Review of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ – 162 Candles

Be careful what you wish for on a vampire’s birthday, someone else’s wish may be granted instead

 

Stefan’s (Paul Wesley) birthday started off well enough, but then fell into a complete abyss. With his old vampire chum Lexie (Arielle Kebbel) visiting it should have been a night of meaningless fun; instead it turned out to be a night to remember for all the wrong reasons.

With the haunting words, “For over a century I have lived in secret—until now. I know the risk, but I have to know her” ringing in our ears, we are reminded of Stefan’s inexplicable attraction to Elena (Nina Dobrev). She seems to be the one compulsion he cannot resist. But before Stefan can figure out how to convince Elena to let him back into her life, a figure from his past arrives: his 350 year old best friend Lexie, who chooses to live the un-dead life to the fullest — and it is her ambition to make sure that Stefan gets out to enjoy a bit of his after-life as well. Alas, Damon (Ian Somerhalder) has other plans.

When Lexie suspiciously asked Damon what was he doing in Mystic Falls, Damon mysteriously replied, “I have a diabolical plan.” Which prompted her to ask, “What is it?” and Damon merely smiled and said, “Now if I told you, it wouldn’t be very diabolical, would it?” As we later saw, Damon’s plan was truly diabolical indeed.

So while Damon was busy cozying up to the town Sheriff (Marguerite MacIntyre) with a supply of Vervain, Lexie also tried to fathom what had drawn Stefan back to Mystic Falls. But, after getting a good look at Elena, Lexie visibly taken aback demanded, “Are you out of your mind? I just met Elena. You have some serious explaining to do.” Caught red-handed Stefan sheepishly explained that, unlike Katherine, “Elena is warm, kind and selfless – and it’s real and honest. When I am around here, I completely forget where I am.” Lexie finally catching on, said with surprise, “Oh my god, you’re in love with her!” Stefan then admitted, “Yes, I am.” Stefan may be 162 years old, but falling in love for the first time in his life, he was rather shy about being caught exhibiting such tender human emotions.

So with Stefan in love and not sure what to do about it and Elena still reeling from the revelation that vampires exist and all the harsh realities that entails, it was up to Lexis to act as match-maker. Despite being cast in such an unlikely role, Lexie rose to the occasion gave it her best fairy-godmother effort in order to make Stefan’s birthday wish come true. So Lexie befriended Elena so she could impart some of her 350 years of lessons in love. She reminded Elena that, “The first step was him telling you. The rest comes with time.” Then, after revealing that she too had a one true love, Lexie shared, “At the end of the day, love really did conquer all.” Elena softly replied, “I’m scared.” To which Lexie smiled and said, “But you’re here ‘cause you’re crazy about him. I get it. What’s not to love? Take it from someone who’s been around a long time: when it’s real, you can’t walk away.” And with those words of wisdom, Lexie managed to woo Elena back to Stefan — the greatest gift a friend can give.

However, Damon had a birthday wish of his own. He wanted to ensure his and Stefan’s safety in Mystic Falls and, thus, set up Lexie to take the fall for all his vampire misdeeds. After Damon staked her in full view of the Sheriff, Lexie could only whisper, “Why?” and Damon harshly replied, “It’s part of the plan.” Damon’s master plan which is sounding more and more ominous.

Enraged over the death of Lexie, Stefan quickly and swiftly cornered Damon ramming a stake right into his chest. Gasping in pain and shock, Damon said, “You missed!” But Stefan calmly and chilling replied, “No, you saved my life. I’m sparing yours. We’re even and now I’m done.” From Stefan’s tone, clearly nothing is done. These are brothers who have lived a century dancing around each other caught in some never-ending battle of good and evil. The battle has yet only begun.

Amping up the suspense and surrealism, we then watched as Bonnie (Katerina Graham) dreamed about running in the woods — only to awaken and find herself standing before an abandoned crypt in the woods. It is beginning to look more and more like Bonnie’s fate is inexplicably tied to Stefan’s and Damon’s as well – and something tells me that witches and vampires do not mix.

What Worked

There was tons of devilishly fun dialogue in this week’s episode. One such good example was the light-hearted greetings exchanged between Lexie and Elena when Lexie raised an eyebrow and said, “The famous Elena” and Elena snapped right back. “Towel girl.” To which Lexie smiled and said, “I’ve been called worse.”

