It's hard to talk about Hathor without talking about rape. That is what happens to Daniel in this episode and it is clumsily brushed off in canon with Daniel's sheepish, "A lot of that [DNA] will probably be mine," and Jack's wholly inadequate and inappropriate, "Ew."
BUT THANK GOD FOR FANFIC. Because for several days after watching the episode, I read about fifteen different takes of Daniel getting acknowledgement and support concerning what happened to him. Instead of talking about the episode this week, I need to talk about fandom and why it's so important to this series.
The wonderful thing about Stargate has always been the way it tackles serious and often uncomfortable issues. It doesn't shy away from the tough stuff, but also, as a result of it being a television show that has to appeal to marketers, being produced in the late 90s, and, yeah, being mostly created and controlled by men, they often either miss the mark for nuance or fail at the dismount, by which I mean the repercussions of some of the events. Like rape, or deaths of recurring characters, or a lot of things involving minorities of any kind.
But surrounding the series is an amazing fandom that fleshes out and explores all the weaknesses of the series. It fills in the gaps between episodes, it deals with the mental health of the main characters, it connects to their grief and healing, and by God, it explores the topics left poked but gently prodded by the series.
It was no surprise to me the number of fics I found related to "Hathor." In pursuing this project it's become clear to me how much of the early SG-1 fic has been lost—stories weren't archived on AO3, other archives have slowly folded, and even painstakingly kept rec lists can have dead links. But damn, were there still a lot of "Hathor" fics. And I truly think that's because we all saw the need for episode tags. What happened to Daniel was pretty obvious and if the fanfic writers didn't explore it—didn't help Daniel—there was no way we could buy him being okay in the next episode.
Fandom is great for additional content, for expanding the universe and adding color commentary, but it also often provides an important level of context and nuance that is essential for anyone who wants to get obsessive. Fandom, thank you and I love you.
PS This episode is so, so uncomfortable.
A few last notes of significance:
- I love when we get to remember that Daniel is a disgraced academic. Warms my heart every time. (That sounds sarcastic, but I swear, it is my happy place.)
- I'm now assuming that Hathor walked to Colorado Springs from Mexico because that image is funny.
- This is the first incursion of the SGC. Also, the concept of Goa'uld queens is first introduced here.
- I have so many questions about how the Jaffa creation process works. We don't keep our immune systems in our stomachs. Where do those organs go? How else has Jack's body changed in the handful of seconds it took to create "the womb"?
Quote of the Week:
- Daniel: Hathor was the Egyptian goddess of fertility, inebriety and music.
Jack: Sex, drugs and rock and roll?
Daniel: In a manner of speaking, yes.
Episode Stats
Planetary Tally: at the end of the episode, Hathor escapes to Chulak
Series Total: 13
In Fashion: Sam wears the green flight suit in the beginning of the episode while everyone else is in green BDUs; when Sam and Teal'c gear up to retake the base, they wear jungle camo
Brain Washed: all the men on the base except for Teal'c fall prey to Hathor's super pheromones which bring them under her control; a massive dose will make them utterly docile
Daniel: Series Total: 2
Jack: Series Total: 4
With All Due Respect: Sam dishes some respect to Hammond when all the men appear to be mind whammied by Hathor
Series Total: 11
Next up: 1.15 Singularity
Page Summary
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chasethestars
chasethestars
Comments
And yes, Daniel was raped and the whole thing was just laughed off. That was so damn weird.
Also what happened to Jack was pretty awful too.
But Daniel? There's just nothing. Not only was agency stolen from him, but he was used to make more Goa'uld. I'm glad we have the moment in "Bloodlines" before this because it firmly establishes how Daniel feels about the Goa'uld, but it also means he would be furious and devastated by what happens to him here. (Also, I don't want "Bloodlines" seen as "revenge" for this moment—they're separate feelings, and I wouldn't want them to be conflated for the viewer.)
ARGH. I don't understand why they didn't go into Daniel's Emotional Trauma for several episodes, but the "Ew" from Jack makes me so angry.
(It makes me so angry, I had to go find and upload this icon because it was the visual I got.)
Also, this is why I talked about fandom instead of the episode.
I remember a high school history teach (no idea why this subject came up in history class) telling the class that it's impossible for a woman to rape a man. She said she asked her husband and he told her that men can only have sex when they want to. Add in all the stereotypes about men always wanting to have sex (and all the jokes about impotence) and not having any men in my life to explain otherwise, by the time I graduated high school, I was firmly brainwashed in the idea that desire=arousal and sex is something everyone wants (unless you're a good girl who is saving yourself but that might also make you a prude or maybe gay… even at the time the messages were contradictory). If a man has an erection, he is consciously seeking sex. If a man doesn't have an erection, he's not interested (because there's something wrong with you) or there's something wrong with him.
I'm trying to focus on the positive that I'm not as stupid now as I was then, but it's still upsetting to realize that I had bought into the men-can-never-be-raped narrative.
So, I'm ashamed to say it, but I was one of those clueless viewers who didn't get that that was a rape scene at all the first time. (I think I took Daniel's shell-shocked look for guilt or something?)
It's horrifying to realize how many things I watched when I was younger (even things I watched as a little kid!) that are now super-rapey when I rewatch them with a modern perspective. (Pepé Le Pew is literally about how funny harassment is and we watched that as kids and laughed.) There was this TV movie that I loved as a kid called The Girl, The Gold Watch, and Everything. The ability to stop time is still my favorite superpower, but, oy, that movie had so many awful scenes played off as jokes.
I will second your head-canon that Hathor walked to Colorado. :-)
RDA's acting continues to impress me on the re-watch. Even without the cheesy magic-breath special effect, you could see in his eyes when he was under its effect and when it started to wear off.
I don't remember not identifying that Daniel was raped, but I also acknowledge that I was coming in while Season 7 was airing, so even though I watched in order, there was a ton of fanfic and discourse that already existed and people had had six years to think about and discuss "Hathor." Even if I missed it on the first viewing, fandom was there and waving the flags to let me know what happened.
And, as I said, there was a lot of fanfic that explicitly addressed that Daniel was raped. I'm not exaggerating that I read 15 different takes on it, and I'm pretty sure I'm missing many of the Jack/Daniel fics that I had read back then. (Unsurprisingly, "Hathor" fics are not ones I bookmarked.)
Otherwise, yes 1000% on everything you said. 🙁
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0922624/