Ok, first of all, I think I already have a bit of a girl-crush on Sgt. Vanessa James. I mean, for cripes sakes, look at her. And I love that she told the guys she could whup their ass. You do not want to cross her. Four episodes into Stargate Universe, and I'm starting to get hooked. I like that this week's episode, "Darkness," took place mainly on the ancient ship Destiny, which looks ultra-cool flying through space. The whole thing has a Firefly feel to it.
I'm also starting to get a better feel for the storyline and characters, thanks in part to their little bio recordings engineered by Eli. Most of the crew are in their 20s or 30s, and most would rather be anywhere but there.
I appreciated them trying to figure out the ship's systems -- waste, water, showers, etc. As some of the commenters have said, that probably would have been first on the list of things to do three episodes ago, even if Dr. Rush was having some power issues of his own.
Dr. Rush is kind of an ass, isn't he (understatement of the year)? I thought he was going to spontaneously combust or something. At the very least, he has some anger management issues. Even geniuses should think about others' feelings once in a while.
There was some interesting interaction this week -- Col. Young's little talk with Dr. Rush, Eli's weird intervention staged by the crew, and the whole thing with Col. Young visiting his wife in Col. Telford's body. At least, I think that's how it went down.
Anyone else see a love triangle brewing between Eli, Chloe and Lt. Scott?
Let me know your thoughts on this week's episode. I'm looking forward to next week.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-18-2009 @ 9:35AM
Jen said...
I'm not too impressed, really. The attempts to be funny aren't, Dr. Rush is a caricature (does every Stargate show have to have a genius who is unlikeable?), and the idea that the one character beat a video game and is now part of the team annoys me. (Arrogant genius places a code into the game that even he can't beat, and video game slacker beats said code in a month? Riiiiiight.)
I know a bit of suspension of disbelief goes along with any scifi show (and I love 'em for it), but I'm having a hard time getting behind this one. I haven't watched Friday's episode yet...and I'll give the show one or two more before I outright abandon it, but it's not looking good yet.
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10-18-2009 @ 12:06PM
M-D said...
Clearly that's a reference to McKay on "Atlantis", but who was the 'unlikable' genius on "SG1"? Daniel Jackson was very likable, albeit a little intense.
As much as I like Robert Carlyle, the Rush character reminds me of all the worst parts of Baltar from the BSG reboot and early Rodney McKay from SGA (and, to a greater extent, his SG1 cameos). I'd like to see him become more than just the 'angry Scot'.
10-18-2009 @ 1:02PM
Jen said...
M-D, you're right, Daniel Jackson was very likable. Rodney was a pain, and he had enough cameos on SG1 to irritate. I just don't know why they thought a Rodney-esque character (but even worse) was the way to go..
10-18-2009 @ 9:59AM
Aston said...
Why can't this site go a month without a Firefly mention?
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10-18-2009 @ 10:25AM
Mike in Seattle said...
Jen,
You asked, "does every Stargate show have to have a genius who is unlikeable?" and the answer is, of course, yes. But only since SciFi/SyFy decided that the key to success with the non-geek audience they were desperate to attract was to make a key part of all shows laughing at the token geek character.
If you look at the original Stargate shows, done before SciFi decided to broaden the audience, one of the keys to its success was a balance and mutual respect between the "let's think of a solution" cast and the "let's kill somebody" cast.
That changed with Atlantis, with the "new cast" last seasons of SG1 and with Universe. In all three cases it's hard to spot an episode where the "let's kill somebody" characters aren't the primary focus and where they don't spend at least a few minutes insulting the "let's think of a solution" characters (usually right after the geeks actually solve the crisis of the week).
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10-18-2009 @ 10:44AM
Ken Ockenden said...
It's sad the SG series has come to this: a bunch of people who are almost indistinguishable, hackneyed plots (people running around in a desert for an hour to discover at the last minute 5 pounds of sand which saves a million year old ship!), jumpy camerawork which does nothing but produce a headache, the inevitable mad scientist who needs a haircut and has yet to accomplish anything but make a lot of noise, the mysterious alien ship leaving the main ship as a teaser and finally, whenever it looks as if something might develop in the plot, the ship decides to go to FTL so the writers can start over.
