Stargate Universe ”Trial And Error” - Detailed Analysis & Review

"Trial and Error" is a perfect example of why Stargate Universe is so good. This is a beautiful character piece. It shows us the strain that leaders often go through. In this episode, Colonel Young must confront his own weaknesses and flaws, and the pain of the burdens he has been forced to carry since arriving on Destiny. It's fantastic television. Plus, on a lighter note, Eli and Gin meet for the first time, and their romance begins to blossom.

Transcript

Welcome to Nerd Heaven

I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars,

And I am a Nerd.

 

This is episode 76 of the podcast.

Today we’re talking about the Stargate Universe episode “Trial And Error”

 

And happy new year. This is the first episode that will air in 2022. We’ve made it through yet another year. The very first episode of this podcast went live in December 2019. That means we’re now 2 years old. How crazy is that? I'm very proud of what I’m creating, and I hope those of you who are listening are enjoying it too.

 

The description on Gateworld reads

“Colonel Young sees a recurring vision of Destiny being attacked and destroyed by hostile aliens, causing him to fear he is losing his mind.”

 

This episode was written by Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie.

It was directed by Andy Mikita

And it first aired on the 2nd of November, 2010.

 

TJ has been running a bunch of tests on Chloe and Scott, ever since the transfusion of Chloe’s alien-altered blood healed Scott of his infection. Chloe’s blood remains altered, but Scott’s seems to have gone back to normal. That’s good news for Scott. It means he may not have been affected long term by whatever the blue aliens did to Chloe. But will Young be willing to trust him?

 

The truth is, Young seems to have something else on his mind. He’s very distracted when TJ recommends letting Scot out of isolation. He doesn’t even argue.

 

He reveals what’s bothering him to TJ. His wife, Emily, wants a divorce. We haven’t heard much about her since early season 1. Telford really messed things up for him, and honestly, he made things even worse himself. The tragic thing is that it was the modified Lucian Alliance personality that wrecked  Young’s marriage, not the real Telford. But let’s face it, Young’s marriage was already on the rocks long before he set foot on Destiny.

 

Young raises an interesting question. Is it legal to sign papers in somebody else’s body? I don’t know the answer to that. But it’s a genuine problem in the real world. Not the body-swapping part. But the law has always lagged behind technology. It makes sense why. Technology can move at a rapid pace. One advancement increases the speed of the next advancement. Laws are complicated and clunky. They take time to create and change. There’s a lot riding on them, afterall.

 

You can kind of understand Emily’s perspective here. She and Young were close to ending their marriage anyway, and now he’s on the other side of the universe and she’ll probably never see him again. 

 

So….Eli and Gin meet for the first time.

Camille introduces them to each other. It makes sense. She’s studied ancient technology just as Eli has. They should work together. You can tell that there’s a spark there immediately, at least from Eli’s side. Of course, he acts maturely and professionally. Gin is in a lot of ways, a female version of Eli. She’s close to his age, and quite attractive.

Camille suggests they dig out Eli’s old research on dialling the gate from within a star. He’d given up on it, but maybe Gin has some new ideas that could revive it.

I think Camille knows these two are gonna hit it off. You can kind of see the little smirk on her face. It’s a cute scene.

 

Scott goes to see Chloe. She’s having a hard time in lock-up. She’s not contagious but she’s being kept in isolation in case she blacks out and sabotages the ship. How must she be feeling? Scott tries to encourage her. She saved his life. That proves she’s still herself, not just some alien monster. But we know that deep down, Scott has concerns about Chloe. We saw that in his vision last episode.

This is when Chloe reveals that she is changing. The skin on her leg is going all blue, wrinkly, hard, and alien. And it’s spreading. That’s not good. What will she become?

 

We’ve left the blue aliens behind. We’re not even in the same galaxy as them now, but their legacy is definitely remaining with us.

 

The man whose marriage is ending, spinning his wedding ring on the table is something of a cliche now, but it does show what’s on Young’s mind.

