Stargate Universe 2.01 “Intervention” Recap

Stargate Universe is back and boy did it come out swinging! We got resolutions to last season’s finale up front and a possible new game changer on top of that. It’s safe to say that life aboard the Destiny will never be the same again… for awhile at least.

Where Am I?

TJ awakes in a cabin, no not a cabin on the ship, but an actual cabin built on land on some off-world planet. After realizing that TJ is fine, we hear the cries of a baby, who we quickly deduce is TJ’s. Did the show fast forward a couple of months or something? Not at all.

TJ (and the audience) is stunned when Caine walks into the cabin to greet TJ. You remember Caine right? He’s the doctor who decided to stay behind on the planet in the episode “Faith”, and almost talked TJ into staying as well. In short, this doesn’t look well for TJ…

Climbing From The Cliff

Eli reaches the hatch to let Lt. Scott and Sgt. Greer into the ship, but they aren’t there. He informs Dr. Rush and Brody, but the three of them are shocked when Scott radios in, informing them that they avoided the ray blast by hiding under a part of the ship not exposed to it. After Eli gets Greer and Scott on board, Chloe shows up feeling a lot better than the last time we saw her. The bleeding on her wound has stopped and she is walking well. What is that all about?

Col. Young and the other military personnel are spared once Varro (Mike Dopud) informs Danik of what happened in the infirmary. When Varro mentions TJ’s accident, Danik brushes it off, which forces Young to proceed to kick his ass. Danik now wants all of the soldiers dead, but Varro declares that they need Young and crew more than ever now to save Kiva. He then suggests getting medics on board through use of the communication stones. Danik vows that if Kiva dies then Team Destiny dies as well.

Operation: Take Back Destiny Pt. 1

Camile and Dr. Volker are two of the people who volunteer their services for the communication stones. Elsewhere, Dr. Rush notices that the countdown clock is working again, meaning that the Destiny miraculously has enough power to make a FTL jump, thanks to Telford beginning the power transfer process before he was shot.

In the infirmary, we get diagnosis on the characters in limbo: Telford is fine, Kiva isn’t looking so good, and things aren’t looking hot for TJ or the baby with both in danger of succumbing to the gunshot wound. Varro isn’t too happy about this. While finding out that they have 30 minutes before entering FTL from Ginn (Julie McNiven), Varro learns that Kiva has died from her wounds. All hell is about to break loose.

Eli and Chloe find Rush and Brody, who inform them that Rush diverted power from the shields to help make the jump. With that being said, Rush wants to use this tactic to level the playing field with the Lucian Alliance. Meanwhile, Danik wants the blood of the Destiny crew to flow, but Varro reminds him of the original plan, which was keep the scientists/doctors and dumping the rest on a planet. Varro also heavily suggests TJ stays behind, too. Robert Knepper’s character is introduced in this scene as Simeon. Scott and Greer watch all this from a Kino. They now have a clear idea of what to do next.

Simeon informs Telford of the situation at hand, saying that the incursion is over and that the Destiny is now under Lucian Alliance rule. HA! Simeon wants to know what really went down between Telford and Kiva, but Telford plays his Lucian Alliance card and lies. Varro lets Young know that the Destiny crew will be dumped on a planet. Young reminds Varro that despite the planet being breathable, the Lucian Alliance didn’t check for the crew’s chances of survival, which in short is like a “death sentence.” After the crew is placed on a barren planet, the decide to look for shelter from an approaching storm.

On the ship, Rush and the others are found by some LA goons, but when this happens, the countdown clock stops again. Danik, after nearly killing Ginn for the mishap, orders for Rush to be brought to him and Brody, Eli, and Chloe to be killed.

Operation: Take Back Destiny Pt. 2

Luckily, Greer and Scott get to there in time to stop the impending massacre. Rush radios in to Danik, telling him of the power drain he’s been performing and how they are willing to die from the pulsar blasts than let the Lucian Alliance have the Destiny. Danik sends Simeon to retrieve Rush, but Varro tries to stop him. This forces Danik into lunatic mode as he declares that he is the new commander, and if anyone objects then they can be stripped of their privileges as just like Varro.

