SGU 2.10 "Resurgence" Episode Guide

Précis

All is not as it seems when Destiny follows a remote energy signature that leads them to a sea of damaged and lifeless ships.

Guide | Transcript

Syfy.com Official Summary

After picking up a strange radiation signature about a day's journey off of Destiny's prescribed path, Young and Rush decide to investigate. What they find is a long-dead battle scene: Two races fought each other and left a field of wrecked ships behind them. Brody, Greer and Scott board a shuttle and head to a nearby battleship, but find nothing of use. As they go deeper into the bowels of the ship, Young and the Destiny crew see some of the debris stirring, as if coming back from life. Recon from Destiny tells them that one side of the battle was fought exclusively using drones—dormant when Destiny appeared, but awakened by her presence. The away team hurry back to Destiny, but in the time it takes their shuttle to dock, Destiny has sustained significant damage, and the FTL drives are knocked offline.

A remarkable call saves them: It's Telford, contacting them from aboard the seed ship where he was abandoned. Telford leads them through a star and tells them that the aliens they found on the seed ship—called Ursini—were not hostile, and he slowly learned to communicate with them. They were one side of the original battle, and they need Destinyĵs help in order to get back to their own home. Since the seed ship could take the Destiny crew back to Earth, the clear option is to cooperate. The crew prepares to engage in the plan devised by the Ursini: Using the docking mechanism of the two ships, the Ursini will bring Destiny via FTL to a safe location where they can repair any damage. Then, when the ship is ready, they'll all head back to the battlefield to defeat the drones so that the Ursini can access their mother ship and get home.

Eli fills Chloe in on the details, and she insists that the Ursini can't be trusted, but they have no other option. Soon, the plan is in motion—the FTL/docking mechanism works like a charm, but there's a surprise: The Ursini have skipped a crucial step and dropped Destiny in the middle of the hostile drones to battle it out in their weakened state. Chloe asks Eli to let her help. With Destiny on the verge of annihilation, he agrees. The two head toward the bridge, but when the guard to Chloe's door tries to interfere, Chloe slams the man against the wall, knocking him unconscious. She speeds out of the care of Eli, who immediately radios that she has escaped. Brody attempts to isolate her, but with her stunning strength and technical knowledge, she's able to breeze through containment. Scott finally finds her standing at a console and orders her to step away, but she ominously tells him that it's too late.

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
• and Ming-Na as Camile Wray

Guest Starring:

• Mike Dopud as Varro
• Patrick Gilmore as Dr. Dale Volker
• Peter Kelamis as Adam Brody
• Jennifer Spence as Dr. Lisa Park
• and Lou Diamond Phillips as Col. David Telford

Closing Credits:

Production

• Written by Joseph Mallozzi
• Directed by William Waring

Related Articles

Keywords

• Ancient Shuttle
• Destiny
• Ursini

Other

• Stargate Universe: Season Two
• Previous: SGU 2.09 "Visitation" Episode Guide
• Next: SGU 2.11 "Deliverance" Episode Guide

Related Links

Official

• MGM Official Website: Search Results for "Resurgence"
• Syfy: 2.10 "Resurgence" Guide

