'Life' (109) General Discussion

[Mitchell82]

I'm hoping it will be perfectly possible to enjoy SG1/SGA and SGU. I'm holding out the hope that SGU, like SGA, simply has a weak first season. I just hope its not comparatively so.

By 'nothing' I mean 'nothing of import, which we will look back in the years to come and say 'remember when''. Sure, there are minor things, such as the chair this time, and the Destiny being charged by the sun in Light (although I question why a ship pre-ATA gene would be capable of things Post-ATA is not), but nothing really big. I can't see a lot of fascinating plots revolving around recharging in the sun, and the chair will likely be a one-shot thing, if its like the face-hugging platforms.

Still, tomorrow is another SGU episode. I hope it will make up for Life's lull.

I disagree. What's happened so far is important. Kinda hard to breath without air, fly with no power etc.... Personally alot has happened and Life was far from dull IMO and so far the series has yet to disappoint me.

[Deevil]

Why does there need to be a mythology?

Good question. Unless by 'mythology' they mean setting up their 'universe', so to speak. But, even then I'm not sure why we need instant set-up. That's how we get shows with those annoying Voice Overs telling us what's happened, and why.

[Cold Fuzz]

You're asking me to defend my position:

Very well.

Destiny is chaos.
In the last 8 episodes
1. Severe injuries
2. Distrust x 3 between Rush and Young
3. Failed attempts to dial Earth x 2
4. Near catastrophic events to the ship and crew x7 (Likely 8)


Then suddenly....a Day in the Life of Destiny, episode.

And I remind you there is no transition for this for this sudden calm.
There is no organized effort before the calm to make the calm.
Suddenly there are classes...Fitness, Psych Evals, Self Defense...

It would have been Transitionally if we could see who put these organized moments into effect. We went to no one having anything to do to order and sense of business. I want to know who organize this order...

Who's bringing them together? Was it Young? Has he stepped up away from being preoccupied with his distant love life. Are the Stones not Distracting the Commander? That would be important to his character. I would learn to trust Young more if so.... Did I miss that or what?


But just suddenly organized and calm. bothered me....No Transition.
It was like watching a hurricane and then suddenly changing the channel to Hawaii...

"Destiny is chaos." Indeed it is and still continues to be--that is, if you look closely at the details of what occurred in this episode. And as jelgate so correctly put, there is order on the Destiny as well. But before I get into those details, there is something that needs to be clarified: an objective, concrete definition of what a "day in the life" episode is. Since there is no hard definition of what exactly constitutes such an episode, I'm comparing "Life" to two episodes that would undoubtedly be referred to as "day in the life" episodes: "A Day in the Life" (BSG) and "A Day in the Strife" (B5). Just by those titles alone, I think the comparison is fair. Personally I detest having to use such comparisons because it's not objective but again, you have not put forth an objective model of a "day in the life episode" so such a comparison is the best place to start on some kind of working definition.

The B5 and BSG episode have two things in common in their storylines. First, the crews in each respective show and episode have a set and well-established routine in place. They've been in their respective situations for a lengthy period of time already, at least a year. For both shows, it's their 3rd season. The plot elements in the other shows are largely irrelevant in my opinion. The key element, I think, that defines a "day in the life" episode is that the audience comes away thinking, "This is a typical day for them" with "typical" being the operative word.

This brings to mind a large litany of questions for me. But before I get to those, I will answer the questions you posed.

I want to know who organize this order...Who's bringing them together? Was it Young?

Yes, it was indeed Col. Young. That was clearly established by dialogue between Lt. Scott and Eli.

Has he stepped up away from being preoccupied with his distant love life.

Clearly not.

Are the Stones not Distracting the Commander?

Clearly and obviously they are, especially considering that near the end of the episode, he didn't want to be bothered by Eli and Lt. Scott, even though the news that they brought had profound implications for the entire crew.

That would be important to his character. I would learn to trust Young more if so.... Did I miss that or what?

Yes it would be and is important to his character and yes, from where I'm sitting, you seem to have missed that.

And I remind you there is no transition for this for this sudden calm.
There is no organized effort before the calm to make the calm.
Suddenly there are classes...Fitness, Psych Evals, Self Defense...

Did it ever occur to you that "Life" is a transition episode? As SupremeLegate correctly said, the Destiny crew is trying desperately to adjust to their new lives and situation and the episode is showing the crew's varying degrees of success and failure. As I stated before, Col. Young instituted the PT. You don't think that instituting a PT routine and psych evaluations are an effort to "make the calm" as you put it? Col. Young is trying to create order, a sense of direction and yes, calmness. However, the episode wasn't exactly calm either, was it? I'll get to the details of that later in the post.

It would have been Transitionally if we could see who put these organized moments into effect. We went to no one having anything to do to order and sense of business. I want to know who organize this order...

It's interesting you use the phrase "no one having anything to do." Surely you're not talking about the past 8 episodes, are you? You yourself said that there have been injuries, mistrust, failed attempts to dial Earth, near-catastrophic events, right? That's nothing to you? Are you aware that from where I'm sitting, you just contradicted yourself? There may not have been a ship-wide routine in place, true, but to claim that in the past 8 episodes that no one had anything to do isn't accurate, is it?

