Oct 012016
 

Incursion Part 1

The first part of the two parter season 1 final Incursion kicks off where we left the previous episode. Telford is being more or less tortured and eventually dies but that’s what Young must have been waiting for as he is revived and immediately informs Young that the Lucian Alliance are about to launch an assault on the Destiny thanks in part to the contribution of the captured Dr Rush. Carter has flown to the planet housing the Alliance facility but as the attack commences that gate is activated and connects to Destiny. Young has laid a trap but when the chips are down he hesitates and the Alliance soldiers gain a foothold and break out of the gateroom and a running battle begins within the corridors of Destiny. Soon a balance is reached with both forces holding key areas of the ship, negotiations begin made the more urgent by seemingly unexplained power outages and an Alliance soldier being vaporised by some unknown force and of course Camille takes the role of the peacemaker and diplomat which you just know Kiva and Young would both agree is pointless but can be exploited.

 

Incursion being a two parter is using a lot of its narrative to make way for the pay off in the second episode but that aside this is a riveting episode full of action and drama. It has to be said though that Young failed in his task to protect his people. As Jack pointed out when Sam had to take her ship away from the exploding planet and sacrifice two of her pilots she made the hard call, for one man (well maybe two) Young allowed the Alliance on board and cost far more lives. Commander Kiva played by Rhona Mitra was fantastic, brutal yes but never a wasted action or reaction, she was as proved quite capable of cold blooded murder but when required had the sense to deal, no one reaches command rank in the Alliance by being reckless as we will see next week. Of course we also have a mystery surrounding the death of the Alliance soldier, well he was vaporised and with the power fluctuations we get a wild card in already volatile situation, next week should be fun.

We want to thank Brad for joining us this week and he will return for the second part of this season finale. This week podcast promo was for Generations Geek the father/daughter show which looks at all things Geek in the media so for now we’ll leave Destiny hanging around a galaxy and return next week for the final episode of the first season which promises to be a doozy 🙂

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Sep 242016
 

Subversion

As you would expect from the title Subversion there are secrets and lies surrounding Destiny and the former Icarus project. The surprise attack on Icarus base was never fully explained but after Rush dreams of Telford having secret meetings after sharing the communication stones it becomes clear. Young is not totally convinced Rush is being truthful but agrees to allow him to take Telford’s place and investigate the Colonel but he also talks to General O’Neill about his suspicions and he in turn tasks Daniel (one man he can trust) to follow Rush. Meanwhile back on Destiny TJ is having a baby shower but when Telford arrives his sombre presence dampens things down but even with Camille’s support he is unable to prevent Young from pressing him on his undercover activities and the revelation of the communication stones side effects on people who shared Telford’s body. Rush makes contact with Lucian Alliance members on Earth and unable to supply credible ID is zapped and flown off world in a cloaked cargo ship and eventually arrives at a world which has the same Naquadah deposits as Icarus and a gate making it possible to dial Destiny if the calculations are precise.

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Kiva having tortured “Telford” and learning it is really Rush now expects him to complete the research for dialing Destiny, she orders the death of her own “expert” for well no longer being useful so plenty of incentive for Nicholas and while Varro shows him some compassion he admits that he will do the deed if Kiva requests it. Telford is also being aggressively interrogated onboard Destiny and Jack pays them a visit and Telford finally cracks and reveals his duplicity, yes it was under the thrall of brainwashing tech but the admission lets Young off his leash and he orders the air to be pumped out of Telfords room…

Well what can you say about Subversion, great to see some of the SG1 cast making guest appearances and we begin to understand some of the behind the scenes events that led to the fall of Icarus. A little concerned how the Lucian Alliance can infiltrate Earth so easy and Teford being undiscovered for so long. We had some very nice moments with TJ which were pretty much the only “nice” things about this story to balance out the heavy and emotive drama going on with Telford and Rush. Rhona was kickass as Commander Kiva and we’re getting get a lot more of her next week when well the proverbial really hits the fan.

