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    FAN REVIEWS: 'Resurgence' (210)

    Visit the Episode Guide
    STARGATE UNIVERSE - SEASON TWO
    EPISODE NUMBER - 210

    The crew's new-found control over Destiny's flight path introduces new risks when they find themselves in the middle of a war between two races.

    VISIT THE EPISODE GUIDE >>


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    Last edited by GateWorld; 01 February 2021, 11:31 PM.

    #2
    The last episode of Stargate Universe, "Resurgence", was an overall great episode. It was not entirely without a few minor flaws in the beginning of the episode, but it was a very nice conclusion to the middle of the second season with its action, emotion, dialogue, acting, visual effects, music, contribution to the story arc, and the tying up of some loose ends. This episode has me incredibly excited for the conclusion of this arc.

    Resurgence had a great story line on all counts due to its balance of action scenes, emotional scenes, and humor. It had a lot of great character use, especially with that of Colonel David Telford, Eli Wallace, Camille Wray, and Nicholas Rush. David Telford’s return to Destiny crew was a great addition to the dramatic battle scene against the drones and his arrival last minute, without it feeling at all like a Deus Ex Machina through its clever incorporation into the plot. The scene shared by Eli and Rush helped to get Eli back on track, with Rush making an important point to help prevent Eli from making a tragic mistake later on. There definitely was an interesting, if not surprising, dialogue going between the two of them. Additionally, the scene between Eli and Camille made for an interesting dialogue and emotional scene with Camille confronting Eli about his grief and the loss of some of his friends aboard Destiny, especially Gin and Sergeant Hunter Riley, tying up a few loose ends along the way. It also opened up the possibility for a mental problem with Eli in a later episode. The visual effects in Resurgence were stellar, especially in the various battle scenes and when Destiny followed the seed ship into the star to avoid the drones. You could tell that the crew put a lot of time and effort into it, and it most definitely paid off. The acting of this particular episode was above and beyond expectation, especially in Chloe’s escape scene, Telford’s return, and the emotional exchanges between Eli and the other crew members. All of these elements were complimented by an exceptional music score, which was not overbearing in the intense scenes, but rather defined the scenes by highlighting the adrenaline and mystery of the scenes it complimented.

    The action, emotion, dialogue, acting, visual effects, music, story arc, and mending of loose ends were what made Resurgence an exceptional finish to the first half of the second season of Stargate Universe. It did have a little bit of trouble getting off to a start in the beginning of the episode, but that was quickly made up for once the show got the ball rolling.

    Comment


      #3
      Resurgence Review [SGU 210]

      By xxxevilgrinxxx | Published: December 5, 2010 | crossposted at my personal blog



      When the crew first arrived aboard Destiny, all of their will was focused on survival and getting home. That was their mission. Then, in "Awakening" when they come across the seed ship, there was a glimmer of hope that with the power from that ship, they could conceivably dial the gate and reach home. In "The Greater Good", we learned of Destiny's mission and, with the seed ship long gone and no realistic way to get home, the crew poured all of their efforts into Destiny's mission, as a way to fulfil their own. Given what Rush has done in his drive to fulfil Destiny's mission, you've got to wonder why he would wish to step off Destiny's set course for anything, for any length of time.

      Unless he knows something and, in typical Rush fashion, isn't telling anyone else about it. When Rush had previously boarded the seed ship ["Awakening"], he accessed the console for a time. Whether by the seed ship itself or by the Ursini, Rush was first stunned, possibly to prevent him from further access, and then the boarding party was driven from the seed ship, leaving Telford behind. In "The Greater Good", Rush uncharacteristically insisted on boarding the Ursini ship, despite the very real fear that Young could have stranded him on the ship. And now in "Resurgence", it is again the signal from an Ursini ship that has Rush insist that the Destiny go off course. Across three separate episodes, the Destiny has encountered the Ursini and each time, Rush has done something uncharacteristic in order to gain something from them.