To address the rest of this question, again it was Col. Young who was attempting to create a sense of direction, order, and business. Whether or not he was successful remains to be seen.

Now as for whether or not this is a "day in the life" episode, whether or not the episode is "calm" or whether or not the show is going "soft" (your words), the answer to all of these issues is no.

Given the incidents you yourself cited, a "typical" day in the life of the Destiny crew in the past 8 episodes would involve distrust, severe injuries, failed attempts to dial Earth, and near-catastrophic events, right? But that's not exactly what happened, did it? Therefore to call "Life" a typical day in the life episode in the context of recent events, would be inaccurate, wouldn't it? Considering that the PT routine was a recent effort by Young to create order, that's not exactly fitting with a "day in the life" episode if it the effort was a NEW idea, right? Something new isn't typical, yes?

Was it a calm episode? Well, let's see, an objective definition for calm would be:

adjective 1 (of a person, action, or manner) not showing or feeling nervousness, anger, or other emotions

noun 1 the absence of violent or confrontational activity within a place or group

Was it calm for Spencer, who is now out of whatever pills he has been taking since he came onboard? Was it calm for Jeremy Franklin, who now clearly harbors hostility towards the military personnel for the way he's been treated by Spencer and because he was shot by Greer? Was it calm for Camille Wray, where the reality of her current situation devastated her emotionally? Was it calm for Matthew Scott who will likely not be there for his son and thus perpetuating his view of himself as a failure? Was it calm for Col. Young when he abruptly saw that the effort to reconcile with his wife was destroyed by Telford's manipulations? Was it calm for TJ who yet again is being asked to go outside her field of expertise and serve as ship's counselor even though she has little or experience to carry out the task? Was it calm for Nicholas Rush who lied yet again to the Destiny crew to further his Machiavellian agenda and was later confronted with that lie? Was it calm for Dale Volker who has been dangling on the edge emotionally since coming onboard (especially since he said so himself)...

Spoiler:

and will likely snap, especially considering the future events in "Pain"

...?

I submit that "Life" is not a "day in the life" episode, nor is it calm, nor is it soft. It was an emotionally-charged transition episode that showed a group of people desperately trying to adjust to an abysmal situation with varying degrees of success and failure. Granted, its status as a "day in the life" episode may still be up for debate as there has been no clear objective definition put forth of what constitutes a "day in the life" episode. As for calmness...well I think the questions I posed speak for themselves.

Now whether or not you like "Life," which clearly you do not, is a different thing altogether. If you do not like it that's fine but to ascribe qualities such as "calm" to it when the episode itself clearly doesn't exhibit calmness isn't very accurate is it?

[nx01a]

I'd venture to say it is a 'day in the life' episode. A profound day for some, but a day nonetheless. Look at how it was framed: that specific song at the beginning and end played over shots of people's routines, and how those routines changed ever so slightly: Wray forgetting then adding the boat, Chloe doing yoga... or whatever alone then with Eli, the seeds not sprouting to a single seedling. It was a day in the life that progressed their situation, like most days in most lives do, no matter how small the progression.

[Lahela]

Why does there need to be a mythology?

This is a very good question. Clearly, the show is set in the established mythology of the franchise but I don't see why it needs to develop that simply for development's sake. That said, Life did, in fact, develop it with the discovery of the chair.

[AvanGard]

I can't stop but laugh at the fact that this show "Billions of light years away on a mystery ancient ship" is taking the bulk of it time spend on Earth chasing cry baby style drama.

SG1, which was based on Earth, had fewer episodes on "Earth" than this thing.

You have the visuals, you have the sets you have the possibility of a great new story. Instead, we are stuck in this drama octangle.

What did they do to Stargate? This is not Stargate. Why do they call it Stargate? If the cast from SG1 did not appear this will be Dramagate or Crygate.

Adventure 10% (the one new location of interest the ship)
Sci Fi 10% (new tech not seen before, I buy that)
Bullsh*t 70% (pointless, worthless, unentertaining moments that can only be associated with other bad TV series that did not last long)
Stargate 10% (just because they have a gate that spins)

I can not believe that this show has the view count that it does. I guess it’s because all of us are simply hoping that the next episode will be better, will be what we want.

Well, keep hoping.

If we don’t see a serious u-turn in this show, 2 seasons is all its going to get.
At least then they can focus on SG1 and SGA movies.

SG1 -Great
SGA - Good
SGU - What?

[mparsons1981]

Well finally got round to watching this ep and well......It was rather boring for the most part, I think I almost dozed of a few times I wish someone would break those damn stones, they are really beginning to irk me now

But anyways, most of the ep was watching folks sitting around talking. Rather quite boring IMO. I want/need some action.

Thats the key isn't it! The show is at the moment really boring, and this episode was the best example of that.

[mparsons1981]

Really? I thought there might not be. Ah well. Next week, then.

It is possible that no episode is more exciting though!

[mparsons1981]

Why does there need to be a mythology?

