Malcolm Barrett

NID Agent Malcolm Barrett

Summary

Malcolm Barrett is an agent with the National Intelligence Division (NID). Even though there have been several rogue operatives within its ranks, the NID is actually staffed by some honorable people, one of whom is Agent Barrett.

Character Biography

Malcolm Barrett is an NID agent based out of Washington, D.C. He is a loyal servant to the legitimate operations of his agency, actually working to counter and destroy the rogue elements within its ranks.

That’s not to say SG-1 has not been at odds with Barrett. Their first meeting was a gunpoint standoff. (5.12 "Wormhole X-Treme") Both SG-1 and the NID were trying to get an alien spaceship. Barrett received a communique that gave the NID authority over the retrieval. Barrett forced Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter to remain with one of his agents while his team went to retrieve the vessel.

The next meeting with Barrett was more cordial. Sam Carter actually went to him for help in his office in Washington D.C. when Colonel O’Neill was framed for the assassination of Senator Robert Kinsey. (6.14 “Smoke and Mirrors”) Barrett met her outside of his bugged office to propose they investigate the matter together. He had already been assigned by the White House to uncover the rogue NID operation, and had put pressure on Kinsey to get him to testify–which was what likely led to the senator being shot. Using Barrett’s informants in the illegal arms business, the two unraveled the mystery, eventually trusting each other enough to reveal their agencies’ secrets to each other for the good of the mission: Carter explained about the Foothold alien mimicry devices which allowed someone to impersonate O’Neill, and Barrett admitted Kinsey did not die in the shooting, but was only severely wounded. Working together, they apprehended rogue NID agent Mark Devlin when he made a second attempt on Kinsey’s life. Between their efforts and those of the SGC, they also uncovered the Committee, a secret organization made up of businessmen that were behind the operations of the rogue NID. During this mission, Barrett appeared to be attracted to Carter, though it never moved beyond mild flirtation.

Carter stayed in touch with Agent Barrett. With Hammond’s approval, she contacted him for information on Richard Woolsey, the NID representative investigating the mission where Dr. Janet Fraiser died (7.18 "Heroes, Part 2"). To Barrett’s knowledge, Woolsey was clean, but Malcolm provided her with an internal NID report Woolsey wrote on the economics of the SGC, questioning the value of a $27 million rescue operation to save one man.

Barrett called SG-1 in to help with an unusual case involving stray members of the rogue NID. (7.19 "Resurrection") His team discovered a warehouse conducting genetic experiments with several dead scientists and footage indicating a young woman, Anna, killed them all. The experiment’s data involved Goa’uld technology and genetic cloning. His attempts at interrogating the sole surviving scientist, Dr. Keffler, were met with stonewalling. With Teal’c, Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson, and Bill Lee's assistance, they were able to contain the situation and disarm a Goa’uld bomb, unfortunately not before Anna and Dr. Keffler were killed. During this case, Barrett asked Carter out, but to his surprise, she explained she was seeing someone.

Barrett, still involved in tracking down rogue NID operatives, now known as the Trust, worked with SG-1 when Ba’al was found to be on Earth as the new de facto head of the Trust. (9.07 “Ex Deus Machina”) His teams ran surveillance in the Washington D.C. region, trying to track down Ba’al, when Sam and Daniel joined him. Ba’al caused them to abort their planned snatch-and-grab operation by holding a public press conference. Barrett asked about Pete Shanahan by name, and was pleased to discover Sam had broken up with Pete. Sam however again rejected his advances by explaining cryptically that she was “not exactly” single. Later, she was beamed to Seattle to counter a bomb threat while Barrett and Daniel raided Ba’al’s compound. They were too late to apprehend Ba’al but found a clone lab.

Episodes

• 5.12 "Wormhole Extreme"
• 6.14 "Smoke And Mirrors"
• 7.19 "Resurrection"
• 9.07 "Ex Deus Machina"

Related Characters

• Col. Jack O'Neill
• Dr. Daniel Jackson
• Mjr./Lt. Col. Samantha Carter
• Teal'c
• Gen. George Hammond
• Anna
• Ba'al
• Agent Mark Devlin
• Dr. Keffler
• Sen. Robert Kinsey
• Dr. Bill Lee
• Pete Shanahan
• Richard Woolsey

Related Articles

• Clones
• The Committee
• Goa'uld
• Mimicking Device
• NID
• The Trust

Actor

• Peter Flemming

---

--Aurora Novarum 17:35, 15 Oct 2005 (EDT)