'Stargate Universe' Season 2, Episode 15 Recap

['Stargate Universe' – 'Seizure']

This week's episode of 'Stargate Universe' saw the welcome return of two 'Stargate' franchise vets and the unfortunate "quarantine" of two lovely new characters. 'Seizure' was all over the map emotionally, offering fun winks and nods to die-hard fans, a tense espionage plot, and a tragic B story.

Let's get to the fun stuff first ... How 'bout a big hand for David Hewlett and the triumphant return of Dr. Rodney McKay! Considering the stark contrast in tone between 'Stargate Atlantis' and 'SGU,' McKay's presence here could have easily felt forced and awkward. Instead, it felt solid and satisfying.

Hewlett, episode scribe Remi Aubuchon, and director Helen Shaver managed to create a version of McKay who looked and acted like he belonged on 'SGU' without sacrificing the things we love about the character (like his endless arrogance, below par social skills and genuine brilliance). Even the few bars of the 'Atlantis' theme that accompanied his entrance felt just right.

McKay's brief scene with boy genius Eli was one of the biggest joys of the night. It's no secret that David Blue was inspired to join 'SGU' after watching Hewlett do his thing on 'Atlantis.' Seeing these two geek icons trade barbs and argue over techno babble felt like a 'Stargate' nerd's fantasy come true. (And it was!) I expected McKay and Eli to share more screen time together here, but the mix of annoyance and respect they showed for each other in those few minutes was enough to make up for the shortness of the scene.

It was also a joy to see Hewlett's fellow 'Atlantis' alum Robert Picardo pop up as ace diplomat Richard Woolsey. Picardo is a genre pro who can elevate almost any project. His curt demeanor and direct stare were put to good use in this episode, especially in the tense opening negotiation scene and the scenes leading up to the Langara mission.

Oh, the Langara mission. What a bust! There's no doubt that McKay's science was sound -- hey, Eli vouched for it -- but those skittish Langarans weren't about to let SGC potentially blow up their planet just to make a Stargate jump to the Destiny. Still, the use of the much-maligned communication stones to pull off the ol' switcharoo was pretty clever, and it marked one of the few times the show has used the stones in a fun and creative way.

When the mission started to go sideways, it seemed like Telford only had one thing on his mind -- taking command of the Destiny away from Young. His slip up with McKay gave that away. It seems like Telford is done playing nice and is ready to take back the reins he lost in the show's series premiere. So, yeah, he's not to be trusted anymore (not that we ever trusted him to begin with).

The situation back on the ship was all kinds of sad and strange and utterly depressing. Rush and Amanda finally figured out how to connect physically (boom chicka wow wow), but the oh-so-real simulation came with a high price. Rush's sudden happiness was stripped away when Eli was forced to "quarantine" Amanda in a bid to save his life.

Perhaps mirroring the lives of real-life geeks, Rush realized that he could only experience his fantasy of living with a beautiful woman in a virtual environment. Real life won out, as it tends to do.

The crappiest thing about the B-plot, apart from Amanda's out-of-nowhere deception, was seeing Ginn go. I'm no shipper, but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy watching a romantic relationship develop between two appealing characters. The look on Eli's face when he explained to Rush what had happened to Ginn and Amanda -- they were isolated from the ship's systems and the neural interface -- was heartbreaking.

And what are we to make of the sickly Ronald Greer? He's been lying in that stretcher for way too long. I'm nervous folks! I don't want to lose Greer; he is just too awesome! In an episode that was jam-packed with plot, guest stars and fun geeky moments, Greer's subtle "because I'm strong" scene still stood out.

But, sadly, even if Greer recovers, we're still going to lose him and the rest of the Destiny crew when the season comes to an end. Here's hoping 'Stargate' returns in some form next year, perhaps with David Hewlett's 'SG-1' meets 'Atlantis' meets 'SGU' movie idea. Now wouldn't that be a thing?

Other thoughts/quotes:

- So Amanda built her program's parameters around love, and Rush didn't truly love her? I guess it's easy to believe that someone as closed-off as Rush couldn't truly love someone else; not even the woman of his dreams.

- So those Langarans were on the "up and up" after all. And now they've removed their Stargate, killing any chance we had of dialing back to Destiny. We really blew that one, didn't we?

- Poor McKay never got to show anyone his fancy PowerPoint presentation.

- Young sure looked silly in that Zoot suit!

- "Get him on his feet so I can knock him on his ass when I'm back."

- "Sheppard's right ..."

- Telford, to McKay: "Would you be interested in joining Destiny's crew?" Don't play with my heart like that, show!

'Stargate Universe' airs Mondays, 10PM ET on Syfy.

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