'Twin Destinies' (212) General Discussion

[Matt G]

Midweek, another ep of SGU...

1. One of the wierder eps of SGU...particularly given what it set up...

2. Telford was being slightly out of order here...he was under LA control when Rush had to outsmart him...and he was being a bleep at the time...

3. Rush looked pretty out of whack after this...can't blame him.

4. This would have been wierd, even by SGC standards...

[Krisz]

An intriguing episode and a pretty inventive way of solving the dire maintenance issues Brody and Volker were discussing at the beginning of the episode. What better way of getting spare parts than from a duplicate Destiny?!

Picking up on the continuing thread with the still unproven notion that the ninth chevron can be dialled whilst Destiny recharges in a star and creating one of Rush's unpredictable results was clever. In this case picking up on Stargate's well known and often repeated problem that dialing a stargate where a sun could influence its operation causes 4th dimensional problems!

It's the picking up of all these different threads that made this episode one of the best in the series for me. Like I've said before, time travel and doppelgangers are two of my favourite Sci Fi themes, so this episode was always going to entertain me big time! Rush being dismissive to himself was fun to watch, almost disgusted that the situation his future self ended up in was allowed to happen.

Even though Colonel Telford has been generally insufferable, watching him being fried by high voltage was a horrible way to go! Rush's genuine look of horror and regret was a surprise, he does have feelings of remorse and is human after all!!! Lou Diamond Phillips commented on this at one convention, wondering how many more horrible ways the writers were going to find to kill Telford!

Seeing the magnificent ship Destiny dying in the star was sad and epic to watch, still gets me every time, even though the other one continues onwards. The idea that the Rush that sat in the neural interface chair may yet have done something to prevent the total destruction of the ship, perhaps taking it through time again is something I like to imagine. I like to think that we would have met him and the 'twin' Destiny again at some point had the series continued.

[jelgate]

This is an interesting way to solve the massive battle damage Destiny suffered from the drones attack. I also like the new thing solar flares apparently can do to a Stargate. Sending the whole of Destiny back in time because it tried to deal Earth new. I kind of wonder what caused this. It would have been interesting to explore in detail how the whole ship could go back in time instead of people just in the wormhole which we know to be the Stargate norm. Unlike Rush I was really interested in seeing what happened to the alternate reality and what led to us having two Rushes and Destiny. One disappointment was that the original Telford died after the alternate Telford returned to Earth. I'm thinking of Farscape and how we could have gotten some great tension between the two Telfords and see how one with the luxuries of Earth compares with the Telford that the hardships of Destiny. It always seems like we are trying to get Telford off Destiny which is a shame. Sure he was a jerk in S1 but I really like S2 Telford. He is the kind of leader I think Destiny could use. He shows a genuine interest for the people. For the record as I am known as an anti-Rush person i do not blame Rush for Telford's death. It was clearly an accident. Finally what I loved about Destiny by the way Broody and Volkner mention the spare parts their is a lot of the ship we do not understand in comparasion to Atlantis where we knew everything.

[Lieutenant Sparrow]

What a rotten time for my internet to go down. I didn't get to finish off the rewatch at the same time as the rest of you

Trying to dial the gate while in a star (again) was never going to end well. I think we all knew this.

Einstein was the smartest person I ever met. But don't tell him I said that.

Would have been cool having two Rush's on the ship. Would have made controlling the ship a lot easier.

That was a nasty way for that version of Telford to die.

Such a pity we didn't end up with the extra power for the weapons, would have been helpful.

[Krisz]

One disappointment was that the original Telford died after the alternate Telford returned to Earth. I'm thinking of Farscape and how we could have gotten some great tension between the two Telfords and see how one with the luxuries of Earth compares with the Telford that the hardships of Destiny. It always seems like we are trying to get Telford off Destiny which is a shame. Sure he was a jerk in S1 but I really like S2 Telford. He is the kind of leader I think Destiny could use. He shows a genuine interest for the people. For the record as I am known as an anti-Rush person i do not blame Rush for Telford's death. It was clearly an accident. Finally what I loved about Destiny by the way Broody and Volkner mention the spare parts their is a lot of the ship we do not understand in comparasion to Atlantis where we knew everything.

Totally agree with you on the wasted opportunity with the Telford duplicates. Farscape did a fantastic job with the look at the divergent lives of the same man. It would have certainly worked with Telford as you suggested and made for more great character moments. Plus I would have loved to have seen Telford use the stones to swap with himself, making for an interesting interaction with the crew as the two Telfords diverge in the way they are shaped by their experiences, and both wanting to be on Destiny. Wonder too what Telford would have made of his Earth based self who runs if things get tough on Destiny as the Destiny based one would have the same memory of when he did it before. Now there's a weird moment!

I too like the idea that Destiny continues to be a mystery to its present occupants, it's that having to work harder to gain knowledge in SGU that makes it great to watch. I've always liked the fact that even Rush never turned out to be like McKay with the ridiculous way he understood Ancient technology....just like that!

