NEW!: SGU 1:7 - Time

Overall Rating: 6.4

A very interesting presentation style rescues a plot that's been done to death and makes it feel a little fresher.

Cut for Spoilers

Plot Synopsis:

Destiny has dropped out of FTL near a planet that could provide something its passengers need, so they dispatch a team to scout it for food, figuring that's what the ship had in mind. When they discover a mysterious second Keno on the planet whose data bank appears to be full, they decide to investigate what's on it before they continue their search. The video footage it records seems at first to be impossible. It shows their scouting team already on the planet and falling ill to a mysterious infection. As if that weren't bad enough, the team becomes trapped on the planet when the Stargate wormhole becomes unstable unexpectedly and, as night falls, swarms of large flying worm-like creatures with big teeth besiege them, killing nearly everyone. Watching the footage, the crew of the Destiny is speechless.

Needless to say, the planet is off limits until they learn more from the Keno, but when people start dying on the Destiny from the same mysterious illness and some of those people never had contact with anyone on the planet, TJ decides to investigate the water and food supplies aboard ship and discovers a virulent microorganism contaminates the water Scott and Young brought back from the ice moon and the team's small supply of antibiotics have no affect on it. With precious little time left before the first victims of the disease start dying, Rush makes a critical observation from the Keno footage - in the video, Lt. Greer was bitten by one of the flying mouths (as I'll call them from here on) and although it paralyzed him temporarily, it did not kill him. When he came to, the disease had apparently been eliminated from his body as well. Rush and TJ urge Young to send a team to the planet to collect a few of the flying mouths so that their venom may be used as a treatment. Rush also realizes from the last recorded video on the Keno that the reason the wormhole was unstable is that it must have passed through a solar flare and looped back on itself, sending the Keno back in time but to the same planet. The scouting team has 45 minutes to retrieve a flying mouth or two before the solar flare begins to disrupt gate travel according to the Keno footage. The problem: it's night time on the planet and the mouths will be out in force - they're nocturnal, unfortunately.

While the scouting is just getting underway, Eli sits by Chloe's bedside - she is one of the first to experience symptoms of the disease and now she is near death. He pleads with her to hold on until they can bring back help and wonders why people wait until moments like these to tell each other how they really feel. He confesses his feelings for her but it's all for naught...she dies along with three others. Scott and Greer - both on the scouting team, get word of the deaths on board Destiny and are then attacked by the mouths...they're impossible to capture alive while they're flying around at high speed gutting the scouts. Scott is gruesomely killed again and Greer has a flash of inspiration. He rushes back to the Gate and dials destiny...the wait is agonizing as he has to keep fending off the mouths while he waits for the solar flare. When he sees the wormhole become unstable again, he records a warning about the disease, instructions on how to find the creatures in their nests during daylight hours, and a plea for them not to waste time, then sends the Keno through the Gate. We are left to assume that Destiny will catch this message and get it right, finally.

Writing: 6.5

I hate to say it, but the plots on this show, while they have individual intrinsic appeal, are lacking something crucial. I realize that we're establishing characters, learning about how difficult it is to survive out here at the edge of the universe, and setting the stage for the future of the franchise, so I'm giving these guys some leeway...but as of right now, the show is completely lacking in larger stakes. For an action sci-fi series to work for me, the fate of the galaxy...or at least the fate of Earth...must be on the line. These 80 people trapped on the Destiny a bazillion light years from home could all die in the next episode (ending the series...heh), and, although I'd be sad for Chloe and Eli and maybe a little for Scott and Greer...I just would not care that much. Every other sci-fi series in which I've invested my fannish energy has included larger stakes. Babylon 5, Deep Space Nine, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, FlashForward, V...they all connected the struggles of individual characters with fate of the planet type stuff. SG-1 introduced its galactic evil in the first scene. SGA in the first episode. FlashForward within two episodes (the blackout might have been natural until they introduced Simon and Lloyd working together). V before the opening credits were done rolling...OK, so it took DS9 a little longer to get to the really big threat (the Dominion) but at least with DS9 the fate of Bajor was at stake immediately and the threat of Cardassian attack was always looming. Star Trek: the Next Generation was admittedly lacking in galactic bad guys and still a quality show, but TNG was an anthology show...running plots were few and far between...and it was not the type of series that draws me in. In fact, I'm quite sure that if it hadn't been for the Star Trek label, I'd never have watched the entire seven-year run of the series.

If SGU is just going to turn into a soap opera in space...then this blog will drop the series entirely. I'm giving them some time to get their stuff together and give me a reason to care beyond rooting for Eli to score. :) But if by the end of the first season, we haven't encountered a bad guy...I'm out. Because this anthology stuff is so 1985. And so not worth my time.

As for this particular script, the whole time loop that works out conveniently thing has been done to death in sci-fi. It's awfully nice that a solar flare happened right as the first survey team was getting annihilated by the mouths and the disease. And even more convenient that team members were back on the planet just in time to catch the solar flare again before being eaten. LOL

Acting: 8.3

Eli, Rush, Greer, and Chloe had some outstanding moments. I was particularly impressed with Rush's discussion with Eli about the afterlife (although I'm not sure I liked the message implied, and I'll talk more about that shortly). From an acting standpoint, those four have been the strongest links (IMO) in the cast and it continues this week.

Message: 4.5

One thing is bugging me horribly right now. The idea of ascension. Rush and Eli discussed the fact that the Ancients learned to shed their physical bodies and ascend to a higher plane of existence. Now in SG-1, ascension was treated as something ANYONE could master if they were unburdened with sin (a very Hindu outlook, and a message I could respect until later seasons when it was used as a tool to make super-bad bad guys...which shouldn't be possible if all ascension requires is a pure spirit and for you to release your burden). But the longer Stargate has run, the more ascension has turned into a scientific discovery and not a spiritual one. Rush thinks if he learns enough about the Ancients, he can ascend like they did and avoid his mortality. That's what drove him to want to stay on the Destiny so badly. And he's completely missing the point. As are the writers of SGA and SGU. Ascension isn't something that can be activated by a machine or mastered by galactic evil...it's a spiritual goal. And you can't science your way to God (pardon my cornball way of turning a phrase...just trying to make a point).

