"I can't allow them to interfere with our operations any longer. Put the word out: as of this moment, I'm placing a bounty on their heads."
— Netan
After the team foil yet another Lucian Alliance kassa smuggling plot, Netan places a bounty on each of their heads, prompting a cadre of bounty hunters to come to Earth looking to collect. Meanwhile, a bored Vala persuades Mitchell to take her to his high school reunion in Kansas.
"Bounty" provides examples of the following tropes:
- All Part of the Show: Carter and Lee fight off one of the bounty hunters at a technology convention using a plasma gun after a holographic representation of Carter is shot, causing the audience to burst into applause thinking it was part of their demonstration.
- The Bait: The bounty hunter Odai Ventrell tells Mitchell that he intends to use him as bait to capture the rest of SG-1, as the whole team is worth much more than a single member.
- Bounty Hunter: A whole assortment of them descends on Earth after Netan puts a price on the team's heads, with varying degrees of competency.
- Broken Masquerade: Mitchell's high school class is forced to sign non-disclosure agreements after being held captive by an alien bounty hunter and witnessing a ring transporter crash through the gymnasium ceiling.
- Call-Back:
- The laser-ring used by the female bounty hunter is similar to the weapon used by Osiris in "Chimera" and the za'tarc weapon from "Divide and Conquer".
- Dr. Lee's failed demonstration of the plasma gun is similar to Dr. Felger's demonstration of his prototype plasma cannon at the beginning of "Avenger 2.0".
- Cell Phones Are Useless: Mitchell has poor cell reception in his hometown due to damage from a recent tornado, meaning that he repeatedly misses Landry's warnings about the attempts made on the lives of the other team members and fails to realize the danger he could be in.
- Chekhov's Gun: The hologram projector that Carter and Lee demonstrate at the technology convention is used by the team to capture Ventrell at the end of the episode.
- Class Reunion: Vala persuades Mitchell to take her to his high school reunion, where he reunites with his old friend Darrell Grimes and former crush Amy Vanderberg.
- Continuity Nod: Carter mentions her use of hologram technology to "disprove" the existence of aliens two years previously.
- Do I Really Sound Like That?: When Ventrell mimics Mitchell's voice to talk to Landry over the phone:Mitchell: My voice is way deeper than that.
- Dogged Nice Guy: Mitchell's friend Darrell, towards Vala.
- ET Gave Us Wifi: Played with, in that the alien technology showcased by Carter and Lee at the technology convention has been deliberately sabotaged in order to make it seem as though there's been a process of development so as not to attract suspicion.
- Explosions in Space: When the team destroy the Lucian Alliance "space train" at the beginning of the episode.
- Fatal Attractor: The lone female bounty hunter predictably goes after Daniel, and spends a while hitting on him before she starts trying to kill him instead.
- Fish out of Water: Vala attempting to interact with Mitchell's Muggle friends and family from Kansas, not that she notices or cares.
- Kavorka Man: Dr. Lee seems to draw quite a bit of attention from the ladies at the technology convention, much to Carter's bewilderment.Lee: On the positive side, these events have a dynamite singles scene.
- Klingon Promotion: Deliberately invoked by the team when, upon capturing Ventrell, they point out to him that Netan has only a very tenuous control over the Lucian Alliance and anyone enterprising enough to take him out could probably expect to reap the benefits. Naturally, Ventrell immediately goes to do just that, though the cancellation of the show leaves this somewhat unresolved as the last we see of either of them is Ventrell pointing a gun at Netan.
- Last-Name Basis: Lampshaded by Darrell when Vala refers to Mitchell by his last name, despite the fact that she's posing as his date.Darrell: "Mitchell"? Wow, you two are on a last name basis, huh?
- Look Both Ways: The female bounty hunter is hit by a bus when she stands in the middle of the road to monologue at Daniel.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Vala mentions several outlandish Noodle Incidents from her past, any of which may or may not be true.Vala: Oh, I didn't attend school, as much as I was sold as a domestic servant to a weapons smuggler named Firenze. After I killed him and won my freedom, I considered my education more or less complete.
- Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Mitchell uses this to try and dissuade Vala from inviting herself along to the reunion, emphatically pointing out that it's in Kansas, where nothing unusual ever happens. Sure enough, they're set upon by bounty hunters when they go, though this is a slight subversion as the only reason the bounty hunters are even there is because Mitchell is; if he hadn't gone it would have been an ordinary, unremarkable high school reunion.
- The One That Got Away: Mitchell and Amy Vanderberg both seem to consider each other this, which comes as something of a surprise as they had both assumed their crushes to be unrequited.
- Sadistic Choice: Ventrell attempts to make Mitchell choose between saving his high school best friend or the girl he likes. Vala points out the cliché.
- Shout-Out:Landry: Sounds like you two are having a hell of a time.Mitchell: Oh, yeah. Me and Daisy, we're livin' large.
- Sickbed Slaying: One of the bounty hunters attempts to finish off a "severely wounded" Teal'c this way. Unfortunately for him, Teal'c was merely playing possum in order to catch him in the act.
- Sickening "Crunch!": When Ventrell grabs Darrell's arm and twists it up behind his back.
- Too Much Information: Mitchell's response to his mother offering to share stories about what she got up to in the sixties.
- Villainous Rescue: Ventrell knocks out another bounty hunter who had an unaware Mitchell in his gun's sights as Ventrell wanted to use Mitchell to lure the rest of the team to him.
- Would Hit a Girl: Ventrell hits Vala hard enough to send her flying halfway across the room after she unsuccessfully tries to attack him.
- You Meddling Kids: Used somewhat sarcastically by Daniel after the team finishes summarizing to Ventrell how they foiled his plot.Teal'c: We located this vessel in a field several miles from here.Carter: We were on board trying to override the command code when it was remotely activate and flown onto the roof of the school.Daniel: That's right: you brought us to you.Carter: After that, it was a simple matter of activating Chimera; it's an Asgard holographic projection system. It made it look like we'd beamed in.Daniel: And you might have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for us meddling kids.
