Which is worse? Being stranded on Destiny in unknown space with little hope of getting home of being stranded, or jumping blindly from gate to gate with little hope of getting home?
I wasn’t that surprised to see that Destiny is headed outside the galaxy (the show is called Stargate: Universe and not Stargate: Milky Way); I was just surprised to see it happening so soon. That’s got to be a season two, maybe even a season three, sort of event with several episodes of build up and a last minute race against time to stop it.
Not here. Just a brief announcement that this is the last stop in the galaxy, then POW. Destiny is on its way to another galaxy with three of the main characters left behind. Holy crap, I love the tension and relentless pace of this show.
Last week, we left off with Lt. Scott, Eli, Chloe, and Sgt. Greer trapped in some underground tunnels inhabited by giant spiders that haunted my dreams. This week, Eli wigs out about being left behind and trapped (who wouldn’t?), waxing poetic about mall maps. He’d give anything for a “You are here” dot on the wall.
Which is exactly what Chloe manages to find just before another ceiling collapse separates Greer from the group. Believing him dead, the trio moves on and out; however, Greer, is not only trapped in the claustrophobic rubble. He’s trapped in his past by treatment at the hands of his father:
- Wee Greer builds a brick wall; Dad kicks it down.
- Wee Greer looks at Dad’s Purple Heart and military mementos; Dad rips it from his hands and throws it across the room.
- Wee Greer goes on a drive with Dad; Dad throws him out of the car in a bad neighborhood, leaving him to walk home.
Wee Greer wants to take his mom by the hand and run as far away from Dad as possible. Mom refuses, choosing to support her husband. Wee Greer eventually tries to get away via a scholarship, which he didn’t get, then enlisting in the Marines. It all haunts Greer as he digs himself out, runs to the gate, and waits for a rescue.
Goes to show that you can run to the edge of the galaxy without putting an inch between you and the whatever it is you’re running from.
It went a long way toward making Greer a more sympathetic character. Not out of pity, mind you. He’s had a bad hand dealt to him in life and some would turn around and take that out on the world; Greer has the resulting anger under tight control and it’s made him a hard ass, but a good Marine. It also makes him unpredictable – I have no idea if he’s going to react to an annoyance with a hard look or a rifle butt to the face.
In his dark night of the soul, though, he does get rescued. Dr. Rush and Lt. James are leading search parties gate to gate, retracing their steps to Underground Tunnel Giant Spider Planet.
Scott, Eli and Chloe aren’t so lucky. They go gate to gate, hoping to catch up to Destiny, but wound up going the wrong direction, finding themselves back at Crashed Alien Shuttle Planet (from whence Rush had been abducted). All isn’t lost, though; the side effects of Chloe’s abduction include being able to find a map or manifest in the shuttle’s computer. The three use this to gate back to a planet nearby Destiny where Eli frantically dials. . .
And gets a busy signal.
He tries again and, mid-redial, Destiny jumps to FTL, heading out of the galaxy.
That’s a damn it.
I have no idea how this is going to be resolved. They could conceivably jump back to the shuttle with the hopes that Chloe’s alien mind meld will enable her to fly it or navigate it or something. But, that doesn’t look like it’s designed for deep space anything, much less chasing Destiny into the vast space between galaxies. Dr. Rush could also conceivably get control of Destiny, but then finding the castaways would be nigh impossible among all the possible planets.
Oh, and TJ told Col. Young that she’s pregnant. His expression said, “I want to be happy about being a dad but feel guilty about screwing around on my wife but she seemed to really like it when I banged her with Lou Diamond Philips’ body so maybe she cheated too but a baby on this ship and the shame of everyone knowing it’s mine oh god why can’t I just die?”
Well, something along those lines. Every episode, Col. Young looks that much closer to shooting himself in the head.
Lisa Fary is a graduate of the creative writing program at Florida State University and holds an advanced degree in Special Education. Her earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She’s angry that it’s 2010 and she still doesn’t have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram.
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Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head with most of what I noticed about this episode too! Definitely feel better about Greer's issues and his on-again-off-again anger that used to seem to stem from nowhere. I was pretty surprised that Destiny left Eli and company on the planet! However, it was great that Stargate was able to surprise me, because Atlantis had gotten so predictable, I almost quit it. Can't wait to to see where this goes!
It definitely got to Greer – did you notice his question to Young, "You sure they left me behind because they thought I was dead?". His Dad did his best to hammer in a "You can only trust yourself everyone leaves you" theme.
No idea how Scott, Eli an Chloe will be rescued. Is it possible they're being written out? it is early in the series still. Unlikely though I guess.
Brian (Scott), David (Eli), Elyse (Chloe), and several of their costars have been twittering away about filming the second season, so I'd say they probably get back to the ship. Either that, or they've been enlisted in the world's most elaborate anti-spoiler campaign ever. And as much fun as that would be, I don't think MGM could afford it just now.
Brian (Scott), David (Eli), Elyse (Chloe), and several of their costars have been twittering away about filming the second season, so I'd say they probably get back to the ship. Either that, or they've been enlisted in the world's most elaborate anti-spoiler campaign ever. And as much fun as that would be, I don't think MGM could afford it just now.