(S01E07) With the IOA and Stargate Command planning a risky rescue mission aboard The Destiny, Eli, Chloe and Young used the communication stones to head back to Earth and... indulge in a little drinking and sex!
The crew faced death again, Col. Telford came aboard to annoy everyone again, and Rush hovered on the fringe, skulking and whining about the military's plan of action. Again.
Still, I really enjoyed how everything played out this week. Finally Eli, aka the Star Wars-referencing funny guy, was given more to do than make jokes and pine for Chloe. David Blue really sold the scenes with Eli talking to his mother. I sensed a real longing from Eli to want to take care of his mom and prove himself to her out of love and respect. It was a good idea to have him pose as a co-worker. That way, we got to see what he really thinks about himself, his mother, and his current situation.
So, it looks like Young might have screwed up his marriage by cheating on his wife with Johansen. If Young is so desperate to patch things up with his wife back home, why is he still having fantasies about Johansen? Is he only trying to do the right thing out of a sense of obligation instead of following his true feelings?
And poor Chloe. All she has back on Earth is a shallow life full of crappy frienemies now that her dad is gone. I guess that makes it easier for her to accept the fact that she'll probably be stuck on a million year old spaceship for the rest of her life. At least she's got Eli, who doesn't seem too thrilled about still being trapped in the friend zone.
Back on the ship, Telford and two scientists (including Ryan Kennedy, aka Smallville's Cosmic Boy!) headed up an experiment to get The Destiny home that we all knew would never work. Or maybe it could have worked if Rush hadn't undermined their efforts. Who knows? Either way, we were left, once again, asking the question: Can we trust Dr. Rush? Did he pull the plug on the experiment to save the ship from exploding? Or did he do it only because he doesn't want to go home? We know the IOA probably won't let him back on the ship if the crew ever makes it back to Earth. It's possible that he was only thinking of himself and screwed everyone out of their only shot at heading home.
I liked that Rush's plan made Telford look like a self-serving weasel. I had no doubt that he'd cut and run if things got too dangerous. It was good to see Richard Dean Anderson's Jack O'Neill stick up for Young at the final meeting. Unlike Telford, O'Neill is a soldier with integrity who doesn't let his ego get in the way of saving people's lives – kinda like Young.
And what about that final scene? Do you really think Telford is evil enough to impersonate Young and try to sleep with his wife? It's more likely he's working another angle in an effort to undermine Young and his command.
So, what did you think, folks? Are you finally starting to care about these characters? Should the show ditch the communication stones and leave the crew with no way to contact Earth? Did you enjoy the, er, special appearance by pop singer Janelle Monáe?
Next week: We go back to the future!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-07-2009 @ 1:07PM
Logan said...
I am starting to "like" more of the characters in general but I'm not loving the show yet. I feel like I'm a sci-fi fan so there for I'm watching the show because it's what SyFy is pushing at the moment. At this point in a series I usually am more interested and attached. Watching this show just makes me miss shows like Firefly & BSG even more!
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11-07-2009 @ 2:01PM
Eldritch said...
Exactly right. Liked this episode a little better, but it may not be enough to keep me watching the series. Firefly and BSG it's not.
11-07-2009 @ 2:12PM
bc said...
You're assuming that Telford and Mrs. Young haven't been screwing for a while. I think Col. Young wasn't the only one finding solace elsewhere.
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11-09-2009 @ 10:14AM
Gina said...
I got that impression also. I think she was having a little fun herself and it was with Telford.
11-12-2009 @ 7:41PM
Ro said...
Totally agree about Young's wife and Telford...besides that doorstep visit at the end, when he flashed back in to his own body during that jump, Telford took a second to realize that he wasn't on the ship, then where he was, and then he kept the party going with the wifey until Young bounced back.
11-07-2009 @ 2:29PM
Mike said...
So, let me get this straight... Sure, we've known about the Stargate for more than a decade. We accept the science fiction quirks of it all... Young's wife? She's known about it for a couple weeks. And yet she jumps into bed with a guy whose body isn't her husband's? Really?
