, @O * SG-1 Rec-Å-Thon * O@ ,

Cheap Date

Daniel can't handle his liquor, you say? Two beers and he's out for the night. Certainly couldn't drink the hard stuff without getting seriously drunk very fast. Well, maybe.

The entire basis for the idea of Daniel's low tolerance for alcohol hinges on a single scene in "Children Of The Gods." Daniel has just had a hell of a day: he had unexpected visitors to his cozy Abydan home in the form of Jack, Sam, and other soldiers. His wife and his brother-in-law were torn from him and taken by very hostile forces. He had to leave his cherished home and large Abydan family to return to Earth and find a way to rescue Sha're and Skaara, but on Earth he is legally dead, has no home, no possessions, no family, nothing.

So Jack takes this distraught and overwhelmed Daniel into his home and gives him a beer and a place to sleep. Daniel begins reminiscing about Sha're and looks very bereft, and says:

Daniel: (laughing) This is going straight to my head. (takes a swig) What time is it, anyway? I must have Gate lag or something.
O'Neill: Daniel, for crying out loud, you've had one beer. You're a cheaper date than my wife was.

But Daniel isn't drunk, he's a wreck from having one of the worst days in existence. He's not slurring his words or weaving around, or exhibiting any other signs of being inebriated. What he's doing is trying to change the conversation to something safer than memories of the life he's just lost forever.

There's even evidence that Daniel can handle some strong liquor earlier in the episode. During the impromptu feast in the Abydos gateroom, Skaara brings out his latest creation, distilled whisky--"moonshine." Jack takes a sip and gasps at how strong it is.

O'Neill: Yeah. Moonshine, as in booze. Daniel, what are you teaching these kids?

The inference is that Daniel has taught the Abydans how to make whisky, and by extension he must be able to handle drinking it. If Daniel can handle moonshine, he can handle pretty much any alcohol.

In the case of beer itself, Daniel is shown drinking it in later episodes with no ill effects, certainly not after a single beer. Jack's comments in "Shades Of Grey" and Daniel's response that he doesn't even like beer (or at least the brand Jack drinks) shows that he often drinks with Jack. In "Upgrades" he has a glass of beer with his several steaks. While his heightened metabolism in that episode would allow him to burn off the alcohol far quicker than usual, that's never shown to be any sort of motivation for his choice of drink. In "Absolute Power," he celebrates victory with champagne, and though he doesn't have time to drink a lot of it, his casual nature with it decries the idea that he would be at all concerned with lessening the sharpness of his faculties during what he knew to be a pivotal moment.

All of these examples, and the refuting of the idea that Daniel was ever really drunk from that one beer, lead to the fact that Daniel not only can handle his liquor, but he might even be able to drink Jack under the table if he put his mind to it. Especially if they were using Skaara's moonshine.

Oddities Index
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