Lost

"Lost" is the fifteenth episode in the first season of Stargate Universe.

Synopsis
After being trapped in a collapsed tunnel on the planet of ruins and not making it back to Destiny in time, Scott, Greer, Chloe and Eli are dialing to other Stargates in range in hopes of rejoining Destiny.

Prologue
A group of people are stuck on Destiny after an attack on Icarus Base, and are now trapped there, though Colonel Everett Young is determined they will make it back to Earth. During the time on Destiny, tensions rise between Nicholas Rush and Everett Young, eventually causing a mutiny between the civilians and military. After an alien attack, the two groups must work together to prepare themselves for the next attack, for the crew's sake. Tamara Johansen reveals to Chloe Armstrong that she is pregnant. Destiny drops out of FTL and dials the Stargate to a planet. Chloe, Matthew Scott, Ronald Greer and Eli Wallace end up trapped in an underground tunnel after Greer shoots a giant spider, causing the tunnel to collapse, and despite the efforts of the rescue team, Destiny leaves, stranding them on the planet.

Plot
In the control interface room, Hunter Riley is recording the efforts to recover the team stranded on the ruins planet using a Kino, claiming Eli Wallace would have wanted them to. Nicholas Rush retorts that, since Eli is among those stranded, he would want them to focus on rescuing him. Riley points out that Rush has already rejected his idea to ask the ship for help, which Rush angrily states he already tried to no avail. By then, Adam Brody has finished setting up a star map. Riley continues recording and starts narrating what is transpiring. He states that the Stargate model used on Destiny is a more primitive version of the ones used in the Milky Way. Every time Destiny drops out of FTL, rather than being able to dial any Stargate within a galaxy, only a handful can be reached as long as it is in range; the next time the ship stops, it will already be out of range of the planet that Chloe Armstrong, Ronald Greer, Matthew Scott and Eli Wallace are stranded on. As he is about to explain what Brody and Rush are trying to do, the Kino suddenly falls to the ground. Riley is baffled, since the Kino he is using was recently taken from the Kino dispenser and should be fully charged. Just then, the holographic star map shuts down.

Lieutenant Tamara Johansen, under the orders of Colonel Everett Young, checks up on Lieutenant Vanessa James, concerning her relationship with Scott. After James discovers that T.J. was brought there under orders, the lights in James's quarters go out. This issue appears to be ship-wide, as Young radios the control interface room to check up on what is happening. According to Rush, he believes the ship is going into a power saving mode, though life support is still fully operational; Rush says he will find a way to work around the problem, though Brody suggests they shouldn't, since Destiny must be doing it for a reason. Meanwhile, Riley believes the power loss may be due to the fact that Destiny is old and that the computers are malfunctioning.

In the underground tunnel, the stranded team finds that they only have two days worth of water. Scott is confident they can find more when they work out a way to get out of the tunnels. After that, they might be able to make it back to Destiny by maybe using the gates to hop from planet to planet to catch up. Eli unenthusiastically points out that the Kino remote only has a list of planets that are within range, not where they are or where Destiny is in relation to them. The tunnels starts shaking again; Greer believes the C-4 may have destabilized the tunnels and they must move on.

Onboard Destiny, the flashlight Young is carrying runs out of battery power as the lights in the corridor return. He walks up to the control interface room to check on what Rush is doing about the power loss. Rush says that several systems have shut down automatically and they have little control over it. Rush reiterates that they won't know if the planet is within range the next time they drop out of FTL.

While Scott's team traverses the tunnels, Eli becomes irritated that the tunnels seemingly go on forever, and believes this was the reason the race that inhabited the planet died out, as well as wishing the tunnels had the maps used in shopping malls that point out "you are here". When Scott has the team stop for a break, Eli admits that previously, he was freaking out, but is now more optimistic about getting back to Destiny, based on the fact that Stargates were only placed in a line rather than all over the galaxy. He demonstrates how to reach Destiny by drawing three overlapping circles; they can't dial straight to Destiny, but if they can reach gates inbetween, they can catch up to it. However, there is a 50/50 chance they will go the wrong way and run into planets they already visited. The team have to move on when another giant spider approaches them.

