Amidst the early episode cheese, boobs and startup fumbling in “Stargate Universe”, I detected faint traces of fascinating Sci-Fi possibilities. In the 5th episode of SGU, I think we finally have what we’ve been waiting for.
I’ve never watched Stargate before as a television series, so I’m basing my opinions on the show solely on what Universe is offering all by itself and not comparing it to any previous incarnation. Does it stand up to previous Stargate shows? I have no idea. Has it begun to work as an interesting and even addictive Sci-Fi drama series all by itself? Oh yes indeed. If last night’s episode, titled “Light” is how we are to proceed with things from now on, to build on, then there’s truly something here worth my time and yours. Not every show has their socks together right out of the gate. Universe has had some problems with over the top acting, the absence of a strong female voice and many missed opportunities to build suspense from what should be a very scary environment aboard the ancient and mysterious Destiny. There’s been enough there for me to stick out the show so far. We’ve had some excellent performances from Robert Carlyle and especially from Louis Ferreira who is really anchoring the show while it gets its sea legs. You can see that the writers and the cast are trying to figure out where they want to go with the whole thing.
I loved last night’s episode. Sure I knew that the Destiny wasn’t going to do a header into that Star. We all knew it was all about the refueling but geez, did I fall for the drama. This episode was better in every category I can name. Where do I start? I think every episode should be in the dark for one thing. The Destiny finally felt spooky and ominous. It felt like a near derelict vessel bound for some lost place your mother wouldn’t want to go. The dark gave the ship space, depth and an atmosphere it should always have had. The death stars red light coming in the windows was just the right kind of mood lighting for sex (a tasteful scene between Chloe and Matthew) or the quiet contemplation of one’s imminent demise. A key to the added drama was the lack of it. All the actors just kind of calmed down and stopped overplaying. “Light” was a slow burn with almost none of the shouting and forced emotions of earlier episodes. Never did it seem to me that cast was operating in any way contrary to the logical behaviors of real people in that situation would behave. They were resigned to their fates. Colonel Young quietly and competently arranged for the survival of the few that he could, on board the Destiny’s remaining shuttle and even logically added two personal selections to assist in the survival of the other survivors, who were determined by a completely plausible lottery.
Though we all knew the Destiny was going to make it, the suspense still killed me. I totally bought that those aboard the shuttle would be the only ones that would make it. Who would be selected? Who would make the lottery? Pins and needles. We finally got to hear from Ming-Na playing Camile Wray as she tried to wink and nod her way into the 17 shuttle goers. She’s a politician and that is what a politician would do I guess. I thought the scene between her and Colonel Young was good. I’m interested in finding out more about what makes Ms. Wray tick. We might have ourselves a villain now as well. Roland Greer (Jamil Walker Smith in his best and most understated performance so far) had to put the beat down on a member of the castaways that objected to the luck of the lottery draw. I can’t track down the name of the actor playing this future, hopefully space mad, bad guy. When I get it I’ll share it. The enemies within are almost always good dramatic business. I’m hoping we get to see some nasty plotting and scheming from this guy.
In the end, as we all knew would happen. The Destiny survived and the shuttle was able to return from the hell hole planet it was bound for. About the only complaint I have with “Light” was the suggestion by Colonel Young that Dr. Rush might have known that the Destiny was going into the Star for refueling and would survive. If he knew for sure the Destiny wouldn’t burn, what would his motivations have been for letting the shuttle leave? I can understand that he might have suspected the Destiny had a plan, but without hard evidence for this, he would have had to be quiet about it and let the shuttle escape. That whole bit was a little sketchy. Dr. Rush obviously has some secrets, but sacrificing 17 people to god knows what lingering death is a bit much to accuse of him at this point. So I totally dugg the “Light”. We’ve got “Water” next week, continuing the survival arc subject line. I’m really quite excited to see “Water” and coming from a busy guy with too much to watch and zero attention span that is a big compliment. See you next week.