As always our thanks to our third voice on the episode, this week it was Ian that joined us and a big thank you to everyone that listens to the show and who have interacted with us on social media in it’s many forms. This weeks promo is for Continuing Missions a Star Trek Voyager podcast from the Trekmate network and next week we are going to be watching the first episode in the three part story which straddles season 1 and season 2 so we hope you join us for Incursion Part 1.

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Sep 172016
 

Pain

This episode entitled Pain is pretty much standalone dealing with the unforeseen consequences of a recent visit to an alien world by some members of the expedition. The episode begins with a very dynamic sequence with Vanessa and Scott making sweet sweet nah going at it like rabbits which is confusing given Scott has pretty much staked his camp in the Chloe pasture. We then get a truly WTF moment when Scott ends up dead on the floor and we jump to a bemused Volker who can get out of his cabin and then Greer paranoia to the max spying Camille on the gate room computer. More slightly strange events occur before we get to see the outline of what is going on aboard Destiny which pays off pretty well I have to say. The cold opening really leaves the viewer in a confused frame of mind because nothing we are seeing is outside the bounds of probability or reason.

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You may notice the write up for this episode is fairly short that’s because while overall it has no real impact on the main story it should be experienced by the viewer as fresh as possible, if you haven’t seen it yet then you are for a treat, if it’s been a while then you should still enjoy it. For a veteran viewer some of the shine may have been lost and without plot elements meshing with episodes either side of it then it may lose some appeal. So short and sweet, our thanks to Mack for the feedback over on Google + and to Steve for joining us on the show, this weeks promo is for Nutty Bites and next week we are going to be taking a look at Subversion. We hope you join us for that and as always we’d enjoying hearing your thoughts on the podcast or Stargate in general.

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Sep 102016
 

Sabotage

The Destiny is venturing into the void between galaxies when one of the drive units explodes, sabotage is not suspected despite the episode title, rather the simple fact of the age of the ship is considered to be cause. They decide to bring in an expert in FTL engines one Amanda Perry who has been developing the replacement for the Asgard hyperdrives currently installed in the BC-304 starships. Amanda is however a paraplegic and who ever swaps with her will have to spend maybe a month experiencing what Amanda has had to live with since she was a nine year old. Camille desperate to see Sharon again agrees to swap and the exchange is made allowing Amanda and Rush to be reacquainted after working together at the SGC.

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While the ship is adrift the gate activates, the defence crew rush to the gate room and behold Chloe, Scott and Eli walk through, everyone seem surprised even the three wanderers who have been saved by the explosion onboard. We then get a pretty good montage which covers the following three weeks and with the aid of one of the recently discovered robotic maintenance units the drive pod is ejected and bypassed which increases the efficiency of the engines making it possible for Destiny to reach it’s destination. Amanda now bids farewell to Rush and reveals that she has also loved him but knew he had not yet gotten over the loss of his wife and after the events in “Human” Rush is reliving the same feelings and is unable to reciprocate her feelings (at this time). To complicate matters further they discover that Lt. James after an aborted use of the communications stones has been taken over by one of the aliens and it was “her” who had sabotaged the engines and then the aliens arrive on the scenes. In a desperate do or die situation Young prepares to sit in the Chair but Franklin finally speaks and returns to the device which almost killed him. As the ship comes under attack and the shields weaken he merges with the ship and then she jumps to FTL, Franklin however is missing…

Sabotage once again deliveries on multiple fronts, we get some solid drama with Camille and Amanda from both perspectives and we get a little bit of action, plenty of humour and another mystery which may be explained or maybe not. This weeks promo is for the Babylon Project Podcast which is delivering my quota for B5 and our thanks to Ian for joining us for the podcast, we are also grateful to both Mack and Brad for the feedback as always. We hope you join for our next show which is going to be “Subversion” and Steve will be joining us for that.

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Sep 032016
 

Lost

In the episode Lost we continue the off world adventure of Scott, Chloe and Eli as they choose to leave Greer behind after the second tunnel collapse. It was a tough decision for Scott to make but it was the right one given that the Destiny would not be waiting for them and their only chance of returning to the ship would be to have gated to a world further down the path the ship was traversing. Greer awakes to find himself trapped but manages to free himself and follows the chalk marks on the walls to freedom, of course he is too late but without a remote he can not go anywhere so sets up camp near the gate. This is where the writers chose to provide us with the meat of his backstory and it is very revealing. An abusive father who was no doubt suffering from PTSD after serving in the gulf shaped a young Greer into a man who wanted nothing more than to protect others and it was through the service he found his peace.

