Stargate Universe ”Alliances” Detailed Analysis & Review

We've been expecting it all season, but finally, the Lucian Alliance make their move against Earth. And Camille and Greer are stuck in the middle of it. This is an exciting episode, but also a deeply character-centric episode. Let's talk about the Stargate Universe episode "Alliances".

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Transcript

Welcome to Nerd Heaven

I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars

And I am a Nerd

 

This is episode 84 of the podcast.

Today, we’re talking about the Stargate Universe episode “Alliances”.

 

The description on Gateworld reads

While a U.S. Senator visits Destiny, Camille and Sgt. Greer are trapped when Homeworld Command comes under alien attack.

 

This episode was written by Linda McGibney

It was directed by Peter DeLuise

And it first aired on the 21st of March 2011.

 

This episode picks up right after Twin Destinies, dealing with the fallout of all that happened.

 

Telford, the alternate timeline Telford, has arrived back on Destiny using the communication stones. He wants to know what happened. Young and Rush explain the whole time-travel thing. They speculate on what happened to everyone else who went through the gate. Rush says they were likely just killed.

 

When Telford asks what happened to the other version of him, Young simply says that he died trying to retrieve technology from the other destiny. It was an accident. He doesn’t say who caused that accident.

That’s got to be a lot to take in. How would you react to something like that? Technically, you’re no longer in the timeline that you belong to, but the version of you here is now dead.

 

He visibly shakes it off and says he’s fine. He gets it. Well…understanding intellectually what happened is one thing. Figuring out how you’re supposed to feel about it? That’s something else.

 

But Telford has been in the Stargate program long enough to know that weird stuff happens.

 

This is when we learn that a senator is coming on board. She wants to decide if it’s worth spending money to try finding another Icarus-style planet so they can send more people and equipment to Destiny, in particular, Rush’s “message from God” , a name that he objects to. But this revelation has understandably created quite a stir back home.

 

If they do manage to get a working wormhole to Destiny, it still only means they can send. Nobody on the ship is getting home that way. Remember that stargate wormholes are one-way.

 

It certainly would be a game-changer for them to get some supplies from Earth. Food. Medicine. Even entertainment. All of those things would make a significant improvement to the crew’s quality of life.

 

Camille is going to swap bodies with the senator so she can check in with the IOA.

They also need a male volunteer. This is confirmation that they actively try to match the sex of the people swapping bodies. It makes a lot of sense. Less awkward that way.

Camille suggests Greer. He hasn’t used the stones since they arrived here. He was borderline unstable when they came here (remember he was in the brig for attacking Telford). It’s funny, but I think Greer is doing better since he ended up stranded on this ship. He’s got it a lot more together than he did in the pilot. This mission has been good for him. Perhaps helped him figure out what’s really important.

 

He argues with Camille that he doesn’t need R&R. He sees himself as the perfect soldier. He doesn’t need rest. Greer IS a good soldier. One of the best, probably. But this is his big weakness. None of us are perfect. We all need basic things like rest. His unwillingness to accept that about himself could be a big problem for him and is likely at the root of his previous issues.

 

Camille and Greer are greeted with a very cold reception on Earth. They’re challenged to identify themselves and provide authentication codes at gunpoint. Now, authenticating a stone user is only common sense, and is a normal part of the procedure, but it’s the way they’re doing it. The gun, the aggressive tone.

 

Telford explains. Earth is on a high terrorist alert. Nothing has happened yet but they’re expecting the Lucian Alliance to attack Earth at any time.

That’s scary.

 

And the target is homeworld command in Washington.

 

Eli, Brody, and Volker are wondering who this guy is that’s been sent to check up on them. His name is Dr. Covel. He’s the new head of research at Stargate Command. Rush has worked with him before.

Interestingly, Covel is played by an actor named French Stewart, who played Ferretti in the original Stargate movie, but not in SG-1. So that’s cool.

 

Senator Michaels wants a final and straight answer. Is dialling the stargate from within a star a feasible way to get home? Covel says the numbers looked good, but agrees with Rus that conditions within a star are inherently unpredictable. He’s just sad nobody was able to go over the logs on the other Destiny before it was destroyed. AT the time, getting spare parts was more important than validating alternate Rush’s story.

 

Michaels is almost assuming that the other Rush lied about what really happened. She claims that her opinion of Rush is based entirely on Young’s reports. And while Young admits they’ve had their differences, He still stands by the decision he made to support Rush and remain behind with him, with sufficient volunteers.

 

Rush listens in a little to this conversation before making his presence known.

 

Michaels evades Rush’s question of ‘what are we talking about’ with a request to see Chloe. She’s known the family since Chloe was a little girl.