Another fun exchange was when Lexie awakened in Stefan’s room to find Damon right beside her watching as she slept. When she explained that she had only come to visit Stefan for his birthday, Damon mockingly said, “You mean you didn’t come all this way to see me?” Lexie tossed back right back at him, “That’s it, Damon. After a century, I realized death means nothing without you.” Damon pretended to pout and said, “Why are you so mean to me?” Lexie said, “Uh, have you met you? You’re not a nice person.” Damon brushed aside her brusque reply with “Well, that’s ‘cause I’m a vampire.” Lexie further elaborated, “But you’re only the bad parts.” Damon simply seductively smiled, “Teach me to be good.”

Also quite fun was when Elena and Jenna (Sara Canning) noticed that Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) was doing his homework and Elena quizzically asked him, “Since when you do homework?” Elena then turned to Jenna and said, “What do you think?” Tow which Jenna amusedly said that Jeremy must be “some kind of replicant.” While lightly said, it had an ominous flip-side. If Jeremy was doing homework, he was no longer the Jeremy they knew. So later Elena confronted Damon and demanded, “What did you do to Jeremy?” and Damon archly replied, “You wanted me to take away his suffering.” Did Damon do something more than simply take away Jeremy’s memories of Vicki (Kayla Ewell) and her walk-on-wild-side as a vampire, or did he take the opportunity to erase a bit more than Elena had intended? Is Jeremy now a walking time-bomb under Damon’s spell, or just a vacant vessel from which Damon removed all his memories of death?

Damon later riled Elena up further by taunting, “Poor Stefan, persecuted throughout eternity by his depraved brother. . . Don’t you ever get tired of being so righteous?” Elena angrily tossed right back, “It flares up in the presence of psychopaths.” Damon pretending to be hurt said, “Ouch, consider this psychopath’s feelings hurt.”

So as everyone else was engaged in a battle of wills between the vampires and their opposing viewpoints on how to integrate and engage with humans, there was a quiet moment between Caroline (Candice Accola) and Matt (Zach Roerig). Having endured her latest bout of verbal abuse from Damon, and her self-esteem stripped to the bone, Caroline sadly asked, “Am I shallow?” Matt merely grimaced and said, “Is that a trick question?” Caroline seeing his expression said, “I’m worse than shallow. I’m a kiddie pool!” This led to a particularly adorable scene as Matt carried Caroline home. Caroline still feeling alone and rejected, asked him, “Do you ever feel like there’s not a person in the world who loves you?” Wanting to assuage their mutual loneliness, Matt merely climbed into the bed beside her — albeit fully clothed. But it was a touching moment nonetheless.

Then, in one of the most lighthearted scenes of the night, Bonnie decided to share her newfound abilities with Elena and demonstrated by using a bunch of dancing feathers. It was with absolute joy that Bonnie revealed, “It’s true, Elena. Everything my grandmother told me. It’s impossible and it’s true. I’m a witch!”

What Didn’t Work

While it was supposed to be a funny reference, the exchange between Lexie and Stefan about the good ole days partying with Bon Jovi and singing “Wanted Dead or Alive” kind of fell flat. It plays to the older viewing audience, and the younger demograph probably did not get it.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

‘162 Candles’ was written by Barbie Klighman and Gabrielle Stanton, and directed by Rick Bota. ‘The Vampire Diaries’ stars Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Candice Accola, Katerina Graham, Michael Trevino, Zach Roerig and Sara Canning. ‘The Vampire Diaries’ airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.

Review of ‘FlashForward’ – Scary Monsters and Super Creeps

It was a Halloween to remember with kangaroos and blue-handed bodies

In “Scary Monsters and Super Creeps,” the show attempted to answer the question:  “What caused the flashforwards?”   Alas, the answer was perhaps more confounding than the question.  For as Simon (Dominic Monaghan) attempted to explain quantum mechanics in simple terms to the blonde on the train, we were all left scratching our heads over how Schrodinger’s Cat Theory actually worked.  In Simon’s example, you have to imagine that in your hand you are holding a tiny cat and a poisoned sardine, and if you fold your hand closed, the cat is given two choices: either the cat eats the poisoned sardine and dies, or it doesn’t and lives.  You will not know until you open your hand which option the cat chose. Thus, it is up to the cat to decide if it wants to live or die.  It is only after you (the observer) open your hand that you will discover the cat’s fate — and quantum physics says that until you open your hand both eventualities occur at the
same time.  But, according to Schrodinger’s Cat Theory, the miracle of quantum mechanics is that the observer gets to decide.