 

Brody calls him to the science lab. 9 alien ships have arrived and are surrounding Destiny. The blue aliens. Maybe they are capable of travelling the void between galaxies as well. Their obsession with Destiny could be motivation enough to leave their galaxy behind and pursue.

 

They’re demanding we hand Chloe over.

It’s possible she’s been gathering intelligence for them this whole time even without her knowing.

 

When Young refuses, they open fire on Destiny.

 

Something doesn’t quite add up. Destiny is very important to the aliens. They wouldn’t intentionally destroy it, but they’re banging it up pretty bad.

The glass window in the observation deck blows out, throwing Scott into space.

The aliens keep firing and Destiny explodes.

 

Then Young wakes up.

 

Of course, this is sci-fi, so a dream is rarely just a dream.

 

Young had previously put the repair of Destiny’s weapons on hold until they have a greater understanding of the grid that powers them. Somebody was recently injured trying to repair them. We don’t even understand what’s wrong with them.

But Young has told his people that getting the weapons online is now top priority.

 

He’s taking his dream very seriously.

We know that the dreams likely mean something, because we’re watching a TV show. But what exactly is making Young think that his dream is anything more than that? A dream? There’s Chloe’s transformation, but that doesn’t mean the aliens are coming, or that they’re even capable of coming.

 

I think the whole thing has just been an uncomfortable reminder that they are pretty much defenceless right now. And that’s a difficult position to be in.

Maybe that’s enough.

 

Camille is worried that all Young has gone through emotionally in recent time is clouding his judgement.

 

Rush goes to visit Chloe. He uses the pretence of bringing food to ask her to look at some equations for him. Chloe asks if Rush’s efforts to help her with the chair were real or just for show. He answers “of course it was real,” but with Rush, who really knows?

Rush sees the advantage in Chloe’s situation. He feels he’s the only one who does.

 

Chloe’s ability to understand alien equations IS a benefit, and perhaps one they should be willing to make use of, but it doesn’t help her. And Rush comes off looking like someone who only cares about Chloe for what she can do for him. And that’s at least partially true.

 

Chloe worries he has a vested interest in keeping her this way, rather than trying to help her. Would he actively try to sabotage any attempt to help her?

 

Rush reveals to her that his research has taken a turn, and that he may be on the verge of understanding Destiny’s mission. So that’s a big thing.

 

I think Greer feels a bit like a chaperone watching two kids on a first date while he guards Gin and Eli. The poor bloke looks pretty uncomfortable. The tension in the room is pretty awkward.

At the same time, I think Greer is glad to see Eli happy.

 

Young has the dream again. The exact same dream. But he makes different decisions this time. He’s in control of his actions in this dream. He retains memory of the previous dream.

This time, instead of using their weapons, they divert all power to shields.

It doesn’t work.

Once again, Destiny is destroyed.

 

Now he’s ready to take Camille up on her offer. Good. It’s always annoying in shows when characters keep this stuff to themselves.

She immediately notices that he’s been drinking. But that’s not the cause of his dreams, or visions, whatever they are. It’s just another symptom.

But she thinks maybe this is not the time for a therapy session. And under normal circumstances, that’s probably correct. But now’s as good a time as any to tell someone about his dreams.

 

The dream feels much more real than a normal dream, to Young. That in itself is evidence that it’s more than just a normal dream.

 

Camille is a little concerned that he’s ordered people to do dangerous work in response to a dream, but Young believes there’s something else going on here. Young knows this is more than just a dream.

 

Camille suggests going to see Chloe. He hasn’t spoken to her in a while.

Chloe immediately knows why. “It’s hard for you because of what you might have to do.”

Wow. That’s insightful, but kind of horrible.

 

Chloe knows people are afraid of her. She also knows that if she keeps changing, Young is going to have to do something he doesn’t want to do. This is at the centre of everything that’s going on.

 

I love the brotherly interaction between Greer and Eli. As he says, he knew Gin was into Eli after the first ten minutes, and if Eli were ever to have a chance with someone, this is it. Which amusingly comes across as both insulting and caring.

 

We haven’t seen a lot of these two characters together, and I quite like it.

