I would stop short of calling “Light” a stumble, but I will say it was my least favorite episode so far from Stargate: Universe. The stakes were certainly high enough, with the Destiny hurtling toward a star, but the execution of the first three quarters of the story was far less compelling than it could have been. Facing certain peril, the reaction from the majority of the passengers just felt completely wrong.
I don’t think there was anyone that was actually under the impression that the Destiny was going to be torn apart and everyone would die. We get what the show is, and know the game. But that possibility still could have made for much better drama. For the most part, it seemed all but one person on the ship just immediately gave up. It struck me as very odd.
At this point, it’s clear that there are still huge sections of the ship that still hold their own mysteries. And one might think, in the face of certain doom, that exploring those looking for any kind of console, switch, or easy button, that might give you the million to one shot at cheating death would occur to someone. Instead, we see people playing cards, reading books, or just randomly waiting for the inevitable.
Even the lottery went off in an all too calm and civilized way. Granted, there were soldiers, with guns, watching over the proceedings. But only one person in that large a group is going to mount any real protest? I expected more from both of those stories. You would think that people would be much more vocal about how those 15 spots were doled out. And after the fact, still trying anything they could to not be torn apart in space.
Things did bounce back at the end. The plight of the shuttle played out much better. From the elation of making it off of the doomed ship, to the realization of just what it was that came with that winning ticket, to the crushing blow of possibly missing their chance to rejoin the Destiny when fortunes had changed. Much better execution.
The icing on the cake though, and the most important bit going forward, came from two little question raised by Young to close the show. Did Rush actually know that the Destiny was going to make it? And if he did, what does that mean? I’m leaning towards him not knowing. If he had known, why wouldn’t he shout it to everyone? From his perspective, it’s a can’t lose.
If he was wrong, they all burn up anyway. But if he’s right, it only solidifies his position as the brains of the operation. So, I don’t think he knew the Destiny was going to pull through, but he may have suspected there was a chance. And I do think he knew that the prospects of survival on an as yet unseen alien world were not all that much better than taking his chances staying on the Destiny. He took a gamble, and he was right.
At the end of the day though, whether he knew or didn’t is beside the point. The fact that Young suspects it, and has voiced it to the rest of the crew, is what’s important. That will continue to have long lasting effects on Rush’s relationships with the other passengers on the ship. All things considered, not my favorite episode. But I remain intrigued by the Universe story, and look forward to seeing more.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Oct 24, 2009 @ 10:01 EST5EDT
Yes, the end was good. At least there was no silly stones.
Yeah the stones are not used well.
The episode was a little boring, “We are all going to die! Oh well…”
I think Rush might have thought the ship would heal itself, but it’s always better safe than sorry.
would love to feel impressed that I called it in the comments last week … but it was quite obvious as to what would happen.
kudos to the effects team though … the visuals are still amazing even if the plots and characters are still a bit rocky.
Maybe they’ll begin to open all of the containers that they have noticed all over the ship.
Two things I didn’t like about the episode: Religion and Sex. If you have those two in, you also need a couple of gunshots fired. The extreme opposite end of the spectrum would be “Zardoz”. Something in the middle would’ve been better but you simply can’t put that into the show without ruining about every other plot option for future episodes.
But then again it could’ve been worse – the end of the weak, fuzzy, idiotic spectrum would be Star Trek Voyager, where nobody ever flipped out or had sex or prayed. Everything squeaky clean there. I like way to tell the story more. It’s somewhere in the middle and I think it’s good.
Yeah I can get on bored with that – Universe has been *overtly* religious, something which wasn’t at the fore in other SG series … not a fan of watching characters reciting prayers on screen.
LOL. I said ‘on bored’ … I guess that sums up my feelings about the prayer scenes and SGU’s religious side.
People praying is a real response to a live or death situation. It fits the situation for some people. For some people it does not fit. I think SGU portrayed that well.
