'Faith' (113) General Discussion

[s09119]

Atlantis kind of a mistake. They had to make the ancients look sort of dumb to make the show work. Otherwise we would be fighting an enemy that was actually stronger then the Ancients which would be impossible.

That's an excuse for lazy writing.

[The_Asgard_live]

When two species expand outwards and consume resources until there's only enough left for one to survive, the one that's most aggressive is usually the one that survives. An intelligent, sentient species would be even more likely to be aggressive since they would understand this.

Assuming that evolution in the way that we conceive of it is universal. Aliens are just that... alien.

[The_Asgard_live]

We saw no details at all really of the Obelisk. But I will give you that I don't think the Ancients would have had writing all over the obelisk. And writing in a different language. At least I assume different, unless the crew no longer recognizes Ancient.

Could be the ancients. To me this does not seem like a feat beyond what we know they could do. And the ascended ones could certainly create things from thin air (stargates and such). Also, the atmosphere was perfect for humans. The vegetation was suitable, tasty, and even medicinal, again, for humans. What are the odds (beyond plot necessity) that some alien race would evolve and create the perfect human compatible planet in that galaxy?

[Jakerod]

Could be the ancients. To me this does not seem like a feat beyond what we know they could do. And the ascended ones could certainly create things from thin air (stargates and such). Also, the atmosphere was perfect for humans. The vegetation was suitable, tasty, and even medicinal, again, for humans. What are the odds (beyond plot necessity) that some alien race would evolve and create the perfect human compatible planet in that galaxy?

Quite good if they found the seeder ship. Analyzed anything stuck to it and then decided to make a trap for humans. I'm going to use my Hansel and Gretel analogy again. The house seemed good... until the woman tried to eat them.

[death13a]

1 star, 1 artificial created planet hidden from everyone and Destiny just crosses it path, doubt it. I think seeder didn't drop stargate is because it was too new but it did marked for Destiny to follow as it fly just withing shuttle range.

As for planet i think it just a science project to see if they are capable to create planet and support plant life (atmosphere) as planet without neighboring objects is good to colonize without further prospects.

So as species that can create planet just for experiment i doubt they would bother with humans as for helping them and it may lead to same thing as with Rush where he was studied, marked and released; for them on planet i guess it more like studied and put into zoo as unique specimens.

[timebandit]

did anyone actually end up staying behind?

[Pharaoh Atem]

just want to say greer made me LOL

[Alan Wake]

did anyone actually end up staying behind?

We don't know yet.

It wasn't made clear.

[xxxevilgrinxxx]

1 star, 1 artificial created planet hidden from everyone and Destiny just crosses it path, doubt it. I think seeder didn't drop stargate is because it was too new but it did marked for Destiny to follow as it fly just withing shuttle range.

As for planet i think it just a science project to see if they are capable to create planet and support plant life (atmosphere) as planet without neighboring objects is good to colonize without further prospects.

So as species that can create planet just for experiment i doubt they would bother with humans as for helping them and it may lead to same thing as with Rush where he was studied, marked and released; for them on planet i guess it more like studied and put into zoo as unique specimens.

just happened to appear for the Destiny
I'm still holding out for the Destiny herself cooking up this little adventure

[MattSilver 3k]

That undermines the whole point of the episode in having faith about the unknown if we know everything about the planet.

A+ for Jelgate. That's totally how I'd sum it up.

Anyways, after the action-packed Space/Divided duo, we return to a subtler, slower, type of story, and I loved it. Of course, it's the characters that make it all worthwhile, and there were no disappointments. Props to the freelancer who wrote this episode - although it was polished by the actual writing staff, he didn't do anything crazy out of the box, which was a good thing - the last thing we want is some freelance mucking things up.

Faith was fun, I've decided, because of the ensemble nature sticking out in spades again. Young Vs Rush Vs Wray is toned down to awesome levels this week - the sense of him actually trying to cooperate is evident, and he didn't even go all psycho this time around at either of them. Young's only angry moment today was on the Faith planet, which was understandable - who would want to lose Scott and TJ for the long run? I know I wouldn't. Still, the look on TJ's face when she was forced to come back with Young (Aka the father of her unborn child!) was heartbreaking. Rush, meanwhile, was stubborn as all hell but not causing trouble, which is a nice change. I just hope he and Young can keep up the pretend-niceties over some chess games!

TJ was my shining star in this episode. Wow. Emotional range coming out the wazoo, and props to Alaina for that. I was worried about the pregnancy storyline, but it's good so far - nothing overly dramatic and character killing. It's just a plain ol' pregnancy that TJ wanted to end on the planet, where it would be safe for her little it. But nope, Young stopped her. Ouch. The conversation the two of them are going to have in the future is going to be fun (Two episodes from now, taking all bets!)

