I’m still trying to figure out why this episode is named “Pathogen”. A pathogen is a disease-producing agent; the only person in the episode who has an actual disease is Eli’s mother. Chloe probably isn’t sick, she’s likely just possessed. Are they just running out of ideas?
We have no idea why Rush is messing with the ship’s course; he has offered no explanation on camera. His crew-mates are becoming suspicious because he’s never available, and they know he’s lying about where he has been. It makes less and less sense for him to lie about having control of the ship. He hasn’t even explained why he doesn’t trust the rest of the crew with the knowledge, other than a vague fear that they’d try to interfere with Destiny’s mission. It’s not like turning the ship around would get them home any sooner.
Eli is supposed to be this really smart problem-solver. When was the last time we saw him solve a problem nobody else could have solved? The last thing he did, story-wise, was open an air lock for Scott and Greer. Since then all he has done is express worry for Chloe.
They’re spending way too much time on Camille’s relationship. Great, she’s a lesbian; can we move on? It’s not adding anything to the story. (I’d say the same about Eli’s mom being sick.) Somebody is going to mention character development, but… how, exactly, is either of these side plots developing their characters any more?
They’re not spending nearly enough time on their new Lucian Alliance crewmates. This should be a big deal, on par with Janeway and Chakotay merging their crews. They’re making a stab at some conflict with Simeon, but it feels halfhearted.
Speaking of Simeon, Robert Knepper has been (once again) cast in the role of the jaded pseudo-villain. I think he’s a good actor, but I worry he’s getting typecast. It doesn’t help that he just looks kind of villainous, and his soul patch chin hair thing just makes it worse. I’d like to see him turn out to be a “good guy”, even if his goals are different than the rest of the people on Destiny.