I would have been saying the Our Father too.
Slightly tangent, but I read in “ROCKET MEN” by Craig Nelson that Wernher Von Braun “Watching his masterpiece rise into the heavens Von Braun prayed out loud with tears in his eyes:
Our Father, who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy Name
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernher_von_Braun
I thought that this was one of the better episodes. So far I am a SGU fan, and I thought that after Atlantis, and SG1 I would not be. I had zero problems with the way people reacted. The only beef and it is a minor one I figured out that the ship might use the star for refueling. (like a giant Buzzard ram jet gathering up hydrogen and helium gas to use as reactor fuel and ejecta.) Other than that I thought that this was a major hit episode, that I thoughly enjoyed, lost track of time and found it over way too soon.
I’m sorry, but I’m pretty sure EVERYONE knew the star was going to be for refueling. I mean what the ship was going to crash and thus the end of BSG… I mean SGU in the fourth episode?
Absolutely. What a waste of time. How can we identify with the characters when they are agonizing over something we all know won’t happen? It was melodramatic nonsense.
I hate to say it, but I just don’t like the dark tone of the show. All those characters are too pessimistic. Where’s the Stargate can-do attitude? Even the people on Battlestar Galactica were happier than this bunch and that’s after a nuclear holocaust. So disappointing.
So interesting to read the varying opinions. It seems either you feel like Brett (and I do) or you loved it. I thought it was a wasted opportunity. No one actually thought the ship was going to explode in the fourth episode. I held out hope that maybe the 17 would die on the shuttle (not hope, but at that point, I needed drama). I was chatting along the way and I wondered if they were losing their direction with the episode, or didn’t really have it yet. It just seemed pointless to me. Of course I didn’t know the senators daughter and the army dude were a couple, so that was news to me. And, regarding whether or not Rush knew what would happen – I’ve been trying to figure out if he’s a quasi bad guy and this just adds more intrigue to that question. At the very least he could have said recharging was a possibility, and allowed people to choose whether or not they wanted to take a chance on the ship. Might have been a bit more human of him. Regardless, I’ll be tuning in for more.
I’m surprised that some were underwhelmed by this episode. I think it may well have been my favourite so far. I think the drama played out extremely well. It could have been so easy to go quite cliched and over the top with people on board going crazy as they desperately tried to survive. We saw two instances of such desperation in Wray and Spencer and both scenes played extremely well. The crew knew there was absolutely nothing they could do, there was no hope for them and they accepted the inevitable and dealt with it quitely and gracefully, and interestingly some dealt with it alone. It was excellent human drama.
The shuttle scenes were fantastic. The visual effects are truly excellent and the tension was palpable, even though there was no doubt they would find a way back.
Again, the acting was superb all round. Greer continues to be a stand out character, for me. His kino scene at the beginning and his scene with Young were terrific. As for Rush, he may have suspected that the Destiny would recharge but there’s no way he knew for sure. He wouldn’t have reacted the way he did when he was alone if he had of known or even believed the Destiny was in no trouble. It’s a lot more plausable that he hates himself and is miserable (probably something to do with his wife dying) and as such wants to be hated by everyone and will pull stunts like those at the end of the episode to ensure he is hated and is alone and therefore has reasons to be miserable.
I think it’s all a matter of suspension of disbelief. The Sex almost took me out of it.
I mean honestly, you can’t blame the show for not killing it’s main plot device in the 4th episode, true, but what’s better, that or the red shirts on Star Trek? Granted, Tasha Yar died but she’s the exception the the cardinal rule: no lead dies on a show like this.
Too bad that nobody on SGU can be a Cylon. Because then you can die over and over again or even better, die and possibly come back later without a hassle.
The sense of loss was in BSG, I think that’s one point that made so enjoyable. Though I still say the 4th season sucked.
BSG season 3 was a mess too.
