Zyang Wu
Peter DeLuise as Loki (voice)
Written by Peter DeLuise and Michael Greenburg
Directed by Peter DeLuise
Production no. 703
Original airdate June 20, 2003
Episode chronology
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"Homecoming (Part 3)" "Orpheus"
Episode chronology

"Fragile Balance" is an episode from Season 7 of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Carter is called to Hammond's office to investigate an intruder found on SGC property; the trespasser was trying to get into the facility using Jack O'Neill's Air Force ID badge. When Hammond and Carter reach the holding cell, the “intruder” turns out to be a fifteen-year-old boy who claims he is Colonel O'Neill. Initially, no one believes him. However, with the arrival of Daniel and Teal'c the boy rattles off facts about each of them, causing SG-1 to reconsider his claim. Out of earshot of O'Neill, Daniel points out several stranger things that have happened to O'Neill (Including the time he was artificially aged, artificially de-evolved into a cave-man, and when the minds of SG-1 were switched between their various bodies).

After genetic testing, Dr. Fraiser determines that, outside of a small abnormality, the boy is Jack O'Neill. Carter, Teal'c, Jackson, and Hammond all begin treating him as such, but Carter and Teal'c also encourage him to enjoy his newfound youth. The team goes to Jack's house to try to ascertain the cause of this youth, and after a strange vision, Jack reveals that he was abducted, apparently by the Asgard.

However, Dr. Fraiser also determines that Jack is dying, and that something must be done to prevent it. The Tok'ra are contacted and Jacob Carter arrives in his capacity as Tok'ra liaison. He recommends that O'Neill be placed in stasis and Jack takes 10 minutes to think about it. In that time, however, he manages to escape from Cheyenne Mountain in an attempt to find beer (and to avoid stasis). He is recaptured, however, when an old friend of O'Neill's is approached by someone claiming to be Jack's nephew. The "nephew" (O'Neill himself) asks the fellow soldier for a favor of several cans of beer. Jack's friend, valiantly refusing the under-age request, contacts the SGC and reveals young Jack's position in Colorado Springs.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Teal'c have been investigating Jack's claim that he was abducted, and are interviewing people whose alien abduction stories are consistent with Jack's. They find eight such people in the United States, and all claim to have seen an Asgard similar to the one Jack saw, as well as glowing green lights. This information is complicated by the Tok'ra's finding that young Jack is actually a clone of O'Neill, and this has presumably happened to all the other abductees.

When young Jack is re-abducted after seven days on Earth, armed with a Zat, he shoots the Asgard on the ship, who turns out to be a rogue scientist named Loki, who has been performing unsanctioned experiments on humans for years. He beams the rest of SG-1 aboard and they summon Thor. He gives the real Jack O'Neill, found on the ship, the choice of whether or not to keep his clone. Jack decides to and Thor fixes the genetic defect, whereupon Thor condemns Loki to punishment.

The episode concludes with a young Jack O'Neill re-entering high school, although his older counterpart loathed it, in an attempt to obtain a lost childhood experience. The two agree not to keep in contact.

[edit] Quotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
  • O'Neill: Daniel, will you tell them who I am? Please?
    Dr. Jackson: Okay. Love to. Who are you?
  • O'Neill, trying to prove himself: Carter, you were once a host to a Tok'ra named Jolinar, who gave her life to save you. Daniel, until recently, you were an ascended being. Ya broke the rules, got yourself kicked out of the Oma Desala fan club, and had your memory erased. And Teal'c, you and Bra'Tac both lost your snakes in a Goa'uld ambush. Had your Tretonin yet this morning?
  • General Hammond: We should make him as comfortable as possible
    Carter : I'll go set up a PlayStation.
  • O'Neill, taking over a briefing: Look, I'm only going to say this once, so I'd suggest that you listen up.
    Airman, snickering: Whatever you say...
    O'Neill, cutting him off: Hey, I realize it doesn't actually say 'Colonel' anywhere on my uniform, but it should.
    [Airman looks to Major Carter, who nods knowingly. All airmen sit up straight in their seats.]
  • Loki: No, no, no, this is all wrong.
    O'Neill: Hey! I’ll tell you what’s wrong. I just woke up, haven’t had coffee, let alone a pee in seven days, and I find out you stole my ass and made a—mini me. Carter, I should be irked currently, yes?
    Carter: Yes, I would be.

[edit] Notes

  • The song at the end is "Who Am I" by Lily Frost.
  • Director's cameo: Peter DeLuise is the voice of Loki.
  • Col. O'Neill's middle initial is J.
  • When asked to give examples of stranger occurrences, Daniel recalls the time Jack became really old ("Brief Candle"), when they all regressed to cavemen ("The Broca Divide"), and when they all switched bodies ("Holiday").

[edit] External links

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