(S01E08) So that was bleak. But don't worry, Stargate Universe will hit the reset button next week, and everything will be peachy. Well, as peachy as things can get aboard The Destiny.
While some fans have been pushing for SGU to ditch the drama for more action and adventure (like SG-1 or Atlantis), this week's episode tried to offer a compromise: An off-world adventure that turned dark and caused a lot of drama for the characters.
The crew faced death – you know, like they do every week -- but this time they were struck by a dangerous virus and attacked by a pack of nasty fang-toothed worm things. But this episode wasn't really about combating a virus or an evil alien entity. It was about seeing how the characters would react after staring into the dark abyss of certain death.
Like Rush asked Eli in the cave: How did discovering his own mortality change him? Did it inspire him to make something of his short existence? I'm not sure if we really got an answer from Eli, but we know what discovering death did for Rush. He chose to spend his life taking risks and searching for something more, the key to ascension to be exact. Now we know why he got everyone stuck on the ship.
While the notion of viewing one's own death and dealing with those emotions is an interesting one, it's not all that compelling to watch. Mostly, the crew just looked sad and defeated while scanning the Kino footage. I probably would have preferred a more traditional off-world mystery adventure, with more action and less grim naval gazing, instead of another slow-paced downer from SGU.
While some of the death scenes were a bit shocking -- and I'm sure some of you SGU haters loved watching everybody get killed – the deaths didn't really add up to much. We already knew Eli was in love with Chloe, so we didn't need to see him confess his feelings by her deathbed. We already knew that Greer was a tough soldier who would probably die defending his life in combat. And we all knew that Scott would go out trying to save the day for everyone -- which is what will happen next week.
Thanks to Scott's quick thinking, the Kino will jump back in time through the solar flare to warn everyone about the dangers in the water and on the planet. But does that mean everything that happened in this episode will be erased? That's a little disappointing.
Still, despite all the slow moments, I mostly enjoyed this episode. I'm convinced that SGU will probably never become a great show. It'll continue with its awkward blending of (not very compelling) dark drama and sci-fi adventure, but that's OK with me. I like the characters, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else they find out in the far reaches of space.
Other observations:
- Filming the opening scenes in Kino-vision was a nice choice. It added a certain spark to the first act. I like how Eli's choice to document everything really came in handy in this ep.
- So Greer likes listening to Saul Williams? Who knew the guy had such good taste in music?
- I'd agree with most of Eli's desert island movies. And I'd definitely add Back to the Future to the list.
- Loved hearing Rush quote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We need more quirky character moments like that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-14-2009 @ 1:04PM
snarfscarf said...
This show can keep all the drama it wants. It just needs to quit recycling plots and making the same mistakes regarding gender and race over and over and over and over again with each new series they make.
This franchise needs new writers.
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11-14-2009 @ 2:21PM
C. Hernandez said...
And what mistakes would those be? Sure, there's not a lot of diversity on Destiny, but the people of color aren't all relegated to one specific archetype/personality.
And no, Young and Scott are not women leading the pack. But when you look at TJ and Lt. James, they appear to be incredibly competent. Wray -- though we've mostly seen her worry about self-preservation -- isn't somebody's lackey. And okay. Chloe's kind of useless. Guess what? It's not like there are no apparently useless people in the real world. And I'm holding out hope that eventually she'll find a purpose on Destiny.
But by all means, continue trotting out that old misogyny and racism chestnut if you feel you need something to rage about.
11-14-2009 @ 1:20PM
James said...
I think Destiny is sentient. Destiny was designed to house a crew (which may or may not have boarded and may or may not have disembarked along the way) but perhaps Destiny was also designed to evolve into an intelligence capable of making first contact decisions on its own. The Ancients have some history of making intelligent machines.
Rather than convenient timing driving the plots (finding the ice planet when water was needed, directing the stargate connection through a solar flare allowing the crew to save themselves), perhaps Destiny is contriving to keep its new passengers alive.
Or it might just be bad writing sustained by the foreknowledge of a full season pickup.
Either way, the show needs to have a clearer season arc (if it has one) as the "peril of the week" stories are getting repetitive.
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11-14-2009 @ 1:42PM
joe brooks said...
So getting the crew home safely isn't a good enough show arc for you?
I actually thought this one of the best hours of Sci Fi I've seen in awhile. I loved the Blair Witch/Cloverfield feel to it.
11-14-2009 @ 1:56PM
Jack said...
Just a couple episodes ago, the Destiny was going to leave 17 people and it's own shuttle behind.
11-14-2009 @ 7:52PM
Ryan said...
I thought it was pretty clear that the Destiny was delivering them to exactly each planet that was needed for their survival. The ship even knew that they would need more than 12 hours to harvest the venom to kill the microorganisms in the water supply due to their nocturnal cycle and the solar flare, so it gave them 36 hours instead.
And if 17 crewmembers decide to leave the safety of the ship during the solar dive recharging process, and don't leave themselves enough time to reboard the ship, that's their decision.
