'Faith' (113) General Discussion

[Commander Zelix]

Yeah the ep did seem like it was missing something, and it seemed very predictable. Folks make comments about SG-1 and SGA's writing and yet I see the same writing happening for SGU. Just sayin. But I did like the character moments enough to give it a 8/10. It truly is very hard to top the last 2 eps, imo

I don't know what you mean by that. The whole plot of the episode completely fit into an SG1 episode teaser plotwise. In the first 5 min, Daniel would be trying to decipher the alien language. While Teal'c would recall the existence of a powerful race of traveler and solar system seeder feared by the goauld but largely unknown.

[jelgate]

Yeah the ep did seem like it was missing something, and it seemed very predictable. Folks make comments about SG-1 and SGA's writing and yet I see the same writing happening for SGU. Just sayin. But I did like the character moments enough to give it a 8/10. It truly is very hard to top the last 2 eps, imo

SG1 and SGA would never devote a whole episode to character developments. So I don't see how we can draw parallels between the two

[major davis]

When it comes to writing...Well, the writers have proven with SG1 and SGA that they can do pretty much everything at a high quality. It's just that the nature of those shows often required too many plot devices, contrivances and easy resolutions and an over-reliance on humor. But they could do serious drama and serious action too.

Hey reddevil. I remember you said that you thought this episode would be a dud. Now that you've seen it do you feel the same??

[Briangate78]

I don't know what you mean by that. The whole plot of the episode completely fit into an SG1 episode teaser plotwise. In the first 5 min, Daniel would be trying to decipher the alien language. While Teal'c would recall the existence of a powerful race of traveler and solar system seeder feared by the goauld but largely unknown.

It felt like a SG-1 episode, but because of that, it felt dissapointing that they did not try to decipher or do what Daniel did. So it was like you were expecting something to happen with this discovery but then nothing happened. It set up like Stargate and even though it did go into character focus, that also fell short even for a SGU kinda episode. It is like hitting the warning track in a baseball game and only getting a single instead of a Homerun. lol.

SG1 and SGA would never devote a whole episode to character developments. So I don't see how we can draw parallels between the two

Whatever floats your boat, Jellybean.

[Briangate78]

Hey reddevil. I remember you said that you thought this episode would be a dud. Now that you've seen it do you feel the same??

Well my expectations were low, so it did not really feel too dissapointing.

[major davis]

Well my expectations were low, so it did not really feel too dissapointing.

Hmm, was it the lack of action that really killed it for you, or was it the predictable story line or lack of wanted character development that made it unenjoyable. I mean I had high expectations for this episode and while it ended up very different that I originally thought it would, I was still seriously impressed with this episode. It had some great emotional scenes and Im gald that FINALLLY people are working together and not shouting at each other constantly. I also really enjoyed Wray and Eli developing a friendship. It was great to see people finally setting aside their differences and working together.

[Popcorn]

My thoughts:

I should start with saying that I don't believe the ancients (Including the ascended ones) made the star and planet.. Saying they would do something 'nice' like that is well stupid. They don't care about either of the 2 Galaxies they 'seeded' or a race they had an alliance with that was becoming extinct why would you think they care about some people on a ship. For those that say they done nice stuff before sure some rogue ones have but only due to punishment from the rest (Not counting the one that helped Teal'c in the movie they may of allowed that due to wanting to save their own butts)


Now lets get to the planet and star and that Obelisk.

My theory is that a race WAY more advanced then the ancients made it as some grand experiment on evolution. They made the perfect test grounds to see how life starts naturally through evolution. The obelisk is like a calling card back to them letting them know that life has been detected on the planet and to come back. It has water and food to support life and it was placed out in the middle of nowhere to stop any 'interference' from races. It just fits some kind of scientific experiment.

Now when they come back either they are gonna be pissed that some randoms trashed their planet and ruined their experiment and they well not be very happy about it OR they will end up helping them.

Now for those that don't think there could ever be a race more advanced then the ancients let me give you my theory on the races and you draw your own conclusions.

1.) Ancients - Advanced race that sought knowledge and ascension, They got to a point where they stopped technologically advancing (their choice) and decided to seek out ascension instead.

