The campaign to dial the 9th chevron continues on Earth before the Lucian Alliance can jump in and take control of Destiny. Rush is supposed to switch with one of the Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) on Earth, but has mysteriously hooked himself to the chair and uploaded his consciousness in to Destiny’s memory to be with Amanda. And of course, any attempt to dial carries the risk of blowing up the planet like it did before. Meanwhile Greer isn’t doing so well from his kidney donation.
Robert Picardo makes a guest appearance as Richard Woolsey to go through the gate and pull a bit of a Trojan horse trick on the Lucian Alliance to switch Lt. Scott with one of their officers (whom we find aboard Destiny chained to a chair.) The same trick is done with Col. Young and Administrator Halprin. Aren’t the stones great?! As Young impersonates the Lucian leader (with Lt. Scott doing his impersonation), some of the soldiers get a little suspicious.
I got a little confused as Rush and Amanda tried to connect Rush to the chair inside the computer’s virtual world. It seems Eli and Gin had a similar idea, but found it was dangerous. When he gets back, Eli asks him what the virtual side was like and Rush responds “Entirely… personal” leaving Eli with a rather puzzled look on his face. I’d love to read the script to find out what he was thinking.
In a bit of a subversive move, Tellford asks McKay if he’d be willing to serve aboard Destiny.
Back aboard Destiny, Gin tells Eli that Rush isn’t really out of the simulation and that Amanda keeps blocking her. Gin tries to tell Eli what to do, but gets pulled away. Ooooo – now we’re seeing a side of Amanda that we didn’t expect. Dr. Rush is no dummy, he figures it out and takes matters in his own hands by destroying the ship (which is cool, but not real.)
Things get a little sticky with Col. Young when he gets a call that the Administrator is on his way. As McKay dials the chevrons, the “other guys” close in and Young has to make the choice shut down the gate and turn himself in.
Rush finally confronts Amanda why she trapped him she says that the only parameters she programmed in to the simulation were that Rush loves her, but he already did. In order to get Rush out, Eli has to delete the memory where Amanda and Gin are stored.
At the close of the show, Col. Young and Lt. Scott come back to Destiny via the stones and admit the mission was a failure. Eli tells Rush that he had to put Gin and Amanda in quarantine (away from the ship and crew) to save Rush. I’m sure we’ll see them again someday – Oh wait, there’s only a few episodes left. Damn you SyFy Channel.
For some reason, I found this episode a little confusing to follow with several new characters, a stargate in a new location (perhaps I missed something at the beginning) and Rush being trapped inside the simulation. Do they have too many pieces moving as the show wraps up for my simple mind to follow? I know, it was only two story lines to follow, but it didn’t seem to flow quite right with me. Still good, but didn’t make me sit up and go “Oh wow!”
Rating: 7/10
