"Stargate Universe" Discussion/Speculation (Spoilers)

[LtColCarter]

So just a random question. What do you guys think of the stones so far????

I think they are interesting...and a good way to link the crew back to Earth. I do think there will be abuses of the stones as time goes on.

[Hallowed are the...]

Do I watch Fringe, V, Dollhouse, Sanctuary, Flash Forward, or SGU? I have an hour before bed... what will it be?

Wow, you are a sci-fi fanatic!

I dropped Dollhouse when it was obvious they were going to cancel it.

I never got into Fringe as it was on FOX and sci-fi on FOX has always had problems if it lasted too long (or it didn't last at all which should have cautioned me against Dollhouse... but what can I say: I'm an optimist!)

I tried Sanctuary but was never fond of their particular attempts to blend mysticism with rational science.

V is only on four times in 2009 so there will be time to catch up on it (though I confess I watched it religiously as I loved the old series - and the new one is quite engaging).

And Flash Forward is suffering from a case of mistaken identity: is it a soap opera in a sci-fi world, or a sci-fi show in a soap opera world? The episode where future lover meets current husband was painful to watch because of the irrational treatment of the intriguing circumstance. But then the suicide redeemed it by making it fascinating again.

What does any of this have to do with Stargate (SGU)? Like Flash Forward SGU has a decided identity problem. The difference is that on balance it seems to be coming down on the soap opera side (or at best teen-drama). The fact that there is a stargate in it is the only reason I am still watching it in the hopes that 'the old oriface' will lead to some more interesting stories like "Time."

And to answer the same question as KaseetaKen: I would pick V. It's not just some letter in the alphabet anymore!

[LtColCarter]

I just realized how far SciFi has come. I remember going to see Star Wars on the opening weekend because there was so little good science fiction out there that I supported any science fiction movie that came out (I saw some really bad science fiction back then too (Battle Beyond the Stars comes to mind...strangely memorable though).
These days, I can pick and choose my speculative fiction (my preferred term... really how much real science is there in these shows?).
I guess I'm showing my age.

Interesting

[Hallowed are the...]

Hi,

I remember when Star Trek: Voyager came and went and find the following points to consider as watching SGU:

(STAR TREK: VOYAGER recap: a ship and it's crew, plus a group of resistence fighters from another ship) are trapped on the other side of the galaxy with no apparent way of getting home. The seven year run of the show showed how they dealt with the challenge of returning home, meeting new alien species & an old enemy along the way).


(1) Will the people trapped on Destiny ever get home ?
In ST:V in the early seasons there was no evident moments of hope, no long-range communication devices etc. At some point this changed after the producers found they need to show hope to the audience - things changed with being able to communicated with home, and finding some short-cuts along the way that save time off their 70 year journey home.

SGU, with the communication stones, sets up straight away a connection to Earth for the audience and this feels so regular & scheduled that perhaps some drama on the ship is sacrificed but is made up in new story points in relation to back-stories on Earth for the people trapped on Destiny. Back-stories which can now still continue to evolve despite the distances apart.

Plus, how else do you think they can get away with guests-stars, and RDA and the others if there not meeting people where they are currently travelling through ?

(2) Meeting new aliens ?
It's hard to judge for me whether you would expect Destiny to meet new alien lifeforms, how soon and frequency ? I keep thinking that if they meet an alien ship the risk is the aliens want the Destiny. If they meet an alien race by travelling through the Stargate in the alloted time they have well they can't stay very long to mingle.

However then I have to consider how Destiny would treat the situation on contact with an alien ship - where Destiny detected aggression (what form, what is considered aggressive moves) perhaps the ship would act to protect the people onboard, or perhaps just act to protect the ship itself. If it survived for long it did something to stay in one piece.

ST:V had been criticised in its early seasons for having an enemy race keep showing up (the Kazon). The issue was that U.S.S. VOYAGER (the ship) was travelling in one direction back to Earth and therefore why would they keep meeting the same alien race when that alien race's territory was not that vast and they where not being chased by them (technically).


(3) The people onboard Destiny - Crew structure
The SGU producers' plan includes how to evolve the "crew structure" on Destiny - how does it change, what roles/responsibilities will be highlighted in future episodes, what conflicts can they generate/show/propagate (well SGU is still a drama type of show so conlfict is essential to this type). We already know that the people on board destiny did not expect to be on a spaceship away from Earth, this was not there expected fate, and they are not all military personnel either.


