Malice

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Malice)

I wasn't quite sure how to react to this one. In some ways it shows our heroes being dedicated and heroic, and there are some real moments for them, such as 'Equations-For-Fun' Chloe (should've been an action figure!), working out how to turn Destiny around to go back for Rush. And Rush himself going between the greatest extremes from saving Parke's life when she's had a mine strapped to her back as a delaying tactic as mean man Simeon attempts to escape his prison. But then he also indulges in a cold dish of revenge, killing Simeon when he knows he has the information that could warn Earth of an impending Lucian Alliance attack. And so I liked some parts, but not others, and the momentum is lost from a strong start with all the aimless wandering on the planet (are they supposed to be following a trail, because they didn't seem to be!). On balance I suppose it just edges it, but it's close. But it's an episode which is all about revenge. We do have Scott warning Rush it won't do it, it won't bring back Amanda Perry (as expected at the end of last episode she was murdered by Simeon), and it won't make him feel better, but I'm not sure the episode goes along with that narrative - Rush seems quite content when he trudges late back to the 'gate to find he hasn't missed the boat after all. I thought Greer would be the one to get the villain as he always had such a feud with him, but he's also a soldier who follows orders and his orders were to bring back the target alive. I'm sure he would have happily injured him, and that's another unsettling thing about some of these characters, that they will do unethical things to suit their feelings. Greer wounds Simeon (justifiably, to slow him down), but is himself wounded in return and taken out of the game, which forces Scott to minister to him and return rather than complete his mission.

As much as Scott is a good soldier boy, he really does come across as young and naive sometimes - when he's counselling Rush and trying to show sympathy and explain how things have to be it does come across as someone very inexperienced in life trying to tell a much older, and if not wiser, certainly more experienced, man, the simple truths he knows. It's no wonder that Rush gets irritated with these people sometimes. At the same time Scott clearly shows compassion and though he may be clumsy in his words and ways, he gets points for effort. Still, he and the others, such as Lieutenant James, don't come across as good soldiers, drawn into traps, running out of time before the target is retrieved. But it was even more ridiculous for a scientist to go after such a deadly military enemy, too - that Rush is driven by strong feelings is only something that makes him more vulnerable, and of course, Simeon being the evil villain of the piece relishes giving him a pep talk over the radio (good job the batteries weren't flat at that point, or maybe not such a good job...). I could have imagined him lasting a few episodes more and really coming up with ways to mess with the Destiny crew, perhaps even feel out some of the remaining Lucian Alliance folks into joining him. But perhaps we didn't see that he did do that and came to realise Varo wasn't going to go along with anything against them and would in fact put a stop to it, and must have made the decision to get off the ship and make his way back to the stranded Alliance members. Not that that would have done him much good, being in this whole other galaxy, but maybe he didn't consider beyond escape.

It's not like he didn't do enough to cause pain and suffering as it was, upturning both Rush and Eli's worlds by killing the person that had become most dear to them. That Rush openly cries like a girl in front of Scott and Greer shows just how affected he's been by the loss of Amanda (or will it be...?), but Eli is confronted with issues he's never faced in his life before. He desperately wants revenge on the man that murdered Gin and though it doesn't take much from Colonel Young to slap him back down to reality when he's kitting up in desert combats and aching to go down to the planet and... probably get himself killed, you can't live and breathe a soldier's workplace all the time without taking on some of that militant attitude. There's a sub-theme running through the episode about masculinity with both Eli and Volker confronted by something they aren't strong enough to deal with - in Volker's case it's that he was unable to make any resistance when Parke was taken hostage by Simeon and just goes along with what he's told to do. As Young says to Eli, something about this isn't what he's made for, or trained for, and it's no shame that that's the case. Volker always has seemed like more of a worry-guts, but he's also got enough self-doubt to recognise he's failed to some degree. But what could he have done? Defiantly refused Simeon's demands to dial the Stargate? Get Parke and himself killed? You'd think he might have been able to work in some clever trick using the controls, just like Rush did by causing the stampede that ultimately weakened Simeon enough to execute him, and you get the impression Parke thinks he could have done more, too.

But I wouldn't say the episode is clearcut. There are good things to see in some characters - that Young is clearly making efforts in his resolution to work with Rush despite all his deceptions; TJ tirelessly working on the injured and dying Simeon left in his wake, and completely accepting the need for triage. It does make you wonder why surgeons weren't immediately drafted as you'd think they'd always have some on standby back on Earth ready to take over duties on serious medical cases, but for whatever reason TJ does it, and does her best to save as many as she can. Young deals well with Eli, not to mention Chloe being thrown in with the other scientists who are less than comfortable with someone who may be turning into one of the aliens that tried to take the ship, being given access to its systems in order to possibly override this ticking clock - that was something I didn't get, I'd thought they now had complete control over the ship. But I suppose if that was so they could simply head for the Milky Way and get back home = end of series! But maybe it wasn't explained before, or not well enough, that they are still at the mercy of Destiny, even if they can do a spot of steering or whatever. That Chloe was able to get the ship back to pick up Rush suggests they can control it, but whether that will be consistent or just in rare occasions when they can use Chloe in that way is yet to be determined (probably not the former, or again = series over!).

If this experience does produce a new level of teamwork and cooperation then it could be the dawn of a bold new era for the series (as short-lived as it's likely to be considering we're almost halfway through the final season), and it would be good to see it become a lot more Trekky where it's less about internal conflicts and more about solving this puzzle. Rush hits the nail on the head when he says Scott would think this message from the cosmos is actually God, but he's forgetting God already made contact through his son and by giving us the Bible, but at least the possibility was spoken openly. What else is there to say? It was shot very nicely, those stark desert locations look so empty and desolate - maybe the CGI dino-babies aren't the best, but CGI is always the thing that dates so quickly, and while it's one thing designing alien ships and space-scapes, it's quite another to get us to believe in a living creature. But they were fine for what they needed to be in the story: a means for Simeon to get his comeuppance recreating everyone's favourite moment from 'The Lion King.' At what cost to Earth we may find out, and though they keep saying he'll never tell them what they need to know, give Greer a few hours alone in a cell with him and he'd probably talk. Actually that's exactly the kind of immoral, unethical behaviour I don't like to see from 'hero' characters so I'm glad it didn't come to that. And Simeon is probably tough enough that he'd need the clever treatment - I suspect if Rush put his mind to it he could have winkled the man's secrets out through trickery and deception. But we'll never know now, will we?

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