Stargate: Universe

qp · Post by qp » Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:26 pm

Last episode wasn't too bad, still not the best SG series IMO. And they need to get McKay (or Carter) on that ship with the ancient devices. Or if you need help translating, get Daniel up there to. And hey, while you're at it get Dr. Beckett up there to check those people out right?

I would love to see Rush & McKay fight it out hehe.

Arcanis · Post by **Arcanis** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 12:44 pm

I wouldn't count on Carter being on that show at all since she has her own show on SyFy now. She will likely be too busy working on that to be able to do any real work on SG:U

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:07 pm

Considering they're in a life-or-death situation where people are separated by billions of light years....there sure is a lot of bangin' going on.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:15 pm

Little Raven wrote:Considering they're in a life-or-death situation where people are separated by billions of light years....there sure is a lot of bangin' going on.

The situation may be life or death, but the actual events wherein major decisions and actions are undertaken are relatively far between and don't necessarily involve the input of the entire population. So I'd think it's fair to say that for most of the people on Destiny, their situation is a little like being at war: hours of boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror.

razgon · Post by **razgon** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:45 am

hours of boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror.

sounds like my job...

anyways, I saw the first two episodes of this, and liked it. the GF and I never did get into the original series, even though we've seen the first 1½ seasons, but this looks a lot more interesting to us

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:05 pm

Spoiler:

Rawrkan · Post by **Rawrkan** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:22 pm

Kelric wrote:
Spoiler:
Then, of course, two other key characters died.

Spoiler:

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:24 pm

Rawrkan wrote:
Kelric wrote:
Spoiler:
Then, of course, two other key characters died.

Spoiler:
you mean the two boobs?

Spoiler:

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:25 pm

Personally, i think adding anyone from the previous incarnations of SG (which i disliked) to this one would be disastrous. the cameos from a bloated mcguyer are more than enough, thank you.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:41 pm

hepcat wrote:the cameos from a bloated mcguyer are more than enough, thank you.

Yeah, Anderson looks terrible. Not quite as bad as Riker's looking these days, but not good.

And the problem with the characters from the older SG shows, particularly the scientists, is that they pretty much always solved whatever problem they were experiencing. If you were to bring them onto this show, they'd either have to get Destiny whipped right into shape in no time, or they'd have to shrug their shoulders and say, "Huh. I'll be damned. Idunno." which would be terribly out of character.

Still, it does seem as if there ought to be more experts they could be bringing to bear to solve this issue - it's a plot hole that's opened by the presence of the stones. Why wouldn't you have a steady stream of McKay's and other SGC scientists rotating in and out through the bodies of semi-useless Destiny passengers like the Senator's daughter?

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:39 pm

That would be fun.,,hmmmmm

qp · Post by qp » Mon Nov 16, 2009 8:20 pm

Kelric wrote:
Rawrkan wrote:
Kelric wrote:
Spoiler:
Then, of course, two other key characters died.

Spoiler:
you mean the two boobs?

Spoiler:
What else would I mean? She was... talented.

Spoiler:

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:42 pm

Daveman · Post by **Daveman** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 10:55 pm

I don't think we're going to see the "final" time-loop from that episode...

Spoiler:

I'd like to think that this was sort of the first "real" episode of the series. They've gone to great lengths to introduce us to the characters and hopefully make them more "real", and in the first handful of episodes they've nailed down their most basic needs (power, life support, water and food... though they'll be ongoing needs) and setup some basic conflicts between characters, added in some intrigue back home with the IOA and Col. Telford out to replace Col. Young and fiddle around with his wife, etc. This was the first episode that didn't feel like it was part of an extended pilot like many of the others have.

pengo · Post by **pengo** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:26 pm

Watch this to wrap up the episode: " target="_blank (warning spoiler).

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Nov 17, 2009 12:08 am

Ordinarily when we watch TV I actually watch the TV while the wife works or flits around doing wifely things, and I just fill her in on the visuals that she missed (she is incapable of sitting still and staring at the TV for more than 5 minutes). Tonight, though, I had some work to do too. So we were both just half-watching, and when the show ended I said hmmm, must be a two-parter. Then they showed clips from next week's apparently unrelated episode. So I came running here, where I found my suspicion confirmed (thank you Daveman).