In ST:V two different crews had to co-exist on one ship. At some point in the show it felt like well now everyones fit together and there a crew (except for very minimal mentions along the way that they had been two crews). It felt more forced than a natural blending and unfortunately the Star Trek formula doesn't always allow for a more natural progression of human development and it's still very dependant on a militaristic structure which means rules. rules, rules...

In SGU I would not like to see everyone getting along, the military people have the set rules but the others do not. The interactions to date between Rush & Young have been, to me, a key segment of the show's foundation. I like the freedom the producers/writers have given these character and this needs to continue.

(4) The Destiny:
In ST:V the U.S.S. VOYAGER had some new technology never seen before in Trek - it had (and forgive me if I don't name it correctly) biological based gel packs as part of the computer system running thought out the ship. Sounded cool and high-tech but didn't really see much as to exploiting this for stories. The only one I remember is where these biological gel packs got infected once.

In SGU the DESTINY is a ship that apparently tries to look after the people on board. It won't tell you flat out but it apparently knows what you need and gives you clues as to where to get it. In order for you to do you have to imake your own interpretations. Do you think that if the Destiny does have internal defenses that it would have used them on people it thought was not good people. Will keep that nin mind for future episodes when the ship might be taken over by bad guys and see what the ship does.

In terms of technology I know DESTINY itself is a big technology example but I still feel wanting for more. It's really a big ship and there muist be alot of things to see on board. However as in the recent episode where the "chair" was found we don't reaqlly know if that chair was for the purpose we think it is for. I thought, looking at the arm restraints and electrodes at neck level that perhaps it is a device used in punichment, then again it could be a medical device.


Now my brains turning to mush. I can't think of any more comparisons.

However I do know that I want SGU to continue and be all that it can be, that is it's Destiny......

Has anyone done this for BSG? I know it is considered blasphemy by some to make such comparisons, but I have always enjoyed comparative literature.

[Choo1701]

Just had a thought about repercussions from the season finale* (or from what we know)

(* so expect the plot of the final episode of season one, to be spoiled! You have been warned!!)

well...

Spoiler:

since the Destiny is going to be taken over by evil alien warriors, led by the pretty female warrior, and since there is a clothing shortage within the Destiny Crew .... .....

.... will everbody (or whoever survives) be wearing black leather pants come the start of season 2?

You know, i'm just speculating here and all!!!

Spoiler:

Come on, you know what i mean. About how all the "evil alien" people dress in Stargate (Travellers, Bounty Hunters, Ori, Gou'ld, Vala, Wraith)

[Pandora's_Box]

What does any of this have to do with Stargate (SGU)? Like Flash Forward SGU has a decided identity problem. The difference is that on balance it seems to be coming down on the soap opera side (or at best teen-drama). The fact that there is a stargate in it is the only reason I am still watching it in the hopes that 'the old oriface' will lead to some more interesting stories like "Time."

This. And I can't believe I am marginally agreeing with this.

Although I still hesitate to call it a soap opera because by definition...well...it just isn't. What it is is a whole lot more relationship and dramatically focused than either SG-1 or SGA were. Both those shows fell heavily on the action-adventure side of the spectrum while SGU is falling a lot more heavily on the dramatic side of the spectrum.

And I don't think I like that. Not because I don't like the idea (because I loved BSG), but because the writers (in my opinion) still haven't found the balance between the dramatic relationship and the sci-fi action which still remains integral to any science fiction show.

It's like the show has it's dramatic side where all the relationshippy and dramatic things happen and then has its action/sf side, but the two never really meet anywhere and I feel this is to the detriment of the show.

At the risk of drawing on a tired parallel, the drama in BSG was a part of the plot as much as the cylon space battles were. It wasn't a matter of using a device to gain a respite from the action (which is what the body swapping thing actually is....a removal from the plot in many cases) in order for some character development and growth. All that stuff happened simultaneously.

Not so with SGU. The actors are good and the writing isn't bad which makes it all watcheable and remotely interesting, but it isn't relevant a lot of the time. And while it may be relevant to the characters and the minutae of their personalities, it'd be far more interesting and a far better story if that development was happening as a result of their adventures on the Destiny and their struggle to get home.

It's like the show and the writers can't decide whether to let go of Earth or not. Come on, writers. These characters won't truly be stranded in space, their reactions won't honestly convey the desperation to get home and see loved ones if they've got the quick fix sitting right beside them. They're not alone if they have contact with the SGC.