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While the lost members of Destiny struggle to survive the ship itself has gone into power saving mode, they soon realise that she is preparing for a Galactica FTL jump and with no gates between the galaxies the opportunity to search nearby worlds will soon be no more, teams gate to available worlds expanding outwards in a last ditch hope of crossing path with the missing team. Eventually Lt. James gates back to the world where the team originally were trapped and finds Greer waiting for them, he returns in good condition but as the counter reaches zero and the final search term returns the ship jumps and begins her voyage to another galaxy. We then see Chloe, Eli and Scott vainly attempting to dial Destiny just as it winks out on the remote, gone forever…

Well a pretty impressive episode of Stargate Universe with some excellent background to the troubled character that is Greer, it was well worth the wait. We get some good exploration via the Stargates as the teams jump from world to world and none of that could have been cheap to do, the “dinosaur” was a laugh and the winter world and crystal world were very impressive to look at. The issues with Destiny herself continue to plague the expedition, the lack of any control still means the potential to lose people if even a single event goes awry must cause Young sleepless nights and speaking of which he now knows he is going to be a daddy.

Overall Lost was a very good and entertaining episode, good character writing and interaction as well some stunning visual effects to enhance the story being told. Our thanks to Steve for joining us on this episode of the podcast and we got some feedback from Mack once again, thank you kindly and Brad recorded us his thoughts on last weeks episode, appreciated as always. This week podcast promo was for Trek News & Views which is making a return now that Colin is feeling a lot better after his recent health issues and next week we are going to be watching the episode “Sabotage” with Ian, hope you join us.

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Aug 272016
 

Human

In the 14th episode of Stargate Universe “Human” the crew of the Destiny have to deal with some bad decisions by the gate team who venture into some tunnels within a long abandoned and derelict city. The tunnel system collapses blocking the exit and trapping Chloe, Scott, Greer and Eli underground with no way to navigate the complex pathways, they can however contact the ship and relief is sent to help dig them out but the clock is ticking and ultimately Lt. James and her people are unable to reach their friends and are forced to return to Destiny. Meanwhile depending upon your point of view the A or B story deals with Rush who after some tweaking of the “chair” has connected himself to it in the hope of revealing the key to the Destiny which they believe will allow them full control of the ship.

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Human is very much a Rush episode despite the rather traumatic events going down on the planet which themselves would easily carry an episode. However seeing so much back story to the enigmatic Rush is very absorbing even though we are seeing him experience his past (Louise played his wife Gloria perfectly) knowing it’s not real so his actions are different to what they were. That said so much is made clear and provides an explanation as to the character we first met in the opening episode who then proved to be rather aggressive, arrogant and short tempered. It was probably fitting that the sacrifice Franklin made by trying the chair first paid off allowing Rush to commune with the computer system of the Destiny and it was an interesting to see the merging of his psyche with the AI of the ship. We still are not clear as to what the Ancients equipped the ship with in terms of control systems, there seems to be some intelligence maybe even sentience there but it’s clear the Destiny is far from a starship controlled by simply programming. I was a little disappointed that the excellent choices in music during the episode were not more key to solving the puzzle of the ship but they did lead the way and maybe even Rush was able to learn something about himself which will temper his interactions with the crew.

Rush aside it was a little reckless for the gate team to enter an unstable tunnel system in pursuit of a kino, it was simply a bad decision and a few more bad choices left them in an untenable position, the consequences of which may take quite a while to play out but the drama of time running out and then Destiny jumping to FTL was intense. Overall a very good episode with two significantly different stories and kudos to the director and cinematographer for making the two very different visualisations of the events work and look so well.