Every series needs a while to develop but it also needs more plot and interest.So far this series lacks both. If I have nothing else to do I may watch one more episode.
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10-18-2009 @ 10:46AM
jonathan said...
uh no.
this, in no way, shape or form is anything like firefly. you could only really say it "felt like it"?!?! did that even merit a post?
what you should really be saying is that the show feels like SLIDERS, but on an ancient ship.
i just hope the damn show gets better.
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10-18-2009 @ 11:24AM
Mike said...
I like the show, I don't think I see a firefly feel here. The ship is kind of dark, like serenity, but in that case you could say it has a BSG feel as well I guess. As far as Eli, video game slacker, solving the puzzle in a month, I think he is supposed to be a underachieving genius. They probably should support that a bit more, other than he solved the puzzle and dropped out of MIT. Also the military personnel are not acting very military like. For the Colonel to use the stone and not tell his second or anyone really, or have someone there to brief whomever he swapped with didn't seem correct, especially after what happened the first time. It's TV though let's not expect too much. Also I hear people quite often get mad because they feel networks abandon sci-fi shows too quickly. We as fans need to avoid doing the same thing. There is not alot of sci-fi out there so I take what I can get.
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10-18-2009 @ 11:28AM
gooby said...
I have to agree, I'm definitely getting hooked on the show. I am totally hating Robert Carlyle's character Dr. Nicholas Rush but other than that, I'm really liking the episodes. This was definitely the best yet.
"Anyone else see a love triangle brewing between Eli, Chloe and Lt. Scott?"
Absolutely. I just wish they'd do something different and actually let the "underdog" get the girl or have the girl fall for Eli instead of the obvious GI Joe guy. Eli is adorable and smart and I think it would be cool if they'd have Chloe fall for him.
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10-18-2009 @ 11:37AM
Wii60 said...
Well, it has to turn around a bit before it comes together.
A lot of this show is clicking, but the dramatic moments make me cringe. It has a good story and a unique set of characters, but they have to tone down the soap opera vibe to make it viable.
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10-18-2009 @ 12:12PM
woe said...
i think the previous commentators don't make sense. Rush is Batman. If you dont like Batman, you don't like Rush.
Have you met really smart people? They are not friendly. Pretty demanding.
But none of you guys are discussing the article. Firefly was about a spaceship crew experiencing real world conditions. Need for money, for food, basic necessities. The same reason i enjoyed Spiderman was because he needed 2 part time jobs in order to support his family.
Real world concerns is what firefly AND BSG were all about. You might not like Scifi that way. You can go to hell.
The reason why the underachieving genius could beat the code was he would have been great if he didnt have to worry about his dying mother. Kindah like Spiderman, if he dint feel that he had to be a superhero to make up for his crime of inaction, he would be a chemical engineer or better.
Don't hate because you don't understand. Like BSG Olmos says, if you dont like it, we dont want you to watch it. Bugger off and watch Atlantis. Cuz this show is 10 times what Atlantis ever could be.
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10-19-2009 @ 1:10AM
e said...
This is in response to "woe", in case there's doubt.
Rush is Batman? Are you on drugs? Did you not see how afraid this guy is of physical confrontation?, how he lied about being in charge? And, if you want to make comic book references please give the appropriate title and number - perhaps there is one issue where Batman acts like a coward who feels he can sacrifice the lives of fifty or so other people because he needs to go on an adventure (while at the same time shooting others for attempting to do, pretty much, the same; after all he didn't know any more about what would be on the other side of the address he dialed than they did - or did he just have the guy shot because he knew he had the only dialer and he needed it?) , I haven't read any comics in a decade or so but perhaps things have changed drastically.
As for the reference to Firefly, I get the "feeling" it was thrown in because of the attractive sergeant (and perhaps to get more hits on Google?) than anything else. If that's the case then this series may have more in common with, hmmn, Friends. The two series could not be further from each other - Firefly is beautiful art, this is just candy for those of us willing to watch anything remotely resembling science fiction; of which there isn't nearly enough, regardless of quality, in TV or the theaters. If I could just get that machine from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind I would erase my memory of watching Firefly and Serenity and write a note to myself to watch them every weekend.
