'Life' (109) General Discussion

[mparsons1981]

You're expecting SGU to be SG1, which it is not. As you say there's a big difference. While you, and others, might not like it, others, like me, do like it. While old-time SG1 and/or SGA fans might not like SGU and stop watching SGU, which is totally fine with me, other new fan may discover SGU and the SG-fandom, and other shows, SG1/SGA.

Constantly comparing SGU to SG1/SGA will only lead to further disappointment on your part it seems. While to me, I choose/prefer to see the new elements as positive improvements.

In the end, I respect you and others opinions, and I can understand that you and others might not like it, however, sometimes I do wonder if people ever gave SGU a fair chance to stand on its own and grow into something more.

SG1 has already ten seasons, while SGA has five. Comparing SGU, with nine episodes, to all the other 300+ episodes might not be completely fair. You would actually need to compare SGU's first nine episode to the first nine episodes of SG1 and/or SGA. IMHO that would give you a different perspective.

Just my (general) thoughts.

Thats fair enough to a point, but its also interesting in what you say.

'Constantly comparing SGU to SG1/SGA will only lead to further disappointment on your part it seems.'

So lets stop watching now! Are you saying that universe cannot by definition live up to those shows?

Or if you are saying that universe is a different show and those expecting it to be like sg1 or atlantis are going to be dissappointed then i agree with you.

However it is still stargate, and as such surely can be expected to have more in common with the prior versions of this 'universe' than we have come to see so far.

And yes sg-1 had ten seasons - because it was great!!

If universe was on now as the initial stargate show, would it last long? Take away all the audience that have come to universe from atlantis and sg-1 and who is left watching? As such if the show continues to alienate this core audience, in my opinion the show has no future.

[Yusagi]

You're expecting SGU to be SG1, which it is not. As you say there's a big difference. While you, and others, might not like it, others, like me, do like it. While old-time SG1 and/or SGA fans might not like SGU and stop watching SGU, which is totally fine with me, other new fan may discover SGU and the SG-fandom, and other shows, SG1/SGA.

Constantly comparing SGU to SG1/SGA will only lead to further disappointment on your part it seems. While to me, I choose/prefer to see the new elements as positive improvements.

In the end, I respect you and others opinions, and I can understand that you and others might not like it, however, sometimes I do wonder if people ever gave SGU a fair chance to stand on its own and grow into something more.

SG1 has already ten seasons, while SGA has five. Comparing SGU, with nine episodes, to all the other 300+ episodes might not be completely fair. You would actually need to compare SGU's first nine episode to the first nine episodes of SG1 and/or SGA. IMHO that would give you a different perspective.

Just my (general) thoughts.

To be fair, Stargate Universe IS Stargate SG-1's spin off. To be a spin off, it's meant to be true to the spirit of the show--essentially continuing its glory when the original cannot (or when running simultaneously, continuing it in a place it cannot). Few would question that TNG, DS9, and VOY (or even ENT, really) were Star Trek. While they had different styles, they were fundamentally the same show, with different people and a different setting. (The biggest variation was DS9 where they were stationary, rather than exploratory, but when the ratings suffered, they changed angles)

I am giving SGU a fair chance, because I remember when Atlantis first started, and I ignored its first few episodes. That said, while it dragged me kicking and screaming at first, by episode nine, I was hooked. SG-1 isn't entirely fair to compare to SGU, because SG-1 had to forge its universe with very little source material, but even so, the first nine eps were probably (and this is subjective, as is all taste) superior to SGU's.

I am distressed at the fact that I am giving it my full attention, and it's not taking me anywhere. It disappoints me that Stargate, which it feels like I've waited so long for, I'm actually postponing until after I watch other, more interesting shows on Fridays. I would really like for it to win me over completely from mid-season onward.

[Yusagi]

Living up to the name!

My personal interpretation of the term--does it have the same Stargate 'feel' to it that SG-1 and Atlantis both had? No, not really. Time and the premier had glimmers of it, but otherwise...it feels a little like I'm watching The Battlestar Cylons Forgot

[mparsons1981]

I am distressed at the fact that I am giving it my full attention, and it's not taking me anywhere. It disappoints me that Stargate, which it feels like I've waited so long for, I'm actually postponing until after I watch other, more interesting shows on Fridays. I would really like for it to win me over completely from mid-season onward.

This is true, I no longer rush to watch it on my sky+ (like tivo) but watch other things first, which was unheard of with atlantis.

