Earth centred around the effect the outside influence of the SGC and its associates had on the crew of Destiny. The irresponsible decisions of Colonel Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips), who chose to go ahead with an untested plan to bring Destiny’s crew home, almost resulted in the destruction of Destiny. This episode symbolised Destiny becoming an independent entity, no longer taking orders from people back on Earth.
Time
This episode harks back to the original series of the franchise, Stargate SG1, where time travel and alternate realities were discussed and demonstrated, some methods even going forward into Stargate Atlantis. In Time we first see a Kino video of Eli (David Blue), Greer (Jamil Walker Smith), Chloe (Elyse Levesque), Rush (Robert Carlyle), TJ (Alaina Huffman), Scott (Brian J. Smith) and a few others as they explore a new planet, the Kino recording it as part of Eli’s documentary.
Nothing out of the ordinary happens at first, the team forages for food and supplies between laughing and joking. Things get unusual as Volker (Patrick Gilmore) and Chloe show symptoms of some form of illness. Scott first decides to leave, but TJ decides they cannot risk spreading whatever it is further and they remain on the planet.
At night there is gunfire, the gate won’t dial and in the chaos Chloe is shown falling dead to the ground with some form of snake sliding into her chest and out of her back. We then go to the present, where the crew of a new Destiny have found a Kino recording these previous events. TJ suggests quarantining people who went to the planet and those who met them in the gate room, just in case someone was infected with the virus.
They continue watching the recording, where Eli lists more of those killed in the night attack, and states something is wrong with the gate and they can’t even call Destiny on the radio. Scott is comatose after being bitten by one of the creatures, and Volker died from the disease. The team take cover in a cave, which they assume to be safer than out in the open.
Back in the present the people watching deal with their alternate reality, and it is decided that they will not return to the planet, until Chloe shows symptoms of the illness and collapses. Crew all over the ship are coming down with the illness, all of them people who had been to the planet, or people they had come in contact with. The first man in the recording died after twelve hours.
More and more people are coming down with this illness, meanwhile in the recording it is nightfall and Eli helps to defend the cave. The night vision of the Kino brings a new perspective, showing the creatures clearly as they attack. Part way through, Rush makes a run for it and goes through the gate, stating he will radio back if it is safe. He doesn’t.
In the present a virus is found in the water from the ice planet, which TJ tested as the only thing each member of the crew had come into contact with. Luckily, the recording seems to hold the key, in the form of Scott, who is the only survivor. His illness is completely gone. After talking to the Kino, Scott sends it through the gate hoping it will reach Destiny, however due to a solar flare interrupting the wormhole the Kino ended up going back in time, landing on the same planet before the crew of Destiny arrived. Greer, Young and Scott return to the planet to capture one of the creatures alive so that TJ can test its venom for a cure to the infectious virus. Meanwhile, people on the ship begin to die, starting with James (Julia Benson).
Review
This script brings together all three series, showing that they all hold the same base of physics. Time travel in this manner was demonstrated firstly in SG1, where it proceeded to make various appearances throughout the series, and cropped up again in Atlantis. Now it has been introduced to Universe with a superbly written script full of emotional twists and turns. It was also a wise decision to leave the end of the episode open, not showing the Destiny crew finding the Kino for a third time because that would be unnecessary, and would ultimately detract from the emotional struggles we have seen.
David Blue was the star of this episode, his character, Eli, growing up quickly both in the past and the present. On the Kino recording it was his childish desire to record the documentary that almost saved them in the present, and on screen his character was forced to grow up as danger sprung up around him. He had some emotional moments with TJ and Rush on the planet before he was discovered dead by Scott the next day. On Destiny he was even more emotional when Chloe fell ill, giving a tear wrenching confession of love, friendship and support on her deathbed.
Robert Carlyle showed more of Rush’s strange humour, and his patience with Eli’s immaturity. On Destiny he is mainly in the background, however he is the one who spots the possible cure for the disease and puts forward that a team must go back. Alaina Huffman also has a main role as doctor in past and present situations, on the planet where TJ shares tender moments with Eli as she watches over Scott and tries to think of a cure, and on Destiny, where she emotionally falls apart while watching people die.
Jamil Walker Smith also gives a memorable performance, on the planet where Greer bravely dies defending the cave and people within, and on Destiny, where he figures out early on that he failed to protect the team and none of them survived. Brian J. Smith shows Scott’s anguish on the planet as he wakes up to find Eli and the rest of his friends lying dead around him before sending the Kino through the gate. In the present he deals with his worry for Chloe as he returns to the planet to find a cure for her and the other crew members, and is further forced to deal with the news that Chloe died in his absence. Jennifer Spencer also had a role in this episode as her character, Lisa Park, offered both medical and emotional support to TJ on board Destiny.
This planet was like a rainforest; surrounded by trees and vines with heavy downpours. The creatures were very snake-like in design, almost harking back to the Goa’uld, though they were larger and more silver in colour. The gate effect used to disrupt the wormhole is an old effect, seen in both Stargate SG1 and Atlantis. We also saw a new room of the ship, a large open hall near the designated sickbay, where bedrolls were laid out for the sick. The newest effect we were introduced to, however, was the Kino’s night vision, which showed the forest in negative at night, making the detail of surroundings almost white.
This episode, like Earth, was a stand alone episode with no effect on future episodes. Its only connection is to Water, due to the virus. Since it is out of time, the emotional maturity Eli acquired will be lost, as will his openness with his emotional feelings towards Chloe, however this episode explored his potential for growth within the series.
After Time comes Life.
Zoe Runcorn - My name is Zoe Runcorn. In 2010 I graduated from The University of Wales, Lampeter with an English with Creative Writing BA and am ...
