Stargate Universe

[Freiflug88]

Save me.

During the week-long spells between SGU episodes, I've found myself rewatching SG-1. While most of the episodes are engh, and some are of meh quality, I found myself being sucked into the Ancient storyline. Y'know, episodes like Solititudes, The Fifth Race, Fallen, etc. I've now just finished The Lost City and I find myself with the undeniable urge to start watching Atlantis now, to see that storyline play out. I don't have time for all these episodes, and yet I can't help myself.

Halp...

You could just try locking up your SG DVDs and blocking hulu.com with a host file.

Its also very possible that the aliens are good. Perhaps they were lied to and manipulated by Rush into attacking Destiny. Since we only got Rush's side of the story, we don't really know at this point.

The aliens that made this garden of Eden and the blue aliens that have been following the Destiny are most likely two very different alien races.

Its also evident that the blue aliens have been tracking the Destiny before the SGU crew even came aboard as evident by their scout pod that detached from the Destiny at the end of episode 3, so its not a case of Rush convincing them that the Destiny was a threat.

Its also likely that whoever build this Eden are not only good, but most likely ascended like the ancients. The planet had a similar vibe to that Ancient santucatory in Atlantis that was made solely to provide a safe peaceful place to find peace and ascend. As that one religous guy even pointed out the peaceful planet provided the perfect opportunity for the civilians and military to "mending fences." Then after a few days the oblesisk activated that beam of light. Rush thinks its due to them having an impact on the natural balance of the garden that activated the oblesik, but maybe its a signal that their are possible candidates for ascension? We have seen the Ancients keep a kind of monopoly on ancienstion, then the Ori use anciesion for power and exploitation as gods, but maybe this alien race freely lays assistance for anyone deserving to ascend. I mean why else go through the trouble of creating a sun and a paradise if they're not going to use it themselves?

[RedWolf]

Nah I doubt the aliens who built that system is those aliens. On the Kardashev scale whoever built that solar system is a Type III civilization.

[-Snowblind-]

Its also very possible that the aliens are good. Perhaps they were lied to and manipulated by Rush into attacking Destiny. Since we only got Rush's side of the story, we don't really know at this point.

The previews for tonight's episode make it look like we'll be getting a chunk of Rush's backstory. I don't think Rush is meant to be the 'bad guy', just another shade of gray like most of the other characters on the show. While he's Machiavellian, I don't think he's out to cause harm to anyone except the people that get in his way - which so far is only Young and some of the other military personnel. He definitely doesn't want the ship damaged, it's why he's there in the first place. So no, I don't think he provoked the attack.

[RedWolf]

Tonights ep has Daniel Jackson.

[Totoro242]

Its also evident that the blue aliens have been tracking the Destiny before the SGU crew even came aboard as evident by their scout pod that detached from the Destiny at the end of episode 3, so its not a case of Rush convincing them that the Destiny was a threat.

Totally true, but I don't see the correlation. It is possible that they are good or benign, have been tracking Destiny, and after capturing Rush were manipulated into attacking Destiny.

If this show is to be much like BSG, then I'm expecting to be surprised.

[sketchley]

#14: good episode. It's made me realize one important thing about SGU: it's stories are consistent. As in, pacing, revelations, etc.. Which is good, as we know what to expect.

Anyhow, I wonder if we'll see a large change in Dr. Rush. I hope that they'll decypher the code to the Destiny's controls, but on the other hand - not being in control of the ship is one of the gimmicks of the series. So, I don't think they'll be giving full control all at once.

Nevertheless, how will the 4 stranded main characters get back to the ship? Alien ruins follow an episode implying aliens with uber star system construction abilities. My spidey sense is telling me that they might be involved (if only by dropping subtle hints, like the Ascended Ancients in SG1 and SGA), and they'll get back to the ship by use of the stargate.

Lastly, I like the dimensions added to a couple of the main characters in this episode. Seeing Dr. Jackson was also good... but, I don't think I can call it a "Daniel Jackson" episode. More like he was used as either one aspect of Dr. Rush's subconcious or the Destiny's computer actually talking with Dr. Rush. Hmmm... off to contemplate some of the mysterious of that episode that were in plain site.

[Freiflug88]

Totally true, but I don't see the correlation. It is possible that they are good or benign, have been tracking Destiny, and after capturing Rush were manipulated into attacking Destiny.

If this show is to be much like BSG, then I'm expecting to be surprised.

I don't think they are good or benign personally and that they other reasons for keeping the humans alive aboard the Destiny. I believe that the blue aliens were on the ship before and somehow found out as Rush did in the last episode that the ships master codes is modeled from the 46 Chromosome of the DNA of the ancients that build the ship. With no ancients of course they had no hope of cracking the code, so they left behind some scouts to wait and see if the owners would ever return to their ship via shuttle or star gate. When SG-U crew came in and started restoring the ships systems it showed the aliens that a possibility of cracking the ships security was now open.

