This week, Stargate Universe started to gain both momentum and consistency.
When the episode began, our heroes found themselves about to have a head on collision with a star. Let me tell you, if you don't already know, spaceship to star collisions usually don't end up so good for the space ship.
Suddenly, the crew was faced with death. Not the uncertainty of being lost in the stars for eternity far from planet Earth, but imminent death. It brought out some very interesting reactions. Colonel Young (Justin Louis) announced that the shuttle, manned with 17 people, 2 of his choosing, would try to make it to one of the planets in the system they hoped was habitable. The choice of 15 of those would be made by lottery. Young withdrew his name from that lottery, and Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) did the same soon after. Camile Wray (Ming-Na), our representative from the IOA, told Young off for using the lottery. She thought he ought to pick the most capable to survive. She also wanted him to pick her, and so dropped the subject when he threatened to remove her name from the box.
Chloe (Elyse Levesque) - who did not annoy me particularly this week - and Scott (Brian J Smth) slept together. It was a little cheesy, with Chloe telling Scott she felt closer to him over the last few days than anyone else in her life ever, but it reinforced the notion that SGU is charactercentric. Our couples have and will continue to have sex with each other, which does create a less retractable link between them.
I'm not sure how I feel about Scott having sex with Chloe when not so long before they all ended up on the Destiny, he was sleeping with Vanessa James (Julia Anderson), a fellow soldier. Imagine if Sam had had sex with every man she had a connection with over the course of SG1. Or watching Sheppard take so many women to bed on Atlantis. We are so clearly dealing with something different here.
As I said, Chloe and Scott slept together; Eli (David Blue) was fully aware of this.
And so the draw took place, and we got more interesting reactions. When Camile was picked, she burst into tears. She was so grateful that she might live, so terrified of the idea of death. When all were picked, Young, Greer (Jamil Walker Smith), Eli and Chloe were among those who stayed behind. As the shuttle loaded, one man, a soldier, attempted to rouse the group to protest, to have their chance to live, but one swift blow from Greer left him unconscious until it was far too late.
The soldiers, now having orders and understanding the situation - they must allow those 17 to leave - behaved like soldiers, following orders and being useful.
So the shuttle left, but we still have the Destiny flying straight into the star with half our leads on board. What miracle was Rush going to pull? Nothing. He did nothing, and the Destiny flew straight into the star.
I should say straight through the star. It's shields still had enough energy to protect it as it plunged through the core of the star, recharging by solar power as it went. The Destiny emerged sans any energy problem, with the crew alive and safe.
Then they had to retrieve the shuttle, which was a bit of a trick. But Rush and Eli solved the problem and got our folks back on board. And boy was it great that they all went through a real disaster. Everyone was so happy to be back on board the Destiny together, heading off who knows where. They admitted it was the exact situation they were in before, but they were much happier to find themselves in it.
As we look forward to next week, with the distrust between Rush and Young still ongoing, I hope we will end up off ship and on planet again. It might be nice to have some other creatures to encounter, but I think we all have to understand (past Stargate fans and new SGU viewers alike), the story is about the characters and how they are dealing with this situation and growing, as well as the mythology that specifically involves the Destiny. If voices make the powers that be decide that an alien presence or enemy is needed, that won't come until next season. Frankly, I'm interested to see what this new show is!
What about you?
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