An offworld adventure?! NO WAY! That was my first thought when the first frame of SGU came across my screen tonight.
Then I got my ass handed to me on a silver platter. Was NOT what I had expected. Let me begin…
The Set Up
The show opens with the crew coming through the gate unto a dense jungle area. The whole scene is seen through KINO VISION!!!!
Eli works the nerves of just about everyone since he is playing with the Kino and not working on stuff, which is kind of messed up with most of the soldiers walking around looking ‘cute’ and not lending a hand. Eli comes across TJ and soldier laughing extremely hard and figures it’s about him. The group finds some fruits, but don’t know if they are edible. Eli tries one and spits it out and Rush declares that Eli just exposed himself and now they wouldn’t know which one. Then Brody announces that Volker is sick. TJ tends to him and finds out that he hasn’t eaten anything and has headaches and is dehydrated. Then he passes out and Chloe does as well.
Scott orders for everyone to pull em up and ship them out. But TJ says that whatever Chloe and Volker has might be contagious and that they should stay there for the time being. The Kino closes in on a pissed Rush and he shoves it out of his face.
Still in Kino Vision… Later, TJ fills Col. Young via Comm about the situation and asks for Col. Young to check the ship for similar symptoms of what Chloe and Volker have. Later, Rush berates TJ for using up antibiotics on something she hasn’t diagnosed yet. I want TJ to inject his frakking eye. The Kino catches Scott getting sick as well, but he brushes it off. Eli, Scott, Greer, and Rush come across a mound that is producing sulfur into the air. Greer questions if that is what’s making everyone sick and Rush says he doesn’t know yet. Grer thinks that if it is then they might need to find out so they can leave.
While it is raining cats and dogs now, Eli bores Rush to no end with movie trivia. Scott comes to report that Vanessa has also fallen ill and TJ sees that Scott is sick, too. But before she could give the order, something attacks someone and then the whole camp is ambushed by creatures burrowing through everyone until everybody is dead.
Yes, I said DEAD.
So imagine the looks on everyone’s face as they watch themselves having just been slaughtered by aliens back on the Destiny. The crew had been watching a Kino of themselves the entire time. Chloe pukes and Eli says what’s on everyone’s mind, including mine:
“What. The. F–”
Now, follow me on this, because I am about to tell you how this came to be. Kino Vision from Planet Pitch Black will be in italics.
The Actual Trip Through The Gate
Soon everyone on board the ship is abuzz with news of their “deaths”, but they had only been on the planet for about half an hour and during that time they found another Kino laying in the grass not far from the gate, filled to capacity on data. They also found human remains as well. What. The. FRAK!!!!
Back in the Kino room, TJ thinks that they should quarantine everybody on the ship who went to the planet, but Young points out that most of everyone who did the mission have mingled with more than half of everyone who didn’t. Skepticism pops up about panic of events that didn’t happen, but Rush brings up that it is in fact them on the Kino and that the recording happened somehow. Young gives the go ahead to quarantine and Chloe, Greer, Young, Rush, Eli, and Scott watch the rest of the footage.
Now What?
The footage picks up with Eli announcing that Chloe, Vanessa, Spencer, Brody, and Marsden (?) are all dead from the attack by the creatures and that gate travel is impossible due to the wormhole being unstable. The creatures that attacked are nocturnal and they have little ammo left. In other words, their chances are slimmer than Calista Flockhart’s body during her Ally McBeal years. While everyone there berates Eli for using the Kino, he tells them that its best if someone found out what happened to them. Eli goes to explain that Volker died from the sickness, and that Scott is in a coma due to the bite he received from one of the creatures.
On the ship, Greer has had enough of the Kino and leaves.
On the Kino, Greer found a cave to sleep in and protect themselves from. Eli later talks to TJ about her job. Meanwhile, while talking he tells TJ that his mom, an ex nurse, contracted HIV from trying to restrain a junkie and was stabbed in the process. He also reveals that his Dad left them after it happened. Eli was 14. TJ reveals her family lineage and says that her dad, a tailor, was the first person who showed her how to do stitches on people.
Later, Eli explains to Rush how he first realized that he was going to die one day and how it scarred his perception of things. Rush asks if it changed him to make something of himself in his short time. Rush then talks about the Ancients Ascension and how it can be done again.
