'Life' (109) General Discussion

[Yusagi]

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.

All of these episodes could have been skipped, and few would question it. Yes, refueling in the sun is a fun-fact, but did it need two episodes? Will their fixing the air flow matter anymore than if it worked from the start? Not likely. Same with the water. Likewise, when we are 4 years on, unless the eps have gone downhill, will we look back and go "Remember when Destiny was suffocating/dehydrating/etc? That was awesome!"

[Sp!der]

i miss atlantis, and most of all sg1. nuff said.

[Starrtom]

I thought Life was the best character based episode yet, I really enjoyed it. I didn't find it boring or slow at all, I found it really fascinating. It also finally hit home for me how differeny SGU is to SG1 and SGA.

And now it's official for me, yes I am in love with TJ, I think she is great

[m_wendy_r]

This episode made me realise what's wrong with the show - for me. It's spending far too much time on a planet that is supposed to be on the other side of the universe.

They need to destroy the stones and let the crew build friendships and move forward without the baby-daddy drama or the weird love triangle (they could do a triangle on the ship if they wanted). If it really was going to be about this kind of stuff, making it reliant on the stones in order for it to work, then why bother setting it so far away on a ship that they can't physically leave.

This show has so much potential, but instead it's falling short and sticking with soap-like drama that needs to be held back a little bit. I know it's a matter of opinion, but it's an opinion I know I share with both people here and casual viewers and "light fans" all over, but the series is turning out to be boring. Simply because it doesn't grab you.

And it just lacks sci-fi, IMHO. I really wanted them to go back to that chair, spend more screentime on it. I'm truly disappointed that it took a backseat.

[Ben 'Teal'c would WIN!!' Noble]

Drama: Good
Soap: Bad (i have a son! chole is sleeping around!)
Stargate-ness: ok

Nuff said.

[Deevil]

Drama: Good
Soap: Bad (i have a son! chole is sleeping around!)
Stargate-ness: ok

Nuff said.

Dude, Chloe has sex with one person. I'd hardly call that 'sleeping around'.

[Yusagi]

Again, I don't want the stone destroyed, because theres great plot to be had with them, but they can't have too many episodes like Life, where half of the show is on Earth. doing things unrelated to tech, Gate, or Destiny. Otherwise, skip the ship, and call it SG:LA

[natyanayaki]

All of these episodes could have been skipped, and few would question it. Yes, refueling in the sun is a fun-fact, but did it need two episodes? Will their fixing the air flow matter anymore than if it worked from the start? Not likely. Same with the water. Likewise, when we are 4 years on, unless the eps have gone downhill, will we look back and go "Remember when Destiny was suffocating/dehydrating/etc? That was awesome!"

I def think this show is FAR from perfect, but considering the goal of the writers with SGU, I do think those episodes are necessary. The show is supposed to be a more contemporary Sci-Fi show, which in theory means some sort of combination of BSG/LOST. I would say, include more focus on the "disasters," more focus on the characters on the Destiny and less time on Earth. My problem with Life, wasn't that it was slow, or that there wasn't enough action, my problem was that it seems that more time is spent on Earth, than is on the ship, and among the characters on the ship. As much as Scott annoys me, his drama didn't annoy me that much, Wray's drama didn't annoy me that much, but why so much time on Young-Mrs. Young-Telford? Do we really need to be reminded that Young has a wife he's manipulating into not moving on with her life in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE?

[Saquist]

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.

When I contemplate a "Day in the Life episode the elements you speak of are often in place. Irrelevant plot elements or distractions that consume our characters. You use the word typical, I prefer the word routine. I think it fits best regardless of whether the days events are typical, meaning to happen consistently routine isolates a character behavior that is consistent rather than to say this a typical day of events.

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

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.

I usually let a story-teller tell me the story instead of haphazardly guessing. According to the episode. Col. Young purpose instituting the Physical Training is to keep every one in shape. He didn't say it was to establish a routine. He didn't say he was concerned with establishing a calm. I'm not sure if there is anything in the episode that can be considered transitional.