 

Young gives Rush a knowing look. Rush wouldn’t have asked what they were talking about if he hadn’t already known the answer.

 

Back on earth, they’re sweeping the base for radiation. There have been some off-world bases where Lucian alliance people have planted naquadria bombs. One of those would do more than destroy Washington. It would probably destroy the whole of North America. And an explosion that big would probably affect the whole world.

Luckily it’s all clear.

 

Greer wants to stay at homeworld command and help. He knows the Lucian Alliance. He’s lived with them and he never trusted them. I think there’s a bit of a subtle dig at Telford here, who was brainwashed into being one of their operatives.

But Telford dismisses Greer. Those two have a lot of history between them.

 

There’s some unresolved conflict between Greer and Camille as well. He doesn’t believe any of the intel the prisoners on board destiny provided. He thinks they should have done more to prevent the coming attack. And then it happens. 

As the building shakes, and the ceiling begins to collapse, Greer drags Camille out of the way, saving her life.

 

They find Chloe on the bridge. Covel is impressed by what he sees. Chloe is delighted to see Michaels.

Chloe has been working on improving the ship’s navigation. They’re continuing to put her new knowledge to good use.

 

The main difference between Rush and Covel is that Covel seems a lot more personable. He actually has some warmth for Rush, while Rush seems very cold toward Covel.

 

Rush plays him a recording of the fingerprint. The message Destiny was sent to follow. Covel can see the structure, even though the message is millions of years old, recorded on technology he doesn’t understand and filtered through algorithms he couldn’t begin to comprehend.

But he’s not sure he believes this whole thing. He can’t transmit the data back home to be analysed properly by a whole team of people. With the stones, it’s all word of mouth. They have to trust what Rush tells them.

Covel is worried about the political aspects of all this. A lot of people will see this as proof of the existence of God, and some of them will try to twist this to further their own agendas. And then there will be those on the other side who try to bury and suppress the whole thing. I like how Covell doesn’t just demonise religious people here. He’s more even handed than that. He sees that there will be people on both sides wanting to further their own agenda with all of this. But one thing seems likely, this will become the greatest controversy of all time, to those who know about it.

 

But Rush sees this as Covel not wanting to pick a side because he’s not sure which is gonna win. 

Michaels seems to feel a special responsibility for getting Chloe home. Unlike the rest of the crew, she and Eli are not members of Stargate command. The others signed up to work on some distant planet filled with danger, even though they may not have anticipated getting stranded so far from home. Michaels never thought that life was for Chloe. Her father had such plans for her. It seems like such a waste.

But I don’t think Chloe feels the same way about her life. Remember, last time, she was one of the first to volunteer to remain on Destiny instead of gating home.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen an earth-bound story on SGU. One of the things that make the Stargate franchise unique and special is its present day setting. Yes, we get aliens and spaceships and distant planets, but we also see our own familiar world with cars and shops and pizza.

 

Telford is among the survivors who have escaped outside. Camille and Greer are trapped under a whole lot of rubble. Camille manages to dig herself free. She finds Greer and helps him out. Greer’s knee is twisted. He’s kind of stuck under the concrete. And that means that Covel’s knee is twisted, because that’s his body Greer is using. It’s such a responsibility being in someone else’s body, isn’t it.

The building shakes and a whole lot more rubble falls. The explosions have weakened the structure of the building.

 

Camille uses sticky tape to make a brace for Greer’s leg. It works.

These two are doing better than a lot of others. They’ve found some survivors, who are in bad shape. They find some who are already dead.

 

Camille manages to get a radio signal out to Delford. Turns out the explosion was a cloaked Goa’uld cargo ship. It crashed into the building. The point of impact was near the comm room where the stones live. Camille and Greer shouldn’t still be on earth. That means the stones must still be connected somehow.

Telford is concerned there is no way they’d launch an attack just with a single cargo ship, without packing a little something extra. Maybe a bomb on board as yet unexploded. That means they need to get out of there. Soon.

 

Young and Scott are escorting Michaels around the ship, giving her the tour. They introduce her to TJ and Varo.

 

Michaels wants a private word with TJ. She knows the pressure TJ has been under trying to keep all these people alive. TJ is feeling pretty upbeat about her work. Things have been easier since they unlocked the medical database. But she’s only had a medic’s training. She’s not a doctor.  TJ doesn’t think they’re likely to find many volunteers, even if they could manage to dial Destiny. It’s knowing they might never return home. How many people would be willing to make that kind of one way trip. I suspect TJ might be surprised.

 

The survivor’s way out is blocked. Telford is trying to get a bomb disposal crew to deal with the ship, but he’s not overly hopeful. They think the bomb is naquadria and they’ve started evacuations. What exactly do they think evacuation can do? Evacuate to where? This is naquadria.