I want to offer me thanks to Thomas for joining me on this podcast, Alan was unavailable to it was just the two of us and we had a good time with an episode I was not sure would hold our interest after so many viewings, I was wrong. Our thanks to both Mack (Google+) and Brad (voicemail) for the feedback and continued support from the Stargate fan community. This weeks podcast promo is for Treks In Scifi and next week we are going to be watching and chatting about the fifteenth episode “Lost” and we hope you listen and let us know what you think about the episode and any other other aspect of the franchise.

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Aug 202016
 

Faith

In the episode Faith we see the Destiny drop out of FTL in a star system with a single planet that had not been charted by any of the seed ships which had passed through their part of the galaxy. Rush investigates and determines that this star and planet where simply not there when the seeders were looking to place Stargate and the scans of the system simply make no sense in terms of the age of the star and the planet’s structure and ecosystem. However Destiny will be in the system for at least a month as it orbits the star so the shuttle is sent down along with a full compliment of volunteers who set up camp and proceed to live the life of hunter/gathers. TJ goes along and realising now she is well into her pregnancy makes the most of the fresh air and water and good local food to revitalise her soul, many in the camp follow suit.

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On Destiny the remaining crew take the time to do some maintenance and explore the ship further, they find a few things that may come in useful at a later date but overall a depression has set in thanks to the daily grind and as the ship gets nowhere rather slowly. Of course not everyone had the opportunity to visit the planet but with gate travel limited perhaps many people still have not physically left the shop since they arrived. As the days go by and the camp prospers many begin to question the existence of the planet and the strange tower, perhaps the planet was created by an advanced species for purposes unknown or as Dr. Caine mentions perhaps it’s a gift from god. When their time on the planet draws to a close Young is rather startled to hear that not everyone wants to come back, mostly the group consists of the civilians but Scott and TJ want to stay, this does not go down well with the Colonel. Taking the partially repaired second shuttle he makes planetall and offers a deal, if all the military return he will leave that shuttle (shelter, power and limited flight) for the civilians and wish them well. TJ is heartbroken but a realist and returns forcing Scott to follow suit and the primary shuttle returns to Destiny with less people than before but packed with food and water.

Faith is beautiful looking episode making full use of the location shooting, some of the visuals are truly awe inspiring including the “night” shooting which was actually done during the day and making use of post production to create a truly believable night scape. The discussions between all the characters on the planet be it about TJ and her pregnancy and the existence of the plant and the tower be it from god or another species showed how good the writing was in the show and the chemistry between both regular and guest actors. There are many questions asked in this episode and they tend to be ones with no direct answer, certainly this planet will remain a bit of a mystery for a while as such things should be although I am sure it’s existence may have been addressed if Universe had been on the air longer than it was.

Our thanks to Steve for joining us for this episode of the podcast and for bringing great insights into the story, he will be back. This weeks promo is for the Flash Pulp podcast and next week we will be taking a look at the episode Human with one of our long term guest hosts Thomas, hope you join us for that and we would be delighted to hear from you.

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Aug 132016
 

Divided

We see in Divided that the tensions which have been brewing since the Icarus survivors reached Destiny stoked it has to be said by Rush and Camille come to a head and a core group of the civilians stage a mutiny in an attempt to take control of the ship. The timing turns out to be poor as when the shuttle returns with Young and Scott on board it is unable to secure itself to the ship and as the FTL countdown is almost up it will be left behind when the Destiny jumps. Chloe and Camille pressure Rush to stop his attempts to secure exclusive access to the computer and he reluctantly agrees but it means that some control of the ship remains in the hands of Eli and under the control of the military. The ship now for all intents and purposes is split in two but the military have control over life support but the civilians have all the food and water, someone will have to blink first. Young however is not going to be sitting on his ass, he and Scott go for a walk on the hull of the ship and access the civilian areas through the damage done by the recent alien attack. The conflict is soon resolved as the military quickly secure the ship but then the aliens turn up, three ships then begin firing hoping to break down the shields.

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While the crew are indeed divided it turns out that as usual Rush has been manipulating Camille, he knew he had been implanted with a tracking device and afraid of what Young would do he engineered the coup in an affort to protect himself. Alas he had the right idea to defend the ship, unable to fight effectively their best chance for survival was to endure the attack until Destiny jumped away but he was still being selfish, the only true protection would be to totally evade the aliens which means surgery to remove the tracker from Rush. The do use the communication stones to bring a surgeon (via Chole’s body) but the connection breaks during the procedure, Rush was probably lucky they didn’t just throw him out of the airlock!

