Stargate Universe 1.11 “Space” Recap

After a too long hiatus, Stargate Universe returned to television screens last night and boy did it bring a load of baggage with them. Wanted aliens? Got ’em. Wanted a solution to the crazy cliffhanger from last fall/winter? Got ’em. Did Young get what was coming to him? Read the recap to find out.

The Set Up

Life on the Destiny has somewhat returned to normal, but that doesn’t mean that Young is feeling good about himself over abandoning Rush. TJ tries to get Young to talk about his problems, but he doesn’t want to. Camile Wray has already made it up in her mind that Young left Rush behind, which Young denies only because he knows that Camile doesn’t have any solid proof except the thick animosity between the scientist and the grunt. Oh, and the fact that Camile is still power hungry doesn’t help her case either. It doesn’t matter really, because Camile will report to Earth her thoughts on what went down while Young reports his own and Young’s report is due now.

We got a new civilian/scientist, Dr. Caine, who I have a feeling is there to fill the void left behind by Franklin. He mans the Communication Stone console, while Young, Greer and Scott set up. Eli watches and records everything from the Kino station. After Vanessa James embarrasses herself by unknowingly letting Dr. Caine know that he is cute (the intercom in the Kino room was on), the group gets ready for Young’s ‘trip’ to Earth. Only Young doesn’t reach Earth. He lands on an alien spacecraft manned by the aliens whose skulls were found on Earth by Indiana Jones and crew. Despite the resemblance, these aliens look pretty damn cool in my book. But that doesn’t mean that they are of the E.T. variety…

The Power Struggle Continues…

With Young on the alien ship, the alien is most definitely on the Destiny and after noticing that it’s not in it’s own body, the creature freaks and attacks Dr. Caine, Greer, and Scott. Greer manages to subdue the alien, while Dr. Caine removes the stone. Everyone is rightfully perplexed and starts deliberating on the cause of the incident. When nothing fruitful comes up, Young orders the immediate lockdown of the communication stone room until further notice. Of course this announcement makes Camile have a hissy fit, because she thinks Young faked the whole thing so that she couldn’t file her report. It’s not all about you, Wray. Seriously.

Meanwhile, Eli is grumpy as hell, because Young has elected him Rush’s successor on fixing the ship. But it could also be that the mess hall has grown some small tomatoes, which really isn’t going to fill anyone up completely. You take your pick. Interestingly though the civilians/scientists are slowly forming a coup, led by none other than Camile Wray herself. The other interesting fact? Eli spies on them, but doesn’t let Young in on Wray’s shenanigans.

The Destiny drops out of FTL and the crew sees that the stargate has opened to a purple planet, but they don’t get a chance to check it out, because they have visitors. There is a big ass ship sitting menacingly in front of them. Wanna bet it’s the aliens Young saw earlier? Then you would be a winner.

You Wanted Space Battles? You Got One!

After Young guesses what the audience already knows, he also thinks that the aliens had to have been following the Destiny for the aliens to had found them so quickly. The group sends a friendly message to the ship, and the aliens send one back: “Surrender.”

Uh-oh.

Young sends Greer and Scott to the shuttle to prepare for battle and the other crew members watch the massive ship from the observation deck. The alien ship then sends out shuttles of their own and we see that the shuttles are like the one that detached from the Destiny in the pilot episode. Young orders all weapons online, but Dr. Brody reminds him that during Telford’s weapons trials (which incapacitated Riley), Rush had put limits on how many weapons could be used at once. Young orders Eli to find a way to override the command.

Greer and Scott take on the shuttles and knock a couple out. Eli gets some weapons online, but they drain the shields. Young rides Eli’s back to the point that Eli snaps that Young shouldn’t had gotten rid of Rush to begin with. Um… OK. Concurrently in the hallway, two people are injured/killed. Vanessa and TJ tend to the wounded. Meanwhile, Chloe, who has been in her room the entire time, feels the need to venture out into the hallway now of all times and meets up with a soldier. They witness a hole being cut into the ship and once the ship is breached, we hear an alien sound as Chloe glares into the hole above her. SMH…

Operation: Save Chloe…And Someone Else.

After the shuttle takes off, the soldier realizes that Chloe is missing. He radios in to Young, who immediately orders for Greer and Scott to fall back, because of Chloe. Scott is reluctant at first, but relents. He asks Young permission to go back when they return to the ship, but Young vetoes that option and has another one: the Communication Stones.

Chloe awakes on the ship, submerged in water and realizes her surroundings. One of the aliens approaches her tank and she screams. Back on the Destiny, Young is about to do the body switch for a 20 minute time limit. He has the group tie his body down so the alien won’t attack them. Once the switch is made, Young searches the ship and finds a tank with a body in it. Only it is not Chloe. It’s RUSH!!!!!

