Stargate SG-1--"Company of Thieves"

“Company of Thieves’ is, well, it is kind of just there. The episode revisits the Lucian alliance subplot with an effort to make the Mafia-esque group more formidable after that whole addictive corn crop plot some episodes back. I suppose it does a better job, but I still could not care less about the Lucian Alliance, so what of it?

Netan, head of the Lucian Alliance, sends his largest rival for power, Anateo, on what he believes is a suicide mission to capture Odyssey. Much to everyone’s surprise, including Anateo’s, he succeeds. Odyssey is badly damaged in the effort, and while Anateo forces sam to make repairs, he plots to capture the rest of the SG-1 team as a sign he should replace Netan. He succeeds in capturing Daniel and Vala, but cam and Teal’c infiltrate Netan’s inner circle in order to find them.

Stargate SG-1 has been around so long at this point, the show appears to think repeating gags from the past will satisfy fan nostalgia. Something bad happens to Earth battle cruisers every time they go out into deep space. They get hijacked, damaged by an anomaly, or destroyed. Cam uses the drug that convinces people he is someone else in order to gain Netan’s trust. Teal’c is captured and--you guessed it--tortured largely for the heck of it. If you really want to stretch the point, Emerson becomes the third battle cruiser commander behind Pendergast and Chekov to be killed. Too bad, that. I liked Emerson. We never got to see enough of him, and being shot in cold blood by a thug is a terrible way for him to die. Pendergast and Chekov went out in battle. Emerson deserved better.

While undercover, cam manages to start an armed power struggle within the Lucian Alliance by posing as Netan. Meanwhile, the Odyssessy crew free themselves from their captors. The result is apparent open hostilities between the Lucian Alliance and Earth. It is quite a tragic turn of events considering the Jaffa Nation has fractured into warring groups that blame Earth for the destruction of Dakara. Our heroes certainly know how to ein friends and influence people.

As I said above, I do not much care for the Lucian Alliance. While I think the Ori are worthy main villain successors to the Goa’uld, the Lucian Alliance does not quite hold up as secondary villains the way the Replicators did. The Lucian alliance is not compelling, and the rehashed plot elements do not help much in elevating “Company of Thieves” to anything more than an average episode you have seen before.

Rating: ** (out of 5)