A hostage situation on a spaceship is bad enough, but the tension between the Lucian Alliance and the SGU team was made worse by the force that disintegrated a man last episode. Apparently gamma radiation from a near-by star is about to wipe out all those on the Destiny, and since the two groups weren't going to work together nicely, all their fates hung in the balance.
Since the Lucian Alliance weren't likely to compromise, it was up to Camile Wray (Ming-Na) to give into their demands, with Col. Young (Justin Louis) giving in with the hope that it might just be the thing that saved everyone. Young continued to be an incompetent leader for most of the episode, starting from the point where he yelled at all the scientists because something was wrong with the ship to the end where he was in a prison cell with the most of the military staff (strangely missing Lt. James (Julia Benson)). Telling people to make something work without having any consideration for the difficulty of the matter is no way to gain loyalty, and patiently waiting while men with guns surround you, clearly ready to kill everyone, is also pretty useless.
I really enjoyed the scene where Scott (Brian J. Smith) and Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) spoke about devotion. Greer follows Young blindly, fully believing that any call his superior makes is the right one. Young hasn't done much to earn this trust, but I don't think Greer would function properly (it would resemble the loose-hingedness of the first few episodes) without that kind of authority. Scott, meanwhile, is beginning to question. It may not be a good thing in the military, but when leaders are as incompetent as Young, it's rather necessary.
So the situation goes badly, Rush (Robert Carlyle) doesn't recover full control over the ship after the rest of our heroes have surrendered, while Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips) and Commander Kiva (Rhona Mitra) shot each other - Telford to protect our heroes, Kiva because she finally realized Telford was betraying her. Kiva is still alive, but badly wounded. She is carried to TJ (Alaine Huffman), but the soldiers there don't just wait to be killed, and soon everyone in the room is one the floor. TJ's bleeding and it looks to be from her stomach area.
If that's not bad enough, Eli (David Blue) has had to abandon Chloe (Elyse Levesque) after trying for so long to protect her. If he doesn't help Greer and Scott get back inside the ship before another gamma wave hits, then they are dead. Chloe, even though I still don't like her much, is dangerously close to death, while Greer and Scott are quickly running out of time.
And if all the imminent death wasn't enough, even if they survive the next 10 minutes, if Rush cannot reengage the FTL drive and get them back on the move, the gamma waves will kill everyone on the ship anyway.
So fantastic cliffhanger, as I said. The other thing I want to commend is how great a military man Telford is, and how loyal a man. Had he not been brainwashed, he would have been the most excellent leader of the expedition, far better than Young. Too bad it appears he's already dead.
So SGU, you have me hooked even though you had a rocky start. Take what was good from this season and focus on that!
Speaking specifically on the cliffhanger... I really wish they would stop doing that. =)
ReplyDeleteNow, I realize that season and half-season cliffhangers are classic elements of Stargate, but SG-1 and Atlantis were very much in the mold of fun adventure TV where such things are tradition, and Universe stepped away from that style somewhat in favor of a moodier slow-burn structure, more in line with the things I'm watching these days, so I was rather annoyed at the way this episode ended.
I should clarify that what bothers me is specifically this type of cliffhanger (interrupting the action of a story in progress) at a point where the continuation is months away. I have no problem with finale cliffhangers that occur at a resting point for the story (eg. Buffy season 2), or cliffhangers that set up the beginnings of a new story (eg. True Blood season 2). But these days, with the many ways people consume their TV, ending your season with a story half-told just strikes me as mean-spirited (and potentially reckless, if the fate of the show is in flux, not to mention other production pitfalls that can occur during the break between seasons).
I can see where the annoyance comes from. It's odd that despite changing so many elements from SG1 and Atlantis, some of which ought not to have changed, that this was left alone.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I was expecting it, and was also impressed with the caliber of the episode. I know I will watch Season 2, without any hesitation, and since I almost didn't watch the second half of season 1, I'm just pleased that the quality is really starting to pick up.