This week we got to see part three of our first Universe story, “Air.” It did a nice job of finishing what the first two parts had started, giving us an idea of how life on the Destiny is going to work. The pattern is now set for the ship to stop at various locations, for a limited time, before rushing off again. Unfortunately, while all of that information is really good to have moving forward, the first stop on this strange new mission left a little to be desired. Sure, there was peril, a problem to be solved, and a decided lack of Canadian forest, but yikes … that was a lot of walking around in the sand.
The sand is really what killed it for me. Of all the possibilities for what could have been on the other side of that first gate…. I guess I would have preferred a little more than a ticking clock and the hot sun as motivation. It did give the various characters on the mission plenty of time to talk, though, confirming that there are still many among the crew that don’t trust Rush. And we also got a little more back story for Scott. It’s not that there was anything wrong with his story, but I think it’s a little soon. With so many characters, and being only three hours into what will be a very long adventure, it’s not like we’re really attached to anyone yet. Something like that would probably play much better later down the road, when we really care about Scott.
The first away mission also offered up a reason for how it is that Rush is able to get away with being such an insufferable jackass. Quite simply, he’s the smartest guy in the room. And in this situation, no matter how you feel about him, or even whether or not you trust him, he still feels like your best chance at survival.
We saw it completely drawn out as Greer pulled his gun on Rush. There was no fear, because Rush understands that as much as anyone, and is more than willing to take advantage of it. Not that I’m on the Rush bandwagon. He’s clearly a loose cannon, and someone that needs to be watched very closely. Did you catch the little bit when he returned to Destiny? When asked what happened to Franklin, Rush was quick to offer, “Greer shot him!” He did, however, omit the part where he ordered it.
The idea that sticking with Rush is the safer path, at the moment anyway, was only reinforced by the loss of Palmer and Curtis. Although, you could also chalk that up to sticking with Destiny. Surely, there had to be a reason Destiny was blocking those other planets, right? And the fact that Rush was ultimately right is also going to carry a lot of weight.
Meanwhile, back on Destiny, Young and Chloe were headed home via the communication stones. I like this idea, for the simple fact that it’s the gateway to get other characters onto Destiny. And I especially like the way they’re showing it. So we see Chloe meeting with her mother, and Telford going gung-ho as soon as he sets foot on Destiny. It also offered a very nice comparison between Rush and Young as we saw Young meet with O’Neill. Rush may very well be the mad scientist courting destruction, but Young could possibly be practical to a fault, already making plans for everyone to say their goodbyes. It will be interesting to see how much of O’Neill’s little pep talk he takes to heart.
With the life support systems repaired, and everyone breathing a sigh of relief, we got that little two second look at something leaving the ship. What was that? My initial thought was that Destiny was releasing a probe, but it doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the ship. And really, given the length of the Destiny’s mission, and the size of this craft, how many of them could it really carry? If not a probe, then is it from an alien race? It stands to reason that the crew of the Destiny doesn’t have all systems functioning yet, so they would probably be none the wiser if they had a foreign ship attached doing recon. Could it have been life from the sand planet? Or one of the other four that they didn’t visit? Perhaps a life raft, of sorts, sent after the ship realized Palmer and Curtis didn’t make it back? I’ve no idea, but I’m very curious to find out.
So, there we have it. After three episodes, this is the new Stargate? I wasn’t big on this particular mission, but I am sold on the series. I like the cast of characters we have, and the basic rules for how this whole thing works. My only worry so far is that they’ll fall back to that ticking clock a little too often. My hope is that as we move forward, the crew gains more control of the ship and the missions become more of an opportunity, as opposed to a desperate challenge.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Oct 09, 2009 @ 23:54 EST5EDT
I never caught the other Stargate shows, so I have nothing to compare to but the movie, really. But I like SGU.
The ticking clock mechanism might get too Sliders if overused, I agree. So far so good though.
The itty bitty shuttle take off was a clever move. I can’t wait to find out what that was about.
My first thought was that it was the shuttle that Senator died in and he was being sent off to RIP. But, then that didn’t really make sense. And, after watching it again, it seemed to be in a part of the ship on the other side from the occupied sections.
