photo: syfy
Life
Original Air Date: Nov 20, 2009
Em – TwoCents Reviewer
em@thetwocentscorp.com
It’s just another normal day aboard the Destiny. Chloe does yoga. Scott leads a bunch of scientists in a workout, as Young has ordered that everyone has to get in shape. Young spies on Rush. Camille draws, and it turns out she’s quite good at it. Spencer takes the last of his medication, so it seems we can look forward to him getting even more violent than before.
The major plot of the episode, to the extent that there is a plot, is that a team exploring newly secured portions of the ship discovers a neural interface chair. Basically, it works by downloading information directly into someone’s mind. Rush thinks that it might contain the master code that would let them operate the ship, but Young tells him to study it without actually using it, since it could very well kill anyone who sits in it.
Rush manages to access the subspace link between the Destiny and the unmanned ship ahead of it. In going through the data on planets the other ship has come across, he finds a planet a year away with similar composition to the Icarus planet, meaning they could possibly use it to dial Earth. They would have to get control of the ship first; however, Rush still refuses to let anyone use the chair.
Everyone’s excited about the news until Eli discovers that Rush faked the data about the Icarus like-planet. Rush claims he did it to give people hope. There might still be a planet like there somewhere that they haven’t found yet, but he can’t tell unless Young lets someone use the chair. Young says that if Rush wants to sit in the chair himself, he won’t stop him, but Rush is unwilling to risk his own life.
In our first B-plot, Scott and Camille visit Earth. Scott discovers that he has an eight-year-old son he never knew about. The mother, Annie, had told him that she was going to have an abortion. Instead, she kept the kid and became a stripper to support herself. Scott arranges to have his Air Force check deposited in her banking account so that she can quit dancing and go to college. She thanks him for the money but says she isn’t going to change her lifestyle.
Camille’s boss tracks her down to ask her about the power struggle between Young and Rush, and to suggest that she start her own camp. She goes home to her partner Sharon and tries to make the best of the situation. Their time together is bittersweet, though, as the happier they are together, the worse it will be when Camille goes back to the Destiny. Sharon gives her a pep talk and promises that she’ll wait for her.
Meanwhile, TJ notices that Spencer’s been acting a little crazy. Young suggests that she do psych evaluations on everyone onboard, based on her extensive knowledge of psychology from that one class she took in college. Yes, and I’m taking life science, but I sure hope no one’s well-being ever depends on my knowledge of the subject. TJ meets with some people throughout the episode, though not with Spencer, despite the fact that he’s the one who started this or the fact that he keeps getting crazier and crazier as the episode progresses.
The second, far more annoying dumb decision that Young does involves the communication devices. For unexplained reasons, they start acting up, but only when he’s involved. That’s suspiciously convenient, writers. It turns out that Telford has been meeting with Emily Young to help support her in this difficult time, and also to tattle on Young. Somehow, after Scott uses Telford’s body to visit Earth, he sees some of Telford’s memories of Emily, and he tells Young about it.
Young goes to his house to confront them and accuse Telford of sleeping with Emily. She replies that they aren’t sleeping together because not all men are like Young, who she claims is still having an affair with TJ. Young tries to attack Telford, but the connection cuts out mysteriously. So he later returns as Earth, pretending to be Volker, and beats up Telford.
The episode closes with another montage of everyday images, proving, I suppose, that nothing has changed. Of course things haven’t changed; nothing happened during the entire course of the episode! The episode stumbles aimlessly along, a string of good scenes that fail to hold a plot together. We learn a bit more about some of our characters, but that doesn’t save the episode from dragging.
The psych eval scenes were rather reminiscent of the Kino message scenes of earlier episodes; a few of them were rather good – I liked Greer’s scene and thought Dr. Park’s was amusing – but the rest were rather forgettable. And much as I like TJ and thought she was good in these scenes, it would have made more sense for Camille to be the pseudo-shrink, which TJ even points out during the episode.
Which leads me to the character point of this episode that really bothers me: why is Young acting like an idiot? I liked his character early on, but if he continues on this way, that’s definitely going to change. He needs to be able to make objective decisions or, at the very least, not go around beating up other officers who already have it out for him and have tried to have him removed from his position. Does he really think he’s going to get away with that one?
What do you think? Was it good like retiring to a tropical island or bad like having an awkward conversation about personal matters? How do you feel about the sporadic use of contemporary music (Flogging Molly’s “Worst Day Since Yesterday,” in this case)? Give me your two cents!
TheTwoCents 
First, i was baffled that *no mention whatsoever* was made of the bugs in the water, the ‘time loop’ ep – nothing. It was just…so weird. Are we to assume days and days have passed?
Young is acting like a complete moron. I can’t tell if Teleford has a darker agenda or not. Telling Young’s wife things about him seems lame and mean, and like he’s trying to get her on ‘his’ side, and possibly woo her. It’s a little creepy, particularly in that he’s basically had sex with her. I like that Young acknowledged that fact, though subtly.
I love that Rush *won’t* sit in the chair. I’m thinking he’s going to talk someone else into it, all sly and quiet. Ooh, the man is wonderfully manipulative. Wheee!
Scott’s child and the edging-toward-jealous reaction from Chloe is just more boring drama!icing on their boring relationship cake. Gah.
I loved, loved, loved Camille’s home time. At least she didn’t have sex in her host’s body! Yay, Camille! She and Sharron were so tender, just loving to be around each other, and I loved how Camille wanted to shower with ‘her’ things, and put on her clothes, and be as much ‘herself’ as she could, in that strange body. I loved it – the first ‘home’ visit i actually cared about!
TJ is totally out of her depth and floundering, which is too bad. I just…she reads so *weak* to me, emotionally and mentally. Too weepy to be a medic. I dunno. I *want* to like her, i just…can’t yet.
At least the ‘everybody exercise’ thing is a smart idea. And i love that they found hydroponics – i wish they’d spent more time on that discovery/idea and less on the at home shenanigans. *prays for the stones to self-destruct*
This was a rather pointless episode, sadly. Although Rush finding the data and chair was neat, and fodder for further shows, i hope. I liked Eli doing yoga, that was cute, and i liked him confirming that the Earth plan would cause utter destruction. And Young being totally obstructionist with Teleford and Earth also makes me happy, as they’re not using their best ideas.
I hope Camille rejects the divisiveness that the IOA guy is trying to push. Don’t be his patsy, Camille!!
Over all, a lesser episode, though with a few bright spots.
Oh! I wanted to add…. I really didn’t like how Greer was Angry!Black!Man and nothing else for so many eps, but at least he also showed his clever, inventive side when he ‘built something’, too.
But his ‘psych’ eval with TJ was so cliche. Blech. Please give him some depth, writers!
And – not sure of her name – the doctor who seems to be coping with her stress by sleeping around? Awesome! That is totally the reaction some people would have to that situation, and i love it.
I see it causing problems in the future if anybody is jealous/puritanical, and exactly how many condoms/birth control pills did they pack? Someone getting pregnant would be realistic, but rather terrifying.
@in response to the bugs in the above comment.
Its a stand alone episode not meant to interfere with the overall storyline buuuuuuut if you watch the kino webisodes there is a video with Eli and Scott where they sum up how “lol we just found these 2 kinos telling us how we’re going to die but then told us how to live, so we’re alive now”
That wasnt my favorite episode but lots of people liked it. The kinosodes are great for filling in extra spots.
P.S. I loved Life and I love the pace of the character development. Its my other favorite episode so far next to Earth.
STG U is a soap with a dash of syfy. I will wait for STG U II without the over dramatized character developement (soap component).