Overall Rating: 8.0
They threw an awful lot at us this week...so much that I have no idea how to feel about the episode as a whole, though I can appreciate the artistry and creativity involved in its' production and I can say with confidence that I'm looking forward to seeing what they intend to do with Chloe and Matt for the first time EVER.
Plot Synopsis:
Real World:
Lt. Scott's life hangs in the balance after he is attacked by an alien organism that spreads by infecting hosts with spores that take over whatever they touch in a matter of seconds. TJ and Rush try everything they can think of to kill the infected tissue on Scott's arm, but nothing - not alien venom, not hydrochloric acid, not fire! can damage it. To make matters worse, the organism has roots that cover the planet's surface as far as the Keno can see and is spreading toward their position very quickly. They exhaust every resource imaginable to keep the life forms at bay. Greer - determined not to give up on Scott - organizes a fire team (flame throwers = awesome) to try to hold the creatures back away from the entrance to the gate. They even realize that the creatures fear the kawoosh of the stargate and dial Destiny repeatedly to buy time to treat their fallen military field leader. The breakthrough comes when Chloe realizes that, thanks to the genetic changes she's undergoing, she is impervious to the infection process. Unfortunately, this means that Lt. Scott will undergo those same changes and they both need to be quarantined.
Dream World:
Scott dreams up a scenario in his delirium in which he returns from war (on Earth) to marry his high school sweetheart (Chloe) with his brother in arms (Greer) as his best man and Chloe's brother (Eli??) filming the ceremony. The entire time, he feels that there's something horribly wrong and things keep happening that momentarily bring him back from the dream (a movie plays highlights from the alien attack, he gets hit by a car, he passes out from too much booze at his bachelor party after hitting on a waitress etc). Meanwhile, we get back story on his father (Young?!), who evidently was a player, just like Matt, and wound up divorcing his mother after they rushed into marriage. Matt not only doubts the reality of Cloverdale (his "home town"), but his own ability to stay faithful to Chloe (or any one woman). His justice of the peace (not clergy-member...what a shame) - Rush! - and his cameraman (Eli) express major doubts about his being ready for marriage. But he battles through all of it insisting that he's going to marry her, have six kids and die happy until the moments leading up to the ceremony during which he begins to doubt himself and gets advice from his father. At this point the dream becomes fragmented and we see snippets of the wedding itself...and then we see Chloe - half-transformed into one of the aliens they encountered last year - and he jumps awake. The transfusion evidently worked, but at a price. They are stuck in the same boat now...whether he was ready or not.
The Skinny:
Unfortunately, I feel I need to take a "wait and see" attitude about this episode. I have major misgivings about the Chloe/Scott relationship. They got together in a matter of days...it happened so fast that last year, I was concerned about the message that sent about the proper way to pursue lasting happiness in love. In fact, until this moment, I have been very dubious about this relationship and not pleased when it got air time. I still think that neither one of them knows what love actually is - that their relationship is based primarily on the shared experience of facing constant danger in close quarters. I am, however, at least interested now in what they intend to do with this couple now that they're stuck together in a locked room.
I also feel that I need to know more about the production team's take on Matthew's character. Thus far, he's been painted as the paragon of military virtue - he's been the level head in the attempted coup, the voice of reason when civilian/military tensions mounted, and the one to reach out to crew mates in need of support. Chloe also betrayed him to the civilian coup and to Wray (an action that they depicted as DEEPLY wounding to him) and yet, after a short hiatus, they got back together without batting an eye - when Matthew was ready to forgive. He's the hero of this piece. Now we're hearing from his own subconscious that he's had trouble treat women with respect in the past - that he's not a one-woman man. That needs to be repudiated by the writers for me to be comfortable with Scott as the hero. Fallen hero stories don't do it for me...that's one of the reasons this blog will not cover Battlestar Galactica if I have any say in the matter (and I do).
That said...this was in fact a VERY well made episode...it was a feature-worthy presentation, no doubt about it. Well acted, well screened, well written, and very unique artistic style...all good things. But I can't treat it like a feature until I know more about Lt. Scott and until I see how his relationship with Chloe is handled.
Writing: 9.0
Very interesting and attention-grabbing script...some of the most creative and satisfying dialogue we've seen from this group of writers in quite some time.
Acting: 9.0
Elyse Levesque FINALLY had a strong performance akin to some of her early work in the first season...and she was joined by Jamil Walker Smith yet again, as well as by David Blue and Brian J. Smith.
Message: 6.0 (this may get corrected up or down later)
We'll see...for now I'm ambivalent.
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