Well, I’m pleased to see that many of you enjoyed last night’s episode of Stargate: Universe and I look forward to hearing from fans in other parts of the world after Space premieres in their neck of the woods. Thanks to everyone who weighed in with their thoughts. Also, thanks to everyone who worked extremely hard to produce the fantastic episode you watched: the cast, the crew, fabulous director Andy Mikita, Mark Savela and his VFX team, James Robbins for the alien and ship designs, the entire Art Department, Construction, Costumes, the SFX crew, Hair, Make-Up, and the hundreds of individuals who put in those long, loooong days. Special mention should be made of the writing department who beat out the story and Brad Wright and Robert Cooper in particular who led the creative charge and did a pass on every script of the show’s first season. Rob Cooper produced Space and did a bang-up job.
Now, as promised, you have questions and I have answers. Well, some answers…
t’lock writes: “How does the fact that Col Young told Dr Rush, that the kino kept recording so he (col Young) knew that Rush was behind the gun being in his quarters, affects dr Rush and Eli relationship going forward?”
Answer: I’d say Eli is stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, he’s got Rush who framed Young in order to undermine his leadership. On the other hand, he’s got Young who Eli strongly suspects of trying to kill Rush by stranding him on that planet. I’d say his working and personal relationships with both have been complicated by recent events.
Bryan M. White writes: “Throw in a mutiny, the only thing missing is what happened to Franklin.”
Answer: A mutiny, you say? Tune in next week. As for Franklin…oh, we haven’t forgotten about him.
dasNdanger writes: “Liked the aliens a lot. I was a bit annoyed with the use of English in the beginning, but then understood later on how they knew the language.”
Answer: Most fans were smart enough to figure it out. One reviewer didn’t. 🙂
Kevin writes: “Who is James crying for in bed?”
Answer: The fact that this scene of James, alone in bed, came on the heels of the scene of Scott and Chloe in bed together was intended to suggest a connection. James is crying because she’s lost Scott to Chloe. A scene that didn’t make the cut (actually the final draft) that could have shed a little more light on this took place after Chloe’s capture. Scott is marching down the hall from the shuttle when James approaches and asks if he’s alright. He curtly dismisses her, more interested in pressing Young about Chloe. It was a quick scene we had to lose due to the domino effect of a changed storyline (you’ll find out about that in the coming episodes).
Craig writes: “BTW, how long after the events of “Justice” does “Space” take place? A day or two? A week?”
Answer: Although it’s never specified, it’s safe to assume that it could have been about a week.
Craig also writes: “Also, is there an official name for the alien species?”
Answer: Nope. We refer to them as “the Space aliens”. Creative, no?
PBMom writes: “Surely they didn’t have time to bring razors with them when escaping from Icarus.”
Answer: They were evacuating and had time to grab whatever was handy – and that certainly may have included pre-packed survival kits.
Fred writes: “One thing I didn’t get though was after Rush killed the alien and Col. Young attempted to use the communication stones to get back, why didn’t he just connect to Earth? Were the aliens blocking the communication? If that’s the case, why was it that specific alien individual that Young inhabited? Do they have a set of communication stones onboard?”
Answer: We’ll find out more about why Young ended up connecting with the alien in a future episode.
Cat4444 writes: “It also appears that some connection may have developed between Chloe and Rush.”
Answer: Hmmm. Now that you mention it…yes. More on that next week.
Paloosa writes: “At the end of “Justice”, Rush said that Young “didn’t believe in the mission”. Was Rush’s belief about Young based more in a general sense of his perceived lack of Young’s commitment to the Stargate program? If so, how does that relate to their current situation on Destiny? I thought the mission was to get back to earth.”
Answer: While there is certainly a desire on the part of Young and almost everyone else on board to get back to Earth, the “mission” Rush refers to is actually Destiny’s mission, the very reason it was built and launched by the Ancients. As to what that mission is…more on that in the coming episodes.
