Adam David Collings's Blog, page 3

New Review by Winston Crutchfield of “Book Talk!”

Winston Crutchfield of Book Talk! and Critical Press Media has made a wonderful review of my Jewel of The Stars book series. Check it out below. And after you’ve done that, you’ll want to watch some of his other videos. They are short snappy, telling you all you need to know in order to find your next great read.

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Jewel of The Stars Book 3 is Out

Jewel of The Stars Book 3 “The Legacy of War” is now available in both eBook and print at all the usual retailers.

You can get your copy at books2read.com/jewel

Tourists on a cruise. Stranded in an alien battleground

When their warp drive mysteriously stops working, the luxury cruise ship Jewel of The Stars becomes easy pickings for humanity’s enemy – the Dracnor. And there may be an enemy agent on board.

Before the fall of Earth, a madman made doomsday predictions on Captain Les Miller’s doorstop. How did he know the invasion was coming? Now that same man has been spotted walking the promenade. Les must stop him, but the evidence contradicts what he knows to be true.

Will the legacy of an ancient war mean the end of the galaxy’s last free humans?

You can get your copy at books2read.com/jewel

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Cover Reveal – Jewel of The Stars 3

Exciting news. Jewel of The Stars Season 1 Episode 3 is coming. The expected publication date is 15th of January 2023.

Here is the amazing cover designed by Domi from Inspired Cover Designs.

Dont’ forget to mark the book as “Want to Read” on goodreads. Find it here.

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Colony Launch by Jon Del Arroz – Book Review

Colony Launch by Jon Del Arroz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A disenchanted former politician, a man imprisoned for a foolish mistake, a security officer with PTSD, and a biologist living in the shadow of her father all find new purpose for life when Fabio DePino builds a starship to take colonists on a one-way 100 year trip to a distant planet, there to start a new life far away from Earth’s war with the violent Aryshans.
This story follows four primary protagonists, all with their own interesting journeys, which come together near the end. This book is the story of how these people came to be on the colony ship, so you’ll have to wait for the sequel to see them settling into their new world. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t see alien worlds and spaceships. Colony Launch has surprisingly a lot to offer.
I enjoyed all the characters but I especially felt sympathy for Dalton, a largely honest businessman who finds himself in jail for signing documents without reading them, thus being found culpable for his boss’s criminal activity. Surrounded by dangerous criminals, his only chance to protect himself might be to get in with some nasty individuals. Even the promise of travelling to this distant colony might not be enough to get him out from under the thumb of the notorious spider clan.
The climax was a thrilling. It brought all the characters together and really helped me reframe the way I saw the prisoners.
The Aryshan War series run parallel to this story, which I’ll be checking out, but I’m very much looking forward to following the story of these colonists in Ixora Colony book 2.

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A Meme of War by Kevin Tumlinson (Book Review)

A Meme Of War by Kevin Tumlinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A crew of space explorers discover a stone temple in orbit around a star, but how did it get there and what is holding it in orbit? As they investigate they discover much more than they bargained for. This book ticked all the space exploration boxes for me. A strange mystery in space which is gradually uncovered, and a surprising turn that made my eyes go wide. A Meme of War pays off its mysteries well. But it’s not all about plot and mystery. Characters are faced with difficult decisions that could have heart-wrenching consequences.

A very enjoyable short sci-fi read. Highly recommended.
Get it from your favourite retailer

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1,000 Downloads on Nerd Heaven Podcast

Today I’m celebrating because I’ve officially hit 1,000 downloads on my Nerd Heaven podcast. I started the podcast back in December 2019. During the last year and a half, I have published 59 episodes. I have covered the first season of Star Trek Picard, the third season of Star Trek Discovery, the movies of the DC Extended Universe, and am currently working my way through season 1 of Stargate Universe.

Thank you to all who have listened and spread the word.

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Stargate Universe Podcast “Light”

The second half of this Stargate Universe ‘two-parter’ brings a lot of emotions to the surface as the crew deal with their own mortality. With Destiny on course for a star, only 17 of them will survive to struggle on a barely habitable planet. The rest will burn up. This episode has some fantastic drama. I love this episode. Listen along with me to find out why.

Check out the other podcast episodes in my Stargate Universe Rewatch episodes.

Transcript

Welcome to Nerd Heaven.
I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars
And I am a Nerd.

This is episode 54 of the podcast.
Today we’re talking about the Stargate Universe episode “Light”. This one picks up directly where we left off last time with “Darkness”.

I’ve been holding off recording the intros and outros of these podcasts, so that I can comment on any topical nerd stuff that might happen. But that’s preventing me from uploading and scheduling them ahead of time. I’m thinking of switching to do little mini-updates in between episodes to use for that purpose. That might be especially effective now that I’m on a fortnightly schedule.

Speaking of things to comment on, by the time this episode goes live, we’ll have seen the trailer for Zack Snyder’s Justice League. So I may have already done the first of these mini updates.

The Description on Gateworld reads
With the ship on a collision course, Young conducts a lottery to determine who will escape certain death and try and find a habitable planet with the shuttle.

This episode was written by Brad Wright.
It was directed by Peter DeLuise
And it first aired on the 23rd of October 2009.

This is a very emotional episode. It’s got some fantastic drama in it.

The random Keno interviews continue to be interspersed through this episode.
Greer’s interview allows him to show an uncharacteristic moment of vulnerability.

Young has gathered everyone together to explain the situation. They’re on a collision course for a star, and there’s nothing they can do to change course. They still haven’t figured out how to take control of the ship. Its flight path is all completely automatic.

They have one day before burn up.

Destiny has a working shuttle and there are three planets in this system that may be habitable.
Young believes the ship dropped out of FTL here to give them a chance. It has shown intelligence and even care for its passengers before.

There’s only room and life-support for 17 people on the shuttle. Young will choose two people. The remaining 15 will be decided by lottery.

Can you imagine having to give this kind of news to a group of people? I certainly wouldn’t want to be in Young’s shoes right now. Of course, I wouldn’t want to be in any of their shoes right now. Imagine knowing that unless you were one of the 15 lucky ones, you would be dead within 24 hours. It’s unthinkable.

When Young announces he’ll be choosing 2, one to fly the shuttle, and one necessary for survival, somebody makes a smart-alec comment. This is when Young chooses to reveal that he’ll be taking his name out of the lottery. Confirming he’s going down with this ship no matter what. He then invites the smart alec to keep talking if he wants his name removed as well.
Young currently holds the power over everyone’s lives. That’s another hard thing to imagine, the threat of having your name removed. I tell ya, I’d be very well behaved.

Eli is looking for Chloe, but he finds her in Lieutenant Scott’s arms. So this is when it starts.
They’ve chosen to spend their last hours alive making love. They’ve been getting close since episode 1, when Scott offered Chloe comfort after the death of her father.

This is a common trope in stories, having sex at the end of the world. On one hand, I kind of get it. You might as well end it all doing something nice with somebody you love.

But when I really think about it, the prospect of certain death doesn’t exactly fill me with sexy feelings. I suspect I’d find it quite a turn-off.
But then, I’ve been happily married to my wife for 17 years. I have no regrets in that department.
But for Chloe, this may seem like a case of now or never.

But what about Scott? What does this act mean to him? Is Chloe just one last notch on his belt before the end?

Ever since I saw the scene in episode 1 where Scott and James are having sex in the storage room, I’ve had a pretty negative view of Scott. I misremembered that he and Chloe got together at the end of the pilot, in the wake of Senator Armstrong’s death, further confirming to me that Scott was a dirty-rotten womaniser who chewed women up and spat them out, taking advantage of Chloe’s pain.
Well, I was wrong about that. He just comforted her in the pilot. And this is when they officially get together.

I can’t know Scott’s heart. But I do know that this relationship is going to continue. He’s not using Chloe in the same way he used James. I still can’t shake the feeling that he’s taking advantage of this situation a little, but it’s all clearly consenual.

I still have this feeling that Chloe deserves better than Scott (and better obviously means Eli) but maybe that’s not fair. Maybe that’s just because I like it when the nerd gets the girl, like I did.

The next scene is really interesting. Camille comes in to see Young. She thinks he should choose all 17 people, and he should include himself. The survivors will need leadership. She feels this would be more fair than sending the wrong people because they were randomly selected.
Young makes the point that they are all the wrong people. None of them were selected for a long-term mission aboard Destiny. They were all assigned to Icarus Base, to solve the mystery of the ninth chevron.
When he asks her how the decision would be made, she switches from saying “you” to saying “we”.
“We’d make a short list, taking into account skills, age and sex.” Inherent is the idea that she wants to be part of the group. And making the decision seems to be within the purview of the HR Lady (which is what she was on Icarus.)
“Do we just pick those we like?” he asks.
That’s not what she’s saying.
And then Young says those blood-chilling words.