[Yusagi]

This is true, I no longer rush to watch it on my sky+ (like tivo) but watch other things first, which was unheard of with atlantis.

Or SG-1. We actually hijacked the television at relatives' houses just to make sure we never missed our episodes for SG-1, and with the exception of some of the late S-5 episodes which focused far too much on Keller and not enough on the actual plot, this was also the same with Atlantis.

I've barely even had moments of "Oh I really want to see the next episode" for SGU--not at their weekly cliffhangers, and not during the week as the days stretch on without anything to watch. I actually had a moment of "Do I really want to watch this...:/" this week, when I remembered the trailer for it.

Of course, I reminded myself that it's still Stargate, and still early, but...I worry for the day when that voice is stronger than the one telling me to believe in Stargate's writers is.

[mparsons1981]

It could be worse though, i remember my dissappointment with the end of galactica. I'm still bitter about daylight to this day.

Yet i remain hopeful for universe, as i have said it is still early days, it has huge backing and i am hopeful that i will come to love it.

[Yusagi]

It could be worse though, i remember my dissappointment with the end of galactica. I'm still bitter about daylight to this day.

One could argue that was true to its source, at least. I hear the original one's ending was not too stellar, either XD

Yeah, there is still hope for it to get out of its rebellious teenage years, and become a responsible SG adult. XD

[MattSilver 3k]

It could be worse though, i remember my dissappointment with the end of galactica. I'm still bitter about daylight to this day.

Yet i remain hopeful for universe, as i have said it is still early days, it has huge backing and i am hopeful that i will come to love it.

Daybreak.

[Deevil]

And thats another point - the music,

Ever since lost, too many shows are trying to do the whole 'catch up with our characters while some song plays over the top' thing, and they are all doing it badly.

Another example is flash forward, which is so bad and so obvious in its intentions to be a lost clone its ridiculous.

Musical montages are not new, and they've been used for decades in film and tv. They can be effective, sometimes, and I had no issue with it's use in this episode. It wasn't brilliant, but it didn't totally suck either.

Although, it is often overused, so I hope it isn't going to be a every episode thing.

[Skydiver]

folks, please, this topic is the episode Life, it's not the place for a random expression of your dislike/like of the show, nor is it the place to discuss BSG or the similarities that you feel sgu has with the show.

Please keep comments here centered around this particular episode of SGU

[Yusagi]

Sorry, sorry. Life sort of brings to the forefront everything which causes my misgivings about the show as a whole. Thus, in talking about it, I did get off-track. Apologies!

[Sussitout]

I am distressed at the fact that I am giving it my full attention, and it's not taking me anywhere. It disappoints me that Stargate, which it feels like I've waited so long for, I'm actually postponing until after I watch other, more interesting shows on Fridays. I would really like for it to win me over completely from mid-season onward.

I hate being negative about this series but I think this is my attitude too. What started as a sit down and watch live went to how long can I go on recording the episodes and fast forward the puff material. SG1 was/is one of my favourite TV shows ever. The fact that it is/was sci-fi is immaterial it was just sublime in a huge amount of ways. The adlibs and scripts often made me keel over (not exactly though) with laughter. Plus the sprinkling with rich tension (the Wraith v Atlantis took this too far LOL) and sadness and how SG1 used to do that with aplomb. Universe is simply more boring, aimed at the Deep Space Nine mind or general soap fans. I think the later Star Trek Enterprise which was set in an earlier time went right "back to basics" and got it right but by the time I was already hooked on SG1 which, considering episodes like Upgrades, was a bit of a bit of a piss take on heavy sci-fi and more like Red Dwarf which was adorable on the humour front. To sum up Universe has to “Upgrade” the humour, tension, sadness.

[Sussitout]

folks, please, this topic is the episode Life, it's not the place for a random expression of your dislike/like of the show, nor is it the place to discuss BSG or the similarities that you feel sgu has with the show.

Please keep comments here centered around this particular episode of SGU

Keeping strickly to your point above why did some script genius not find an excuse to write a route map to actually use the chair and thus, at a stroke, create massive amounts of tension or sadness or even humour!

Or three of these human feelings can be found on many of the SG1 episodes. It can be done- risk taking is fun!

[Jper]

So lets stop watching now! Are you saying that universe cannot by definition live up to those shows?

What I am saying is that for the persons who are complaining about this episode yet again proving that SGU is not their thing or not SG1 or indeed in their eyes not living up to the idealized image they created around SG1/SGA, or not, etc. That for those, continuing in never giving SGU a fair chance to stand on its own, will lead only to more disappointment on their side.