Divided was a stellar episode, a tightly told story with some wonderful one on one dialogue, TJ excelled when laying down the situation to Chloe (war is what we do) and you can almost feel sorry for Camille who yes has her agenda but was totally manipulated by Rush. The episode delivered the usual high standard of visual effects and the opening sequence (cinematography and music) was a credit to Stargate as a whole. One of the best episodes so far and a lot more to come. Our thanks to Andrew for joining us over skype for this episode and to Mack for the feedback, thanks to Colin and Adriano for their emials as well. This weeks podcast promo is for The SciFi Diner and next week we are going to be watching the episode “Faith”, hope you join us.

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Aug 062016
 

Space

Stargate Universe returned for the second half of its first season with the episode Space in which the crew come face to face with one of the known elements of the universe, we are not alone and for the most part our fellow beings are not warm and cuddly, although neither are we if we are being honest. The fate of Rush is still being questioned amongst the crew and Camille tells Young she will be reporting in full to the IOA but as he points out she can only speculate and at this point it may be that she was in the dark as to the framing of Young for the murder of Spencer. Young uses the communication stones and finds himself on an unfamiliar ship and face to face with an alien being, the being seems uninterested in Young and we find out that on board Destiny the alien consciousness is now inhabiting Young’s body. The connection is broke and while many are sceptical that Young saw what he did when a huge spaceship appears in front of the Destiny the doubts fade away…

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Eli attempts to communicate with the alien ship and they get a simple one word response “surrender” which came though untranslated, Young orders the launch of the shuttle and for the ship to bring her weapons on line. As the shuttle approaches the ship they see a number of smaller craft fly towards them, battle is joined but many get by and at least one latches onto the Destiny and breaches the hull. Chloe approaches the breech and looks into the light, we then see the ship detach causing decompression. When Young realises what has happened he orders the shuttle to cease fire and decides to once again use the communication stones to get intel on the aliens. We then get treated to the realisation that the aliens have captured Chloe for some sort of interrogation but that’s not all, they also have another human suspended in a water containment vessel, Rush is there. Young breaks Rush from the vessel and after some confusion and pain Young returns to Destiny and orders Eli to open up on the alien ship with the main weapon despite the risk to the shields and conduit stability, is he trying to save the Destiny or finish Rush off once and for all even sacrificing Chloe along the way?

Space is a major turning point for the show, we know the universe is full of life but this is the first confirmed contact the crew have had since coming to Destiny and it seems this race have been trailing the Destiny for a long long time. At this point we don’t know their motivations and they didn’t shoot first but who would say Young was incorrect in a pre-emptive defence of the ship after the surrender message. Scott lets his feelings get the better of him and Greer is having the time of his life, Camille is once again pushing the boundaries and we get both humour and drama from all the remaining characters. This is a good episode which makes the most of the cast and throws in a lot of great looking action and suspense which is all you really want.

Many thanks to Brad for joining us on the podcast this week and our continued thanks to Mack for his feedback. This weeks promo is for the British Invaders podcast a show which looks at British scifi television across the years, next week we will be discussing the episode Divided.

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Jul 302016
 

Justice

The mid-season finale of Stargate Universe is entitled Justice and brings forward the conclusion of the ongoing issues with Sgt. Spencer who more than many has been having serious issues and coping with self medication. Now we know that whatever drug he has been taking has run out and his behaviour has become more extreme over the last few weeks culminating with an assault and bullying of Franklin in particular. The events that take place on Destiny are shocking but offer an opportunity for both Rush and Wrey to gain control over the ship and while both are complicit in the events as they unfold as always Rush has his own very personal agenda.

