In what may be the most exciting and well-written episode of SGU since the pilot, “Time” finally begins to take the crew of the Destiny to new heights of adventure.
The entire first few minutes and intro are viewed through the perspective of a kino (remote-controlled hovering camcorder). The team has come across a jungle planet and seem to be scavenging for any source of food they can find. After a few hours on the planet, however, one of the explorers becomes ill and faints. Moments later, Chloe succumbs as well and falls unconscious. Johansen tells Young they shouldn’t go back to the Destiny just yet — the illness may be contagious.
That night while the team is waiting to see if the sickness wears off, they are attacked by insect-like creatures and a number of members are gruesomely killed. Eli frantically tries to dial the gate but something seems to be blocking the signal and it won’t successfully dial out. Suddenly, someone accidentally shoots the kino and it falls to the ground, still recording. Into its field of view falls Chloe, with one of the creatures on her chest. As she lands it burrows through her and explodes out the other side in a bloody spray. As if the shock of seeing that is not enough, the next frame zooms out to show the team aboard the Destiny watching the keno’s recording on a monitor.
Eli puts it very well. “What the —-?!”
After the opening credits, we find that the team actually did travel to the same planet as depicted in the kino. When they arrived, Eli found the damaged kino on the ground near the stargate, surrounded by human remains. They immediately headed back to the ship, and began to watch the recording. Shortly after, however, Chloe falls ill in the same manner shown on the recording. Johansen takes her to the sickbay to see if she can treat her, but the rest of the team continues to watch the recording.
Eli tells the story of what happened the night before, going back to the perspective of the kino. Many were killed in the attack and some even died of the illness. He explains that the creatures seem to be nocturnal, so they should be safe while the sun is still up. Meanwhile, Greer comes across a small cave where they can regroup and hopefully hold off the attackers should they have to stay another night on the planet. Scott was bitten by the creatures in the night and is now in a coma from their venom. Because he is out of play for now, Greer shows Eli how to shoot a weapon.
As Eli and Rush try to connect to the Destiny once again, the stargate is still being interrupted. Rush seems to think that any attempt to go through might be fatal.
Aboard the Destiny, many more start to fall ill. Johansen decides to take a look at the water they have all been drinking from the frozen planet and finds a small organism is causing the illness, which will eventually be fatal.
In the viewing room, the team continues to watch the kino’s recording. On the second night the team is again attacked by the creatures. In the middle of the attack, Rush runs from the cave in an attempt to reach the stargate. Eli follows him and tries to stop him, but Rush takes the chance and goes through the gate. Eli then heads back to the cave where Greer and the others are overcome by the creatures.
The next morning, Scott finally comes to and sees the carnage before him. All of the team, including Eli, were killed by the creatures in the night. After a small panic attack, Scott takes the kino to the gate and throws it through in an attempt to reach the Destiny. What the team sees after he throws it through the wormhole is the exact same planet in a different time. As it lands, we see the dead body of Rush by the gate.
Concluding that a solar flare must have interfered with the gate at some point, Rush tells the team that they must be viewing the results of what happened in a different time, an alternate reality. If that is not confusing enough, he also finds out that it will happen in their reality soon. Realizing that the venom from the creatures must have cured Scott somehow, Johansen and Rush decide that the team must go back to the planet and harvest some venom if they hope to survive at all.
Before the solar flare can disrupt the stargate, Greer, Young and Scott go back to the planet in an attempt to capture a creature to take back with them to the Destiny. Unfortunately while they are gone, Chloe dies from the illness. Things are no better on the planet either as Greer and Young are both overtaken and killed by the creatures. In a last-ditch attempt to save the entire crew, Scott takes the kino with him to the gate and dials the Destiny just before the solar flare disrupts it.
In theory, this allows him to have a connection to the Destiny on a different timeline, hopefully one in the past. After speaking into the kino and telling the team what has happened and how they can find the cure, he lobs the kino through the gate. Whether it reaches the other side to the Destiny team of the past, we won’t know until next week.
The credits roll and it seems as if the SGU series has finally started to generate some serious interest. Hopefully we will see if Scott’s clever plan works out for the team in the end.
