Seizure

 DVD, Stargate Universe S2 (Seizure)

I didn't have many memories of this particular season, especially the latter half, but one thing that stood out was having both Dr. McKay and Wolsey back, characters that originated in 'SG-1' and (eventually), both became main characters of 'Atlantis.' While I hadn't seen the latter series when I watched 'Universe' originally, I enjoyed those characters, particularly McKay, and having seen more of them since then, I have even more connection. It's a real treat whenever they can get characters from other 'Stargate' into a series, and due to the difficulty in doing that with this series (much like 'Voyager'), I appreciate it even more. However... The episode is a trifle messy, it throws in too many things for one episode and in consequence you have several scenes where people rattle off dialogue apace so it's not the most comfortable plot or easy to follow. It didn't help that I wasn't entirely sure whether I knew the Langarans or not - were they Colm Meaney's planet from 'Atlantis,' as they certainly had similar World War II era tech, but they could just as easily have come from the many races at that level of development in 'SG-1'? I felt like I recognised the name, but again, it was all happening so fast it was a challenge to keep up, which meant I wasn't getting into it as much as I'd like. (Looking back it seems they were Jonas Quinn's people).

Then you have the messiness of two key storylines playing out. Ordinarily that wouldn't be a problem, I'd even expect it - you jump between A and B plots to build anticipation for the story you're not showing, but in this case they were both such huge developments that they deserved to have all the running time to themselves. The main story was enough on its own with a typically wrongheaded move on the SGC's part (or Homeworld Command, or the IOC, or Earth in general - that was one of the confusing things, I wasn't clear on what the authority for this plan was), to override an ally's reservations and refusal to allow their planet to be a testing ground for another attempt at dialling Destiny. Since in both previous times the attempt itself destroyed the planet from which it was tried, you can understand the Legarans staunch attitude against it. Humans come across as incredibly arrogant and even bullying in their choice to trick them into a test, and all on the mistaken belief they're working with the Lucian Alliance, the tragedy of which is that actually they were good, solid allies! I will say the mechanics of doing that were superb: using the communication stones as a weapon to kidnap key personnel was a brilliant solution, nefarious as it was, and leaving aside the ethical implications for a moment, it was a great plan. But you can't leave the ethics aside and the only reason they don't succeed in the end is because suspicion falls on this sudden change of heart - they aren't as simple and green as our heroes have taken them for.

It's a very interesting situation from a viewer's perspective - we've seen characters do shady things for the greater good, or perhaps their greater good, before, Young is always pulling stunts like that (well, once in a while, and he usually feels bad afterwards, but he still does morally questionable things). I doubt there'll be much soul-searching after this episode, it seemed cut and dried for them and it ultimately failed. I suppose Young gets some credit for ending the test before it got to the Ninth Chevron, but then he didn't really have much choice with all those soldiers pointing weapons at them. It was either back down or set off a deadly firefight. They'd already done enough to damage relations to an extreme level and it will be a wonder if the Legarans ever trust them again. We know they're the 'good' guys, and we know McKay is a genius, but he can still be wrong and if there was any hint of discomfort for the host planet in complying with this experiment, they should never have done it, no matter the cost. They should have continued to apply diplomatic pressure, continued to be friendly and just hope that the Legaran scientists were able to come to understand what they were doing before the next Lucian Alliance attack (I'm still not sure what use Destiny is to the Alliance!). That was their in and they blew it for the sake of saving time.

Deception is also the theme of the other story where Dr. Amanda Perry and Rush have been able to work a way whereby he can come into her world through the Chair. This was another fairly messy plot as it was a little hard to follow what was actually happening. I don't mean Rush being trapped in this simulation which is simulating reality when he thinks he's exited the actual simulation, that's par for the course and almost glossed over. That's a shame because I've always loved episodes, be they Trek or 'Stargate,' that explore the idea of the unreality of reality, or the uncertainty of a reality. It's a fascinatingly creepy concept, but here it was tough to feel that since it's all being run by his girlfriend so she's not going to do anything to harm him. As such. Keeping him trapped in the simulation was obviously harm, but it seemed she wasn't keeping him there, her original parameters were... I know, it is a bit sloppy in the writing department. Boils down to them loving each other as the basis for the simulation and it turns out his affection is feigned? Or is it that he thinks he loves her, but doesn't? Or could it be a program malfunction? I don't know, it was all a bit hokey by that point and I was more anxious for Rush to be spending time with McKay - just imagine the two of them together, we were robbed!

That's one of those tantalising suggestions thrown out there: how about Rodney joining the Destiny if they can get people aboard? Obviously they didn't achieve the connection, but I'm sure they were floating the idea, dangling it in front of avid viewers to, one, boost interest, and two, prepare for him to join the cast if Season 3 had gone ahead. It's not like in 'Enterprise' where we'd have got Jeffrey Combs as Shran if Season 5 had happened, the situation's different here because McKay had already been spun off into a new 'Stargate' so we did at least get plenty of him (one of the best characters the franchise created), but it is a cruel reality that we never got to see that. Wolsey I can take or leave - I like Robert Picardo a lot, but his character wasn't generally much more than a bureaucrat, and while it was nice he became a full-time cast member during 'Atlantis' I wouldn't have been as excited for him to join the cast of 'Universe' had it continued, as much as it was great to see him again, and on his third 'Stargate' series. We have a nice little reference to Sheppard to show Telford knows him or has at least spoken to him at some point, and of course O'Neill gets mentioned several times, so it's nice for continuity and adds a further sense of 'Universe' being 'Stargate' and not just any sci-fi series. I noted Telford continues to try and gain control of Destiny in his need to return there, setting up McKay as potentially his scientist 'puppet,' perhaps in opposition to 'Young's' Rush, as they have some sort of understanding, at least. I can imagine that would have played out very interestingly had the series continued, though Rush would run rings round Rodney in the cunning stakes, as we can imagine!

At least Gin and Perry weren't permanently deleted as I thought was going to happen - Eli wouldn't erase her existence even to get Rush back, and he's bitter enough about them being rerouted to some separate system as it is. Whether that means they're out of the story for now and would have been brought back at a later date, I don't know. It does seem as if that storyline has been played out unless they could find a way to transfer their consciousness to new bodies - it just isn't the same going into a Holodeck to meet them on their terms. It could easily be just one of those threads the series might have left to come back to, but never had the chance. Otherwise it was a tentatively good episode, McKay behaves exactly as he always did, and is just as fun for it, perhaps the other 'Universe' characters get a little overshadowed by the guest stars, and as I said, the two stories didn't really compliment each other, but they're still doing interesting stuff and I'll keep saying: it was criminal they didn't get longer to tell their story.

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