“Get out or I’m going to take your name out of the lottery. I may just do it anyway”

And Camille goes silent. And her attitude immediately goes from aggressive to passive.

She begs. “Please don’t.”
She holds in her tears as best she can and leaves the room.
I think in that moment, she would do anything to convince Young to leave her name in the lottery. Whenever I watch this scene, I can’t help but put myself in Camille’s place in that moment, and it horrifies me.
It’s very powerful.
Eli has a flashback dream of being back home. His mother is hassling him about a job interview. It seems he pulled out of it. I found this scene confusing because the pilot seemed to suggest that Eli couldn’t study or have a career because he had to be at home caring for his sick mother. Here, we see a mother that is quite able. She’s walking around the house picking up his laundry. And she’s telling trying to get him to get a job.
Clearly, she has some kind of medical condition that involves a lot of financial cost, but she doesn’t seem to be the invalid we were lead to believe she was.
So …. Is Eli just lazy? That’s what this scene is implying.

Or am I reading too much into this? It IS a dream, after all, not an actual flashback.

Scott is convinced he and Chloe are the two that Young has chosen. He makes sense. He’s the only one that can fly the shuttle, given that Young has withdrawn himself from consideration. Chloe points out that being a senator’s daughter might make her sound important but it’s not going to help anybody on the planet survive. She’s not one of the two.
But she’s felt closer to Scott in the last few days than she’s ever felt to anyone. So this whole thing is real from her end.

In Chloe’s keno interview she talks about how her father gave his life so they could all live another day. Then she chuckles at how that’s turned out to be more literal than he might have hoped. It’s been more than a day, but not many days. The unspoken question in her statement is, “Was his sacrifice worthwhile, given most of them are going to die now anyway?” Perhaps she’s not so sure. But I’ll bet I know what her dad would have said. Because if I were him, and I could let one of my kids live just one more day, it would totally be worth it.

Young and Rush have a very calm and very reasonable conversation. The first two planets are proven to be uninhabitable. One is too cold, covered in frozen methane. The other is too hot. The third planet is behind the star and they’ll have to launch the shuttle before they get close enough to determine habitability, so it’s a gamble. A massive leap of faith. Chances are good, though, because it’s in between the other two worlds, in the goldilocks zone. But as it stands, there is no guarantee those chosen to go on the shuttle will survive any longer than those on destiny.

Rush wants his name taken out of the lottery. Coming to this ship was his destiny. His life’s work. He’s happy to go down with her.

And then there’s a moment of almost reconciliation between the two. Young admitting that Rush was right, and he should have listened to him earlier. Rush admitting he wasn’t himself at the time, too irrational to be taken seriously, and it wouldn’t have made a difference. There’s a tiny sliver of mutual respect going on here. And it almost chokes me up. Their relationship will go through a whole lot of ups and downs as the show progresses, but I really like this moment.

Young reveals that he has chosen lieutenants Scott and Johansen as the two. Makes sense. The pilot and the doctor. Essential personnel.
Rush suggests he could rig the lottery to choose people like Greer. There will be some who’ll assume he did anyway. I think he’s briefly tempted. Why not? But no, he’s firm on his principles with this.

The moment of truth has come. Scott and Johannsen are on board the shuttle, ready to go. Young is gonna draw names out of a box. Those chosen will go up the stairs directly to the shuttle. Those whose names are not called must remain in the gate room until the shuttle is fully boarded and ready to leave.

It’s gotta be a tense moment. You know those reality shows where they drag out who is being kicked off, or who is gonna be the winner. It would feel like that, except a million times worse, because if you’re not chosen, you’re going to die. I tell you, there must be a lot of hearts beating very fast. I try to put myself in the shoes of these characters, and I just get so overwhelmed by the thought of it.

If your name was called, I imagine you’d feel a great sense of relief, but also some guilt, that you were one of the lucky ones, and you’d be leaving so many behind to die. Plus also a little mix of fear and excitement at the prospect of going to this new world to make a new life.

Many of the names chosen are unknown to us, but Camille is chosen. Obviously Young left her name in the lottery. She’s sobbing as she arrives. All those mixed emotions. Probably some gratitude that Young didn’t exclude her too.
Lieutenant James is chosen. That could get awkward with Scott. Do you think, if Chloe isn’t selected, that he’ll try to get back with her? Are these people going to try to populate their new world with a new generation, or just let themselves grow old and die? Anywy, Scott wisely stations James at the rear door of the shuttle. She needs to guard it in case anyone else tries to force their way on board.

We don’t really know Doctor Park yet, but she’ll become a bigger part of the story over time.
Brody is another we’ll get to know more about.

We don’t hear all the names. The names that are not called are perhaps more important at this point.
So that’s it. That’s fifteen. Anybody else still standing there to hear this has to face the reality that they’re going to die on this ship.

Spencer, one of the military isn’t gonna stand for it. He says you can fit more people. He tries to get the others to rise up with him but Greer puts him down nice and quickly. I kinda like Greer in this moment.

They close the shuttle, Eli’s keno in place so that they’ll get one last look at the outside of Destiny. It contains all their messages. It’s unlikely anyone will ever find it, but it’s still meaningful.

Some of the remainders go to watch the shuttle leave from the viewing lounge.
Eli is most interested to get images from the keno.
This is the first time they’ve ever been able to see what the ship looks like from the outside. They all crowd around the tablet to get a glimpse.
Rush’s expression of thanks is particularly heartfelt.

It hits me right in the heart when Young and Rush shake hands.

Rush apologises for getting Eli involved in this. But he’s not sorry. He’s got to see such wonders. He jokes he might be sorry by the end of the day, though. Yep, another little moment of humour.

Rush explains to Chloe how the destruction of the ship will go down. He hopes it will be quick, but he can’t guarantee that. He doesn’t know.

There are so many great character moments in this episode. I’m so glad they chose to take their time and do this properly, rather than jamming the whole thing into just one episode.

We learn that the reason Greer was in the brig back on Icarus is because he hit Telford (a superior officer.) I can think can all assume Telford probably had it coming.

Different groups of people are choosing to spend their final moments in different ways.
Young is walking the ship and thinks about his wife.
The “fun people” are playing cards. There’s a group reciting the Lord’s prayer together. It’s a very ritualistic kind of prayer, but also a very inclusive one. It’s pretty core to all flavours of Christianity.

Rush finishes a mediocre book while listening to music.
Eli and Chloe watch the star together, holding hands as friends.
Greer takes off his shirt and sits on his bed. He’s meditating.
Do you think any of them are planning to end things early? I’d be surprised if some of them didn’t at least think about it that.

How would you spend this time, if you were on that ship?
I would probably be praying, but probably something a bit more personal and heartfelt that the recital of the group we saw earlier. I’d like to think that I’d express gratitude for the many blessings in my life. Probably also praying for courage for what’s about to come. Not the death part. But fear of how it’ll happen. Fear of any pain or discomfort I might feel as the ship tears itself apart and the heat increases.
In all honesty, I’d probably be trying to do anything to distract myself from that fear.

The shuttle crew get their first readings of the planet. There’s very little vegetation and the temperature won’t be spending much time above zero, but they’ll technically be able to survive.
It’s gonna be a hard life for them.

Rush finishes his book and stands. You can tell something is going on in his mind. He goes to his lab and looks at a computer. Then laughs.
Such a heartfelt genuine laugh of relief.
The laugh of hope.

He goes to the viewing room where Eli and Chloe are waiting. He laughs out loud and tells them they’re gonna live.

The turbulence and heat should have happened by now, but the shield is protecting them.
How can it be doing that? They’re out of power.
Rush has never been so glad to be wrong in his life.
Of course, being wrong is part of life for a good scientist. You more just as much, maybe even more, from being wrong than you do from being right.

But this isn’t just an experiment. This is their lives.

Then there’s that wonderfully triumphant moment as the ship’s solar collectors deploy, and the ship stars sucking in power from the sun.

This is what destiny intended from the beginning. The ship draws its power from the stars. When it gets low, it flies through the corona of the star, protected by the super awesome magic ancient shields, which are powered by the star itself.

This is such a great pay-off.

But there’s still a problem. Those 17 people on the shuttle.

TJ announces that the people on the ship will all be dead now. She wonders if they’re the lucky ones. Scott tells her not to think that way.

