the bright idea

Stargate Universe: 1x20 “Incursion, Part 2”

With the end of “Incursion” comes the end of the first season. Universe has been getting more and more action-heavy since the mid-season premiere, “Space.” “Incursion” really shows off Universe’s ability to showcase an entirely different kind of action than the rest of Stargate franchise. With limited gunfire and space battles, the show finds a way to keep me on the edge of my seat.

By the end of “Incursion,” there’s nearly no limit to directions the show can go in during the second season. Rumors say that someone doesn’t make it to season two, but even that isn’t set in stone yet. It could be TJ, Chloe, Young, Scott, Telford, or Greer. I’m sure the spoilers are out there with the answer, but I haven’t read them… and won’t until October when Universe returns. It seems like TJ had the worst luck at the end of the episode when she got shot several times in the chest. If she does survive, the baby definitely didn’t… which is a good thing in my book. I didn’t want her to be a mother character from the get-go. 

“Incursion” did so many things right for the show in the long-term that I don’t know where to start. Perhaps my favorite part of the the two-part finale has been the subplot with Eli and Chloe. It was a really interesting decision to remove Eli from the action. He definitely could have been of use in the control room. The scenes between these two were stellar in the second part of the episode. Chloe telling Eli that his friendship isn’t a “runner up prize” and Eli admitting his feelings for her easily jump into my top five Stargate character scenes. I want to say that the possibility of Chloe picking Eli romantically over Scott is done… but I really don’t know. “Incursion” also did a great job of showing off many of the ensemble characters. There’s a real, gritty, emotional connection to each and every member onboard.

Colonel Young has been stripped down to the bone over the course of the last few episodes of this season. We’re seeing a truly incapable leader for the first time in the Stargate franchise. We see him crack under the pressure, fail, and second guess himself. The struggle between he and Camille came to an all-time high during “Incursion.” Civilians and the military have always butted heads throughout the franchise, but the military side of the issue has never been so weak and human as it is in Universe. 

The filmmaking of the Stargate franchise has also reached a pinnacle by the end of “Incursion.” The show was so enormous and grand with beautiful exteriors of Destiny and gorgeous wide shots of the gate room. The scale was juxtaposed with tight, unstable shots of intimate character scenes. Half the experience of enjoying Universe is just looking at it. Bravo.

The scene where Telford and Kiva shoot one another was another highlight of “Incursion.” Will she make it to the season premiere? The question of what to do with the Alliance ‘invaders’ hasn’t been resolved either. How is the incursion going to end and what are we going to do with the Lucian characters (assuming we defeat them eventually)? I completely didn’t expect the season to end with this big of a cliffhanger and I’m really thrown off by it. Despite my surprise, “Incursion” is one of the best, if not THE best story of the entire series to date. The possibilities are endless for season two and I can’t wait for the ride to begin.

I’ll have a full retrospective on the entire first season in a few days. See you in the fall, Destiny.