Scott informs Dr. Rush of the exile of the others on the planet, which Dr. Rush says puts everyone on their side in a great position. The group then decide on meeting up in the Hydroponics room while Scott and Greer retrieve TJ and the other civilians in the infirmary. Scott tells Eli to seal themselves in until they return.

On the planet, Young is shocked to see Varro and some other Lucian Alliance members come through the gate. Turns out that Danik banished them as well. Young ignores Varro at first until he is reminded that Varro is the reason they all didn’t have a bullet in their head at the moment.

In the infirmary, Greer and Scott take out a guard and rescue Camile, who is a wreck. They then learn of the fate of TJ and the baby, the latter not making it. They don’t have long before some more Lucian Alliance soldiers show up. Scott and Greer hold them off while Camile preps TJ for movement. Back in Hydroponics, Eli doesn’t want Rush and Brody to seal the door to the room just yet, because of the others needing to get in. It takes Scott to tell Rush to go ahead with the plan. This why you are a civilian, Eli, and should let the grunts do their work. The other thing? The Lucian Alliance hears this conversation go down. Uh oh…

The Lucian Alliance members realize that Rush wasn’t just running off at the mouth about the shields. They find the Hydroponics room and try to get in. When Danik says to blow the door, Telford appears saying that’s a bad idea. A power struggle goes down between Rush and Danik through the radios, which reminds me of a Twitter war or something. Danik is not willing to stand down, even when the facts are there that Rush is telling the truth. While Telford tries to talk some sense into Danik, the brute gets fed up and aims to kill Telford. This is when Ginn shoots the guy to death, ending the incursion and complying to the Destiny’s demands.

TJ’s Other Worldly Experience

As TJ settles in her cabin with Caine, he fills her on on how the aliens tracked the Destiny and noticed that TJ was in danger, transporting her there with them. She asks Caine questions on how did the group find a slew of cabins when none appeared when they scanned the planet, how did she get there and most importantly, why. All the answers Caine give are deflected or don’t add up.

After another couple enters and looks after TJ’s baby, Caine takes TJ to see a phenomena in the sky, telling TJ thanks for sacrificing her life with them so that they could stay behind. He then says that the aliens knew that, which was why they decided to bring TJ’s daughter there…, but TJ has to go back. What?!

TJ runs to get her daughter, who she names Carmen. The baby is safe, but we all know that is not really true. Caine appears one last time to tell TJ that the people on the Destiny will not understand them, because they see something completely different than they do. Caine’s last speech is a bit confusing to me, because I’m trying to see how it fits in the overall narrative. He says that in the outer reaches of space, who you are and what you believe is everything and TJ must decide if that’s a blessing or a curse. Wow…

TJ awakes in the infirmary to Camile telling her that she hasn’t left the ship and that TJ lost the baby.

New Year, New Possibilities

Greer and Scott greet their banished comrades and inform Col. Young of TJ’s condition. The Lucian Alliance are put in a holding room for the time being. Chloe realizes that not only did her wound stop bleeding, but it’s almost completely healed. Hmmm… The ship comes out of FTL, which puzzle Volker, because it was a short jump. Brody does a scan to see if they are still in danger of the pulsar blasts, but he reports that their not.

TJ awakes and makes her way to the observation deck and witnesses the same phenomena that Caine showed her in her dream. Or was it a dream?

From Brody’s Distillery (or From Inside The Airlock)

– Wow, what a premiere huh? SGU kept the action on high, while also establishing a new scenario for the people on the Destiny. Now with the Lucian Alliance on board, can we see some sort of merge happening ala Starfleet and Marquis members from Star Trek: Voyager?

– What in God’s name was TJ’s subplot about? I initially thought that the people left behind were dead since TJ’s daughter was the one chosen to stay over TJ. If this is the case, then what are we supposed to take from Caine’s final words and the phenomena in the sky TJ witnessed both in reality and her dream? Is there some overall connection? And could the aliens in question actually be the Ancients?

What did you guys think?