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?

In the last 8 episodes we have seen failed attempt to dial Earth, near catastrophic events and mistrust, yes they have had nothing to do.There is a crew of 80 something people on Destiny.
-The Catastrophes of Air were resolved by a small group of people.
-The Events of Darkness were resolved in Light by the ship itself.
-The Events of Water were resolved by two individuals out of the 80
-The events of Time were self resolving by the cast regulars
-The events of Life were escalating but finally involved a greater amount of the crew.

As a result I found the episode sudden and a abrupt attempt at showing a status quo...but not the actually creation of the status quo. So it doesn't seem transitional at all. They're doing pretty much what they've always done stir up each others emotion while living on a ship billions of light years from earth.

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?

To call the events of life a typical "Day in the Life" of the Destiny crew in context to the catastrophes of the past 8 episodes would be inaccurate. I understand that this what you mean by "Day in the Life".

What I mean by "Day in the Life" is that Life is attempting to be a DAY IN THE LIFE story. Not in context to other known Day in the Life of stories, Not in context of Destiny's typical Days. Rather I mean that I believe the story is Transplanting a Day in the Life of template on a Destiny Day.

And the thing that bothers me is that we haven't seen a normal "calm" day where the air wasn't threatening to blow out into space or they didn't have food, water, power or diving into a star. So, you ask have I considered if this is a transitional show. How? How could this be a transitional show? Where is the beginning of that calm, where was the structured order that lead to the calm? You you have me to believe that all the discord between the military and civilians that were at odds in one episodes believing that military was keeping them out of the loop, and Young spying openly on the civilians just bounded out of the spot light so that we could "transition" to these day to day like routines? No. You could see it if you want to Fuzz but I don't see it, and I don't wish to fabricate it to make it possible. I really just trust what I see. Yet what I didn't see was resolution of these issues that would allow these character or at least these two groups to meld with these similar task.

Which gets me into why I don't care for the writing of these episodes. They are designed in an artificial way to start drama, but never to resolve it but in order people to work together resolution or environmental stimuli allows it. Problem is we only see the latter. I don't trust this story telling method because that makes it contrived, forced by writing not natural and flowing.

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"

...?

The direct answer is Yes, I find these events to exhibit traits of calm.
The first defintion is for emotional calm which doesn't apply to the episode.
But the lack of catastrophe and thus the lack of violent activity is the calm that applies. Their live are not in danger. Things have settled down and thus...they are attempting to show a development of a routine...but it literally comes out of nowhere.

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?

I'm indifferent to the episode. I don't care enough about it to like or dislike it.
It was plot-less, uninteresting, uninspired. It was filler and a waste of time. Certain things I'm completely neutral about...this is one of them.

I appreciate the well thought out post those it gave me the opportunity to do like wise and precisely delineate the faults of the episode.

[EllieVee]

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.

They have a world to write stories from. It's the Ancients. You remember the Ancients, don't you? As to the characters, I actually find them pretty interesting.

[EllieVee]

i miss atlantis, and most of all sg1. nuff said.

I miss neither and I am one of the ones devastated by the loss of SGA. In hindsight, S5 was complete b*ll*cks.

[Cold Fuzz]

When I contemplate a "Day in the Life episode the elements you speak of are often in place. Irrelevant plot elements or distractions that consume our characters. You use the word typical, I prefer the word routine. I think it fits best regardless of whether the days events are typical, meaning to happen consistently routine isolates a character behavior that is consistent rather than to say this a typical day of events.

As a result I found the episode sudden and a abrupt attempt at showing a status quo...but not the actually creation of the status quo. So it doesn't seem transitional at all. They're doing pretty much what they've always done stir up each others emotion while living on a ship billions of light years from earth.

routine

noun
a sequence of actions regularly followed; a fixed program

adjective
performed as part of a regular procedure rather than for a special reason

If your assertion is that the events in "Life" are routine, typical, status quo, or similar words, that is objectively incorrect. The status quo for the Destiny crew has been surviving multiple catastrophes and dealing with numerous other problematic incidents that have taken place in the past 8 episodes.

