Daniel finds an evil archaeological artifact with alien ramifications. Could mummies be far behind?

(originally aired September 22, 2000)

Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
Directed by Andy Mikita

A Man, Some Fish, and a Jaffa

JACK: Teal'c, it's not about the actual fish themselves. They are not importantin this context. It is about the act of fishing.    More Stories The SPACE.com Guide to Stargate SG-1 Stargate SG-1 - 'The Curse' (spoilers) Stargate SG-1 - 'Tangent' Stargate SG-1 - 'Point of No Return'    Multimedia Stargate SG-1: Let the fourth season begin!    Related Links Stargate SG-1 [official]

JACK: Just so we are clear on this, sir, it will just be me, Teal'c, and the Great Outdoors. No cell phone, no faxes. HAMMOND: Incommunicado. JACK: If Thor needs me, he is going to have to beam me up, If the Tok'ra need me, forget it.

STEVEN: Why did you come? If you are looking for closure, Daniel, I would say you are a little late.

GUEST STARS

Anna-Louise Plowman - Sarah
Ben Bass - Steven Rayner
David Abbott - Dr. Jordan

WHAT HAPPENED

Somebody's been collecting Egyptian artifacts. We see an older man pick up what looks up a burial jar. While he catalogs it, a younger fellow -- clearly a student or protege -- comes in to talk about the jar and how they're having trouble keeping the collection away from the Egyptian government.

The professor takes the jar to the lab for testing. Steven, the student, picks up a gold amulet and smiles.

Back at Stargate Command, Daniel and Jack are sitting in the boardroom. Jack is reading some tabloid magazine, blaming his newfound love of paranormal journalism on Teal’c. Daniel snatches the tabloid from O’Neill and explains "My God, he's dead!"

When asked, Jackson elaborates that the dead person in question was his archeology professor, Dr. Gordon. (spoilers)

ANALYSIS

This was a good episode. Not a heart-stopping season-ender, but a good episode nonetheless.

We learn a bit more about Daniel’s past, making a nice connection back to the original Stargate film.

More importantly, we get to catch up with all the members of SG-1. We finally see Jack's ever-talked-about fishing hole in the Minnesota woods, as well as finding out that Carter's secret project is actually her Harley Davidson.

In terms of the larger story arc, I particularly liked the intriguing notion that the myth of Osiris and Isis was based on actual political machinations among the Goa’uld. We knew the Egyptian pantheon were actually those snaky alien parasites, but it's always interesting to see the show's take on how that idea -- unformed in the original film -- spins out into the mythologies of Earth.

In closing, I will say that if there is a moral to this story it is that, once again, all love interests of Daniel Jackson become puppets for the Goa’uld snakes.

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK

Apophis and Heru-ur team up, forcing the SG-1 team to take extreme military steps to stop them. Be here for "Serpent's Venom".