2.) Asgard - Technologically advanced race but due to constant war with replicators they couldn't put all efforts into it and got 'stuck' at a certain point, also due to cloning problems they couldn't see themselves advancing much farther.

3.) Nox - Passive technological race they seek out natural and passive ways to advance themselves spiritually. Their technology only exists to defend and due to how good it is they really have no need to advance it much further.

4.) Wraith - Advanced race that only comes out to feed then goes to bed kinda like a bear in the winter. They have no real reason to advance technologically since they have a feeding ground that is easy pickings.

5.) Unknown SGU race (Not hostile blue ones) - Most advanced race we have found evidence of creating their own star and planet - Unlike the ancients they have no interest in Ascension they pour all their knowledge into advancing technologically becoming even more advanced then the ancients ever were.

Well thats my theory.

[harakiri]

Jelgate:
Again I find myself to agree with you,as I often do. Yeah,you better believe it!


After reading the first 3 pages I had to make a post myself,and here is what I think:
This episode shows that this show have the potential to be everything. All from what we liked from SG-1 and SGA to
eh,yeah this.. One thing that strikes me is that this episode`s story could easy have been longer.
I like that one person saw this as a gift from "God" . Some people here dont like the talk about beliefs in God,or the Religion thing. I find this interesting since it opens the question to what is a "God" ? If there was a race that made this planet or even an entire solar system,then I give the "God" definition a chance. Who`s to say a race needs to be more than óne "force" ? And the Christianity has its own spirit (holy spirit),so what is a "God" if not an entity thats able to create planets,life and sun and so? I feel we have to give the perspective of "God" a wider look than just thinking about it as an religious belief.
Lets say it was a very friendly race (or being) that did know that a ship would arrive there at a given time,and was in need of faith or in need of options. The entity then decided to create life as the life that would arrive there would recognise from their own home world. The race did only have to decide to create it,with no effort at all,this could be called an "almighty" race,but it does not have to be a religion behind it,just a creation made from a creator. The word "God" does not have to be a religious meaning behind it. Or does it?

The Ancient were highly advanced,and some here thinks that the writers might not want to create races that are more advanced than them,but cant two races or more be as equal highly advanced,but not the same way of eachother? We`re far from the galaxy`s any Stargate shows has been before,maybe there are other "ancient" races there? Maybe not more advanced,but just different. The Ancient made the Destiny and did send ship (ships?) ahead of it to seed planets with Stargates,so its could be safe to say that not even the Ancient knew what was out there waiting.
This is however only some thoughs an speculation from my side.

Back to the episode. Its good. It left me with some answers,but a lot more questions,which is ok.
TJ. Great character and I did not see that pregnancy come,but I was still not very surprised. And I will think Young is the father,which makes it all very interesting.

To see that Rush is not in perfect health after removing the tracking device was great writing IMO,it also gave me a way to know the timeline a bit. That Rush this time adviced Young to get those people home no matter what it takes,was kinda cool. He did agree (to a point) with Young for once. It felt like Rush changed a bit,and I have said I expected him to change a lot in the future. Maybe even become more trust worthy,and if he and Young finds some common ground I dont see why he could`nt. The two of them should work together in the future. It would benefit them,and all the others. They all should soon know by now that they aint going home anytime soon. While Destiny was Rush`s "dream",Young sees it as the hard facts and reality which they`re in. Chess sometime soon? Who would win?

Young: Well...I like the man! I dont have much more to say really. If anyone there is able to make peace on the ship he would be a important part of that to happen. Neither he or the other (except Rush) wanted to go there,and from where he/they left it was under military control,so I see it as kinda logic that he feels he should lead the people,but mostly the military. The military on the other hand would always depend on the people with all kind of different skills.

Chloe & Scott: The story continues well here. And nothing much was reviled. I took myself in expecting the very known and to often used : "I think we should talk" ,happy to see it did not come. Its evident that it will come a point when they do,which is ok,then..just not right away.

I only watched the episode once yet,so if I forgot something,or that something was wrong or even completely wrong then I apologize.