11-14-2009 @ 1:29PM
Eldritch said...
What part of *boiling water* found lying around on a strange planet don't they understand?
Is that really the best they can come up with?
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11-14-2009 @ 2:14PM
Daniel said...
Although the show has its ups and downs, I thought this was a great episode. A compelling mystery, some action, gruesome deaths, and some good acting. Oh, and no magic stones. And between his sacrifice and talk about Ascension, Rush got fleshed out more as a believable character, which was needed. It may have been a downer, but it definately wasn't slow paced (unlike previous episodes).
I can understand why people might want a story arc to emerge. But at the same time the episodes so far remind me a little of the beginning of Lost (in no small part due to the 'plane crash' opener). They are castaways in a dark and mysterious location, where even simple things like water obtain great significance, and we slowly learn who these people are. Maybe the show will be even better once some 'Others' appear, but for now, I'd must prefer to see them adapt to their new situation, than get into space battles with blue skinned aliens and a wise-cracking ship.
And I do hope they don't show the crew capturing the alien next week. Letting viewers realize what was going to happen was a much better use of writing, than explicitly showing it. Its one of those touches that gives me hope the show could go from good sci-fi, to great.
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11-14-2009 @ 2:06PM
Danny Shorr said...
Mike - I need to make a couple of corrections: you said, "While some fans have been pushing for SGU to ditch the drama for more action and adventure (like SG-1 or Atlantis), this week's episode tried to offer a compromise: An off-world adventure that turned dark and caused a lot of drama for the characters."
This episode was written and produced long before it aired, so it's creation had nothing to do with fans' reactions,as you implied. In fact - any fans' reactions won't have any effect upon season one of SGU, since they only recently wrapped filming a few short weeks ago. And rule number one must be followed: never listen to the fans, especially sci-fi fans.
You also said: "Now we know why [Rush] got everyone stuck on the ship." Nope - that wasn't his intention.
Recall the original pilot - with the planet exploding - the fear was that the energy being used dial the gate may be catastrophic to Earth - or it may not: Rush didn't know; therefore, it was best to risk dialing to the ninth-chevron address and going there first. If they survived, then dial home from there. Now - someone correct me on this issue - if there was a line in an episode saying he was lying, but I haven't heard that. I agree he wasn't bound to lose the opportunity but also had Earth's best interest, too, in protection. It was best to lose them all than lose Earth. He is a man willing to sacrifice someone or others for the greater good. That's a common theme in his character.
Lastly - the use of the kino to record everything and its use in the opening scenes was great. I laughed with Eli was vindicated for his zealousness to document their adventures, while watching their deaths.
I agree with James that DESTINY is a sentient being - it's more than AI. I'm glad they haven't found a voice interface. I hope they never do.
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11-14-2009 @ 8:02PM
Ryan said...
Rush's explanation was complete bull. Col. Young called him on it, saying that if it was too dangerous to dial Earth, he should have dialed one of the hundreds of other known addresses in the Milky Way, some of which lead to uninhabited planets. From there, they could have turned right around and dialed Earth to bring all their wounded home. Rush had no response. His only concern was not losing his one chance at the ninth chevron. If it had led to a space gate like in Pegasus, or one lying on its back so travelers would fall backward into the event horizon, they would have all died either on the other side, or when the Icarus planet exploded.
I don't think his ultimate goal is Ascension, but something else. If it was, he would have just gone to Atlantis to study the Ascension machine they found there.
11-15-2009 @ 7:16PM
AdamZ. said...
Hey Everyone,
Until about 6 months ago I didn't get real heavy into sci-fi. I had seen a few Staragate episodes (Some SG-1 and some Atlantis). I really enjoyed the few I had seen, so I got online and found a few sites where you can watch every episode in order from the first season to the last. I WAS HOOKED! No commercials, and in sequential order; that's the way it should be, I may never go back to broadcast TV. Anyway, after watching both shows (SG1 & Atlantis) from start to finish (Which was AWESOME!), I got disappointed when I found out there are no more episodes. SG1 ran for 10 seasons, I figured why wouldn't Atlantis. I guess all good things come to an end. But the network gave us SGU as a replacement. I was optimistic about it, thinking it would be comparable in some manner, not even close. This last episode has done me in, I kept holding on trying to give the show a chance to do something, anything interesting. No such luck. I mean, how can you go from two great shows with great characters who are all unique, to having normal college kid characters. I'm a college kid myself, but when I'm watching, I get the feeling I'm watching one of those movies where 8 19-20 year olds are stuck in a haunted building and they die off one at a time. WE HAVE TONS OF THESE KIND OF MOVIES! It’s like watching scream.