However, if you arguing that this episode is trying to say, "This is what happened on the Destiny on this particular day..." then that is something completely different from asserting that the events in "Life" are the status quo, when they are clearly not. The events in "Life" are not following an established routine, especially in light of the new appearance of the Ancient chair and the PT, which has not been seen before.

I usually let a story-teller tell me the story instead of haphazardly guessing. According to the episode. Col. Young purpose instituting the Physical Training is to keep every one in shape. He didn't say it was to establish a routine. He didn't say he was concerned with establishing a calm. I'm not sure if there is anything in the episode that can be considered transitional.

physical training

noun
the systematic use of exercises to promote bodily fitness and strength.

Col. Young didn't explicitly say that the purpose of the PT was to establish a routine but it is implicit. People who have taken part in PT know very well that PT is in itself a routine because it must be done consistently, systematically and regularly to be of any use to the participants. Fifth Race, as a bodybuilder and fitness expert, would certainly agree with that logic. Did you really believe that one PT session would be adequate enough for the Destiny crew to be in shape? PT is a routine because it must be done regularly. By instituting PT, Young is therefore instituting a routine. It may not be a routine to you, but objectively speaking PT is a routine. There is what you believe PT to be and what it actually is.

Furthermore, establishing PT as a regular routine does create order. A by-product of order is often calm. As I stated before, whether or not Young's efforts were successful is another story.

This is not haphazard guesswork. This is all logic and deduction based on direct observation of what was in the episode and in comparison with real-life events (like PT).

transition

noun
the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another

For Camille Wray, Matthew Scott, and Everett Young, their former lives on Earth are falling to pieces. Camille is now coming to terms with the horrible reality that she may never come home to Sharon. These people are all adjusting to their new lives and this transition period will be difficult for all of them. Given the the first half of this season has been spent trying to get home, you don't think it's logical to conclude that the crew is going to start moving away from getting home and bringing order to their new lives on the ship?

The use of the word transitional applies. You may not like it or agree with it but objectively speaking, it is applicable to the episode. There is what the word transition means to you and there is what it actually means. I'm working off the objective definition.

(continued)

[Cold Fuzz]

(continued)

In the last 8 episodes we have seen failed attempt to dial Earth, near catastrophic events and mistrust, yes they have had nothing to do.There is a crew of 80 something people on Destiny.
-The Catastrophes of Air were resolved by a small group of people.
-The Events of Darkness were resolved in Light by the ship itself.
-The Events of Water were resolved by two individuals out of the 80
-The events of Time were self resolving by the cast regulars
-The events of Life were escalating but finally involved a greater amount of the crew.

nothing

pronoun
not anything; no single thing

(in calculations) no amount; zero.

Are you aware your assertion that "yes they have had nothing to do" was negated by the "evidence" that you presented and that you again contradicted yourself?

-The Catastrophes of Air were resolved by a small group of people.

The entire crew became stranded in the events of "Air." Though the events in Air were resolved by a small group of people, you're completely ignoring the fact that the entire crew was close to suffocation because of the CO2 scrubber issue. That's hardly nothing is it?

-The Events of Darkness were resolved in Light by the ship itself.

The entire crew believed they were about to be incinerated by a red dwarf star. If these events were actually nothing then we wouldn't even have had a two-parter to begin with.

-The Events of Water were resolved by two individuals out of the 80

And you conveniently left out the fact that Corporal Gorman was killed and that a dwindling water supply problem was affecting the entire crew. Oh, and there were aliens on the ship--a potential threat to the entire crew. The plot with the aliens was not resolved by just those two individuals (Young and Scott), was it? All these events are not nothing when they most certainly are something.

-The events of Time were self resolving by the cast regulars

And yet definite events took place in two alternate timelines. If these events had not occurred, the entire crew would have died. That's not nothing. It may be as if nothing happened to you but the objective fact is that something did occur, therefore to say nothing happened is objectively incorrect--again.

