Blockade (Stargate Universe)

"Blockade (Stargate Universe)"

"Blockade" is the nineteenth and penultimate episode of the second season of the military science fiction television series Stargate Universe. The episode originally aired on May 2, 2011 on Syfy in the United States. The episode was directed by, long time director and producer of the Stargate franchise, Andy Mikita. It was written by Linda McGibney.

In this episode, the drones create blockades at various stars the Destiny wishes to recharge at. Unable to engage in another battle with the drones, Eli (David Blue) comes up with the idea to recharge in a blue supergiant. However because of the intense heat that a blue supergiant puts out, it is extremely dangerous and requires both Eli and Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle) to stay behind to pilot the ship. The rest of the crew are forced to gate to a planet where their descendents once lived and scavenge for supplies as they await the fate of the Destiny.

Plot

Destiny attempts to recharge its reserves by flying into a star. However the drones have created a blockade forcing Destiny to return to FTL. Rush decides to go off Destiny's pre-determined path to find a suitable star, in-case the drones are now predicting their movements. The crew decide to drop out of FTL well before the star is in range so they do not have to return to FTL prematurely, which would damage the engines. However drones are in position to stop Destiny from reaching its target and once again it is forced to flee.

With reserves running low Destiny now only has one more chance to recharge before it is out of power. The crew inform Colonel Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips) that they will recharge off a blue supergiant as suggested by Eli. A blue supergiant is considerable much hotter than a red dwarf that the Destiny usually uses. Because it is a star that Destiny would not use, the drones would have no reason to be there. However because of the heat, the ship will not be habitable and many of its systems would shutdown. To combat this Eli and Rush will stay behind to pilot the ship manually in spacesuits whilst the rest of the crew gate to an off-world planet. The activation of the Stargate, means the drones will be able to track the off-world team which increases the danger.

Lisa Park (Jennifer Spence) elects to use the third suit and stay behind to save as many plants as possible. The crew gate to a now abandoned planet where their descendents inhabited once and break off into teams to gather supplies. However a drone appears and patrols the area. Sgt. Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) and Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith) are trapped in their respective building as they await the drone to leave. Complications arise as another drone arrives and Morrison (Vincent Gale), a member of the Destiny fearing his life attempts to dial to another planet. He is stopped by Lt. James but the second drone leaves Greer and Scott and makes its away to gate. Scott who has broken radio silence to inform James, is now under fire, but Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira) arrives and with the combined firepower, they destroy the drone.

As Destiny closes on the star, Lisa finds herself locked in the hydroponics room. Any over-ride command to unlock the door is disregarded by Destiny and with Eli and Rush's full attention needed to pilot the ship through the star, Park is instructed to tie herself down in the collection pool to protect herself while they are in the star. As the second drone approaches the Stargate and the off-world team, Lt. James activates her radio using herself as bait whilst Varro (Mike Dopud) fires a rocket destroying the drone.

Destiny makes it through the star, but as they exit, the hydroponics room succumbs to the immense heat. Eli makes his way to Lisa, as Destiny finally accepts the over-ride command. Eli rescues Lisa but she has succumbed to flash blindness. An immense vessel lands on the planet the off-world team is on and they are forced to return early. Rush informs Colonel Young that Eli's performance was brilliant, and that despite their reserves being at full capacity; the drones will not fall for that ruse again and it is unlikely a blue supergiant will be available again given their rarity.

Reception

"Blockade" was viewed by 0.993 million live viewers, resulting in a 0.7 Household rating, a 0.3 among adults 18–49.

Meredith Woerner from Io9 was mainly positive about the episode praising the dynamic between Eli and Rush. She says "Eli and Rush battle it out on the deck over what to do... It's a hard moment for Eli, but for the first time he had to make the hard decision for the greater good. It will be interesting to see how this changes his character (even if it's for only one more episode)." However she was much more critical of the rest of the episode, referring to the off-world situation calling it "very stereotypical Stargate" and was extremely disapproving of Morrison claiming it to be a "faceless jerk who freaks out and ruins things for everyone." Mike Moody from TVSquad praised the episode saying that "Impressive episodes like "Blockade" are making this cancellation business really hard to swallow." He echoed similar sentiments shared by Woerner stating that "One of the most joyous things about "Blockade" was watching Eli step up and take charge of what was arguably Destiny's most dangerous mission ever. I also loved seeing Rush slyly push Eli to stand up and believe in himself." Moody also gave insight into Rush's personality saying he has "come a long way from the uncaring lone wolf we met in the series pilot. Rush is the guy who can bury his emotions and make the hard decisions -- like potentially sacrificing someone to save the ship and the lives of its crew." John M. Guilfoil from Blast Magazine was also positive about the episode but was reminded that "after the action-packed Blockade episode, that left one crew member blind in another emotional performance, there's only one left before Universe goes away for good." Guilfoil praised the whole episodic arch saying that the "episodes "Common Descent" and "Epilogue" stack up with anything else on SyFy and did the "time travel" angle better than SG-1 and Atlantis ever did... In some weird loop of time, a copy of the Destiny arrived later and found "their people". The resulting interaction was the best piece of television the Stargate franchise has out out in years."

External links

• "Blockade" at Stargate wikia