I am, of course, referring to how easily Chloe (Elyse Levesque), Eli (David Blue), and Scott (Brain J. Smith) were returned to the Destiny. I had expected some complicated mess, where either Eli managed to get the other alien ship working again, or they returned to that paradise planet and the aliens who created it helped them out there. But, while my ideas would have been cool, they would also have been complicated and time consuming and may have prevented other story lines requiring Chloe, Eli, and Scott for some time. So, creating a sabotage plot preventing the Destiny from being fully out of range of the stargate was actually a clever, though quick, fix.
Then, we had our 4th intelligent use of the communication crystals. That's right, I am praising the use of the communication crystals. Why? Because it was intelligent! It forwarded the plot, instead of having some useless foray into the lives the crew left behind that resembled the soon-to-be-cancelled Melrose Place. Allowing the alien race to use the communication crystals to take over the bodies of people on board creates drama and tension, and bringing scientists on the ship to fix problems rather than just sending people on pleasure trips home is cool.
Kathleen Munroe, whom you may remember as the amnesiac on Republic of Doyle earlier this year, was absolutely brilliant as Amanda Perry. Mandy is disabled, unable to do anything for herself, so watching Munroe interact on the ship, having taken Wray (Ming-Na)'s body, was watching art. Her physicality, holding her arms in such an awkward way, was perfect. Meanwhile Wray got to spend time with her girlfriend, also the challenge of the disabled body was there too.
Finally, Young (Justin Louis) actually got to demonstrate both his strengths and his weaknesses. When it became necessary that someone sit in the chair (a potentially fatal act), Young insisted on doing it. Yes, it shows that he is brave, but, as the leader, he should not put himself in that kind of danger, as who would be able to lead them as well *scoff scoff* when he is gone?
Luckily, he didn't have to. The man whom the chair had previously put in a coma recovered just in time to save the day.
I could also go on about the morals of being in another persons body and using it as if it were truly your own - I was very glad that Rush (Robert Carlyle) and Mandy did not sleep together while she was in Wray's body - and I could also talk about the soul and how much it might or might not be affected by the packaging, but those are topics that are possibly still a little too serious for Stargate Universe. Give it a few more weeks. It's still getting better.
Thoughts?
I have to say I was a bit surprised by how easily Eli, Scott, and Chloe got back to Destiny too. I thought that they were going to need to gain control over the ship so they could turn it around, not only to save the three of them, but to save themselves too as I assumed that the trip between galaxies was going to take years, maybe even hundreds of years, given how big the distance between most galaxies is. No one seemed to be concerned about that though. I guess Destiny is much faster than I would have expected a million year old ship to be or these two galaxies are extremely close together.
ReplyDeleteI am also glad Mandy and Rush did not sleep together. Although I might have been more inclined to let it slide in Mandy's case given that she probably will never be able to do it in her real body. It was nice that they finally acknowledged how weird and wrong it is to have sex (among other things) in someone else's body, even if was just with a glance in the mirror. I would have like it to have been addressed a bit more directly, but it was better than completely ignoring it like they have up until now.
I don't know if I would call Young brave for offering to sit in the chair. Not only is he the leader of the group but he also has a baby on the way. He shouldn't though his life away so easily, especially now that he is a father. I would say his actions were more the result of the death wish he seems to have. He has put himself in a position to die a number of time already. The question is why, does he feel guilty about cheating on his wife (as he should) or is there more to it? And, maybe what is a much more interesting question, what happened to chair guy?
Yes, what did happen to chair guy, and will we ever find out? That is a mystery that I'm interested in unraveling. Part of me thinks that he might have ascended, but that would negate the "new" Stargate without needing much knowledge of the old.
ReplyDeleteAs for Young, well, bravery and stupidity often go hand in hand. The idea of him considering his choices - he's a terrible leader, yet the rest follow him. He should never have been promoted past Private, but it happened. If he has a death wish, I can't really blame him, but it's better than him being a tyrant with only his self-interest at heart.