This is a mind-bender.  Are there two parallel realities?  Is it up to each of us to decide which reality will exist?  However, applying Schrodinger’s Cat Theory, as the woman noted, “The cat had already made up its mind.”

Also following this vein, the series seems to be focusing on whether each character will choose to eat the poisoned sardine or not.  Does each move forward to make their visions a reality or move away and resist their visions to become a reality?  Mark (Joseph Fiennes) and Olivia (Sonya Walger) are pushing against allowing their visions from coming true.  Mark does not want to return to his dark days of alcoholism and a failed marriage, and Olivia does not want to abandon her marriage and find love with another man she does not know.  Additionally, Demetri (John Cho) does not want his vision to come true either, for he does not want to be murdered.

However, in contrast, while Janis (Christine Woods) had initially struggled against her vision, after being shot she appears to have reconsidered her views on having a child.  For she clearly did want to have a child as she wept over the possibility that the scar tissue from her gun shot wound and surgery may prevent her from ever getting pregnant.

Also, rather interesting is, as Olivia noted, the flashfowards are a distraction.  Everyone is obsessed by what they saw.  But Olivia, while haunted by what she saw, firmly rejected it and announced, “Today is all we have.  I don’t want to miss it.”  But can one truly choose their destiny, or is it predetermined?

What Worked

It was a nice Easter-egg moment, to have Mark, Aaron (Brian F. O’Byrne) and Charlie (Lennon Wynn) see the kangaroo while out trick-or-treating.  In astonishment Aaron said, “Was that a kangaroo?”  To which Mark’s daughter, Charlie, exclaimed, “That is the best costume I’ve ever seen!”

It was also a nice nod to “Firefly” using the “blue hand” clues to lead the FBI from the assassin who tried to kill Janis to the stickers found on the street signs to the house with the bodies, one of which had a blue hand.  Not being deterred from doing his job, Demetri embraced the clue from Mark’s vision about the “blue hand” on the Mosaic board.  However, though he was clearly disturbed by how prophetically true that clue turned out to be.  Also, after finding the identification on one of the bodies, Agent Gough (Lee Thompson Young) realized that this was the Rutherford case, the one he had seen documents for in his flashforward.  It was eerie as he said, “It begins tonight.”

As they were being rapidly propelled in the direction of the flashforward visions coming true, Mark finally admitted to Olivia about seeing himself drinking in his flashforward.  His vehement denial, “Don’t condemn me for something I haven’t done yet!” was out of frustration as he rallied against a future he did not choose.  But it was Olivia’s angry response to his outburst that was truly revealing, “Did you even hear what you just said?  You’ve been punishing me this whole time for an imaginary relationship.  But when it comes back to you, you want to be let off the hook.” She further explained how his vision was so much worse, “Your past with all the drinking is real.  That still hurts.  I’m not going through it again.  It’s not about the drinking.  It’s about trust and we don’t trust each other anymore.”  And so begins the slow unraveling of their marriage as the seeds of distrust and doubt are sown.

Similarly, we watched with dual fascination and horror as Dylan (Ryan Wynott) announced, “It’s my house too” and walked right into the Benford house like it was his own.  That combined with the fact Dylan was greeted so casually by Charlie was chilling.  Thus, when Lloyd (Jack Davenport) arrived to pick him up and recognized the living room from his vision, there were simultaneous looks of dawning realization on Mark, Olivia and Lloyd’s faces.  With a look of horror mingled with wonder, Lloyd said, “You’re her.”  To which Mark sharply replied, “Not yet!”

Despite the awkward confrontation at the Benford home, it was later quite touching when Dylan asked, “Is it going to be Halloween again tomorrow?” and Lloyd quietly replied, “No, just today.” Then Dylan’s response of, “Good. ‘Cause it was kind of scary” and Lloyd’s thoughtful, “Yeah.  Yes, it was” spoke volumes about a man who may or may not be the big bad villain behind the black-out and flashfowards. That followed by the endearing moment where Dylan said, “Thanks for coming to get me, Daddy,” just melted our hearts.  Surely Lloyd cannot be the villain in the story after all.