*POST AUTHOR*
I considered the shuttle, but then why would it power on and fly away, as opposed to just being ejected from Destiny? And at this point, I’m not sure anyone has enough control of the system, or spare time for that matter, to be dealing with a burial for the Senator.
The damaged shuttle is on the centerline of the ship, on a raised superstructure near the stern. The second shuttle (and they mentioned there were two shuttles on the ship in dialogue) is behind it and slightly to the port side. The pod detached from the port wing of the ship, far away from the two shuttles, and also is of a completely different design (not even close).
As for Rush, I’m surprised that anyone on the ship would trust Rush, considering he was responsible for the whole predicament, has no interest in trying to return to Earth, and lied to them repeatedly. Young and Scott had it right that they could trust him to want to save his own skin.
And really, he’s only the smartest man in the room in relative terms because everyone else on the entire ship is a complete idiot. There are five Ancient communication stones that thus far have no power requirements or range or duration limits. If Rush had been shot in the head, you could have five castaways watching TV at the SGC (or learning to read Ancient and repair/operate the ship) while Sam, Daniel, Rodney, Radik and Dr. Lee studied the Destiny for hours every single day.
Last week, when Rush mentioned that the computer had locked out the other four gates, I thought of three possibilities: 1) The computer locked out the gates and Rush doesn’t know why, 2) The computer locked out the gates and Rush knows why, but doesn’t want anyone else to know, and 3) The computer did nothing and Rush told it to lock out the gates because they led to suitable planets for evacuation and he can’t allow that to happen, so he chose the desert world to keep everyone on the ship.
Certainly Rush is right because the writers deem it so, but the characters don’t know that to be true. They don’t know whether the two redshirts are alive or dead, or to what destination the other four gates led. The only proof they have that Rush’s solution was the only one possible is that he tells them so.
Yes, Rush shifted the blame to Greer in this episode, as he did to Eli and also to the universe (“what happened to your father and everything else—none of that is my fault”) last week. Did you notice he’s also quick to steal the credit for himself? Young’s the only one who thinks to stop to pick up the Ancient stones, which is why he’s grieviously injured by the explosion, but Rush announces to the crowd that he’s the one who brought the stones along.
I want to see where this show is going, but the illogic and the rough edges really grate at my determination.
I feel like you are getting to watch 10-15 more minutes of the show than I get to see!
This show is definitely better if watched while doing things around the house, so you can enjoy the flashy, pretty stuff and ignore the plot holes. Unfortunately, I can’t disengage my brain when watching TV: I either give it my full attention or turn it off.
The Stargate franchise, like Star Trek, is often rife with technical or plot inconsistencies, but fans are willing to live with them because of the likable characters and humor in a show that doesn’t take itself seriously. Universe demands to be taken seriously, so the writing needs to be tightened up to match the new tone. Also, in previous Stargates, they didn’t hang important plot points on those inconsistencies, or if they did it was resolved and forgotten at the end of the hour. Here the problems will carry over from week to week, so if Tamara keeps complaining she’s “just a medic,” the SGC should just send a surgeon via the stones to replace her.
Canadian forest?
Just so you know this episode (the sand part) was filmed in Mexico. We don’t have desert sand lands in Canada. actually, we don’t have any deserts.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’m aware Andrew, and we share a border. (Howdy neighbor) Just poking a little fun. Historically, a whole lot of alien lands have shared more than a passing resemblance to the great white north’s beautiful forested regions. When something like this comes along, it’s notable.
Not true, actually: https://www.desert.org/
it is common knowledge that 95.8% of all alien planets are Vancouver, Canadda
I agree with the review … I think the episode was a bit slow, and lost a lot of momentum walking back and forth in the sand.
All in all, I do wonder if making Air a 3 part introduction to the series was a good idea or not, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference to me – I’ll still be watching next week.
I think the ticking clock is a valid concern (that they’ll fall back on it too much), but they’ve also shown that it’s actually not much of a concern – if there’s a wormhole being held open, then the clock doesn’t matter.
Actually a wormhole can only remain open for 38 minutes under normal circumstances before it automatically collapses.