That’s when they get a message from Young.
Scott sets a course for Destiny, but the ship is accelerating away and the shuttle can’t match its speed. The computer can’t figure out an intercept solution and Scott can’t come up with a manual solution.

Rush’s solution is the classic sci-fi concept of sling-shotting around a planet to accelerate.
Rush tells everyone they need to trust him, but it’s Math-Boy Eli who figures the numbers out first. Now Rusi s the one who has to trust. It’s hard for him. Rush is used to being the smartest person around. But credit to him, he sends Eli’s numbers.

This episode is such a roller coaster. We’ve gone through all that emotional character stuff, and then the triumphant bit, and now it’s really tense and suspenseful.
It’s a great sequence. They manage to get back to the ship and dock.

There’s a tiny moment of bittersweet for Eli and he realises that now Scott is back and he and Chloe will be together. But he doesn’t let that hold him back for long. This is a moment for celebration.

Young tries really hard to reach out to Rush in the mess hall. He genuinely wants to praise Rush as a hero.
And then a dark thought crosses his mind. What if Rush took his name out of the lottery because he knew Destiny would make it.

What kind of a person does that make Rush?
Eli is convinced that Rush didn’t know. He saw his face. And I agree with Eli. Rush didn’t know. He was surprised and elated.
Greer and TJ both tell Young to let it go, but he’s not quite able to.

The episode ends with that line again – “A lot of work.”
In a way, I think that sums up both Rush and Young. Certainly their troubled relationship.

So that was Light. I love this episode. It was fantastic. A beautiful character piece that examines how we all deal with our mortality, but then also an exciting action-packed story at the end.
Episodes like this are one of the many reasons I’m a fan of Stargate Universe.

Next week, we’ll talk about the last of the “resource gathering” episodes. And we’ll revisit the swirling wind alien from Air part 3.

Please consider spreading the word about this podcast. Tell a friend who likes Stargate, or share episodes on social media. There are a lot of SGU fans out there, I just have to find them.

Have a great two weeks.
Live long and prosper.
Make it so.

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Stargate Universe Podcast “Darkness” Detailed Analysis & Review

Today we discuss the first regular episode of Stargate Universe after the extended pilot. Destiny now has breathable air but there are a lot of other problems. The most immediate is the mysterious lack of power. As the crisis pushes our characters toward breaking point, can they find a solution?

This episode, and the next, closely tie together. They were originally intended to be one single episode. I’m glad they ended up splitting it in two because it allowed them to really take their time and delve into the characters. It’s a great mini-arc.

Check out all of my Stargate Universe Podcast episodes.

Transcript

Welcome to Nerd Heaven.
I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars
And I am a nerd.

This is episode 53 of the podcast.
Today we’re talking about the Stargate Universe episode Darkness.

MGM have just released the whole of Stargate Universe and Stargate SG-1 on Blue-ray. Previously, the first season of SGU was available on blu-ray but the second season wasn’t. That makes this the perfect time to watch along with me

Of course, these are American releases, but it will hopefully lead to releases in other countries as well.

The early seasons of SG-1, which were shot on film, have been re-mastered for this collection.

And speaking of re-mastering. There’s big new about Babylon 5.
We fans have spent years talking about how a remaster is unlikely to ever happen because Warner Bros doesn’t seem to care about B5 as a property any longer. And now we’ve just learned they’re spent the last 6 years re-mastering it. It’s a shock, but I’ve never been happier to be wrong in all my life.

Babylon 5 was shot in widescreen but framed for 4:3. All the CGI was done in 4:3. The DVD transfer of the show was terrible. They used the full 16:9 frame of the live-action footage, and then cropped and stretched the CGI to fit the frame. That made it look terrible low-res. The scenes to suffer most were those that included both CGI and live-action elements. You could literally see the pixels in these shots. It was horrible.

This new version is back in the original 4:3 so none of those problems exist. But more than that, they’ve re-scanned the film at a higher-resolution, plus they’ve upscaled the CGI. Note, this doesn’t mean they’ve re-rendered the CGI, but from all accounts, the show looks better than it ever has. And that’s very exciting.

One final bit of news before we launch into today’s episode of Stargate Universe, we have a release date for the Snyder Cut of Justice League. The 18th of March. STill no indication that HBO Max will be available outside of America by them, but Zack did say he’d make sure there were international distribution options in place. Let’s hope they’ll all be ready to go on day 1. I’ll admit I’m pretty nervous as I wait for more news.

Anyway, let’s talk about Darkness.

The description on Gateworld reads
The Destiny suffers a power crisis, putting the lives of the stranded crew in jeopardy when even the emergency reserves run dry. Dr. Rush pushes himself to the breaking point.

This episode was written by Brad Wright
It was directed by Peter Deluise
And it first aired on the 16th of October 2009.

So we’ve solved our most immediate problem. The need for air. But this is a multi-million year old spaceship that hasn’t been maintained since it was launched. There are plenty of other problems. This episode will address the next of these.

They’re eating some kind of group. Powder mixed with water. It could just be protein powder. At least that would give them some calories. But water is very limited. They have to ration it carefully, and they certainly can’t use it for washing. But Eli has found a shower. It doesn’t use water. It sprays some kind of mist.

There’s a nice camaraderie that has already started to build between these people, as they banter about who smells the worst. I really like it.

Also, nice to know they’ve figured out how to make the toilets work. Very important.

But it’s not the water, or the food, or even the toilets that has Rush concerned. It’s the power. Their power reserves are extremely low and Rush can’t figure out why.
They’re been turning on systems since they arrived, sure, but this ship had power to last millions of years of interstellar space flight until now. It seems very coincidental they’d arrive just as its batteries finally give out. There’s got to be more to it.

Rush has been working through the night and he’s getting really testy.

Eli is still playing with the kenos. He’s wanting to get people to say a little something about themselves, to document, not just the circumstances of their situation, but the people involved.
And already, we get a joke, as Eli quotes Planet of The Apes. Once again disproving the notion that Stargate Universe is without humour.

The Keno interviews are interspersed through the episode, and they’re really nice little glimpses into the characters. I especially like Voker’s as it ties in with the episode. And what he says makes sense. We can’t all be mozart, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a good astro-physicist.

In Scott’s interview, he says he wants to say a prayer for the crew, although what he actually does is recite Psalm 23, which kinda works as a prayer. Anyway, this shows that he still does have some genuine belief in the faith he was raised with.

Actually, we get a second joke. The officer making the goop asks Young what his assignment is. Young replies “Recipes. For the love of God, recipes.” That got a laugh out loud from me.

Young has had people turning things on all over the ship. They’ve found a charging plate that can adapt to earth technology, which is really cool, but the minute Rush tells him they have power issues, he tells people to stop. He doesn’t try to argue it out. Young doesn’t let his personal issues with Rush get in the way of important matters. And I like that.

He tries to reach out to Rush. They need to be on the same page. And Rush needs to inform Young of anything important that may affect people on the ship.
He offers someone to assist but rush declines. At this point it would take longer to bring somebody up to speed. So Young just picks someone.
Rush isn’t just being arrogant and annoying here. This is a real principle.
I know in my day job field of computer programming, there’s a very real principle, that you can’t just speed up a project by adding a new team member. Adding a new person will slow things down initially because you have to stop productive work to educate the new person and get them up to speed. We’ve known this since the 70s. Probably longer, but that’s when a book was written about it.
So I don’t doubt Rush here. I can understand Young’s desire to add extra resources given the urgency and importance of what Rush is doing, but it probably won’t help.

But the way Rush treats Volker is very rude. Rush is clearly not operating at his best. He hasn’t slept. But is it just affecting his disposition, or is it affecting his ability to do his job? It’s a tough situation because their lives depend on solving this before it’s too late.
But there’s definitely a point of diminishing returns when it’s best, no matter how little time you have, to grab some sleep and try again after. Even if he just takes an hour or two.

Chloe doesn’t know what to do with herself. She’s a political science student, Assistant to a senator, her father, who is now dead. She has no role on this spaceship. She’s a smart young woman but are any of her skills useful in this situation? It’s all a bit frustrating for her.

And of course, Eli is kinda following her around like a lost puppy, because, well, she’s the only person on this ship his age, and he really likes her.
She wants to use one of the showers Eli found, so he agrees to show it to her.

Poor old Eli. He’s standing guard so nobody barges in on Chloe in the shower. With his back turned like a gentleman, of course, but there’s a lot of teenage horniness going on here.
So from his perspective, it’s really bad timing when Lt. James appears and asks him to come have a word with her. She sees right through him, of course. I mean, when it comes to hormones, she’s not exactly above adolescent behaviour herself, right?

