Season 1: First Time Viewer

[Snowman37]

Why are you watching a franchise about the danger of fundamentalist religion and fanatical belief in false gods if you find "negative" portrayals of a religion or questioning of a deity that objectionable?

As a Christian, I love this part of the show. With the exception of two episodes (Demons, Red Sky), the show doesn't really put down God and faith. Rather, the show puts down fictional religions revolving around aliens posing as false gods. Many episodes focus on trying to get people to open their eyes to the greater picture, think for themselves, and ask who and what a god really is. I love this part of the show. History is filled with numerous religions, and naturally... only one can stand to be correct. For me, I choose Christianity, though it is more of a relationship with God and Christ than a religion. To me, a religion is faith so consumed about rules and what to do and not to do that the relationship with God becomes lost in a sea of rules and regulations. Shifting back to the topic...

Also, one of the main characters of Universe is a lesbian. She has by far the most healthy and realistic relationship (actual relationship, shipping Jack/Sam doesn't count) on the show, and quite possibly in the franchise. If that's a problem, might as well just skip the series.

It is a problem for reasons I won't go into, but suffice it to say... if it's a minor plot point, I'll willing to overlook it.

Even though SGU is set within the same universe as the past 2 shows the main advice I would give is to go into it with the same mindset you would when watching a new show that isin't part of a franchise.

That's the mindset I have with any spinoff show. I treat it no differently than an original series.

A lot of people intionally disliked SGU because of how different it was from SG1 & SGA. It does have it's flaws in other regards which have been discussed a great deal in other topics, but for a first time viewer who is already a fan of the franchise I would highly suggest going in with no expectations and judge it on it's own merits.

For me, the only think that would really dampen the show is reduced stargate travel and focusing more on character drama over plot-driven drama.

It does though focus more on the characters: manipulation, suspcision, questionable acts, the odd moral issue etc. There is a fair bit of shades of grey, mostly since there are no defined good and bad guys per say in season 1.

If there's no defined good and bad guys, what's the point of the show? Manipulation, suspicion, questionable acts, odd moral issues, shades of grey... good grief, what is this, a night time soap?

[Naonak]

If there's no defined good and bad guys, what's the point of the show? Manipulation, suspicion, questionable acts, odd moral issues, shades of grey... good grief, what is this, a night time soap?

Yeah - Breaking Bad, Deadwood, Sons of Anarchy, The Shield, Dexter... Wastes of time, the lot of 'em.

[KEK]

Rather, the show puts down fictional religions revolving around aliens posing as false gods.

Actually, most of the religions in the show are as real as Christianity. There are still pagans who follow the ancient Egyptian and Norse religions out there, among others we see in the show. Origin is really the only main one that was actually invented for the show, and even that it blatantly based on Catholicism.

If there's no defined good and bad guys, what's the point of the show? Manipulation, suspicion, questionable acts, odd moral issues, shades of grey... good grief, what is this, a night time soap?

I think this is an argument you're going to have trouble defending. Most of the great works on film, TV and in books are filled with morally ambiguous characters. The Wire, The Sopranos, Rome etc. are some of the best TV ever made. Surely a show with clearly defined bad guys and good guys is more limiting, no?

[Snowman37]

Yeah - Breaking Bad, Deadwood, Sons of Anarchy, The Shield, Dexter... Wastes of time, the lot of 'em.

I've never seen these shows.

Actually, most of the religions in the show are as real as Christianity. There are still pagans who follow the ancient Egyptian and Norse religions out there, among others we see in the show. Origin is really the only main one that was actually invented for the show, and even that it blatantly based on Catholicism.

When I said fictional religions, I simply meant man-made (throughout history). Logically, they can't all be right, thus some of them have to be made up at some point in history. As for Origin being based on Catholicism, I thought it was based on Islam.

I think this is an argument you're going to have trouble defending. Most of the great works on film, TV and in books are filled with morally ambiguous characters. The Wire, The Sopranos, Rome etc. are some of the best TV ever made. Surely a show with clearly defined bad guys and good guys is more limiting, no?

I don't mind some morally ambiguous characters, but if it's the whole cast... I have no interest. If there's no clearly defined good guy to root for, why am I watching? When I saw the "Air" trilogy way back, the characters who I found myself caring for were Lt. Scott, Eli, and... actually, that was it. Rush was selfish, Young seemed angry at the universe, Chloe was a crybaby, Tamara seemed useless, Greer was nuts, and Wray was more focused on appearing to be in charge than actually leading anyone. As O'Neill would say, they're nuts!

