Overall Rating: 6.0
In my view, this episode represents a major step backward from the thrilling conclusion of the first half of first season. It feels a little like the show is trying to hit the reset button, rather like a novel writer who feels he has written himself into a corner.
Plot Synopsis:
ALIENS: While Colonel Young is attempting to make a full report on the loss of Doctor Rush, the ancient communication stones "malfunction" and send him to an alien spacecraft. He makes visual contact with one of the aliens (they're blue, have a body shape not that dissimilar to the Asgard, but look a lot toothier and meaner), but gets pulled back when the alien who took over his body freaks out and attacks the other officers guarding the ancient communication room. Not coincidentally, the next time they drop out of hyperspace, the Destiny is confronted by an alien ship who orders them to surrendor and then launches an all out attach with dozens of small fighter-like vessels. It's immediately apparent that Destiny has the superior technology despite being only partially functional (we take a lot of damage because we weren't prepared for an attack, but considering we're fighting with one hand behind our back, so to speak, we hold our own). The bad news is...the first attack appears to be a decoy...they merely intended to sneak aboard the ship and extract a prisoner to probe for information.
After the first battle, Colonel Young decides to go aboard their ship using the ancient communication devices. When he arrives, he scouts the ship and finds Dr. Rush (!) in a holding tank full of water and hooked up to a breathing apparatus. He decides, after hesitating for a moment, to free Rush, and Rush introduces him to a mind probe device the aliens have been using to get information from him. With information Rush extracts from the mind of the alien inside of whom Young resides, he is able to locate Chloe and the nearest shuttle bay and escape as the aliens retreat from the battle. After returning to Destiny, Rush informs the crew that he suspects the alien race they encountered was after Destiny herself...looking for ways to get past her defenses and steal the technology and data the ship possesses about this region of space.
Camile the B&#!*: When Camile was a power hungry but level headed IOA rep, I could live with her character, but now she's just ticking me off. With a crew of about 80 manning a half-broken ship flying billions of light years away from home and traveling in the wrong direction, she decides that the best course of action is foment CIVIL WAR by gathering with other civilians and talking about how the military guys have all the power and we shuold do something to make sure we have a say. She - COMPLETELY PREPOSTEROUSLY - claims that Colonel Young faked the malfunction of the ancient stones to prevent her from making contact with Earth and reporting on her concerns over Young's potentially having murdered Rush (though she has no proof of this). And when she is proven wrong on this front, makes no apology for being a B&%$^ for no good reason.
Rush/Young: Rush got the systems on the crashed alien ship working but somehow tripped a homing beacon and was picked up by the aliens. They probed his mind for days before he got rescued by Young. After returning to Destiny, Rush elected to keep the secret about his last encounter wiht the Colonel - he claims he did this for the sake of the crew, but we all know he did this because if he'd outed Young, Young would have outed him for the frame-up he attempted. They reach an uneasy detente. Young promises not to kill Rush (because he felt bad about his actions the last time) and Rush promises not to expose his last murder attempt - for the sake of the crew.
Writing: 5.0
They're turning Camile into a completely worthless caricature of her former self already, and it's only been 11 episodes. Why is the IOA always painted in such a severely negative and 2-dimensional light? They're also accomplishing a gigantic step backwards in intrigue by bringing Rush back to Destiny without immediate consequences for Rush, Young or anyone else. I dislike reset buttons. The rest of the plot was pretty blah. The aliens were, essentially faceless menace types...we need to know more about them for that part of the story to matter more.
Acting: 7.0
Louis Ferreira is the main reason this episode is getting a boost above the par line. He has several very nice moments of subtle acting genius in this episode. In the opening few moments, he plays his remorse over abandoning Rush (despite Rush totally deserving it) very well. Later, his interactions with Rush are very solid. Despite Rush's claims to the contrary, he shows very strong leadership skills on the bridge of the Destiny...all in all it's a good day for him. Ming Na, on the other hand, isn't given much to work with and doesn't particularly rise to the occasion either. It was supposed to be quite the coup for the Gate producers to get her onto the cast, but frankly, I have yet to see why.
Message: 6.0
Not a message heavy show...lots of action and not a lot of talking to be had. And what messages they did send were quite mixed. I was thrilled to see Young take a moral stand against Rush's twisted Machiavellian behavior and mindset...and now we've decided that it's morally wrong to take such a stand? I don't know what to make of that...apart from being somewhat disappointed.
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