Your "Have you met really smart people? They are not friendly. Pretty demanding." is just wrong. High IQ people are just like everyone else, some are unfriendly, some are friendly and reasonable. If all the ones you've met have been unfriendly to you maybe it's you. By the way, have you met really stupid people? They can be pretty unfriendly, just check any jail. After all, the criminals who get caught are, generally, the stupid ones.
"Real world concerns is what firefly AND BSG were all about." Again, what!?, have you ever had a robot after you trying to kill you? Have you ever been made into a killing machine by a system wide government operation? It's called science fiction for a reason - a major part of the plot is based on things science has yet to achieve on this planet. If you mean the characterization in both BSG and Firefly was realistic or that the character interaction was well developed and mature you would be right. Is that what you meant? Because if realism is what you want science fiction may not be the best place to find them - you may want to watch the Wire for that, that was another great, realistic, work of art.
On a positive note, woe, good pseudonym, really no pun/sarcasm intended.
And Jane, please don't compare one show to another just because they share two things - a good looking girl and an old ship. Firefly and SGU have nothing more than that in common (unless you want to go lower than that and say they are both science fiction with human characters on a tv show, but come on) and it makes me feel that you don't really care about science fiction that much and that would just be sad. This show is more like BSG in that it tries to "humanize" its characters to the point of outright stupidity. Military personnel do not behave like idiots in stressful situations and decide to ignore training - that takes years of erosion and fighting insurmountable odds, such as there was in BSG or Catch 22. Even then you will find that elite units will hold on to their mission protocols for years - a good example would be the Japanese soldiers who where stranded in islands for decades and had trouble believing their mission was over. And there's reason to think the US would only use elite soldiers on something as critical as research conducted on another planet.
10-18-2009 @ 1:38PM
Ian said...
This series is slow gaing pace as there are tooo many characters and the plot is all over the place. SG1 was great because the roles were well defined and undertstandable. Thus the characters could have time to build.
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10-18-2009 @ 1:13PM
JR said...
I liek the show, and I also don't take my TV shows very seriously. I didn't watch Firefly or BSG, but am a devoted Stargate fan. This show is different from previous SG shows. I appreciate the nods to the past, but I think they are trying to go a different route with this one.
Rush tends to work the nerves a bit, and they don't use Eli as much, so hopefully that will change.
And yes, I'll buy the "won a video game and now I'm on a secret government project" angle. When has our government made total sense people? Or not done something idiotic? Or made a huge mistake and try and cover it up? Just saying anything is possible.
Yes, I see a love triangle brewing, I think there are two possible. But I hope like the other commenters, it doesn't get all soapy. If I wanted a soap I would watch Desperate Housewives or Grey's.
I like the show so far and think it will get better as it goes. Not everything can be awesome out of the box. IT needs time to grow, although they can speed it up a bit.
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10-18-2009 @ 1:53PM
Randy said...
I'll repeat the question I asked before -- why aren't they using the communication stones to bring MORE experts on ancient technology on board the Destiny, so Rush isn't the only one?
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10-18-2009 @ 9:37PM
CParis said...
This!
Why are they using the technology to visit family instead of getting some brains on board to figure out how to run the ship?
And I agree about the military characters - least disciplined bunch of dopes around. And who cares if the overgrown nerd likes the Senator's daughter - they should have cast 15 year olds to make the story plausible.
10-18-2009 @ 3:16PM
jmbode said...
I'm liking the show so far, although this is my first SG series that I have watched .. I need to pick up the other series too and get into them. Question about Episode 3 (Desert), did I miss what happened to the 3 people that went through the gate to another planet ... did they die? or did I miss something?
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10-18-2009 @ 10:49PM
Jack said...
You didn't miss anything. It was only the two as the third was shot before he went through. Eli tried to contact them and they didn't respond. They don't have the device needed to dial the stargate and the Destiny has moved on, so they are long gone.
10-18-2009 @ 6:56PM
sam lowry said...
How did so many inept people ended up on this ship? Why are the military guys more inept than any of the military guys on any previous SG show?
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10-18-2009 @ 7:39PM
Andy said...
I'm enjoying this show more each week, but it's not even in the same, well, universe as Firefly.
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