Hence they treated the humans has no more then animals: putting Rushing in a fish tank, painfully probing his mind, and inserting a tracking device near his heart then starting the same process with Chloe. The fact that the aliens abducted a female like Chloe is also very signicant. If their goal is to study the 46 chromosomes then they probably planed to breed them together and examine how 23 chromosomes from each of them would combine to form babies. This could also be the importance of T.J's baby. Knowing how SG Atlantis already made a plot point of making Taela's baby having the perfect combination of Wraith/ human DNA which Michael sought after and how the past leaders of SG crews conveniently possess the ancient gene I am almost sure the Coloniel's baby will be born with the ancient DNA that is the password for the ship.

[Scream Man]

I thought the ep was good as well. Will we see lasting changes in Rush? I kinda doubt it, but it was s till a good ep. Even some decent funny dialogue between Chloe and Eli for a change.

Overall I dug it, and it remains my top Sci Fi show this season (Very closely followed by Flashforward)

[sketchley]

#15 nice episode. Especially nice because they used the stargate. A LOT! If anything, that's my main complaint with the later seasons and newer series - they don't use the stargate enough. This episode has a lot going on - revelations of characters' past, present, and probably most importantly: where the Destiny is, has been and where it is going. Plus a nice revisit of a mysterious location already visited, too. Two thumbs up.

[CoryHolmes]

My favourite part was how all the trailers and spoilers told us what was going to happen to Greer, yet none of them made a hint of what happened to everybody else Nice little whammy there, methinks.

[Scream Man]

wow, that was a great episode! I really thought they'd get on at the last second!

Where to next ?!

[David Hingtgen]

I'd suggest not looking at the promo pics for the next ep, fairly major spoilers for the end of the episode.

[Snail00]

Nah I doubt the aliens who built that system is those aliens. On the Kardashev scale whoever built that solar system is a Type III civilization.

Can you explain please

Whats a Type III

[Ghost Train]

Can you explain please

Whats a Type III

Arbitrary scale made up by a Russian physicist to measure technological advancement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale In a nutshell, it is based on a civilization's power to harness the energy of its surroundings. Type I manages to harness the power of a whole planet. A type III can harness the power of a whole galaxy.

It is an utterly ridiculous standard... but it was proposed in 1964.

[sketchley]

Good episode. Not so much because of the characterization (which is excellent as always) or the theme of the episode (a good one that got me thinking about people with the condition), but because it was completely unpredictable, yet built on the actions and events of the episode, and previous episodes.

Two thumbs way up for that unpredictability.

[Scream Man]

What a lame way to get the 3 characters back on ship, it made the whole last epsiode completely redundant.

Other than THAT piece of garbage resolution, it was a good episode. Rush seems to have genuinely mellowed a lot since that episode where he took a walk through his memories.

Anyonee lse think the guy who sat in the chair got absorbed into the ship somehow?

[Ghost Train]

What a lame way to get the 3 characters back on ship, it made the whole last epsiode completely redundant.

Other than THAT piece of garbage resolution, it was a good episode. Rush seems to have genuinely mellowed a lot since that episode where he took a walk through his memories.

Anyonee lse think the guy who sat in the chair got absorbed into the ship somehow?

I'm kind of not totally convinced Eli et al who magically made it back to Destiny are the real ones that got lost, as you mentioned it would be extremely lame. I think the guy who got absorbed into the chair became the same type of non-corporeal dust being that was "drinking the water"?

[Scream Man]

It never occoured to me that might not actually be the lost three!

That WOULD be a twist!

[bluemax151]

Last episode was pretty boring but definitely gave off that space madness feel.

[sketchley]

Latest episode was "decent", but not quite "excellent". Thematically, I understand why it's a "slow" episode, focused on characters, but I found it a little too predicatable for my tastes (unlike the bugs from the desert planet - they were interesting, highly unpredictable, developed over a couple of episodes, and the solution to riding the ship of them was also unorthodox).

Regarding the three returning to the ship in the previous episode: it makes sense. I'm a believer that not every story beat needs to be blasted out of the TV screen. It's fairly obvious that the three would have waited on the planet in the hopes of dialing the ship if it ever came out of hyperspace. I also understand why the episode didn't focus on their waiting for the ship to reappear - especially as the preceeding two episodes dealt directly or indirectly with their attempts to get back to the ship. That said, the payoff wasn't developed as well as it could have been. Though, I'm not disappointed by that episode overall, as their appearance was entirely unexpected, and we learned a bunch of new things about the Stargate technology in SGU (no DHD, amongst other things).

[CoryHolmes]

One of the things I enjoy the best about this show is seeing all the new tech goodies, and not in the usual sense. In SG-1 and SGA, it became all about Asgard Beams and transporters and huge honkin' space guns. In this show, I love seeing the beta version of the Chair interface, the prototype stargates, the Kinos. That stuff is nifty cool.

[sketchley]

Re: #18

Very nice episode. More juicy character revelations. Continuations of conflicts not only begun at the start and during the early part of SGU, but also from the end parts of SG1! I don't want to give away any spoilers, but it was nice seeing at least part of the original team back together, and especially the humour.

I also really like how the episode asks some serious questions of the SGC and it's mission in general. Interesting, thought provoking stuff.

[Ghost Train]

General Macgyver has really let himself go...

[David Hingtgen]

Apparently he's had some sort of medical issues lately, that's why.