Up until this episode SG has not been the kind of show that demands your full attention. I'll take it a little more seriously going forward.

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 9:26 pm

I enjoyed this week's episode. Especially the Flogging Molly soundtrack.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 9:30 pm

It was nice to see some background on a few more characters. I don't remember the soundtrack but then I'm not familiar with Flogging Molly. It sure was nice to see Young belt Telford.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 10:12 pm

Still only seen the first ep. I have all the rest on the DVR though.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sat Nov 21, 2009 11:11 pm

The show's growing on me. I could use less travel back to earth vacation time but I understand why it's there.

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:49 am

Sith Lord wrote:I don't remember the soundtrack but then I'm not familiar with Flogging Molly.

The song immediately at the beginning and at the end of the episode for about two minutes each way.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:59 am

Oh, right! The "Worst day since yesterday" thing. It was really fitting for the tone of the episode, but definitely not something I'd ever listen to on purpose.

Kyosho · Post by **Kyosho** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 1:06 pm

Hah, my mother didn't like that music. Every weekend, I watch each episode twice. Once by myself, and once with my mother. She prefers watching shows like that with other people, and I like rewatching, so it's usually a win-win for the most part. Last night at the beginning of the episode she said, "Jesus Christ! When is this cruddy music going to END?" I responded with "It's Flogging Molly, Mom." She said she didn't care who it was and that it was terrible. Then, at the end of the episode she said "OH NOT THIS AGAIN!"

I'm not a big fan or anything, but I don't dislike their music either. I found her reaction a bit annoying, but I suppose understandable. This show is definitely a lot different from the usual Stargate fare she's used to. She makes an awful lot of derogatory comments with this show in general.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:36 pm

dbt1949 wrote:I could use less travel back to earth vacation time but I understand why it's there.

I assume that's in there as a carryover from the previous shows. It's kind of lame as a plot device in this one. I usually don't have much patience for character-development episodes but I thought this one was pretty well done.

So in two weeks we get the "half-season finale". WTF is it with SyFy and half seasons? I don't like that convention in the Battlestar Galactica DVDs and I don't expect to like it in Stargate, either.

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:23 pm

Kyosho wrote:Last night at the beginning of the episode she said, "Jesus Christ! When is this cruddy music going to END?" I responded with "It's Flogging Molly, Mom." She said she didn't care who it was and that it was terrible. Then, at the end of the episode she said "OH NOT THIS AGAIN!"

I'm not a big fan or anything, but I don't dislike their music either. I found her reaction a bit annoying, but I suppose understandable.

Heretics!

Wargus · Post by **Wargus** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:12 pm

Ironrod wrote:
dbt1949 wrote:I could use less travel back to earth vacation time but I understand why it's there.
I assume that's in there as a carryover from the previous shows. It's kind of lame as a plot device in this one. I usually don't have much patience for character-development episodes but I thought this one was pretty well done.

So in two weeks we get the "half-season finale". WTF is it with SyFy and half seasons? I don't like that convention in the Battlestar Galactica DVDs and I don't expect to like it in Stargate, either.

Well, as inept as SyFy is be happy that they were even able to come up with shows like Stargate Universe & Battlestar Galactica.

This network is the slut that you try to avoid, however, has one or two fantastic 'tricks' to get you back in bed with them; as we all know, SyFy(lis) is the outcome.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:19 pm

Ironrod wrote:
dbt1949 wrote:I could use less travel back to earth vacation time but I understand why it's there.
I assume that's in there as a carryover from the previous shows.

It sort of is, in that the stones were introduced in the original Stargate SG-1 show. They didn't use them in Stargate: Atlantis as far as I can recall, even though in the early seasons they were equally cut off from Earth.

So they exist because they were shown in the prior series(es), but they weren't really used all that much in those shows and there wouldn't have been any more logical discontinuity if they had left them out of SG:U than there is from any of the other things they ought to have done to rescue the Destiny crew (such as involving the uber-scientists from the prior serieses, at minimum).