-The events of Life were escalating but finally involved a greater amount of the crew.

Again this is not nothing.

The original reason I even brought up the definition of the word nothing--or any other word--is because there is what the word means to you and what the word actually means. Just because you think that nothing happened in "Life" doesn't make it objective fact. To state an opinion as if it were objective fact is logically incorrect and just flat-out inaccurate.

And the thing that bothers me is that we haven't seen a normal "calm" day where the air wasn't threatening to blow out into space or they didn't have food, water, power or diving into a star. So, you ask have I considered if this is a transitional show. How? How could this be a transitional show?

They're slowly adjusting to their new lives. As nx01a illustrated, Chloe was doing yoga in the observation room by herself. By the end of the episode, Eli had joined her. Furthermore, Camille redrew her picture to include the boat she missed. Little by little, the Destiny crew is transitioning from "these are the wrong people" to "we're stuck here, and we better deal with it and move forward." There's another reason why this is a transitional episode which I will address a little later.

Where is the beginning of that calm, where was the structured order that lead to the calm?

Again, there is your definition of calm and then there is the objective definition of calm. Again, there is a disconnect between the two. Frankly, you have yet to establish that this episode was "calm." There was clearly turmoil on the ship, and and multiple violent altercations between Spencer and at least two people. You don't agree there was violence in this episode?

violent

adjective
using or involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something

Yes, there was violence in this episode. Spencer got into a shoving match with Franklin and consequently, Young had to use force to restrain him. Yes, that is violence. It may not be external conflict, as in aliens attacking, or a catastrophe on the ship, but this is definitely violence. Again there's your definition of violence and then there's what the word actually means. Quite frankly, you have yet to objectively establish that there was very much calm in this episode.

You you have me to believe that all the discord between the military and civilians that were at odds in one episodes believing that military was keeping them out of the loop, and Young spying openly on the civilians just bounded out of the spot light so that we could "transition" to these day to day like routines?

That's a very funny conclusion because that's not what I was even getting at to begin with. This is also a transition from focusing on problems with the ship's systems and getting home, to focusing on the very real problem of the crew fracturing with the scientists and soldiers in an armed conflict. This crew is ready to tear each other to pieces and the show is focusing more and more on that. You can't see that? And the crew being embroiled in a power struggle is hardly calm either.

Yet what I didn't see was resolution of these issues that would allow these character or at least these two groups to meld with these similar task.

Considering that I never claimed that there was resolution between the ship's two factions, your statement makes little sense to me. If anything, the rift between the two factions will likely result in a power struggle.

Which gets me into why I don't care for the writing of these episodes. They are designed in an artificial way to start drama, but never to resolve it but in order people to work together resolution or environmental stimuli allows it. Problem is we only see the latter. I don't trust this story telling method because that makes it contrived, forced by writing not natural and flowing.

This is the only part of your post that I don't have a problem with because it is pure opinion. But if you start stating opinions as if they were objective facts, that's what I have a problem with.

I'm indifferent to the episode. I don't care enough about it to like or dislike it. It was plot-less, uninteresting, uninspired. It was filler and a waste of time. Certain things I'm completely neutral about...this is one of them.

If you're "neutral" about this episode, then you probably shouldn't be using inherently negative terminology like "plotless, uninteresting, uninspired," or "filler and a waste of time."

There is a vast difference between using emotionally and linguistically neutral terminology and obviously pejorative terminology.

pejorative

adjective
expressing contempt or disapproval

"Expressing contempt or disapproval." This is what you have been doing. This is not neutral.

With respect, I think you need to examine your semantics--how you use your words and their meanings. There has been a consistent disconnect between what you believe a word means and what is it's objective actual meaning. This is why I have been using the dictionary definitions. I think your dislike of SGU is leading you to overlook certain objective facts about what actually took place in each episode. I think you need to examine that.