[bluemax151]

Richard is looking pretty under the weather. It's unfortunate if he's ill, I hope he has many years ahead of him still.

I like how this last episode teased us with a possible firefight and then did not deliver. I can't say I'm surprised at the sudden revelations with Lou Diamond Phillips since I feel they've been foreshadowing this to an extent. Let's just see if it goes somewhere interesting!

[Ghost Train]

Sad to hear he's going through some medical issues, I'm still hoping for some sort of Macgyver movie in the future .

The problem I'm having with some SGU episodes is that the pacing is a bit ridiculous. It's basically like this:

Rush: I think Telford is a spy.

Young: Ok, let's get him!

... just like that. Granted Young probably agreed so quickly because he sees this as an opportunity to investigate Rush himself, but still it could have been handled a bit better.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Ghost Train

[sketchley]

I don't think that's a pacing issue. I think that's more the writers being forced to cut out content to fit into the 40 min TV episode format.

From a writing standpoint, if you have to lose something, it makes sense to lose Young and Rush's debate over the accuracy of the memory, and move right to the meat and potatos of the episode. Same with the trio just suddenly appearing out of the stargate a couple of episodes ago.

There's only so much one can fit into an episode, and I'm glad that they're being forced to cut content, rather than the opposite: fill out the 40 minutes with useless filler and SFX shlock.

[Ghost Train]

I don't think that's a pacing issue. I think that's more the writers being forced to cut out content to fit into the 40 min TV episode format.

From a writing standpoint, if you have to lose something, it makes sense to lose Young and Rush's debate over the accuracy of the memory, and move right to the meat and potatos of the episode. Same with the trio just suddenly appearing out of the stargate a couple of episodes ago.

There's only so much one can fit into an episode, and I'm glad that they're being forced to cut content, rather than the opposite: fill out the 40 minutes with useless filler and SFX shlock.

Writers don't have to cram everything into 40 minutes. In fact from a business standpoint dividing a story across a number of episodes is not a bad idea as viewers will be more likely to watch next time when faced with the cliffhanger end. I seriously doubt any writing staff would put such a constraint in this day and age, where the most successful TV series all have meta-story arcs spanning several seasons.

I agree that if there is no reason to do it, then they shouldn't... but in this case it was a mistake. To all of a sudden, on account of a "memory stone flashback," portray someone who has beef with Young as a traitor is a bit ridiculous, much like the trio's miraculous return to Destiny. Are you telling me there was no way at all either of these fairly "profound" events could not have been fleshed out a bit more?

[sketchley]

To be honest, I didn't notice the lack of any "profoundity". I was just offering an explanation why it could come across like it did to you.

Of course, I liked the after-the-fact explanation, "I was giving him enough rope to hang himself", too.

[Ghost Train]

I'm gonna attempt to predict the future here: Blueys attacks again, or some other alliance-forging epic event, Lucian Alliance and Tauri join forces, since they're pretty much stuck with each other now anyways. The alternative would be to have the remainder of the show be one epic deathmatch on cs_d3st1ny_pwn map.

Starfleet and Marquis, Star Trek Voyager 2010.

Good episode though. Things get interesting now that Telford is on Destiny. Some good pew-pew action.

[sketchley]

Episode 19 is all plot. Great fun, with some interesting twists and turns. It was also nice to see almost all of the SG-1 team in some form in the episode. Shame that Dr. Jackson was limited to a video primer on the enemy de jour. Nevertheless, great to see Major Carter and General O'neill in butt-kicking mode.

What's up with the ship acting up? Maybe a heretofore unseen but implied defensive measure that's stopped the aliens from gaining access? Maybe the scientist who disappeared in the chair?

I do feel a shake-up happening in the next episode. I'm also kinda glad that they erased the possibility of gating in more personnel and equipment from the Milkyway Galaxy.

@ Ghosttrain: Hmmm... I don't think it's the Blueys. Maybe the aliens that created that planet that the religious dude stayed behind on?

[-Snowblind-]

My guess is that Telford is going to die (redeemed hero, noble sacrifice, etc etc. Standard TV trope... that plus he's been underused for the second half of the season, and I doubt there's room in the budget for new characters and Robert Carlyle and Lou Diamond Philips on a full time basis). Alternatively they could kill off Young and replace him with Telford, but that's a long shot (though it may be interesting).

Oh, and Franklin was the guy who disappeared in the chair (and likely became the ghost in the machine), and yeah, he's probably going to make his presence known soon enough.

[bluemax151]

This last episode was a little better IMO, at least there was some actual "military" action. Although the application of any actual military tactics is questionable. When is Eli going to stop gushing all over Chloe though? Yes, the double entendre is intentional.

[-Snowblind-]

Argh! Cliffhangers! I hate season finale cliffhangers. ...That said, I thought it was a good episode, though it looks like there'll be a fairly large body count by the end of it. Huh.

[Dynaman]

The cliffhanger pretty much stunk. Colonel Young ought to be taken out and shot for gross stupidity. No way in Hades a competent military commander would ever allow things to get so far out of hand.

I mean the stupid meter hit about 1000% (and that is not a typo).