'Light' (105) General Discussion

[rushy]

So? Ratings or not, Universe was probably the best series of Stargate and I miss it. I miss Rush's sarcastic attitude and Young's quest of getting them home and Eli's humor.

[jelgate]

So one person does not decide a show

[rushy]

Yeah, I know. But SGU still had a lot of reason to stay on TV.

[kmiller1610]

Oh, and I agree with you. NICHOLAS RUSH IS JUST AWESOME. Best Sci Fi character ever. Why did they stop SG Universe, why... it's my fav series along with Farscape.

Let me try.

SG-1 and SGA are built on heroic people with faults complementing each other's gaps to create cohesion in the face of peril. It's unrealistic, but inspiring. SGU is more like real life, people with faults fighting each other and barely finding enough in common to survive. This is not escapist enough and too different from the model to survive.

[VampyreWraith]

While "Darkness" wasn't all that great, I loved "Light". The music was beautiful. There were some very nice character moments, for pretty much everyone. I still think the Chloe/Scott hook-up was rather sudden and out of nowhere(it's somewhat understandable, since they thought they were going to die, but still feels weird to me). Overall, I really enjoyed this episode.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

One person told me this would be the one to hook me into the series, that guy was wrong but it is surprisingly decent. This episode is about putting everything behind and embracing potential death Without those ever insisting distractions, emotion and humanity take center stage and many characters took a big step; most prominent is Young's character was still a newborn at this point but at least he's showing himself as a character, Dr. Rush moves away from Desmond by adding small chops that help to further help his unique character and this would contain the first slice-of-life instance that to me is a defining point of the show. The only problem, barely anything was happening character-wise or plot-wise; the characters were just standing around waiting for death to happen and there are barely any notable scenes that don't involve Young and Rush.

I didn't notice the Scott/Chloe plot started here and I have to say; the plot here didn't really work well for the series. The romance is more natural but Scott isn't the kind of character capable of carrying a romance; Young v. Rush mostly started here and I disliked this plot from the beginning, it may have had some weight in the form of "Does Rush have alterior motives", "Does Young have what it takes to lead" but to me it detracted from the series and distracted from the real character issues just begging to be explored. At least it was cool when Destiny skimmed the sun like that; the lighting and visuals were a pretty impressive show of what it had to offer.

[NowIWillDestroyAbydos]

As of this episode so far, Chloe is hot, but stupid after telling Scott that she's been closer to him than anyone in her life. She's stupid because we're 5 episode into the series. I'm just saying.

The last couple of minutes of the episode were great. Joel's Score and the visual effect of the ship passing into the start was just amazing.

Tomorrow, we need more water.

[min min light]

Dr. Rush moves away from Desmond by adding small chops that help to further help his unique character and this would contain the first slice-of-life instance that to me is a defining point of the show.

I double-checked the date on this post because I thought maybe it was made when Lost was still on, but no ... so I'm going to guess that you were so totally immersed in Lost that everything on earth still reminds you of it, because Rush didn't need to "move away from Desmond," since about the only thing they have in common is an accent. And Henry Ian Whatever (Cusik?) is a fine actor but he's nowhere near Robert Carlyle's league.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

I double-checked the date on this post because I thought maybe it was made when Lost was still on, but no ... so I'm going to guess that you were so totally immersed in Lost that everything on earth still reminds you of it

A brief note: I watched Lost during it's final season after having caught up with the previous 5 seasons on Hulu, something special ABC did for the show and that aired in 2010, mostly running up against SGU's first season which I was not aware of at the time. It has been two years since I rewatched the show in full and somehow despite that lapse of time I'm able to make comparisons to those characters, and this is supposed to be a show with unique characters.

Also I'm not making comparisons based on immersions; to illustrate.

• Rush and Desmond are both people who come from the mainland.
• They both have a sinister side to them and know certain things (with Desmond, it's procedure with the Swan station; with Rush, it's a bond with Destiny.)
• Both have similar cultural traits.
• Both have similar emotional outbreaks. (they're not overly violent.)
• Both react negatively to anything the crew does regarding their various places.
• Both are known for one thing (Desmond: Swan, Rush: Destiny) but as the show goes on, becomes more known for other things (Rush being a friendly person who's treats his teammates as equals, Desmond a person who's confident, intellectual and willing as far as what I can remember from him.)

I will admit, Desmond wasn't manipulative but still... They're pretty similar initially.

because Rush didn't need to "move away from Desmond," since about the only thing they have in common is an accent. And Henry Ian Whatever (Cusik?) is a fine actor but he's nowhere near Robert Carlyle's league.

I'll give you that, in later episodes Robert Carlyle could just blow everybody out of the room by just standing there and saying a couple of words and ultimately won a place in my top 5 favorite SGU characters but the show was in it's infancy at the time and it's infancy to me was surrounded by an eerily "Lost" feeling in characters, premise, mystery and progression. I do respect your opinion though.

[min min light]

A brief note: I watched Lost during it's final season after having caught up with the previous 5 seasons on Hulu, something special ABC did for the show and that aired in 2010, mostly running up against SGU's first season which I was not aware of at the time. It has been two years since I rewatched the show in full and somehow despite that lapse of time I'm able to make comparisons to those characters, and this is supposed to be a show with unique characters.

Just so you know, it wasn't a slam - I was totally immersed in Lost, and I did the long slog from S1 to the series finale the hard way, watching it live. For awhile there everything reminded me of it, and I talked about it so much that I'm surprised nobody arranged an intervention. (Fortunately the series finale cured me. Also not a slam - if you loved the series finale, more power to you.)

