Last night’s SGU had me warming my hand to slap just about everyone on the ship. And I enjoyed every minute of it.
The Set Up
Chloe walks through an empty version of the Destiny and we quickly can see that she is dreaming. The dream quickly turns into a nightmare as Chloe sees herself being sucked up into the hole where the aliens took her last week, then dumped into the vat of water. Chloe sees her mother who can’t get her out of the container. Then the figure of her mother disappears and we see the scene from “Space” where the alien approached her tank. She wakes up. What the hell did the aliens do to them?
After telling Scott that she is going for a walk, Chloe comes across Dr. Rush, who shares her fears of them not being safe from the aliens just yet.
Staging A Coup Phase One: Set Your Perimeters/Throw Off The Enemy…
Dr. Rush approaches Col. Young about his theory of them still being pursued by the aliens, but Col. Young has a theory of his own, which involves the body switch on the alien ship. Because of the implications of Spencer’s death, Col. Young thinks that Dr. Rush stole one of the stones as collateral in case the survivors found out that Rush planted the gun in Young’s quarters, which means that when Rush was kidnapped by the aliens they got a hold of the stone, inducing the switch on the alien vessel. While I am not feeling Young too much at this point, I think it’s a viable theory. But as Dr. Rush says, that’s not the point at the given moment. He then goes to explain that there has to be a tracking device on the hull of the ship that the aliens left behind and that they need to destroy it immediately. By them being out of FTL for a couple of hours, this would be the perfect time for such a task. Rush also reveals his “flashes” and how he was connected to the alien’s mind for a good minute, which was enough for him to deduce that the Destiny is an obsession of the aliens. So basically you and the aliens have something in common, Rush, and you are pulling a “MINE, MINE, MINE!!!!!” tantrum over the Destiny?
The crew decides to send a Kino to find the alien ship and lo behold, Rush was right (I personally didn’t doubt him on this scenario). In the mess hall, Greer approaches Young about the Spencer incident and what really happened on the planet between Rush and Young. Bottom line: Greer doesn’t care what went down and still thinks Rush is a snake and needs to be reprimanded for it. Not now, Greer!
Young is called to the Kino room and he brings Scott with him. Along the way, Scott sees Chloe and Rush in a secret conversation, but before he can think more on it, Young calls him back to the task at hand. Eli informs them of the location of the ship and Scott and Young decide to take the shuttle to go take care of it. They have ample time before the FTL kicks back in.
Then all hell breaks loose.
Rush and Camile Wray set up shop in a part of the ship not known by most of the survivors. It is the Destiny’s Research Room and Rush begins to direct all control and operations to that location. He tells Wray to go get everyone in place. Chloe enters the Control room and ask Eli if she can see the alien ship as it’s destroyed. Unknown to the both of them, the controls are being locked off and redirected to the Research Room. In the Hydroponics Room (aka the conservatory), Brody gets a call from Volker about the plan about to go down, but he is caught off by the sudden change of plans and the unexpected appearance of TJ, who is checking on medical plants. Outside in the shuttle, Scott and Young approach the ship and attempt to dock the shuttle, but can’t. They contact Eli, who finds out that he is locked out of access to the controls. He informs the shuttle that if they don’t dock, the Destiny’s shields won’t protect them when they go into FTL and the shuttle could be vaporized. They have eight minutes before FTL. Nice.
Staging A Coup Phase Two: Cut Your Losses/State Your Intentions
While time counts down, Chloe runs to Rush and tells him to stop what he’s doing, because their plan has left Young and Scott stranded outside. What?!?!?! She’s in on it, too?!!?!? Wow…. Rush says that he didn’t expect the control transfer would affect the
docking clamps, but he tries to contact Eli to tell him to stop trying to access the controls, because it is slowing down the transfer. Really? To give Rush credit, he did say that the sooner the download is complete, the quicker he can manually lock the clamps and that their intention wasn’t to kill/leave anyone behind. He made that promise to Chloe and Wray.
After trying to contact Rush, Young sics Greer to sniff out the weasel, while commanding that Eli not pay attention to Rush by giving him a direct order. Since when did Eli serve the U.S. Military? Anyone…? Anyone? The power struggle comes to an end when Wray orders Rush to stop the download, despite them losing some of the control to the ship. Rush does so and Eli manually locks the clamps just in time for the FTL jump.