 

Camille has an interesting idea. If they can’t get out, and the bomb team are having trouble getting to the ship, maybe she, Greer, and the other survivor should go for the bomb. It makes a lot of sense, actually.

 

Telford has concerns. It’s very risky. And he rightly points out that they’re not even in their own bodies. They’re risking the lives of Covel and Michaels by doing this. But, if that bomb goes off, they’re all dead. That will kill Covel and Michaels anyway.

 

So Covel goes to meet Eli and gushes all over what he calls The Boy Wonder.

Meanwhile, Brody and Volker are like “Hey. We work here too.” A nice little bit of humour that makes perfect sense in character and in the situation.

 

Covel wants to know what Eli really thinks about Rush’s discovery.

Camille wants Greer to stop playing the hero, just once, and think a little about how they go about getting to the ship. This situation gives Greer a chance to really have it out with Camille. Seems he has some issues with her. In particular, he has a problem with people who talk and talk and nothing gets done. He doesn’t think she knows him. She knows a file on a desk. 

 

Camille thinks he’s afraid of her because she helps people, but she can only do that if they are willing to admit they have a problem and that’s something Greer refuses to do.

 

Greer thinks she wants to feel like she makes a difference but in reality, she just takes up space.

This is a great dramatic character scene for these two. I love it.

 

The other survivor interrupts their argument long enough to find the tech who was sweeping the building. He’s dead but the Geiger counter is working. We get some great acting from Ming Na as Camille responds to the gruesome body. Ming Na tends to play really tough characters. Camille is a very different role for her. Oh, she’s still a very strong person, but not in the physical sense, like most of the actresses’ roles. And I think she’s brilliant.

So The whole area is flooded with radiation. Deadly levels.

There’s a very sombre moment when Greer says “so if we stay here much longer we’ll die.”

And Camille says “No. We’re dead already.”

I have no words to respond to that.

 

Michaels hasn’t finished her assessment but she has some concerns. It took a long time to get the first Icarus base up and running. Even if they could find a planet tomorrow, which is very doubtful, and they got presidential approval, it would still take at least 6 months before they could dial the ship. Covel bluntly says he doesn’t think the crew will last that long. He doesn’t think Destiny will last that long.

He blames Young and his crew for that. Since they arrived, they’ve brought  Destiny to the brink of destruction multiple times. And … well….he’s not wrong about that. I’m not sure he can really blame them for most of that, although it was their deliberate decision to go exploring recently that led to the ship’s significant battle damage from the drone ships.

 

Camille is feeling really guilty. They’ve doomed Michales and Covel. It’s their bodies that are flooded with radiation.

The airman still wants to try to get out. Camille doesn’t even see the point. It’s over.

 

Destiny is about to drop out of FTL which means the stone connection will be temporarily interrupted.

Michaels and Covel find themselves trapped under rubble, their bodies flooded with lethal radiation. While they freak out, Camille quickly reports to Young.

 And that’s when the airman decides to hold something sharp to Camille’s neck, ordering Greer to put down his own gun or he’ll kill her.

 

In an example of really unfortunate timing on Young’s part, he decides to disconnect the stones long enough to get a proper report from Camille and Greer, which would leave Michaels with a weapon to her neck and Covel pointing a gun at the airman. What could possibly go wrong?

 

But nothing happens. Young removes the stones, but Michals and Covel are still connected.

That’s weird.

 

The airman is trying to get them all to look for an escape. He still thinks there’s a chance they can survive.

Camile doesn’t want Greer to drop the gun. Even if she dies, he can still go and disarm the bomb.

 

She thinks if the airman gets the gun he’ll kill them both. He’s Lucian Alliance.

Greer shoots the guy.

 

Ironically, it was Camille’s knowledge of personal files that helped her identify who this guy really was. She proves it by uncovering a clan tattoo.

The plan was probably to just land the cloaked ship on the roof and walk away.

I think the show might be redefining just what a destructive force naquadria is. It must be a tiny tiny amount. Which does make sense, since it is so rare in the galaxy.

 

The radiation is spiking, which means they’re getting close.

They’ve found the hull.

Camille tries to tell Telford she’s found the bomb, but her radio isn’t working. Too much radiation. There is nobody to tell her how to disarm the bomb.

 

Rush is trying to figure out why the stones are not disconnecting. They’ve seen radiation cause interference  before, but they’re still there, which means the signal is getting through. So the radiation is just interfering with the commands of the system.

 

Covel has done a lot of research into the stones. He might be able to solve this problem.