Instead of bolting like a cowardly jackass, Young actually breaks Rush free, but Rush doesn’t realize that the creature in front of him is actually Young. Rush quickly uses his head and tries to communicate with Young/alien and deduces that a contraption on his own head is a link system for the aliens to read other creatures’ minds. He takes the other part of the contraption and puts it on the alien/Young’s head and as soon as he figures out that it’s Young, the link is broken. Back on the Destiny, Scott is not making matters easier by demanding for the alien to talk. Yelling is a universal sign of aggression, Lt. Scott, didn’t you learn that somewhere in basic training? Ay yi yi…

Caine decides to remove the communication stone at the wrong time, because the creature immediately attacks Rush back on the alien ship and Rush has to kill or be killed. This doesn’t bode well for Young, because the stones aren’t working now with the alien dead. Oh and he has not told anyone that Rush is alive and ‘well’ on the ship so… outlook not looking good for Young. The ship then starts to shake violently, because the aliens are attacking them again. Young orders for Eli to target the main ship and fire. WHAT?!?!!!?!?! Scott protests, but Young ignores him and issues the order again. Scott decides to take matters into his own hands by taking the shuttle to save Chloe. Thankfully, Greer is with him for backup.

Before killing the alien, Rush got a glimpse of Chloe being held in a tank. He finds her, frees her and the two try to find a way off the ship.

On the Destiny, Brody realizes that the ship is retreating, but Young still wants them to keep firing on it. Ok, I have lost all faith in this idiot!!! Eli warns him that it would be suicide on the Destiny itself if it fired another shot. Young claims that they don’t have a choice. <facepalm!> Woooowwwwwww…. Scott and Greer also notice the alien ship is retreating, but they see one shuttle heading towards them. When they get back to the Destiny, they witness the alien shuttle cutting another hole into the hull, but only this time Chloe and Rush come through. Greer radios this in. Young looks like he just crapped a brick.

Now What?

Surprisingly, Rush keeps up Young’s ruse of what happened on the planet as he tells everyone how he ended up on the alien ship. His story is very spotty, but it will suffice with some people. Maybe not Eli, but what does he really know? Anyway, Rush claimed to have turned on the broken down spaceship that was on the planet, which might’ve activated a beacon that brought the aliens to his location. He thinks that the aliens wanted to possess the Destiny, not destroy it and I disagree with this scenario and will explain why later. Rush also talked of probing and other unpleasant experiences he went through and decides to stop due to the stress of revisiting such an ordeal. Womp Womp.

But the interesting bit comes when Rush and Young finally have their talk and it is… well, civilized. Rush apologizes for trying to frame Young for Spencer’s murder, while Young apologizes for leaving him behind on the planet. Rush comments on Young trying to blow him up on the ship, but Young says it was a command decision and I nearly charge my television screen in anger at the bs. The two decide to hold a truce for the sake of the morale on the ship, which Young declares doesn’t need to be broken by factions amongst the survivors.

But Rush meets up with Camile later and they plot to take Col. Young down with an iron fist. I so don’t know who to trust anymore…

Montages

– Greer grins at a photo that we don’t get to see. Wonder what that is about?

– Dr. Caine approaches TJ and the two discuss relationships on the Destiny, which Dr. Kane thinks should be void in the event that it ends badly and you constantly have to see that person on the ship. Young watches this exchange from afar.

– While Scott and Chloe lay in bed, Vanessa James cries alone in her room. I feel her hurt.

– Eli shows Young the footage of the impending coup, but doesn’t seem happy to do so.

Which side are you on? Me? Neither one…

Messages In Bottles

– I honestly don’t know what to say about either Young or Rush. Last fall, I was a staunch Young supporter up until him leaving Rush behind. While Rush kind of deserved some sort of punishment for playing with people’s lives, he didn’t need to be left behind given that he knows more about the ship than anyone else does. So for Young to say he thinks about the greater good, then he did one big cluster frak by leaving Rush behind. Luckily, he got a second chance. But as far as trusting any of them? Including Wray? Hell no. You got one guy who has a temper problem and is borderline suicidal; one guy who wants to use as much time as possible to unlock the secrets of the ship, no matter the cost; and a woman who just wants to command something, because she has a rank that is pretty much useless on the ship. With choices like these, I would airlock myself…

– The reason why I didn’t buy Rush’s explanation for the aliens wanting the ship is because given what we saw tonight, the aliens could have simply penetrated the ship a long time ago. True, there are sections of the ship that have yet to be accessed, but if that’s the case then wouldn’t they already had control of the ship in the first place? Just wondering…

– This coup is about to get ridiculous, because the wrong people are calling for it for the wrong reasons. Yes, the grunts are ridiculous at times, but so are the scientists. I suggest they sit down and watch the first three seasons of LOST and learn the concept of “live together, die alone” quickly, because if they are attacked again and can’t work together, then they might as well just be waving a white flag to whomever they encounter.

– I’m griping true enough, but I am glad that the show is back on the air. From what I have read and heard, it could be getting better.

See you guys next week!