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Justice begins with a truly humorous scene more so because Greer is at its center, there is a good bonding moment between him and some of the scientists which gets derailed when he investigates the missing Spencer and finds his body with a bullet hole in it’s head but no weapon. The scene certainly implies suicide but the missing gun points to at worst murder and at best some other nefarious plot. The weapon is found in Young’s quarters by Eli and Wrey uses this to undermine the military control of the ship through a hearing (approved by the IOA) but much to her annoyance Chloe is treating the hearing with respect. Wray was looking for an easy takedown but can’t seem to handle the fact that a civilian could be arguing for due process and a balanced look at the facts. It’s quite clever that the writers didn’t give us any reason to really like Camille but then they gave us her homelife and a 180 degree turn in her character but now back on the ship she’s back to well her professional self and not much to like there. Spencer himself was another character we were not meant to like, we knew little about him and his stealing of supplies and mysterious drug use were red flags but ultimately he was perhaps the first of the true casualties, he was broken before reaching the Destiny and had no avenue to seek help, others sacrificed or were selfish or simply met an unfortunate end but Spencer was a victim in the truest sense. Eli once again is feeling the pressure of being privy to secrets and of course we get the final straw of the fragile relationship between Young and Rush. Pity the discover of the spaceship on the planet came so late in the FTL downtime, who knows what they could have learnt.

Many thanks to Thomas for joining us this week, a few technical issues which meant no clean audio for some of the show but that was a temporary issue. Our thanks to Mack for the feedback as always and to everyone that supports the show on social media our heartfelt gratitude. This weeks promo is for Tuning Into SciFi Tv and next week we return for the episode Space, we hope you can join us for that:)

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Jul 232016
 

Life

In Life Scott and Camille return to Earth while on board Destiny TJ is assigned the task of doing the rounds of the entire crew and having a casual chat with them. The continued search of the ship aided by the improved power status reveals a new section which houses a strange looking chair, Rush believes it is a very early version of the Ancient repository of Knowledge and immediately begins to campaign for its use. Young is sceptical given the dangers inherent in the attempt and points out that instead of hoping for someone to volunteer if Rush thought it was safe he should use it on himself.  On Earth Scott learns his former girlfriend Annie Balic has a son, he visits her home (as Telford) and she does reveal the Scott is the father, he offers her his monthly paycheck which she accepts but refuses to abandon her lifestyle to live an image that Scott believes she should. Camille has a wonderful visit with her partner Sharon Walker who is aware of the mission and we learn that Camille is estranged from her more conservative parents, it seems Camille is under pressure from her family and workplace in regards to her chosen life which may explain why she projects a cold and analytical persona upto a point.

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When Scott returns to the Destiny he tells Young that he has been dreaming of Telford and his interaction with his wide, Young does not take this well. Rush meanwhile has discovered a planet which could provide the energy required to power a nine chevron dialup but it’s a year away, the crew are delighted until Eli discovers that it’s fake and that’s yet another black mark on the relationship between Rush and Young. The episode wraps with many of the crew in very introspective mood and dealing with events they have little control over and it closes with a close up of Spencer who we know has run out of his medication…

Life is a slow down from last weeks action themed episode and suffers a little but counters with some fantastic character pieces and insights into their onboard life and back on Earth. Scott has to deal with being a father after maybe running off to the military after knocking up his former girlfriend who he believed handled the situation. Camille however was a revelation, the relationship with Sharon was an outstanding look at a stable and loving couple who were dealing with an almost impossible situation. Every scene between the couple was beautiful as was Sharon’s mask failing when she was alone and Camille paying respect to her parents while incognito, it may have been the first time they have talked in years. Life is an episode that will certainly appeal to a good portion of the audience and maybe not to others but there is no doubt there is an awful lot to like and enjoy in the episode.

Many thanks to Matthew for making a return to the podcast, we had much better audio this time around even if there was mild panic when we got our start times mixed up but it all got done. This weeks promo is for the Batcave Podcast which looks at the classic 1960’s tv series. Next week we are going to be taking a look at the episode Justice where things really go off the rails big time, hope you join us for that and let us know what you think about any and all things Stargate.