      The Ursini, like the Blues and the Planet Builders, are an unknown to us. We share no language, written or oral. While there is a possibility that the Ursini and the Blues have some understanding of Ancient, all that we have to base this on is where the two races have interconnected with the path of the Destiny. From previous encounters, the crew has every reason to believe that the Blues wanted the Destiny and had been following it for some time. They appeared to be hostile, a threat, dangerous. The Ursini, on the other hand, appear to be gentle, timid, nonthreatening and, when Telford returns to the Destiny, he claims that the Ursini aren't hostile and didn't harm him. But how do we know? With no language to share and no history to know, how do we know anything about either of them? All we're left with is impressions, based on applying human motivations to an alien species.

      One thing that the Ursini and the Blues appear to share is a powerful interest in the Destiny. The Blues were willing to chase the Destiny across a galaxy, attempting and failing numerous times to board. In Rush and Chloe, they have tried to track and possibly infiltrate the Destiny crew. Have the Ursini, in their own way, found a way to seize the Destiny?

      The original signal was bait to lure the Destiny off course and into a position where the drones could attack. Although the shuttle moved through the debris field, the drones didn't appear to engage the shuttle in any way and even when the Destiny came under attack, the shuttle was free to move about, eventually managing to dock without incident. It appeared as though the drones only targeted the Destiny. It could be that the shuttle was simply too small to draw the interest of the drones but I tend to believe that the Destiny was lured there, precisely to target and weaken it. In the nick of time, Telford and the Ursini arrive and make an offer of aid and, interestingly enough, the drones didn't appear to be targetting the seed ship either. Not surprisingly, that offer of aid proves to be a trap, delivering an already weakened Destiny right to the doorstep of the drone command ship.

      It comes down to a matter of whom to trust.

      Between Rush and Young, there will never be a comfortable trust. Rush is clearly seeking something from the Ursini, given that this is the third encounter where Rush has acted uncharacteristically in order to gain information. Young, while willing to keep options open and expand them as the situation changes, has not given up on the ability to dial home, all of Rush's plans be damned. Then there's the fact that Rush continues to disappear when needed, and he's unable to explain where he's been.

      There is Telford, a man who only recently had been a traitor tied to the Lucian Alliance and who has now come forward with a fantastic tale and very little to back it up with.

      There are the Ursini, a race that we know nothing at all about. We don't know their language, their history, or their motivations. We don't know what they've possibly done to Telford or what they hope to gain. All we have are assumptions based upon our own flawed notion that the race is peaceful and not a threat to us.

      Lastly, there is Chloe. While Chloe is changing into something that could possibly be very dangerous, she is more of a known than all the others that the Destiny faces and in the end, she may save them all, providing there is enough of Chloe left to guide her actions. Escaping her containment with ease, Chloe displays that she is dangerous. It also displays that she likely could have done so for some time, and did not. Kept apprised by Scott and Eli of what is going on, as well as being able to see outside the ship, she states that the Ursini cannot be trusted. She wants to help. How much of this is what the Blues have possibly done to her and how much is Chloe herself, only time will tell but I believe that when the second part of "Resurgence" airs after the break, that the crew will have Chloe to thank for saving them. The cost of being saved will be another matter.

      That their lives may ultimately rest in Chloe's hands brings an interesting point to light: In "Trial and Error", was the ship looking to test Young's battle/leadership abilities or was it testing his willingness to either keep or get rid of Chloe?

      Other points of note

      Stargate Universe has excelled in its imagery from moment one and "Resurgence" doesn't fail. The battleship graveyard WAS spooky in itself but when the crew goes out to the observation deck, there's an opportunity to see it from the crew's perspective, as one of the crew. The jump from shuttle to Ursini ship could have been sped up or even dropped altogether but visually, it ramped up the peril faced by the crew, as well as the trust they have to have in each other. I never get tired of watching Destiny dive into a star, something that has stood out for me as one of the most visually stunning clips not only in SGU but in a great list of sci-fi episodes. Getting to see both the seed ship and Destiny shake off a bunch of drones by diving into a star? Epic.

      There is a side story dealing with the triangle of TJ, Varro and Young. TJ, at least in her affair with Young, appears to be drawn to older, confident men in a position of power. While the events with Simeon and the fact that Varro knew what he was like the whole time and said nothing to Young appear to have cooled her jets, is Varro continuing to get under her skin, targeting her where she is vulnerable? With Varro in the infirmary at the end, I hope that he proves to be a better man than I fear he is. Only time will tell but, like Telford, I don't trust him.

