Last minute equaliser

So, I've finally got round to watching the mid-season finale of Stargate Universe - no idea when it'll be back

But I have to say, 'Justice' wasn't that bad (spoilers)

It's essentially a whodunit, as the deranged Sergeant Spencer is found shot dead from an apparent suicide, but the weapon has been removed - surprise, surprise it turns up in Col. Young's room, and he is blatantly being set up

What happens next is a very slow march towards the finale as we endure a rather dull trial, and are left guessing as to who planted it - chief suspects are the politician - Wray, and Rush, which was the main reason I kept watching, hoping Rush was being a true Machiavellian presence

I wasn't disappointed, as the finale was actually worth watching as Young confronts Rush on a barren planet where they have conveniently discovered an old alien ship, and then leaves him stranded - now that was a tasty finish

Unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised if many turned over before the final scenes, I found myself buggering about during the lengthy dialogue, which means subconsciously I wasn't enthralled, and I tend to agree with the IGN review that it was a particularly slow episode but led to an excellent finish

But it does mean I will be wanting to see the conclusion - as this is actually interesting, will Rush work out how to fly the ship? My other theory is that Franklin (I forgot to mention he got his brain fried) will work out how to control the Destiny

This is of course what they want me to do, TV networks always stick their best storyline into a break, which is somewhat disheartening if the best they can do is a small part of one episode out of ten - that's not how you captivate an audience (the episode received record low ratings in the states, which is all that matters), but in the short term it's piqued my interest, and I hear the second half is set to be much faster-paced - but again, ten episodes (or half a season) is too long to be setting the stage, I fear they've already driven off fans and will need to work hard to get some credibility back

I really wish those writers would learn - make something happen and people will actually be interested! Introduce a mysterious alien spaceship, strand someone on a rock - excellent stuff, mindless drivel about how someone feels is not quite so good, you can't attract sci-fi fans with a soap opera because it's on a spaceship, and it's sheer arrogance to think that fans should just like it because the writers say they should, some of the drama and characterisation is good - the conflict involving Eli, Wray, Rush and Young worked well, but little else did here, and most of the episode was just wasted, drama does work in sci-fi, if it is done right - but most of what they are writing is not drama, it's dull narrative more suited to the Bold and the Beautiful

They've managed to get a late equaliser here and compel me to watch the conclusion - but thin ice, very thin ice indeed

(and I want to know something - why does the ship only provide a limited list of 'nearby' addresses - conventional Stargate wisdom is that anything within a galaxy is accessible from anywhere)