Anise/Freya (Vanessa Angel) sadly makes her last appearance with Divide and Conquer. Written by Tor Alexander Valenza this episode first debuted on 28 July, 2000.

The Tok’ra are making stronger overtures to humanity, and they are trying to find a date when they can send a diplomatic party to meet with the president. Unfortunately, early negotiations are disrupted when a member of Stargate command turns Manchurian Candidate or Za’tarc in this mythology and assassinates one of the Tok’ra leaders.

Anise reveals that the Goa’uld have the ability to ‘brainwash’ subjects and turn them into assassins. Anise and Martouf (JR Bourne) come to Stargate Command to conduct tests on SGC members with a device that looks a lot like a Voight Kampf device from Blade Runner.

They uncover one Za’tarc pretty quickly, but things are troubling for SG-1 when it seems both O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and Carter (Amanda Tapping) may be Za’tarcs as the machine indicates they are hiding something, possibly even from themselves.

With the president’s visit growing closer, O’Neill agrees to undergo a dangerous procedure and possible cure. And what it does is reveal that what’s really going on is that they both have feelings for one another that they’ve been keeping quiet. And now they both now how they feel.

Unfortunately, there’s one more Za’tarc to uncover, and they better do it quickly! And with the reveal of how Carter and O’Neill feel about one another, it makes sense to remove one of the obstacles to a possible relationship.

Poor Martouf.

Window of Opportunity is one of the most enjoyable episodes of the series. Directed by Peter DeLuise (you know that means there’s a cameo), this episode was written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie.

After a local scientist, Malikai (Robin Mossley) triggers a time device near a stargate that Daniel (Michael Shanks) and the team are investigating, O’Neill and Teal’c (Christopher Judge) find themselves stuck in a time loop.

If they are going to convince the others they’re stuck, it’s going to take a lot of hard work, and study. Filled with lots of humorous moments as O’Neill occasionally loses control, this one is utterly charming, and has an iconic image of Teal’c and O’Neill teeing off with golf clubs in front of an open stargate. There’s also a huge kiss between Carter and O’Neill, and lots of really fun dialogue.

The key will be stopping Malikai from triggering the device, or they’ll be repeating this loop over and over.

The repetition of the time loops is executed wonderfully well, and the episode balances comedy and story perfectly. This one is a gem. It takes the sci-fi trope of time loops and makes it very much its own thing.

Damn, I truly forgot how enjoyable this show is. Smart, fun, and I remember me and my friends yelling “in the middle of my back swing?!” any time we were interrupted.