Overall Rating: 9.5
Wow! Apparently, I missed another REALLY good episode before I saw 2:7...so many interesting plot developments in this one and so many resoundingly well written exchanges on which to comment. We are heading in the right direction with this franchise on the bullet train, folks.
Plot Synopsis:
The Stargate Wiki has the synopsis here.
The Skinny:
The Burden of Command - The mark of a great military leader is not limited to his skill in making strategic decisions or his ability to fire up the troops in times of war. What makes a military leader an enduring force for good amongst the men and women he commands is his ability to subjugate his own desires and shoulder the heavy emotional consequences of making the tough decisions without losing sight of the fact that those decisions SHOULD be painful. In one brilliantly delivered speech, Scott summarized exactly why Young NEEDS to stay in command if they're going to have any chance to survive. Rush can't lead...for him, command is not a burden, and that's DANGEROUS. Camille can't lead - she would get vapor locked at the first roadblock...the first tough decision foisted on her and she'd crack like an egg (not to mention her crushing naivete). Scott can't lead...he's a good soldier, but he's not prepared, at this stage in his life, to make the hard decisions on a regular basis - he doesn't have the necessary battle-testing.
The bottom line is...it's GOOD that it hurts Young when he has to kill a soldier in the field to deliver a merciful death. It's GOOD that he can barely shoulder the daily load because he's worried he might have to send Chloe off the ship if she becomes a threat. It's IMPORTANT that Young feel badly about their situation - stranded at the end of the universe and away from the lives they knew - because any commander who revels in circumstances that his troops find agonizing is going to be completely unable to see things from their perspective. He'll lose his men. Being a leader in a time of crisis is a self-sacrificing act when it's done properly. It sucks for the leader, but he or she does it because lives depend on strong leadership. It is not all that dissimilar from Jesus on the cross.
Rush's Deception - Meanwhile, Rush continues to pull strings from his secret Bridge. He knows they'll never accept him as the face of command, but he directs events as much as he can. It's going to be quite a battle between he and Destiny - the ship of his dreams (now that we know what the real mission of Destiny was all about, we know how much it really means to Rush) - the ship that, through its' capacity to warp brain wave patterns, is telling us how much it disapproves of Rush's actions. The writers' ability here to slowly explain the seemingly mysterious is both maddening (I may have to re-evaluate the ratings from older episodes in which I panicked at how much was happening that seemed entirely too convenient) and strangely impressive.
Eli is ME!!!! - Yes, I know that the SGU writers are unmercifully playing on the hearts and minds of their audience. He's the ultimate Marty Stu...no doubt about it. But my own attempts at romantic affiliations have proceeded almost exactly like Eli's...from loving the woman who only saw us as "the friend" to attracting the attention of the woman who was impressed by who we really were. The beginning of Eli and Ginn as an item aboard ship was surprisingly not all that cliche. It helped that we had Greer sidling up to Eli and gruffly asking when he was going to make a move and then practically shoving him into her arms, which was EXCEEDINGLY entertaining and reaffirms my man-crush for both Eli AND Greer.
Scott and Chloe - Scott managed to avoid getting alienitis. That's probably a good thing. I would have been annoyed if they had forced Scott into being in the room with Chloe...that's not how true love is born. Their relationship has never been high on my list...Chloe just seemed to attach herself to the nearest boy toy upon arrival and, as the put-upon nerd, it brought up a lot of old pain. Yes, I am aware of how this affects my judgment on these matters. :) But now that Scott is still OK, it would seem that he learned from his dreams during "Cloverdale" that he does in fact actually love Chloe and maybe...just maybe...that relationship can finally achieve some level of reality in my mind. I need to see more chemistry between them, and I need to see Chloe (and Scott) do some more maturing, but at least I'm not constantly annoyed by the mere mention of that couple now.
Writing: 10.0
This time, we finally have an episode that is so well written that I can't find a major gripe. In particular, Young's recurring dreams (which turn out to be ship-influenced...a fact I find fascinating) were actually legitimately scary...especially the third and final segment in which Young loses his mind and just starts laughing hysterically. And of course, Scott's big "man up" speech (which must have been influenced by Stargate's military advisers...it was so perfect that I can find no other explanation...someone with real battlefield experience must have contributed) seals the deal for this as a feature episode. Highlights like Greer LITTLE "man up" bits with Eli are just tasty icing on this cake.
Acting: 8.5
If there's a weak link here, I think it has to be with the acting performances of Elyse Levesque (who was way...way too flat and numb for her role this week) and maybe Brian J. Smith (perhaps a bit too heavy with his delivery of the big speech). However, the acting was not bad all around. Justin Louis was sensational here as was David Blue and newcomer Julie McNiven (Ginn).
Message: 10.0
Leadership isn't easy...if it is, you're doing it wrong. It sucks, and it hurts every day if you're in a tough spot, and you have to do it anyway, because if you don't, people die. That's a lesson we could all stand to internalize.
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