I loved Scott here. Never say he isn't loyal, 'cause he is to those he thinks he can help. Volunteering to stay behind on the planet to help TJ and Chloe and the others was a good move, and even Young must've thought so - the Colonel didn't even reproach him for it in the end. "Heart as big as a house" (From Water) indeed. Chloe, meanwhile, was interesting. That she and Matt hit a rough patch and have kinda moved on was great, but I'm still sensing some future blow-ups between the two. That she came back in the end indicated that maybe she wants to be with him, and since he was leaving... she followed.

Everyone else had some cool moments too. Eli and Wray's bonding moments were fantastic - two characters that I'd have never guessed interacting is always great. They even seemed friendly (And I lol'd at Eli chatting with James and Wray, and got the distinct feeling he was a gal-pal at that juncture), so good stuff. Greer was great with his "cooperation" talk, while Park/Brody's dynamic duo was fuggin' hilarious with the shuttle, even a month on. Shame to lose the shuttle, but what are you going to do? Caine and his band of Faithers might need it.

All in all, this episode was pretty fly all around. Nice character interactions - Eli/Wray, TJ/Scott, TJ/Chloe, Young/Rush - although the mystery light from the obelisk was a bit of a let-down mystery. I was hoping for an ending on the planet with the aliens returning or something, but alas...

[wingsabre]

Somehow, I get the feeling that we might encounter more planets like this, or we'll see the aliens again. If they're able to build a planet, they should be able to track Destiny with the information on the shuttle. Maybe it'll be this series's Asguard.

[dosed150]

seems like no one stayed on the planet, think it would be cool if at a later date we get an episode a bit like voyagers distant origin, in that the aliens do turn up find evidence of us and investigate, not the dinosaurs in space thing,
seeing the blue light coming out of that obelisk reminded me so much of the forerunner structures in the halo games
not too sure about the tj pregnant storyline but im willing to wait and see, seeing her on the planet with her hair down made me think of leia in return of the jedi

[Gallienus]

Well I have more than a few things to say here, so my apologies already for a long post.

Note these thoughts are in no particular order...

Firstly, I thought they made Dr. Caine's faith look just a tad bit more like insanity in this episode. I don't know if that was their intent, or if perhaps I'm simply interpreting what I saw incorrectly. As a believer myself, I can see the allure of what was once called "divine providence" in explaining unlikely or improbable events. Surely if conditions had been different from the beginning, Caine's desire to stay behind would make no small amount of sense. They say in our own galaxy sun like stars of class G2 V are brighter/more luminous than about 85% of all the stars in the galaxy. And what are the chances of running across a totally habitable planet that's not on the flight plan in that same system really? If everything was natural and kosher, if you will, I could have identified with Caine strongly, however, this is not the case. Caine's "faith" really seems to be entirely blind, reckless and based on no credible reading of the available facts.

The whole setup from the beginning threw up red flags for me. Not just that the star was effectively at Age 0, but that the planet had a fully developed, oxygenated atmosphere, AND it appeared to be -the only- planet in the entire system. Moreover the world appeared to be perfectly suited for human habitation, with fresh water and lots of edible plant life. The obelisk was really only the final piece to convince me that it would be excessively -hazardous- to stay on that planet, given its obvious artificiality and the unknown nature of its creators.

Still, none of this seemed to affect Dr. Caine. He seemed quite literally obsessed with the planet and no logical reasoning could sway him. Some of you might argue that this is the "nature" of faith, but in my book, such a view is outrageously cynical. I have faith, but I also have reason and free will, and when situations seem to good to be true, I'm usually confident that they are. There really was no sane reason for Caine to be so gung-ho about staying behind, and I felt this really gutted the "faith" aspect of things for me, in this case.

Second, I agree with some of the previous posts, having Chloe come back was somewhat inconsistent. To be fair we didn't get to see who exactly stayed behind, but this is one of those decisions that just screams "contractual obligations!" It happens and it does affect storytelling, but making SGU is also a business decision and so, here we are.

Third, I didn't see any hypocrisy when it came to Rush's actions today. Rush's suggestion to use force to bring the people back was based on his well-established pragmatic and utterly sentimentality-free nature. His problem is with Young, it's always been with young and in my mind he's showing he's able to look past that personal animosity when he knows full well what must be done. Attrition IS a problem, Destiny can't afford to lose people by the dozens every time they find a nice planet. Considering all the people that will likely die by accident, in war, of natural causes and etc, the decision makes sense. I did like the continuity of Rush barely being able to walk, that showed these events happened near to those of Divided and those little details matter.

Fourth, enough with the musical montages already!

Fifth, this episode reminded me of any of the first ten episodes of BSG Season 4. In the interest of disclosure I really hate how that series ended, but in the early stages of the last season all the episodes seemed to be all set up with no payoff. I feel (and I know no spoilers for future eps) that this is a setup with more to come in the future. That would explain why nothing was really fleshed out right then and there. I think that planet they found is trouble, and I expect that trouble to catch up with them eventually. We also see that TJ is pregnant, I'll admit I didn't know -immediately- what was going on but the reality of it was telegraphed pretty strongly, perhaps by design. I thought TJs decision to stay was perhaps the strongest of any of the characters, and the most based on a reasonable assessment of the facts.