Highlights:

ELI: So...you're first alien planet. Is it everything you expected? More? Less?
CHLOE: We saw what it was going to be like with the Keno.
ELI: Sure. So...you're not nervous at all? Afraid some giant alien insect is going to come out and bite you? (ROTFL! Not only is that mean, Eli...it's some mean foreshadowing. :) )

ELI: (responding to a marine who looks annoyed that he's just resting) What? I need a break! (swigs his water) So hot! (he notices that the marine is just standing around) See? All you're doing is just standing there!
MARINE: Making sure nothing crawls up your butt.
ELI: And I appreciate that. (LOL)

ELI: Well this couldn't get much worse, right?
RUSH: I'm afraid that's a failure of imagination, Eli.
ELI: Top five desert island movies. What?! It'll help pass the time! (silence) OK...I'll go first. Hackers - obvious, I know. The Matrix...gotta be in there. Old School...gotta have something to make you laugh, right? If trilogies count as one, then all three original Star Wars movies...if not, then...Empire, of course. OK...that's four...this is hard! Good Will Hunting has to be there, but I could pick so many things...maybe it should be top 10.
RUSH: (obviously ignoring Eli) TJ! - LOL...poor Eli...

ELI: You know I really respect people who do what you do. I can tell...it really affects you...when you can't help people.
TJ: It does...
ELI: My Mom was a nurse. She got stabbed with a needle...while she was trying to restrain some junkie in the ER. She got HIV. (So that's the chronic disease she has!)
TJ: I'm sorry...
ELI: My Dad...couldn't handle it. He just left. Do you have any family?
TJ: My parents. My Dad's retired.
ELI: Hm. What'd he do?
TJ: He was a tailor. He was actually the one who taught me how to do stitches. I remember this one time, he cut himself really badly on the hand with his scissors. Sewed it up himself and kept right on working.
ELI: Brothers or sisters?
TJ: A sister...she has two kids. I really miss them.
ELI: I'm really afraid that my Mom's just gonna give up...if I die out here. (awww...heart of gold!)

ELI: I remember, as a kid - I was, I don't know, seven or eight? My grandfather died. My parents took me to his funeral. Watching his casket getting lowered into the ground...it was the first time I realized I was gonna die one day! I mean..I knew people died...I'm talking about the realization that my consciousness was just going to end one day. It was like this dark and endless pit...it sacred the crap out of me.
RUSH: I take it you don't believe in the afterlife.
ELI: That fear was almost too much to handle. I guess maybe I thought I'd just get used to it?
RUSH: But you don't.
ELI: No. It scares me just as much...every time I thought about it.
RUSH: Most people realize their own mortality at some point during the game. It's not a particularly unique experience.
ELI: (annoyed) I know.
RUSH: The question is...did it change you.
ELI: Well...I'm here, aren't I?
RUSH: Of course the Ancients evolved enough that their physical bodies were no longer necessary. They found a way for their consciousness to be immortal.
ELI: Do you really think that's possible?
RUSH: I know it is. Maybe not for you and me, but that idea...is the reason why I ended up here. (you can disagree philosophically with the script, but this is nonetheless a poignant look into both Eli and Rush's characters)

GREER: The M4 Carbine. Hold it against your shoulder firmly, trigger grip here. It's got a kick, so you have to keep your arm steady. Keep your finger off the trigger until you see something you want to kill. If it moves...shoot it. Fire in short, quick bursts. We don't have a lot of ammo.
ELI: Now? You mean shoot it for real? (Greer nods. Eli steadies himself and fires the gun into the trees, but Greer stops him)
GREER: That way. (he re-aims the gun toward an open field). Safeties off.
ELI: (aims, and fires the gun for a full fifteen seconds) Whoa-ho-hoa man!! (LOL - you feel like a big tough guy now, doncha Eli!)
GREER: (amused and annoyed at the same time) What happened to short bursts?

ELI: Hey! Where are you going? You're crazy! He's crazy!
(ship ELI): You are! (back to the Keno footage, we see Eli run down Rush at the Gate)
ELI: Wait!!
RUSH: Someone's got to try, Eli.
ELI: Wait but you said...
RUSH: We'll know in a minute if it's safe, OK?
ELI: But the wormhole...it's still...
RUSH: Hey...for a moment there, I thought we were in trouble. (he dives into the gate)
ELI: WHAT?!?!
(ship ELI to ship RUSH): For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble?
YOUNG: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It's Butch's last line before he and Sundance run out to face the Indians. It's one of my favorites too.
RUSH: Well well...it seems we have something in common after all. (LOL)

ELI: Why do people always wait until times like these to tell each other how they feel? It's so stupid! I just...(long pause)...aw screw it. We haven't known each other that long...but I think...we make each other happy. When I'm near you, things are just...better. You don't even know how amazing you are, and...(he rethinks what he's going to say and takes Chloe's hands into his)...it doesn't matter. I've never had a best friend before. Never known anyone like that before...never loved...(he gets choked up and stops, we see TJ crying - she knows Chloe has just died). I just need to make sure you know...that I'm here for you. Always will be. Please don't die. Please!
TJ: Eli...she's gone...(poor Eli...*sniffle*)

Quibble:

That must be one mamma-jamma of a solar flare to last more than a day in exactly the right position to block the outgoing wormhole...I didn't know stars could emit a flare that big for that long.