Not quite a year after Stargate: Atlantis ended, the third series, Stargate: Universe was launched. The first two episodes, of a three part opener aired on 2 October, 2009. It was written by series creators, Brad Wright, and Robert C. Cooper.

On one of Stargate Command’s off-world bases, Icarus, a team is working to unlock the ninth gate chevron, something that hasn’t been done yet. They may have figured it out just in time, when the base comes under atttack and they have to flee!

The gate doesn’t take them back to Earth, but a sprawling ancient ship. And that happens in the opening scene. The Icarus personnel arrive on the ship, and we fill in the backstory from there. We see how the Icarus team got recruited, which includes an appearance by O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson).

There’s also an introductory video to the stargate program hosted by Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks). We even get to see Carter (Amanda Tapping) commanding the Hammond.

We’re introduced to Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle), Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira), Tamara Johnson (Alaina Huffman), Eli (David Blue) and Chloe (Elyse Levesque) as well as others. They and the rest of the arrivals have to figure out where they air, and how they are going to survive.

And can they find a way to get home?

Rush seems more interested in the ship and what it could be used for. And by interested, I mean practically obsessed. This is going to cause him to clash with the military leader of Icarus base, Young.

And things are complicated by the shutting down of the ship’s life support. They are running out of air.

There’s a bit more of an expansive cast in this one, though it could have been a little diverse. There is also a fun guest cast that includes Lou Diamond Phillips, Ming-Na Wen and Christopher McDonald.

The episode gives us plenty of flashbacks, introducing us to all the characters while kicking the narrative into high gear.

The episode closes as O’Neil and Carter wondering where the Icarus crew are… they didn’t come back to Earth… and will Rush and Eli be able to figure out how to get the life support running?

Part 2 aired the same night as Part 1, and was also written by Wright and Cooper.

They christen the ship Destiny as they attempt to figure out a way to get the life support going. Meanwhile, Scott (Brian J. Smith) is leading teams to explore the ship. And through it all, Rush seems to have his own agenda, making him a wild card in everything and we don’t know if he can be trusted.

Eli discovers some fun and useful tech, and we start to see characters developing, and narratives being set up. There’s going to be lots going on apparently.

Everyone wants Rush to get the life support repaired, and wants him to get them home. Something tells me they aren’t going home anytime soon.

When Young attempts to dial Earth, things go very badly, the ship drops out of FTL (faster than light) and then the gate resumes dialing, connecting to a nearby planet. The ship knows where habitable world are, and it knows that its new crew has to effect repairs.

The episode ends with the crew preparing to send a team through the gate to find what they need. But they only have twelve hours before the ship resumes its course – but where is it going?

It’s off to an interesting start, and is already showing that despite its ties to what has gone before, this is going to be its own thing.

These first two episodes also introduced a new crush, Julia Benson.