Col. Young goes to check on Greer, who says that he refuses to believe what the Kino says. He wouldn’t have let all those people die on his watch. Col. Young tells him that it wasn’t is fault and that he couldn’t have done anything differently in the state they were in. Greer doesn’t want to hear that and Young tells him that it’s just a precautionary tale for them not to go back to the planet. When Young says that he at least wants to see how it ends, Greer says he will pass.
Meanwhile, Chloe has collapsed and is showing signs of the symptoms that they had in the Kino. They take her to TJ in the infirmary, which is quickly filling up due to the virulent illness. They inform TJ that Volker died with in 12 hours of having the illness.
On the Kino, Greer shows Eli how to use a carbine rifle. Later, the two blow up the sulfur stacks that they found at the beginning of the episode, which Greer reveals is where the creatures went to after they attacked them. At night, Rush reports that the gate is still unstable and that there is little chance that the gate could even be connected to the Destiny at this point. He also mentions that it could be anything that is messing up the gate.
TJ tells Scott that she has no clue on what’s happening and that they are running out of antibiotics. The cause is what she needs to determine a proper cure. Park comes in and it is apparent that this is a ship wide epidemic.
Meanwhile, Greer returns to watch the rest of the Kino.
Back to the Kino, the group prepares for another attack from the creatures and boy do they come. Eli and Rush run out of ammo, but Rush makes a run for the Stargate, which is still malfunctioning. Rush says someone needs to try the gate and leaves Eli with a line from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which was the last thing Butch says to Sundance before they faced the Bolivians. Eli runs back to the cave and as soon as he gets there Greer is taken down by the creatures as well as Eli.
Meanwhile, TJ finds out the source of the sickness problem: it’s the water from the ice that came from the ice planet. Turns out that the water was checked for organisms but the microscope wasn’t powerful enough to detect them. The antibiotics won’t cut it and by everyone’s immune system being different, the symptoms will appear differently for each person.
Confused yet?
On the Kino, Scott wakes up to find everyone dead and him being the sole survivor of the team. Later, Scott talks to the Kinosaying that there is 45 minutes left to the Destiny resumes course. He talks about how he feels well, except for the bite, but that he will send the Kino through the gate to see how if the Destiny can reach it. He then says he will go in as well after a certain amount of time cause he won’t survive the night on his own there. He rolls the Kino through the gate…
And it lands beside a dead Rush on the same planet!!!!
WHAT. THE. FRAK!!!!!
That was all that Rush needs to figure out what happened. The Kino went back in time.
Now this is where the science gets choppy for me.
According to Rush, a solar flare is the cause of the fracture in time dealing with the gates. If a wormhole’s trajectory is too close to a star, and it passes through an active solar flare, it can go forwards or backwards in time and in some cases (like this one) loop the wormhole, creating a time loop. Now, the solar flare happened after they got there so in other words, which is why they were stuck in the loop.
Got that? Again, commenters, if I screwed that up, you know what to do. The box is below. Stop reading now and go and correct me. Please.
So Rush dials the planet back to see if the event has happened yet. He checks and sees that it hasn’t, which is good for them. Greer asks why should they be worried and Rush says because they might have to go back. Um… EPIC FAIL, RUSH!!!!
Back in the Kino room, TJ confirms Rush’s theory by picking up that the Alternate Scott who was the last survivor was healed from his sickness from the water by the bites of the creature. TJ thinks the creatures hold the antidote, which explains why the Destiny hasn’t hauled ass yet.
Greer volunteers to go, but Young takes Scott and Spencer with them as well. Rush gives them 45 minutes and TJ says she might need the specimen alive. The men enter the gate. Meanwhile, TJ goes to the infirmary and Eli sits with Chloe. TJ tells Eli that Chloe might not make it, but Eli doesn’t believe that she will die. Park comes in to tell TJ that they are out of antibiotic just as TJ puts a blanket over the dead blank stare of Vanessa James.
WHAT?!?!!
Eli then decides to say “frak it” and tells Chloe how much he loves her and how they are right for each other, but TJ knows that Chloe has died and lets Eli know the facts before covering Chloe’s body as well. She then breaks down and Park comforts her.
OMG!!!!!! This can’t be!!!!!