Now, Young is pissed as are a lot of the grunts. Rush and Wray try to see what controls they managed to snatch, while TJ finds out that something is not right due to Volker and Brody’s inability to execute their tasks. Trying to find out what’s going on, TJ discovers an airman in a corridor who has his gun drawn on Dr. Park and other scientists, who won’t let him by to reach Young. Before things get out of hand, Wray appears and reveals that they have taken over the ship by sealing the grunts off in one area and the civilians inhabiting the other areas. In short, TJ and the airmen are on the wrong side of the battlefield. Excuse me while I airlock myself right quick…
Staging A Coup Phase Three: State Your Intentions While Coming Up With A Back Up Plan…
Wray declares to TJ and Airman Dunning that she is doing the coup for the sake of the civilians of the ship. So I guess the civilians who are stuck with the grunts are just expendable assets, huh? Young contacts Rush, who tells him that he has food and water supplies as well as control over all accessible systems on his side of the ship, but Eli calls bullsh*t by saying that Rush might have a majority of the controls, but he doesn’t have the key one: life support. Rush then demands that the military hands over the guns and submit to civilian control of the ship. Okay… Young throws out Eli’s observation of the grunts having control over the life support systems, which Rush tries to down play with the fact that the civilian side of the ship is bigger and has the Hydroponics Room. Eli still calls B.S. on that not being enough for survival neither. Then Rush sets up the stakes by saying that if the Grunts cut off the life support then the Civilians will last three days without air, while the grunts will go without water. Your move, Young.
Later, Wray feels highly confident that Young will give in once they realize that the gate and communication room is on the civilian side of the ship. But what if you need to evac, Wray? The shuttle is on the other side. Pressing the airlock button now… Rush says that the grunts have an important factor other than life support. Hmmm…
Young returns back to the Control room after doing reconnaissance of who is on the grunts side of the ship and in doing so realized that 1) TJ and Airman Dunning are absent, which means they got stuck on the other side; 2) the civilians stuck with them didn’t have a clue about the coup (What, Wray? They weren’t down for your cause so you just left them? That’s balanced…) and 3) that Chloe is on the other side as well and not just as an unwilling participant. Young doesn’t necessarily say that, but it is implied. Then he reveals that the Civilians have offered a trade: food and water for Eli. Young accepted, but only because he knows there is another way to the other side without Eli’s help. What way is that? Stay tuned…
Eli shows up for the exchange alone and meets Chloe and is shocked that she is working with the Civilians. He then surmises that Chloe distracted him in the Control Room while everything went haywire, but Chloe swears she didn’t know that the locking clamp incident would happen, although she did know about the coup. When asked why chose Rush over Young, Chloe reveals that Young left Rush to die on the planet as her answer. But wasn’t Eli the one screaming the same thing last week? And what? Rush didn’t mention that he instigated his banishment from the ship? SMDH…
The Destiny comes out of FTL, giving Young a chance to try his theory out, which is that the hole that the aliens cut into the ship last week is on The Civilians side of the ship. He takes Greer with him and orders for Scott to stay back in case something goes wrong.
In the mess hall, Brody declares to everyone that the food and water exchange shouldn’t have happened. But Wray says that Young needs to remember that the military works for the civilians and not the other way around. Um. Okay…
Rush meets with Eli and tells the kid that he needs his help to squeeze all the power out of the ship’s system and then find more afterwards. Why? They need the shields, which might be a good thing now that the aliens have found them again and it doesn’t help that Greer and Young are on the hull of the ship when three motherships appear.
Staging A Coup Phase Four: Never Underestimate Your Opponent
(*Due to bad timing on commercials, I missed a snippet of a scene)
Rush reveals that the aliens are going to return and that he knows this, because of the other tracking device… that is implanted in his chest next to his heart. Son of a !!!!! Eli immediately worries about Chloe, but Rush nips that in the bud by revealing that Chloe didn’t have a surgical scar. Rush notices that the ships are getting closer and decides to raise up the shields. But Eli distracts him, because Young and Greer are still out there on the hull. But Rush doesn’t know this and explains that the aliens will give up once the shields are proven to be too strong for their weapons. Meanwhile, Young and Greer make it into the Civilian side of the ship and make their way to let Scott in to the closed off area.