This show makes women look like slutty morons. As the reviewer points out, why is he still dreaming of the hottie Johannson if he's so in love with his wife? Are we supposed to emotionally connect with him over that?
It's also laughable how they're using the stones... because clearly the priority would've been to get rid of Eli at that moment... riiight.
SGU needs to get a lot better or the same thing will happen to it on my dvr as did with Atlantis... ie me cancelling my season pass....
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11-07-2009 @ 2:29PM
Mike said...
Oh yeah, and in a parallel to Col. Young fantasizing about continuing to cheat on his wife, only to express his undying love for her, so too do we get Chloe, screwing around on Destiny, yet still hung up on her ex-boyfriend... yeah... boohoo...
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11-07-2009 @ 5:19PM
pkh said...
Gosh, people with conflicted emotions who don't really understand what they want -- that could *never* happen. Television characters should be infallable.
This is one of the (positive) things that distinguishes this show from SG-1 and SGA. These are human beings, unlike the characters in the previous shows.
They need more than the single plot they've used so far in every episode, though.
11-07-2009 @ 3:38PM
Alicia R. said...
I was waiting for O'Neill to rip Talford a new one. That would have been nice to see.
Eh... destroy the stones. I'm sick of them already.
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11-07-2009 @ 4:49PM
M-D said...
I'm not sure what this says about the episode in general, but my favorite moment in "Earth" was Eli identifying himself as "Phillip Fry" to his mother - Eli's a "Futurama" fan!
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11-07-2009 @ 10:51PM
DataDroid said...
I agree. My wife and I laughed for a solid minute or two at that one (we're the nerds who've costumed as a couple as both Fry and Leela and Farnsworth and Mom at two sequential Dragon*Cons).
11-07-2009 @ 5:04PM
Tim-1 said...
After reading these early reviews, I find some solice in that I'm not the only one that dislike those communication things....but back to that later.
I am trying very hard to like this show. I have supported it albeit finding it a bit late in the series. My offline friends have told me that this series is just an inch of becoming a very good sci-fi show. Now I don't have to be entertained by dogfights, aliens and explosions every week....good drama is great, but something is needed here to make the transition from space-drama to space-action drama. And I think a have an opinion to that effect.
Take Battlestar Galactica for instance. That show presented an immediate danger to all the protagonists from the get-go. We got to see most of the principal players in action, in danger, or tested in various ways before we got into their personal lives. I think SU has reversed that to a degree. I am not saying I don't enjoy knowing the histories of the players, but we need to establish some connection with them first. The personal lives of the characters are more captivating when you have shared emotinal or philosophical trauma with them.
I think we need a good old fashioned attacking alien crisis to get things moving.
For me, those communication devices take away from the show for a couple of reasons. I would say it is overused but I prefer it should not be used at all. Along with being so bloody confusing, the technology for it doesn't seem to match the abilities of the Earthmen. I suppose it must have come from the ancients. No matter, it also brings to pass the dullness of the soap-opera people. It seems to rob SU of it's own story potential.
When the protagonists (I'll use that description until I get the names straight) were conversing and dancing and having sex on Earth, I committed the unpardonal sin of fast-forwarding. I just don't have the curiosity investment in these characters yet, as they have not done anything to embrace me. Now it does depend on who it is....say Grace Park for instance....I would listen to her talk for hours on the subject of how fast different brands of paint dry....if she wished. Oh the dreams of mortals....
Of course I'm not giving up on SU.... I'm just reflecting some points of view. Next week looks promising.
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11-12-2009 @ 12:02AM
Tom said...
Another good post, Tim. I dislike the stones, too, but hey, its a plot device. It did give us a rather interesting twist this week. I think I agree with your friends that this show is inches from being a great show, but sometimes inches can be as wide a gap as the grand canyon if you don't get across it sometime. I watch this show because BSG is gone, not because it is a great show. But it is escapist science fiction. Oh--and because Dollhouse sucks and TSCC is gone.
