Stargate Universe ”Awakening” Detailed Analysis & Review

Nerd heaven

This the Stargate Universe episode Awakening, we encounter an ancient seed ship and meet a new mysterious alien race. Exciting stuff. I had some technical difficulty while recording this episode. I lost the audio of most of it, and so had to re-record.

Despite that, let's dig in and get some enjoyment out of this episode.

Video Version: https://youtu.be/gHuLlgNzR6g

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Transcript

Welcome to Nerd Heaven

I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars

And I am a Nerd

This is episode 74 of the podcast.

Today, we’re talking about the Stargate Universe episode “Awakening”

The description on Gateworld reads

“Destiny encounters an Ancient seeder ship, which may hold the key to getting the crew home. But they soon find that the ship is not unoccupied.”

This episode was WRITTEN BY: Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie

It was DIRECTED BY: Andy Mikita

And it first aired on the 12th of October 2010/.

We left off last episode with Destiny approaching an object in space. It appears to be a ship. Eli notices the similarity in appearance to Destiny. It must be of ancient design.

Am I the only one that thinks it’s a bit premature of them to arm weapons and prepare to fire?

I guess they want to be cautious, given what they’ve been through with the blue aliens last season, but those who have seen BAbylon 5 will know this is just how the Earth Minbari war started.

Rush rightly predicts that Destiny is going to dock with the ship, as it does.

Astute viewers of Stargate Universe have probably already guessed what that ship is. The only other ancient ships we know of in this part of the universe are the seed ships. Those that travel ahead of destiny and place stargates on suitable planets.

There’s more than one of these seed ships. This one appears to have suffered some kind of failure.

As soon as they docked, Destiny started downloading all the latest information the seed ship has collected.

Rush wants to go over there and look around. Who wouldn’t? But he needs to be here to analyse the data that’s coming through. Honestly, that would also excite him.

And at this point in the recording, my microphone died. It just stopped working.

So..I’m now recording this for a second time, on a weekend I barely have time to record it once. I’m not even going to bother with video this time around.

So you’ll have to excuse any frustration in my voice.

Telford is wanting to be a part of things again, now that he’s finally himself. He’s still being briefed by homeworld security. I think there’s still a little bit of distrust going on with him.

It’s a very interesting dynamic having Telford on board the ship this season. I like it. But then I tend to like any kind of status quo shift.

Eli is pretty excited about the data. That’s before he even knows what it is.

Chloe is worried about TJ. She doesn’t fully appreciate what TJ means when she says her baby is in a better place.

Remember Chloe’s leg wound from the end of last season? It seemed to miraculously heal itself? Well now it’s almost completely better. TJ doesn’t know what to make of that.

And as always, I’m glad they’re picking up these threads. It felt a little like the finale set up all these dangling things that had been forgotten. I don’t always remember which ones get addressed. But the more times I watch this show, the more trust I have that the writers had a plan. Not everything gets dealt with immediately, but they don’t just forget this stuff.

Rush has made an excuse to go visit the bridge where he can review the data in private. He thinks he’s found a potential way home, but the image of his dead wife thinks he’s not going to share that information with anyone else.

Rush has never wanted to go home. But will he really withhold a means for the rest of them to return to Earth? Is he really that selfish?

He doesn’t know.

He thinking about it.

Telford is willing to acknowledge that Young is the commanding officer of this ship. But he wants to be part of the loop. He wants to share the burden of leadership because Young has been slipping. He’s had to carry an enormous responsibility and he’s understandably tired.

Is he being genuine here, or is he trying, subtlely to wrest control of the ship from Young? If so, he’s doing it in a very different way than Rush. A much more friendly way.

This new dynamic between the character is fascinating to watch. Remember, they used to be friends once. Now, Telford has become that person again, and Young is trying to put aside the amnity he had with the brainwashed Lucian Alliance Telford, and give his old friend the benefit of the doubt.

But it isn’t easy.

Rush is watching all of this with keen interest. Rush doesn’t think much of Telford either, but he’s probably weighing his options. Who is the better leader to back? Young or Telford?

Brody and Volker have got the power working on the seed ship.

Now that the lights are one, we get to see a bit more of the cool production design. The look of these ancient ships can be quite intricate.

Gin wants to help. She has experience with ancient technology, but Young will have none of it.

Varro wants to know how much longer they’ll be locked up. He and his people have cooperated with homeworld command. They’ve provided valuable intelligence on the Lucian Alliance to Earth.

Varro HAS been an ally to Young.

He wants to know honestly, what will it take for them to earth their freedom.

Young answer is they need to prove to him they’re not a threat.