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Jul 162016
 

Time

Time is an obvious title for this episode and fits well into the rather simple but descriptive methodology the producers have chosen to identify the episodes within the series. In Time we have a team gating to a jungle which should be a rich source of organics for both food and perhaps medicine. They do make a rather startling discovery when they come across a Kino, maybe it was left by other travels but it contains data and when viewed they see themselves on this world and then watch in mounting horror as one by one the people on the recording fall ill and then come under attack from a native life form leaving death and destruction in its wake.

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On board Destiny the crew to struggle to explain the recordings but then they too start to fall ill and a contaminant is found within the water supply, no doubt due to some poor purification when they harvested the ice, only know has it become strong enough to affect its human hosts. TJ is pushed to the limit trying to treat those that are falling ill and soon one by one the crew lose their battle with the illness, Chloe passes first leaving us with a very touching moment with Eli but indicates a direct correlation between events on the recording and this timeline. Destiny has already dropped out of FTL and the planet became available to dial and thanks to the rather unexpected recovery of Scott (on the recording) it seems a powerful antibiotic can be found in the lifeform responsible for the deaths of the crew in the other timeline. The visit to the world does not go well and Scott hears of Chloe’s death and again the lifeforms attack ripping through the soldiers until only Scott is left but now he knows what to do, as time runs out he records all the information required for another timeline to solve the puzzle and sends the Kino through the solar flare affected gate and onto a different timeline…

Well what can you say about Time?

Absolutely brilliant in execution which covers both the production of the episode, the writing, direction and acting. There is really very really too criticise about this episode making allowances for the ever present convoluted issues with time travel stories. Everyone shone in the episode from Eli having a borderline breakdown on the planet to Chloe seeing herself dies (first one to do so) and TJ hitting a brick wall in treating the crew. We also got a very strong scene with Greer who took to heart his other self’s failure to protect his people, again we see the level of integrity within Greer which is so easy to miss when you take him at first sight. Time is an episode that does stand alone in this first season and should be watched by an scifi fan.

Many thanks to Mack for the feedback over on Google + for the episode Earth and to Brad for joining me on this episode, once again getting up very early to talk over skype. This weeks podcast promo is for The Babylon Project Podcast and I really should rewatch B5 again, sooner the better. Next weeks show will be taking a look at the episode “Life” and Matthew will be joining us, hope you come along for the ride and let us know what you think.

 

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Jul 092016
 

Earth

The IOA propose a dangerous experiment to use the refueling capability of the Destiny to provide the power required by the Stargate when it dials a 9 chevron address. They basically want to dial while the ship is within the star and draw energy directly to the gate, there are concerns but the IOA are convinced it will work. One issue is that they spring this on Young when he is making a scheduled visit via the stones and when he balks at the idea they do an end run and have Telford enact the plan. This means that Young, Eli and Chloe are all on Earth while these almost reckless plans are put into place, of course this allows all three to visit family and Eli finally gets to catch up with his mother who unfortunately is not cleared for full disclosure.

Rush continues to resist the experiment but after a one to one with Camille his throws in with Telford and after they drain the power reserves of the ship by using her weapons she jumps to the nearest star and begins to refuel. The programming kicks in and the gate begins to dial drawing power directly but it soon becomes apparent the conduits have since lost their capacity to carry so much current and the ship is going to rip herself apart…

Earth (3)

Earth is rather character dependent even with the pretty impressive visual effects used when Destiny is performing the experiment. There is a considerable amount of what you could call talking heads scenes but none of the them are boring and each either expands on the character or their immediate relationships. Eli for example is explored through his emotions towards Chloe as well as his love and obligations towards his mother so plenty of good writing going on but the pacing can feel a little slow if you are not committed to the characters and narrative. All this aside it was also rather telling that the IOA personnel when faced with death immediately jumped ship, it underlines how important the ship is rather than the crew which is pretty much exactly what Rush believes. Overall Earth is a good episode and I think most people would say they didn’t expect the musical interlude but hey Universe is nothing if not different.

