"Air" | |
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Stargate Universe episodes | |
Episode nos. | Season 1 Episodes 1-3 |
Directed by | Andy Mikita |
Written by | Robert C. Cooper & Brad Wright |
Featured music | "Breathe" by Alexi Murdoch |
Production code | 101–103 |
Original air dates | October 2, 2009 (Parts 1 & 2) October 9, 2009 (Part 3) |
Guest appearances | |
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"Air" is the three-part opening episode of the military science fiction television series Stargate Universe . The first two parts aired on Syfy in the United States on October 2, 2009, while the third part aired on October 9. In Canada, SPACE aired the first two in tandem with Syfy. Sky1 broadcast the first two parts on October 6, and the third on October 13, whilst Sci Fi Australia aired the two-parter on October 9, and the third part on October 16. "Air" was written by series creators Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright, and was directed by Andy Mikita.
In the episode a group of evacuees from Icarus Base, an offworld human outpost that fell under attack end up on the Destiny, an Ancient starship located several billion light-years from Earth. Their first problems involve the ship's failing life support system, where the new crew are tasked to fix it. The episode features some of the well known characters from Stargate SG-1 , a previous series in the Stargate franchise. Parts of the third part are filmed on location in White Sands, New Mexico, which doubled as a desert planet. The first two parts received generally positive reviews, mainly commending the cast and the style of the episode. The premiere was seen by over 2.3 million Americans, and was considered a ratings success in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The majority of the first part takes place in flashbacks while a team of ill-equipped soldiers and scientists arrive at the Destiny. Eli Wallace (David Blue) solves a mathematical equation in an online computer game, planted there by Stargate Command. For his achievement, Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) and Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) recruit Wallace to the Icarus program, which is attempting to dial a nine-chevron address with the Stargate. Wallace's solution is the key to controlling the power levels for the Gate. He is taken aboard the Hammond, an Earth Daedalus-class starship, to be taken to the planet where Icarus is set up. During the journey, he meets Chloe Armstrong (Elyse Levesque), daughter of Senator Alan Armstrong (Christopher McDonald).
At the top-secret Icarus Base, the group is introduced to Colonel Everett Young (Louis Ferreira), Colonel David Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips), and First Lieutenant Matthew Scott (Brian J. Smith). Wallace's solution is tested but fails to establish a lock. During dinner, three Ha'tak vessels, believed to be under the control of the Lucian Alliance, attack the planet. An evacuation is begun while the Hammond which is crewed by Colonel Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and a squadron of F-302s led by Colonel Telford battle the enemy. Rush, desperate to see his project succeed, enlists Wallace's aid in figuring out what went wrong. Wallace suggests that the final symbol of the address is wrong, and that they should use the symbol for Earth. Rush aborts the dialing sequence to Earth, arguing that the energy release from the exploding planet could follow them through the Gate, and tests the theory, which succeeds. With the planet's unstable core about to go critical and lacking any other means of escape, the remaining survivors in the base (roughly 80 people) are forced to risk heading to an unknown destination. The planet explodes shortly after everyone is evacuated, destroying the three Ha'tak vessels. The Hammond survives, but the fate of those in the base is a mystery to Stargate Command.
The unlikely expedition team ends up on the Destiny, an Ancient starship located billions of light-years from Earth. The ship jumps to FTL shortly after the Stargate shuts down. Rush uses an Ancient communication device to contact Stargate command, taking control of Bill Lee (Bill Dow). When he returns, Rush claims that O'Neill put him in charge of the expedition, though the others are not quick to believe him. Meanwhile, the ship, having suffered millennia of wear and tear, has a failing life support system and an inadequately sealed hull breach in one of the shuttles, which can be sealed only from inside the shuttle. Senator Armstrong learns of this and, already badly injured, sacrifices his life to seal the shuttle off and buy the team time. However, the main life support is not so easily fixed. The CO2 scrubbers are decayed beyond repair, and within a day carbon dioxide poisoning will kill everyone. The Destiny, apparently aware of the problem, drops out of FTL and dials the Stargate to a desert planet with the necessary materials to repair the scrubbers. Four other locations are listed but locked out by the dialing computer. A 12-hour countdown begins, at the end of which the Destiny will continue on its journey automatically.