What Didn’t Work

Was it necessary to completely vilify Simon?  The first time we saw him, we learned he was responsible for the black-out.  Then after seeing him try to seduce the woman on the train, he uses the pick-up line, “I know what caused the flashforward.”  His further elaboration was practically nauseating, “It was you.  Whenever a heavenly body carries such an intense force of attraction, the universe just goes bananas.  Your dark energy could bring about another catastrophe at any moment.”   All this combined with his revelation of what he saw in his flashforward, he saw himself killing another man by strangling him with his bare hands, and his subsequent, “Aren’t you glad you asked?” did nothing to redeem him whatsoever.  Even more disturbing was when Lloyd called Simon on his callousness and said, “Our experiment killed 20 million people, Simon.  What more is there to say?”  It certainly left a bad taste in my mouth.  This is a character to be despised, feared and hated with every fiber of our being.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

‘Scary Monsters and Super Creeps’ was written by Seth Hoffman and Quinton Peeples, and directed by Bobby Roth. ‘FlashForward’ stars Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger, John Cho, Gabrielle Union, Courtney B. Vance, Lee Thompson Young, Gina Torres, Jack Davenport, Brian F. O’Byrne, Peyton List, Christine Woods, Zachary Knighton, Dominic Monaghan, Ryan Wynott, Lennon Wynn. ‘FlashForward’ airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

 

Review of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ – Haunted

All Hallows Eve is even scarier with real monsters lurking in the darkness waiting to pounce and devour

With ample foreshadowing in a series that has already killed off several key characters, it was not totally unexpected that another one bit the dust. And Halloween was Vicki’s night. Newly born into her new vampire life, Vicki (Kayla Ewell) was but a babe in the vampire With ample foreshadowing in a series that has already killed off several key characters, it was not totally unexpected that another one bit the dust. And Halloween was Vicki’s night. Newly born into her new vampire life, Vicki (Kayla Ewell) was but a babe in the vampire world.  Starving and not sure why, she promptly cornered her ex-boyfriend, Tyler (Michael Trevino). It was only after the swift intervention of Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) that Vicki was hustled off to the mansion for some much needed tutoring. Stefan explained to Vicki, “It’s wrong to prey on innocent people.” To which Damon unhelpfully added, “You don’t have to kill to feed. Just find someone really tasty and erase their memory afterwards. It’s so easy. . . snatch, eat, erase.” After giving Damon an exasperated look, Stefan elaborated, “We choose our own path. Our values and our actions — they define who we are.” 

So as Stefan tried to lay down the ground rules with Vicki, Damon suspiciously noted that there was no mention of Logan’s (Chris J. Johnson) death in the newspaper which meant, “We should all be worried.” Someone clearly knew there were vampires back in Mystic Falls and was covering it up. Damon then went to investigate to find out who was behind all the secrecy.

Not able to stay away, Elena (Nina Dobrev) came to assist Stefan with Vicki and her assimilation into the vampire-lifestyle, but after Elena tried to warn Vicki to stay away from Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen), Vicki merely tossed that suggestion aside. Vicki was invincible in her mind and chose to believe the world is hers for the taking. No one was going to stop her. As Stefan tried to explain to Elena, “It’s hard to resist certain people. It’s difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire can all blur into one urge — hunger. She may not be able to resist him and could hurt him.” Elena was incredulous that because Vicki was a vampire with issues that Stefan could do nothing to stop or control her. But not having fed on human blood in quite a while, Stefan knew there was not much he could do to stop Vicki — and Vicki loose in the night on Halloween was an absolute nightmare.

Mocking her newly enhanced state, Vicki elected to dress in costume as a vampire and then went in search of food — living human beings. She embraced her role as a predator and was trying to make up her mind on who was to be her victim.  It was just unfortunate that Jeremy was the one she found. Vicki tried to seduce Jeremy into her new life by saying, “Come with me and we can be together forever.” Yet once Jeremy saw what she really was, he rejected her. He did not understand and was freaked by it. This was not the girlfriend he thought he knew and loved. It was a monster — and he rejected the monster.

Earlier when Vicki had asked Damon, “Why did you do it?” — why did he turn her into a vampire — Damon simply replied, “I was bored.” Vicki was indignant, “You did this to me out of boredom?!” Damon flippantly responded, “It’s one of the pitfalls of eternity.” However, hoping to pacify her, he said, “Your life was pathetic. Your afterlife does not have to be.” But in the end, Damon was wrong. Vicki would have given anything to not have had this happen to her. And if Damon looked deep enough, he would admit the same thing. They were not given a choice. Life as a vampire was thrust upon them. And their afterlives are not all it is cracked up to be. To always be wishing they were human — to live human lives. They are only living half-lives.