Back on the planet, Rush reports in and tells the group that Franklin, Volker, Vanessa, and Chloe are dead. Scott hears this and zones out, but it so not the time for that. Low and behold, the creatures then attack killing Greer first, then Spencer and then Col. Young!!!!! Scott makes a run for it back to the gate and dials it. Scott takes the Kino and explains everything that has happened from point A to B for when the Destiny finds it again . He waits for the solar flare to occur so that he can send the Kino into the past to reset everything. He kills a creature before returning to the Kino and finishing the monologue by saying “Act now or you all are going to die!”
The screen fades to black.
Now, you can’t possibly tell me you did not enjoy this episode.
Only one problem though. If they were incompetent to beat the creatures the first two times then will they competent the third time around?
I want to hear your observations first.
Follow Us
Well,
I’m assuming that since this is a time loop, they’ll keep doing it over and over, until they find a way to beat the creatures. But I really do think that instead of leaving it up to the imagination, they should have shown how it ended.
Well,
I'm assuming that since this is a time loop, they'll keep doing it over and over, until they find a way to beat the creatures. But I really do think that instead of leaving it up to the imagination, they should have shown how it ended.
The point of Scott filling the KINO with everything he knew, means that the team won’t have to figure it out themselves and will be able to go to get the creatures during the day instead of at night. They made a point of saying it would be much easier to get them during the day.
Oh yeah, and great episode :-)
The point of Scott filling the KINO with everything he knew, means that the team won't have to figure it out themselves and will be able to go to get the creatures during the day instead of at night. They made a point of saying it would be much easier to get them during the day.
Oh yeah, and great episode :-)
It was cool to see the good ol’ solar flare being used again. And it was in a fairly cool manner, so as not to make it look like a rehashed plot from SG-1. I like this kind of thing – don’t completely ignore events that happened in the past series. Chances are such incidents would occur more than once(it did on SG-1, after all), so acknowledge them but use them to tell a different story.
Great episode IMO.
“The group finds some fruits, but don’t know if they are edible. Eli tries one and spits it out and Rush declares that Eli just exposed himself and now they wouldn’t know which one.”
One minor quibble. After Eli tastes the fruit, he grabs another one and Rush stops him so IF he gets sick, they’ll know which one not to eat.
It was cool to see the good ol' solar flare being used again. And it was in a fairly cool manner, so as not to make it look like a rehashed plot from SG-1. I like this kind of thing – don't completely ignore events that happened in the past series. Chances are such incidents would occur more than once(it did on SG-1, after all), so acknowledge them but use them to tell a different story.
Great episode IMO.
Eli: “so, your first alien planet. Everything you expected?”
— What happened to the planet they were before the gated to the ship? Wasn’t that the first “alien” planet?
Anyway, those Kinos feel like Big Brother.. I enjoyed the way they died. They can do this every episode. It wont get old.
Chloe didn’t go on any of the previous off-world missions. Hence, that was her first alien planet…
Wait…Sorry, the Icarus planet. True enough. Though she just stayed in a giant bunker, so maybe that’s why this was more of a first.
"The group finds some fruits, but don't know if they are edible. Eli tries one and spits it out and Rush declares that Eli just exposed himself and now they wouldn't know which one."
One minor quibble. After Eli tastes the fruit, he grabs another one and Rush stops him so IF he gets sick, they'll know which one not to eat.
Eli: "so, your first alien planet. Everything you expected?"
— What happened to the planet they were before the gated to the ship? Wasn't that the first "alien" planet?
Anyway, those Kinos feel like Big Brother.. I enjoyed the way they died. They can do this every episode. It wont get old.
Chloe didn't go on any of the previous off-world missions. Hence, that was her first alien planet…
Wait…Sorry, the Icarus planet. True enough. Though she just stayed in a giant bunker, so maybe that's why this was more of a first.
This episode was great!
Your understanding of the solar flare is correct – SG1 used this plot device a couple of times.
Phillip: I really liked how they didnt bother showing it a third time and just left you to assume they resolve the problem. That, with Scott’s speech at the end felt like a nice nod to the “fourth wall”.
I also thought it was clever how this was a real character building episode, with all of the remaining alive people learning about each other, and then none of it mattering.
This episode was great!
Your understanding of the solar flare is correct – SG1 used this plot device a couple of times.
Phillip: I really liked how they didnt bother showing it a third time and just left you to assume they resolve the problem. That, with Scott's speech at the end felt like a nice nod to the "fourth wall".
I also thought it was clever how this was a real character building episode, with all of the remaining alive people learning about each other, and then none of it mattering.