Thanks to Mack for the feedback he posted over on Google + and of course to Ian once again for being our guest on the episode. This weeks promo is for Nutty Bites hosted by Nuchtchas and her motley crew and next week we’ll be taking a look at the episode “Time” with our guest Brad so please join us for that:)

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Jul 022016
 

Water

The Destiny continues it’s journey though out the Universe with the rag tag bunch of inhabitants who now find their precious water stores being rapidly depleted with no obvious cause. Suspicion of each other soon develops and the water is locked down and searches of personal cabins and possessions begin generate ill will amongst some. Destiny drops out of FTL and a planet appears on the DHD which seems to be ice bound, two space suits are in good condition so Scott and Young gate to the planet and begin small scale mining operations, at this point any water is a bonus. It does however take them some time to find clean good quality water ice and in an area subject to tremors it’s no surprise Scott falls into a crevice leaving Young with the dilemma to get the ice back to the ship or attempt to rescue Scott as their air supply dwindles. Meanwhile on Destiny TJ has encountered an alien entity, they believe it is the same on that Scott met on the desert planet and it enjoyed a drink, the explanation of the missing water is revealed but not how to prevent further loss. They trap the life form and then tempt it into secure storage and throw it through the gate to the ice world where Rush and Scott are attempting to return before they lose their air and the alien surrounded by water recognizes Scott and then departs.

Water

Water is perhaps the beginning of serious dissatisfaction between the military and civilian components of the Destiny crew and the lack of information and military viewpoint begins to grate. Spencer is discovered to have been hoarding food and water which doesn’t help the them and us mentality developing and of course Rush stirring things up as usual makes matter worse. The episode however was entertaining, some incredible set design for the alien world (see the behind the scenes features on the DVD/Blu-ray) and very clever writing to bring back the alien life first encountered by Scott. It was also gratifying that the solution did not require any wholesale destruction and maybe the alien itself considers it’s choice to board Destiny worthwhile with a whole new world to explore with plenty of water.

Many thanks to Mack for the feedback over on Google + and to Ian for being our guest on this episode, he will return next week when we are going to be taking a look at the episode Earth. This weeks promo is for The Sci-Fi Movie Podcast so pay them a visit and if you have the inclination we’d love to hear what you thought of the show or the episode and Stargate in general:)

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Jun 252016
 

Light

Light is the second part of this two part story and continues with the Destiny making a beeline for the primary of the solar system the ship found itself in when it came out of FTL. Of course at this point they are not aware that this was a deliberate choice by the AI of the ship so faced with imminent death extreme measures need to be taken. The sensors pick up three planets in the solar system, the first two are not suitable for human life and the third is behind the sun and impossible to get accurate data on. However to reach the planet in good time the shuttle will have to leave before confirmation of suitability is obtained so the choice is bad to try to save 17 people. Colonel Young picks Scott and TJ to be on the shuttle as pilot and medic and the remaining 15 places are determined by a lottery, Young and Rush remove themselves from the draw. The shuttle departs with the chosen few and the remainder of the crew spend their last few hours, some read, some just walk and some take comfort in their faith or simple companionship. Time ticks by and the planet is scanned by the shuttle and proves to be unworthy for life and back on Destiny there seems to be some confusion as to why they are still alive. Rush figures it out and with a burst of joy (yes he smiles and laughs) takes in the wonder of the Destiny as is cruisers through the photosphere of the star and gathers in the energy rich plasma the ship needs to power her systems.

Light

The call the shuttle and order them to return home but they are unable to rendezvous with Destiny, Rush and Eli do some quick calculations and project a course for the shuttle around the planet building up speed and slinging them out of the system along the same path as the Destiny. Of course they make it back intact and all seems right with the world now they know the method Destiny has been using to power herself for these millennia but for Young the question of did Rush know or suspect this was the case….

Light is another good episode of Stargate Universe and a worthy second part to this story which as we know was originally a single episode called “Fire”. It was great to see Rush smile and be rather civil to more of the people on board but at the end we get the conflict within the character come to the forefront, Rush is always going to be that chaos element in this show. This week podcast promo was for Treks In Scifi a very long running show which was mostly Star Trek specific but has branched out into all aspects of Scifi over the years. We also want to thank Thomas for the long recording session he put up with to record this and last weeks episode and he will return later in the season. Next week however we are going to be joined by Ian for the episode Water, we hope you just us for that and feel free to let us know what you think and spread the word on Stargate.

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