Stargate SG-1: Shades of Grey - Spies At The Opera
"What took you so long?"
"Frankly, I didn't think you'd get bored so fast, or I would've stayed in town."
"Not quite the student of human behavior you thought you were?"
- Jack O'Neill and Harold Maybourne
Being severely uncultured in a lot of highbrow stuff, I was curious what that opera was that Jack has playing the second time Maybourne comes to visit. And I suddenly just love this episode so much more.
The opera is Pagliacci and the specific song is Vesti La Gubbia, which is all about a character putting on a mask and going out to do his job as a clown, smiling and laughing and being jolly, despite the fact that he just had his heart broken.
What makes it great is that, usually, when writers throw this kind of thing in there, it's just a bonus for the audience, something to make people say "I understood that reference!" But here it's so clearly, blatantly, shamelessly intentional, not in a meta sense but within the story itself.
Because we know Jack O'Neill, and there's absolutely not a chance in hell that he didn't choose that song on purpose. He's trolling Maybourne to his face, throwing a big "I AM NOT WHO I APPEAR!!!" neon sign at him, while knowing full well that it'll go right over his head. And the fact that he had the confidence to be that brazen shows just how little respect he has for Maybourne's ability to figure things out.
Listening to their conversation again with that context makes it so much better. It literally opens with Jack telling him he's not the student of human behavior he thinks he is. Then when Maybourne presses him on whether he's interested, he actually turns the music up and says "I'm interested [YOU BET I'M INTERESTED HERE LISTEN TO MY OPERA IT'LL TELL YOU WHY I'M INTERESTED!!!]" And then he wraps it up by scolding Maybourne for being "melodramatic."
Every single thing about this scene is just bright, shiny, 24-carat Jack O'Neill gold.
