convince me that SGU is worth watching...

[jeri]

Spoiler:

What you're describing is the fleshing-out of the characters. I acknowledged that. It's the character development that's non-existent, from a series perspective at least. It's nice to see how they would have reacted, but nice is about it. It's a novelty. It adds nothing to the story as a whole, because the development we see in the episode is limited to that episode.

I agree with you on this one, but I still found the episode a fun diversion.

[Flyboy]

Time of season 1 was good, And most of season 2 was good. Other than that it's back to SG1 and SGA. Still, SGU season 1 as bad as it was, was still better than everything else on the telly for the time it was on, other than that sacrireligious show Supernatural (that show has the best writers ever. though, I'd give em all a night in hell had I the power and if it existed for their blatant disrespect-fullness)

You... what?

I'd actually say Time is one of the worst episodes of the series.

Spoiler:

Nothing we see is ever 'our' ensemble, so none of the character development is real. The only thing you can really take from the episode is a little bit of fleshing out here and there and a bit of back-story. Beyond getting the venom, what the characters go through (or not as the case really is) is completely inconsequential.

No more a waste of time than Star Trek episodes such as 'In a mirror... darkly'

[thekillman]

I'd actually say Time is one of the worst episodes of the series.

Spoiler:

Nothing we see is ever 'our' ensemble, so none of the character development is real. The only thing you can really take from the episode is a little bit of fleshing out here and there and a bit of back-story. Beyond getting the venom, what the characters go through (or not as the case really is) is completely inconsequential.

The episode is IMO one of the best of the entire series. Yes, it's fairly inconsequential, but it's about as inconsequential as Window of Opportunity. That's the thing with time travel in general. However, the episode itself is IMO absolutely fantastic.

[Ukko]

You... what?

No one will ever know.

[Coremae]

You... what?



No more a waste of time than Star Trek episodes such as 'In a mirror... darkly'

Whenever you wake up to go about your affairs, do you first Thank God for another day of life, or do you go on about your affairs seeing your continual existence as a mere corral of impossibilities falling favorably in your direction?

And in a mirror darkly was arguably the best episode of that dreadful interpretation of Star trek

No one will ever know.

You know how it is with Pariahs.

[psl1]

I prefer season one to the rest. To me it was more like the SciFi I grew up with, no aliens to cloud the issues , just the sheer impossibilty of life in space....and I guess the ship as 'alien', patiently waiting for its secrets to be discovered. As some one put it on this forum a couple of months ago, it brought back the wonder into Scifi.

[Flyboy]

Whenever you wake up to go about your affairs, do you first Thank God for another day of life, or do you go on about your affairs seeing your continual existence as a mere corral of impossibilities falling favorably in your direction?

Neither.

I just don't believe in an idea of a god who'll get a whinge on over a tv show.

And in a mirror darkly was arguably the best episode of that dreadful interpretation of Star trek

That was my point, though actually I loved Ent. 'Darkly' was a fine ep with no connection to the rest of Ent.

[ZRFTS]

So - does it have good points? What does it bring to the table to enhance my Stargate viewing?
Or should I go back to S8, 9 and 10 of SG-1 and try to like those instead?

I may be one of it's critics but the show itself has some surprisingly good points... Take for instance a small number of the characters; Eli, Young, Greer, Rush and Chloe (mainly in the 2nd Season) are interesting characters who's depth is enhanced only by the format of the series, all of them manage to be the best characters throughout the entire season, their actors selling the believability of their characters, the pure raw emotion seeming believable and all of them have the personalities that pull you in. Eli with his nervousness but with his devotion, expertise and empathy, Rush with his very deep background, his almost cunning mannerisms yet his devotion towards Destiny and his sweet, caring nature that's deep down, Greer with his military mannerisms, off-the-wall behavior yet common mentality and Chloe with her sheer cuteness (and uncertainty in the 2nd season). There are times where the characters suck, Young having pointless sex with his ex-wife, Rush getting into a conflict with Young that went nowhere and Chloe seeming generic at times but these 5 characters are what make the show.

There's also moments where the entire cast shines; for me it's "Life" and "Human" mainly because they go in-depth with the characters and show us that there's a sort of a side, a side that natural but almost essential all the same. With "Life" it's the sort of natural side, the side where characters go to meet loved ones, connect, grow, talk it out and the side where they just live; doing exercise, talking it up, thinking about the situation they're in and "Human", it grows Rush's character to depths unseen, the type of compassion we thought he never had, the type of devotion that seems to drive him, seeing Rush lash out at his peers yet showing that he holds some care for the people around him establishes a character more as just someone to fight with Rush. There are also lesser moments within not as great episodes, "Time" is an episode I don't rather like but I do find the characters in fine form, expressing their anger and fear, confronting themselves with their past in the fact of certain death and "Sabotage" is another episode I dislike but it brings along Dr. Amanda Perry which is by far the best thing that has ever happened to Rush, the type of love that's within him, the various emotions that surface. You may have to dive through material you may or may not like but they're there.