      There were too many humorous moments in this episode to list them all but I'm finding that with the 'bridge crew' appearing to solidify, that the banter is coming along nicely as well. Eli continues to offer geek references, with mention of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey and a possible reference to a Star Trek episode where Spock ordered the computer to compute pi to the last digit in order to keep the baddie from seizing control of the computer with "pi is done". Bad neighbourhoods and bat signals.

      Lastly, there is Eli dealing, or not dealing, with his grief. Of all of those aboard destiny, Eli has the least experience in dealing with not only being in the physical location they are in but in dealing with what is going on with his heart. I don't see the conversation about Rush doing much to alleviate that burden, as Rush appeared to be talking more about himself than about Eli. Admonishing Eli about wasting his potential doesn't appear to be the way to reach him and Rush's casual cruelty has the effect of pushing Eli away. One thing that struck me upon listening to Rush's speech was that he wasn't simply talking about Perry being taken away from him, but that there was an undertone of having the destiny taken away from him, by someone bigger and stronger, and not being able to do a thing to stop it.

      Rating: 8 1/2 out of 10
      sigpic


      SGU-RELATED FANART | IN YOUNG WE TRUST | FANDUMB

      Comment


        #4
        The whole plot of this episode is really interesting. A lot of elements are going on. The Chloe transformation. The Rush incapacity of taking good decisions despite of his disliking about col. Young leadership and influence (excuse me for the RPG citation). The Telford experience on board of the Archive Spaceship. The Ursini culture and politics. The Blues culture and politics. The Lucien/Varro detention/possible helping. The knowing of the Destiny's purpose and technical characteristics. The evolution of the characters: Rush, Eli, Young, TJ, Scott, Greer etc. About this It's now interesting, IMO, the Eli evolution, the evolution of the relationship between Rush and Young. Telford it's another interesting character, it could be of help, no matter for his relationship with the Ursini; it'd seem strange to begin again to see Telford influenced by something out of his mind; one time it's enough. I continue to wait a real collaboration and durable harmony among the crew members, because continuing to see relationship problems as in Lost, for me its difficult to bear; this is highly annoying for me. The unknown should be more present in the episodes. And this unknown should be really strange, surprising, really new; as really strange races: more without two legs, two eyes, a mouth etc.(some examples were in SG1, the race who was destroying a planet to live in it, also the Goa'uld in their aquatic form); more not similar to a DNA based (this could be for the Planet Builders or the living sand); not based on the normal flow time.
        The plot lacks a little of special ideas; quite good the solar energy, the drone trap, the time plot; but there's no great mythical background, there's no complex interactions between other races and Destiny's crew.
        As for the character use I think that, because of the “Lost” style of the episodes, they are well developed; almost too much developed in some cases are the personal stories come out of the the Ancient communication stones, some internal sufferings... But the depth and interpretations of some characters it's a good thing. Surely very good it's the acting. Resurgence in this field has been a good compromise between introspective and action situation.
        I think the visual effects are very well dosed. It cannot be denied. They aren't, nor too much nor too little. They give a good idea of the situation.
        This episode is a proper way to close the first half of the season. More movement, more news, more adventure, less “Lost” style, less communication 'stoning'; in short, more episodes like this would be much better for me.
        The contribution of this episode to the story board it's proper and good. My hope is that the second half could be more like Resurgence, Malice and I would say Visitation, and less like Cloverdale or Aftermath.

        Comment


          #5
          Mid-season two-parters have become something of a tradition in every Stargate TV series. They usually deliver a suitably action-packed story which leaves our heroes dangling precariously in some dangerous situation and the audience with the words “to be continued.” “Resurgence” is no different in that regard; it’s action-packed and leaves our heroes, well, dangling precariously in a dangerous situation. However, it’s also one of the better mid-season two-parters that I’ve seen for some time across all the Stargate series even if the pacing isn’t perfect.

          The slow start is probably the worst of the episode. There’s a lot of build-up: discussions on whether to head over to investigate the energy reading; the first look at the grave-yard; chats with Eli and Wray, Chloe and Scott; the shuttle mission; Greer and Brody walking around a dark spaceship…and finally it gets going with a surprise attack.

