Bra'tac comes through the stargate with the news that Apophis survived the attack on his ships and has kidnapped Teal'c's son Rya'c. SG-1 plus Bra'tac embark upon a rescue mission, but things become complicated when it emerges that Rya'c has been brainwashed by Apophis.
"Family" provides examples of the following tropes:
- Apologetic Attacker: At the end, Teal'c had to zat his son as a last resort to reverse the brainwashing. Before doing so, he asks Rya'c for forgiveness.
- Batman Gambit: Initially, it appears Apophis took Rya'c hostage to force Teal'c to return home to Chulak (as he's unable to make another run at Earth at the moment due to the events of the Season premiere). However, it turns out the real Batman Gambit was allowing Teal'c and SG-1 to rescue Rya'c and bring him back to Earth...where the then-brainwashed boy would release a bio-weapon that would extinguish all life on the planet. It almost works, too.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Rya'c is brainwashed into renouncing his parents and embracing Apophis as his god.
- While Goa'uld mind control was established in "Hathor", Hathor's Nish'ta was only a biological compound. Apophis brainwashing Ry'ac reveals in-universe that they also have access to technological brainwashing in addition to the Nistha. The technology will remain part of the Goa'uld arsenal (albeit deployed infrequently) through the remainder of SG-1 (and will also later pop up over on Stargate Universe).
- Continuity Nod: O'Neill points out that this is not the first time the Goa'uld have used a child to sneak past earth's defenses.
- Creepy Child: Rya'c under the influence of brainwashing.
- Deprogramming: Teal'c manages to reverse the brainwashing by shooting Rya'c with a zat gun to imitate the effects of electro-convulsive therapy. Earlier, Jack actually mentions "deprogramming" as "not the sort of thing you want to put a child through."
- Dressing as the Enemy: O'Neill has to don a serpent guard's outfit, complete with head covering, in order to get back to the house after following Fro'tac to the temple.
- Foreshadowing: It's mentioned early on that Apohpis suffered catastrophic losses with his failed assault on Earth and he's been weakened in the eyes of the other System Lords and considered to now be vulnerable. This sets up the events of "Serpent's Song".
- Hot-Blooded: Teal'c loses his cool when he finds out that his old friend Fro'tac is now married to his former wife, and has to give his word that he will not beat the other man to death.
- Love Triangle: Between Teal'c/Drey'auc/Fro'tac; Teal'c and Drey'auc are in love but are kept apart by circumstance, while Drey'auc marries Fro'tac out of convenience to provide a better life for her son. Fro'tac seems to genuinely love Drey'auc and is not happy when he realizes she still retains her feelings for Teal'c.
- The Magnificent: Spoofed with the team first meets Fro'tac.Fro'tac: I am Fro'tac of the High Cliffs.O'Neill: Jack, of The Windy City.
- No-One Could Have Survived That: Said almost word-for-word by Carter after the team realizes Apophis didn't die when his ships exploded at the beginning of the season.
- Not Quite Dead: Bra'tac informs the heroes that Apophis is not as dead as they believed him to be.
- Sequel Episode: To Season One's "Bloodlines" (picking up Drey'auc and Rya'c's storyline) and to this Season's "The Serpent's Lair" (picking up Apophis' survival and the fallout from his failed attack on Earth).
- Spanner in the Works: Apophis' plan only fails because he Failed a Spot Check with Rya'c (see Spotting the Thread).
- Spotting the Thread: Drey'auc realizes that there's something wrong with Rya'c because the teeth he lost during a recent training session have been replaced.
- Trojan Horse: A very weird example where Apophis uses a brainwashed Rya'c to smuggle a biological weapon to earth in a pair of fake teeth.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Drey'auc calls out Teal'c on his judgement of her marriage to Fro'tac, pointing out that he left her and Rya'c to fend for themselves and she is simply doing what is necessary to ensure their son does not grow up in poverty.
- Would Hurt a Child: Apophis uses Rya'c as a Trojan Horse as described above.
- Later, as described in Apologetic Attacker above, Teal'c had to zat his son to help to deprogram him. This, however, was necessary and Teal'c felt horrible about having to do it.