[jeri]

Seeing the magnificent ship Destiny dying in the star was sad and epic to watch, still gets me every time, even though the other one continues onwards. The idea that the Rush that sat in the neural interface chair may yet have done something to prevent the total destruction of the ship, perhaps taking it through time again is something I like to imagine. I like to think that we would have met him and the 'twin' Destiny again at some point had the series continued.

Yes, I would have liked to see the other Rush reappear sometime in the future. Rush dealing with himself as his own worst enemy as it where, would be most entertaining.

[garhkal]

It would have been nice had his sitting in the chair allowed him to upload himself into the destiny databanks on the Alt-destiny, then he could have comm'ed himself over to ours.

[I-Like-Pie]

One thing that bothered me, now as then

Why not use the Destiney to push the other Destiney, then after it is away from the star, you can really strip the more damaged Destiney

[garhkal]

Don't think the shields could have hacked it.

[I-Like-Pie]

Don't think the shields could have hacked it.

Maybe, OR, it is a plot hole

[Cluas]

This was a good story. But I always have problems with understanding the time travel stuff...

The scene I best remember from this ep, is the scene where the crew run for supplies. That has been missing the whole show, now finally some spare parts and more weapons and stuff. Great.

[garhkal]

My only regret is we never was told HOW the entire ship got shifted back..

[Planetary]

I'm late to the series, which sadly was canceled by the time I started watching it on Netflix, but I felt like I had to register when I saw the discussion here.

At the end of the episode, when he emerges from the Stargate back onto Destiny, Rush wasn't upset over the death of Rush #2 or Telford #1, and that's not why he looked distracted.

At that moment, it was just dawning on him that Rush #2, who is actually original Rush, saw the solar flare as an opportunity and destroyed the Destiny on purpose so he could loop back in time and strip the ship for spare parts, to continue Destiny's mission. Which is exactly what he's been hell-bent on doing since episode one.

The look on his face is one of horrific comprehension at what his other self just did...the sheer ballsyness of destroying the original ship and crew just so the mission could continue. It's almost exactly the same feigned indifference look he had on his face when Young realized Rush knew the Destiny was flying into the star to refuel itself, so his gallant offer to give up his chance at a seat -- and life -- on the shuttle wasn't so gallant after all.

Only this time, the feigned indifference was mixed at genuine shock and horror at how devious, insane and brilliant his original self had been to pull off the intentional destruction of the Destiny.

A key clue supporting this theory is when he asks his older self what really happened on the original Destiny, and older Rush responds with, "I've already told you." It's one of his trademark tics and he really can't fool himself, so Rush nods and doesn't prod. It's not until the last few seconds of the episode, when Young mentions their luck in being able to re-supply, that Rush realizes WTF just really happened.

These time-travel episodes can really hurt your brain, and there are some plot holes, or at least difficulties, but it's actually a pretty brilliant plot and fits in exactly with everything we know about Dr. Rush.

[Baron Of Hell]

When I first seen this episode I was thinking the people might have been sent through time to the future or to a different planet. Just because they didn't show up on earth doesn't mean they are dead.

I don't understand why there are two ships. The ship didn't go through a wormhole. Cool idea for a episode though.

[garhkal]

I'm late to the series, which sadly was canceled by the time I started watching it on Netflix, but I felt like I had to register when I saw the discussion here.

At the end of the episode, when he emerges from the Stargate back onto Destiny, Rush wasn't upset over the death of Rush #2 or Telford #1, and that's not why he looked distracted.

At that moment, it was just dawning on him that Rush #2, who is actually original Rush, saw the solar flare as an opportunity and destroyed the Destiny on purpose so he could loop back in time and strip the ship for spare parts, to continue Destiny's mission. Which is exactly what he's been hell-bent on doing since episode one.

The look on his face is one of horrific comprehension at what his other self just did...the sheer ballsyness of destroying the original ship and crew just so the mission could continue. It's almost exactly the same feigned indifference look he had on his face when Young realized Rush knew the Destiny was flying into the star to refuel itself, so his gallant offer to give up his chance at a seat -- and life -- on the shuttle wasn't so gallant after all.

Only this time, the feigned indifference was mixed at genuine shock and horror at how devious, insane and brilliant his original self had been to pull off the intentional destruction of the Destiny.

A key clue supporting this theory is when he asks his older self what really happened on the original Destiny, and older Rush responds with, "I've already told you." It's one of his trademark tics and he really can't fool himself, so Rush nods and doesn't prod. It's not until the last few seconds of the episode, when Young mentions their luck in being able to re-supply, that Rush realizes WTF just really happened.

These time-travel episodes can really hurt your brain, and there are some plot holes, or at least difficulties, but it's actually a pretty brilliant plot and fits in exactly with everything we know about Dr. Rush.

I never thought that when i saw rush looking indifferent/indecisive. If anything i think he was more like "Damn i really did it, i killed telford. Didn't think i had that in me".