Did they force it a little too much?

[psl1]

In the documentary series the Monty Python crew did about the history of the entire movement [The Lawyers cut], they showed a scene from the new “Holy Grail” without music, to a test audience and it came across poorly. The same scene was again adapted to grandiose music and was an instant hit. Excellent musical score can make or break a movie or TV show.

In SGU taking a chance on new talent like 'Alexi Murdoch' and 'Flogging Molly' payed off handsomely.

[AlexanderD]

That's funny, for me it's rather the reverse. I find nearly all of the characters engaging in one way or another. I do like the fact that they're shown as being flawed people much more than in the other SG shows. That said, the characters we know anything about all seem to have a tragic past: Matt lost his parents at a young age and his adoptive father and mentor in his teens and found out the girl he got pregnant kept the baby without giving him a chance to be a father, Rush lost his wife and can't have a real relationship with Mandy except by proxy, Greer had an abusive father who made his childhood a living hell, Eli's mother has HIV, Chloe lost her mother as a teen and watched her father effectively commit suicide in order to save the rest of the crew... And it's Young who "only" cheated on his wife and got his girlfriend pregnant who's going nuts! But did they really have to make the ambitious political woman a lesbian as well? That's a bit too much Admiral Cain for me.

Chloe's mother is not gone. She is very much alive, and Chloe makes mention of her.

[The Destiny]

Chloe's mother is not gone. She is very much alive, and Chloe makes mention of her.

She visits her a couple times too

She drinks

[michelle888]

***spoiler alert***

I found that scene where Scott is hallucinating/dreaming that he's marrying Chloe very surreal. I was confused the whole episode.

Wasn't Young his Dad and Rush was the Justice of the Peace that was scheduled to marry them? Weird, weird, weird.

But I suppose that is how you actually feel when you come out of a dream.

The stones made me even more confused. (Not my favourite tech in the series.)
Humor was needed in this series, IMHO.

[thekillman]

i didn't like Pathogen (where Scott hallucinates) much, untill the "marriage" scene.

then i liked it. it was a very clever thing, a very clever buildup, and it was executed nicely.


as to the opening:

yes in hindsight, a little less sex and a little more action in the beginning could've changed a lot. and whatever they say, introducing a character while he has sex, is the worst character introduction on stargate EVER

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

as to the opening:

yes in hindsight, a little less sex and a little more action in the beginning could've changed a lot. and whatever they say, introducing a character while he has sex, is the worst character introduction on stargate EVER

I have to agree; all of the scenes involving sex, lesbian relationships and extreme violence just screams out "edgy"; as in "Hey kids! Do you like sex and violence? Then you'll love Stargate Universe. We have none of that PG-13 sex and violence that SG-1 and Atlantis have; just straight up, raw, gritty sex and gory violence that you desire." I mean really... I get that you want to try something new but you could significantly reduce the number of scenes where sex and extreme gory violence exist; this is supposed to be a character drama in space by the way, not Sci-fi Skinemax.

[VampyreWraith]

Scott's intro wouldn't have been so bad to me, if he had ended up being a "badboy" type character or at the very least hadn't found his true love(Chloe) and then started a serious relationship with her almost immediately after(?about a week or so). The way it was done ended up feeling forced to me, because it felt out of character for how Scott was portrayed overall.

The Young/wife/Telford thing also felt a bit forced to me. I don't care if characters are having sex, unless the sex is just there to amp up the drama unnecessarily(IMO). Telford and Young were already having issues related to Destiny, throwing Young's wife into the mix was unnecessary. Add to that, the fact that Young had cheated on his wife with an officer under his command(TJ), so that Young was also already having enough marital issues, and then the use of the stones to have sex; the whole situation felt like overkill.

Scott finding out that the girl he got pregnant in high-school, was now a stripper, and that she didn't have an abortion when he thought she did; so he's actually the father of a 10(?) yr old(who is left alone while his mother is at work). That also felt forced to me.

Wray being a lesbian, and having a relationship with Sharon, did not feel forced to me, because it seemed so normal and non-edgy. For me trying to be too edgy(and forced) would have been, having Chloe realizing she liked women and that she was attracted to Lt. James(thankfully that didn't happen).

I don't think the amount of sex was too much at all, just that the way that some of it was handled felt forced.

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

I have to agree; all of the scenes involving sex, lesbian relationships and extreme violence just screams out "edgy"; as in "Hey kids! Do you like sex and violence? Then you'll love Stargate Universe. We have none of that PG-13 sex and violence that SG-1 and Atlantis have; just straight up, raw, gritty sex and gory violence that you desire." I mean really... I get that you want to try something new but you could significantly reduce the number of scenes where sex and extreme gory violence exist; this is supposed to be a character drama in space by the way, not Sci-fi Skinemax.

