By Mike Brendan
If I could sum up the theme in this week’s episode, I’d do it in two words: bad idea. Like last week’s episode two parallel plots are on the deck so let’s start with Dr. Rush. The bad idea in his case isn’t his, it’s Dr. Perry’s. The thing of it is, it’s perfectly reasonable from either Rush’s or Perry’s point of view. Rush has been stuck on board the Destiny for how long without anything resembling a break or emotional release, and Perry is — or was — a quadriplegic now free of her mortal coil in the ships computer systems. Both have strong feelings for each other, so when Perry proposes that Rush uses the neural interface chair to meet in a simulation for a tryst, it’s plausible.
I could comment that Rush is thinking with his nether regions but let’s be honest here — he is, but there’s more to it than that.
Of course, the obvious plot complication arises in that Rush can’t leave the simulation. I’m glad that they went the route of an honest error in Perry’s crafting of the sim, rather than turn her into an overly possessive psycho that wouldn’t let him go. That said, I’m still disappointed that they went this route. Rush’s obsession with science and the Destiny would have been a great opportunity to explore his character in the face of temptation. He can become one with the ship, be with someone he loves, and fulfill the mission in one fell swoop. If I were Rush, I would find that particularly attractive.
The resolution on this plot arc is clumsy. The simulation has to be broken from the outside, and in order to do it, Eli has to essentially cut and paste Perry and Ginn to a quarantined part of the ship’s network. It makes no sense other than to remove the objects of temptation (Eli and Ginn had discussed doing the same thing, which is what inspired Perry). These are people, not malignant programs. Once Rush is out of the sim, why can’t Ginn and Perry be moved back to where they were? Why not tweak the coding of the simulation to provide a reasonable exit? Perry might not be able to do it, but Eli could.
The other bad idea originates with Telford, and why Stargate Command is letting this guy drive anything other than a golf cart is beyond me. Earth is trying to negotiate a deal with Langara. While the planet is a bit behind technologically, they have the capability of dialing the ninth chevron. Earth wants to establish a supply line to Destiny via Langara, but they’re balking because the last two planets that could do so blew up. SGC’s own Dr McKay has a safe solution, but Langara doesn’t want to run with it until they can check the math.
When the delegates from Langara leave, Telford claims that they’re allied with the Lucian Alliance and that “this proves it.” He then points to a bunch of transmissions between Langara and the Lucians as further evidence — never mind the fact that they have no idea what the transmissions actually say. So, the folks at Command approve a little “proof of concept” mission that involves subverting the administrator of the Langaran Stargate facility and his security chief with the communication stones so Young and company can take over and dial that ninth chevron. As a secondary objective, they’re going to determine the nature of Langarans’ alliance with he Lucians
Honestly, this is a terrible idea. It’s a “getting involved in a land war with Asia” level of bad. Telford was compromised by the Lucian Alliance, and even if he is free of their brainwashing, he shouldn’t be trusted with anything resembling command. The man has an Agenda, whatever it may be. And even if this plan did work, if the Langarans are siding with the Lucians, the Destiny is now more vulnerable. If they’re not, then the diplomatic crap storm that is bound to follow is only going to ensure that Earth won’t have their supply line to the Destiny.
In other words, the only way to win this mission is to not even start it. When the crap hits the fan and they find out that the Langarans were constantly refusing offers from the Lucians, Young does the right thing and shuts the Stargate down before things get hostile, but by then the damage is already done. The Langarans give Earth a slap on the wrist and proceed to dismantle the super facility supporting the Stargate, and we’re back to the status quo for the series.
This could have been a good episode, if not for the really bad idea (that is, Langara) and the clumsy plot resolution. I think if they didn’t snap back to the status quo for both key characters and the situation at large, the episode would have fared better. Good concepts, just the execution was off this week.
Mike Brendan is a proud graduate of the Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University. When not writing SF/F/H to fund his conquest of the universe, he’s busy negotiating terms of surrender to his kitten, Zaphod.
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I am a graduate of the Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University. Born and bred in Pittsburgh, I write science fiction and fantasy in my bid for galactic conquest. 