My rating of "Faith" : 8/10

[Coronach]

Jelgate:
After reading the first 3 pages I had to make a post myself,and here is what I think:
This episode shows that this show have the potential to be everything. All from what we liked from SG-1 and SGA to
eh,yeah this.. One thing that strikes me is that this episode`s story could easy have been longer.
I like that one person saw this as a gift from "God" . Some people here dont like the talk about beliefs in God,or the Religion thing. I find this interesting since it opens the question to what is a "God" ? If there was a race that made this planet or even an entire solar system,then I give the "God" definition a chance. Who`s to say a race needs to be more than óne "force" ? And the Christianity has its own spirit (holy spirit),so what is a "God" if not an entity thats able to create planets,life and sun and so? I feel we have to give the perspective of "God" a wider look than just thinking about it as an religious belief.
Lets say it was a very friendly race (or being) that did know that a ship would arrive there at a given time,and was in need of faith or in need of options. The entity then decided to create life as the life that would arrive there would recognise from their own home world. The race did only have to decide to create it,with no effort at all,this could be called an "almighty" race,but it does not have to be a religion behind it,just a creation made from a creator. The word "God" does not have to be a religious meaning behind it. Or does it?

Hmm, I'm not sure. When people talk of "God" (or gods), they never mean a highly-advanced race of beings within the universe itself. I think it obscures the definition of what people usually mean when they say "God" if you include things like advanced natural beings as gods.

Additionally, I think it's misleading to look at the god definition in this way. Simply because a race appears extremely advanced to us does not make them gods. It brings back an interesting quote from Arthur C. Clarke (that I think Daniel used in SG1, actually):

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

I think he used it in reference to the Goa'uld, in that just because they appear to be capable of extraordinary things does not make them gods, and we should not be tempted into calling them gods as such.

[Kaiphantom]

While it was... alright... I have to admit I was expecting more out of this episode. The whole thing can basically be summed up as: "Crew finds new star and planet, created by... someone. They go camping. Some stay, some come back up. The end. Oh, and TJ is pregnant." It really feels like they had little material and just stretched it to make up an episode. And a big reason for my dislike is Faith itself, but I'll get to that in a moment.

Hell, they didn't have much character focus, which is a big part of each of my reviews, but I suppose I'll still try:

Rush - Ever the man of cold, cruel logic, and science. He'd like to know who made the place, and he's practicing his logic again when talking about bringing up the people who want to stay, by force. While I can understand wanting to stay, it's very selfish of those people to do that, without thinking of everyone else.

Young - Good to see he's doing the council thing, and trying to get people to work together. My opinion of him grows.

Wray - I liked her more in this episode, even though I disagreed with her about people wanting to stay.

Eli - Loved his Wrath of Khan reference, and his interactions with Wray. I wonder if he's starting to branch out and talk to people he normally wouldn't, in order to get more of a handle on what's going on?

TJ - Apparently, a trained military person wasn't using any type of birth control(like an IUD) while on an official assignment, so that leaves little hope for someone like Chloe. They need more medical personnel somehow, though. A pregnant doctor will be in even less of a position to help the crew.

Chloe - sex symbol ahoy. That's what she's there for. Anyone who still doubts that after this episode, needs their brain checked. Disappointing to see them still do this to her character, when she could do so much more. And since TJ wasn't using birth control, it would be extremely poor writing for Chloe to dodge the bullet, too. "But Kaiphantom, they only had sex ONCE! It's still good! It's still good!" Sorry, I'm not as naive as Eli. Oh, lest I forget; the shuttle can hold 17, and yet we're supposed to believe they left at least one spot open so that useless Chloe could decide to invite herself along? And then not want to leave, but somehow, for unexplained reasons, she changed her mind and came back anyway? Hello, consistency?

No one else really stood out for me, other than the stupidity of Dr. Caine; and here I was starting to like him. This ties in with my dislike in general of Faith, because it's so incredibly open to interpretation. You can take two men on a camping trip; one sets his cell phone down on a rock, a minor tremor knocks it into a large hole. The first man says, "It is God's will that we go on without the phone; he didn't want us to have it. I have Faith he will take care of us." The second says, "No, it is God's will, that I go down and get it. he is testing my Faith, and I have Faith he will protect me as I go in there."

