SGU 2.08 "Malice" Episode Guide

Précis

Lucian Alliance prisoner Simeon escapes, creating a manhunt on a remote planet.

Guide | Transcript

Syfy.com Official Summary

Although animosity towards Rush, who hid his recent breakthrough in cracking Destiny's main code, is fierce, the crew is happy to have mastered the ability to manually drop the ship out of FTL. When they do, they discover three planets within dialing range. But the spirit of exploration is marred by the discovery that Simeon is missing after a double murder: The consciousness Amanda Perry in the body of Ginn, a move that ended both lives. In one stroke, Eli and Rush have both lost the women they love, and the taste for revenge is thick on their tongues.

Simeon acts quickly, taking Park hostage and pulling her through the 'gate onto a nearby desert planet. Rush discovers his trail and follows—he is able to save Park, who was strapped by Simeon to a bomb, but the assailant is nowhere to be seen. As the military personnel proceed through the 'gate to attempt to recover him, they realize how dangerous the Lucian soldier is, and how precarious their own position.

Eli, having been ordered to stay on Destiny in an attempt to stall the countdown clock and give the away team more time, is bucking to hunt down Simeon, but Young grounds him: Before her death, Ginn told Homeworld Command that Simeon had information on the planned Lucian attack on Earth, and they need Simeon alive in order to save their home planet. Eli masters his emotions and returns to work, but soon Young, having discovered a remarkable ability in Chloe—she now understands more about the ship than anyone could've hoped for—directs her to the bridge and instructs the scientists to let her help. In a state of semi-consciousness, Chloe begins pushing buttons. Eli, panicking, restrains her, and he and his team usher her away and scramble to learn what damage she may have caused.

Rush's head is not as cool as Eli's—he is hotly pursuing Simeon by using his Stargate remote to track the one that Simeon has. He is flanked by Scott and Greer, who are attempting to temper his rage in hopes of bringing back Simeon alive and gleaning information from him. But Rush wriggles out from under their surveillance when Greer is shot and Scott must take him back to the 'gate for medical attention. Rush gets close enough to Simeon to engage and takes several clear shots at the Lucian with a paltry firearm. But an explosion in the distance soon alerts Simeon to Rush's real purpose: The alien planet's native grazers—buffalo-like creatures—are spooked by the explosion and stampede towards Simeon, crushing him like a flower. Rush approaches the crippled man, who utters a plea for his life by saying that he has information—but Rush is blind to the logic that saving this man's life could save hundreds of thousands of lives on Earth. He draws his gun and shoots Simeon.

Avenged, Rush stumbles back to the 'gate, where Scott tells Rush that he knows, from Eli's surveillance methods, that Rush found and killed Simeon. With a valediction to the information lost with the enemy's life, Scott asks Rush if the murder has quelled his feelings of grief. It is clear, from Rush's turbulent silence, that it has not.

Modified by Solutions.

Cast

Opening Credits:

• Robert Carlyle as Dr. Nicholas Rush
• Louis Ferreira as Col. Everett Young
• Brian J. Smith as 1st Lt. Matthew Scott
• Elyse Levesque as Chloe Armstrong
• David Blue as Eli Wallace
• Alaina Huffman as 1st Lt. Tamara Johansen
• Jamil Walker Smith as MSgt. Ronald Greer

Guest Starring:

• Mike Dopud as Varro
• Julie McNiven as Ginn
• Julia Benson as Lt. Vanessa James
• Jennifer Spence as Dr. Lisa Park
• Peter Kelamis as Adam Brody
• Patrick Gilmore as Dr. Dale Volker
• and Robert Knepper as Simeon

Closing Credits:

• Leanne Adachi as Cpl. Barnes
• Darcy Laurie as Airman Dunning

Production

• Written by Robert C. Cooper
• Directed by Robert C. Cooper

Related Articles

Keywords

• Ancient Communication Stones
• Destiny
• Homeworld Command
• Lucian Alliance

Other

• Stargate Universe: Season Two
• Previous: SGU 2.07 "The Greater Good" Episode Guide
• Next: SGU 2.09 "Visitation" Episode Guide