          Admittedly, there are a lot of character moments in the run-up – Rush’s frustration at having others on his once-secret bridge; Eli’s grief over Riley and Ginn is explored and his continuing friendship with Wray; Chloe’s relationship with Scott as she continues to change; T.J coming to accept the loss of her child and her continuing something with Lucian Alliance good guy (or not) Varro. And there’s some good humor between Brody and Greer working together – first over the suits and then on the ship itself. It’s the type of interaction that fans used to complain about hitting the cutting room floor but while all of it does move various storylines forward, none of it is done in a very interesting way. Apart from great special effects in the first look at the grave-yard, it’s not really captivating.

          However, once the action gets going, it gets going in a BIG way. The sequence where the drone ships start firing on Destiny and the rush to get the shuttle back is action packed and well done on all levels. Telford and the seed ship coming to Destiny’s rescue (and I would just like to say I so called that weeks ago) is fabulous and the special effects as both seed ship and Destiny enter the sun are wonderful. It’s one of those awe-inspiring sequences that can only happen in a sci-fi or fantasy setting – something which is just fantastical and makes you want to be there; to dream about flying a ship through a sun.

          Beyond this, the rest is a mix of exposition as Telford explains things (plot-wise, it is a bit of a hole that he admits to being subjected to a neural interface but nobody questions whether to trust him), Chloe going all Not-Chloe and more action. But the pacing is better and having gained momentum, the episode does sweep the audience up in the events.

          I particularly liked the scene with Young, Wray and Rush discussing what to do as triumvirate, each putting forward a point of view and Young taking a decision. It’s good to see this after all of the power play machinations and yet all characters remain in character with Wray advocating cooperation, Rush advocating doing what’s best for themselves and Young taking what he feels is the best path between the two. It’s nice to see team-work even nascent team-work such as this.

          I also have to say Not-Chloe going completely wild, attacking her guard and storming through the ship, making quick work of the locked down doors was fantastic. The Chloe storyline kind of reminds me of what happened with Ford in Stargate Atlantis where Ford became a much more interesting character through the enzyme addiction. I’ve always thought it was a huge shame that it was effectively Ford’s exit storyline and that they didn’t explore it while keeping Ford as a regular character. Here Chloe, who as a character on her own merits in season one did seem to struggle to find a purpose or agency beyond Scott’s girlfriend, has been given a new lease of life with her alien transformation. I commend the producers for not going the Ford route and simply writing her out.

          The end action-packed ending of the aliens betraying them and landing Destiny in the middle of a fight with a control ship was great; lots of action and danger. The cliffhanger moment was definitely there to hook the audience into coming back for the hiatus.

          Speaking of which, I’m just going to take a moment to comment about the first half of season two in general. Overall, I think the episodes show that the producers have listened to criticisms about season one. While not all aspects have been dealt with – like the continuing lack of light bulbs on Destiny – others such as the lack of believability over loved ones simply accepting the use of the communication stones to swap bodies, Chloe’s usefulness, the use of humor, and the continuing sniping between the characters -- have been tackled head-on. There is a much better blending, in my opinion, of the Stargate legacy Universe inherited and the producers want to make a new, darker and more character driven show.

          Overall, I’m eagerly awaiting the second half of season two. “Resurgence” has done its job and hooked me ready for the next part.

          Previously published at GeekSpeak Magazine
          Last edited by Rachel500; 06 March 2011, 09:22 AM.
          sigpic
          Women of the Gate LJ Community.
          My Stargate Fanfiction. My LiveJournal.

          Comment


            #6
            Resurgence

            We have reached SGU's second mid-season finale which can only mean one thin; Action, excitement and epicness of all kinds! Surely the people who watch this would treat this mid-season finale as a cup of their morning joe? After watching this I only have one word to describe it. Meh.

