TV episode reviews
US airdate 23 April 2010; 30 April 2010 (SyFy)

In ‘Human’, Rush makes modifications to the Ancient knowledge chair and plugs himself in, hoping to find a way to control Destiny and thus their random journey. But on the latest stopover, Scott, Eli, Chloe and Greer are trapped by a cave-in while exploring an underground maze. They are left behind when the Destiny automatically moves on. At the next stop in ‘Lost’, Rush and James lead teams desperately working against time to backtrack through the gate system trying to reach the planet where they were left behind. But abandoning Greer who has been trapped under another cave-in, Scott leads the others on a gate-hopping search of their own. Getting back to Destiny may not be easy…

Stargate Universe keeps on going where previous Stargate series feared to tread. These episodes prove, if final proof is needed, that this is so much darker, deeper and more complex than its predecessors that it now bears few narrative or generic similarities. Though that’s not necessarily a good thing for some fans of SG-1 and Atlantis, it can’t be denied that Universe is a more grown-up drama.

The episodes ‘Human’ and ‘Lost’ are a case in point. That characters can just be abandoned to their fates is a brave move and a welcome change from pat resolutions and quick resets. These episodes are really something of a lesson in what not to do when you are lost, but are also a depiction of desperate situations leading to desperate measures.

If this is all far removed from the things we loved about the previous incarnations of Stargate, there is still some anchoring going on in Rush’s attempts to learn from the knowledge chair in ‘Human’. Previously on Stargate, the Ancient gene was key to working Ancient technology, and there seems to be echoes of this here. It’s a great touch and a neat reminder – along with Michael Shanks' appearance as Daniel – of where this series sits in relation to its elders. Brigid Cherry

VERDICT
Human: 9/10
Lost: 8/10

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