Thus, it was a sad poetic ending: Stefan had to kill Vicki because he could not handle her; Vicki had to die because she could not handle living as a vampire; Jeremy had to forget all of it because he could not handle the truth; and Damon had to be the one to erase Jeremy’s memories because Stefan was not strong enough. As for Elena, she was forced to recognize one thing: she could not afford to forget. For as she finally admitted to Stefan, “Part of me wishes I could forget too. Forget meeting you — finding out what you are and everything that’s happened . . . because I don’t want it to be like this. I don’t want to feel like this. But I can’t. With everything that’s happened, I can’t lose the way I feel about you.” Despite all the horrors she had faced and will continue to face, she found that she could not afford to lose the one thing that she had gained — her love for Stefan.

What Worked

Elena and Damon’s verbal exchanges continue to delight. For example, when Elena snapped at Damon, “How can you be so arrogant and glib after all you have done?!” To which Damon merely shrugged with a lazy smile, and said, “And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire ‘arrogant and glib’?”

Bonnie’s grandmother (Jasmine Guy) is a real treat with lines like, “You have to have more than ignorance to trap a real witch.” Her mentoring of Bonnie (Katerina Graham) is sure to provide a lot more insight into Bonnie’s developing abilities and I’m looking forward to her wielding a bit of her own power. Plus, with the crystal in Bonnie’s hands, things are sure to get interesting. Like why it is now capable of burning Damon, when he could easily touch it before.

Stefan’s tip that vampires drink lots of caffeine in order to keep their bodies warm to human touch was clever. It would be fun to know if there are other cool tips that vampire’s have in order to pass amongst the humans.

Likewise, it was fun to see the look of confusion on Vicki’s face when she tried to enter her own home and had to be invited in. Small things like that show what a burden it is to be a vampire and have constraints placed upon one.

What Didn’t Work

While I am sure the writers have already thought of this, it gave me the shivers to see how easily Elena allowed Damon to use his mind-compulsion ability on Jeremy. Surely, it is not a good idea to allow such a nasty vampire anywhere near Jeremy, let alone into Jeremy’s mind. And just where is Aunt Jenna during all of this? The lack of parental supervision is appalling.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

‘Haunted’ story was written by Andrew Kleisberg and the teleplay was written by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, and directed by Ernest Dickerson. ‘The Vampire Diaries’ stars Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Steven R. McQueen, Candice Accola, Katerina Graham, Kayla Ewell, Michael Trevino, Zach Roerig and Sara Canning. ‘The Vampire Diaries’ airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.

 

Review of ‘Stargate Universe’ – Light

In the end, the credo “every man for himself” feels like a lonely way to live

From the very first episode, we heard Dr. Rush’s (Robert Carlyle) edicts echoing in our ears: “This ship could be the single most important discovery since the Stargate itself” and “this ship simply doesn’t have the capability to dial Earth.” These pronouncements set up the dilemma of (1) Rush is fascinated by the ship; and (2) what if because of his fascination he does not want to return to Earth and is only saying the Stargate aboard the ship cannot dial Earth. So with these conflicting interests in mind, in “Light” the survivors aboard the alien vessel, Destiny, were confronted with yet another imminent challenge: the ship had failing power reserves and was on a collision course with a giant star.

Faced with death just hours away, the survivors had to act quickly with what little time and resources they had remaining. It was time to decide who was going to live and who was going to die. After gathering everyone together, Col. Young (Louis Ferreira) shared their dire predicament and laid out the rules for a survival lottery. He would select two crew members to pilot the shuttle and another 15 people would be selected through a lottery to join in a last-ditch run for one of the three nearby planets in hope that they could survive. It was a bleak prospect anyway they looked at it. Yet in the end, they were all desperate for that one last chance to get away.

As the rules of survival were explained, it was noted, “We are having another bad day.” But in the mere days since they escaped attack on Icarus, they have had virtually no calm days. They have been cursed with attempting to survive in an alien craft with little or no resources. Their lives have been reduced to one “bad day” after another. It may have been a heady adrenaline rush initially, but it left a nasty downhill kick as that began to ebb away. This was that day. It was time to face their mortality.

Not wanting to leave their fate up to a lottery, some vied to be one of the two selected claiming to be the right person necessary for the shuttle trip. Finally Col. Young yelled in frustration, “We’re all the wrong people!” For none of them had actually been selected to be there. They were only aboard the Destiny out of a trick of fate. They were the survivors of an attack, not people selected to go on a deep space exploration. Finding it odd that Rush opted out of the lottery, Col. Young asked Rush why. Rush merely replied, “This ship – coming here – is my destiny. My life’s work is to be here – not trying to survive on some rock with a bunch of strangers.”

In the meantime, with imminent death staring them in the face, Eli’s (David Blue) “message in a bottle” Keno became even more popular. For as Eli said, “Let’s do something. Let’s leave something of ourselves behind.” So Chloe (Elyse Levesque) left a touching tribute to her father’s sacrifice, “I just wanted to say that my father gave his life so we could survive another day – and we did.” Camille (Ming-Na) left a heart-felt message to her lover, “Tell Sharon my last thoughts were of her.” And Col. Young tried to say good-bye to his wife, “Hi Emily, I just wanted to say – well you know. You know. . . ” But it was Greer (Jamil Walker Smith) who said it best with, “I can’t think of a better way to move from this world to the next, or whatever comes, than to fly into the most powerful thing in all of creation – a star – out in a blaze of glory. I like that. That’s beautiful.”

So as Eli and Chloe sat awaiting their certain death as the ship moved closer to the burning sun, Chloe put her head on Eli’s shoulder and held his hand. For if this was to be their last moments, they could only seek solace in the fact that they were not alone. Others recited the Lord’s Prayer; some played cards like it was just another day; some listened to music in remembrance; and some sought solitude. Everyone faced death in their own way.

Then unexpectedly, Rush abandoned his solitude and came running out to find Eli who was bewildered by Rush’s jubilation and said, “What are we so happy about?” To which Rush unabashedly replied, “We’re going to live! I am never more pleased to be wrong in my whole life!” For he had simply assumed that there had not been enough power left for Destiny’s shields to protect them, but it did. That is exactly why there was no apparent power, it was because Destiny had taken all of it to power the shields during its traverse through the star. Destiny needed every bit of it in order to protect itself while simultaneously using the solar energy gleaned from the star to refuel. That is the trick that Destiny employed: it replenishes its reserves by relying on solar power which it can only obtain by traveling through a sun. And then as Eli caught on, he said in awe and amazement, “Guys, we’re in the star. . . “

Later after the shuttle and the lottery winners rejoined Destiny, everyone was triumphant at their survival. Yet when Col. Young invited him to celebrate with everyone else, Rush merely shrugged and said, “Celebrate what? That we’re back where we started?” Col. Young then explained to him, “You actually made a sacrifice — unless you knew Destiny was going to make it all along . . .”

And that is the crux of that matter. Did Rush in fact know all along that Destiny would survive the encounter with the star and then chose to let them all believe otherwise?

What Worked

Surely everyone must have felt like cheering when Eli made the proclamation, “Math Boy!” to Rush when Rush questioned his equation results. That follow-up with Eli’s quick-witted announcement, “why am I watching this on TV?!” before he rushed back to the observation deck was priceless.

It was also cool that Eli remembered to use one of the Keno to be aboard the shuttle as it moved away from Destiny so that those behind could see for the first time what the ship looks like from the outside. Rush was awestruck and grateful as he said, “Thank you, Eli. I never thought I’d see the ship from the outside.” He also thoughtfully told Eli, “I’m sorry I got you involved with this.” To which Eli smiled and said, “Actually, I’m not.” Rush just looked at him and quietly replied, “Yet.”

What Didn’t Work

It was heartbreaking and unnecessary to have a scene where Eli had to witness Chloe and Scott (Brian J. Smith) leaving for one last moment of passion. It felt like a slap in the face and made it harder to believe that he would continue to be Chloe’s shoulder-to-cry-upon even in their last moments of life.

Additionally, it was like kicking a man when he is already down to have Eli dream about his mother nagging him to do laundry and reminding him that he does not have any skills. For when she asked him to do the laundry, Eli had flippantly responded, “Not in my skill set” and she quietly said, “Nothing is.” Eli is supposed to be the “everyman” and it is hard to think that the average TV viewer would allow all the women in their lives to treat them in such a deplorable manner.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

‘Light’ was written by Brad Wright and directed by Peter DeLuise. ‘Stargate Universe’ stars Robert Carlyle, David Blue, Brian J. Smith, Alaina Huffman, Ming-Na, Lou D. Phillips, Jamil Walker Smith, Elyse Levesque, Louis Ferreira. ‘Stargate Universe’ airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on Syfy.