I think the craft at the end is related to the stargates the ship would not let them dial. Its stargate so there has to be an enemy race they will go up against and I think they must occupy the gates they were blocked from dialing and the crew who went through the forbidden gate has alerted the “bad guys” to destiny being there
Now about these “stones” – Is that how Lou Diamond Phillips is going to be a part of this show? – being in someone else’s body from time to time? Hmmm.
yeah. I liked this review though.
I also love the show without a doubt.
I’ve set aside all biased opinions and thoughts that anyone or I may have about it and am going to absolutly love it I mean it’s stargate :) one of the biggest mysterious from the beginning of the SG series is finally being told. I just hope most people will set aside their biased opinions and enjoy it for what it’s worth.
I liked this episode better than the premiere. Although the walking through the sands got boring at times, I thought the sand planet was a nice homage to the original Stargate (which led to Abydos, a sandy planet).
if they had poured water next to the stargate … would those little twisters have created the minerals they were looking for right there?
No, clearly what they were going after was that an alien race that was depicted by a twister of sand helped lead him to what he was looking for
Yeah he was in the lake bed when the creatures did that.
It’s nice to see a non human alien, been a long time since the last one on Stargate.
Let me help some of you out…Scott was not just hallucinating on the planet. I think he was being helped about Ascended Beings aka (former Ancients) the whispy and suggest pattern fits. The little shuttle ship at the end is obviously a setup for something to come.
Finally caught this episode, and I’ve got to say I’m hooked. This show wasn’t even on my radar a month ago, and now its one of my favorite new shows.
I liked this episode, even if it didn’t keep the same pace as the previous two hours. I think though, that it is important for them to prove that they can do this type of episode and still have it work.
If there’s anything that doesn’t jive with me, its that some of the characters seemed to have bonded too quickly … Eli and Scott in particular.
Here’s my take on the ship detaching at the end.
When the ship imposed a countdown, it did so as a self-defence mechanism, because it knew how long it would take for species X to reach it. When the kid stuck his arm in the wormhole, the 30 second delay gave species X sufficient time to arrive and land on the ship for whatever purpose they intended.
I have a feeling that the ‘probe’ or ‘shuttle’ we’re all talking about is a pod carrying new Stargates, I think i remember them saying in the Pilot that the ship was a manufacturing plant for new gates hence why it was been sent all over the universe.
I believe what was said was the earlier, automated ships had gone ahead to seed the galaxies with stargates, the Destiny would follow after them on its slower-than-hyperdrive FTL propulsion, and that the Ancients had planned to gate to the ship hundreds of thousands to millions of years later when it passed those galaxies. Even if it is laying new gates, it does little good for the Earth crew since all the new destinations will be left far behind them.
Ok, ya’ll are missing the point on that little ship that detached from Destiny. Don’t forget that Destiny is on a “one way” trip to the end of the universe. Destiny will not be returning to those planets EVER. Also, don’t forget that other automated ships were sent out ahead of time to construct stargates. It would stand to reason that not all habitable planets would have the required naquedah easily accessible to construct the gates. That ship was launched (with a hyperdrive engine equiped) to pick-up the stargates in that area, then carry them ahead and replant them on other worlds.
There is a more pressing issue to address though. All the stargates we’ve seen in the past can easily dial other gates within the same galaxy. Even dial gate in another galaxy if there’s enough power. Rodney McKay said that dialing another gate withing the Pegasus galaxy was relatively simple (pilot episode of SGA) Dr. Rush said there were only a few planets “within range” with the necessary components to repair the CO2 scrubbers. Does that mean that within the entirety of the galaxy that Destiny is now within, that only a few planets with stargates could support life? Scrubbing CO2 is a necessary part of supporting homosapien life. It would stand to reason that the ships building the gates would only build the gates on planets that would support altaren life. Thinking of this, the writers have a lot of work to do since the plotline will soon force the story away from the galaxy and into the void between galaxies.
Don’t get me wrong, i love the story, i just think that it’s got a few holes in it that don’t make much sense, and other “mysteries” that are quite clear if you think about the entire stargate universe (no pun intended). Tying together information from Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis; there are a few gaps in the continuity of the “Science of the Stargate”