On the desert planet, the search begins for a suitable source of lime to filter the air on Destiny. The sand itself has a small concentration of calcite, but not enough to be useful, so the team starts looking for a dry lake bed, which should have heavy deposits of lime. The group splits into two: Rush, Scott and Ronald Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) form one group, while Wallace leads the remainder in a different direction. After several failed tests, those in Wallace's group give up on the search, instead intending to try out the Stargate addresses the Destiny rejected. When Wallace informs the others, Scott sends Rush and Greer back to stop them while he continues searching. They make it back in time to stop Franklin (Mark Burgess), the member carrying the dialing remote, but the other two make it through. Rush is vehemently against the idea of exploring the other addresses, believing that the ship locked them out for a reason, and several failed attempts to contact the two lost expedition members seem to support his concerns.
On the ship, Chloe and Young use the communication stones to contact Earth, allowing Chloe to inform her mother of her situation and Senator Armstrong's death. Young, meanwhile, is encouraged by O'Neill to repair the ship; in spite of his protests that their expedition is not cut out for it, O'Neill insists that no one really is ready for their kind of work.
In his search for the lime, Scott discovers a strange, swirling cloud of dust that absorbs moisture. He follows it until he collapses in front of a lake bed. He has a brief hallucination where he engages in a spiritual conversation with a priest he knew on Earth. Meanwhile, the cloud moves up to him and condenses into water, waking him. Realizing what he's found, Scott shovels as much of the lime as possible into his bag and makes his way to the Gate. Greer, having set out to look for him, finds him along the way and helps carry the lime. Wallace sticks his arm into the wormhole to delay the countdown. The team returns with the lime successfully, which is used to repair the CO2 scrubbers. In the end, a recovering Scott tells Chloe that his parents and the priest died when he was young, and that the best way to deal with the grief is to keep moving forward. As everyone starts to breathe easier, a ship detaches itself from the Destiny.
"Air" first surfaced in December 2008 as a working title for the opening episode of Universe, where it was suggested to be a three-parter, according to executive producer Joseph Mallozzi. [1] With casting concerned, several of the previous SG-1 characters made an appearance for the series premiere, including Michael Shanks, who reprises his role as Doctor Daniel Jackson in a cameo, Richard Dean Anderson as General Jack O'Neill, Gary Jones as Walter Harriman, [2] Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter, [3] Bill Dow as Doctor Bill Lee and Martin Christopher as Kevin Marks. Christopher McDonald of Happy Gilmore and Requiem for a Dream fame made a "pivotal" guest appearance as Senator Alan Armstrong, father of series regular, Chloe Armstrong (Elyse Levesque). Another guest star is Ona Grauer, previously known for playing the Ancient Ayiana in Stargate SG-1's "Frozen" and Stargate Atlantis's "Rising". [4]
"Air" was directed by Andy Mikita. When filming the first three episodes, Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper decided to hire the Director of Photography from The Shield . [5] The shooting for the episode started on February 18, 2009. [6] The show is filmed on stages 2, 4 (Destiny set) and 5 (Icarus Base set) at The Bridge Studios [7] [8] Previous franchise series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis were filmed on stage 5 and 6. [6] "Air (Part 3)" was filmed in and around Alamogordo, New Mexico from late April through early May 2009. [9] A couple of scenes were deleted from the actual outtake, the two most notable being a scene with Eli Wallace (David Blue) on the desert planet and a flashbacks scene featuring Chloe Armstrong and her mother. [10] The game Wallace played when solving the puzzle was a preview shot of Stargate Worlds , a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the Stargate franchise. The game was referenced throughout the pilot. The announcement of Stargate Worlds marked the first bit of news published on the game's official website since May 26, 2009. [11]
The first two parts received a total household rating of 1.7, which represents 2.35 million viewers on Syfy, which was the best franchise's season premiere since the second season premiere of Stargate Atlantis . Among the figures, 1.32 million were viewed by adults in the 25-54 age demographic, and 1.12 million among the 18-49 demographic. [5] Part 3 gathered 2.4 million viewers, a small increase from the season premiere. In both cases, the ratings were higher than Fox's Dollhouse , which aired on the same time slot. [12] Plus the 7 DVR, the second part reached a household rating of 2.1, totalling 2.99 million viewers, including 1.7 million Adults 18-49 and 1.85 million Adults 25–54. This makes "Air" the most viewed Stargate episode since March 2005. [13]