Turns out, James doesn’t want to talk to him alone. There’s a whole bunch of people who kinda mob him. The lower downs, the junior officers are feeling left out. They think Young and Rush may know more than they’re telling, about whether they’ll make it back to earth. They think the higher ups are hiding things from them.
Eli thinks this is a load of nonsense. And is almost offended at their suggestion. He promises that if Young and Rush tell him anything of note, he’ll pass it along to these guys, totally not believing in their little conspiracy theory.
I love the way he’s so sarcastic in how he talks to them.

Now, you could argue that Eli is being a little naive here, but I tend to side with Eli in thinking these guys are all just being idiots.
There’s some nice dialogue between Young and Voker, regarding whether it’s worth trying to stand up to Rush.
And then the ship drops out of FTL, and the lights go out. Rush says their power, all of their power, is gone.
So they’re dead in space.
FTL was the last system to fail, and now it’s gone.

Things get pretty awkward with Eli and Chloe when he goes back to help her in the dark.
At first she wants privacy but then calls him back. He fails to hide the delight when she wants him to stay, but then she tells him to turn around while she finishes dressing.
There’s no actual nudity shown in any of this. You could say that this whole thing is….not so much gratuitous, but … needlessly sexy, I suppose.
But I contrast this scene with one in Star Trek Enterprise. You probably remember it, when Hoshi is climbing through the jeffery’s tube and slips, and somehow her shirt stays up there, and she slips down without it. And of course, for some reason she’s not wearing a bra.
That scene was really bad. It was clearly made to titillate. It was an extremely childish attempt to get ratings with meaningless sexiness.

Compared to that, this scene looks really good. It wasn’t so much made to titillate. Maybe a little bit, but this is just a portrayal of young people, as they really are, in a situation that is believable. So I think this scene is a lot more justified.

Rush’s rant to young about how his order to try dialling earth robbed him of the time he needed to solve this problem before it was too late.
But Young makes a good point. With all the mistakes Young has made, ordering people to do things that have wasted power, it doesn’t add up to a result this dire. They’re missing something.
But Rush is too frantic to hear it. He’s given up hope because there’s nothing more he can do. And then he passes out.
This was some fantastic acting from Robert Carlyle. I love it.

Young wants to use the communication stone to visit Earth, and Telford is volunteering for stone duty again. We get the impression he does this often. He really wants to be on board Destiny as much as he can. It’s amusingly ironic that the one person who managed to avoid getting stuck on that ship is the one who really wants to be there.
Telford is quick to blame Young for the situation on Destiny. Yes, Rush saw this coming but it wasn’t in Young’s power to prevent this.

Debriefing on the current situation doesn’t take long, so Young decides to go visit his wife while he’s on earth. Of course, he’s visiting her in Telford’s body, which has got to be weird for her.
I think she has just been given clearance to know about the stargate program. It would be a lot to take in.
Aliens exist, we have a stargate. Your husband is stranded in a galaxy so far away we don’t have a name for it. But his spirit can visit you in another man’s body due to an alien communication technology. Oh, and he’s here to see you.

Her uncertain response to him is completely believable.

Their marriage was on the verge of being over before he left for Icarus base. His job was one of the issues between them, but not the only one.

Now that she’s completely out of his reach, he wants to make things right with her. He wants to get home somehow, and he wants her to be here waiting for him when he does.
And that’s a big ask.
But…I can understand him wanting to ask. When you love someone, you do all you can to hold onto them.

Of course, she still has the option to say no, and that’s what she does, at least at first.
His wife takes some time to think about it, and then finally comes back outside to talk to Young about it.
She’s willing to consider that this might all be true, and I think she’s believing that Young genuinely wants to patch things up with her, to get home to her.
But she asks “How does this change things?” In the end, she can’t see that this makes any difference. He still put his career ahead of his marriage, and she’s not yet able to forgive him for this.

Young leaves defeated, but I think, there’s some stuff going on in her mind. She’s not ready to forgive yet, but she’s closer than either of them realise.
While Young is off failing to save his marriage, Telford is busy ordering Scott to use the stones to report that Young needs to be replaced.
Young’s response, when he returns to his own body, “well, he’s probably right about that.”
Colonel Young knows his shortcomings as a leader, but he wants to overcome them. He wants to be better, and he really does try.
And that’s what I love about his character. The more times I watch this show, the more Young grows on me.

And, of course, the more I love to hate Telford.

Anyway, they’ve learned that Destiny dropped out of FTL in a solar system with several potentially habitable planets. The odds of them running out of power that close to a star, rather than out in open interstellar space, is so ridiculously astronomical, that it has to mean something. It’s like the ship deliberately came here. Again, all very logical. And we know the ship does things for a reason, like when it dialed the stargate to the planet that contained the limestone that saved their lives.

This information is delivered to us through one of the Keno interviews. I don’t know the name of the character but she delivers it in a delightful way. The episode takes a bunch of exposition and infuses it with lots of character. It was a wonderful decision on the writer’s part, and the actress sold it very well.

Rush is finally awake after passing out, in what Scott called a nervous breakdown. His body desperately needed sleep. Plus, he’s going through caffeine withdrawal. All the crew who have addictions are suffering right now. Anyway, no matter how understandable Rush’s ranting was, he’s very embarrassed by it. He likes to be in more control than that.
He still has the same concerns about their power situation, but at least he’s capable of being more rational now, despite his withdrawal headache.

When Rush goes to talk to Young about his previous ranting, he can’t bring himself to use the word apology. Instead, he says “I want to explain that I was suffering from withdrawal symptoms.” You see, there’s a not quite subtle difference in emphasis. An apology could include an explanation of how he wasn’t himself, of course, but he’s more interested in justifying his behaviour, rather than expressing remorse for how that behaviour affected others. Rush almost behaved like a decent human being here, but he blew it. I suspect there’s some really interesting psychological stuff going on with Rush. As Young says “A lotta work.”

So Destiny is on a trajectory to slingshot around the gas giant, taking it close to the planets that are believed to be habitable. Clearly, this is not a coincidence.
Things are starting to look up a little for our crew.
There’s gonna be a lot of turbulence as they pass near the planet’s atmosphere.

Eli is excited to see this. Who wouldn’t be? Chloe understandably has other things on her mind, like the recent death of her father, but when Eli drags her out to see it she’s mesmerized by its beauty.

It’s an exciting moment.
The ship comes out of the slingshot and Rush is horrified to learn that the manoeuvre has changed their trajectory more than they’d hoped.

They’re headed straight for the star.

That’s not good.

This episode, and the next one, were originally conceived as a single script, but they were broken apart into two. I think this was a good move. It allows a lot more time to deal with the characters as the main plot progresses, plus it gives us time to really build up some strong tension regarding the ship’s predicament.
I love the serialised nature of this show. SG-1 and Atlantis were both serialised, of course, but Universe just takes it that step further.

So this was the first regular episode of SGU after the 3-part pilot. And I think the show has well and truly established itself as something special. Something strong. I can’t wait to dive into the next one, Light, which will be filled with a whole lot of emotions.

Next week the story picks up right where we left it with the episode Light. It’s a great one, and I can’t wait to share it with you in two weeks.

If you’re enjoying Nerd Heaven, please consider leaving a review on iTunes, or wherever you listen to podcasts. I endeavour to make sure the show is available anywhere and everywhere, but if it’s not available on your favourite app, just let me know and I’ll do everything I Can to make sure it gets there.

You can contact me by emailing adam@adamdavidcollings.com

And spread the word about this show with all your stargate-loving friends. The hardest thing about creating content is getting that content in front of the eyeballs of people who would like it, if they only knew it existed.

I want to thank everyone who takes the time to listen to me. There may be few of you, but you are greatly appreciated.

Have a great two weeks.
Live long and prosper.

Make it so.

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Stargate Universe Podcast “Air Part 3” Detailed Analysis & Review

In the third part of the pilot of Stargate Universe, we follow our characters to an alien planet where they search for much-needed material to repair the scrubbers on Destiny. If they fail, everyone will die of asphyxiation. But there may be other life on this world. Is it helpful or hostile?

Check out all of my Stargate Universe Podcast episodes.

Transcript

Welcome to Nerd Heaven
I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars
And I am a Nerd.

This is episode 52 of the podcast. Today we’re talking about the Stargate Universe episode “Air Part 3”.

There’s been a bit going on in the nerd world lately, that I want to mention.

