After weeks upon weeks of talking about it, it finally premieres tonight on SyFy and Space, then on Tuesday in the U.K., and later next week in Australia. Yep, I haven’t talked up an episode this much since that one where Hamtaro got lost in the mountains near the Yoshi family residence.
The forecast calls for rain with a 40% chance of aliens.
For a few days last May, Stage 2 was transformed into a dark and rainy jungle set. What amazed me was how fast and how far the temperature dropped in there once it started raining.
Kudos to Robert Cooper for forging ahead with this script even after being advised that it was “more of a season two episode”. I think this is a perfect season one episode, a fun and clever standalone episode that delivers a new spin on a scifi chestnut. This one was complicated and, after working the story through in his head, Rob was hit by an epiphany that finally made all the pieces fall into place. He pitched it out to us and we agreed, it was brilliant. Satisfied, he set the story aside and busied himself with other things. Then, about a week later, he phoned up Brad in a panic. “What was that great idea I had for the ending? I forgot!” Fortunately, Brad remembered.
Even though the conditions were miserable, the actors were all troopers and, by all indications, loved working on this episode.
This is one of those episodes that demands a little more of its audience. In addition to just sitting back and enjoying the ride, viewers will be called upon to put the pieces of the puzzle together. And, by the way, I love the ending. It’s one of my very favorites, right up there with McKay’s post fade out “Oh, crap!” at the end of This Mortal Coil and Teal’c unintentionally attending a reading of The Vagina Monologues.
If he’s not too busy, I’ll get Rob Cooper to swing on by to do a Q&A with you in January. That way, you can ask him all sorts of questions like what the hell he was smoking when he came up with this episode.
Some really memorable scenes throughout, but David Blue’s performance in this one really made me stand up and take notice. He’s been great so far but, in Time, he really wows, proving that he is far, far more than terrific comedic actor.
Of course, it’s always tough to gauge audience reaction. Many times, we’ll produce an episode that I think will knock the fans’ socks off – and it’s met with a lukewarm response. Other times, I figure certain segments of fandom will hate an episode – and end up genuinely surprised when their response is overwhelmingly positive. After so many years of doing this, nothing surprises me anymore. That said, I WILL be surprised if the fan response to this one isn’t very favorable.
One of the things I truly love about this episode – beside the mayhem – are all the little character moments, mere instances that go such a long way toward informing the audience on who these people are: Eli’s confession, T.J.’s reflection, Scott’s ingenuity, Rush’s flash of pop culture humanity, Greer’s blind courage in the face of the seemingly insurmountable – to name just a few.
One of the things I always loved about Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis was the freedom both shows gave to tell a variety of stories. One week, our team could be heading off-world to explore some alien landscape; the next, our heroes could be caught up in a no-holds-barred ship to ship battle; the week after that, they could be on Earth investigating a mystery or dealing with a crisis situation on the home front. And, I’m pleased to say that Universe affords us the same freedom. We’ve had ship-based adventures (Air I and II, Darkness and Light), explored alien worlds (Water, Air III), dealt with Earth-based embroglio’s (Earth) – and, finally, tonight, it’s something completely different.
Anyway, tune in and let me know your thoughts. More behind-the-scenes pics and videos headed your way.
By the way, thanks to everyone who has weighed in with suggestions to help me with my ongoing tech issues. My MacBook is working fine now, no network issues. On the other hand, I’m still experiencing problems unploading my email settings to my iPhone. Isn’t there some sort of sync feature that would allow me to plug the iPhone into my MacBook and download the settings directly from my laptop.
Okay, I’m off for dinner – and should be back in plenty of time to watch tonight’s episode…and, of course, peruse your comments.
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