After its premiere in Canada, the first two parts were seen by 565,000, which made it SPACE's most viewed single episode in its run. This also made Stargate Universe the number 1 non-sports speciality program of the day. Including the ratings from two additional airings the following day also totalled the ratings up to 2.3 million, comparable to the US release. [14] In the United Kingdom, the first part was seen by 1.165 million viewers, while the second part were seen by 1.061 million, placing Stargate Universe the first and second most viewed series the week it aired on Sky1, [15] and the UK's highest Stargate audience in five years. [16] The third part was seen by 765,000 viewers, again making it the most watched programme on the multichannel TV station. [17] The Sci Fi Channel Australia premiere of the episode attracted 149,000 viewers, becoming the second most watched episode that week, while being bested by a soccer match. [18] [19]
"SGU marries many familiar sci-fi conventions with relatable emotional stories to create a non-genre spectacular. If you root for the underdog, you'll love this completely enthralling, heartbreaking and inspiring epic.
Curt Wagner of Chicago Now [20]
Reviews of the premiere were generally positive. According to Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the premiere has received a "generally favorable" score of 61, based on 9 reviews. [21] In all three cases the film ranks lowest in the series. Joseph Dilworth Jr. of Pop Culture Zoo praised the premiere of Stargate Universe, stating that it "feels less like a weekly TV series and much more like the beginning of a twenty part long form story," and is also described as a cross between Star Trek: Voyager , Battlestar Galactica and Firefly , though the series seems to be a spiritual successor to Battlestar. Dilworth also praised the cast, stating it as "one of the finest ensemble casts I've seen in a long time." [22] Curt Wagner of Chicago Now rated the episode 4 stars out of four, stating that it shares the optimism of Star Trek: Voyager, and the grimness of Battlestar Galactica, as well as playing homage to its franchise forebears SG-1 and Atlantis, but looks and feels new. [20] IGN reviewer Ramsey Isler gave the episode 8.8 out of 10, starting his review with "Yes, it's another Stargate show. But this might become the best of them all." Further saying the premiere had its "own unique tone." [23]
Being one of the few Stargate franchise releases that were well received by major media publishers, Mike Hale from The New York Times was generally positive towards the pilot episodes, saying the Stargate franchise was "catching up" with the long-running Star Trek franchise. Hale also agreed with Syfy's promotion of it being an "edgier" Stargate. [24] The Boston Globe reviewer Joanna Weiss also reacted positively towards the pilot episodes, saying it felt like "early Lost ", while the story arc followed the patterns of "Battlestar Galactica". [25] Mark Wilson from About.com gave the episode four-and-a-half stars out of 5, saying Universe accomplishes what Stargate Atlantis was not able to, and said it was "exceptionally well made" compared to other shows. [26] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette both praised the show, calling it "intriguing", for not abandoning its premise as Star Trek: Voyager did and criticized it by pointing out that the characters spend "far too much time wandering a desert planet" in "Air (Part 3)". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette summarized their review by saying that, "[g]iven time, Stargate Universe may become worth watching if it develops its characters and continues to mine its premise for stories." [27] David Hinckley, a reviewer from The New York Daily News gave the episodes four-out-of-five stars, saying that "Eli's not the only one playing a high-stakes game here." [28]
Among reviewers who were negative towards the new installments was Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune . The reviewer wrote that the "gloomy, underwhelming Universe seems to have ditched many of the elements that the previous "Stargate" shows had, notably camaraderie and a sense of adventure, without adding much in the way of narrative suspense or complexity." The only characters she felt were "worth following" were Eli Wallace (David Blue) and Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle). [29] Vince Horiuchi from The Salt Lake Tribune started the review with "Syfy Channel -- is one of the worst displays of the genre on television," and attacked the television series, "Battlestar Galactica". Having no interest in the previous Stargate series' including the feature film, while not overall positive to the series, he said the cast and characters were a "little more likable and interesting." [30] Reviewer Laura Freis from Variety magazine concluded her review with "Sure, SGU is grittier, darker and psychologically deeper than previous versions. But so far, it's also a lot less fun." While negative towards the show, she called Robert Carlyle an "excellent" actor. [31] The Hollywood Reporter noted a lack of "intelligent" and "surprising stories" and was overall negative towards Stargate Universe, and even more so on the previous Stargate franchise releases. [32]