Chloe goes to see if TJ or Dunning need anything (they have them in lock up), but TJ lays down the scenario to Chloe, which is
the civilians are complete dumbasses if they think they can out smart a proven war colonel. Chloe declares that the whole coup is about listening to reasoning and obviously someone didn’t fill her in on the situation at hand, or some common sense for that matter, but TJ tells her that once the Civilians drew the line, it became a war, which the grunts specialize in. Speak on it, TJ…
The ship starts to rock and while all the civilians look shocked, I am shocked that they are looking shocked. Oh, Rush didn’t fill you guys on the aliens return either? Some leadership you got there, Civs! Greer unlocks the door and lets in Scott and the rest of the grunts, while the ship is being rocked by the gun blasts hitting the shields. TJ talks some sense into Chloe about Rush’s issues when it comes to being trusted, but Chloe can only reply that Rush saved her when Young had decided to cut them off as a loss to save his own ass. See what misleading leadership does? When Scott reaches him, the hurt look on his face gives a clue to Chloe that she might not have thought this coup through thoroughly. Oh well…
While the grunts take back the ship, Wray is shocked to find out about Rush’s secret and surmises that the whole coup was to save Rush’s ass from Young’s wrath once he found out that Rush had become a liability. Young enters and demands that Rush send power to the weapons, but Rush refuses and Young pulls out a gun and aims it at the mad scientist’s head.
Staging A Coup Phase Five: Learn To Compromise… Or Die.
TJ, Scott and Chloe reach the Research Room in time to see Col. Young come to his senses and lower his weapon. He orders for Rush to be put in the brig, but Eli brings up the tracking device implant in Rush to Young, who orders for TJ to remove it. TJ claims she is not qualified and Rush comments on their lack of supplies. Young throws the communication stones in the equation and Chloe volunteers to help.
Rush is prepped for surgery and the doctor arrives and she is flabbergasted at the methods used on the ship and the fact that they are under attack. This will not look good when she reports back. They find the tracking device, but as soon as she gets ready to extract it, the power to the communication stones drops and it is Chloe who is inside Rush’s body and everyone freaks. TJ eventually manages to pull the thing out, but not before a lot of stupid comments and actions and the fact Rush woke up during the procedure.
Meanwhile, Eli found a way to divert power to the weapons, but thinks that Rush was right about the power issue and feels that they could be setting themselves up to be blown to Kingdom Come. Eli then suggests that instead of firing, they should try to hold out the blasts until they jump back into FTL. This concept proves right and with Scott destroying the tracking device, the crew of the Destiny lives to see another day as they enter FTL.
But another day might not matter with the moral of the ship having a gaping hole in it the size of Texas. Young approaches the civilians in the mess hall and just tells them all to return to their quarters. He speaks with Camile Wray, who feels that they should find a way to work together. Du-Du-DUH!!!!!!!! She then says that Young shouldn’t have left Rush on the planet to which Young answers he knows that. When she leaves, Greer solemnly whispers to Young that this is far from over. Young agrees.
From Inside The Airlock…
– I will start calling my thought section “From Inside The Airlock”, because that’s where I will be from now on until I see some viable leadership on the Destiny. This is not a dig on the show, which is superb, but the airlock ironically seems to be the most safe place on the ship… Well… The shuttle could be, too, but I digress.
– Sweet Lord, where to begin. Rush. Everything that happens seems to always fall back on him in some form or capacity. That’s not saying that Young doesn’t get some of the blame, but Rush always, always, always seems to have some ultimate agenda or issue that puts everyone in trouble. Why didn’t he tell them about the tracking device? Yea, he sorta gave his reason why, but that’s bullcrap and any other excuse from him will be designated as such, because there isn’t any viable excuse. Young quickly came up with the communication stones as a solution, which made me question Rush’s I.Q. on so many levels. Is he working with only book smarts or book smarts with only a dash of common sense? Yes, he thought they didn’t have the proper tools or equipment, but come on! Eli rigged up a damn camera for the surgery fast as hell, so I can’t buy any reason for Rush to hold that important piece of info to himself and jeopardize the ship.
– Young. I had more beef with Young last week than this week. He tried to play cool and civilized, but as TJ pointed out, the civilians crossed the line into a territory that they know nothing about. For any of the civilians to even think that they would win the coup was laughable. I’m talking gut-busting, pissing on one’s self, hyena-style laughter. While I don’t agree with martial law or any type of dominance by any faction, the civilians provoked the grunts to act even more buffoonish than ever and I am interested as hell to know how life will be on the ship from now on.
– Speaking of provoking, just as the civilians provoked the grunts, when will it come to light that Rush planted that gun in Young’s quarters?!!? I mean everyone now knows pretty much that Young left Rush on the planet to rot, but framing someone for murder is a serious offense as well and no one knows a damn thing about it allegedly. What gives?
– The TJ and Chloe scene was my favorite one of the night. We finally see TJ lay it on someone without looking like she was about to collapse with all the pressure in the process. Kudos to both actresses.
– Eli’s flip flopping is getting on my nerves a little bit. Well… maybe alot. But I will live.
I have taken enough of your time. Sound off below and make sure to tune in next week!