[Saquist]

[I]routine

"If", your assertion is that the events in "Life" are routine, typical, status quo, or similar words, that is objectively incorrect. The status quo for the Destiny crew has been surviving multiple catastrophes and dealing with numerous other problematic incidents that have taken place in the past 8 episodes.

"If", is the operative word in your quote. If...my assertion is that the events in "Life" are routine... That is not my assertion and therefore not incorrect.

The operative word in my post was...."Attempt at showing" in reference to that routine.

Col. Young didn't explicitly say that the purpose of the PT was to establish a routine but it is implicit. People who have taken part in PT know very well that PT is in itself a routine because it must be done consistently, systematically and regularly to be of any use to the participants.

The logic is sound but missed placed.
Whatever maybe implied by the word is not inherently the implication intent of the individual. It is important that the individual's intent is deciphered not the words. People don't always mean the full implication of what the words they use imply. And as we did not hear him ourselves it is indeed in question.

transition

noun
the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another

For Camille Wray, Matthew Scott, and Everett Young, their former lives on Earth are falling to pieces. Camille is now coming to terms with the horrible reality that she may never come home to Sharon. These people are all adjusting to their new lives and this transition period will be difficult for all of them. Given the the first half of this season has been spent trying to get home, you don't think it's logical to conclude that the crew is going to start moving away from getting home and bringing order to their new lives on the ship?

I believe that all things in transition are in motion and thus had a beginning.
We do not see a beginning for this supposed calm/order. If there is no beginning then there was no process to proceed from to transit to. It cannot be the beginning and the transition simultaneously....at least I would not find that a convincing story telling period that transition defines.

(continued)


Are you aware your assertion that "yes they have had nothing to do" was negated by the "evidence" that you presented and that you again contradicted yourself?

Are you aware that the comment in question was general in application, it is true to the general population of the ship. To be more accurate, the majority of the crew have little to nothing to productively occupy their time.

-The Catastrophes of Air were resolved by a small group of people.

The entire crew became stranded in the events of "Air." Though the events in Air were resolved by a small group of people, you're completely ignoring the fact that the entire crew was close to suffocation because of the CO2 scrubber issue. That's hardly nothing is it?

Illogical.
They all were suffocating. And that's all they were doing (In Generalities)

-The Events of Darkness were resolved in Light by the ship itself.

The entire crew believed they were about to be incinerated by a red dwarf star. If these events were actually nothing then we wouldn't even have had a two-parter to begin with.

Illogical.
Nothing the crew did made a difference in their fate. (Absolute) Thus they did nothing. I find your logic here circular.

-The Events of Water were resolved by two individuals out of the 80

And you conveniently left out the fact that Corporal Gorman was killed and that a dwindling water supply problem was affecting the entire crew. Oh, and there were aliens on the ship--a potential threat to the entire crew. The plot with the aliens was not resolved by just those two individuals (Young and Scott), was it? All these events are not nothing when they most certainly are something.

It is not a factor of convenience that the Gorman's death was excluded from consideration. It was irrelevant. I mentioned nothing about interpresonally actions being included with productive activity meant by the phrase "They have nothing to do."

And yet definite events took place in two alternate timelines. If these events had not occurred, the entire crew would have died. That's not nothing. It may be as if nothing happened to you but the objective fact is that something did occur, therefore to say nothing happened is objectively incorrect--again.

Hardly incorrect. That is a false analysis. The proper analysis is that objectively, it is a paradox as the events of the other, now nonexistent time lines, had a pivotal effects on the current time stream.

Again this is not nothing.

Of course it's not nothing.
It's the opposite of nothing...which is something.
But only in terms of interpersonal interactivity.
They haven't had anything more to do than before.

They're slowly adjusting to their new lives. As nx01a illustrated, Chloe was doing yoga in the observation room by herself. By the end of the episode, Eli had joined her. Furthermore, Camille redrew her picture to include the boat she missed. Little by little, the Destiny crew is transitioning from "these are the wrong people" to "we're stuck here, and we better deal with it and move forward." There's another reason why this is a transitional episode which I will address a little later.

I see your point but it was simply too quick.