Greer is going to arrange to leave them alone, and encourages Eli to make his move. Now that’s a huge thing for Greer, because he’s very serious about security.

 

This time around, in the dream, Young decides to try handing Chloe over. And she doesn’t resist. She knew it might come to this. She said as much when they spoke in the real world.

 

Still, it’s a very brave thing the dream Chloe is doing. Willingly going with the aliens.

Scott reacts the way he would. He beats the crap out of Young for giving away the woman he loves But it was all for nothing. The aliens still attack once they have Chloe.

 

These dreams are helping Young try out strategies, seeing what works and what doesn’t. But, who’s to say that things would play out in the real world, the way it does in the dream.

 

TJ finds Young at the still and she reveals the whole story about her baby and the faith planet.

Young doesn’t believe her, but if anyone on this ship can understand that what appears to be a dream could be much more, it’s Young.

 

But it’s different.

If TJ’s dream is real it means her baby is alive.

If Young’s dream is real, it means they are all doomed.

 

You can see why he doesn’t want to believe.

Eli shows Ginn his documentary. There’s a clip where Brody demonstrates how ancient toilets work. I kinda want to see that. I’m rather curious to know how they might differ from human toilets. I mean, the ancients were physiologically the same as us.

 

Greer gets called away. “It could take a while,” he says, being deliberately obvious, which he thinks is a good thing.

But Eli runs after Greer.

The fact is, he has no idea how to make his move.

 

While Greer tries to scholl Eli in how to talk to a woman, Ginn watches some very vulnerable footage of Eli talking about his Mum.

 

Eli thinks he’s blown it. How is Ginn going to be interested in a grown man crying about his Mum. But that’s when Ginn kisses him. The truth is, that kind of honesty and vulnerability is what intimacy is built on.

Not that I’m an expert. I’m still not sure how I managed to win the heart of my wife. I’m just glad I did.

 

Destiny drops out of FTL. No planetary system. No countdown clock. When Scott goes to tell Young about it, he looks like crap, and seems pretty disinterested. “You’ll figure it out.”

 

Rush didn’t cause this. He’s on the bridge, trying to figure out why it happened.

 

When Scott asks Eli his thoughts he mentions he’s been working with Gin and then just kinda starts rambling about their potential relationship. It’s actually pretty funny. But nobody has time to hear this right now.

 

Eli has uncovered that the ship is running a simulation of its own. It’s a battle scenario where the ship drops out of FTL and is surrounded by alien ships. That sounds very familiar.

 

Camille immediately recognises it as Young’s dream.

 

Rush finds the simulation around the same time.

Ghost Franklin encourages him to look closer into it. Something about the simulation is overriding normal operations. The big question is why.

 

How is the ship affecting Young’s dreams? Perhaps it can manipulate a person’s brain waves. Could the ship be trying to warn us of an impending attack? 

 

Could this be related to Chloe’s blackouts?

 

Both Rush and Camille think Scott needs to assume command. Young is in no state to command if the aliens come. They theorise that the ship is testing Young’s emotional stability, and that he’s failing.

 

Scott doesn’t want to hear this. 

But the truth is, Young has locked himself away and has effectively abandoned his responsibilities.

 

Rush says the ship doesn’t have emotions but it can analyse data and form conclusions. 

It’s conceivable that the ship really does think that Young is not in a fit state to lead. Of course, that fits very nicely into Rush’s narrative.

 

Rush and Camille are not going to try to stage another civilian coup. That didn’t work so well last time.

 

I really feel for Scott. He’s in a difficult situation.

His chosen way of dealing with this is not to take command, but to go to Young and try to make him pull himself together.

 

Scott tells Young everything. The simulation, Camille’s theory about it all. Young concedes that maybe this is Destiny’s way of telling him he should be replaced.

 

Young has always been aware of his flaws. He’s tried every day to overcome them, but right now, he’s at a very weak point, probably because of his impending divorce.

 

Young confronts Scott with the hard truth he doesn’t want to face.