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"For any of the civilians to even think that they would win the coup was laughable. I'm talking gut-busting, pissing on one's self, hyena-style laughter."This, I actually disagree with. The truth of the situation was, the civilians had already succeeded. They failed the moment they decided to not finish what they'd started. Tactically that had a superior position that they created. They lost that position when Wray got concerned about the politics of it.Also, I didn't really see any flip-flopping by Eli. He seems to have bonded with Young over Rush since the pilot. He works with Rush because they're co-workers. He actually follows Young.
I think that the civilians were way over their heads and did not think their situation through. Not just in terms of the coup, but what would happen post-coup, as well. But in terms of the coup, 1) they didn't cover all their basis, i.e., the hole in the hull and 2) they underestimated their enemy, which is something that you never do in war. Like TJ said, if they wanted diplomacy then they should have sat down and discussed something, but when the civilians pulled their coup, they were playing the grunts game and they ultimately lost. But question, when you say that they lost because of Wray getting concerned about the politics, do you mean when she didn't want them to leave behind Young and Scott or some other incident?With that said, I understand their intentions, but I think they went about it the wrong way and it's hard for me to sympathize with them with Rush and Wray having ulterior motives than safety of the civilians. This is why I would post up shop in the airlock or the shuttle, because all factions are bat crap crazy and have equally insane leaders that will eventually get half them or a majority of them killed in the name of stroking egos. I suggest all of us just post up in the shuttle, have some popcorn, and watch the sparks fly. ;)
Thanks for the recap, Mark. You pretty much nailed my feelings. Is there room for 2 in the airlock?Like you, I missed a scene (where they decided to remove the Tracker from Rush.) I came back when the doctor was already there. When Rush woke up for the anesthetic and asked what was going on, I thought that perhaps Young el at. had knocked him unconscious and were cutting the tracker out of him without his knowledge/consent.Speaking of that scene, do you think Chloe told anyone about Rush being left behind? It was the first chance a civilian had to do so. It didn’t sound like she gave the doctor a heads up about the alien attack either. Perhaps she went to the bar again.Here’s what I don’t understand about this episode. Why – exactly – did the civilians stage the coup? What was their stated reason? “The military needs to remember that they work for us.” Seriously, you’re threatening to deprive them of food and water until they cave or die because you want them to admit that you are in charge? Ego much? Everybody wants to be in charge. This is why Young took command of the ship and is not willing to share the throne. It’s human nature to think the other guy is dumber than you. And while Wray and company are pretty stupid outside of a lab, I’m not sure that Young should have the crown either.TPTB keeps saying that this is a drama. MAKE IT DRAMATIC. Have Wray announce to the whole ship that they want to overthrow the military because the civilians truly believe that Young/the military is going to get them all killed. This reason I could get behind. Let’s look at the death/injury toll under Young to date:Air: 1 Civilian senator DEADAir: 2 Civilian scientists DEAD (they wander through the Stargate never to be seen again)Water: 1 Military person (Scott) falls into a sink hole but escapes unscathedEarth: 1 Civilian scientist is gravely injured when military ordered repairs go away despite Rush’s warnings.Life: 1 Civilian DEAD sitting in the Ancient chair (not a military order)Justice: 1 Military person DEAD (commits suicide)Justice: 1 Civilian gets attacked by a military person and left for DEAD on a planet Space: 2 Civilians FIRED UPON by military decision.If the civilians think that the military is thinking with their rifles instead of their big brains to the point where the lives and the ship is at risk, make them listen. How? Well, for starters, try remembering that you are civilians and do not have to take military orders. When Young tells Rush to activate weapons when it means the shields are going to collapse, have Rush stand up and yell for all to hear, “That will cause the shields to fail. Your bad decision will likely blow up the ship. I won’t do something that will kill everyone on board.” AND THEN HE MUST REFUSE TO DO IT, EVEN AT RISK TO HIMSELF. Even if he thinks Young will shoot him. There is no such think as a successful bloodless coup. If you are willing to stand up for something as fundamental as protecting your life, you have to acknowledge that your life is already at risk and be willing to put it on the line to make a change. And you don’t get to “pretend it didn’t happen” if it doesn’t go your way.Some of the military are blindly loyal to Young. Fine. But even if they don’t agree, they must at least hear (if not acknowledge) the arguments. Young left Rush on the planet. Why is he getting a pass on this decidedly not-honourable action? The civilians want to officially log a complaint on Earth but Young has been blocking use of the stones. Does that seem democratic to those who are sworn to defend it? And if the military personal were willing to go along with a kangaroo court when the thought Young was innocent he killed Spencer, why won’t they do it when they have proof he is guilty of attempting to murder Rush? At least one of them should be able to consider the hypocrisy.I agree that the coup never stood a chance. But they could have at least given the civilians some backbone and thrown some discontent of the way it was handled into both sides and not just have the civilians all give up and wander away disenchanted.