Again, there is your definition of calm and then there is the objective definition of calm. Again, there is a disconnect between the two. Frankly, you have yet to establish that this episode was "calm." There was clearly turmoil on the ship, and and multiple violent altercations between Spencer and at least two people. You don't agree there was violence in this episode?
[I]

I do not modify calm with "emotional" levels of the crew rather I have associated calm with the ship and crew's safety. There is no schism because I am not reasoning on your point. I never said anything about the crew's emotional state. I can't argue your point and my point at the same time from the same end of the debate.

This means you have effectively constructed the Logical Fallacy known as a Straw man in which a person alters/modifies his opponents argument to say other than what it is meant for the purpose of rebuttal.

I never said there wasn't emotional conflict.
I never addressed emotional conflict. You did. You are rebutting yourself.

That's a very funny conclusion because that's not what I was even getting at to begin with. This is also a transition from focusing on problems with the ship's systems and getting home, to focusing on the very real problem of the crew fracturing with the scientists and soldiers in an armed conflict. This crew is ready to tear each other to pieces and the show is focusing more and more on that. You can't see that? And the crew being embroiled in a power struggle is hardly calm either.

The fact that the crew as you say is ready to tear itself apart is never really directly addressed or given full weight of peril. Thus the story method at this point is precariously skipping over the Telling process to the implied process. (You'll of course make excuse for this.)

Considering that I never claimed that there was resolution between the ship's two factions, your statement makes little sense to me. If anything, the rift between the two factions will likely result in a power struggle.

Yet what I didn't see was resolution of these issues that would allow these character or at least these two groups to meld with these similar task.-SaQ

I never claimed you made such a claim. The point was that the resolution would be necessary for cooperation.

This is the only part of your post that I don't have a problem with because it is pure opinion. But if you start stating opinions as if they were objective facts, that's what I have a problem with.

Forgive me, but problems are meant to be solved.
Allegations on forums are irrelevant but communication is still desirable.
I state my conclusions as I have come to them. If you successfully address the facts of the argument I will be the first to let you know.

If you're "neutral" about this episode, then you probably shouldn't be using inherently negative terminology like "plotless, uninteresting, uninspired," or "filler and a waste of time."

Objectivity requires that I be truthful.
There was no plot (not as I could see.)
It failed to capture my interest.
It managed to maintain the Kino interviews by a psychological eval pretense.

They could not come up with anything else to say or do with their time other than what they've been doing for the last 9 episodes which these interviews have lead to nothing. Yes, that would be the definition of uninspired.

There is a vast difference between using emotionally and linguistically neutral terminology and obviously pejorative terminology.

pejorative

adjective
expressing contempt or disapproval

Not all pejoratives make for an emotional reaction.
I can express disapproval without expressing contempt.
I expressed no contempt. I'm not saying that you didn't interpret contempt, but I'm not in control of what you interpret, therefore of course not my responsibility.

Additional:
Anytime I make a statement you and everyone else may interpret from the words any number of things, including emotional content, bias and implication. What you've failed to comprehend is that I can be incredibly precise or conversational. Discussion does not often require strict accuracy but when drawn into such debates clarification is need.

With respect, I think you need to examine your semantics--how you use your words and their meanings. There has been a consistent disconnect between what you believe a word means and what is it's objective actual meaning. This is why I have been using the dictionary definitions. I think your dislike of SGU is leading you to overlook certain objective facts about what actually took place in each episode. I think you need to examine that.

I take your suggestion as it is. Self analysis is my virtue.
If this were anything other than a difference of opinion and perspective I'd agree, but from my POV, either I have failed to communicate or you have failed to understand. The most likely scenario is that we are both snared by semantics that we have failed to grasp the true point.

But as they say..."Dang the Torpedoes. Full Speed Ahead."

[Cold Fuzz]

Interesting. Your original argument was:

"I usually let a story-teller tell me the story instead of haphazardly guessing. According to the episode. Col. Young purpose instituting the Physical Training is to keep every one in shape. He didn't say it was to establish a routine. He didn't say he was concerned with establishing a calm."