The feelings that Universe can or cannot live up to another show, with this and its others episode, is entirely a personal view. There cannot be something as "by definition". I am not telling anyone to stop watching either. I am saying the view might be different if you gave Universe a fair chance, instead of immediately making the unfair comparison with the ten season SG1, or five season SGA. Those series don't only have complete seasons, with more episodes, they also have finished story-lines, completed seasons etc. added with the very closed-plot/storyline character of those shows. So, a comparison between the shows is according to me just not fair.

The ninth episode of SG1 was "Thor's Hammer" and the ninth episode of SGA was "Home". Compare everything up to there, with what we have in SGU so far and it might give a different perspective. It will be a fairer comparison too.

In all honesty I must admit that I think until now, for me, personally, all three of the shows are equally matched, when I compare the first nine episodes.

Or if you are saying that universe is a different show and those expecting it to be like sg1 or atlantis are going to be dissappointed then i agree with you.

Yes that was one of the things I was saying, but I was try to give it some nuances. I would add that Universe is even avidly trying to be unlike SGU and SGA, and the discrepancy between the shows is very intentionally.

However it is still stargate, and as such surely can be expected to have more in common with the prior versions of this 'universe' than we have come to see so far.

And it has this in common. First and foremost it has the Stargate and the whole Stargate-history/background to back it up. I think you (general) are "expecting" the wrong things to be like the previous shows. SGU being Stargate doesn't mean the atmosphere, the characters, the story-lines etc. have to be the same, or similar. While it can be, the show being Stargate only implies that it takes place in the general universe created by the Stargate franchise.

If universe was on now as the initial stargate show, would it last long? Take away all the audience that have come to universe from atlantis and sg-1 and who is left watching? As such if the show continues to alienate this core audience, in my opinion the show has no future.

I consider(ed) myself part of the core audience and I like it, so do others. So the generalization that "the show" alienates the core audience is just that, a generalization. While, sure, a part of that audience may not like SGU, another part may and will.

Also, I think it's clear it is indeed the intention to attract new viewers, new fans, and add a new part to the audience, which as far as I know they did and are doing. To give a personal example, two of my friends, previously not into Stargate, started watching SGU, and will continue to do so.

And I think the question about SGU being the initial Stargate show is irrelevant. This simply isn't possible. Like I said, SGU is drawing certain elements from its predecessor, as for example the Stargate background with the existence of the stargate and this thus makes it stargate... That's what I think anyway.

To be fair, Stargate Universe IS Stargate SG-1's spin off. To be a spin off, it's meant to be true to the spirit of the show--essentially continuing its glory when the original cannot (or when running simultaneously, continuing it in a place it cannot). Few would question that TNG, DS9, and VOY (or even ENT, really) were Star Trek. While they had different styles, they were fundamentally the same show, with different people and a different setting. (The biggest variation was DS9 where they were stationary, rather than exploratory, but when the ratings suffered, they changed angles)

I am giving SGU a fair chance, because I remember when Atlantis first started, and I ignored its first few episodes. That said, while it dragged me kicking and screaming at first, by episode nine, I was hooked. SG-1 isn't entirely fair to compare to SGU, because SG-1 had to forge its universe with very little source material, but even so, the first nine eps were probably (and this is subjective, as is all taste) superior to SGU's.

I am distressed at the fact that I am giving it my full attention, and it's not taking me anywhere. It disappoints me that Stargate, which it feels like I've waited so long for, I'm actually postponing until after I watch other, more interesting shows on Fridays. I would really like for it to win me over completely from mid-season onward.

[Saquist]

Says who? It seems like with exploring the ship, guard duty, and gate travel the military has plenty to do

You know what happens to those who those assume?

-Exploring the ship is limited to habitable sections and there are only two Encounter Suits.

-While Gate travel could take up a large amount time and people they haven't done alot of gate travel.

what they have been doing is spending a lot of time on those stones.

So they really haven't been doing much.
Is that not what this episode was for...finding something to fill the time with?
Notice that they didn't fill it with any of the above points. I wonder why.

I wasn't really thrilled about "Life" when it finished on Friday.

But I just watched it again, and really, really enjoyed it.

I usually prefer my first impression of the episode.
The first impression is the most important, (for the show). I tackle it as though every time I watch it as the first time.

I thought it was boring, first impression. Nothing really happened until the end.

My second impression was that it wasn't that bad.