Show and Tell

Plot: The SG-C is informed of a possible threat by a mysterious boy, Charlie. He tells of a race called the Re'tu, that are out of phase with humans, making them invisible. A Re'tu terrorist group intends to attack Earth in a bid to wipe out potential hosts for the Goa'uld.


Not bad at all. The threat of an invisible enemy makes for some reasonably tense scenes when the aforementioned terrorist group sneaks in to the SG-C. This leads to the base going in to lock down and the team scouring it to find the Re'tu rebels, getting involved in several shoot outs along the way.

It all starts when the SG-C personnel are unable to activate the iris during an unscheduled off world activation. Charlie walks through the Gate with a warning about the Re'tu rebels. It transpires that his 'mother' had travelled through the Gate with SG-1 when they brought Tonane back to the SG-C earlier in the season. Since then, she has been observing the humans to identify potential threats. Having deemed them worthy, she uses Charlie to warn of the planned war of attrition, aimed at cutting of the Goa'uld's supply of hosts.

The Re'tu themselves are Starship Troopers-esque bug type creatures and it soon becomes clear that they cloned Charlie with the purpose of using him to warn the SG-C. This accounts for his rapidly deteriorating condition as a result of multiple organ failure. Turns out they hadn't had chance to properly refine the cloning technique.

So how do you see an invisible enemy? Having a Goa'uld symbiote around helps. Teal'c's symbiote is affected by the Re'tu's presence. Teal'c describes it as severe agitation, but it looks more like incapacitating pain. It seems that the Re'tu could be the Goa'uld's Kryptonite. Shame they don't seem interested in forming an alliance. SG-1 call the Tok'ra for help and Selmak turns up with some Re'tu spotting devices with built in Re'tu destroying capability. They come in handy as SG-1 and other base personnel work to eliminate the threat.

In the end, Charlie's 'mother' is killed and he becomes more seriously ill. The only solution for him is to become a Tok'ra host. For this reason, he travels back with Selmak. I'm not sure if we ever see him again. But the possibility is definitely there, especially as he formed a strong relationship with Jack. This goes so far as him taking on the name of Jack's deceased son. He could very much be to Jack what Cassandra is to Sam.

I think the Re'tu as a threat were very interesting and helped to make for a good episode. We're led to believe that there are non-threatening Re'tu out there, though they may have been majorly weakened by Goa'uld attack. It's a shame as they could have made for a very interesting ally in the fight against the System Lords. According to the Stargate Command Wiki, the Re'tu don't appear again, though they are often used as an explanation for mysterious goings on.

7 out of 10