What to expect from Stargate Universe season 2

It’s probably best to mention here that this article is super-spoiler filled, so look away now if you don’t want to know the scores.

First up, then, is the slate of guest actors the show will have sprinkled over its twenty-episode run. Interestingly enough, French Stewart, who starred in the original Stargate film, is set to appear in an upcoming episode of SGU entitled Alliances, which is thirteenth in the season. He plays the new head of research at Stargate Command and, as such, may rack up some frequent flyer miles aboard the Destiny.

Another possible recurring character is to be played by Victor Garber, of Alias fame, who is set to begin his Stargate life in the fifteenth episode, Seizure. It’s not clear who or what is being seized, but considering Garber’s character has ties to a planet frequently visited in SG-1, he’s probably involved. Thanks to Gateworld for bringing us both these stories.

While the next two were reported as appearing a long time ago, it’s good to catch people up who may be unaware. Originally reported on Gateworld, Robert Knepper, whom you may remember from Prison Break or the final (read: worst) season of Heroes, is to play a recurring role as one of the Lucian Alliance soldiers and is set to become a thorn in Dr Rush’s side. In addition, Julie McNiven, fresh from Mad Men and Supernatural, will also play a card-carrying Lucian Alliance member in a multi-episode arc, which also sees her as a possible love interest for Eli Wallace.

Fans of previous incarnations of the Stargate series will be happy to welcome David Hewlett and Robert Picardo to Destiny, reprising their roles as Dr Rodney McKay and Richard Woolsey, respectively. I, for one, am hoping for a little bit of information as to what happened to Atlantis after the events of the finale Enemy At The Gate,in which the city of Atlantis lands next to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The episode that they will both be appearing in is the same in which Victor Garber will turn up, Seizure. 

When interviewed by Gateworld, David Hewlett speculated as to whether further visits from the SGA cast were on the cards. “Secretly in my heart, I hope it means we will see more of the Atlantis crew come in,” he said.  “And selfishly, for me, I miss playing McKay. And I just felt so happy and honoured that Robert and I were asked to come in. It’s Stargate. It’s family. It’s home.”

As for upcoming storylines, it’s over to Robert Cooper who told us about the structure of the show and it’s effect on the story. “One of the things that’s happened as a result of the SyFy channel breaking the show up into two 10-episode blocks, we now tend to look at them as two 10-episode storylines,” he said.

Although that doesn’t give them any big ideas. In fact, Cooper says they like to think small. “We know where we’re going to a certain extent, but we also want to respond to what that world and those characters are telling us.”

Don’t take that the wrong way, however, as beyond season two lies some kind of answer to the bigger questions brought up by the series. Cooper added, “We do have an idea of where the series is going and why the Ancients sent the ship out there and where we could end the series.”

In the same interview, he talks about how they want to explore “A new galaxy every season” and that the “blue aliens that we met last year… do come back into play a little bit, but more in the sense of their impact on Chloe and the repercussions of being kidnapped by them.”

However, he goes on to talk about meeting different kinds of aliens in the season, saying,  “This season is very much about the aliens of this new galaxy… what happened to them and how we get involved in that.” 

David Blue also talked about the upcoming alien storylines in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, revealing that there may be even more extra-terrestrial interaction than Robert Cooper originally hinted at stating ,”There will be more aliens, and not necessarily just one other group.”

Then, of course, there is a man who is the true star of Stargate Universe, Robert Carlyle who spoke to FusedFilm about the upcoming season of SGU and his part in making it.

Not only is he directing the fourth episode, Pathogen but also, when asked by Robert Cooper what he’d like to do in an episode, Carlyle brought up the idea of a western episode and, to his surprise, it became a reality. Cast and crew were taken to the Bisti Badlands of New Mexico, where they filmed the eighth episode of the season, Malice, which Robert Carlyle called one of “the best things we’ve done so far”.

In the same interview, Carlyle alludes to the fate of Dr Franklin, stating that it appears he has been “sucked into the ship somehow”. Presumably we will find out more about this when Dr Rush finds Destiny’s bridge and decides to keep it to himself after Franklin and his wife appear on board. As the man himself puts it, “The question is are these visions purely in Rush’s head or is the ship manifesting these people in order to speak to him and tell him what to do, or is he crazy?”

He also hinted at some big scenes between, not only himself and Robert Knepper’s character, but also in the ongoing feud between Rush and Col Young, citing an 11-page scene between the two as an example. However, the episode Twin Destinies is the one that interests me the most, pitting Dr Rush against himself, in a time-travelling battle of wits.

A few more plot points to be gathered from the teaser trailer are that Dr Rush’s old friend Dr Amanda Perry may be making another appearance, as well as Dr Caine, whom you may remember was left behind on an alien planet much like Earth.

But you don’t need me to tell you that. Have a look for yourselves. I, for one, am pretty excited for its return.

Gateworld ColliderFusedFilmYouTube: David Blue interview with Los Angeles Times