And sadly, I have to start with the heart-breaking passing of Mira Furlan, who played Delenn on Babylon 5 and Rousseau on Lost. She was only 65 years old. So many of the Babylon 5 actors have gone before their time. I learned about this just last night and it really hit me. I am a huge Babylon 5 fan. One of the things that made the show so great was the fantastic characters, jointly created by writer J Michael Straczynskialong with some truly amazing actors. Mira Furlan was one of those actors. I’ll always remember her for her passionate speeches as Delenn. The character was tender, loving, but also as tough as they come. There was a great deal of Furlan in Delenn. JMS wrote the character in a way to help Furlan express many feelings she had about her homeland of Yugoslavia which was going through all kinds of political turmoil.

My condolences go out to her husband, her family, and all those who loved her, which definitely includes her Babylon 5 family.

In happier news, I want to acknowledge Sir Patrick Stewart for winning the Critics Choice Super award for Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, for his role on Star Trek Picard.

And just a reminder that Star Trek Lower Decks is finally available to watch, legally and ethically, outside of North America. All 10 episodes are streaming on Amazon Prime Video. While I’ve had most of the big moments of the series spoiled, I’m still enjoying going through and watching the episodes for myself.

And for those watching this podcast on youTube, just a reminder that I recorded the bulk of this episode before I decided to do live action video for the youTube version, so you won’t be seeing my face as I discuss the show. All back to normal next time.

The description on Gateworld reads
Lt. Scott leads a team to a desert planet to locate a mineral capable of fixing Destiny’s life support system. Chloe visits her mother on Earth.

This episode was WRITTEN BY: Brad Wright & Robert C. Cooper
DIRECTED BY: Andy Mikita
And it first aired on the 9th of October 2009

So the team emerges through the gate onto a desert planet, but very different looking to Abydos. This is clearly a location shot and looks so much better than anything they did on SG1.
Eli steps through and looks at his surroundings. An alien planet in a whole other galaxy. He smiles and says “cool.” Of course he does. I would too. I’d take a moment to appreciate the enormity of it, but he doesn’t let it distract him either.

Meanwhile, Scott orders them to try dialling the gate back to the ship. Again, very wise. They want to make sure they can get back.

There isn’t a DHD but they have a hand-held device they likely found on the ship.
So good news. There is evidence of limestone on this planet. This whole desert was once an ocean that probably supported life. Very different life than anything they’ve ever seen before.

One thing SGU does really well is it makes space feel more alien.
It also feels like this show is more grounded in real science. Certainly what the geologist is doing feels authentic and not technobabble-ish.

Young is gonna use the stones to report in.
Colonel Talford, who was evacuated from Icuras by the Hammond is waiting by the stones. He wants to be the one who is connected. You see, the two people swap bodies, so Young appears in Talford’s body back on Earth, but Talford appears in Young’s body on the Destiny.
Deep down, I think Talford wanted to out there on the alien ship. But he missed out.
I do feel sorry for Talford suddenly finding himself in a broken body with the pain of broken ribs.

Chloe has also used the stones to visit earth so she can tell her mother the sad news about her father.

The way they do the stones thing, is the same way they did it back on SG1. The actor who is playing the soul within the body is the actor you see, but he or she is wearing the clothes of the person they replace.

Young points out that these are the wrong people for the expedition. Those who are stuck on the ship are not qualified.
O’Neill can sympathise, but ultimately, he reminds Young that he wasn’t qualified when he first went through the gate to Abydos. They’ve sent hundreds of people through the gate to various planets, and none of them have been qualified. Humanity are in way over their head. They always have been. But they’ve come such a long way since SG1 season 1.

Franklin thinks they should be checking out the other planets in range. Rush is still convinced the solution is on this planet. And he has good reason to think that.
Chloe’s Mum probably already had security clearance to know about the Stargate program. But it still must be confronting to see your daughter wearing another person’s face.
She’s not handling it very well. She’s chugging whiskey before Chloe can even tell her that her dad is dead.
But then she breaks down when she learns the full extent of it. And the power of that scene moves me pretty deeply. Very well done.

Talford, and the other scientist from Earth, who is currently lending her body to Chloe, agree with Franklin that they should try to get past the locks on the other planets.
Brody isn’t convinced. There has to be a good reason why they’re locked out.
But Talford makes it an order. If there are good reasons, he wants to know what they are. And that’s fair enough, but it’s still a big risk.

And now we get our first exploration of the theme of how you treat somebody else’s body when you’ve living in it.
Johansen wants Talford to rest, because Young’s body needs to heal.
Talford wants to push through with painkillers. He feels they need him here.
But that’s not his body he’s abusing.
We’ll continue to explore this idea through the series.
But Johansen tricks him by giving him a sedative she shouldn’t have had to waste, just so Young and return to a healthy body.
Scientist lady isn’t impressed. But I see why Johansen made the call, and she stands firmly behind it. You don’t want to press this woman on her medical ethics. She won’t back down.

Rush is concerned that if they don’t slow down, they’ll never be able to keep up the pace on the way back. Greer, cocky as ever, is convinced he can.It’s a tough call. They need to find the limestone, wherever it is, but they also need to get back to the stargate alive, before the time runs out.

And that’s when Scotts starts seeing things. A syringe wisp of sand twirling around. Is it just a natural phenomenon or something else?
As they leave, the wind seems very interested in the chemicals Rush used to test the sand. It appears there is some intelligence behind it.

Both teams keep testing and keep failing.
And that’s when the second team decide to mutiny.
Franklin has found an override to allow them to dial the other planets in range.
Even Palmer is agreeing with Franklin now.
They make a couple of reasonable points to consider, but they’re still stupid. And wrong.

Rush on the other hand, is smart enough to know he can’t go on any further. So he tells Scott to go on without him.
And Scott is still seeing the swirling wind. But can he be sure he’s not losing his mind due to heat and dehydration?
He tests it by pouring some water and watching the wind go investigate the water.
But then he sees a human face in the sand. Her knows that can’t be real.

There’s a nice character scene as Rush and Greer confront a few prejudices they have about each other. Rush assumes Greer is poor, and Greer assumes Rush is rich. It seems Rush is right but Greer is wrong.

Franklin has managed to open the gate. They’re gonna take the remote control, stranding everyone else on the planet. Palmer and the solder go through, but Greer arrives in time to shoot Franklin.
They are halfway through the countdown. If Scott hasn’t turned back by now, he’ll never make it to the gate before Destiny jumps away.
Only problem is, he hasn’t turned back. He’s still looking for limestone.

Now a priest is following Scott around the desert.

And we get another little moment of humour when Eli says “I have a gun.”

Young is back on the ship and Rush has taken Franklin back to Destiny for medical treatment.

So we get a flashback. Scott in a church, crying and confessing his failure to the priest. Scott’s parents died in a car crash when he was only 4. He was raised by this priest, but he drank himself to death when Scott was just 16.
Scott thought that he had a religious calling, but he’s gotten a girl pregnant, and she’s not going to have the baby.
He feels he has failed God.
I’m not sure why exactly the wind creature chose this memory to make Scott re-live, but maybe it’s a way of encouraging him not to give up, showing him that life can go on even after mistakes.
Anyway, it stirs up the sand, making some water bubble up to wake Scott. He sees the limestone, tests it, and it’s good. He’s found what they need.
Now he just needs to collect it and get back to the ship,

Eli can’t make contact with Palmer and the soldier. We’ll never hear from them again. They’re gone. Whatever danger existed on that planet, it’s taken them. IT seems Destiny was right to lock out that planet after all. I kinda like the way they did this. It would have been interesting to see them meet their demise, but there’s something mysterious about just never knowing.

For all his faults, Greer is very loyal. He’s not gonna leave Scott out there on his own. He goes back for him. How he has the physical stamina for what he does in this episode is beyond me.
He ends up walking this distance 4 times.

3 minutes on the clock, and Scott and Greer are still not back. The rescue team have given up and returned to the ship.
No point all of them getting stranded on the planet too.

Eli can see them on the scanner, but they’re not gonna quite make it.
This is a really tense climax. They build up some great tension.
Rush had a brilliant idea. He tells Eli to stick his hand into the event horizon of the wormhole. That should prevent it from closing, and hopefully Destiny from leaving.
That’s how the stargates in the milky way work, but these are older gates. Will it just chop off his arm?
The timer runs out, and the gate is still open.
They make it through. What a moment!

We hear a contemporary song play as we see them repair the CO23 scrubbers with the lime.
The air begins to flow, and we see the relief on everyone’s faces as they start to breathe properly again.

