I got the weekly text message from Syfy today. It said, “Lines will be drawn, sides will be chosen, and nothing will ever be the same!” That’s a pretty solid teaser for a new episode, but it’s also completely wrong, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be better to say that everything will be the same. That’s more accurate, if not as catchy when you are trying to draw viewers.
Short of clarifying which side of the line a few people stood on, what really changed this week? Before the mutiny, Rush and Camille didn’t want Young in charge. After? I’m guessing they’re still not fans of the idea. And that awkward separation between the civilians and the military? Hitting them in the face with the butt of a rifle and making them lie on the ground as they wait to see if they blow up doesn’t go a long way in smoothing those things over. I suppose it does look like the honeymoon is over for Scott and Chloe, but for the most part, we’re back at square one.
Still, while not a fan of the promo, I did like the episode. The mutiny story works so well here because you can really make a case for, or against, either side. Rush is a loose cannon, and Camille’s motivations are far from pure, but they do have a point. And while Young has been put in charge, that whole leaving a guy to die on an alien planet is terrible for the old Q score. They’re correct in the assumption that they are going to have to find a way to work together. I suspect the best course of action in getting there might be that none of that trio are anywhere near a leadership position.
That leads to the question of who should be in charge. My pick is TJ. She has the respect of the military, but also identifies well with the civilians. I have no idea if we’re heading for something like that, but it’s worth keeping in mind. The alternative would seem to lead us right back to this same spot at some point in the future. Does anyone expect that Rush or Camille won’t make another power grab? Or that Young will ever trust Rush?
Elsewhere, we got a little more info on the new alien nemesis. The revelation that Rush had secreted away a communication stone for himself was very good. It explained how Young ended up on the alien ship, and just reinforced what a shady character Rush is. In learning that the aliens have been tracking Destiny since long before the SGU crew came on board, I think it’s also been confirmed that they will be the #1 baddy for the foreseeable future, tracking device or not.
It was also good to see the communication stones used to bring in an expert to solve an immediate problem. Although, considering how they are still struggling with the controls of the ship, that does leave me wondering why we haven’t seen more people brought in to give Rush and Eli a hand. You would think that the eggheads back at HQ would be tripping over themselves to get a look. It doesn’t have to be a whole episode or anything. Just show us that someone is working on it. Go ahead and cut a musical montage if you have to.
All things considered, not my favorite episode, and I really don’t think anything has changed. But I did enjoy watching the mutiny play out. I’ll be curious to see if the failed attempt plays into the decisions that are being made in next week’s off-ship excursion.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Apr 10, 2010 @ 08:56 EST5EDT
I liked this episode. I’m usually on Young’s side, but I felt bad for the civilians when the soldiers started yelling at them and threatening them. It’s true that – on Earth at least – the military takes orders from a civilian government, so I understand why the civilians would not like their situation. However, the Stargate program is run by the military, and they are essentially on a long-term Stargate mission – so it’s similar to Daniel Jackson having to take orders from Jack when SG-1 was off-world. They’re on a military mission (admittedly not by choice), so the military is in charge. But this episode left me with less sympathy for the soldiers. I guess that’s another difference between SGU and the other Stargate series. There are shades of grey here – the military personnel are as unlikable at times as the civilians – so I don’t really have anyone to root for (except Eli, but all he does is follow orders so I don’t know what to hope for him). In contrast, the SG teams in the other series were clearly, unquestionably “heroes” on white horses with white hats. Yeah, maybe it’s less sophisticated, but at least I liked the characters.
Always good points re: the comm stones. I like that they are showing that they don’t always work as expected every time, and they can chalk their wonkiness up to simply not understanding how they work. But yeah, I would think there would be an almost constant flow of new experts coming on-board Destiny.
Do the stones need to recharge or something from overuse? I never watched the other ‘SG’ shows, so I don’t know what else is known about them other than what ‘SGU’ has shown.
*POST AUTHOR*
This version of the communication stones is somewhat different than what we have seen before, but there’s nothing to suggest that overuse should be a concern. Going off of what we’ve seen before, it seems like the idea of bringing in multiple experts is completely plausible. I’m wondering if they’ll address that eventually.
These new episodes have been sooooo much better than in the past.
My youngest daughter, who is 13, made the same comment about using the stones to bring experts onboard and she made that observation probably by the 4th episode! It does seem odd that they didn’t, as someone commented in an earlier article, bring Carter and McKay in via the stones to get everything sussed out on the ship. With that plot device, they basically have access to anyone on Earth and they haven’t used it very wisely very often so far.
Minor criticisms aside, I absolutely love this show, just in a different way than I loved the 2 earlier incarnations. I’m catching the kids up on SG1 from the beginning and I was surprised to find out just how really simplistic some of the early plots were. It’s still fun to watch SG1, but SGU is way more complex and an almost completly different animal.
The stones have always been paired before, so that one always connected to its twin. I always figured that the Ancients used quantum entanglement to give them unlimited range and power. That’s not the case now, since the same stone Young had been using to contact its twin on Earth is now paired with the Icarus one Rush had stolen. I have no idea what that means for the technical aspects.
The stones should be unreliable in crises, but they have thus far ignored the obvious question of why experts aren’t constantly combing the ship the rest of the time, while at the same time the castaways could be learning to read Ancient as well as technical, first aid, and survival skills back at the SGC. When Telford brought aboard just two lesser scientists, they were able to get much more done than Rush had cobbled together on his own, before the writers artificially inserted a trust issue with Earth to keep them away.
The soldiers were extremely gentle when putting down the mutiny, as some people on both sides rightfully should have died like they did on BSG. When they stormed the room, they had no idea of the composition of the crowd, or their mentality, resistance, or possible armament. They were badly outnumbered, and had to be as intimidating as possible to cowe the civilians into submission. If they hadn’t gone in like that, some of the mutineers might have tried to oppose them, and they’d have to respond with deadly force. Most of the crowd backed into the center of the room, but one man was too slow and could have grabbed for James’s rifle, so she put him on the floor with a butt-stroke. Only one of the scientists stood his ground, which could have roused the mob to resist, so Greer threatened to shoot him immediately if he didn’t sit down (by the way, is that the same scientist Greer shot in the desert, or a different guy?). If the soldiers had lost control of the operation at any point, it would have been disastrous, and a lot of civilians would have gotten killed.
In fact, the worst part was TJ telling the Airman to put his pistol down, and one of the mutineers immediately grabbing it and later pointing it at Eli in the corridor exchange. TJ should have either disassembled or unloaded the weapon so no one would get shot for her to patch up later.
It was wise of Syfy not to schedule both Caprica and SGU for the same night so as not to invite comparisons between the two shows. I’m trying to persevere through this dull, plodding mess long enough to see RM and RK appear in the future, but they’re really not giving me anything to which to cling. Even their space battles are boring. I’m done hoping for Wray to become a strong character after her ineptitude and ineffectiveness here, and her apparent knowledge of Rush’s framing of Young the entire time she was conducting the inquiry, if I’m reading last week’s scene correctly. The only ones I can still stand are TJ and Greer, and I hope that TJ’s rumored storyline doesn’t ruin her as well. She would be the best leader (far better than Scott, to be sure), but she would still need Young as a close advisor as she has zero command experience.