"Everything's fine. SG-1's been dismantled. Daniel's got a desk job, Teal'c's with SG-3 and Carter's working on some kind of doomsday machine. You know, same old, same old."
— Col. Jack O'Neill
General Hammond announces his immediate retirement, leaving the SGC struggling under the regime changes implemented by his replacement. O'Neill suspects he's being blackmailed by the NID and seeks the assistance of Colonel Maybourne, who's now languishing in a federal prison after being convicted of treason.
"Chain Reaction" provides examples of the following tropes:
- 10-Minute Retirement: Hammond is forced to retire after being blackmailed by the NID, but thanks to O'Neill's efforts he gets reinstated by the end of the episode.
- Artistic License – Religion: Kinsey quotes the New Testament among a series of religious statements while debating his actions with O'Neill, suggesting he is (or is pretending to be) Christian. But in the same conversation he says the Stargate should be used to "defend God's creation" meaning the Earth against its enemies. No Christian or believer in any Abrahamic religion would suggest that only Earth is God's creation: it's the entire Universe. It's unknown whether this is a case of license by the writers, or a deliberate sign of Kinsey's hypocrisy, revealing that he's not really religious and is only mouthing phrases he doesn't understand for political posturing.
- Character Name Alias: When O'Neill and Maybourne show up at Kinsey's house.O'Neill: Afternoon, ma'am. I'm Mr. Starsky, this is... Hutch.
- Coming in Hot: At the beginning of the episode, the team return from a mission pursued by heavy gunfire which proceeds to bombard the gate room.
- Corrupt Politician: It's revealed that Senator Kinsey received much of his campaign funding from the NID and has been involved with a number of their shadier activities, including Maybourne's offworld operation and the involvement with the Russians, in addition to blackmailing Hammond.
- Deal with the Devil: Kinsey describes his involvement with the NID as such. Also referenced by O'Neill, when he realizes that he's inadvertently helped Maybourne to escape from prison.O'Neill: General, about what you owe me?Hammond: Anything I can do.O'Neill: Well, nothing right now, but one day I may ask you to... buy back my soul.
- Dirty Business: Maybourne advises O'Neill that he has to be willing to play things dirty if he's going to get Hammond reinstated. O'Neill apparently takes this to heart, as he later holds Kinsey at gunpoint.O'Neill: Getting a little dirty for you, Maybourne?
- Enemy Mine: O'Neill is forced to turn to Maybourne for help due to his connections with the NID.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Kinsey has a wife, three children, seven grandchildren, and his dog Oscar.
- General Failure: General Bauer starts out as a General Ripper type, only to downgrade to a failure as his plan fails spectacularly.
- Gone Horribly Right: A naquadah-enhanced nuke is tested on a former Goa'uld mining colony, which even in its mined-out state has trace deposits in the soil. Bauer anticipated that the nuke would cause a chain reaction, devastating the surface. What he didn't anticipate is that the gate would survive the blast (ample warnings from Carter are ignored) and the radiation released would hold the gate open from the other side. If not for the 38 minute failsafe, it would have not only rendered the gate useless, but turned it into a near-perpetual radiation fountain.
- Heel–Face Turn: This is the beginning of Harry Maybourne's long road to redemption.
- Hypocrite: Maybourne accuses O'Neill of being one for trying to take the moral high ground given his shady past in Special Forces. O'Neill later levels the same accusation at Kinsey, pointing out that he previously cited a hatred of secret organizations in trying to shut down the stargate program only to jump into bed with the NID.
- I Take Offense to That Last One: O'Neill is displeased when Kinsey states that O'Neill barged into his house waving a gun.O'Neill: Not waving! Pointing!
- Jerkass Has a Point: General Bauer's suggestion that naquadah could enhance the power of nukes is later proven only too correct, though not in the way he intended. However, flash forward a few seasons, and naquadah-nukes have become standard ordnance for the SGC.
- Made of Explodium: The planet where Bauer has Carter test her naquadah-enhanced nuke is rich with naquadah deposits, triggering a massive chain reaction that's implied to destroy the entire planet.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Kinsey's wife comes across as rather ditzy, not even recognizing the obvious aliases of Starsky and Hutch. But then she's sharp enough to quickly understand the situation and call in NID backup.
- The Password Is Always "Swordfish": Maybourne invokes this, noting that Kinsey has probably made the amateur mistake of picking something familiar. Kinsey attempts to subvert it by telling O'Neill and Maybourne that he has "a wife, three children, seven grandchildren, and various nieces and nephews. Good luck!"note It takes O'Neill about five seconds to correctly guess that the password is the family pet's name, based on the pictures Kinsey has chosen to display in his study.
- Popcultural Osmosis Failure: Kinsey's wife accepts Jack when he introduces himself and Maybourne as Starsky and Hutch. It takes Kinsey himself to tell his wife that it was the name of a tv show.
- Right Behind Me: A variation occurs where Carter and Daniel are badmouthing General Bauer as they walk into a room where he happens to be present.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: O'Neill uses his ties with the President to spring Maybourne from prison while he investigates the NID.
- Shame If Something Happened: The NID threaten Hammond by picking up his grandkids from school, driving them round the block and then returning them home.
- Shout-Out: According to
Word of God aspects of O'Neil working with Maybourne was a shout out to the film The Silence of the Lambs. Biggest reference was the final scene with Maybourne calling Jack from an undisclosed location, out of jail. - Unwitting Pawn: General Bauer seemingly isn't actively in bed with the NID, just an over-promoted idiot who's easily manipulated and has a similar mindset.