Chloe brings Scott some water. They share some of their mutual pain.

Now I was all set up to talk about how Scott takes advantage of Chloe, how he uses her pain as an excuse to get her into bed.
I could have sworn there was a scene at the end of this episode where they have sex, but it’s not there. We leave with them sitting and talking. Let’s face it, in his condition, Scott’s not up for anything physical right now.
So I suppose I’ll have to leave the discussion of that for when it actually happens. Probably in the next episode.
It’ll be interesting to see if my opinions of their relationship changes.

Anyway, the final shot shows some kind of alien shuttle that was docked with Destiny lift off and fly away. Oooh. Very intriguing.

And that was Air Part 3.

I love this three-part pilot. It’s probably the best opening to a TV show that I’ve ever seen. This is a really strong start.
I like how it focussed on survival rather than rushing to introduce a new big bad.
It had everything I was looking for in a Stargate show in a post-Battlestar Galactica world.
This show clearly took a lot of inspiration in both tone and shooting style from that one, but it never felt like a cheap copy. Stargate Universe set it’s own course, and I’m thrilled to travel the rest of this journey with you all over the coming episodes.

So we’re now done with the extended pilot and can launch into the rest of season 1. I first saw Air Parts 1, 2 and 3 on a DVD which I bought long before the show started airing in Australia, so for me, there was a big gap between this and the next episode.

Nerd Heaven is now officially back on a fortnightly schedule. That means there will be no episode next week, but I’ll be back on the 8th of February to talk about the episode “Darkness”.

There’s plenty more great stuff to come, so I hope you’ll join me for it.

Until then, have a great two weeks.
Live long and prosper.

Make it so.

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Stargate Universe Podcast “Air Parts 1 & 2” Detailed Analysis & Review

We begin a new era of the podcast as we look at Stargate Universe. SGU is the third TV series in the Stargate franchise, following SG-1 and Atlantis, and the 1994 movie. It was a divisive show, and still is to this day. It was a departure from the previous two shows in terms of tone, shooting style and story-telling. But it well-loved by its fans.

Today, I delve deep into the first two parts of the pilot and talk about how the pilot grabbed me with both hands and wouldn’t let go.

Check out all my Stargate Universe Podcasts

Transcript

Welcome to Nerd Heaven
I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars
And I am a Nerd.

This is episode 51 of the podcast. I’m really excited because today, we’re starting something brand new. We’re going to be looking at each episode of Stargate Universe, just as we’ve done with Star Trek Picard season 1 and Star Trek Discovery Season 3.

This is a very divisive show because it was a significant departure from the previous two Stargate TV shows, in terms of tone, shooting style, and story-telling. Stargate Universe was heavily influenced by Battlestar Galactica. It’s a much more character-driven show. It’s more serialised, and it’s got a darker more serious tone. 

The show is hardly what you’d call grimdark, but the characters have a lot more flaws than you’d usually expect from Stargate. But in my mind, that just gives them a lot of room for growth.

I’ve loved Stargate from the beginning. I was a big fan of the 1994 film, and I loved both SG-1 and Atlantis. This third series is actually a great launching on point, so if you decided long ago that Stargate wasn’t for you, it’s worth giving SGU a try.

Now a little note for those of you watching on youTube. I recorded the bulk of this episode a few months back before I decided to show live-action video on the youTube version of the podcast, so for the bulk of this week’s episode, and next week’s episode, you won’t have to look at my ugly mug. Lucky you. But by episode 3, it’ll all be back to normal.

The description on GateWorld reads
“When a research team is forced to evacuate their secret base, they find themselves on board a derelict Ancient vessel that is many galaxies away from Earth.”

This episode was written by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper
It was directed by Andy Mikita
And it first aired on the 2nd of October 2009.

Stargate Universe was not well-received by all fans. Many bemoaned the lack of humour, the darker grittier tone, and the more morally ambiguous characters.

But let me be very clear about this. Not everyone disliked the show. Many of us loved it, and still consider it our favourite Stargate show to this day. And I’m talking people who loved SG1 and Atlantis.

My first introduction to the show was the first three episodes edited together into an extended pilot movie on DVD. It would be months, maybe a year, before I would get to see the rest of season 1.

It’s hard to put into words just why I liked this show so much, but this three-part pilot really grabbed me with both hands and wouldn’t let go.

The gritty realistic tone of the show just felt like a breath of fresh air to me. And the wonder of them being on this ancient spaceship so far from home, with no idea what it was all about, that captures my imagination.

I love the character focus. SG1 and Atlantis both followed a similar pattern in terms of their characters. They both had a four-person team who went through the gate, plus a command and support staff back at their home base.

Universe broke way out of this mould. These people are not the best of the best. They’re not all military. They’re definitely not supposed to be on this ship. In that sense, I get quite a Farscape vibe from the show. These people are not a crew, they’re a collection of people who have been forced together under unusual circumstances and forced to live and struggle together.

So, of course, there’s going to be conflict.

Add to that, Colonel Young is no Jack O’Neill. He may not be that great an officer, and he admits this himself. But, he tries. He really does. And we see a lot of growth in the character over the two seasons.

And Doctor rush, well, he’s brilliant, but a very very flawed man.

Seriously, I eat this stuff up. It’s great.

But let’s actually look at this episode.

It begins in space. A ship jumps out of hyperspace and slowly approaches the camera as the credits roll.  We’ve never seen a ship like this before, but we’ll soon come to know her as destiny. 

You get to see a whole lot of detail on this ship as the camera zooms in. It’s nice to see a Stargate show in high definition. It’s all pretty ominous. The ship is deserted. But then we pan into the gate room and see the gate spinning. Then the wormhole engages and people start flying out of it. It’s a mysterious beginning. WE have no idea what it’s all about. This first episode makes very effective use of non-linear story-telling.

We keep flashing back and forth between the Destiny and the earlier stuff that explains how our characters got here. 

At this point, we’re wondering about these people. This is not your typical SG team. We’ve got military, some guy in glasses dressed as a civilian, and a teenager in a red tshirt. The opening makes us hungry to know more.

But we can tell straight away there is something ominous about Doctor Rush. Everyone else is panicking. But he’s looking around at this ship with a quiet lust and a dark satisfaction.

The last one to come through is Colonel Young. He hits his head badly and passes out after placing Lieutenant Scott in charge. We won’t see him, other than in flashbacks, until the second part when he wakes up.

The episode does a good job of showing visually, that is this a much older stargate. Earlier technology. The whole gate spins, which is different. And when the wormhole closes, it vents out all this steam, as if the gate struggles to cool itself.

The ship jumps back into hyperspace but we have no idea what’s going on at the time. We just see a weird stretching effect on the picture, and the characters react with the same confusion we do.

Then we flashback to Eli playing a video game. He solves a difficult puzzle. And the next thing you know, Jack O’Neil is knocking on his door with Doctor Rush.

It seems they embedded a top-secret problem in the game and Eli solved what nobody else could. Lucky him.

I love Jack’s reactions here when Eli disbelieves them and is hesitant to sign the non-disclosure agreement. Jack’s got no time for this. He can just beam Eli up to the ship. No worries. This is a risk, of course. But I guess, if he still doesn’t sign, nobody is gonna believe him. But I think Jack knows people well enough to know he’ll sing.

This ship is the Hammond, named after the late General Hammond.

We learn a little about Eli. We know he’s not unemployed because he’s lazy. He’s a genius, but his mother has health issues that require him to look after her.

The ship is leaving orbit to travel to another planet. But Eli would at least like some pants before they leave.

And this is a good reminder that while this show is much more dramatic and serious than SG1 or Atlantis, it DOES have humour. This line from Eli is pretty funny and nicely in line with the type of humour we often got from Jack O’Neill.

There’s a nice sequence where Eli watches a bunch of training videos, hosted by none other than Dr. Daniel Jackson. This is a good way to get up to speed with all things stargate, both for Eli and for the audience, who may not have watched the previous shows.

We also get some important backstory. Ancient ruins were found on an alien planet two years ago. There, they found a 9 symbols address. We know that gate addresses within the local galaxy contain 7 symbols. 8 symbol addresses call gates in another galaxy, like an area code.

But the stargate has nine chevrons. So what is the meaning of the ninth symbol? Nobody has ever managed to successfully dial a 9-symbol address.

Eli gets to call his mum on the phone. He tells her he’s doing some top-secret work for the air force.

She is up on her feet, walking around the house, and it looks like she’s wearing a uniform of some kind. So she’s got a job. So I’m confused as to the nature of her sickness, and why it prevents Eli from pursuing his career. It seems if he got a job, he’d be able to help pay for her medical expenses. Anyway, the air force are going to take care of him while he’s away.