Fan

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

Production Notes

• "Looks like Linda and I (or, more appropriately given the slotting) will double-team on #10 and #11, leaving Brad to tackle #12." — Joseph Mallozzi, February 11, 2010
• "Yesterday, we did a walk-thru of the new, raised set in Stage 5. So far, so cool. ... I begin tackling the freshly-broken story for episode #10." — Joseph Mallozzi, March 5, 2010
• "We broke my next story last Thursday (I’ve landed the first part of the mid-season two-parter) and planned to work through the weekend, but hit an impasse about halfway through the second act and ended up setting it aside on Saturday. Then, last night, I decided to take advantage of all those leftover Lush products from Akemi’s visit and settled into a nice, relaxing bath – and ended up working through those second act problems. I completed the outline today." — Joseph Mallozzi, March 8, 2010
• "Back on the office front, ... I try to figure out a sciFIentifically sound idea for my Resurgence outline (thank you, SGU Creative Consultant John Scalzi)." — Joseph Mallozzi, March 12, 2010
• "Got most of the notes for my Resurgence outline (episode 10) and, while I’m still a little leery about the third act, I’m just going to forge ahead. I feel it might be a little short but Brad was quick to point out that I thought Incursion would be short – and it turned into a two-parter." — Joseph Mallozzi, March 19, 2010
• "I had a major breakthrough on that tricky opening scene and finally got some work done on episode 10, Resurgence." — Joseph Mallozzi, March 24, 2010
• "Alas, not much progress to report on the script front. I'm stilled mired in the Teasely morass of episode 10, Resurgence. For once, I'd love to write an episode that doesn't include any of that pesky dialogue. Just pages and pages of action direction, meaningful looks, and people crying. And the occasional explosion." — Joseph Mallozzi, March 29, 2010
• "I took the opportunity to float my idea for a little character thru-line that I felt needed to pay off following the events of recent episodes. Thankfully all were on board and I'll be able to move forward with the scene as planned. Episode #10, Resurgence. Still early in Act I." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 6, 2010
• "Excruciatingly slow going on the script front. Still stuck early in Act I, spinning my creative wheels in frustration." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 8, 2010
• "Well, I'm pleased to report that I've cleared a HUGE hurdle. That early [scene] in Resurgence that had been giving me fits is finally done. I can now move forward, complete Act I and then it's smooooooooooooth sailing. Until the next unforeseen issue." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 13, 2010
• "So the plan was simple enough: dedicate the day to completing the first act of my script. I'd already hit the twelve page mark and really only envisioned another two or three pages to go before landing on that Dum-Dum-Daaaaah moment that takes us to commercial. Two or three pages. And I had an entire day to write them! How hard could that be? Well... [various interruptions...] I actually start work on the script, revising the already revised dialogue from the previous scenes and am about to break new ground when Andy poked his head into my office and suggests I join them in the writers' room for VFX Supervisor Mark Savela's show-and-tell. ... Tomorrow! Tomorrow, I'll finally finish that first act. Well, that's the plan anyway." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 14, 2010
• "No work on my script today but I did end up finishing that first act - last night." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 15, 2010
• "Miffed, I retire to my office where I work on the script, banging out three glorious pages." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 16, 2010
• "I eventually returned to the office where I tackled the infernally frustrating scene. Once I get pat it, I wrap up Act II and it'll be smoooooooth sailing from there. I would have finished it up sooner but every time I get into a conversation with my fellow writers, I end up having to tweak the scene (or other scenes) in order to track a recent change or development in the ongoing story arcs or character through-lines." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 20, 2010
• "Some progress to report on the script front. I finished a rough draft of Act III yesterday. It’s a bit…rough. And a tad expensive. So far, I’m averaging about one visual effects shot per page! Call me a pessimist, but I have a feeling that aint gonna fly." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 22, 2010
• "Slow progress on the script. Hit the 37 page mark of Resurgence (episode #10) and I still feel like I’m running in water." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 23, 2010
