Season 1 Episode 7 – The Nox

By Jess

Brief Summary:

The team heads to a planet in pursuit of a creature called the Fenri, which is known for its stealth. Almost immediately upon arriving, the Stargate disappears and they encounter Apophis, who is also searching for the creature. After a confrontation, Apophis kills all of SG-1, with the exception of Teal'c. They are each revived by The Nox, a peaceful, elvish woodland type of people. They refuse to defend themselves, or allow SG-1 to defend them against Apophis, who has learned of their abilities to disappear. SG-1 soon learn that all is not what it seems with the peace-loving Nox.

The Sam and Daniel point of view:

There's not a whole lot in the beginning of this episode, as Jack orders them to split up having Sam and Teal'c go off one way, and Daniel and himself another. Once the team attacks Apophis and his Jaffa, Apophis kills them one by one, starting with Jack. Shocked by this, Sam edges up out of her hiding place and is also killed by Apophis, followed by Daniel. Apophis is about to confront Teal'c the Shol'va when suddenly the bodies of SG-1 – as well as Teal'c – disappear.

Daniel wakes up to find himself lying on the ground inside some kind of ... shelter, and that he is indeed not dead. He gets up and walks around. It's interesting that the first person he goes over to is Sam, lying on her back with a hole in the torso area of her jacket where she'd taken the staff blast. Daniel bends down to check and see if she is alive. He ever so gingerly touches her exposed skin, perhaps lingering there just a bit too long. Heh heh. ;)

Sam awakens, a bit surprised and maybe taken aback at Daniel fingering her, and says “Hey, what are you lookin' at?” Maybe it's a bit of self-consciousness left over from when she wore the blue dress in Emancipation. Daniel says “I felt that blast kill me. I thought we were dead. Weren't we dead?” Sam then appears just as bewildered and says, “Yeah” as she pulls herself up into a sitting position. Daniel replies with a slight chuckle, “Well, I thought heaven would be a little more upscale.” She says, “I don't think this is heaven.” Wow, really? Well, the way these two are sitting so close to each other, looks like heaven to me. ;)

They then look and find Jack lying on his stomach and “revive” him as well. Shortly afterwards, the Nox make their presence known. During their conversations with the Nox, there is a nice little scene where Anteaus mentions the Fenri for the first time. Daniel is standing with Sam and Nefrayu (the Nox boy) and tells a confused Jack, “the invisible flying thing we were after.” It's just a cute scene because they almost look like a little family there. :)

Shortly after this, Teal'c mentions that they will be in greater danger if Apophis' Jaffa Shak'l (who was also revived by the Nox) does not die, and Anteaus responds with, “there will be no more death.” Despite the fact that Teal'c has no intentions of killing the Jaffa, he insists that he would tell Apophis where to find them. Anteaus is adamant, leaving SG-1 a tad frustrated. A look passes between Sam and Daniel that could just be shared annoyance, but it is a pretty pointed look and thus a bit intersting.

The team talks about what they can do next, and Jack asks Teal'c about Shak'l. Sam says they can't just walk away, that if they hadn't attacked Apophis, Shak'l wouldn't even be here. Daniel adds, “And we can't kill him either,” much to the surprise of Jack, Teal'c, and Sam, who turns and looks at him in astonishment. Daniel back-pedals and says he wasn't considering it, only stating a fact. I've often wondered if it was hard for Sam to think about keeping her hands to herself in that scene, what with a bit of Daniel's chest peeking out of the hole in that jacket, lol (just kidding!).

A bit later on, while they are still figuring out how to neutralize Shak'l, Anteaus appears again, informing them that the Nox will not allow it. Jack protests, insisting that they will be in trouble if they let Shak'l go. Daniel tries a less confrontational approach and tells Anteaus that what has happened is SG-1's fault and they want to correct that. Sam goes along with Daniel, assuring Anteaus that Shak'l won't be hurt. Of course, they still don't manage to get anywhere.

Shak'l kills Lya and escapes. Although the Nox revive her, Apophis finds Nefrayu and attacks him as well. The Nox insist on performing the ritual to revive him, but do not allow SG-1 to keep Apophis at bay. They decide to fend off the Goa'uld in another way. As they engage in battle, a Jaffa flips Sam over his back and then points a staff weapon in her face. Before he can fire, Daniel shoots him in the chest, thus saving Sam's life.

Before Jack can kill Apophis, he disappears, using the abilities of the Nox. Although the Goa'uld escapes, things end on an up note as Anteaus and Nefrayu reappear, rendering the Stargate visible once again. They also reveal their cloud city, showing SG-1 that they are more powerful than they appear to be, and do not need anyone to fear for them. Their knowledge and power are seemingly greater than even the Goa'uld. Unfortunately they plan to bury the 'Gate after SG-1 leaves.

Thus ends this week's exciting episode. Sam and Daniel have a few nice moments when they first wake up and realize they aren't dead (and I still say Daniel was being curiously hands-y there! ;)), and Daniel manages to save her life later on. An interesting episode overall and not that bad for Sam and Daniel.

Sam/Daniel moment count: 5

Shippiness factor: 5 (normally I'd say 4, but the hands-y moment kicks it up to a 5!)