Rush and Brody are looking at the reactivated star map and are concerned about what they are seeing. Meanwhile, T.J. reports to Young about James, and believes she is still mentally fit for active duty. T.J. plans on telling him about her pregnancy, but before she can, Rush radios Young to summon him. T.J. tells Young she can wait to tell him. Young walks to Rush, who informs him that when he was in the crashed alien ship, he saw what he believed was a map of the galaxy. He and Brody have been working on their own map of the galaxy, and have discovered that Destiny is on the very edge of it; if Scott's team isn't retrieved the next time they drop out of FTL, they will lose the chance to rescue them forever.

In the underground tunnels, Eli looks at the remote screen and finds that the Kino has found an exit, but he still has no idea where it is. While they decide which way to turn, Chloe notices a map of the tunnels carved into the walls; there are other places where the same map appears, but has a small difference, their equivalent of "you are here". Greer walks off to find another map to verify. Scott follows him. Greer walks back to confirm Chloe's theory. However, at that moment, the tunnels start to quake again; the ceiling above Greer collapses right on top of him.

In the Destiny infirmary, T.J. is talking with Lisa Park. Park tells her to inform Young of her pregnancy, since he will find out soon regardless. Then, the two notice that the ship has dropped out of FTL. Meanwhile, on the planet, Chloe, Eli and Scott appear to be fine. However, they are cut off from Greer, who is either trapped under the rubble, or trapped behind it. They cannot reach him.

The expedition has three hours to find Scott's team. Since Rush is part of the offworld team going out, he estimates that they will have time to visit 20 planets before they have to return; hopefully, one of those 20 will be the one Scott's team is on. After they leave, T.J. radios Young and asks to speak with him in private. However, Young informs her he is busy, and wants her to wait.

Chloe, Eli and Scott attempt to move the rocks to find Greer. However, Scott soon asks the other two to stop, since he now doubts Greer survived. Believing Greer would want them to go on if there was no hope for him, Scott announces they have to leave. He radios Greer, and even though he may not reply, apologises to him. Meanwhile, in a flashback, young Ronald is trapped in a closet, overhearing his parents arguing. His mother, Angela tries to convince her husband, Reginald to let him out; Reginald claims he put Greer there because he believes "the boy has to learn." After that, the present Greer regains consciousness. He is trapped in some rubble, and struggles to move. He calls out to Scott, but there is no answer.

The rest of the team has found the Kino, as well as their exit. After a moment of hesitation, the trio starts climbing up the ladder to the open. Greer meanwhile, is slowly moving the rocks out of the way to escape. He flashes back to his childhood again, where he is collecting bricks in a pile in the back yard. When he tells his father he has finished, the drunken man walks over to the pile and shoves it over. Later, in the kitchen, Ronald is frustrated that his mother keeps saying Reginald was a good man, but at this point, he was too young. Ronald wants him and his mother to leave him. As the memory ends, Greer manages to dig his way out.

The other three make it to the Stargate, with Eli preparing to dial. Scott now believes that since the crew may be doing the same thing they are going to do, maybe the best chance of being found is to stay on the planet. Eli believes otherwise. Eventually, Scott gives the OK to dial. Once a wormhole is established, Eli guides the Kino through to see if it is safe. After the Kino is through, footage shows the planet to be foggy, but readings suggest the atmosphere is suitable. Greer finds the exit and climbs out. There, he starts to run through a meadow. He flashes back to two more childhood memories. The first is when he looks through pictures of his father during his time in the military, before Reginald walks in and snatches them off him. The second is where Reginald is driving his son to a very dangerous part of the city at night. After he stops, he tells his son to get out. Back at the Stargate, Scott hesitantly goes through the wormhole. The team have arrived on another planet. Greer arrives too late; the wormhole already disengaged before he was in the area.

