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- TV Series: Stargate Universe
- Episode: Time
- Starring: Robert Carlyle, Louis Ferreira, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, David Blue, Alaina Huffman, and Jamil Walker Smith
- Written By: Robert C. Cooper
- Directed By: Robert C. Cooper
- Network: Syfy
- Series:
Stargate Universe: Time Review
Stargate Universe Goes Where Now? By
Rob Vaux
November 15, 2009
Stargate Universe Review
© Syfy/Bob Trate
As Stargate Universe ranges further abroad--exhausting the list of basic necessities its characters need to survive and pushing for new crises to engage them--things are bound to get a little weird. "Time" embraces the weirdness with all its heart, resulting in a flawed but interesting entry that demonstrates how the show might thrive as it moves forward. The initial threat comes right out of their standard playbook. After landing on the surface of the planet in search of food, an away team slowly succumbs to a horrible disease. The survivors find themselves set upon by insect-like predators with no way to dial the Stargate back to the Destiny.
That's part and parcel with the show's ethos: a gritty, all-too-real danger intended to emphasize the plausible threats of space travel. Then comes the twist: the Stargate's malfunction is caused by solar flares, which sends anything that enters it back through time. (Longtime fans will recognize the conceit from an early episode of the original Stargate SG-1.) As their options dwindle, they toss a kino through the gate, hoping it will reach the Destiny. Instead, it goes back to before they landed on the planet, leaving a clue for them to find when they arrive and possibly prevent them all from dying.
The concept holds a certain elegance and writer-director Robert C. Cooper clearly wants to avoid business as usual. When the team finds the kino, they take measures to avoid their own grisly doom, only to find it tougher to shake than they thought. The comparative novelty takes time to get going, however, and "Time" further muddies the waters by leaping back and forth between the first expedition and the subsequent one which discovers the kino. The structure struggles to hold up under those needs, resulting in some undue confusion about what exactly we're supposed to be frightened of.
Credit Cooper for keeping things as clear as he can--save for the finale, which arrives with only an inferred resolution--and for maintaining an ominous tone even when the crew has seemingly avoided their fate. He also invests the creatures on the planet with a palpable sense of terror, combining alien fears of the unknown with suitably grisly specifics. The time-paradox is fairly basic, but holds water well enough to justify its placement in the episode. It also provides "Time" with its greatest asset--emphasizing how dangerous things are out there without derailing the entire show.
Unfortunately, it still feels a little thin to carry a whole hour. "Time" develops very slowly, intended to invoke a feeling of creeping dread but further exacerbating the show's penchant for dullness. Other flaws center around similarly well-established complaints. Eli (David Blue) is, well, Eli: prattling on about movies and pop culture trivia while annoying the audience as much as the crew members. Then there's the time-honored Star Trek trap of sending almost all the established characters down to the planet's surface when one or two at most would suffice. (If they all die, the ship is pretty much screwed, isn't it?)
Such failings have grown less exasperating as the season continues, however; they're clearly going to be a part of the show and one can either accept them or find something else to watch. The remainder shows promise but can't quite assemble the pieces into a pleasing whole. That actually represents a step up for Stargate Universe, a sense that things can get better and the premise will eventually hit a groove. "Not bad" is the new "good" with this show, and "Time" is about as not-bad as you can get.
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I was very pleased with the episode on the whole. It actually felt like an episode of a scifi series, rather than a military soap opera set on a space ship.
I just had the feeling that when Rush picked up the skull and looked at it that it was his own skull he was holding, and I was right. It just seemed proper. And really creepy.
Kara S