Because if there isn't, if you don't have a great world to write stories from, then all you have to left to write about is the characters. In such a situation the characters need to be more interesting.

Why has lost been successful? 1. The characters are great, but this backed up by 2. the whole island storyline and questions that result from this.

SG1 had this -- great characters, and a fascinating world to build storylines from.

At the moment, in my opinion, sgu is failing on the first, and has done nothing to develop the second. I think you can survive without one, but not both.

[mparsons1981]

Good question. Unless by 'mythology' they mean setting up their 'universe', so to speak. But, even then I'm not sure why we need instant set-up. That's how we get shows with those annoying Voice Overs telling us what's happened, and why.

Thats fair enough, and i agree you don't need instant set up, and narratives that exist for exposition are not good.

But it seems to me, that the characters are simply not interesting enough to be able to work at this slow pace, they need to grab the audience quicker.

Sorry to bring this up again, but i think its worth it for the success it has. Lost - the characters such as jack (love him or hate him), kate (again), locke, sawyer etc grabbed the audience immeaditely, and this was one of the main reasons that the show grabbed such huge audience share in season one, --- when it had yet to build up the mythology/universe.

[Deevil]

But it seems to me, that the characters are simply not interesting enough to be able to work at this slow pace, they need to grab the audience quicker.

Sorry to bring this up again, but i think its worth it for the success it has. Lost - the characters such as jack (love him or hate him), kate (again), locke, sawyer etc grabbed the audience immeaditely, and this was one of the main reasons that the show grabbed such huge audience share in season one, --- when it had yet to build up the mythology/universe.

Yet, if you ask me Lost is full of uninteresting and uninspired characters and is helmed by someone who doesn't really know (until recently, when they got an end date) where they were going... and they were jumping all over the place and not answering any questions they raised.

I really don't like watching Lost at all, and I really believed it is overhyped.

And yet - I find a good chunk of the characters on Stargate Universe interesting... and I'm enjoying the slow build up. It's all a matter of opinion.

[mparsons1981]

Yet, if you ask me Lost is full of uninteresting and uninspired characters and is helmed by someone who doesn't really know (until recently, when they got an end date) where they were going... and they were jumping all over the place and not answering any questions they raised.

I really don't like watching Lost at all, and I really believed it is overhyped.

And yet - I find a good chunk of the characters on Stargate Universe interesting... and I'm enjoying the slow build up. It's all a matter of opinion.

Of course its a matter of opinion - something which i am keen to point out in my posts attacking sgu, lest i become attacked accused for speaking for all on fandom - its just my opinion!

The thing is though, ultimately a show needs good audience share to survive, and whilst there are those who dislike lost, its numbers have been huge, keeping it on the air.

This links to what i have said in my other posts, i do think that sgu is currently alienating a lot of the core fans who have come from sg-1 and atlantis, and as such i dont think its doing enough to bring in other people to keep in on the air long term.

To keep this on thread, i dont think that episodes like life help in this regard.

[mparsons1981]

Let me quite the review on site,

'Unfortunately, nothing mentioned above redeems “Life” from being the worst episode of SGU to date. Next week is the mid-season finale, and one would hope that SGU makes some kind of impact before a long hiatus. While the show has been pretty reliable and enjoyable thus far, “Life” was a step in the wrong direction.'

http://www.gateworld.net/news/2009/11/review-sgus-life/

[Deevil]

The thing is though, ultimately a show needs good audience share to survive, and whilst there are those who dislike lost, its numbers have been huge, keeping it on the air.

Ehh, I agree. Whether or not I personally like Lost, it does work.

This links to what i have said in my other posts, i do think that sgu is currently alienating a lot of the core fans who have come from sg-1 and atlantis, and as such i dont think its doing enough to bring in other people to keep in on the air long term.

There is no evidence of this really... as for alienating core fans - I don't take that too seriously. Fans complain all the time, it doesn't mean they don't watch.

To keep this on thread, i dont think that episodes like life help in this regard.

I quite enjoyed Life, it wasn't perfect - but I've never seen anything on Stargate that is... I do know that while some people didn't like it, some did. Who is the majority - I don't have a clue and wouldn't hazard a guess because it's impossible to quantify BUT I do know that we all look for something from a show - or and episode, so of course to some people this will be the worst episode ever made of SGU. With 9 episodes under them, I'm just not sure how much that statement counts though.

[Linda06]

Yet, if you ask me Lost is full of uninteresting and uninspired characters and is helmed by someone who doesn't really know (until recently, when they got an end date) where they were going... and they were jumping all over the place and not answering any questions they raised.

I really don't like watching Lost at all, and I really believed it is overhyped.

And yet - I find a good chunk of the characters on Stargate Universe interesting... and I'm enjoying the slow build up. It's all a matter of opinion.

I thought Lost was way overrated. I thought it was a terrible show and still can't believe I wasted so much time watching and waiting on something happening the whole first season I gave up after that But I must say for the most part I have liked SGU, the only ep I didn't like was Earth, and I did think Life was a little too slow and boring for me, but then again we can't have all guns blazing action every week.