If you think SGU had extreme levels of sex and violence, then I think you'd have a heart attack if you actually watched a show on Cinemax, Starz, HBO or any other similar channel. SGU was pretty pg13, and while it had more sex in it than previous shows, I'd actually say often SG1 and SGA were frequently much more violent than SGU ever was.

And lots of sex, violence and language doesn't exactly negate great drama, Showtime and HBO have built a reputation around creating high quality, award winning drama that have extreme content.

[VampyreWraith]

I honestly don't remember any extremely violent or gory scenes scenes in SGU. I might have just forgotten about them, or maybe I just have a different definition of gory violence. To me The Walking Dead and American Horror Story have some gory violence. I don't remember anything approaching that level of gore or violence on SGU, and both of those shows are also on a basic cable channel like SyFy.

[Gatefan1976]

I honestly don't remember any extremely violent or gory scenes scenes in SGU. I might have just forgotten about them, or maybe I just have a different definition of gory violence. To me The Walking Dead and American Horror Story have some gory violence. I don't remember anything approaching that level of gore or violence on SGU, and both of those shows are also on a basic cable channel like SyFy.

I think the closest they ever got to "gore" was in "Time", but even still, I'd hardly call it "gore".

[thekillman]

I have to agree; all of the scenes involving sex, lesbian relationships and extreme violence just screams out "edgy"

that is not my view. i don't care about sex on TV. not at all. not gay, not lesbian, not straight. if i want sex on TV, i'd watch porn. that's what porn is for. for me, sex adds ABSOLUTELY nothing to the plot, to the show, to how i feel about the characters, nothing. well, with scott i found it a highly weird situation. and as i said, the worst character introduction in the history of stargate. in the rest of the situations, i simply didn't care. it doesn't move me or anything.

The way it was done ended up feeling forced to me, because it felt out of character for how Scott was portrayed overall.

similarly, this didn't bother me at all. i did feel bad for Eli, but at least they didn't make it some forced friend-zone thingey. they got along, it went fine. Scott and Chloe, well i kind of liked them. i must say that Chloe only really got interesting until after she was Blue'd. it was a very interesting thing of her. it made me like her far more.

the whole situation felt like overkill.

yes, glad they dropped that. i didn't mind the story point where he and his wife had a strained relationship, but adding Telford in the mix was indeed unnecessary.

For me trying to be too edgy(and forced) would have been, having Chloe realizing she liked women and that she was attracted to Lt. James(thankfully that didn't happen).

yes, and that would also scream "fanboy service".

i liked Wray. she was lesbian, but she wasn't written as a stereotype. she was like any other women, perhaps the most mature person on board. she had a stable relationship. when Sharon acted weird, i was so afraid she would have a new lover, and i was so happy to find out that the writers didn't go down that road.

And lots of sex, violence and language doesn't exactly negate great drama, Showtime and HBO have built a reputation around creating high quality, award winning drama that have extreme content.

in general, sex on TV makes me cringe. i don't really watch HBO, so can't judge it. on Stargate, i preferred the implied sex over the visual. implied is fine: it's the most effective use of sex in terms of screen time. so they had sex. fine. good. now go kill those bad guys. not to say i don't like good character drama, but generally the way sex is displayed on TV, it's simply not worth the screen time.

[KEK]

The creature busting out of Chloe was pretty gorey. I think I probably found the euthanizing of Riley as disturbing as anything I've seen in The Walking Dead to be honest, but obviously nothing something you could call 'graphic' or 'gore'.

[MylittleEli]

I just feel like putting in my two cents.

I can see how ppl found SGU to be too violent/gory or too sexual. I have to agree there was a much different use of both those themes in this show as oppose to SG1 and SGA.

That said, I don't really think it helped or hindered the show either way. I don't really mind sex or violence, nor do I think it is necessary for "good tv".

I truly enjoyed the differences they made to SGU. I felt like it was a new take on something I already loved, and that it was interesting to see some more flawed characters. I do agree with a lot of the points made in this thread about them forcing certain story lines to enhance dramatic effect, I just don't think simply using some sex and violence to do that it really the worst part. Scott and his kid, Scott and James, Young/Telford/wife triangle.... those are the things that they really could have done without IMO.

[VampyreWraith]

similarly, this didn't bother me at all. i did feel bad for Eli, but at least they didn't make it some forced friend-zone thingey. they got along, it went fine. Scott and Chloe, well i kind of liked them. i must say that Chloe only really got interesting until after she was Blue'd. it was a very interesting thing of her. it made me like her far more.