On the foggy planet, Scott announces they are to spend ten minutes on each planet, just in case Destiny shows up after they arrive. The trio hear rather disturbing noises of growling and stamping that appears to be coming towards the Stargate. Knowing this is a bad sign, Scott has Eli dial the next planet. As the Stargate is dialling, the trio see a large dinosaur-like creature approaching them. The wormhole has engaged. Not waiting for the atmospheric results from the Kino, Eli and Chloe run through to the next planet. Scott opens fire on the creature in an attempt to scare it off. He soon goes through the Stargate.

Nighttime has reached the ruins planet. Greer has lit a fire near the Stargate and sits closely to it. In a flashback, his younger self is able to walk home from the rough part of the city, only to find his home on fire. He charges in and is able to rescue her mother. Though unseen, he also saved his father. In the present, Reginald appears in a vision and tells him Greer he should have let him die.

Rush and James with their teams have arrived on tenth planet with 90 minutes left. Rush admits finding the team is more complicated than he anticipated, but has said it will take a short time to work out how to return since they visited nine other planets. With multiple Kinos at their disposal, James proposes they split up, and Rush agrees.

Greer continues to have memories. In the hospital where his father is recovering, a fellow hospital patient keeps ranting on about 20,000 soldiers being hospitalised after experiencing adverse effects to receiving a vaccine. Eventually, the ranting gets to Reginald, who snaps and starts attacking the patient. Greer manages to stop him.

In the Destiny infirmary, Young is talking with T.J., apologising for being busy. Rather than hesitating, T.J. outs that she is pregnant, about 22 weeks in, and Young is the father; she intends to keep it. When Young pauses, T.J. asks what they are going to do; Young promises he is going to make things work.

Chloe, Eli and Scott are on a desert planet, which is experiencing a heavy sandstorm. Eli has dialled the Gate and sent a Kino through. He reports that the next planet is toxic; they can't get the Kino back, so any gates dialled from here on will be blind jumps. Scott elects to go through the Stargate first; if the atmosphere is safe, he will radio the other two to come through.

Greer is still seeing a vision of his father, telling him his teammates left him behind. Greer says he won't blame them, since they believed he was dead anyway. He then flashes back to the hospital where Greer is older. After hearing that his comatose father's infection has reached into his brain, Greer announces to his mother he has enlisted in the Marines because he failed to earn his scholarship, as well as wanting to "be somebody"; he is not changing his mind.

Scott's team arrives on a planet, where it is snowing. Chloe notes that the planet reminds her of the times she spent Christmases in Vermont. When the remote refreshes the list of available addressed, Eli notices something; he recognises one of the addresses, the gravel pit planet. They have been travelling the wrong way. However, Eli may have a solution; they can go to the alien ship, and find the map of the galaxy, like what Rush did. Since the aliens may also be on the planet, the others decide what to do next. Ultimately, Scott agrees.

On the ruins planet, Greer notices the Stargate is dialling. When it kawooshes, he takes cover, but is stunned to see James and her team arrive on the planet; Scott's option to stay earlier would actually have been the right call, but he and his team have arrived on the gravel pit planet and made it onboard the ship. Eli finds Rush's glasses on the floor, indicating they are in the right place. He displays a holographic screen and is starting scroll through, even though he has no idea what anything means. Scott agrees to stay around for 15 minutes.

James's team has returned Greer to Destiny; Young congratulates James and asks Greer where the rest of his team are. Greer does not know, but knows they must be on another planet. Meanwhile, the 15 minutes are up, but Chloe asks for more time, as she recognises one of the symbols. The symbol leads to the star map, and Eli believes he has found Destiny. However, he also realises Destiny is going to leave the galaxy and strand them for good. They will have to hurry. According to the jump countdown, they have five minutes to get there.

They manage to gate through to another planet. Fortunately, according to Eli, this is their last planet, as he recognises Destiny's address. They quickly dial it. On the ship, the Stargate has dialled, but it is Rush's team who make it through. Because of this, Eli cannot make a connection. Scott has Eli try dialling again, and he obliges. However, before they can establish a connection, the jump countdown reaches zero, and Destiny jumps into FTL. On the planet, the Stargate ceases dialling, and Destiny's address disappears from the remote, indicating it has jumped. Chloe, Eli and Scott are devastated, knowing that Destiny is leaving them behind forever.