Related Links

Official

• MGM Official Website: Search Results for "Malice"
• Syfy: 2.08 "Malice" Guide

Fan

• Solutions News and Spoiler Blog
• Solutions at LJ: Universe Tagged Entries
• Solutions Universe Forum

Production Notes

• "In other writerly news, Paul and Carl are brainstorming #6 and #7, while Rob and Remi look to tackle #8 and #9." — Joseph Mallozzi, February 11, 2010
• "Rob is off on a “distant location” scout for episode #8, but returns to Vancouver Sunday night." — Joseph Mallozzi, March 5, 2010
• red writes: “Do you guys have any location shooting planned for season 2? Location shooting as in Nevada/New Mexico, not “20 miles from Vancouver”.” Answer: "As a matter of fact, we do. Rob will be racking up the airmiles when it comes time for him to direct Malice." — Joseph Mallozzi, March 27, 2010
• "... Lawren walks in and hands me Rob’s first draft of Malice. I head back to my office and read it. Great script! It’s going to be one hell of a location shoot!" — Joseph Mallozzi, April 15, 2010
• "Robert is in New Mexico shooting Malice... Busy, busy!" — Joseph Mallozzi, May 12, 2010
• "Rob is in New Mexico shooting episode #8, Malice (his version of The Searchers)." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 14, 2010
• "We screened back to back director’s cuts today: episode 207 (The Greater Good) and episode 208 (Malice). Great stuff. This first half will see a narrative progression very similar to what we saw in the back half of season one, with various story elements building to occasionally explosive conclusions. Plenty of secrets, surprises, and shocking revelations." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 14, 2010
• "They say that vengeance is a dish best served cold, but this episode makes a great case for serving it hot – as in the scorching environs of an alien world where a deadly game of cat and mouse plays itself out." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 22, 2010
• In sci-fi, you can do most anything story-wise. When Robert C. Cooper asked Robert Carlyle what he's never done that he'd like to do, he answered "a Western". Much to his surprise and delight, it was given to him by Cooper in "Malice". They filmed in New Mexico and got that Western feel. Along with "The Greater Good", Carlyle thinks that "Malice" is the best of the episodes this season. — Flick Direct interview, posted August 9, 2010
• "We’ve been deluged with mixes! Awakening yesterday, Malice today, and The Greater Good tomorrow. ... Malice (written, directed, and produced by Rob Cooper) is an intense, action-filled, thoroughly engaging episode, one of those entries you can watch over and over again. We had very few notes on the mix and, shortly after the screening, I emailed Rob to congratulate him on a job well done and commend him for actually using very little music. The silences were eerie and very effective. To which Rob responded: 'Thanks. I should have told you guys that many of the cues are actually missing. Joel’s been on vacation. Some of the music that’s in there may actually be placeholders. I’m going to his studio in LA to work on the music next week.' Oh. Never mind then." — Joseph Mallozzi, August 24, 2010
• This episode is "a Rush story, and it is where the Simeon storyline reaches its head. And it is very, very powerful, and I think Robert [Carlyle's] best work on this show so far." — Brad Wright, Blastr interview, November 2, 2010
• "We went back to New Mexico. To the Bisti Badlands. Not the same desert as we went to in the pilot, but another desert that is incredibly alien-looking. I went to the location for some of the shoot, and it was... I'd never seen anything like it on earth. It was a bizarre formation created by melting glaciers, and it is just ... there's these things called hoodoos, which rise up out of the ground, and there's mineral deposits all through them. And so it looks truly alien. It looks incredibly remote, 'cause it is. We were in the middle of nowhere. Fifty miles south of a place called Farmington, N.M." — Brad Wright, November 2, 2010

Further Reading

• Joseph Mallozzi's Blog
• Solutions: SGU to Shoot "Malice" in New Mexico, May 11, 2010
• Flick Direct: Exclusive Interview With Robert Carlyle, Stargate Universe, posted August 9, 2010
• Blastr: 8 reasons you should watch Stargate Universe tonight and beyond, Brad Wright interview, November 2, 2010
• American Southwest: New Mexico: Bisti Badlands
• Solutions: Stargate Universe: 2.08 "Malice", November 16, 2010

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--DeeKayP 18:29, 17 March 2010 (UTC)