And he meets Chloe for the first time.

She’s the only other person on this ship his age, and I think he immediately notices that she’s quite an attractive young woman.

He’s surprised to find out he’s quite the celebrity on this ship.

Anyway, these two characters are immediately pretty good together.

Then we jump back to the present. Eli and Rush discover they’re on a spaceship. Travelling faster than light, somehow, but not through conventional hyperspace. Rush has identified the ship as being ancient technology. Not only meaning it was built by the aliens we call the ancients, but that it is old. Really old.

And that’s when they notice the air is thin.

The life support system is failing on this ship. And that’s totally believable. How many millions of years has it been flying through space?

We meet Colonel Young through a flashback talking to his wife before he left to go on this mission. His career with the SGC is putting a lot of stress on his marriage. He’s always off-world and he can’t even tell her about it.

It’s obvious pretty early on that Colonel Young is not cut out of the same heroic mould as O’Neil, Shepherd and Mitchell. 

Our introduction to Scott comes with him having sex with a female officer in a storage room. Real classy Scott. It’s not always fair to judge people based on first impressions, but I have to say, this scene really colours the way I see his character throughout the show.

Eli, Chloe, her father, the senator, and Rush arrive on the planet that houses Icarus base.

The stargate on this planet doesn’t accept incoming wormholes, which is why they had to come here on a ship. It’s a plot convenience so we could have the scenes on the Hammond.

The puzzle Eli solved was the problem Rush has been working on for ages. He’s trying to figure out how to dial the 9 chevron address. Rush has been working on it for ages, and Eli has solved it.

Except it still doesn’t work.

This gate is powered by the planet’s core itself. Getting the energy output just right is the challenge.

While rush keeps trying to solve it, Eli is invited to a special dinner. And he’s happy to attend.

Meanwhile, we get a hint of Rush’s backstory. There was a woman who was in his life. Judging by his tears, she’s probably dead.

Senator Armstrong is pretty upset about them being on this ship and tries to order Scott to get them back to earth right away. But sometimes, you can’t just order things to be the way you want them.

Rush is trying to get life support back online, but Eli doesn’t trust what he’s doing. And emotions are very high. Grier is ready to shoot him. Especially given he blames rush for them being on the ship in the first place.

It’s a tense scene. In the end, the button does nothing, good or bad.

I wasn’t a fan of Grier at the beginning. He comes across so cocky. So sure of himself. He loves himself just a little too much. Of course, he’ll grow on me as the season progresses.

And he was actually in the brig back on Icarus. He was only just released because Icarus base is under attack by the Lucian alliance. And this is where we see that Samantha Carter is still in command of the Hammond. I believe she left Atlantis to take up this post.

This episode has a lot to do. In between all that is happening, it has to set up the backstory of a large cast of characters. Certainly a bigger cast than any stargate show before it.

We meet Johansen and Camille. Johansen, the medic on the ship was actually planning to leave to the stargate program before all this happened. And Camille is a civilian representative of the IOA, an international group that oversees the stargate program.

It’s nice to see the pyramid ships and death gliders in this first episode. They’re a remnant of SG1 and the milky way galaxy. So we won’t be seeing them moving forward.

Rush is desperate to figure out this nine symbol issue now. This planet has unique properties. They may not be able to get the address to work anywhere else, and this bombardment could literally cause the planet to blow up. This is Rush’s last chance to realise his life’s work.

They figure out, if this is not a power problem, maybe it’s an issue with the address. Maybe they’re using the wrong point of origin because the gate was meant to be dialled from somewhere else.

The gate is supposed to be dialling Earth to evacuate the base, but Rush cancels it so they can try dialling his 9 symbol address instead.

He just some justification for this beyond his own personal selfish need to complete his work. He says they can’t risk dialling earth. The energy of the explosions, if the core goes could be devastating if it travels through the wormhole. And that’s a fair point. But is there really a risk of that, or is it just a convenient excuse for Rush?

As young says, he could have dialled somewhere else, anywhere else in the Milky way.

And it works. The address connects. Whatever it leads to, they’ve established a connection.

In the end, they have to go through the wormhole to wherever it leads. Because anywhere is better than here. The planet is about to blow.

Rush finds a starmap detailing the ship’s journey. It began at Earth. IT left the galaxy, travelled past pegasus, past galaxy after galaxy. It’s impossibly far away. Several billion lightyears from home.

I got chills when I first watched this and realised just how far away they were.

Most of the people on base have to evacuate through the gate. But Colonel Talford beams up to the Hammond and remains in the milky way galaxy.

And the planet blows up, taking the Lucian alliance ships with it.

Back on Earth, Jack is working at the Pentagon, as he has since he left the day-to-day running of the SGC.

Walter is there with him. Not at the SGC.

Together, Carter and O’Neill realise that nobody came through the gate to earth. So where did they go?

Which takes us right back to the beginning of the episode, where they first came through the gate onto the ship.

And that’s the end of part 1.

So they’re gonna explore the ship, looking for whatever they can find. Scott is taking charge.

I like how they acknowledge that this ship is really old and there could be parts that are damaged or dangerous.

And then he looks at the woman he was having sex with in the closet and says “You’re James, right?”

Ouch.

She gives him a death stare and says “Yes, Lieutenant.”

Scott has had her, and now he’s ready for his next conquest. We’ll see who that is later.

I really feel for James in this moment. He’s clearly trying to pretend he doesn’t really know her, but it feels more than that, like he’s just brutally tossed her out. Of course, nobody is buying it. Grier can see exactly what’s being said here, and what’s not.

Scott finds a door he can’t open. He orders Eli to open it. The other side is a room open to vacuum. There’s a big hole in the bulkhead. Another great reminder of how old and un-maintained this ship is. It’s a dangerous place.

Meanwhile, Rush gets out a device. One part of it might be familiar, the stone. Yes, this is an ancient communication stone, like the one that first sent Daniel and Vala’s minds into the Ori galaxy back in SG1 season 9. Although the base plate is human technology, which is interesting.

This device allows two people to swap bodies across un-imaginable cosmic distances.

This was a very cool addition to Stargate Universe. It allows the crew, stranded on destiny, countless galaxies away, to communicate with people back home on Earth. Even have little visits home.

And we get a little cameo from Doctor Lee who appeared in both SG1 and Atlantis. Apparently, like most of the former SGC staff, he’s now posted at the Pentagon in Washington with Jack. I can’t help but wonder if the SGC is till operating in Chyanne Mountain. Remember, last we saw of Atlantis, it was on Earth, and Pegasus gates take precedence over milky way gates. Meaning Atlantis could be the new SGC.

We don’t know if the city ever returned to Pegasus. We know there were plans for it to happen in stories that were never shot, but in terms of on-screen canon, it’s a total mystery.

So Rush swaps bodies with Doctor Lee and is effectively now standing in a room in the pentagon.

After his conversation, which you’ll notice we don’t actually see, he goes and informs everybody that there is no hope of rescue. The only means to dial this ship from the milky way galaxy was destroyed. And then he says “in light of my knowledge and experience, General O’Neill has placed me in charge.”

What do you think was really said between Rush and O’Neill?

I don’t think they ever outright say it in this episode, but it becomes pretty clear as the season goes on that Rush is outright lying about being put in charge.

He seems pretty hesitant to allow senator Armstrong to use the stones himself.

But the good senator is not in good shape.

So Camille doesn’t recognise Rush’s authority. As the only IOA representative on the ship, she probably feels she should be in charge.

Most people want to focus on getting home. Rush says that may not even be possible. And he IS right. There’s no known way home right now. Their primary focus needs to be making this ship habitable and safe. That will keep them alive in the immediate term.

But Rush has his own reasons for not wanting to find a way home. He’s spent his entire career trying to get here. Going home is the last thing he wants. And as we get to know him better, we’ll learn that he’s not above putting his own needs before the needs of everybody else.

Scott is able to salvage a situation that on the brink of turning into a riot. Colonel Young has put him in charge of all military personnel. They are required to follow his orders. And, as he says, if anybody else gets out of line, we’ll lock you down. Because they can.

And this is the kind of “push people around because we have big guns” mentality that I don’t really like about the military. You see it in the movie Avatar, and you sometimes see it here. But I’m not sure it’s representative of the real military. Real-world military people are there to serve. And I think most of them probably take that responsibility very seriously. I don’t think they would naturally throw their weight around unless there was a real cause for it.