• "I’m pleased to report significant progress on the script front! After countless weeks of frustration, desperation, and sleep deprivation, I’m finally in the stretch run and that oh-so-elusive Fade Out is well within striking distance. I spent the day rewriting what I had (something I do while pacing which, I’m told, makes me look like an actor anxiously running lines before an audition), then forged ahead and finished up Act IV. I pitched out the possibility of shooting a four act script instead of the usual five (“Think of how much time and money we’ll save!”) but others were reluctant to embrace my brilliant suggestion. So I headed back into my office and, after much consideration applied myself and made some inroads – two whole pages! – into that fifth and final act. Granted, I did it by moving my Act IV break up “two whole pages!” but still, it was progress and I was happy (and, I’m sure, you’re all happy for me). Tomorrow, I aim to close the deal and leave the office with a rough first draft I can agonize over tomorrow night. Wish me luck!" — Joseph Mallozzi, April 28, 2010
• "Alas, no progress on the script front today. In fact, just the opposite. Remi handed in his first draft of episode 9, Visitation, and some of the character developments in that episode impact several scenes in Resurgence – meaning I’m going to have to reconsider my attack on the scenes in question. Also, I suddenly realized that the information I was hoping to keep secret from character X would have been all too obviously to him the second the agreement is made – and that necessitated my going back and re-attacking that scene as well. LOTS going on in a fairly complex story and the challenge has been to clarify without complicating, inform yet entertain, deliver one of the most mind-blowing Visual Effects extravaganzas to date and NOT blow our budget." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 29, 2010
• "Success! I finally completed a first draft of episode 10, Resurgence. It’s a little rough, granted – but it’ll do. I’ll spend the weekend revising it and deliver it on Monday. Normally, it takes me about an hour to write the fifth act (usually in a white heat, coming off the momentum of the fourth act break), but this script was anything but normal. It never got any easier and I ended up spending the afternoon writing and re-writing those last five pages. But the important thing is that I’m finally done and pleased with most of the results. And as for those aspects of the script I’m still a little iffy about – well, I’m sure I’ll grow to love ‘em." — Joseph Mallozzi, April 30, 2010
• "As I reported yesterday, I finally have a (rough) first draft of my script, Resurgence, episode #10. (Image) I’m going to go over it a few more times, tighten up the dialogue, and try to strip away some of the visual effects. As it stands, I count thirty-five visual effect shots – which would be fine in the old days of SG-1 when two-thirds of them would end up being simple zat blasts, but in this case, there aint nothing simple about some of these sequences. If ever there was a candidate for an episode to receive to the 3D treatment, Resurgence would be it." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 1, 2010
• "I was able to put out a first draft of Resurgence late this afternoon. After many agonizing weeks, I finally feel good about it – which is pretty much the kiss of death. I’m expecting plenty of constructive criticism." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 3, 2010
• "Hey, good news! The early reviews of my first draft are in and I’m pleased to report I haven’t been asked to pack up my office (always a good sign). Received some great early input and look forward to sitting down to the official notes session tomorrow." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 5, 2010
• "Got my script notes on Resurgence today. Some great input. Sadly, I had to lose the Megatron gag.  :(" — Joseph Mallozzi, May 6, 2010
• Chevron7 writes: "Congrats on the early reviews of your first draft…were you worried?" Answer: "I don’t know if I’d go so far as to call it worry, but I certainly want to do a good job and thereby make everyone else’s life a whole lot easier." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 6, 2010
• "I feel as though the past couple of weeks have finally caught up with me and I could sleep for a week. Or, at the very least, the weekend. Might as well make the most of it because next week, I’ll be launching into my rewrite of episode #10, Resurgence, AND spending a couple of days in editing working on my producer’s cut of episode #3." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 8, 2010
• "In the meantime, I shift gears to completing my rewrite of Resurgence." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 12, 2010
• "Now, I’m finally able to switch gears to that half-finished rewrite of Resurgence. I was aiming for Monday but, after some consideration, I think the script would benefit from a couple of extra (or should I say missing) scenes. ... As mentioned, I’m still working on episode #10, Resurgence, that visual effects extravaganza." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 14, 2010