In January 2010, the episodes were nominated for a Visual Effects Society Award for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series", against Battlestar Galactica , V , Defying Gravity and Fringe . [33] They were also nominated for four Leo Awards in 2010; one resulted in a win. Mike Banas was nominated for "Best Picture Editing for a Dramatic Series", James C. D. Robbins for "Best Production Design in a Dramatic Series", and James Bamford for "Best Stunt Coordination in a Dramatic Series." [34] Mark Savela and the special effects team won the Leo Award for "Best Visual Effects in a Dramatic Series" for their work in the episodes. [35] In July 2010, the visual effects team were nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, along with "Space" for the upcoming 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. [36]
Battlestar Galactica is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, a line of book adaptations, original novels, comic books, a board game, and video games. A reimagined version aired as a two-part, three-hour miniseries developed by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick in 2003. It led to a weekly television series, which aired until 2009. A prequel series, Caprica, aired in 2010.
Stargate is a military science fiction media franchise based on the film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien wormhole device that enables nearly instantaneous travel across the cosmos. The franchise began with the film Stargate, released on October 28, 1994, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Carolco, which grossed US$197 million worldwide. In 1997, Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner created a television series titled Stargate SG-1 as a sequel to the film. This show was joined by Stargate Atlantis in 2004, Stargate Universe in 2009, and a prequel web series, Stargate Origins, in 2018. Also consistent with the same story are a variety of books, video games and comic books, as well as the direct-to-DVD movies Stargate: Children of the Gods, Stargate: The Ark of Truth, and Stargate: Continuum, which concluded the first television show after 10 seasons.
Caprica is an American science fiction drama television series. A spin-off prequel of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (2004), Caprica is set 58 years before the main series. Caprica shows how humanity first created the Cylon androids who would later turn against their human masters. Among Caprica's main characters are the father and uncle of William Adama, the man who becomes the senior surviving military leader of the fleet which represents the remnants of the Twelve Colonies in Battlestar Galactica.
Stargate Universe is a military science fiction drama television series and part of MGM's Stargate franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient spaceship Destiny several billion light years distant from the Milky Way Galaxy. They are now trying to figure out a way to return to Earth, while simultaneously trying to explore and to survive in their unknown area of the universe. The series, created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, premiered in the United States on Syfy on October 2, 2009. The series featured an ensemble cast and was primarily filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A second season of 20 episodes was announced by Syfy in December 2009.
First Lieutenant Matthew Scott, USAF is a fictional character from the 2010 science fiction television series, Stargate Universe, the third live-action series in the Stargate franchise, which centers on a group of soldiers and civilians trapped on the Ancient vessel Destiny. He is portrayed by Brian J. Smith. Matthew Scott holds the rank of First Lieutenant, and is described as a skilled and well-trained junior SGC member in his twenties, but is "mentally unprepared for the urgency of the situation" aboard the Destiny.
Dr. Nicholas Rush is a fictional character in the 2010 Canadian-American Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer-Syfy television series Stargate Universe, a military science fiction serial drama about the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team unable to return to Earth after an evacuation to the Ancient spaceship Destiny, which is traveling in a distant corner of the universe. He is portrayed by British actor Robert Carlyle. Carlyle, while at first skeptical towards the show, got an interest in the character of Rush because he felt Rush was a "very interesting" character to portray.