            For one thing it actually starts off like a mid-season finale, which means that you're instantly dropped off at a destroyed war-zone where mystery surrounds it. They way they introduce it is nice, presenting the scope and scale in such a way that you know that this isn't going to be an ordinary episode of SGU; from the minute you lay your eyes on it, you're going to be thinking the one question, that fuels most of the episode? "what happened?" Though you get some answers, viewers are left like the crew on Destiny; mostly in the dark which I found to be a good way to support the unknown; it has you thinking, it has you wanting to get answers and in a SGU episode, that is an obvious benefit. The destroyed war-zone is good and the excitement that the characters show are surely to translate into excitement but the way they utilize it, it manages to zap all of the momentum out of the episode and slows it to a crawl that mainly exists for dramatic purposes. Much of these scenes consist of the crew going as slow as possible, setting up their equipment, getting into the ship and while these scenes do well for the realism for the show and for showing our characters in action; they squander precious time that could of been used to explore, the Destiny is not immune to this as they have to resort to scenes to pad out the episode; some are good, some are not so good but the fact that they're utilizing character moments just to fit the episode's timespan say alot about the utilization of it's environment.

            Of course, there has to be something of sorts with a mid-season finale like this and there is when a potential new enemy is introduced and even the reappearance of Telford; yes it seems like SGU has discovered that event spark that Stargate is known for but it doesn't do much with that spark. The enemies prove to add a sense of excitement to Universe, you know an enemy that is an unstoppable and persistent threat to Destiny; the moments where they attack the ship lead to some of the episodes best moments as the crew tries to attack, defend and hopefully make it out alive and you can just see the fear and uncertainty on their faces but those moments are counteracted by the fact that they seem to take their sweet time in attacking. As the dramatic music is playing, you're going to be asking yourself... "when are they going to attack?" Surely they weren't waiting for everybody to get on the ship before they attacked; for an enemy to be threatening, they have to be vigilant and quick and these enemies aren't for lack of a better term. Detracting from them is the fact that they have no personality and are essentially automated; while they do well in showing our characters in a dangerous situation and showing that a threat can appear at any time, the viewers need something to make them care about the threat that is destroying them; caring about the threat in turn makes us care about the characters and though we can focus on the characters, the threat would still lack depth. Even Telford's reappearance doesn't do much to help the episode, we do get a history regarding the aliens on the seed ship and even something for the show to lay it's gray area upon but he oddly doesn't seem to factor much in this episode.

            Most of the characters do well enough, moving forward most of the plots they've been given; TJ with her LA leader plot and baby plot, Scott with his Chloe plot and Ming Li with her being around other people... They're not the best or anything but they do manage to keep themselves afloat and for that, I commend them. The best obviously has to go to the Top 4 of Rush, Eli, Chloe, and Young. Eli's performance is interesting in that he manages to be on edge all of the time and exceptional in how realistic it is, it's clear to anybody that he's taking what he's been given as real, as if he actually believed he was a character who is greatly hurt and greatly vulnerable; even the people when he's around managing to add to the finesse that is the attempt to hold it all together. Chloe's uncertainty, fear and acceptance furthers itself here as she manages to make everything come to a turning point while providing an amazing combination of sternness and fear that really comes across, as she tells off people and fears what she becomes, she provides a sense of power that has really defined Chloe this season; putting her in this situation is the best thing the writers have done to her. Young does an exceptional job leading; you can see that Young clearly has this whole commanding thing down, leading his team, worrying about whether or not to trust certain people, though his appearances seem oddly minute, his presence is something to be felt and Rush effortlessly shows that he knows how to handle a character, providing the usual edge he's known for; though his spark has been lost by some of the reveal, (making his actions somewhat more noticeable.) he still manages to go above any beyond and it's evident when he chats with Eli, managing to utilize past events and a jaded perspective to create an awesome moment.

            Though the episode itself may be disappointing, it is filled with potential; as we watch the moments where Destiny is on pins and needles facing possible destruction. We're faced with what was possible, how epic this could of been but then we're faced with the usual mistrust, the long exposition, a large amount of wasted momentum and we're brought back to reality. You can see that they're trying to move forward, introducing new stuff about the Destiny (which is especially nice) and you can see that they're trying their best with the Ursini aliens to give a possible grey area from which their characters can utilize from but when we have to watch an episode which has tons of middling parts just to get to the possible good parts, we have to ask; Is it worth it? Yes, the visual effects are amazing and the action is tense but there's only so much that can do for a show? Still, we can't help to feel compelled for the next part with what will happen next (though they didn't establish it well); who did what, whether or not they'll survive and at least one thing is clear, this is a decent mid-season finale. Not the best, but decent.

            6.0/10
            Back from the grave.

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