On board Destiny, Riley follows Greer, wanting him to talk about what happened on the planet, claiming Eli would want him to talk. Greer does not respond and by the time he arrives in his quarters, wordlessly indicates that he does not wish to talk. Riley decides it would be best to ask him at another time. Greer closes the door and sits on his bed, sullen.

Notable quotes
Riley follows Rush's actions on the Kino

Rush: Riley.

Riley: I think Eli would want someone documenting the efforts to rescue the team that was left behind.

Rush: Well, given that Eli is one of the team that was left behind, I would have thought he'd want everyone doing anything possible to help rescue them.

Riley: You didn't like my idea.

Rush: Telling Destiny to go back and pick them up isn't gonna work.

Riley: How do you know?

Rush: Because I've already tried it!

Greer flashes back to see his father at the hospital while another patient is ranting on, most often making little sense

Patient: Fires. Fires were everywhere. Got so we forgot what a clean breath of air felt like. Emphysema, asthma, bronchitis. They said none of the guys sent in to put out the fires showed any ill effects. Come on! D'you buy that? How can that be true? Those fires were everywhere!

Reginald: (to his son) The man's a living hell, sent by the Devil himself to torture me for all eternity.

Patient: Just a little skin reaction, they said, just a little itchy on the arm. The FDA approved it, even though it had never been through any serious large-scale trials. There were no side effects! They said it was the war, not the vaccine. Between 1998 and 2000, 20,000 soldiers had to be hospitalised after receiving the vaccine even though they had never been deployed overseas. The Pentagon failed to report that to Congress! Wasn't as bad as the sand fleas, though. They got under your skin, and how. Carried all kinds of diseases, diseases you can't even say! Tank busters, uranium depleted. I loaded those munitions. Nothing dangerous coming off those. What do you think? 18,000 times in two years, those alarms went off! It's not the mustard gas, never the mustard gas. It was cigarettes, deodorant. Can you believe that? Chronic fatigue, loss of muscle control, headaches, dizziness, memory loss, shortness of breath, brain cancer.

Reginald: (to his son) I'm gonna kill him, put him out of his misery.

Patient: It was the war. It was the war. It wasn't the fires. They were everywhere. Big black billowing smoke. The war is why he can't breathe.

Chloe observes the winter planet.

Chloe: It's kind of pretty. Sometimes we would spend Christmas at a cabin in Vermont.

Eli: Amazing; that a planet on the other side of the Universe can remind you of Vermont!

Background notes

 * It would seen this episode took place rather quickly after "Human".
 * Per Tamara Johansen's pregnancy, this episode takes place around the area of 22 weeks since the evacuation of Icarus Base. This also means that seven has weeks passed since the end of "Faith"
 * This is the first episode that distinctly states that the Destiny Gate network is inferior to the Milky Way and Pegasus networks, mostly the fact that only a handful of planets can be reached within a small area as opposed to an entire galaxy.
 * Reginald Greer's car was carrying a California license plate. This would indicate that Greer grew up in the same state.
 * In "Air, Part 1", viewers saw that Vanessa James and Matthew Scott were in a physical relationship, and that they attempted to conceal it. However, it is discovered Colonel Everett Young knows about the two, but it isn't stated whether he knew about the two in Icarus Base, or after arriving on Destiny.

International airdates

 * Canada: April 30, 2010 (Space
 * Australia: May 7, 2010 (Sci Fi Australia)
 * United Kingdom: May 11, 2010 (Sky1)

Production

 * According to Joseph Mallozzi's weblog, the episode title is a reference to a song by Coldplay, and a well known TV series, both of the same names.
 * The episode was written by a freelancer.

Ratings

 * United States: 1.587 million viewers, equals a 1.0/2 Household rating/share (0.6/2 18-49 rating/share). The episode has scored the lowest ratings in the series at this point.
 * United Kingdom: The episode didn't gather enough viewers to be on the top 10 most viewed Sky1 programs for the week. This is likely due to the airing of a special BBC News report concerning, although it must have been seen by 552,000 at most.