 

Varro knows he’s probably the last person Young wants to see right now, being former Lucian Alliance, but he can tell them how to diffuse the bomb. If only they could get that information to Camille and Greer somehow.

Young’s question is, how can he trust that Varo is telling the truth?

 

Eli has a good idea. They could jump to FTL which would interrupt the stones again. They’ll have about 12 seconds at the most to explain the disarming process. But they only just dropped out which means they could blow up the engine. Eli thinks they can live with it, but they can only do it once. OTherwise they’ll completely destroy the engines. It’s a reasonable plan, but once again, the crew will be bringing Destiny to the brink of destruction.

 

Camille figures out some of it herself. The bomb is covered by a hologram that prevents you from seeing what you’re doing, so you have to disarm by feel alone.

 

Chloe has a chat with Michaels. Explaining how she was going to voluntarily stay in the other timeline. She tells Michaels what this mission means to her. How she feels like she’s part of something important. Chloe is probably the only person who Michaels will truly receive this message from.

This may be the only way to convince her to keep supporting this mission.

 

They get their 12 seconds. Varro explains as quickly as he can. They get back before he’s entirely finished, or so it seems. Varro doesn’t know if they understood. But Camille and Greer are doing their best. At least they have some idea what they’re doing now.

But they both missed the last part.

 

This is when Rush reveals that Covel has been sabotaging their attempts to disconnect the rings.

He doesn’t deny it. He saw the radiation levels when he went home. He knows their bodies are as good as dead.

 

He needed time to think.

Rush tries to remind him of what happens when somebody who is connected dies. The people at both ends die.

Covel argues that Doctor Perry was in a weakened state. They don’t know for sure what will happen this time. Again, more awesome callbacks. All these episodes tie together like a beautiful tapestry.

 

In Young’s view, Covel is trying to steal Greer’s body, since his own is no good.

Why do they get to live and we don’t, Covel says. They put us in this position.

It was easy for them to take a risk because they weren’t going to have to suffer the consequences.

And that’s a heavy statement.

And it may be true. As careful as Camille and Greer were, as guilty as they now feel, you can’t tell me that even subconsciously, just a little, they might have been more open to risk in somebody else’s body. It would be human nature. We are, at our core, selfish beings by nature.

 

This is a very difficult moral dilemma. But to Young it’s pretty clear. Covel will be going back to die in his own body. He doesn’t get a choice.

 

If I had to make the decision, I’d probably make the one Young has just made, but, I tell you, it would take a lot of soul-searching to do it. It certainly wouldn’t be easy. Honestly, I don’t know if I could do it.

 

Speaking of dilemmas, Camille and Greer have one of their own.

They’re not sure of the last step. They could try something, but that could make the bomb go off. It’s gonna go off anyway, but every second the bomb doesn’t go off, is another second the evacuees have to get further away from the danger. Camille’s voice cracks as she says it. What an emotional ride.

 

They seem to have settled on just waiting for it to happen. Their death is already certain.

 

And that gives them the chance for another quiet character monet together.

Camille is sorry they never got along better. They’re just so different. Greer is a man of action. He likes to do things. Camille likes to talk them through.

Greer says well we’re not going anywhere, so let’s talk.

But Camille can’t think of anything else to say.

Which Greer and I both find quite amusing.

 

Varo has time to fully educate Michaels and Covel on how to disarm the bomb, including that elusive last step.

So when Rush disconnects the stones, which he can now do, they’ll be able to save the day.

 

Michaels last words before she’s ready to go are to ask Young to tell Chloe she’s proud of her.

Michaels knows she is going to her death.

So does Covel.

It’s hard for me to begin to imagine a moment like that.

Knowing that you’re going to have to die, and there’s no way out.

 

They appear back on Earth and do disarm the bomb.

The inevitable death of Michaels and Covel really tears my guts apart.

 

Back on Destiny, it’s been hours. Greer and Camille are still waiting for news from Earth.

They haven’t managed to get a connection yet, but they have somebody on stone duty around the clock.

 

Camille is worried about Sharon, who lives in DC.

Greer is thinking of his Mum. Things haven’t been all that good between them.

There are a lot of things he wishes he never got to say to her last time he had the chance.

 

I think he’s finally ready for a trip back home, if and when that becomes an option.

 

This was another fantastic episode of Stargate Universe. The writing, both in terms of character and plot, was top notch. This was Linda McGibney‘s first script as a new staff writer, and I think she nailed it. And some wonderful performances from the actors as well.

 

It’s the big set piece episodes that tend to stick out in my memory, but this one is from now on definitely a favourite.

 

Next time, we’ll see a surprise return from a character we thought was dead. In the episode Hope.

 

Until then, have a great two weeks

Live long and prosper

Make it so.