But yes, they should have lost everyone on the shuttle, now that would have been awesome. Even if they made it to the planet and somehow caught back up with the ship several episodes later. I don’t care, but the whole thing was pointless when you know no one will die.
Next week they have space suits. The Senator could have used one of those. Speaking of which, the Stargate program really needs to come out. A Senator is dead, there is no body, and his daughter is no where to be found, how do you explain that?
easy to explain, they’re on an extended appalachian trail hike! :)
There actually have been several examples over the years of shows that purported to have Bob Smith as a regular character of a new show, only to kill them of in the second episode.
Joss did it in Buffy with Eric Balfour, and then again, I guess, in Angel with Glenn Quinn.
I think they did it in Trauma this year with the big death scene in the pilot.
But you’re right. Two of the main characters, and two of the secondary characters?
But they have to invent drama somehow, right?
I have been a die hard fan of SG1 and SGA, but this series sucks so bad that i think i will warp to the alternet universe to get my television fix.
No i haven’t seen “light” yet ( hell this show ain’t on Aussie TV yet )but Dr Rush is just plain crazy, i am supprised they haven’t shot him yet.
This series needs to get on with what the “Stargate” adventure is all about, new peoples,places,technology,races,ENEMY’S, now that the destiny is refuled maybe it will get back to its origins and start to do the “Stargate” thing.
Cheers TBBW
You just listed everything that has been wrong with Stargate through Atlantis and the last few seasons of SG-1.
The show needs to be about adventure, and the last several seasons of Stargates forgot about that. Instead the characters would act like everything is normal and fine when they are millions of millions away. Plus the humans within 10 years (Actually within like 4) got so many new tadvances that no one could beat us because these “bad Anients” and the stories just got sillier and sillier.
SGU isn’t perfect, but it is bringing back the SCIENCE fiction back to the show, and the sense of adventure is there, I hope next week’s episode brings some more of that.
If Rush suspected the truth, then the thing to do was to go through with the lottery and have the shuttle, with personnel and supplies, pace the Destiny from a safe distance. If Destiny survives the sun-bath, then it would be on course to rejoin the recharged ship. If disaster would have fallen (and the viewer at home knew this was impossible, cutting the drama JUST a little bit), then the shuttle could have then continued onto the middle planet to begin their own new TV series. That way, Rush cements his all-seeing, all-knowing rep while not cutting off the lifeline for the few.
Unless he wanted somebody dead on the shuttle, to stay silent in the face of even faint hope would have been intellectually dishonest and counter-productive to his ego. Verdict? Innocent as charged.
I wouldn’t call this episode a stumble either. It’s difficult to stumble when you can’t even walk yet.
It’s good that at least the Ancient stones were completely forgotten and not even referred to in the face of imminent and certain doom; hopefully, this trend can continue for the remainder of this series. Otherwise, when Eli was pleading with people to record Kino confessionals that someone, someday might stumble upon, we would be wondering why each person didn’t just spend an hour recording their farewell on Earth where they knew their loved ones would see it.
As to searching for hidden buttons or compartments, this is a gigantic ship that can evacuate a crew of at most 34 when between galaxies, and that’s with both shuttles working. It’s not a ludicrous notion to think that there might be escape pods somewhere onboard. Then they could float in space while the shuttle made multiple runs to and from the planet. But it’s much more realistic to have every single person be fatalistic and lackadaisical on Dr. Rush’s word.
The farcical lottery scene was worse than you describe. There were approximately three armed guards facing the crowd to maintain order. One of them, Lt. James, won the lottery and ran off to the shuttle, and none of the other soldiers stepped forward to take up her post, elegantly highlighting the complete lack of tension in the situation.
Speculating about Rush’s connivances is fruitless. The quality of the writing shown thus far is gross, not subtle. I don’t believe they have it in them to inscribe hidden meanings, though hopefully they can change.
next time i’m asked about stargate universe in the future i’ll know exactly where to look! thanks for the hard work you put in making your site