• "Sure, I could give you a production update ... I’ve almost completed my rewrite of Resurgence." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 18, 2010
• "How many visual effects can you spot in an episode? Can you spot them all? Sounds like fun, right? Well, turns out a VFX spotting session is less a game of Where’s Waldo than an often laborious process involving the producer, editor, and various visual effects personnel squeezed into a tiny editing suite, gathered around an even tinier monitor, timing and discussing each and every visual effects sequence in an episode. Should the shot be longer? What direction is the ship headed? What kind of a camera move do we want to see? Does the VFX shot match with the preceding shot? Does it match with the ensuing shot? Was the shot budgeted? By the time we finished, it was 90 minutes later! I might have to set aside the entire day for Resurgence!" — Joseph Mallozzi, May 20, 2010
• "Actors Patrick Gilmore (SGU’s Dale Volker) and Peter Kelamis (SGU’s Adam Brody) swung by the production offices today to tell me how much they enjoyed Resurgence – but really to sample the ice cream I brought in." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 26, 2010
• "And, with my revised draft of Resurgence out, I am looking ahead to my next story…whatever that may be. I’m thinking musical." — Joseph Mallozzi, May 27, 2010
• "Take the episode I’m presently working on: Resurgence. The writers had beaten out the story and I was in the midst of writing the outline when I came up against a TBD. A TBD, for those not-in-the-know, is a story element that has yet to be fully realized, a crucial albeit mysterious little piece of the narrative puzzle whose details are shelved for future identification. Like, say, when you actually sit down to write the outline. TBD. To Be Decided. And it was time to decide. I spent the better part of the morning wracking my brain, trying to come up with something clever and cool (and made sense). And then it suddenly dawned on me. Hey, why am I so miserable? We have a Creative Consultant! Why not make him miserable too? ... Anyway, I wrote the script and received John’s notes on Thursday. All great. I’ll be incorporating them into the next draft which comes out next week. ... Speaking of which – I fear that this script may end up being a little short. Anyone have any suggestions for an extra scene?" — Joseph Mallozzi, June 5, 2010
• "We kick off prep week on episode #10, Resurgence, tomorrow with a nine o clock concept meeting. Hurray!" — Joseph Mallozzi, June 6, 2010
• "Prep week for episode #10, Resurgence, kicked off today with a 9:00 a.m. concept meeting. Those in attendance included all department heads, Director Will Waring (yes, apparently he IS directing this one), my writing partner Paul (who sat in to get a sense of who will be where on that new set), and yours truly. Assistant Director Alex Pappas ran the meeting, guiding us through the script, stopping only to direct questions my way or regale us with tales of his youth spent as the Entertainment Director of a local Buddhist community center. As Paul predicted, we ended up mired in the “Who’s where?” logistics of the new set and, after much discussion and dialogue tweaking, it was decided I would have to offer detailed positioning of each player in my next draft. I actually ended up sketching out a handy diagram in the margin of each scene to keep it all straight!" — Joseph Mallozzi, June 7, 2010
• "Today’s game plan was to finish the rewrite of Resurgence. Yesterday, I got as far as the top of Act V before running out of steam. So, all I had to do was finish that final act. Seven measly pages. ... Well, the day is done and here I sit, staring at the top of Act V. Wha- happened? ... By the time I sat down to resume work on the rewrite, I had a slew of notes from the morning meetings to incorporate into the script. And once I’d incorporated them, had lunch, and given Paul notes on the second part of the mid-season two-parter (Deliverance), I was right back where I was yesterday – at the top of the fifth act." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 9, 2010
• "If I’m writing a scene that takes place in one of our standing sets, I don’t need to make the trip over to Stage 4 for a refresher. If, on the other hand, I’m writing a complicated scene that takes place in our new set – as was the case with Resurgence – then I will head down and walk through the action (or, at the very least, consult the plans helpfully provided to us by Playback)." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 11, 2010
• "On set today for Day #1 of Resurgence with ever-effervescent Director Will Waring." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 17, 2010
• "While, over on Stage 4, Director Will Waring finished up on episode #10, Resurgence…" — Joseph Mallozzi, June 27, 2010 (includes pictures)