The day is coming when they may have to put Chloe off the ship. Everyone knows it’s coming. “How are you going to look at me then?” he asks.

 

It’s kind of good that all of this is coming out in the open. It’s stuff that needs to be dealt with.

 

But Scott has some hard words for Young too.

 

“Nobody asked for this. But you’re the commanding officer. You don’t get to feel sorry for yourself, and if you don’t like that, too bad.”

 

This is the hard thing about people in senior positions. Military commanders, prime ministers and presidents. CEOs. senior pastors. When you’re at the top, there’s nobody above you to turn to. The buck stops with you. It can be a lonely position. It can take a huge toll, because you don’t get the luxury of being weak like everybody else.

 

But in the end, you’re still just human like everyone else. So what happens when you ARE weak. Either you fall apart and walk away, or you face it and deal with it somehow.

 

And that’s what Young tries to do now. He unloads all of his grief and pain onto Scott. Technically, this is inappropriate. Scott is his subordinate. But Young has nobody else. And honestly, he trusts Scott more than Camille, and things are too complicated with TJ.

 

Young is still hurting from when he had to kill Riley.

On top of everything else, it adds up.

 

Young feels that he can’t take it anymore. He asks Scott to leave.

 

Scott hasn’t had to live with what Young is living with. “I couldn’t do it,” he says. “Live with the burden. That’s not me. Or TJ or Camille.”

 

“Rush could do it,” Young ironically says. “For Rush it wouldn’t be a burden.”

And that’s exactly why they need Young.

Young is struggling so much because he has a heart. Deep down, he’s a good person who cares.

The ship is better off with a flawed and broken man who has a heart, than a capable and clinical man who ultimately cares only for himself.

 

And I agree with that.

 

Young is a good commander, because he still has a heart. And it’s never going to stop hurting. That’s the whole point. But for the sake of everyone on the ship, he’s going to have a learn to live with it.

 

Man I love this scene. It’s beautiful!

 

And so, Young takes a deep breath, washes his face and puts on his jacket.

I almost get the same emotional feeling from this as seeing Clark Kent suit up as Superman for the first time.

 

Young is back. He enters the science lab and asks Brody for an update.

He’s back for real. He’s making decisions. They may not be perfect, but they’re good ones.

 

And that’s when Destiny jumps back to FLT.

It’s satisfied that Young is doing his job again.

This all feels very triumphant.

 

I kind of almost wish the episode ended here.

But…there’s a twist.

Rush bypassed the simulation. That’s why the ship went back to FTL.

So….was the ship satisfied with its evaluation of Young or not? I guess we can’t be certain. As for me, I’m convinced Young is doing everything humanly possible. Young is the right man for the job.

Oh, he’s still going to need to find ways of living with all he’s going through. He’s still flawed and broken. But there is nobody better suited to the job on that ship than him. And I’m convinced of that.

 

But as Rush says from the captain’s chair “The ship may have been evaluating Young, but I control the ship.”

 

And at the moment that’s correct, because he’s the only one who knows about the bridge.

 

But it’s telling that even the ship itself sees Young as the real leader, not Rush.

And I think Rush is pretty put out by that.

 

The aliens were never a threat. The ship would have logged any signal that Chloe might have sent them.

But Franklin gives us a sombre warning, just because one threat is behind you, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t another one ahead.

 

I didn’t remember this episode. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it, but I loved this episode.

This is why SGU is such a fantastic show. It does character drama so right. 

This show doesn’t get near enough credit.

 

The writers really should be commended.

 

Young isn’t just going to be magically fixed by the next episode. This will be an ongoing journey for him. And that’s what I love about modern TV. Serialisation isn’t just about season-long plot arcs, raising the stakes more and more until you have to pay it off at the end. Serialisation is about consequences. Consequences for the larger world as a whole, but also consequences for individual characters.

And that’s what I love.

 

Next time, we’ll see how Young continues to deal with his problems as he gets trapped on an abandoned alien spaceship. I’ll see you then for “The Greater Good.”

 

Until then, have a great, live long and prosper, and happy new year.