Family Ties

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

Plot
Lt. Col. Samantha Carter and Vala Mal Doran arrive at the SGC wearing civilian clothing (dresses), carrying a lot of shopping bags. Carter says that they've just had a "Girls Day Out." Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell and Sergeant Siler are talking about a TV show when Siler walks back down the hall and into a door that closed behind him.

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

SG-1 agrees that Jacek is untrustworthy, but that it's still in their best interest to take him up on his offer against Vala's wishes. They go to the planet he tells them about, and discover a small number of people with a lot of naqahdah; 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, 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 convinces SG-1 to let him "disarm" the bomb he claims is on board, set to detonate if the ship moves. SG-1 do 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, it's obvious he made up the existence of a deadman switch, SG-1 take control of the real cargo ship.

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 "this", which turns 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.

Trivia

 * 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 Carter's lab, Jacek comments on how "this place is a disappointment" to which Carter responds "The people in charge don't give us the support we used to have." (reffering to the IOC) They are immediately interupted by Dr. Lee who exclaims "Eureka!" This is a subtle/sneaky reference to the replacement show "Eureka" that took the place of SG-1 in SyFy's lineup of shows, one that many fans disagreed with. Jacek responds with "That's too bad. After all you've done for this network of planets you would think they would show the Stargate program the respect it deserves."