"Alliances" makes the best use of the magic stones thus far, and I wasn't annoyed with them as I normally am. Yes, there was still the same problems--the changing rules that govern the stones and what can and can't happen, allowing for any situation to be manufactured--but the episode nearly scratches a moral dilemma for once, which piqued my curiosity.
Greer and Wray are trapped by an explosion at Homeworld Command face a hard choice--almost. With the knowledge that a naquadriah bomb is still inside, they set out to find the bomb and disarm it. The problem is, they're inside other people's bodies and there is high radiation levels. But the writers offer a perfect solution: the radiation is already fatal so it's not like looking for an exit will do any good, so they might as well find the bomb. So in the end, Greer and Wray stay alive, the senator sacrifices her life to disarm the bomb and the scientist unwillingly returns to his body to die.
Here's what would have made the situation a lot more interesting and thought-provoking. 1) The radiation is still at a high level but not life-threatening unless they stayed for a lot longer. 2) Destiny dropping out of FTL doesn't make them revert back temporarily (although this rule was already established). The result would be an isolated Greer and Wray in other people's bodies and in the place to save the lives of everyone in Washington D.C, struggling to decide what to do. This goes beyond the usual "needs of the few outweigh the needs of the few" mentality of Star Trek, but adds another component--that they are using bodies not their own and without explicit permission to endanger them.
The pairing of Greer and Wray isn't anything special since Greer is a badly developed character who doesn't get along with anyone, but there are a couple good moments between the two that will probably be meaningless once the next episode rolls around.
The major plot hole that bothered me was that Wray quickly wrote off the possibility of another Lucian Alliance member, saying that the ship was probably going to land and the pilot would walk away after setting the bomb. Didn't Telford say that the building was hit by the ship which caused the initial explosion?
Score: 8.2/10
