I think I can safely say, if you didn't like last night's SGU, you won't be a fan of this series in general. We finally cracked open all the drama each character has been carrying around for weeks. About time!
Spoilers ahead...
Eli's mom has come down with a bad case of the television malady "losing the strength to live." You remember this disease from such classics as the third Star Wars prequel, or Rent. Is can't-go-on-itis lame. Yes — but at least it meant we got to hang out more with Eli, and watch him unravel as his mother goes down the tubes.
Moving on, Chloe is now a mind-controlled droid of the alien blue people, or she's turning into one of them, District 9 style, or else she's following in the footsteps of Fred from Angel. Either way, I'm much more interested in Chloe now. But the best part of the whole Chloe debacle is that Rush now prizes her like he does his secret bridge. Chloe can help him unlock the mysteries of the Destiny — so what does he do? He squirrels her away, convincing the rest of the crew that she's saved so he can keep her on his secret leash, and use her smarts to his advantage. This was great. Rush hasn't learned a damn thing from his earlier tampering with the Destiny bridge, which kind of caused Riley's death. His mistakes have only seemed to push him further down the secrecy tunnel, which is apparently covered in math scribblings, a la A Beautiful Mind. But it isn't beautiful, it's getting ugly. And Young is right on his tail. (Maybe.)
Actually Young seemed pretty out of it this episode. Don't think we didn't catch the shaky cam zoom in on his drink. We get it — downward spiral here we come. Sigh. Let's just hope he can out Rush, before he becomes the old Destiny boozehound that no one believes. Which I really fear they're going to do, so I'm trying my best to enjoy my sound-mind Young time while it's still here.
But let's get back to Eli. I really enjoy spending time with this character, probably because he's just a giant heart on a stick. Even when Rush suggested they put Chloe in the chair, Eli's sweet little protective streak showed yet again. It broke my heart to watching him try to explain to his mother who he really was. And the eventual pay off, Wray finagling his mother a stone swap onto the ship, was exceptionally tender. Just like the character.
And finally, let's talk about Wray. This was the first time we really got to see how Camille Wray deals with personal drama. Not just a crazy situation that's flung at her (which she's actually okay at handling, unless it's a mutiny). Turns out Wray is not so good at fixing her life, but very good at fixing others'. I really liked the end scene with Wray just sitting and staring in her room, aware of her partner's needs but unable to fulfill them, or even really talk to her about them. Thank goodness for Eli returning the favor, and suggesting the loved ones on Earth start a support group. Hopefully this isn't the end of it — I'd actually like to see what would happen to a Destiny member if they got dumped via stone.
All in all, I was happy to explore this drama, and I'm curious to see where it will take us next, it's been a long time waiting for certain members of the Destiny crew to start actually dealing with real emotional issues — they are usually too busy putting out bigger fires, or managing comically smaller tasks (you remember the jogging and yoga montage). It's about time we dug a little deeper inside these people. And while we're at it, maybe we could try that out on Angry Lucian, Ruggedly Handsom Lucian Guy and Hot Red-Headed Lucian.