Who is right? Faith is merely an excuse to avoid thinking. Let me clear, that I have no problems with any particular religions (except when they kill abortion doctors or encourage people to become suicide bombers). If someone wants to believe in a God, that's fine. I don't know what's out there myself. But there is an old saying, "God helps those, that help themselves." In other words, God doesn't want blind idiots. He'll only help those that take *smart* steps to help themselves and people around them.

A real Stargate episode would have made more discoveries about the obelisk and the planet, while still leaving some mysteries. In this one, we got nothing. They came, they saw, they left. With a bit of extra food and water. The stupidity and selfishness of people who wanted to stay, meant that they couldn't get as much food and water for those on the ship. I really hope we never see those people again, or learn that something bad happened to them because they weren't using the brains God gave them.

Really hoping for something from that robot. And really hoping the next episode gives us more. Rush's backstory has always interested me; I think it's a good topic to go into. Hope they don't disappoint. The last two episodes were pretty good, so I'll give them a pass on this episode and hope for better next week.

[harakiri]

Hmm, I'm not sure. When people talk of "God" (or gods), they never mean a highly-advanced race of beings within the universe itself. I think it obscures the definition of what people usually mean when they say "God" if you include things like advanced natural beings as gods.

Additionally, I think it's misleading to look at the god definition in this way. Simply because a race appears extremely advanced to us does not make them gods. It brings back an interesting quote from Arthur C. Clarke (that I think Daniel used in SG1, actually):

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

I think he used it in reference to the Goa'uld, in that just because they appear to be capable of extraordinary things does not make them gods, and we should not be tempted into calling them gods as such.

Yes,I was actually thinking about that too. However Jackson was then talking about a race that did do harm to others. The Goa'uld was not (as I see it) a creating race. They were more advanced than a lot of races (including humans),and they used it to rule over the less advanced beings. So that`s why I just use the "God" as a definition and not as a concrete demanding and ruling entity. If you see what I mean. I myself do not have the beliefs in the God as the different religions have. Its just that I cant rule it out that something,someone or for some reason do we have this planet,with our life,and the earths life itself. I might have made it unclear or something; its only the definition that a God is a creator of life,which don`t feel the need to be worshiped I was thinking about. But if I am wrong about the definition of "God" ,and it has everything to do with the demanding entity that we know from religions,well,then am sorry that I haven`t got it totally right.

The planet anyway did seem perfect,and if there was a race that created it,they did a very nice job. I am not sure if I would have wanted to stay there instead of going back to Destiny though. It is a good point that Destiny has the stargate and that might give better odds getting back home than waiting for a miracle. If that`s where I wanted to go after seeing a planet so untouched.

[nobycane]

You know what this episode reminded me of... a reference to mythology and biblical references in our history.
Think about it........ Destiny suddenly drops out of FTL to single star system with one one satellite; and earth-like planet that is almost identical to our own - but with no stargate. A lot of characters are at peace with this planet-like paradise, and wanting to stay.

What I got out of this episode and the impression that I had was this planet was like the "Garden of Eden". Isolated and off the map - I believe that the ancients may have already been there and established the planet as another home for some reason or another.... therefore it is considered a "lost paradise".

For all we know that other ancient ship (ahead of Destiny) may very well had ancient people at one time and something happened and it was ordered to create this system...

...then again, this paradise could have been easily a 'trap' too. Hence the beacon of light.

[timebandit]

what about those long and really cold winters there [assuming theyre correct and no matter where they fly to itll be the same]? So - not quite perfect. But probably survivable in the shuttle.

[Sp!der]

Hello,
Yesterday I watched Star Trek: Voyagers Episode The 37s... and it so much reminded me of that episode, maybe because some of the voyagers crew wanted to stay on that planet too. but i liked this episode, and they finally used the character of tj!!!!

[aretood2]

what about those long and really cold winters there [assuming theyre correct and no matter where they fly to itll be the same]? So - not quite perfect. But probably survivable in the shuttle.

The thing I'm wondering is how long would it take before the shuttle runs out of power?