Now, this episode is pure Mallozzi, and I have my issues with his SGU episodes, and thus, The Hunt is no exception, though I did like it still.
First off, I loved the Greer stuff - with the last three episodes combined with this one, we've got a solid character arc for him and his superman complex, and I like that he got his groove back there at the end by bagging a space deer. I liked that TJ got some more soldier-y moments too, and her telling off Reynolds for being such a defeatist was neat, and well deserving of a nervous "Yes ma'am" from the guy. Varro was good, and putting the Lucian Alliance in without shoehorning them in was good. It's good to see nearly a full season of development on that front come to this.
I dug the Volker/Park thing because it was honest and it didn't come out of nowhere - hints of it back in Malice more than anything, which I picked up on there. Shame it ended how it did but I am so unsurprised it's not funny.
Now, the issues: One is the fact we lost like five people out there in the hunt, and it didn't feel as impactful. When we lost Gorman to the water bug wind thingie a season and a half ago, it felt impactful because it affected Young despite it being an obvious redshirt situation. Every damn death similar to that has been felt so far - from Gorman in Water, Rivers in Incursion and the soldier lost in Malice. But this feels too throw-away, like an old school Stargate situation, and it didn't fit here in SGU. While the lost two Lucians were mentioned there at the end, it just felt... dismissed. Mallozzi, in other words.
Now, my other problem: The Eli/Rush thing. I loved that last week Eli was beyond pissed at him, and Rush seemed to feel it there at the end. But this week? Nope, Rush decides to be cartoon-y and trap Brody in a stasis pod to teach Eli a lesson. While I can have a good laugh at that, it didn't feel like the natural way to go on from the dark place last week left us on. Like, at all. Again, it felt dismissive and iffy for SGU, and it seems clear that the intention was to not bother with Eli having any more rebellious thoughts against Rush despite the fact he is completely right to, because oh ho ho let's all have a laugh about Brody and Eli being inferior to Rush and as such we should skirt over the serious issue with humour. Didn't sit right.
I still liked the episode, in the same way I liked Space, the Incursions, Awakening and Resurgence... But I don't love them, and I don't love this, mostly for the Eli/Rush thing. Resurgence actually made me think a bit more positively about Mallozzi's writing because of the Eli/Rush scene there, but here in The Hunt it's all humour and un-SGU-y resolution to what could've been the start of a darker path for Eli or another rival with Rush in a different way to Young.
I don't know, maybe it'll come back around in one of the last episodes, but I'm not expecting it to at all.
First off, I loved the Greer stuff - with the last three episodes combined with this one, we've got a solid character arc for him and his superman complex, and I like that he got his groove back there at the end by bagging a space deer. I liked that TJ got some more soldier-y moments too, and her telling off Reynolds for being such a defeatist was neat, and well deserving of a nervous "Yes ma'am" from the guy. Varro was good, and putting the Lucian Alliance in without shoehorning them in was good. It's good to see nearly a full season of development on that front come to this.
I dug the Volker/Park thing because it was honest and it didn't come out of nowhere - hints of it back in Malice more than anything, which I picked up on there. Shame it ended how it did but I am so unsurprised it's not funny.
Now, the issues: One is the fact we lost like five people out there in the hunt, and it didn't feel as impactful. When we lost Gorman to the water bug wind thingie a season and a half ago, it felt impactful because it affected Young despite it being an obvious redshirt situation. Every damn death similar to that has been felt so far - from Gorman in Water, Rivers in Incursion and the soldier lost in Malice. But this feels too throw-away, like an old school Stargate situation, and it didn't fit here in SGU. While the lost two Lucians were mentioned there at the end, it just felt... dismissed. Mallozzi, in other words.
Now, my other problem: The Eli/Rush thing. I loved that last week Eli was beyond pissed at him, and Rush seemed to feel it there at the end. But this week? Nope, Rush decides to be cartoon-y and trap Brody in a stasis pod to teach Eli a lesson. While I can have a good laugh at that, it didn't feel like the natural way to go on from the dark place last week left us on. Like, at all. Again, it felt dismissive and iffy for SGU, and it seems clear that the intention was to not bother with Eli having any more rebellious thoughts against Rush despite the fact he is completely right to, because oh ho ho let's all have a laugh about Brody and Eli being inferior to Rush and as such we should skirt over the serious issue with humour. Didn't sit right.
I still liked the episode, in the same way I liked Space, the Incursions, Awakening and Resurgence... But I don't love them, and I don't love this, mostly for the Eli/Rush thing. Resurgence actually made me think a bit more positively about Mallozzi's writing because of the Eli/Rush scene there, but here in The Hunt it's all humour and un-SGU-y resolution to what could've been the start of a darker path for Eli or another rival with Rush in a different way to Young.
I don't know, maybe it'll come back around in one of the last episodes, but I'm not expecting it to at all.
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