Stargate Universe: Light

I'll just go ahead and spoil this because it needs to be known in order to understand this episode. In the last episode, the Destiny was sent flying into a star. The best character moments are given in the last hours before looming death. This is true for every story and Stargate Universe does this with a sci-fi flare that really brings out the superior acting abilities of these characters. SGU is just getting better and better and this episode shines a whole new Light on the series.

With the threat of impending doom at hand, we get a real handle on who these people actually are. I still like Young. He's a good guy and a fair leader. Scott lost a notch or two of respect from me. What he ended up doing I kind of saw coming, but I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Eli is still awesome. Greer became more awesome. Still don't know TJ that well. I'm a little disappointed in Chloe. And I was just about to rebuild my faith in Rush until the end when Young totally smashed that into the wall.

"Light" is definitely the best episode so far. It starts off on a depressing note and just drags you through that mud thinking "What!? It can't end this way! What's going to happen!?" until just the right moment when it lifts you up to the highest point it could possibly bring you. And the ending is no cop-out! There is no deus ex machina, no last-minute cavalry. In the end, the faith you started building in Rush transfers to the Destiny itself. The ship is the tenth character. Trust the ship.

In this episode we come to the logical conclusion of Scott's flirting with Chloe. With death on its way, they may never see each other again... so they make love before separating. The plan is to send a lottery of people to what they think may be a habitable planet via shuttle. Scott is guaranteed to go because he can fly the shuttle. Chloe's fate is left to chance. I'm disappointed in the characters for taking this route, but I am not disappointed in the writers for writing it that way. Now we have a nice triangle going on between Scott, Chloe and Eli who is clearly jealous of the predicament.

The way this episode ends is AMAZING! And this is a huge spoiler, so if you pushed the button hoping for only minor give-aways, stop reading now. How does our intrepid crew get out of their trajectory straight into the sun? THEY DON'T! The Destiny goes right through the star and uses the fusion energy created by it to replenish all the energy the ship needs to continue on its course at full power! The Destiny shut down all its systems in order to reroute all its power to the shields which carried it right through the gaseous, cataclysmic chaos of the burning star! I literally cheered right along with Rush when he looked out of the observation deck and laughed at the atmosphere of the sun!

In "Air" I questioned how Eli could use his iPhone without any way to charge it. In "Darkness" we found a charging pad that Eli could use, but we still couldn't figure out how the Destiny could charge itself. In "Light" we learn that the Destiny is powered by the very stars themselves! Brought along its millennia-long journey on solar power! Trust the ship, people! This is what "Light" teaches us. The Destiny itself will keep our crew alive.

If only we could trust Rush to tell us what's up...