"Daybreak" is the three-part series finale of the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica, and are the 74th and 75th episodes overall. The episodes aired on the U.S. Sci Fi Channel and SPACE in Canada respectively on March 13 and March 20, 2009. The second part is double-length. The episodes were written by Ronald D. Moore, and directed by Michael Rymer. The Season 4.5 DVD and Blu-ray releases for Region 1 feature an extended version of the finale, which not only combines all three parts as a single episode, but also integrates it with new scenes not seen in the aired versions of either part. The survivor count shown in the title sequence for Part 1 is 39,516. The survivor count shown in the title sequence for Part 2 is 39,406. At the end of Part 2, Admiral Adama announces the survivor population at approximately 38,000.
The first season of Stargate Universe consists of 20 episodes. Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper wrote the three-parter series opener named "Air", which was originally planned to be a two-parter. The first two parts of "Air" premiered on Syfy on October 2, 2009, with regularly weekly airing beginning on October 9, 2009. "Fire" was originally going to be the title for episode four, but the story and script was too big to be able to fit into one episode, so the producers changed it to become a two-parter called "Darkness" and "Light", therefore pushing all future episodes forward one slot. "Justice" was the mid-season finale. The back half of the first season aired on Friday April 2, 2010 on Space and Syfy.
"Darkness" is the fourth episode of military science fiction television series Stargate Universe, and is the first part of a two-part story. The episode originally aired on October 16, 2009 on Syfy in the United States, followed by being aired in the United Kingdom and Ireland on October 20. The episode was directed by Peter DeLuise, who had previously directed episodes of both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. However, he had not worked on the Stargate franchise for the previous two years. The episode was written by Brad Wright who co-wrote the pilot episode.
"Faith" is the thirteenth episode of military science fiction television series Stargate Universe. The episode originally aired on April 16, 2010 on Syfy in the United States, and on SPACE in Canada. The episode was directed by William Waring who directed two other episodes for the series. The episode was written by Denis McGrath, and this episode represents his first foray into the Stargate franchise.
"Human" is the fourteenth episode of military science fiction television series Stargate Universe. The episode originally aired on April 23, 2010 on Syfy in the United States, and on SPACE in Canada. The episode was directed by series creator, Robert C. Cooper and was written by Jeff Vlaming. The episode focuses on Dr. Rush working on modifying the chair interface, so that he can use it in an attempt to gain access to the master code while replaying the memories during his wife's dying days. The episode was viewed by 1.3 million Americans and was generally well received.
"Lost" is the fifteenth episode of military science fiction television series Stargate Universe. The episode originally aired on April 30, 2010 on Syfy in the United States, and on SPACE in Canada. The episode was directed by, Rohn Schmidt who previously acted as the director of photography in Air. It was written by Martin Gero, a co-executive producer of Stargate Atlantis.
"Sabotage" is the sixteenth episode of military science fiction television series Stargate Universe. The episode originally aired on May 7, 2010 on Syfy in the United States, and on SPACE in Canada. The episode was directed by, Peter DeLuise who previously directed the two episode arc, Darkness and Light. It was written by Barbara Marshall.
The second and final season of Stargate Universe was announced by Syfy on December 13, 2009. Like the first season, the second season consisted of 20 episodes. The series was moved from the franchise's long history of Friday to Tuesday, along with Caprica, as Syfy had picked up WWE Friday Night SmackDown. The series resumed on September 28, 2009, USA. In Ireland & UK, the series resumed on October 5 at 9pm on Sky1 and Sky1 HD.
Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome is a prequel to the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series and is the latest installment in the franchise. It was a web-series that became a pilot for a possible series chronicling the early adventures of a young William Adama, but the series was not picked up. It stars Luke Pasqualino, Ben Cotton, and Lili Bordán. Michael Taylor wrote the teleplay from a story by Taylor, David Eick, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, with Jonas Pate as director. Distribution of Blood & Chrome began as a 10-episode online series in conjunction with Machinima.com on November 9, 2012, and also aired as a television film on February 10, 2013 on Syfy.
"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 longtime director and producer of the Stargate franchise Andy Mikita. It was written by Linda McGibney.
"Gauntlet" is the twentieth episode of the second season and series finale of the military science fiction television series Stargate Universe. The episode originally aired on May 9, 2011 on Syfy in the United States. The episode was directed by longtime director and producer of the Stargate franchise Andy Mikita. It was written by executive producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie.