{"id":10988,"date":"2010-04-05T01:59:05","date_gmt":"2010-04-05T05:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/?p=10988"},"modified":"2018-01-10T06:36:35","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T14:36:35","slug":"stargate-universe-divided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/2010\/04\/05\/stargate-universe-divided\/","title":{"rendered":"Stargate Universe: Divided"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\">Hey Stargate Fans<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Calibri'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Calibri';\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><a title=\"Click to visit SGU on SyFy \" href=\"http:\/\/syfy.com\/universe\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8097 alignright\" title=\"Click to visit SGU on SyFy \" src=\"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/syfy-logo-c2.jpg\" alt=\"Click to visit SGU on SyFy \" width=\"150\" height=\"111\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Calibri'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Calibri';\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><a title=\"Cllick to visit NBC Universal!\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nbcuni.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-8871\" title=\"Cllick to visit NBC Universal!\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/NBC-Universal-Logo-576x70.gif\" alt=\"Cllick to visit NBC Universal!\" width=\"387\" height=\"47\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\">The first time I watched <em>Divided<\/em>, I was struck by two things: that the episode feels more like a continuation of <em>Space<\/em> than a wholly separate episode, and that after the events of the episode life\u00a0on board Destiny would be markedly different. The episode is primarily focused on the characters and the consequences of their choices \u2013 both those they are making in the here and now, and choices already gone by.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><a title=\"Click to visit Stargate Universe on MGM\" href=\"http:\/\/stargate.mgm.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-10999\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SGU-MGM-Lion-0342.jpg\" alt=\"(SGU) MGM-Lion-034\" width=\"225\" height=\"154\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\">As I have said before, one of the things I\u2019m most enjoying about SGU so far is that we continue to see repercussions from previous episodes. Up until now, tensions aboard Destiny have been running high and in <em>Divided<\/em>, written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, that simmering finally erupts into a boil.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nThe very first scene is one which, at first, I found rather intriguing simply for the glimpse into Chloe\u2019s psyche; that, and I rather like the shooting style and lighting used throughout the scene and I felt Elyse Levesque (who plays Chloe) did a rather wonderful job with it. \u00a0Upon further reflection, though, I think that the scene actually serves as a metaphor for every single member of the expedition: though they are able to see their loved ones via the communications stones, in some ways it must make the entire experience all the worse. In this way, it is as if you are trapped behind a glass wall able to see and maybe talk to the people you love, but never touch them or return to their sides. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\">There is this possibility to go and visit with your loved ones, but at the end of the day you must return to the sobering reality that you may never see them in person again. In some ways I think that the stones, emotionally, do the characters a disservice \u2013 leaving aside the many arguments I have heard for and against the stones as storytelling devices \u2013 as it means that they are not entirely forced to accept their new reality; in comparison to if they were completely isolated and forced to grieve and move on.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Click to visit SGU on SyFy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.syfy.com\/universe\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10989\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chloe-porthole-576x376.png\" alt=\"Chloe porthole\" width=\"576\" height=\"376\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Chloe<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nAfter watching the episode, I can tell you that \u2018divided\u2019 is an extremely appropriate name: not only are there divisions between individuals, but also between the expedition as a whole. Since the moment the survivors came through the Gate to Destiny, we have seen factions develop among them, the primary division being between the military and the civilians. And since the events in <em>Space<\/em> when we witnessed machinations between Wray (Ming Na) and Rush (Robert Carlyle), arguably the most influential of the civilians, and several other scientists including Brody (Peter Kelamis) and Volker (Patrick Gilmore), it was obvious that the timetable for a confrontation between the groups had been accelerated \u2013 primarily as a consequence of Colonel Young\u2019s (Louis Ferreira) choice to abandon Rush on the planet.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nOne thing which surprised me, pleasantly, was that some of the characters, and the choices they made in <em>Divided<\/em>, actually did surprise me. This may not sound like much, but I often find that once I get a pretty good handle on a character, I\u2019m not surprised by their choices. And in this episode of SGU, it wasn\u2019t so much that I don\u2019t understand some of the choices that characters made, but that, in all honesty, I did not see them coming.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nAs we continue to get to know different shades of the characters aboard Destiny, I find that something I really enjoy about them is that they <em>have<\/em><em> <\/em>layers. Things are never quite cut and dry because we keep learning about different aspects of these characters. For instance, initially Young seems like a rather straightforward fellow, but then he made the choice to leave Rush on the planet. In <em>Divided<\/em> I saw another side to Rush and, although I am still not entirely sure his moral compass at times, I really would like to learn more about his backstory. In a recent interview Louis Ferreira talked about \u201cTeam Young\u201d and \u201cTeam Rush\u201d, and how things are rarely that simple, and I tend to agree. I think that, as we see more of life on board Destiny, the very fact that these characters are so complex means that we are likely to see shifting loyalties as different events occur \u2013 or, rather, I <em>hope<\/em> that we see shifting loyalties.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Click to visit SGU on SyFy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.syfy.com\/universe\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10991\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fight-TJ-572x384.png\" alt=\"Fight, TJ\" width=\"572\" height=\"384\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Confrontation<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nMy favourite scene in <em>Divided<\/em> occurs in a discussion between Chloe and TJ (Alaina Huffman) in which TJ pretty much hits the nail on the head in terms of what I think is the crux of the problem: you cannot force a confrontation with a military force given that armed conflicts are their specialty &#8211; it would be analogous to an amateur challenging a Grand Master to a game of chess and expecting to emerge victorious. On the one hand, I see where the military side is coming from in that when survival is at stake you don\u2019t have time to take a consensus every time you want to take action; on the other hand, most of the people on board Destiny have no desire to live under a military dictatorship.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nI think part of issue stems from the fact that Col. Young chose to abandon Rush on the planet: like Dr. Caine said, how do the civilians know that Young just won\u2019t choose to abandon them like he did Rush? At first I thought that it wouldn\u2019t be such a big issue because we have seen a military leader in charge of an expedition before when Colonel Samantha Carter was in charge of Atlantis for a time in Stargate Atlantis; however, under those circumstances she was still answerable to the civilian government back on Earth. We have seen before that Young, although he is still a member of the United States military, can ultimately make his own choices on board Destiny given that there is no way for those people back on Earth to control him.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Click to visit SGU on SyFy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.syfy.com\/universe\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10992\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Chloe-and-Rush-576x364.png\" alt=\"Chloe and Rush\" width=\"576\" height=\"364\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Rush and Chloe<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nAfter <em>Space,<\/em> I had hoped that we would continue to see effects from the confrontations with the aliens, in particular, effects on Rush and Chloe \u2013 and this hope was fulfilled in <em>Divided<\/em>. When you consider what they went through, it must have been a rather traumatic experience; one which Rush seemed to have dealt with far better than Chloe. I think that may be because Rush was able to turn the neural interface around on his captors and use it against them while Chloe was left feeling powerless, and I hope that after this episode we continue to see the aftereffects of her capture.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nI also like seeing a different side to Rush when he deals with Chloe. He is the only one on board who could really understand what she went through, and that shows in their interactions. We saw elements of the shift in their relationship at the end of <em>Space<\/em>, but I enjoyed seeing that carry over.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Click to visit SGU on SyFy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.syfy.com\/universe\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10993\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Young-555x384.png\" alt=\"Young\" width=\"555\" height=\"384\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Silence<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nI think we saw another facet of Young\u2019s personality in this episode: he wields silence as a weapon as well as he does an automatic gun. It is far easier to dismiss someone who is ranting angrily than it is to dismiss someone who is calm and rational. Silence can be as powerful a tool as any great oratory, and we see that in this episode. I also think that given what we have seen of Col. Young so far this kind of reaction fits well with his character. Even though Young seems to behave irrationally at times, for example with Rush and with Colonel Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips), it seems as though when he is dealing more with command issues than with people with whom he has a more personal conflict that he is rather level-headed.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nAs we started to see in <em>Space,<\/em> there are several characters who were slightly more background up until how who have begun to take on more of a role in the main plot. The most notable of these is Camille Wray. Although we knew that Camille had misgivings about having Young in command, we saw her telling one of her IOA bosses that she wasn\u2019t sure which side was the one with which she ought to side. At the end of the <em>Space, <\/em>we saw her meeting with Rush and several other civilians at the inception of a plan to do something about Col. Young and that plan comes to a head in <em>Divided<\/em>. One aspect of this which I enjoy is that we are beginning to see Wray come into her own as a heavy-hitter among the crew, so to speak. She has taken on a leadership role not by way of her position among the IOA, but rather because of the fact that she seems to be listening to the civilians on Destiny and making her voice heard. Whether this is due to the fact that she wholly believes that there should be civilian oversight or because she wants to have more influence on board, I am not entirely sure yet.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Click to visit SGU on SyFy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.syfy.com\/universe\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10994\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Camille-458x384.png\" alt=\"Camille\" width=\"458\" height=\"384\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Future leader?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\n<a title=\"WormholeRiders. Click to visit &amp; follow WHR on Twitter!\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/WormholeRiders\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-15987\" title=\"WormholeRiders. Click to visit &amp; follow WHR on Twitter!\" src=\"http:\/\/wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/WormholeRiders-New-Logo-150.jpg\" alt=\"WormholeRiders. Click to visit &amp; follow WHR on Twitter!\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Make sure to tune in Friday April 9 &#8211; and I hope you enjoy the episode as much as I did!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nFeel free to email me with any thoughts by clicking on the link below, or visit my<a title=\"Click to visit NaddyCat on Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/naddycat\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-11004\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wormholeriders.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/NRheadshot13-150x1501.jpg\" alt=\"NRheadshot13-150x150\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Twitter page by\u00a0following the link in the image. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\">Thank you for visiting <a title=\"WormholeRiders. Click to visit and follow WHR on Twitter!\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/WormholeRiders\" target=\"_blank\">WormholeRiders News Agency<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><a href=\"mailto:naddycat@wormholeriders.net\">NaddyCat<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nAs always, thanks for reading!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 13pt;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Calibri';\"><br \/>\nNadine Ramsden<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hey Stargate Fans The first time I watched Divided, I was struck by two things: that the episode feels more like a continuation of Space than a wholly separate episode, and that after the events of the episode life\u00a0on board Destiny would be markedly different. The episode is primarily focused on the characters and the&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/2010\/04\/05\/stargate-universe-divided\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Stargate Universe: Divided&rdquo;<\/span> &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,62,64,33,34,66,37,39,100,41,42,453,74,75,76,77,44,45,46,79,80,47,49,82,50,230,85,30,493,3,29],"tags":[31,104,13,94,221,427,428,1856,1852,429,484,485,1866,4,53,486,38,487,279,95,225,452,105,442,443,1858,227,488,489,162,432,107,189,21,1841,48,444,433,114,435,490,8,491,492,9,1849,10,1859,234,440],"class_list":["post-10988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alaina-huffman-celebs","category-andy-mikita-creators","category-brad-wright-creators","category-brian-jacob-smith-what-are-they-doing-now","category-bridge-studios-creators-2","category-carl-p-binder","category-david-blue-what-are-they-doing-now","category-elyse-levesque-celebs","category-james-bamford-creators","category-jamil-walker-smith-celebs","category-jennifer-spence-celebs","category-jim-menard-creators-2","category-joel-goldsmith-creators","category-john-g-lenic-creators","category-john-scalzi-creators","category-joseph-mallozzi","category-julia-benson-celebs","category-lou-diamond-phillips-celebs","category-louis-ferreira-celebs","category-mark-savela-creators","category-martin-gero-creators","category-mgm-studios-creators","category-ming-na-wen-celebs","category-n-john-smith-creators","category-patrick-gilmore-celebs","category-peter-kalamis","category-robert-cooper-creators","category-robert-carlyle-celebs","category-sgu-s1x12-divided","category-stargate","category-stargate-universe-network-studio-series","tag-alaina-huffman","tag-andy-mikita","tag-brad-wright","tag-brian-j-smith","tag-bridge-studios","tag-brody","tag-camille-wray","tag-carl-p-binder","tag-celebs","tag-chloe","tag-col-telford","tag-col-young","tag-creators","tag-david-blue","tag-destiny","tag-divided","tag-elyse-levesque","tag-greer","tag-james-bamford","tag-jamil-walker-smith","tag-jennifer-spence","tag-jim-menard","tag-joel-goldsmith","tag-john-g-lenic","tag-john-scalzi","tag-joseph-mallozzi","tag-julia-benson","tag-justin-louis-as-louis-ferreira","tag-lisa-park","tag-lou-diamond-phillips","tag-louis-ferreira","tag-mark-savela","tag-martin-gero","tag-mgm-studios","tag-ming-na-wen","tag-ming-na","tag-n-john-smith","tag-naddycat","tag-patrick-gilmore","tag-peter-kelamis","tag-robert-c-cooper","tag-robert-carlyle","tag-rush","tag-scott","tag-sgu","tag-stargate","tag-stargate-universe","tag-studios","tag-tj","tag-volker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10988"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28509,"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10988\/revisions\/28509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wormholeriders.net\/stargate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}