Featherlite, there is always room for two in the airlock. I suggest we even report FROM the airlock! LMAO!!!! But I think the civilians reason for the coup was because of Young leaving Rush behind. Well that was Camile and Chloe's reasoning… Rush, of course, had ulterior motives. While I understand your frustrations when it comes to Young's command, he is the highest ranking officer on the ship so despite his reluctance to lead, he has to do so. I wouldn't put Telford in command at all. I mean the guy got Riley hurt and then ran for the hills when his plan failed and was ready to leave the ship (and the people he so 'desperately' needed to save) behind to save his own behind. I would invite him to an airlock meeting only to eject him into oblivion. That's me though… Also like I said, I don't get why the civilians are so up in arms about Young leaving Rush behind other than it being incredibly wrong. We tend to forget that Rush framed Young for murder. That is a serious offense lawfully and personally and I think any sane person would have done some damage to Rush if the same happened to them. When this comes out into the light and not just between Rush, Eli, Scott, Young and whoever else knows about it (clearly Wray has no clue or she wouldn't have went with the coup) and when that little piece of crap hits the fan, I wonder if anyone would ever trust Rush again… Just my two cents ;)
HA, I was right about Dr. Rush having a communication stone. Mark, everything always falls back on Dr. Rush because Dr. Rush is the lead scientist and the smartest person on the ship. Dr. Rush can multi-task and formulates strategy perfectly. Almost everyone else is a clueless grunt. They are good at doing a certain task well or extremely well and nothing else. For Example, Eli is excellent with all the tech stuff, math, and verifying / proofing other peoples plans but can't come up with anything on his own.Mark, I disagree that Rush should have told Young about the tracking device right away: [1] Young left Rush on the planet, [2] Dr. Rush got brief access to Col. Young's mind when Col. Young was in the alien body, [3] Young still tried to blow up the ship after he found out Rush and Chloe were still onboard, and [4] Destiny is far from professional. Destiny is more like dysfunctional office politics on steroids. The tracking device: Rush took care of the known and primary tracking device that was attached to the ship. There was no proof that the object placed in his chest was a tracking device. Assuming that the object placed in his chest was a tracking device, there was no proof that the tracking device would work outside of the alien space ship. Do you think Chloe has a tracking device in her? Even though Rush stated that Chloe did not have any scars from a tracking device being implanted, Rush never stated that NO tracking device was ever implanted or there was NOT enough time for aliens to commence the surgery. I still think Chloe had a tracking device implanted into her without any visible scares. Why would someone take someone prisoner and not catalog or ID the prisoner. Rush was the first experimental candidate. So the process should have been much more efficient with Chloe. Chloe seems total different now. Also, Chloe seems more traumatized from the alien abduction than Rush even though Rush was with the aliens much longer than Chloe. Matter of fact, I would not be surprised if Chloe turns into the equivalent of a Cylon sleeper agent who intentionally or unintentional conveys information back to the aliens. Both Rush and Chloe seem to very aware of the aliens and that they are coming back. Are they seeing old images, new images, or both? I wonder if the Aliens are like Star Trek's Species 8472, long range telepathics?
Pro: Great recap, funny and fairly accurate. Five stars for "Inside the airlock".Con: Be realistic: THEY ARE ONLY HUMAN! Come on would you expect everyone to think of everyone else first in a situation like that? Just because they are on TV doesn't mean they are flawless. And Rush has really earned my respectby not screeching around about being headnocked and left behind. I would have punched that loser with SERIOUS agression problems posing as a Colonel in the face! and not just once! True, he freed him from the tank but wasn't he forgetting that these people are Aliens? If they had them in a water tank how does Young know that they can even breathe in there? Huh?Anyway I really feel sorry for Rush. Waking up while Chloe is poking around RIGHT NEXT TO HIS HEART!Ouch! I can't wait for next week, too bad I as a 12 year old living abroad have to watch Robert Carlyle in german. (Not kidding!) Eli really got on my nerves! well, I could go on forever but seeing as my parents put a time limit on the internet I really should'nt.(Not kidding abot being 12. Well, actually my 12th birthday is in 4 days.) So long from Germany, oh lucky ones who are so far ahead because SGU aired in there way before it did here!
She then says that Young shouldn't have left Rush on the planet to which Young answers he knows that.