SGU needs to stop flip-flopping and just take the plunge into SF territory because I didn't start watching this show to watch Young beat up Telford for having sex with his wife. I can watch Grey's Anatomy for that.

[Yusagi]

Not so with SGU. The actors are good and the writing isn't bad which makes it all watcheable and remotely interesting, but it isn't relevant a lot of the time. And while it may be relevant to the characters and the minutae of their personalities, it'd be far more interesting and a far better story if that development was happening as a result of their adventures on the Destiny and their struggle to get home.

SGU needs to stop flip-flopping and just take the plunge into SF territory because I didn't start watching this show to watch Young beat up Telford for having sex with his wife. I can watch Grey's Anatomy for that.

These, pretty much.

[the fifth man]

I think they are interesting...and a good way to link the crew back to Earth. I do think there will be abuses of the stones as time goes on.

Oh, most definitely. Probably sooner than we think.

[Jper]

Oh, most definitely. Probably sooner than we think.

To be the Devil's advocate here:
Didn't we even already have that? With the whole Young-Telford conflict?

[Hallowed are the...]

To be the Devil's advocate here:
Didn't we even already have that? With the whole Young-Telford conflict?

Or the switcheroo in "Earth" that undermined Young's authority. Or the incredible lying that it encourages among otherwise fairly honest people (Eli to his mother; Scott to his ex). Or the unaddressed moral implications of a device that switches bodies and - we now know - can imprint memories.

Limits people. Fictional magic (even the magic of science fiction) is all about placing believable limits that create a form of natural or human law. Thus Harry Potter is not allowed to use magic outside of school and certainly not in the presence of muggles, just as stargates cannot work in both directions.

One is a human law designed to constrain the story and produce consequences for breaking the law. The other is a natural law of the franchise universe designed constrain the story and set certain limits that give a story some momentum.

Thus far the stones are only beginning to have those types of consequences and I cannot be alone in my happiness when Scott experienced one of Telford's memories after the swap was over. Especially given that the stone device was reverse engineered by humans who have virtually NO idea how it works to begin with. It gives the hints of the technological limits to come.

[Coronach]

Or the incredible lying that it encourages among otherwise fairly honest people (Eli to his mother; Scott to his ex).

Not so sure that this is such "incredible" lying, really. Lt. Scott's ex was not cleared to be told what was really going on, and Eli did what he thought was best for his mother given her fragile health. Remember the comment about how she "barely understands Star Trek", or something like that?

Or the unaddressed moral implications of a device that switches bodies and - we now know - can imprint memories.

Indeed--as of yet, unaddressed. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.

Thus far the stones are only beginning to have those types of consequences and I cannot be alone in my happiness when Scott experienced one of Telford's memories after the swap was over. Especially given that the stone device was reverse engineered by humans who have virtually NO idea how it works to begin with. It gives the hints of the technological limits to come.

I agree. I like the consequences, and what will be even more interesting is the character points of views of said consequences. How they handle them and the varying ways in which they view them in a moral sense (especially with regards to the body-swap communication device).

Lots of interesting stuff for SGU to do, and I'm very interested to see where it all goes.

[major davis]

Omg im soooooo psyched for justice. Still I'm so sad that there will be a 5 month break. I mean you should have seen the pain and withdrawl I went through when Atlantis ended and there was no new stargate for 10 months. Still now I'm going through withdrawl after two weeks, don't know how I will handle it. Oh and Saturday, right after the epicness that sgu is ends, I have this huge placement test I'm very nervous about. I mean right after SGU I have no time to brace myself for withdrawl. Any ideas to help. Maybe I should go back and finish watching SG-1.

[LtColCarter]

Omg im soooooo psyched for justice. Still I'm so sad that there will be a 5 month break. I mean you should have seen the pain and withdrawl I went through when Atlantis ended and there was no new stargate for 10 months. Still now I'm going through withdrawl after two weeks, don't know how I will handle it. Oh and Saturday, right after the epicness that sgu is ends, I have this huge placement test I'm very nervous about. I mean right after SGU I have no time to brace myself for withdrawl. Any ideas to help. Maybe I should go back and finish watching SG-1.

5 months? Where did you hear that? I knew it was going on a hiatus...but not 5 months.

[major davis]

Well it won't be back till April and sgu ends at the beginning of December so almost 5 months. It stinks. I know.

[jelgate]

Thats 4 months