Sixth, and finally, I'm glad to see them exploring the ship and actually expanding the "real estate" available for occupation. So much of Destiny is unexplored, I'm particularly interested in what that "Dome" area is for (shown in Air part 2 I think) and the forward "bridge" or observation deck. That's one reason I hope the show lasts for a while just so we can actually see what the ship is really about. Anyway that's all for now, I'd give this episode 3 of 5 stars, it was okay, had some interesting plot points and what the payoff(s) down the line are might affect how I feel about this episode. Cheers!

[s09119]

Well I have more than a few things to say here, so my apologies already for a long post.

Note these thoughts are in no particular order...

Firstly, I thought they made Dr. Caine's faith look just a tad bit more like insanity in this episode. I don't know if that was their intent, or if perhaps I'm simply interpreting what I saw incorrectly. As a believer myself, I can see the allure of what was once called "divine providence" in explaining unlikely or improbable events. Surely if conditions had been different from the beginning, Caine's desire to stay behind would make no small amount of sense. They say in our own galaxy sun like stars of class G2 V are brighter/more luminous than about 85% of all the stars in the galaxy. And what are the chances of running across a totally habitable planet that's not on the flight plan in that same system really? If everything was natural and kosher, if you will, I could have identified with Caine strongly, however, this is not the case. Caine's "faith" really seems to be entirely blind, reckless and based on no credible reading of the available facts.

The whole setup from the beginning threw up red flags for me. Not just that the star was effectively at Age 0, but that the planet had a fully developed, oxygenated atmosphere, AND it appeared to be -the only- planet in the entire system. Moreover the world appeared to be perfectly suited for human habitation, with fresh water and lots of edible plant life. The obelisk was really only the final piece to convince me that it would be excessively -hazardous- to stay on that planet, given its obvious artificiality and the unknown nature of its creators.

Still, none of this seemed to affect Dr. Caine. He seemed quite literally obsessed with the planet and no logical reasoning could sway him. Some of you might argue that this is the "nature" of faith, but in my book, such a view is outrageously cynical. I have faith, but I also have reason and free will, and when situations seem to good to be true, I'm usually confident that they are. There really was no sane reason for Caine to be so gung-ho about staying behind, and I felt this really gutted the "faith" aspect of things for me, in this case.

Second, I agree with some of the previous posts, having Chloe come back was somewhat inconsistent. To be fair we didn't get to see who exactly stayed behind, but this is one of those decisions that just screams "contractual obligations!" It happens and it does affect storytelling, but making SGU is also a business decision and so, here we are.

Third, I didn't see any hypocrisy when it came to Rush's actions today. Rush's suggestion to use force to bring the people back was based on his well-established pragmatic and utterly sentimentality-free nature. His problem is with Young, it's always been with young and in my mind he's showing he's able to look past that personal animosity when he knows full well what must be done. Attrition IS a problem, Destiny can't afford to lose people by the dozens every time they find a nice planet. Considering all the people that will likely die by accident, in war, of natural causes and etc, the decision makes sense. I did like the continuity of Rush barely being able to walk, that showed these events happened near to those of Divided and those little details matter.

Fourth, enough with the musical montages already!

Fifth, this episode reminded me of any of the first ten episodes of BSG Season 4. In the interest of disclosure I really hate how that series ended, but in the early stages of the last season all the episodes seemed to be all set up with no payoff. I feel (and I know no spoilers for future eps) that this is a setup with more to come in the future. That would explain why nothing was really fleshed out right then and there. I think that planet they found is trouble, and I expect that trouble to catch up with them eventually. We also see that TJ is pregnant, I'll admit I didn't know -immediately- what was going on but the reality of it was telegraphed pretty strongly, perhaps by design. I thought TJs decision to stay was perhaps the strongest of any of the characters, and the most based on a reasonable assessment of the facts.

Sixth, and finally, I'm glad to see them exploring the ship and actually expanding the "real estate" available for occupation. So much of Destiny is unexplored, I'm particularly interested in what that "Dome" area is for (shown in Air part 2 I think) and the forward "bridge" or observation deck. That's one reason I hope the show lasts for a while just so we can actually see what the ship is really about. Anyway that's all for now, I'd give this episode 3 of 5 stars, it was okay, had some interesting plot points and what the payoff(s) down the line are might affect how I feel about this episode. Cheers!

No offense to the faithful, but belief in a god is by itself "blind, reckless and based on no credible reading of the available facts," to quote you directly. That's what makes it faith as opposed to science.

[retiredat44]

filler..

the hype was more than what was produced..
unless some future episode uses this episode to advance the story,, I mean a real good connection,, it was filler..