Episode Title: "Cloverdale"
Writer: Brad Wright
Director: Alex Chapple
Previously on "Stargate Universe":
After Chloe (Elyse Levesque) was repeatedly found in different parts of the ship with no memory of how she got there, T.J. (Alaina Huffman) and the rest of the crew on the Destiny realized that she was under the influence of the aliens that had captured her months before. Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) took advantage of the situation by using Chloe's newfound genus to solve a difficult equation before using her condition to deflect Colonel Young's (Louis Ferreira) suspicion that Rush had gained control of the ship.
When Chloe was faced with isolation and quarantine, Rush proposed using the Ancients' control chair to burn out the alien DNA in her body. Chloe made it through the procedure without any apparent side effects. But Rush later visited her and confirmed her fears that the chair did nothing for her. The two of them decided to keep that secret between them.
Story:
On Earth, Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith) and Sgt. Ronald Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) get off of a bus and arrive in Scott's hometown of Cloverdale. Scott spots his father and friends across the street and is immediately hit by a car as he tries to cross. On an alien world, Scott awakens to find himself surround by the crew of the Destiny who try to treat his left arm, which has been consumed by an alien infection. He screams at T.J. to get her to burn off the infected area before he passes out and finds himself back in Cloverdale with no apparent memory of his real life. Scott appears to be largely unhurt from the car accident and warmly greets his father, Colonel Young and his prospective brother-in-law, Eli (David Blue).
At his family home, Scott meets up with his bride-to-be, Chloe as they make plans to see a movie together the night before their wedding. Back in reality, Rush contacts the Destiny and alerts Young that the situation is so serious that they may need to amputate Scott's arm. At the movie, the characters in a sci-fi film seem to be analogs of Scott and Chloe, which causes Scott to tense up. As the character on the screen is infected by the alien plant, Scott rushes out of the theater before Chloe catches up to him. She then delivers him to his bachelor party. At the party, Scott gets drunk and makes an awkward pass at his ex-girlfriend Vanessa (Julia Benson) before backing off and insisting that he was kidding. Telford (Lou Diamond Philips) shows up as a sheriff and a friend of the family, who makes sure that Scott gets home safely.
Back in reality, the crew prepare to cut off Scott's arm until they discover that the infection has spread to his blood stream. With the timer on the ship running down before the auto pilot will take them to their next destination, Greer mobilizes a perimeter to keep the advancing alien plants away from the gate and give T.J. more time to find a cure for Scott. In Cloverdale, Chloe scolds Scott for drinking so much on the night before and accuses him of getting cold feet before he defuses the situation with a joke. He then meets with Rush, who will serve as the justice of the peace at his wedding. Back on the alien world, the non-combatant civilians are ordered back to the ship, but Chloe slips away and allows herself to be infected rather than leave Scott behind.
As the wedding grows closer in his dream, Scott is seized by a fear that he doesn't understand. In reality, Rush realizes that Chloe's previous alien infection has made her immune to this one, which he shares with T.J.. They improvise a blood transfusion with Scott while fully aware that they are simply trading one infection for another. Meanwhile, the situation with the planets is so desperate that only Greer is left to defend Scott and Chloe by constantly redialing the stargate. In his dream, Scott sees Chloe's half-transformed alien face before he awakens from the vision and shatters the blue alien fungus on his arm. The three of them then barely make it through the stargate before the timer expires and the Destiny reenters FTL.
Although he is glad they survived, Young immediately orders Scott and Chloe to be held in isolation and then ominously hints he may have to take more serious measures as well. As they are left alone, Chloe takes Scott's hand and holds it tight.
Breakdown:
I suspect that this might have been a partially Earth-based episode in order to keep the budget down, but the story worked and it was actually an interesting look at how Scott views the different people in his life. Young is his surrogate father, Eli is a potential brother, Chloe's his lover and even Rush was there as a surly and arrogant bastard who was still necessary if not liked. What made it even more intriguing was the way that these characters in his head voiced Scott's fears that he's not ready to commit to Chloe and that on some level he may sense the alien presence in her. The scene in which Scott freaked out about the movie that paralleled his infection was also one of the more effective bits of exposition I've seen in a while. We actually never get to see the real version of that scene. Just Scott's interpretation of it.
There was also a darker side to Scott's personality that was shown off in the dream. The way he treated Vanessa in the bar was flat out cruel. And maybe he is a womanizer. The Eli in his dream told Scott that he wasn't a one woman guy and challenged Scott's assertion that he would raise a family with Chloe by pointing out that even Scott didn't seem to believe what he was saying.
Speaking of Eli, there was a great moment on the alien planet where he was just completely exasperated that Chloe infected herself to stay with Scott. There was definitely concern in his face, but I also read some anger in there. Part of that has to come from Eli's own romantically inclined feelings for her. He really does care about her, otherwise he wouldn't have risked his life to save her in the last season finale. But what she did seemingly made the statement "look how much I love this guy more than I care for you." In her defense, that's probably not how she meant it and she was probably only thinking about Scott. But the look of betrayal on Eli's face was some of David Blue's best work on the series. Eli was so wired over the entire incident that he barely managed a "bye" to Chloe before leaving the planet.
This episode also had Greer's biggest hero moment to date. He went above and beyond in his defense of Scott and Chloe and he seems to finally be working his way to becoming a more rounded character. Greer's previous standout episode was last season's glimpse into his past and he's primarily been known for being the angry guy who doesn't like the civilians very much. But this story demonstrated that Greer could handle the hero burden by himself and may also have elevated his standing on the show.
Rush was also uncharacteristically concerned about Scott's well being in this episode. Of course, he was also the first to suggest that they all leave him behind as the alien planets advanced on them. But those are still baby steps towards Rush getting a real heart that will inevitably grow three sizes if they ever do a "Stargate Universe" Christmas special.
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This was another solid episode of the current season, which is quickly out pacing not only the first season, but all of the other "Stargate" series.
Crave Online Rating: 8 out of 10.
