THE LIGHT

04.18 Episode 84 (#6714)
Airdate: January 26, 2001

When Daniel and SG-5 visit P4X-347, they return to Earth experiencing severe physical and emotional symptoms. Lieutenant Barber commits suicide, and Daniel and the others fall into a deep debilitating depression that leaves them near death. SG-1 investigates the planet and finds a strange Goa'uld temple containing a beautifully mesmerizing light, and the planet's only inhabitant, a young boy named Loran. The light is strangely compelling, and as SG-1 are drawn to it, they begin to lose all sense of time. Yet its purpose, and its effects, remain a mystery.

When O'Neill returns to Earth, he too begins experiencing the symptoms of depression, and tests reveal that a chemical imbalance is the cause. The members of SG-5 have died, and Daniel has slipped into a coma, moments from death. The answer appears to lie with the enigmatic light, and desperate to save Daniel's life, O'Neill carries him back through the gate to P4X-347. Once there, both men begin to recover, and it becomes apparent that proximity to the light's radiation causes euphoric highs, while distance results in critical withdrawal and death. SG-1 is trapped on the planet.

Young Loran holds the key. Long since deserted, the temple on P4X-347 had once been a Goa'uld pleasure palace, and Loran's parents had been explorers who had come to the planet and fallen victim to the powerful addiction of the light. Only by avoiding the light had Loran eluded its irresistible hold. There is no escape, however Carter discovers that the intensity of the light can be adjusted. Time will provide the solution. As the light's effects gradually diminish, SG-1 and Loran will be able to safely return to Earth.

Written by: James Phillips
Directed by: Peter F. Woeste

Guest Starring: Kristian Ayre as Loran, Gary Jones as Sergeant Davis, Teryl Rothery as Dr. Fraiser, Link Baker as Lieutenant Barber

Reference: Lieutenant Barber, Hazmat, Light, Loran, P4X-347, UTD

DESTINATIONS & INHABITANTS

NOTES OF INTEREST

• The Goa'uld palace contained a pedestal which projects a light-matrix hologram onto the ceiling. It has probably been deserted for hundreds of years.
• A hidden device emitted undetectible energy or radiation. The color and light of the hologram interacted with the optic nerve and triggered chemical responses in the brain. Accelerated neural activity causes dopamine-like effects. When exposure ends, neural activity decreases resulting in depression. Addiction is almost instantaneous, with intensity proportional to the length of exposure. Addiction can be reversed by reducing the exposure incrementally over 2-3 weeks. A Goa'uld symbiote can keep a host's mind chemically balanced after exposure.
• SG-5 first visited the planet. Lieutenant Barber committed suicide by running into the stargate vortex. The rest of SG-5 suffered the effects of withdrawal and died.
• Loran's parents were explorers. They became addicted to the light, and when Loran turned off the device to free them, they went into withdrawal, ran into the ocean, and drowned. Loran returned to Earth with SG-1.
• Although the Jaffa do not celebrate birthdays, Teal'c will be 102 years old in 47 days. [Note: 47 days from airdate gives a birthdate of April 11, 1899]

MEMORABLE REMARKS

• Daniel bet on curling? [Carter]
  Oh yes. His team won the big bonspiel. [O'Neill]
• Colonel, are you all right? [Fraiser]
  What kind of a dumb-ass question is that? [O'Neill]
• Great. All those years of just saying no. [O'Neill]
• Forget it. [Carter]
  That would be "Forget it, Sir." [O'Neill]
  Oh please. You think I'm keeping that up if we're stuck here forever? [Carter]
  Listen, Major. [O'Neill]
  No way! [Carter]
  That's "No way, Colonel!" [O'Neill]

FOR THE RECORD

• Teal'c saved by his symbiote: unaffected by the addiction to the light
• Injuries:
  • O'Neill: suffered effects of withdrawal from addiction to the light
  • Carter: addicted to the light
  • Daniel: suffered effects of depression and addiction, coma, flatlined