You gone from that to:

The logic is sound but missed placed.
Whatever maybe implied by the word is not inherently the implication intent of the individual. It is important that the individual's intent is deciphered not the words. People don't always mean the full implication of what the words they use imply. And as we did not hear him ourselves it is indeed in question.

In your original argument, you're going by explicit words. Now you're claiming that we should deciphering his intent rather than his words. You've contradicted yourself again, do you realize that?

I believe that all things in transition are in motion and thus had a beginning.
We do not see a beginning for this supposed calm/order. If there is no beginning then there was no process to proceed from to transit to. It cannot be the beginning and the transition simultaneously....at least I would not find that a convincing story telling period that transition defines.

For the third thime, you have yet to objectively establish that there was somehow a "calm" in this episode. I never argued that this is the "beginning" of a transition period either. I said that this is a transition episode--functioning almost like a bridge. It's showing them in a transition period between their attempts to get home and survive disasters to focusing on their life on the ship and the brewing power struggle between the military and the scientists.

By the way, this isn't the first Stargate episode to start in media res. Therefore they are not showing the beginning of this transition period and I never claimed that they did. Now if you don't like such a writing style, that's your opinion.

Are you aware that the comment in question was general in application, it is true to the general population of the ship. To be more accurate, the majority of the crew have little to nothing to productively occupy their time.

From the beginning, Col. Young has been conducting meetings to apprise so the crew can apprise him of things that have been happening and so that he can assign tasks. This was established in "Darkness."

Illogical.
They all were suffocating. And that's all they were doing (In Generalities)

Incorrect on your part. Your original argument was they were doing nothing. Waiting on the edge of asphyxiation is not nothing nor is it unimportant or trivial.

Illogical.
Nothing the crew did made a difference in their fate. (Absolute) Thus they did nothing. I find your logic here circular.

Your logic and semantics here are greatly flawed. Your argument is that they did nothing because their actions failed to make a difference. Did they take action to prevent their fate? Yes, absolutely they did. Therefore they did do SOMETHING. Did their actions ultimately make a difference in their fate? No. Objectively speaking, doing nothing (taking no action) and having their actions fail to ultimately make a difference (meaning they did take action) are two completely different ideas. You are using two distinctly completely different definitions of the word "nothing" and treating them as if they were identical. Again, incorrect semantics and logic.

It is not a factor of convenience that the Gorman's death was excluded from consideration. It was irrelevant. I mentioned nothing about interpresonally actions being included with productive activity meant by the phrase "They have nothing to do."

I've already addressed this.

Hardly incorrect. That is a false analysis. The proper analysis is that objectively, it is a paradox as the events of the other, now nonexistent time lines, had a pivotal effects on the current time stream.

Now you're equivocating. Your original argument is that nothing happened in the current time line. That's not exactly true since they have a cure to a deadly pathogen nobody knew they had contracted. That is not a non-event, nor is it trivial. And very pivotal events certainly did happen in the alternate timelines. Again, that is not nothing.

Of course it's not nothing.
It's the opposite of nothing...which is something.
But only in terms of interpersonal interactivity.
They haven't had anything more to do than before.

Again, you're contradicting yourself. They are definitely doing more than they were before: PT. This was not being done before "Life." It will increase their overall fitness and make them more nimble in tactical situations. It's definitely a plus in terms of productivity. So yes they are doing more than before.

I see your point but it was simply too quick.

Purely your opinion.

I do not modify calm with "emotional" levels of the crew rather I have associated calm with the ship and crew's safety. There is no schism because I am not reasoning on your point. I never said anything about the crew's emotional state. I can't argue your point and my point at the same time from the same end of the debate.

Your use of the word "modify" in the context of this sentence makes little sense to me. As for the crew's safety, it's been established in "Earth" that they are not safe as long as they are onboard the Destiny. That's Col. Telford's assessment of the situation and he's definitely correct. That's why the crew is trying to get home, remember?