[KEK]

When I said fictional religions, I simply meant man-made (throughout history). Logically, they can't all be right, thus some of them have to be made up at some point in history.

Logically they can all be wrong though. I think it's fair that the writers would lump Christianity in with all the others, where it belongs in my view. In fact if anything, I think they probably discriminated in favour of it.

As for Origin being based on Catholicism, I thought it was based on Islam.

The Priors are obviously priests, while the Doci is the Pope. Adria's conception, and her later death and ascension (resurrection) should ring bells too. Plus, there's all the holy crusade stuff and medieval European imagery. I'm not sure they could have been any more blatant. I don't see any connection with Islam.

I don't mind some morally ambiguous characters, but if it's the whole cast... I have no interest. If there's no clearly defined good guy to root for, why am I watching?

It's a character drama, you don't have to 'root' for anyone. Besides, I'm not sure why you'd need a clearly defined hero archetype to do that anyway.

[Tanith0709]

For me, the only think that would really dampen the show is reduced stargate travel and focusing more on character drama over plot-driven drama.

They don't focus on the character drama as much as soaps do but the drama between the characters is a large aspect of the show (especially between the military and civilations in the first season).

If there's no defined good and bad guys, what's the point of the show?

To see how the characters overcome problems and find a way to survive in a situation most of them weren't prepared for.

In the beginning the ship is damaged, supplies low, they're locked out of the ships main systems and there is also a lot of mistrust & blame over how they ended up there. But they do use the Stargate to get supplies and stuff as well (the interesting part about the Stargate early on is that due to not having control over navigation they have a limited amount of time to spend off-world).

There's some slight spoilers there which I aplogise for but there not really big ones and I hope it gives a better gist about what the show is like. But overal it's more about survival than taking on bad guys.

[Naonak]

I've never seen these shows.

All utterly brilliant (Dexter used to be, anyway ), and like most HBO/FX/AMC/Showtime dramas, none of them are black and white.

(Quick question - have you watched anything on those networks?)

I don't mind some morally ambiguous characters, but if it's the whole cast... I have no interest. If there's no clearly defined good guy to root for, why am I watching?

As KEK said, it's not about having a hero to root for. These shows are more complex than that - to cut it down, it's "good" people doing bad things for the right reasons, "bad" people doing good things for the wrong reasons, etc. But very few of the characters are clear-cut heroes or villains - they're people. They really experiment with how the audience relates to and sympathises with these characters, by showing how and why they do the things they do, and that's what's so interesting - that's why you're watching.

Even aside from that the writing and acting is normally so good that most of the time you do find yourself rooting for someone. Dexter is probably the easiest example - the guy's a serial killer, but one who only targets other killers, rapists, etc. who have escaped the legal system; and most if not all of the viewers do root for him.

On a personal level, The Shield is a fantastic example. The lead character is a horribly corrupt cop in the pilot episode, and only gets worse as the show goes on. It's so compelling to watch because we see how and why he does what he does and because of Michael Chiklis' performance (and the rest of the cast), and despite the guy being a total ****bag, until the penultimate episode I still found myself hoping on some level that he'd get away with it all.

SGU doesn't even go as far as most of the shows we've mentioned. The worst you can really say about anyone is that Rush is a total dick most of the time - but he's still the most fascinating and interesting to watch character on the show.

When I saw the "Air" trilogy way back, the characters who I found myself caring for were Lt. Scott, Eli, and... actually, that was it. Rush was selfish, Young seemed angry at the universe, Chloe was a crybaby, Tamara seemed useless, Greer was nuts, and Wray was more focused on appearing to be in charge than actually leading anyone. As O'Neill would say, they're nuts!

But they aren't as one-dimensional as that. The point of the show is that they're unprepared for this situation (even some of the military characters), and how they deal with it. Young is a USAF Colonel, but at the onset of the show he's basically past it. His arc is about how he copes with having to lead these people in this crap situation, and starts to get himself together again.

Chloe's a rich kid Poli-Sci major and Senator's aide, who suddenly finds herself struggling for survival on a falling-apart starship on the other side of the universe, and to top things off her father sacrifices his life. She's not trained for this, and to dismiss her as a "crybaby" is kind of shallow.
TJ's a field medic who finds herself in the position of Ship's Doctor, and while Greer has a short fuse, over the course of the series he also demonstrates incredible loyalty, bravery and a willingness to risk his own life to protect others.