11-07-2009 @ 5:35PM
CParis said...
This show is becoming stoopider by the week. Why on earth or the universe would these people be using these amazing communication stones to send whiny Gen Y idiots to visit their buds instead of getting some smart scientists, engineers, etc on board the Destiny to get the ship running properly?
It's like getting in a car accident and you use up your cell's last bits of juice calling to vote on American Idol!
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11-07-2009 @ 6:34PM
sampson said...
Wow, some people are impatient, picky, shallow, and unimagninative. I for one think the series is AWESOME! And it has the potential to outdoo any and all of it's predecessors, some people have compared it to ST Voyager, if it is like voyager (different universe and technology) then it's how Voyager should have been done. If it's like BSG then I say it's better than BSG was( and I loved BSG). If it's too much like atlantis then I say it's better than atlantis. I for one give SGU a 10, and the love triangles are great! That's how most people are, self serving, shallow confused and usually just a mess emotionally especially most girls i know. If the drama is too slow for you then the techno dazzle must not intrest you, and vice versa (in wich case there are several shows just for you on in the middle of the day right after the news at noon, i hear there are a lot of detergent commercials). Quit trying to criticize and just enjoy the storytelling process. Besides if I needed a new moster every week I have hundereds of reruns to enjoy. The show could go back and forth between monsters and jungles and time warps to character building and techno dazzling scenes every week from episode to episode and still be thoroughly entertaining. I for one am very enthused about the new series, it's My new show and I love it! Cant wait for next friday to see the next one. And for the naysayers STFU and just sit down and FOLLOW the story line. these writers are truly talented and if you would just follow them and let them paint the picture for them you WILL be dazzled. I wish for them to dazzle me and so I will continue to give each new episode a rating of 10 and continue to watch every show I can.
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11-07-2009 @ 7:09PM
Cody said...
I think they should have the communication stones become less and less reliable, bad transmition and the like, to show the sheer vastness of space between destiny and earth. If that doesn't work because of the whole phoning the Ori galaxy stones, then just have Rush sabotage the stones or someone else for some reason to finally hit home that they may not make it home.
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11-07-2009 @ 9:08PM
bsgfan2003 said...
Yes stones are terrrrrrrrible, but as a practical matter if they do get rid of the stones (which I would dearly love) how does the show keep Lou Diamond Phillips around? It would seem that they have given him pretty high billing.
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11-08-2009 @ 5:00PM
Todd Erickson said...
I'm finding it amusing that people want to hate this show so much that they are purposely trying not to learn the names of the characters. For the record, it was Chloe Armstrong, Eli Wallace and Col. Everett Young who visited Earth in this episode. No, I didn't have to look that up, I actually pay attention to the episode. Also, they did switch bodies with the two scientists that came up with the idea in the first place, so they did use the stones to get some people on board that could help. Also, how many of you can control what you dream about? Just because Col. Young is still in love with his wife, doesn't mean that he can keep his subconscious from dreaming up TJ while he's asleep.
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11-08-2009 @ 5:00PM
Logan said...
You know, when talking to my brother last night about this episode - we came to a conclusion - we feel like we are actually watching "the same episode" again and again. It's like there is something "motionless" about the story over all. Every episode "feels" the same.
BSG, was also about not knowing how to get to your destination and yet we felt some forward motion. Perhaps as Tim-1 points out above it's time for some alien conflict!
I'm not saying they are not clearly in peril. They are on a dying old ship that they can't really seem to run - but oddly the idea of a slow death for our crew on this ancient tin can isn't really "exciting" TV.
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11-08-2009 @ 4:59PM
Trevor said...
I am starting to think this show is not for me. I have no idea who that pop singer was.
The larger problem is the questionable use of the stones. There should be a constant flow of experts visiting to catalog and analyze the ship. At the same time the "crew" should be back on earth learning all they can about ancient tech. It appears most of the "crew" is unqualified to be in this situation, so train them while getting more experts on board!
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