I probably wouldn't have had a problem with Chole and Scott getting together so quickly if it wasn't for that closet scene; having that scene with James and then having Scott and Chloe get together in a serious was so quickly afterwards just didn't ring true to me.

yes, and that would also scream "fanboy service".

i liked Wray. she was lesbian, but she wasn't written as a stereotype. she was like any other women, perhaps the most mature person on board. she had a stable relationship. when Sharon acted weird, i was so afraid she would have a new lover, and i was so happy to find out that the writers didn't go down that road.

I was glad that that didn't happen too. I liked that Wray and Sharon's relationship seemed just like any other long term relationship between two people that love each other.

I think the closest they ever got to "gore" was in "Time", but even still, I'd hardly call it "gore".

The creature busting out of Chloe was pretty gorey. I think I probably found the euthanizing of Riley as disturbing as anything I've seen in The Walking Dead to be honest, but obviously nothing something you could call 'graphic' or 'gore'.

I thought the creature bursting out of Chloe looked really cool lol, though I suppose that could count as gory, just not extremely so (IMO).
I think that what happened with Riley is probably just as dark/sad as anything that happened on The Walking Dead in season 1, but I think (S2 TWD spoiler)

Spoiler:

Sophia's death, was a bit darker and sadder since she was a child and not a trained soldier.

Add: I generally just don't care if a show has sex or not, it's not something that I factor in when deciding whether or not to watch a show. Same goes with violence. As long as I feel it works within the context of the show and the characters I'm usually fine with it.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

No, I throughly enjoyed SGU from the get go. I enjoyed the focus on Character. I enjoyed the mature themes. I liked the fact that it attempted to get above bubble gum scifi.

Didn't SG-1 start out on Showtime with adult themes and nudity?

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Didn't SG-1 start out on Showtime with adult themes and nudity?

That was forced upon by Showtime for reasons unknown; presumably to show that it was on a cable network, to excite people and to make up for it's lack of budget I'm assuming. The creators did not want that scene included in the pilot episode; so they cut it the first chance they had with the Final Cut of Children with the Gods.

SG-1 did have some adultish themes but most of the themes on the show were pure sci-fi/Stargate, barely any adult matter was seen in it's first season.

And lots of sex, violence and language doesn't exactly negate great drama, Showtime and HBO have built a reputation around creating high quality, award winning drama that have extreme content.

I'm not negating that extreme content is bad as a whole; I'm just pointing it out because the people behind the show mention it as new and different and edgy and I feel that adding an excess of those scenes to differentiate yourself from previous Stargate scenes negates from what's going on. It'd be different if these scenes helped with the drama but they're only there to make the series stand out.

[Wolf O'Donnell]

I have to agree; all of the scenes involving sex, lesbian relationships and extreme violence just screams out "edgy"; as in "Hey kids! Do you like sex and violence? Then you'll love Stargate Universe. We have none of that PG-13 sex and violence that SG-1 and Atlantis have; just straight up, raw, gritty sex and gory violence that you desire." I mean really... I get that you want to try something new but you could significantly reduce the number of scenes where sex and extreme gory violence exist; this is supposed to be a character drama in space by the way, not Sci-fi Skinemax.

I hear ya brother. One thing that really upset me as well, was the interracial relationships like Greer and Dr. Park! I mean this is television?! Why on earth would they force these lifestyles down our throats?
The idea that we were forced to watch different kinds of people, with different kinds of lifestyles then our own is disgusting.

[Gatefan1976]

I hear ya brother. One thing that really upset me as well, was the interracial relationships like Greer and Dr. Park! I mean this is television?! Why on earth would they force these lifestyles down our throats?
The idea that we were forced to watch different kinds of people, with different kinds of lifestyles then our own is disgusting.

The point of that comment is to your left................

[Wolf O'Donnell]

The point of that comment is to your left................

My point is that if you are going to have a problem with the relationships on SGU then have a problem will all the relationships on SGU rather then just picking out the lesbian one. I will never understand why people seem to have such a problem with the fact that Wray was a lesbian.

[Gatefan1976]

My point is that if you are going to have a problem with the relationships on SGU then have a problem will all the relationships on SGU rather then just picking out the lesbian one. I will never understand why people seem to have such a problem with the fact that Wray was a lesbian.

Neither do I, but Zombies point (I believe) is that using these devices was no more than a plug to scream "SGU is not the bubblegum scifi (ROFL!!) that SG-1/SGA was, we are "grown up", we have LESBIANS, we are EDGEY and REAL.