Anyway, Scott has Rush’s back for now, because he knows they need him, but he warns Rush to try dialling the gate back to earth. He already knows Rush has his own agenda.

Colonel Young finally wakes up. Johansen is treating him. She brings him up to speed on the situation. When he learns that Rush claims to be in charge, he won’t have a bar of it. But he can’t do much because he can’t feel his legs.

Johansen thinks it’s temporary, but she’s not a doctor as such, she’s a military medic.

We learn that Johansen’s tour of duty had ended. She had a scholarship to study something. She shouldn’t even be here. Bad luck. If only she’d left Icarus a day earlier.

We see a Kino for the first time.  A little ball floating down the corridor.

Eli found them. They’re remote control flying drones.

Eli named them, after a Russian rock band, I think. He says “after the Russian..” and then Scott cuts him off. But a google search for Kino Russian leads us to this band.

I’m not sure if there’s any significance to flying cameras, or if Eli just likes their music. If anybody knows more, let me know in a comment or an email to adam@adamdavidcollings.com

Anyway, they have a whole supply on them on the ship. They will prove useful to check out what’s on the other side of the stargate. Much like a MALP.

Rush has figured out that the CO2 scrubbers are failing. Which makes a lot of sense given how many millions of years old this ship is. I really like that they spend so much time in early season one dealing with stuff like this. Just struggling for the necessities of life on this ancient ship.

Unlike SG1 and Atlantis, which were quick to introduce the new “Big Bady guy” this show takes a different tack.

Senator Armstrong has a real problem. He’s badly bruised. If he takes his heart medication, he’ll bleed internally. But if he doesn’t take them, he could die anyway.

Chloe takes the pills, making the decision for him.

They have some serious problems related to air. First of all, they have to seal off all the leaks, to prevent loss of atmosphere. If they can do that, they’ll have a day or two before the build-up of CO2 kills them, due to the failing scrubbers. They need to replace the failed compound that treats the air.

The main air leak turns out to be one of the shuttles.

There’s a problem with the shuttle door. It can only be closed from inside the shuttle.

Rush is quick to say “somebody needs to go in there and close it”. Thus, sacrificing their life. Of course, you know he won’t volunteer to do it himself.

Eli has started vlogging using the Kino. Scott finds this annoying, but Eli points out this needs to be documented. Maybe someday, someone will find the ship and know what happened to them all. He’s right.

But he’s possibly having a little too much fun with it.

But why not? Let the guy have a little fun. He’s probably gonna be dead soon anyway. Eli’s interest in film-making will continue throughout the series.

Anyway, Scott’s point is that they should be focusing on staying alive, not leaving messages behind for after they’re dead.

They have a dilemma to solve. Who is going to give their life to seal the door?

Rush is immediately coldly pragmatic about it. He looks at the list of people, noting those who are injured. He wants to find out which ones have valuable skills that could come in useful.

I mean, he’s not wrong. And yet, he’s suggesting they find the expendable, he’s reducing people’s lives to an assessment of how useful they are to survival on this ship.

That’s cold. REALLY REALLY cold.

Young’s approach is to sacrifice himself. He can’t ask anybody to make a sacrifice like this (Although military personelle do sometimes order their people to their death). Scott won’t let Young sacrifice himself. He’s the leader and they need him. 

While everybody is arguing about it, Senator Armstrong leaves his room, armed with a gun. He’s going to do it. He’s probably going to die from his injuries anyway. He’s gonna close the door.

This is a heart-breaking moment as Chloe runs through the corridor screaming “Dad No!” as he gives his life to save everybody else.

It’s pretty powerful stuff.

What other show has ever portrayed a politician as so noble a hero. This breaks all the stereotypes.

So in her grief, Chloe goes and starts hitting Rush. She blames him, not entirely fairly. But his attempt to comfort her quickly turns into a justification of his innocence. Why none of this is his fault.

Rush admits that as human beings, everyone is invaluable. Which I agree with, but I’m not sure he really believes that.

Young is back on his feet now, against medical advice, but he needs to help solve their problems. He asks Camille to keep people calm. She’d be good at that.

Scott spends a little time sitting with Chloe, trying to comfort her.

He wants to hear about the senator. “The man died so I could live. I’d like to know more about him.”

I get on Scott’s case a bit in this episode, and I’ll have some more negative things to say about him, but I like this moment. I think, in this moment, he genuinely cares and wants to help Chloe.

Anyway, it’s a nice character scene.

Rush has learned the name of the ship is destiny. He’s also learned that it was sent out un-manned and automated. The plan was that they’d eventually use the gate to get to the ship once it was far enough out.

They never did. They probably learned to ascend before it happened.

Ascension, of course, is a process the ancients learned millennia ago, where they transform from physical beings into beings of energy and thought. They go to a higher plane of existence. We learn a lot about this in SG1 and Atlantis.

At this point, I’m wondering about how all this fits together in the timeline.

So I’ve looked it up.

The ancients were originally known as the Alterans. They came from another galaxy. A group of them left that galaxy, after a big divide between them and others who called themselves the Ori.

Between 50 and 30 million years BC, the eventually settled in the milky way galaxy, choosing to live on Earth as the first form of humanity. 

It was after this that they launched Destiny, before they had even seeded the milky way with stargates

Later, they built Atlantis and left for the Pegasus Galaxy.

So there was at least 20 million years between the launch of Destiny, and the time the Ancients ascended. In all that time, they never gated to the ship. Had it still not reached the location where they wanted to board, or were there other reasons?

We still don’t know why the ancients launched the ship. Not yet.

Riley has found the address to dial the gate back to earth. It wasn’t hard to find. Young assumes Rush already knew but didn’t tell anyone. They don’t know the point of origin so they’ll have to use trial and error. They have 36 tries, but they could run out of power before they find the right combination.

The issues become moot when the ship drops out of FTL and the gate starts dialling on its own.

This is part of what the ship is programmed to do.

Rush believes the ship has detected a stargate on a planet nearby that may have what they need.

The ancients sent other unmanned ships out before destiny to seed planets with stargates, so that the crew could easily visit planets once they arrived.

So this gives the show a familiar yet different concept. Destiny is on auto-pilot. It flies from system to system. There are stargates out there, which means the characters can still go through the gate and explore, just like any Stargate show, except the gates are much shorter range than those in the milky way and pegasus. And Destiny leaves orbit after a certain time limit, which adds a ticking-clock element.

This all makes it feel familiar and yet fresh. I love it.

Rush has made the reasonable assumption that whatever they need is on the other side of that wormhole. The kino tells them about the atmosphere of the planet on the other side.

There are four other gates in range. Rush is convinced this is the planet they need to look at, because this is the one the ship chose.

So Young assembles a team.

Palmer the geologist. Franklin, a civilian scientist, Rush, Scott, And Eli wants to go too.

Rush and Scott are both hesitant about Eli going. He’s not trained for this. But Young points out that in order to survive, everyone, regardless of training or position, are going to have to step up. Young needs to know what Eli is made of.

Eli really is the heart of this show. He’s the character we can identify with. He’s a normal guy, and he’s a fellow nerd. Plus, he’s the good moral down-to-earth bloke amongst all the melodrama of the other characters.

I really like him.

And that’s where part 2 ends, as they step through the gate.

As I said, I originally watched this 3-parter as one big movie, but I think I’ve yabbered on for long enough.

We’ll save part 3 for the next episode.

I should be out getting some steps for my walk to mordor challenge, but it’s so hot at the moment. Summer doesn’t usually hit Tasmania until January, and it’s definitely hit the last couple of days. Maybe I should swim to Mordor.

I will do another Walk To Mordor episode some time, but probably not for a little while.

If you’re new here, you might be interested to hear about my book series, Jewel of The Stars. Just like Stargate Universe, it focuses on a group of people trapped on a spaceship, who weren’t planning for a long-term voyage. Unlike Destiny, it’s a luxury cruise ship. They were only supposed to be on board for a week, but while they were away Earth fell to an alien invasion, so now they can’t go home. They’re travelling through un-explored space. They may be the last free humans in the galaxy.

The series is structured like a TV series. Seasons of 6 episode. Each episode is a 30,000 word novella, so while shorter than a novel, it’s still a decent read. There is an on-going story arc through the whole series, but I aim to make each book a satisfying experience in its own right.

You can check out the first episode for just 99 cents by going to books2read.com/jewel and that’s the number 2.

Or you can get a free prequel story by going to AdamDavidCollings.com/free

I’ll be back next week to talk about Air Part 3.

Until then

Have a great week

Live long and prosper.
Make it so.

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