SGU 2.16 "The Hunt" Episode Guide

Précis

An alien abducts two crewmen during an off-world expedition, and a rescue team is dispatched to save them. Meanwhile on Destiny, the discovery of a new store of technology causes trouble for Brody.

Guide | Transcript

MGM/Syfy.com Official Summary

On a planetary expedition, Greer spies an animal that looks like it could be dinner. He and Scott go hunting for space deer, but when Greer hesitates on his clear shot, he lands them in a precarious position: They are now being hunted by a larger, fiercer animal. This unknown beast takes down several of the away party, and abducts two of them: Reynolds and TJ. Young assembles a search party, and when Varro offers his and his people's expertise as trackers, the choice is clear: Use the resources available, or let TJ and Reynolds die.

Eli pulls Chloe away from her efforts in the sick bay - and her observation that Volker and the recuperating Park may be kindling the flame of romance - to beg for her help. While exploring newly discovered stasis pods (which Rush has warned them to stay away from) Brody got stuck in one, and Eli is desperately trying to free him before Rush finds out. Meanwhile Rush, who has a mysterious smirk on his face, also notes Volker's crush, saying they'll never get together because Volker is just the "confidante" type - not the Romeo he needs to be.

Varro's tracking abilities are proving formidable, but as the team moves closer to the animal's lair, it lashes out in an ambush, showing itself to be a highly intelligent hunter. TJ, shaking off unconsciousness, tries to get Reynolds to man up. They're trapped in the creature's cave, kept alive so that the beast may have fresh meat, and closely guarded so they don't escape. TJ manages to repair their radio and miraculously contacts Greer and Varro - after another attack by the children of this creature, they are the only two left in the party. They are a few breaths away from the lair, and the situation is getting more dangerous by the minute.

Greer has been second-guessing himself the whole mission - indeed, since his surgery. He had a profound moment, an experience akin to life after death, which made him question everything around him. Varro senses his doubt and tells him to shake it off or stay behind, risking Greer's violent temper, but Greer knows what needs to be done. Varro creates a diversion while Greer sneaks into the lair. As the three crew members are about to make their escape, the beast doesn't strike. TJ deduces that the creature recognizes them, by the fire she made, as intelligent, and is respecting their lives because of it. Greer has a moment of communion with the creature as they all back slowly out of the cave.

Back on Destiny, Rush has decided that his prank has gone on long enough, and releases Brody from the pod. Young interrupts Varro's tender reunion with TJ to send him to cook the space deer that Greer killed on his way back to the 'gate. But Volker, after seeing Greer with Park in a flirtatious moment, is skipping the feast to nurse his broken heart.

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
• Patrick Gilmore as Dr. Dale Volker
• Julia Benson as Lt. Vanessa James
• Greyston Holt as Corporal Reynolds
• Peter Kelamis as Adam Brody
• Jennifer Spence as Dr. Lisa Park
• Vincent Gale as Dr. Morrison
• Kyra Zagorsky as Tasia

Closing Credits:

• Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman as Airman Darren Becker
• Ryan Booth as Cpl. Marsden

Production

• Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
• Directed by Andy Mikita

Related Articles

Keywords

• Destiny
• Stasis Technology

Other

• Stargate Universe: Season Two
• Previous: SGU 2.15 "Seizure" Episode Guide
• Next: SGU 2.17 "Common Descent" Episode Guide

Related Links

Official

• MGM Official Website: Search Results for "The+Hunt"
• Syfy: 2.16 "The Hunt" Guide