Michael writes: “Among the staff, who came up with the water motif with the aliens’ looks and those chambers Chloe and Rush were kept in?”
Answer: Brad had an idea for the water motif from very early on, but the look of the ship and its aliens developed out of input provided by Brad, Rob, James Robbins, Mark Savela, and the VFX and Art Department.
KEK writes: “All in all a great episode, I was disappointed that the aliens were in fact humanoid though, even though the producers said they wouldn’t be…”
Answer: Don’t remember the producers ever saying the aliens wouldn’t be humanoid. Do remember saying we didn’t want to do humanoid English-speaking aliens.
Major D. Davis writes: “In the end, when Rush is talking with Wray, Rush tells Wray he tried something to get Young out of the way and Young nearly killed him. Does that mean Rush told Wray that he tried to frame Young for murder.”
Answer: Nope. Given Wray’s response to unfolding events in Justice, it’s fairly clear that she didn’t know what was really going on.
Parallax writes: “Quick question, now that we’ve had justice (which became the mid season finale) and space which was going to be the original finale, how much did you have to change both episodes after splitting fire into “Light” and “Darkness”, did you add/remove or just leave every thing as it was?”
Answer: Not at all.
Shoeboogie writes: “You only gave us a brief bit of exposition about what happened to Rush alone on the planet. Will there be flashbacks to that time or do you consider more details on that story of little interest?”
Answer: The brief overview of events Rush offers at episode’s end will have to suffice.
dasNdanger writes: “When you get good feedback like you’ve had for Space, do you feel a bit of relief? And do you feel a little anxious before the episode airs, wondering how viewers will react?”
Answer: While it’s always nice to receive positive feedback, I’m really passed the point where I feel any anxiety prior to one of my episode’s airing (as opposed to say, the very real anxiety I experience every time I deliver a script). Fact is there will always be people out there who will love it, and there will always be people out there who’ll hate it. There is never a 100% score either way. Rather than concern myself with the general consensus, I prefer to zero in on what only a handful of individuals think. Like, for instance you. I ask myself: “Did Das like it?”. If “Yes”, then I can sleep better tonight.
jeremsg1 writes: “I would like to know if these Aliens are introduced in Air only for this episode (Space) or it’s plannified that they will come back in the future?”
Answer: Oh, I’d say there’s a pretty good chance we’ll see them again.
Off to watch the West Virginia Mountaineers beat the Duke Blue Devils and put me one step closer to winning the office NCAA tourney pool and, more importantly, beat Ashleigh. But, before I go, more answers to other questions…
Mailbag:
Chem_Is-Try writes: “Do you just sample the desserts at each shop and purchase some for later, or eat an entire dessert at each?
And if the latter, how much time between each stop?”
Answer: We sampled a bit at each stop, then saved the rest of our haul for the long trip home. I ended up having chocolate for breakfast. 🙂
Amz writes: “I can’t wait to hear about your (assumed?) visit to Au Pied de Cochon.”
Answer: Sunday night! I’m having the tarragon bison tongue!
Amz also writes: “How did you find the taste of your “old fashioned” dark hot chocolate from Juliette & Chocolat? I liked the texture (I found it thick enough), but it could have been a bit more bitter for my liking.”
Answer: I agree. It was a little sweet (which was why I went with the dark over milk). I still prefer the Denso I used to get at Chocoatl: more bitter and somewhat thicker.
dasNdanger writes: “…stopped to say hi to a friend who has been in a pickle since all the snow and rain we’ve had here in Jersey… well… here, take a look for yourself…”
Answer: Seriously? That’s terrible. How did she get back inside her house? By crawling through an upper floor window?! How’s she doing?
Teal’c_PI writes: “I remember someone else asking if you had any pictures of yourself as a child. Any chance you could find some now, if you don’t mind and aren’t too busy?”
Answer: I have a few but, alas, they’re not digital pics so I can’t upload ’em.
Leave a Reply