• Lewis writes: "What’s the fictional timeline on SGU?" Answer: "Lawren keeps an updated timeline of the series, tracking the number of days that have elapsed during and between episodes. Last time I checked, ten months will have passed between Air I (#101) and Resurgence (#210)." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 30, 2010
• "When he’s not editing or working on his deck, Mike Banas is answering YOUR questions! No doubt intimidated by the fact that I would be visiting him to start work on my producer’s cut of Resurgence today, Mike magically turned around that outstanding Q&A we’ve all been waiting for. And it’s a good one. As is Resurgence, is latest labor of love. But you can judge for yourselves when it airs in about ten months." — Joseph Mallozzi, July 8, 2010
• "It was a welcome warm and sunny respite from the dank and dark environs of the editing suit where I had spent most of the day, working on my producer’s cut of Resurgence with ace editor Mike “Marverick” Banas .... It’s going to be a terrific episode, especially once Mark Savela and co. deliver the finished visual effects." — Joseph Mallozzi, July 9, 2010
• "And speaking of pretty damn cool ship sequences – we spotted Resurgence I as well and that episode is chock full of spacely operatic goodness. Another visual effects extravaganza for the first part of our mid-season two-parter." — Joseph Mallozzi, July 22, 2010
• "At some point, I’m also going to have to find time to head over to post and visit Mike so we can lock Resurgence, episode 10. Provided, that is, we receive those network notes. However, my thinking is no news is good news and they probably felt my cut was perfection and doesn’t require any tinkering." — Joseph Mallozzi, August 8, 2010
• "I also spent some time in post with my editor, Mike Banas P.I., locking my producer’s cut of Resurgence. As it turns out, the network didn’t think it was perfect after all. We got their notes this morning." — Joseph Mallozzi, August 9, 2010
• "I dropped by post to approve the temp visual effects for Resurgence, episode 10, with VFX Supervisor Mark Savela and Editor Mike Banas, P.I. Wow. Wow. And wow! Another visual extravaganza, this one." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 9, 2010
• "That takes us to the big part one of our midseason two-parter called 'Resurgence,' where we find something off the path, and now that we have control of the Destiny for the first time we explore something that we soon find out we shouldn't have. And we end up basically caught in a war that has been going on between two races. And, of course, during all of this, Chloe is still transforming during everything that I said. That is a big part of the 'Visitation' story and this story as well, and even in the second half of the season, which is the back 10." — Brad Wright, Blastr interview, November 2, 2010
• "#220 Resurgence: The investigation of a remote power source leads the Destiny crew to an encounter with a new Big Bad." — Joseph Mallozzi, November 6, 2010
• "In Stargate Universe's mid-season finale (November 30), the team stranded aboard Destiny is finally able to fly the alien ship out of its predetermined path — but that could be a bad idea. 'On their way, they find a graveyard of damaged ships from a huge, long ago battle,' says Brad Wright, exec producer of the Syfy show. 'Unfortunately, their arrival on the scene restarts the fight.' Colonel Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips), last seen stranded on a hostile alien vessel, is mysteriously back to help with the dire situation." — TV Guide/Brad Wright interview, November 16, 2010
• "Yeah, it’s interesting. Once again, it’s like, 'Okay, what have we not revealed to the audience and what have we filmed?' Just the very fact that you and I are speaking and I’m finishing up the season lets people know that Telford is not dead. The last time we saw him, he was with those aliens on that seed ship. How he gets back, why he gets back, in what form he comes back, all of this is yet to be seen. I will say that it’s very exciting and it’s very fun and I think people will be highly gratified when Telford makes his inevitable return. I’ve said it before, he’s like Stargate Universe herpes. He can lie dormant for a long time, but he will flare up and irritate you and complicate your life." — Lou Diamond Phillips, Gateworld interview, November 17, 2010

Further Reading

• Joseph Mallozzi's Blog
• Sci Fi Pi: Stargate Universe: S2 Mid-Season Finale! Destiny has a Destination! (June 29, 2010)
• Blastr: 8 reasons you should watch Stargate Universe tonight and beyond, Brad Wright interview, November 2, 2010
• TV Guide: Sci-fi Preview: Scoop on Smallville, Supernatural, Walking Dead and More!, November 16, 2010
• Gateworld: Honor and Duty, interview with Lou Diamond Phillips, November 17, 2010
• Solutions: Stargate Universe: 2.10 "Resurgence", November 30, 2010

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