Comparison In Characters: In the first two episodes you have at least one tough guy in the group, Rhonan (sorry if I misspelled) in one, and Tealc in the other, however in SVU most of them are sissies. Even the crazy convict soldier guy was scarred to see his own death. I'm tired of all this whiny crying drama! I want action! Maybe that is where the big difference is; we traded an action series for a drama series. However, even a drama can be interesting. For instance, I would consider the show "House" to be a bit of a TV drama. But there is one character that really makes the show a success due to his blunt attitude, you know what I'm talking about. And in SG1, that similar character is Jack O'Neil. He always had a straight no-nonsense way of looking at things that made his character interesting. Since there is none like him in the show, they catch a quick scene with him in this series, but that is not close to enough. It's almost like he is an afterthought. And for what purpose I’m not sure.
All that being said, most sci-fi junkies are pretty smart (forgive me if I say nerdy) people. I'm sure some of you might know what we could do (productively) to help the writers andTv execs (or whoever makes the decisions on what the viewers want) change the situation for the better. I mean, just complaining on a few blogs doesn't seem like it would do much good, I want to know if there is a better way to improve what they put on our screens? Tell me your thoughts? -Adam
11-14-2009 @ 2:25PM
Tim-1 said...
One thing you can say about this show....they are faithful to continuity. It was eyebrow-lifting to bring in that disease from the "water" episode into this weeks installment. Since this is a two-parter, the jury is still out on how the fans will grade it at storie's end. Although I did not get my alien intrusion crisis threat, it played out to be a very engaging mystery with the creepy critters, the debilitating disease, and the (ever so handy) time warp plot.
All shows need good character developement but I have not been especially fond of the personal hearts club confessionals between the SU characters, only because they have (in my opinion) done it a lot in frivolous ways to the point that it encroaches a little too much on more useful directions of the show. But tonight they seemed to be getting better as far as timing and content for it. One scene touched me in a personal way when Eli was discussing the first time he confronted the reality of death. When I was a very young child an adult brother of mine was killed in an accident. As Eli did, I asked my mother (God rest her) if I would die someday. To the end of my days I will never forget the effect on my child's mind, her gentle explanation that I would die someday. For each of us, philosophy begins with the awareness of mortality. So I warmed up a little on Eli. Nothing like a shared emotional experience to bond with, right?
Johansen is a remarkable looking woman that is proving her value each week! I add her to my list of favorite characters, along with Camile Wray and the Colonel. And speaking of characters, how will the writers erase the death of Chloe and the others.... maybe another time warp? Whatever the case I think this week's episode might swing some of those fence-sitters on the right side if SU. Good episode.
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11-14-2009 @ 3:24PM
Preach said...
>> And speaking of characters, how will the writers erase the death of Chloe and the others.... maybe another time warp?
11-14-2009 @ 3:28PM
Preach said...
Weird, my texts missing... okay, here we go again, concerning that "another timewarp" part:
Lt. Scott waited for the solar flare to disturb the gate wormhole, before throwing the Kino into the event horizon, meaning that it'll go back in time (essentially doing what he did in an earlier timeline).
11-14-2009 @ 8:05PM
Ryan said...
What Preach says. This isn't a two-parter, it's a time loop episode with a built-in reset button, so we can safely ignore the episode, as it won't affect future ones.
We're meant to assume that they got it right on the third loop, without losing anyone. Although if they're stupid, it might take a lot of attempts until they get it right. It would be amusing if the Kinos and human skulls from previous timelines start to accumulate near the Stargate.
11-14-2009 @ 2:45PM
Randy said...
>> perhaps Destiny is contriving to keep its new passengers alive.
Then why not just communicate with them and issue them instructions? How to fix the air processors. How to start producing or processing food and water (a ship intended for occupation must have or had such processing available).
Etc. Etc.
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11-14-2009 @ 2:50PM
Randy said...
>> Recall the original pilot - with the planet exploding - the
>> fear was that the energy being used dial the gate may
>> be catastrophic to Earth - or it may not: Rush didn't
>> know; therefore, it was best to risk dialing to the
>> ninth-chevron address and going there first.
If that was really a concern, shouldn't they have been evacuating the base to essential personnel only for each attempt to dial out with the ninth-chevron address?
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11-15-2009 @ 10:53PM
Jayson said...
Nope. it was because of the attack that caused the use of it unstable. Before the attack, it was safe to try and dial the 9th chevron.
11-14-2009 @ 2:58PM
Randy said...
Someone on a discussion board had a good idea for the communication stones -- use them to educate the people on board destiny, and give them "on the job" training of the skills they need.
Medical personnel, engineers, mechanics, ancient technology experts, etc. You could exchange people going to Earth for training with experts coming to Destiny for training and research.
Then BOTH Earth and Destiny gain from the exchange.
Did we ever find out what happens if a person using the communication stones dies? Does the consciousness of the person in the physical body die, or the original consciousness that belonged to the physical body, or both?
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11-14-2009 @ 8:08PM
Ryan said...
It was stated last week that the prevailing theory was that both parties would die, which is why Telford and the two scientists had been ordered to evacuate to Earth immediately if the ship was going to explode, as Young, Eli and Chloe would be dead either way.