Rawrkan · Post by **Rawrkan** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:22 pm

Sith Lord wrote:
Ironrod wrote:
dbt1949 wrote:I could use less travel back to earth vacation time but I understand why it's there.
I assume that's in there as a carryover from the previous shows.
It sort of is, in that the stones were introduced in the original Stargate SG-1 show. They didn't use them in Stargate: Atlantis as far as I can recall, even though in the early seasons they were equally cut off from Earth.

So they exist because they were shown in the prior series(es), but they weren't really used all that much in those shows and there wouldn't have been any more logical discontinuity if they had left them out of SG:U than there is from any of the other things they ought to have done to rescue the Destiny crew (such as involving the uber-scientists from the prior serieses, at minimum).

the stones were introduced pretty late into SG1 (i think it was in the last 2 seasons) so it was impossible for the atlantis team to use them

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:30 pm

Rawrkan wrote:the stones were introduced pretty late into SG1 (i think it was in the last 2 seasons) so it was impossible for the atlantis team to use them

Well, not impossible - by that time they had the Pegasus and its sister ship(s) making semi-regular runs between Earth and Atlantis, if I remember correctly. They just didn't use them, probably because they're a crappy plot device.

Kyosho · Post by **Kyosho** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 9:53 pm

Same kind of stones, same kind of device was on an Atlantis episode in (I think?) the last season. The doctor chick switched places with a thief. But you're correct that they weren't used to communicate between the Pegasus and the Milky Way.

At the time they still didn't entirely understand how it worked and stuff. It's been a decent amount of time since then, obviously enough for them to reverse-engineer the things.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 8:58 am

Kyosho wrote:Same kind of stones, same kind of device was on an Atlantis episode in (I think?) the last season. The doctor chick switched places with a thief. But you're correct that they weren't used to communicate between the Pegasus and the Milky Way.

Yeah, I thought about that episode, too. Not sure whether it was supposed to be the same thing or not - that episode used a big machine of some kind (it was physically quite large). I just watched that episode a couple of months ago and my initial reaction when I first saw the stones on SG:U was that there was some other difference between them and how the device in that SG:A episode worked, but now I can't remember what that was. McKay did seem to recognize the device's effects and understand how it worked, though.

Yeah, anyway, I can't remember what my original point was, but there you go. I'm still watching SG:U every week, and I kind of look forward to it, but I'm not super-excited about it and wouldn't be all broken up if they canceled it. It feels like they're stuck in between the "good parts," never quite getting there but hinting that there's cool stuff to come if they ever pry themselves out of their rut.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 11:56 am

The stones were a terrible, terrible idea. They are quickly reducing this series to wall-banger level.

I admit, when they first pulled out the stones, I thought "Cool! A reference to a previously shown technology that makes perfect sense in context! Wow! These guys have really done their homework!" Of course, I wasn't exactly thinking things through in that moment, and in retrospect, neither were the writers.

The problem is that the stones are massively, incredibly powerful, and if they were to actually be used in any kind of realistic fashion, they would quickly break the show. How exactly the show gets broken depends on what universe we're in:

We're in the Stargate universe to which we've become accustomed. SGU quickly becomes a Stargate All-Star's on Tour show as Carter, McKay, Zelinka, Daniel Jackson, and an assortment of research redshirts begin jumping into the least-qualified people on the ship in 8-hour intervals. The people they jumped into would not be lounging around in bars but would instead be getting crash courses in CPR, basic engineering, marksmanship...whatever. Within 5 episodes, Carter and McKay would have the ship under control. Within 8, they would have written a computer algorithm to link all the seeded stargates in the galaxy together to form a sort of 'wormhole lens' which would amplify the signal of the Destiny stargate and allow it to dial Earth while Destiny was parked in a sun. (the running joke of episode 8 would be an argument about whether it should be called the 'Carter-McKay Link' or the 'McKay-Carter Link.') Now, that could actually be a fine show (more a mini-series, I suppose, but still fun) with a bit of clever writing, but it's clearly not what they were looking to accomplish with SGU.
We're in a Stargate universe that's close to what we've seen but where all the super-scientists have somehow disappeared. Rush is the best they've got. Ok, now the show is going to potentially last longer but the basic formula is going to be the same - People like Chloe are going to replaced with scientists and nutritionists and physical therapists and all kinds of experts in useful fields while they get a crash course in various useful fields themselves. They will have doctors from dozen fields on standby in the SGC, ready to jump into someone on a moment's notice if there's a medical emergency. An army of specialists at the SGC will be busy building sophisticated models that allow them to test various scenarios at home before trying them aboard the Destiny. Remember what mission control was doing during Apollo 13? Think that, but mission control can actually swap bodies with the astronauts.

