Formspring Question #396--Jack's Sympathetic Cynicism Edition

You are the first person I’ve seen who really sympathizes with Jack in “Menace”. Even among more pro-Jack viewers the general thought is that it shows his cynical view taken to its most neg end (as arguably “Beast of Burden” does to Daniel’s idealist view.

I am a cynic myself. Seeing things as they are rather than how they ought to be is a curse I cannot switch off. However, it must be noted that my initial review for “Menace” was highly critical of Jack’s behavior. His comment that he hates much of what Daniel says, but resists the urge to put him through a wall stands out as especially mean spirited. Indeed, jack is much colder and more lunk-headed than usual in the episode.

The point that tilted me in the opposite direction towards sympathy is when I started analyzing his final act--that of shooting Reese. I initially got caught up in the high emotion of it. The scene has the appearance of Jack killing a child. That is even stranger since Jack not only has a soft spot for kids, but his son accidentally shot himself dead. So I agreed with Daniel. Jack was a stupid SOB for shooting first rather than looking for a non-violent solution.

I changed my mind. The decision to do so boils down to two points.

One, Jack has the mindset of protecting those to whom it is his duty to protect. He is inclined to do some nasty stuff in order to do that. For instance, he was ready to violate orders and blow up the Gadmeer in order to preserve a people to whom he was emotionally attached. He adamantly ignored the origins of the Eurondan war in order to secure technology for Earth. He did not care about the Unas’ plight in slavery because he did not want to risk fighting a war over them. When it became necessary to neutralize Reese, he understood the Replicators were beginning to act independently, the self-destruct was nearing the big boom, and Daniel was probably in trouble. His options were destroy Reese or let everyone die. Under the circumstances, he made the right one.

Two, there is an added emotional charge because Reese looked and acted like a human child. She was not. She was a robot. The situation reminds me of animal rights activists who say do not eat the tuna because dolphins are inadvertently killed by tuna fishermen. What happened to do not east the tuna because it kills the tuna? No one cares. Dolphins are cute and have personality. Tuna, not so much. The entire SGC had killed 20-30 Replicators onscreen before reese got shoot and no one blinked. Reese gets shot, and everyone freaks out jack pulled the trigger. Why? Robot spiders are unsympathetic, but a robot that looks like a little girl is not. Shooting Reese was really no different than shooting a Replicator. The scenario just tugs at the heartstrings.

There was some redemption for jack there. He did let Daniel rip into him for his actions without comment. His silence demonstrated his respect for daniel’s opinion even if jack did not believe Daniel’s usual way of handling these situations through communication would not have worked in time, if at all, under the circumstances. In hindsight, Jack’s actions under the circumstances are more sympathetic than they appear at first glance.