Fan

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

Production Notes

• "What a difference an idea makes. I’d been spinning my wheels on my latest story, trying to find that elusive through-line that would tie all its narrative elements together – and then, yesterday, I found it. Or, more appropriately, it was presented to me by fellow Exec. Producer Brad Wright. And, just like that, the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place. Well, more or less. I’m still missing some corner pieces and portions of the sky on the upper left, but I’m in much better shape. Today, I put together a preliminary beat sheet which I’ve started to flesh out. I aim to have a reading document ready for early next week. Have to say, I am very excited about this episode – probably more excited than I’ve been for an episode since Atlantis season 5′s Remnants." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 18, 2010
• "The rest of the day was spent yakking about Carl’s first draft of Hope, episode #14, my outline for The Hunt, episode #16, and whether or not Radio, episode #18, still worked given the preceding episode." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 25, 2010
• "I’ve gone to script on episode #16, The Hunt. I’m blazing along and, after two days, have already hit the bottom of page one! At this rate, I’ll be finished well before we get a Day 1 Mix of the finished episode." — Joseph Mallozzi, June 30, 2010
• "Great progress today on my first draft of episode #16, The Hunt. After a week and a half, I’ve almost finished the Tease." — Joseph Mallozzi, July 5, 2010
• "201: Intervention, 202: Aftermath, 203: Awakening, 204: Pathogen, 205: Cloverdale, 206: Trial and Error, 207: The Greater Good, 208: Malice, 209: Visitation, 210: Resurgence, 211: Deliverance, 212: Twin Destinies, 213: Alliances, 214: Hope, 215: Seizure, 216: The Hunt, 217: (Rob’s script), 218: (Carl’s script), 219: Blockade, 220: Gauntlet. Yep. All we need are a couple of titles." — Joseph Mallozzi, July 10, 2010
• "Time flies when you’re having fun – or when you’re not prepping that script until September, meaning you don’t have to finish your first draft until well after your return from hiatus. On the bright side, I finished the Tease and it’s a pretty damn good one, the kind the network loves: Jeopardy! Jeopardy! Jeopardy! This is going to be one of those episodes (like Malice and Cloverdale) that will be mostly shot on location, meaning there’ll be no ducking back up to the office for a quick break between set-ups. Guess I’ll be bringing my work – and chocolate – with me. Also, bug spray may not be a bad idea. I’m sure the experience will not be unlike that fab week I spent with Will Waring on the set of SGA’s Harmony all the way over at Widgeon Park – except that, in this case, the location under discussion is a much more manageable fifteen minutes or so drive from the studio." — Joseph Mallozzi, July 10, 2010
• "Some progress on the script front. Who says SGU isn’t funny?" — Joseph Mallozzi, July 20, 2010
• "Progress on the script front. This morning, I finished Act II of The Hunt, working out the troublesome dialogue – as I often do – while driving. I hope to hit the 30 page mark by end of week, then the 40 page mark by end of next week. By the time I return to the office, it should be smoooooooooth sailing. Of course, I won’t be able to do any actual writing because, with Paul prepping Alliances, my presence will be required on set ... Still, I should have the script – with its A, B, C, and D stories – in pretty good shape by the end of August." — Joseph Mallozzi, July 28, 2010
• "In the downtime between shots, I’ll no doubt be working on those final few pages of my script, The Hunt, which I seem to have stalled out on near the end of Act IV." — Joseph Mallozzi, August 8, 2010
• "Had our sit-down with the Art and Construction departments today about the new late season set we’ll be discovering in my episode, The Hunt. We talked playback, atmosphere, functionality, and numbers – some of which will play in episode 16, most of which will very late in the season." — Joseph Mallozzi, August 11, 2010
• "Delivered by first draft of The Hunt this afternoon. This one is going to have a bit of everything: exotic locations, tricky builds, cool visual effects, and, of course, one hell of an episode budget." — Joseph Mallozzi, August 20, 2010
• "I headed over to join the location scout for The Hunt. ... We were looking for an area with dense foliage that we could supplement with some magic from the Greens Department, a clearing, a potential camp area, and various other little script peculiarities. ... It's a long way down - and perfect. ... Creepy tree? Check. ... Creepy footbridge? Check. ... That O.S. spot would be great for one of the big reveals. ... Anyway, the location was perfect. All we need now is a house for the Tamara flashbacks, a cave, and to finish off that big shipboard chamber." — Joseph Mallozzi, August 26, 2010 (Pictures included)
• "Almost finished my rewrite of The Hunt. Hopefully, I’ll put it out Tuesday after which it’ll be smooooooth sailing. Until prep begins of course. In truth, prep has already begun on this episode with Production Designer James Robbins working on the design for our off-world beasts and Art Director Chris Beach and SPFX Master Scott Stofer swinging by the other day to discuss a special little contraption. Brad suggested shifting parts of the latter half of the script to night – which would certainly make those scenes all the more creepy. Will have to bring this up with Director Andy Mikita and Director of Photography Mike Blundell who have already expressed an interest in some sort of treatment that would give the location a surreal alien feel." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 2, 2010
• "Success! I finished my rewrite of The Hunt, finally nailing that tricky fourth act scene. I’ll re-read it sometime this weekend and put it out on Tuesday after which my entire week will be free to spin episode 20, the season finale, that Paul will probably be writing (unless the approaching rewrites prove too time-consuming in which case I’ll be doing the honors)." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 3, 2010