In absolutely no rational universe is anyone going to be going to bars or saying tearful goodbyes to their families - especially considering that the world at large isn't supposed to know any of this. That's beyond ludicrous - it stretches disbelief WAY past the breaking point and keeps on going. You have some of the the most powerful technology imaginable at your disposal in a time of crisis and the best use you can come up with is to allow your commanding officer to bang his ex-wife in the body of another man?!?

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:28 pm

Little Raven wrote: In absolutely no rational universe is anyone going to be going to bars or saying tearful goodbyes to their families - especially considering that the world at large isn't supposed to know any of this.

These people are supposed to be lost unimaginably far from home...and they can take weekends off? That's just too silly. They need a restriction on using those stones willy-nilly, like energy consumption or temporary psychosis or something. And purely on a narrative level, it's sometimes difficult to follow who's doing what with whose body (especially if it's a dopey story arc to begin with).

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:41 pm

Agreed - and let's face it, they dropped the ball bigtime when they never showed the conversation of "You're going to do WHAT with my body?" I mean, if I were going to switch bodies with somebody, I don't think I'd be too keen on them taking it off to have sex with their estranged wife. And would the estranged wife really be cool having sex with the body of some guy she doesn't even know, just because it happens to have her husband's mind inside it? That whole storyline stretches credibility pretty far, especially since Young and Telford clearly can't stand each other. It might be different if they were old chums.

Those stones are turning out to be a boatanchor around this series' neck, IMO. The more I think about them, the less I like it.

WarPig · Post by **WarPig** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:47 pm

The last episode hinted at problems with the stones; perhaps that could grow into a full on blackout. Truly being on their own at this point would be more interesting.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:53 pm

Sith Lord wrote:I mean, if I were going to switch bodies with somebody, I don't think I'd be too keen on them taking it off to have sex with their estranged wife.

Forget me being cool with it....I don't think my wife would be too cool with it...and for good reason, honestly. Even if I'm not mentally present in my body when it's busy doing another woman, I'm still potentially exposing her to all kinds of things.

And would the estranged wife really be cool having sex with the body of some guy she doesn't even know, just because it happens to have her husband's mind inside it?

I actually asked my wife this question. "Hey honey, if a strange man showed up on the doorstep claiming to have my mind inside him, how long would it be before we had sex?"

Words can't really sum up the look that I got in return.

Granted, if the body I showed up in looked like Lou Diamond Phillips, I'd guess that my odds go up, though my wife claims I'd do even better by showing up in James Spader's body - I guess she really liked him in the Stargate movie.

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:02 pm

The same different body sex thing probably happened with the Asian woman inside some random soldier and her partner as well, though they didn't go so far as to actually show anything. Double standards! Double standards! Need more girl on girl action.

Rawrkan · Post by **Rawrkan** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:06 pm

WarPig wrote:The last episode hinted at problems with the stones; perhaps that could grow into a full on blackout. Truly being on their own at this point would be more interesting.

Actually i think telford calls back to the base and tells them to turn off the device.

Odin · Post by **Odin** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:14 pm

Little Raven wrote:I actually asked my wife this question. "Hey honey, if a strange man showed up on the doorstep claiming to have my mind inside him, how long would it be before we had sex?"

Words can't really sum up the look that I got in return. Granted, if the body I showed up in looked like Lou Diamond Phillips, I'd guess that my odds go up, though my wife claims I'd do even better by showing up in James Spader's body - I guess she really liked him in the Stargate movie.

Yeah, poor Lou Diamond can't catch a break in that department. His first wife left him for Melissa Etheridge.

Kyosho · Post by **Kyosho** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:17 pm

Rawrkan wrote:
WarPig wrote:The last episode hinted at problems with the stones; perhaps that could grow into a full on blackout. Truly being on their own at this point would be more interesting.
Actually i think telford calls back to the base and tells them to turn off the device.

Oh. I thought he was referring to Lt. Scott's dream/memory thing.