This means you have effectively constructed the Logical Fallacy known as a Straw man in which a person alters/modifies his opponents argument to say other than what it is meant for the purpose of rebuttal.

I know very well what the Straw Man Fallacy is. I'm working off of very concrete objective terminology. But as I've already shown, you are not. Your usage of the word "nothing" indicates to me that you do not understand that it is logically incorrect to take two distinctly different definitions of the same word and treat them as if they were identical...and I am pointing that out. One definition means literally zero as in no thing. The other is synonymous with trivial or inconsequential. Trivial is not identical to zero. Pointing out that glaring inconsistency is not the Straw Man Fallacy. This is semantics, as I've said before.

I never said there wasn't emotional conflict.
I never addressed emotional conflict. You did. You are rebutting yourself.

No, you claimed that the episode was "calm" and you didn't clarify yourself. Just to make sure there is no ambiguity, the episode was not calm in two different ways: It was not emotionally calm, nor was it calm in terms of plot. If you meant to say that there were no external threats to the ship, then that's something completely different. It's true that in "Life" there were no external threats. That is not the same thing as "calm." Are they safe on the ship? No, and Col. Telford said so in "Earth." There has not been a drastic change in their situation between when Telford said those lines in "Earth" and the situation in "Life." Therefore, they are NOT safe.

The fact that the crew as you say is ready to tear itself apart is never really directly addressed or given full weight of peril.

Actually it was. Camille Wray and Carl Strom were talking and she very clearly stated that Rush has tried to take over the ship.

Thus the story method at this point is precariously skipping over the Telling process to the implied process. (You'll of course make excuse for this.)

No, not by a long shot. Franklin's anger towards the military personnel is not just telling us about the rift between the scientists and the military, but very obviously SHOWING us. There is nothing implied about how the ship is factionalized, especially when a scientist like Franklin addresses TJ as "your people." Camille Wray and Carl Strom even acknowledged there were two factions and Strom suggested she start a third--her faction.

Do you think the scientists' resentment materialized out of nowhere? Neither he nor Volker have been happy with the way the military have been running the ship and that was shown in "Water."

Yet what I didn't see was resolution of these issues that would allow these character or at least these two groups to meld with these similar task.-SaQ

I never claimed you made such a claim. The point was that the resolution would be necessary for cooperation.

Forgive me, but problems are meant to be solved.
Allegations on forums are irrelevant but communication is still desirable.
I state my conclusions as I have come to them. If you successfully address the facts of the argument I will be the first to let you know.

For the record, whether or not I have actually and successfully addressed the objective facts of the arguments is not up to you.

Objectivity requires that I be truthful.
There was no plot (not as I could see.)
It failed to capture my interest.
It managed to maintain the Kino interviews by a psychological eval pretense.

This is all your opinion, which is fine. But to objectively claim that there is no plot when there was one, is logically incorrect--again. Now you may not have liked the plot or have even seen it but that doesn't change the fact that it did, in truth, exist in the episode.

They could not come up with anything else to say or do with their time other than what they've been doing for the last 9 episodes which these interviews have lead to nothing. Yes, that would be the definition of uninspired.

Not all pejoratives make for an emotional reaction.
I can express disapproval without expressing contempt.
I expressed no contempt. I'm not saying that you didn't interpret contempt, but I'm not in control of what you interpret, therefore of course not my responsibility.

disapproval

noun
possession or expression of an unfavorable opinion

Disapproval is a word with inherently negative connotations. Your original argument is that you were being neutral. If you were truly neutral shouldn't be using an abundance of terminology that is inherently negative, right?

I take your suggestion as it is. Self analysis is my virtue.
If this were anything other than a difference of opinion and perspective I'd agree, but from my POV, either I have failed to communicate or you have failed to understand. The most likely scenario is that we are both snared by semantics that we have failed to grasp the true point.

Right now, I'm very much leaning towards you failing to communicate. Using two different definitions of the same word and treating them as if they were identical is symptomatic of some big semantics problems. I stand by my original assertions.