justin louis

(S01E11) 'Stargate Universe' finally brought me to the edge of my seat. 'Space' was a minor triumph for the show. The mid-season premiere delivered a tight, suspenseful, and engaging hour of sci-fi TV. This was easily the best episode of the series so far.

Did it make up for all those slow-paced, meandering eps we had to sit through during the first half of the season? Probably not, but who cares? 'Space' rocked. Head after the jump for the spoilers.

(S01E10) "You put ordinary people under enough stress, I think you'll find they're capable of anything. – Dr. Rush

While watching this episode of Stargate Universe, I kept thinking of the "Court Martial" episode of the original Star Trek series. Captain Kirk is tried for the wrongful death of a crewmate, but Spock discovers via a 3D chess game that the computer's system has been tampered with and presents the evidence at the trial. Yes, I'm that geeky.

Ok, so that's about all these episodes have in common, and there's only so much you can do with the "trial in space" story. It boils down to the characters, and in this instance, the battle lines were drawn even further in this compelling little murder mystery.

Durham County is being touted as the Ion (formerly PAX) network's first foray into original scripted programming in years. And that's kind of true. Except that Durham County first premiered more than two years ago in Canada. There, it's had two six-episode seasons. But while there was a long two-year gap between those seasons up north, Ion will be airing both as a twelve-episode first season stateside.

Based on just that first episode, Durham County is one hell of a ride. I don't think I've felt that much discomfort about what I was watching on a television show in a long, long time. It wasn't so much the gratuitous violence, and it was certainly there, but it was in the characterizations. There were parts of that premiere that were equal parts riveting and just so disturbing you didn't even want to be in the same room with it.

I'll have to admit that I've probably watched a total of four minutes of the ION network. But the previews for their new mystery drama Durham County make me say "hey, I'm gonna check this out." It's a Canadian drama about a detective and his family who move to a new town and encounter weird things, including secrets, women vanishing, hockey player fights, secrets, weird weather, and secrets.

It's a six-episode series and it starts September 7 at 10PM.