Episode Title: "Subversion"
Writers: Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
Director: Alex Chapple
Previously on "Stargate Universe":
The crew of the Destiny was beset by an illness that caused them to suffer vivid hallucinations. T.J. (Alaina Huffman) discovered alien organisms in the bodies of each infected person, which caused the visions. However, before she could devise a cure, Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) and Ronald Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) both endangered the ship before they were finally subdued.
Story:
Dr. Rush has a dream in which he clandestinely meets with an alien group on Earth. Determining that the dreams are partial memories he picked up while swapping minds with Colonel Telford (Lou Diamond Philips), Rush approaches Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira) with his suspicions and the two concoct a plan to determine the truth. Using the communication stones, Rush swaps bodies with Telford again while Young soon follows him back to Earth and reveals the plan to General Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson).
On Earth, Dr. Rush successfully makes contact with the aliens — who turn out to be the Lucian Alliance — with Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) as his tail. However, Rush fails to give the Alliance the proper code and is promptly captured and removed from Earth. Back on the Destiny, Young seemingly tries to mend fences with Telford before revealing his suspicions. Despite some brutal interrogation techniques, Telford steadfastly denies the charges; until O'Neill visits the ship via the communications stones. Then Telford finally admits that he is working with the Lucian Alliance and angrily argues why he decided to aid them.
On the Lucian Alliance ship, Rush is tortured into revealing his name and he is later forced to help them get access to the Destiny through a specially-prepared Stargate. Meanwhile, O'Neill gives Young permission to do whatever it takes to get Telford to talk. Young seals Telford in a room and begins venting the air out, an action that could kill both Telford and Rush.
Breakdown:
"Stargate Universe" has gotten a lot of flack for breaking away so heavily from the established tone of "Stargate SG1" and Stargate Atlantis," but I've found it to be a refreshing change of pace. Let's face it, "Stargate Atlantis" was getting a little too campy at the end — who the hell thought it would be a good idea to make Richard Woolsey the new commander?!
That said, I was a fan of both previous "Stargate" series and it's always good to see "Stargate Universe" maintain the connection, with both Anderson and Shanks reprising their respective roles as O'Neill and Jackson.
Character development is one area that "Stargate Universe" could still use some work on. There's only a handful of interesting characters on the show. Fortunately, this episode focuses on three of the more intriguing ones.
The simmering tension between Young and Telford has been building all season, from issues of command to Telford's potential affair with Young's wife. The scene in a previous episode where Young beat the crap out of Telford was one of the best of the season. However, it seems like a waste to have Telford unmasked as an alien informer/collaborator.
In fact, by waiting so long to reveal that Telford even has a history with the Lucian Alliance, it makes it seem like this was a hastily-added last minute subplot. If this had been the plan from the beginning, there should have been hints a lot sooner than the episode used to pull that trigger.
Telford's specific role thus far in the series has been the voice of decent, both on the ship and on Earth. A lot of the conflict on the show has spun out of the Telford and Young interactions. If the series completely moves away from that dynamic, it could bring the show a little too close to the "we all get along" fantasy world of "Star Trek." And no, Camile Wray can't fill that role, even though I usually like Ming-Na, the actress who portrays her.
As for Dr. Rush, Robert Carlyle gets a lot to do in this episode. His scenes with the Lucian Alliance had some nice underplayed humor as he tried to bluff his way out of torture and stall for time. Rush remains interesting, even when caving under pressure.
The only real problem with the episode is the introduction of the threat, namely the Lucian Alliance — which was portrayed very ineffectually on "Stargate SG1." The basic analogy is this: imagine if someone brought back the Ferengi on "Star Trek" and expected you to take them seriously as main antagonists. The producers have a long way to go before they can make the Lucian Alliance into credible foes, when they chould have just as easily created a new enemy for that role without the comedic baggage.
Still, it's a good setup for the last two episodes of the season.
Crave Online Rating: 8 out of 10