When asked how they can do that, he honestly answers, I don’t think that you can.

Well….at least everyone knows where they stand.

But the truth is, at some point, Young is going to have to start trusting them. It’s a risk, but one that might just pay off.

It turns out, Camille told the prisoners about the seed ship. She feels they have a right to know what’s ging on. Young’s perspective is they’re prisoners. They don’t have any rights.

Young seems to be at odds with everyone today.

Camille expresses a similar sentiment to what I was just saying. They’re gonna have to learn to live with these people some time. But Young disagrees. No, we don’t.

I do get Young’s perspective. He wants to protect his crew. But he’s actually going against the will of his superiors back on earth now. Is there anyone Young is NOT fighting against at this point? He doesn’t want to risk his people on the whims of people on the other side of the universe. But...they’re still his superiors.

He’s forgotten one thing, though. Earth is at risk as well. The Lucian Alliance is making a move in the Milky Way galaxy.

We learn they’re planning a service for Riley, who died last episode. I’ve said it before, but I love it when they acknowledge the severity of redshirt deaths in shows like this. And yes, Riley was more than a redshirt, in the Original Star Trek sense. He was more of a semi-recurring guest. But still….

Eli has found something.

The seedship has significant power reserves. Enough for Destiny to use to dial the stargate back to earth.

So this was the secret Rush had already found. I guess he doesn’t have to decide whether the share it or not now. Eli was smart enough to figure it out himself.

The stargate factory is pretty cool.

Rush isn’t impressed, though. But then, a way home is kind of more important.

And that’s when Volker has a close encounter with our second major alien race in Stargate Universe. Once again, it’s a CGI creature, which, in my opinion, makes it significantly more exotic and alien than a human with bumps glued to their forehead. (and that’s nothing against Star Trek, I love all those bumpy races, but these aliens just suit SGU a lot better).

Anyway, the alien doesn’t pose much of a threat to Volker as it collapses on the floor. (of course there could be a threat from disease)

The plan was to get rid of the worst Lucian Alliance people and only keep those who were cooperative. But that doesn’t mean some of them aren’t still violent. One of them is pretty creepy. He seems to be getting close to potential rapist territory. Fortunately, TJ is a trained soldier and is able to put him in his place.

TJ is heading over to the seed ship to examine the sick alien. Young agrees to let Telford go along.

The alien isn’t dead. It appears to be breathing.

When TJ touches it it wakes up.

These aliens speak verbally, unlike the blue ones, but it’s clearly an unknown language.

I like the design. It’s bipedal but shorter than an average human. And the shape of the head is very different to ours, with round eyes. Its hands have very long claw like fingers.

Scott tries offering it some fruit. Turns out the alien doesn’t like the fruit any more than the humans do.

I wonder what they eat.

They’ve succeeded in initiating a power transfer between the two ships. That’s good news for everyone, well everyone except Rush.

Greer has found what look like alien eggs. The alien isn’t alone. Sounds like they’re more like space transport pods.

The gate is dialling.

But just as Eli says “we’re going home” the power transfer is interrupted.

Not only has the transfer to destiny stopped, it has now reversed. The seed ship is taking power from Destiny.

It’s the aliens. They’ve stunned Rush and are taking our power.

If their reserves get so low that they can’t do an FTL jump, there’ll be no way to recharge. They’re not near any stars right now.

Telford is trying to find a way to reverse the direction again, while Young wants to disconnect the ships. Telford’s plan is risky, because the aliens clearly don’t want the seed ship’s power drained.

They need Rush in the Destiny control room to figure out how to disconnect. But he’s disappeared. He’s probably still unconscious.

Telford is still their best hope at not being stranded.

But before he can complete it, the two ships disconnect. Eli coldn’t figure out how to do it, so how did it happen? Was it the aliens? Was it Rush?

And the answer is…. Rush.

He was on the bridge.

His wife asks, “Did you do it to save the crew, or to save your dream?”

Unfortunately, this means that Telford is stranded on the seed ship and Destiny is about to jump.

No time to send a shuttle over, I guess.

Imagine how Telford is feeling at that moment. Destiny has jumped, and is out of radio range. He’s completely alone on this ship, except for the aliens.

I guess he doesn’t have long to wonder what he’s gonna do with the rest of this life.

Given their number, he’s now their prisoner.

The mood on the ship is pretty grim. They came so close to being able to get home.

If Rush hadn’t disconnected them, Telford probably would have succeeded, and they’d be on Earth now.

And that’s where we leave it.

We’ll be picking up the threads of Telford and the Aliens, but I’m not sure when. Next week, we have more of a character-based episode, Pathogen.