There are some things that won't convince you to watch; things like the majority of the characters besides the 5. This is a character drama at heart yet majority of the characters feels undeveloped or generic; the standouts in this definition has to do to Wrey, TJ and Scott... All three of them have been in famous movies (For Wrey's actor, "Mulan", TJ's actor; "Smallville" I guess... Scott's, well Broadway counts right?) yet all three feel like they've just stepped fresh out of acting school, not knowing the nuances of emotion or personality; in many episodes they talk as if they're reading from a script, not bothering to show much character or even elevate themselves, there are times where they emote, where they try to show character but many of those times feels forced. Especially TJ who couldn't show natural emotion to save her life. There are many people out there who praise the characters as brilliant, who say that their stories are the most compelling since the history of time and I can admire the attempted character that's inside of them but everything that the actors do deter that and muddy up an issue that shouldn't exist in the first place; I would say that the writing is the problem (and usually is) but when you have Rush, Young and Eli being the best out of mostly every episode, where does that leave you?

There's also a lacking sense of progression that's mostly evident in Season 1. While you do have your blue aliens and progression into the revelation of Destiny, you get the sense that almost nothing is happening. The story constantly shifts into such territories as conflicts between the crew, the crew wanting to get home and the various hindrances that serve to be either dramatic or actiony and much of those situations don't do anything beneficial for our characters; you have one person attempting to rescue a person they deem unrescuable, it shows that the character is determined to not leave nobody behind but does it actually do something for our character/grow them; they do provide the plots that reflect the drama portion of the show, serve to show as their example as a character study but this is a show where these people are at an unknown place, these people are more "human" than their predecessors and the unknown place itself is filled with immense mystery. There has to be something to make us care about these characters and even this place at hand... It is only during Season 2 when there's really something promising to make us care and if you're a fan of older SG elements, introduces them too and had that been introduced in Season 1 then I doubt that the show would last longer but since Season 1 exists, it dilutes the intentions of Season 2 despite them being serious.

I'll admit, SGU does bring some new elements to the table but ultimately it's a competently created series that disapoints; it'll do nothing to enhance your ultimate Stargate experience except reveal a different side of Stargate the likes of which we have not known. You'd do best focusing on Seasons 1-8 of Stargate, Seasons 1-4 ½ of SGA and the various fanfictions that are out there, you may get tired but there are some fully realized plots and some memorable characters despite the lighter mood. If you do watch SGU be forewarned, it's a decent show with some good moments but it's not as good as the fans claim it to be nor is it really essential to Stargate as a whole. You will get a kick out of Robert Carlyle's acting though.

[Major Clanger]

wow, thank you for that well thought out reply.
I think overall this thread has convinced me to watch, but I think that what I need to do is rewatch SG-1 (S1-8) and then some of the Atlantis (not sure about how much of that I will like as some of the characters annoy me so much). After that I think I'll be ready to tackle SGU.

[Coremae]

Neither.

I just don't believe in an idea of a god who'll get a whinge on over a tv show.



That was my point, though actually I loved Ent. 'Darkly' was a fine ep with no connection to the rest of Ent.

The only troublesome part about a mirror darkly is how Kirk messes it all up later on with his brighter side of life nonsense, so much so, that eighty odd years later, humanity was still paying the price for Kirk's incompetent ideology.

[Brother Freyr]

Clanger, the consensus is that season two is superior to season one. Season one, also, improves toward the end. If you don't really like season one but can "stomach it" (as someone else wrote) you'll be rewarded in season two.

(Unfortunately, television series can't afford to take so long to get their acts together. Their fates are usually sealed during the first season. )

[carmencatalina]

Clanger, the consensus is that season two is far superior to season one.

I wouldn't say "consensus" - there are a fair number of us that loved the show from the beginning, and thought season one was very good (some of my favorite episodes are in season one).

You might say "majority", if you think the majority agrees with you, but "consensus" implies "an opinion or position reached by a group as a whole", and I would say SGU watchers didn't agree on that point. We are a varied lot!

[Brother Freyr]

I wouldn't say "consensus" - there are a fair number of us that loved the show from the beginning, and thought season one was very good (some of my favorite episodes are in season one).

Yeah, I considered consensus vs. majority before posting and decided that an opinion of season two's superiority doesn't imply a bad season one. Even those who love season one are of the opinion that season two is better, so far as I've seen on the boards. I mean, people can correct me if I'm wrong: are there SGU lovers out there who believe season one is superior to season two?

I'll edit out the "far" from "far superior," though. The emphasis isn't warranted if claiming a consensus. Thanks!

[jeri]

Many have given me the impression that they felt season 2 superior because they loved the Novus arc. Although I enjoyed the Novus story, I felt it was a foot note to Destiny's crew, (and of course it was setting the stage for interesting things for the future), I was more interested in how the crew would carry on; life on Destiny. And of course many preferred it because the crew was coming together and working as a team, but I appreciated season one's discord as much.

I enjoyed the two seasons on an equal plane, but they are certainly different.

[carmencatalina]

I think more of my favorite stories are in season 1, so if I had to pick one season over the other, I would pick season 1.

Having said that, I view SGU as one long story, and that breaking it up into "season 1" vs. "season 2" is rather arbitrary (from a narrative point of view).

I'm actually quite looking forward to my first full 40 episode rewatch - beginning to end, the whole story, to see how the narrative flows without the breaks.

As always, your mileage will vary!