• "Got some terrific notes on my rewrite of The Hunt. I’ll address them tomorrow, put out the revised draft in the afternoon, and then it’ll be smooooooth sailing. Looks like we’ll be casting on Friday: Corporal Reynolds, T.J.’s sister, T.J.’s dad, and Tasia." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 8, 2010
• "Finally, I was going to address some of the “fan” conspiracy concerns in today’s mailbag but got sidetracked by prep on The Hunt, spinning episode 20, and this blog entry." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 13, 2010
• "Final tech survey in North Van this afternoon for episode #216, The Hunt, followed by the production meeting. Between the stunts, special effects, visual effects, set builds, make up, and props, the budget was positively vertiginous. Fortunately, after making a few harmless trims (most notably scenes 56, 60, and the bone budget), it’s now only slightly dizzying." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 16, 2010
• "When I was invited along for last week’s technical survey, I jumped at the chance to go door to door, querying local fans about the show’s mechanical and scientific aspects. ... Well, to my disappointment, the survey didn’t involve any canvassing or solicitation of opinions. Hell, it wasn’t particularly technical either. It was just a road trip out to a forested area in North Vancouver where we finalized the locations for episode 16, The Hunt." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 19, 2010 (photos of the field trip, prop rocks, and cave set in entry)
• "I’ll be out on location tomorrow shooting Day #2 of The Hunt, so blogging time will be minimal." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 21, 2010
• "Crazy day of shooting, lots of rain, lots of scenes....at least I'm in leather!!!" — Mike Dopud, Twitter, September 23, 2010
• "We were out in the forests of North Van yesterday, shooting day #3 of The Hunt." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 24, 2010
• Galleries of on-location shooting available at Mallozzi's Weblog for September 24 and September 25 and at John G. Lenic's Twitter TwitPic.
• "Yesterday was our last day (and night) in the wilds of North Vancouver where we finished shooting our location exteriors for The Hunt. While it’s nice to get away from our standing sets every once in a while, it’s even nicer to get back to those standing sets after spending a few cold and rainy evenings in the great outdoors. If you were there, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you weren’t, check out the pics..." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 25, 2010
• "Day #5 of The Hunt found us back on the lot and in the familiar (and relatively drier) confines of Stage 4. After three days of shooting in the cold and rain, it was nice to be walking those darkened corridors again." — Joseph Mallozzi, September 27, 2010
• "...my return to the office on Wednesday – by which time I’ll have to set it aside for a couple of days while I tackle my producer’s edit of The Hunt." — Joseph Mallozzi, October 9, 2010
• "Yesterday, I came back from Post (where I was spending quality time with editor Rick Martin on my producer’s cut of The Hunt) ... Anyway, spent most of the day working on my producer’s cut of The Hunt. It’s timing quite long and there are still some scenes to be shot. Hate to say it, but the T.J. flashbacks may have to go (and, ideally, find their way into another episode)." — Joseph Mallozzi, October 16, 2010
• "...went to Post and finished cutting episode 16, The Hunt, with editor Rick Martin. I’m a minute and a half short with approximately five minutes of additional material yet to be shot! Something’s gonna have to give." — Joseph Mallozzi, October 18, 2010
• E writes: "Are the TJ flashbacks from “The Hunt” already gone?" Answer: "Nope. About five more minutes of footage have to be shot for The Hunt. Once those have been assembled, I’ll edit them and then decide what I’m going to have to lose to ensure the episode is to time." — Joseph Mallozzi, October 25, 2010
• "Whew! Busy day! Shooting those scenes outstanding from The Hunt over on Stage 4. Boy, does that second level set look awesome. I took plenty of pics. A little spoilery…but a very cool spoilery so I may consider posting next week." — Joseph Mallozzi, November 5, 2010
• "...I finish my producer’s edit of The Hunt tomorrow. We’ve finally got all the scenes from the new set (where, not so coincidentally, we were shooting today) and, once I’ve seen them in the cut, I’ll have to decide what stays and what goes. Unless, of course, the network wants to run a very special extra three minute long episode." — Joseph Mallozzi, November 8, 2010
• "Also, watched my cut of The Hunt this afternoon. The A, B, and C stories interweave nicely and, again, some nice character and comic beats peppered throughout." — Joseph Mallozzi, November 15, 2010
• "This afternoon, I went to post where I had a visual effects spotting with Rick, Mark and Bones, then did the cut notes for The Hunt." — Joseph Mallozzi, November 16, 2010
• "In season one, we set the groundwork for the series and tried to give each of our main players a spotlight episode (in Greer’s case, it was Lost). As we headed into season two, we broke down our stories and ensured that each main character would have one (or more) spotlight episodes. When it comes time to lining these episodes up in the production schedule, their placement is dictated by the overall season arc and ongoing storylines, so even if one character may seem light in the first half of the season, that won’t be the case for the second half. In the case of Greer, he’s got two big episodes in season 2 (in addition to a lot of terrific beats and throughlines in other episodes), but you’ll have to wait until the back half to see them: episode #213, Alliances, and episode #216, The Hunt. In fact, one of the things SyFy’s Erika Kennair remarked on during her last visit to the Stargate set was the significant development in both the Greer and T.J. characters this season." — Joseph Mallozzi, November 16, 2010

Further Reading

• Joseph Mallozzi's Blog
• Early concept art for an alien that Mallozzi rejected for this episode (July 10, 2010)
• Mike Dopud's Twitter, September 23, 2010
• Solutions: Stargate Universe: 2.16 "The Hunt", April 11, 2011
• Mallozzi's Weblog: April 2011 entries have several production-specific images, deleted scene scripts, video clips, and narrative

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--DeeKayP 02:14, 11 July 2010 (UTC)