Thanks Igoritza, I will make that change now. Again guys, I am loving the responses! Please keep them coming!
I really think this was THE best episode all season. It had a mission of the week thing blended in with SGU’s own identity. I hope this is the episode that wins over other SG fans of old and new.
Thanks Igoritza, I will make that change now. Again guys, I am loving the responses! Please keep them coming!
I really think this was THE best episode all season. It had a mission of the week thing blended in with SGU's own identity. I hope this is the episode that wins over other SG fans of old and new.
Thanks, Mark! Your Stargate science is mostly correct. Rush’s point wasn’t that they were stuck in a time loop, but that when a solar flare sends a wormhole backward or forward in time, every so often it also causes the wormhole to loop back to the originating Stargate — so that you arrive on the same planet you left. We’ve only seen this phenomenon a couple of times (SG-1’s “1969” and “2010”).
Other times, you’ll end up in the past or the future, but on the planet you were trying to gate to (“Continuum”).
Loved the abrupt ending of time. I think the implication is that they COULD end up in a time loop, unless the different info on the kino enables their next attempt at capturing the creatures to actually fare any better.
Thanks, Mark! Your Stargate science is mostly correct. Rush's point wasn't that they were stuck in a time loop, but that when a solar flare sends a wormhole backward or forward in time, every so often it also causes the wormhole to loop back to the originating Stargate — so that you arrive on the same planet you left. We've only seen this phenomenon a couple of times (SG-1's "1969" and "2010").
Other times, you'll end up in the past or the future, but on the planet you were trying to gate to ("Continuum").
Loved the abrupt ending of time. I think the implication is that they COULD end up in a time loop, unless the different info on the kino enables their next attempt at capturing the creatures to actually fare any better.
I just want SG-1 back. SGU is more like Battle Star Galatica all over again. If the newer episodes are similar the 3 recent ones then I think this series is going to suck.
I just want SG-1 back. SGU is more like Battle Star Galatica all over again. If the newer episodes are similar the 3 recent ones then I think this series is going to suck.
Now I’m confused. After seeing the newest episode, “Life,” it made didn’t make sense to me? Did something skip. Please enlighten me! Thanks!
Nevermind…Just answered my own question…The webisode clears everything up! Yay…
Now I'm confused. After seeing the newest episode, "Life," it made didn't make sense to me? Did something skip. Please enlighten me! Thanks!
Nevermind…Just answered my own question…The webisode clears everything up! Yay…
I’m usually pretty quick on the sci-fi concepts, but I got totally confused because, if the “Kino Planet” version is just a “loop in time” caused by the defective wormhole, then how does the “Crew looking at Old Kino, gets sick, sends troops (in current time) back to planet for cure, then it turns out they are “”Part of the same loop”…… say WHAT ???!?? My question is, who said that throwing the Kino back in time will “reset” things when there are still people dying on the ship “outside of the original time loop”… This makes absolutely no sense. I was SURE that there was a Part II. When I looked at next episode tonight, it’s obvious that there is not Part II to solve the problem of the “Crew Who Watched The Old Kino and is now sick”. This is not creative. It’s just dumb. Horrible. Inexcusable lack of planting the seeds of a story resolution. THERE IS NONE. BAH HUMBUG on this series.
I'm usually pretty quick on the sci-fi concepts, but I got totally confused because, if the "Kino Planet" version is just a "loop in time" caused by the defective wormhole, then how does the "Crew looking at Old Kino, gets sick, sends troops (in current time) back to planet for cure, then it turns out they are ""Part of the same loop"…… say WHAT ???!?? My question is, who said that throwing the Kino back in time will "reset" things when there are still people dying on the ship "outside of the original time loop"… This makes absolutely no sense. I was SURE that there was a Part II. When I looked at next episode tonight, it's obvious that there is not Part II to solve the problem of the "Crew Who Watched The Old Kino and is now sick". This is not creative. It's just dumb. Horrible. Inexcusable lack of planting the seeds of a story resolution. THERE IS NONE. BAH HUMBUG on this series.
About the last sentence: maybe they will come back in the daytime when the creatures aren't active yet.Am I the only one who thought this was going to be continued in "Life"? And am I the only one who was glad to see Colonel young and Chloe get it? Well, I've got different taste:) I can't wait for the next episode!!!!!