Implications and Parallels in Crystal Skull
AKA I just realized how much of this episode can be read as an analogy for Daniel’s childhood
Nick and Daniel's adulthood falling out over their archaeological theories is repeatedly brought up, but the main conflict of the episode itself and Daniel's reactions to others around him are fairly detached from this recent estrangement. Instead, I feel like Daniel's attitude and fears are more so steeped in the emotions of Daniel’s childhood. This isn’t explicitly discussed or made clear, but almost every scene with Daniel out of phase essentially boils down to a particular and desperate line of thought that becomes more pronounced as the episode goes on:
‘I feel unseen. I am isolated and nobody hears me. I cannot turn to the people I used to rely on and the one person who can help is ignoring me.’
Of course, this lack of perception is the literal premise of being out of phase and could be literally interpreted. But looking at it from a meta perspective, it is a very interesting and deliberate-seeming choice of conflict for an episode all about estrangement, childhood abandonment, and grandparent-grandchild dynamics that makes me think that a reading of the episode as a beat-by-beat analogy of Daniel's childhood could be warranted
Undoubtably, such a strained relationship would have a nonzero effect on anyone, yet across the show, Daniel rarely talks about his past or the effects it had on him. Their pasts are mostly a mystery to us as viewers, and Nick undoubtably sheds a good bit of light on what Daniel's situation was. However, this time, the episode writing itself also gives more details of his emotional state through various double entendre lines that speak of his physical and emotional reality.
And, unfortunately, if the lines are interpreted this way, it implies of a period of Daniel's childhood was one of feeling invisible, misunderstood, and neglected.
This entire episode, he is hoping, begging, that someone will notice him, hear him struggling, and give him what he needs. Fix this. Fix him. And until thirty minutes into the episode, nobody can or will. Of course, most of the characters literally can’t. But the pleadings remain.
To me, the episode almost seems like it's meant as an epilogue to Gamekeeper and reflection of or parallel to Daniel’s childhood after his parents died. It's a backstory episode that gives him a past without explicitly defining or depicting most of the events.
So, what kind of backstory are we left with if we accept this premise and speculate based on the plot beats of this episode?
Well, when Daniel is eight, his parents die in a museum accident. Daniel has no family connections to speak of but Nick. He feels invisible afterward and like everyone around him either can't help him (ie SG1 incapacitated) or doesn't understand how to help him properly (ie Rothman), leading to some distress and frustration on both ends. When Nick is finally brought into the picture, thought to be the thing Daniel needs, he is no saving grace; Daniel continues being ignored and unaided for the most part despite his appearance. Nothing really changes, people try to help but miss the mark. Eventually, people begin to give up from Daniel's point of view (Jack and Sam at the elevator) and Nick shrugs Daniel off despite being the one person who can help and "see" him.
Then, finally, Nick does help. Daniel is heard again, and he starts to be noticed even if only a little before the event.
Now. The final scene of the episode is an almost double-edged sword of an ending, both to the episode and in how it suggests Daniel’s childhood afterward went. In the episode, Daniel and Nick make up, which brings a more satisfying conclusion to the adult/academic arguments that estranged him. It even seems to heal some of the strain surrounding Daniel's childhood. But despite it, the analogy of Daniel’s backstory is maintained and the trauma is repeated: Nick decides after the initial problem is fixed to leave for his work, and as a result, Daniel is left behind without him. There’s a promise of occasional visits, but occasional is the key word. Nick chose discovery over adopting Daniel then, and Nick essentially makes the same decision again.
And Daniel? He protests, says that Nick just came back into his life, says with his eyes that part of him doesn't want Nick to leave even as he lets him go. But like he said in the VIP room before, though Daniel is not happy, he can understand his choice. Daniel lets his grandfather go off with aliens. Little Daniel says goodbye to his grandfather and is sent away. Both of them try to work through the idea of being the second choice always left behind.
This time, at least, there is a positive: they can part after finally learning to understand the other. It really makes all the difference, I think, especially to Daniel. It's not quite the same as when he was a child anymore. It's important. It's an understanding so important to Daniel that Nicholas Ballard has now earned the title of "Grandpa" to him, and he knows Nick will now accept it.