•Rush and Desmond are both people who come from the mainland.
•They both have a sinister side to them and know certain things (with Desmond, it's procedure with the Swan station; with Rush, it's a bond with Destiny.)
•Both have similar cultural traits.
•Both have similar emotional outbreaks. (they're not overly violent.)
•Both react negatively to anything the crew does regarding their various places.

But everyone on the ship came from the mainland, and most survival stories have a guy with a sinister side who lashes out and/or reacts negatively to plans he doesn't agree with. It's really not that similar, except in the way that all stories are similar.

I'll give you that, in later episodes Robert Carlyle could just blow everybody out of the room by just standing there and saying a couple of words and ultimately won a place in my top 5 favorite SGU characters but the show was in it's infancy at the time and it's infancy to me was surrounded by an eerily "Lost" feeling in characters, premise, mystery and progression. I do respect your opinion though.

See, I think that's just the Lost Stockholm Syndrome talking there (in the early days), but I'm glad that faded after awhile. And I respect your opinion too of course!

[Lieutenant Sparrow]

An alright ep.

Would have been a lot more depressing if it wasn't so obvious the ship was never going to be destroyed.

Poor Eli. I always wanted him to get with Chloe. Damn you Scott.

I just love how that soldier was just left there after he got punched out haha.

The Destiny flying through stars to replenish energy is very cool. It looked great as well.

It's a pity Camille wasn't left on the planet at least.

[garhkal]

How do you say it was 'so obvious'?

[jelgate]

The plot shield kind of dictates they aren't going to kill everyone on board

[Lieutenant Sparrow]

How do you say it was 'so obvious'?

Otherwise it would have been a very short series.

[Krisz]

For me, the moment that stands out, and really got me was Col Young taking his wedding ring off and the tear falling, said so much in that fraction of time on screen. I'm not a sentimental person generally, but if what the writers and producers of SGU are saying the show is aiming for with characterisation are moments like this, then for me they are succeeding!

A great episode all round. I approached my viewing of SGU with no expectations, watch it with an open mind. I continue to be happy to tune in every week.

My impression of this episode when it first aired........and still gets me with each viewing.

With hindsight I can see why these moments were so important, these were the building blocks, seeing how they reacted in various situations. This episode is littered with these quick, easy to miss character moments. Even Chloe choosing to be with Scott is born of needing comfort, being afraid of being alone. you could be rolling your eyes thinking, oh no another sex scene, but I see it as that moment of sharing something with someone who understands, feels as you do, a way to deal with the awful moment that is coming. People react in different ways to extreme situations and watching from a normal perspective it may seem ridiculous because it is not something we are experiencing at the same time.

No one cared for Spencer and the way he acted when afraid, leaving him sprawled out on the gate room floor after being knocked out seemed so callous, so un-Stargate! But it was real, everyone was afraid, lost in how they were dealing with facing death, no inclination to discipline Greer for his laudable, but incorrect method of dealing with it. This is where SGU steps away from the 'moral high ground' side of the Stargate we've seen previously.

A wonderful twist with the supposed 'escape from certain death' on the shuttle by the ones who won the lottery not being the escape after all. Added a nice bit of drama as they scramble to try and reconnect with Destiny that survived after all, at the moment they realised they didn't really have much of a chance of surviving on the planet in the long term.

Along with the spectacular images of Destiny skimming through the sun to recharge, which is always awesome, I've gained more of an appreciation for this episode with each rewatch.

[Matt G]

Midweek, another ep of SGU...

1. Greer's Kino sppech made more sense this time round...

2. Ironically I didn't think Rush was dodgy back in '09!

3. Ah, Spencer...

4. "Math boy".

Getting tasty.

[jelgate]

I remember us making jokes about Young's constant statement about these are the wrong people. We would use mundane ordinary tasks like....
Young: Mr. Broody do you have a pencil I can borrow.
Broody: No
Young: These are the wrong people

I was never really bothered about Chloe and Scott jumping into bed. It seemed quite realastic given the circumstance of sudden death. The solution of Destiny recharging it power by flying into a sun was obvious but pretty awesome to see none the less. It goes flying into the sun and just opens up these things on the bottom of the ship to collect solar energy. How great is that? And it also had some nice interaction like showing Greer. It was small but I thought that part about him decking Telford and the way he assaulted Spencer speaks to what he is as a character. He is not a bad person just has problems controlling himself when he feels something is wrong. In regards to Wray and Young I am uncertain who to side with as they both make valid points of what it will take to survive. Although given the harsh nature of that rock they probably wouldn't have live that long. Anyone who knows me knows I tend to side with Rush but the notion he already knew about Destiny. Rush pulled a lot of things for his selfish desire. But I do not see what he has to gain from lying to people like he does in other situations so I do not think he knew about the sun.

[min min light]

I remember us making jokes about Young's constant statement about these are the wrong people. We would use mundane ordinary tasks like....
Young: Mr. Broody do you have a pencil I can borrow.
Broody: No
Young: These are the wrong people

That's hilarious, I wish I had been here then.

Anyone who knows me knows I tend to side with Rush but the notion he already knew about Destiny. Rush pulled a lot of things for his selfish desire. But I do not see what he has to gain from lying to people like he does in other situations so I do not think he knew about the sun.

I don't think he did either, because his entire manner changed when he realized what was happening, and there was no reason for him to fake that delight since he was all alone. I think the expression on his face when Young said maybe he knew all along was more shock than anything, like "whoa, I've been a worse jerk than I thought if he believes this." Or since it is Rush I'm talking about, maybe more like, "whoa, I'm a delightful person - why would he think I'd do something so weasely?"

[garhkal]

Or
"I'll let them stew over that for a while".

[jelgate]

That sounds like something Rush would do. Mantipulate people to suit his advantage