'Light' (105) General Discussion

[iamangry]

I'm sorry, but that was the worst episode of Stargate in its ~300 episode history. This episode pretty much took orbital mechanics, physics, etc. and threw it all out for the sake of a story that I called last week (Ooh, we're heading straight into a star and we're out of power. I wonder why the ship is going there?). I mean seriously. The last 15 minutes or so of that was especially sloppy and lazy writing. It's a star system, not a city block. Things aren't that close.

1. The heat from the hydrogen is certainly not enough to get a ship of that size moving like it does. Maybe if they we're grabbing it for fusion, but I would submit there are less... dramatic ways to recover hydrogen. The Ancients weren't stupid. Arrogant, but not stupid.

2. Upon its spectacular energy recovery at the star, it shows up in visual range of the shuttle? Space is a lot bigger than that. Especially if that planet was in the habitable zone. If it was in visual range at that point, there's absolutely no way turning back towards the planet would allow for a slingshot at the magnitude such that a ship that had an acceleration such that it could cover at least 20 million kilometers in minutes (assuming best case scenario small red dwarf star habitable zone distance) could be caught by the shuttle.

3. Coming back in for a landing, and firing manuevering thrusters to get the kind of delta v they got? I mean come on. Maneuvering thrusters are for... maneuvering. They typically generate only a small fraction of what a spacecraft's main engine generates.. and that's for our primitive spacecraft. Let alone a shuttle which can apparently fly through a solar system in a matter of hours.


I'm really trying to like this show. After SG-1 I owe any show with the name Stargate that much. And in fact I'll probably continue to watch the show regardless of the quality just because its got spaceships and a metal ring that takes people places. But I would like to remind TPTB that, while their new demographic may be mindless and technically uninclined, there are a large number of us in the community who are intelligent and hold advanced technical degrees. And in order to improve the quality of your product for us, I would ask that you promptly terminate the employment of your science adviser. Because he is clearly incompetent.

[Uncle Tobias]

I loved it, again. Really digging this show. Destiny is quite a character in itself.

[Alan Wake]

Yeah the one thing I really didn't like was Chloe pairing off with Scott like that. Holy....abrupt much? Part 1 is all about character background and development, to the point that half this forum is whining that nothing is happening, and then just out of left field the two of them are gettin' busy in the first 5 minutes of the episode? What?

Don't misunderstand--I think sex must have its place in a group of people stranded like this, and I'll be annoyed if it's not ever approached again. This just seemed....out of left field.

I agree... I mean in the 3 episodes we've had before "Light" the two of them really didn't talk much that we saw... and only comforted each other at best on 2 occasions.

Certainly nothing happened that should have sparked a sex scene... they had no romantic build up at all.

[AnonyMoose]

I enjoyed this episode, especially the special effects and the emotional moments. Greer's moments were a highlight. I did not care for the fast Scott/Chloe hookup, or the Rush head fake at the end because it put a damper on the jubilant mood. Enough has been said about Scott/Chloe, so this is my revised character analysis of Rush:

After seeing it a second time, I am certain that Rush genuinely thought they were going to die. When he realized that too much time had passed without any ill effects, and he saw that a control console was powered up, then finally that the ship was above the sun, he felt euphoric at the prospect that they would live, and that his opportunity to gain control of Destiny would continue.

However, later, once his excitement subsided, he felt foolish for being wrong. Humiliation is a powerful motivator for most people. Rush is one of those people who loves being in control. He thrives on being the smartest guy in the room and detests being wrong. His over-inflated ego scolded him for not realizing earlier that the ship was designed to feed off the resources of the universe, just as the stargate seeder ships do. At the end of the show, he still felt embarrassed and upset at himself, as demonstrated by his irritable demeanor. He didn't want to join the group and get teased about his mistake just like they were teasing Scott, so during the conversation with Young, he jumped at an opportunity to cover for his mistake by creating some ambiguity in everyone's minds, even at the risk of making himself appear calculating and crazy for putting them through this ordeal that could have potentially stranded 17 people, lost the shuttle, and all the supplies.

[Joelist]

Not only was the Chloe/Scott hookup out of left field, it was also counter to the relationships they already had been establishing, namely Scott/James and Eli/Chloe.

All this did was make Chloe look like a tramp.

In fact thus far there is a bad problem with the depiction of women on SGU. By showing them basically having sex on a whim rather than in the context of a mature relationship it is demeaning, basically giving women the type of characterization they get in the sort of sleazy porn one gets on late nite cable TV (and tries to avoid).

Did SG-1 and SGA have sex? Yes, but when they did there was history behind it and it fit into the storyline. That is not too much too ask. At this point SGU's treatment of sex has been sophomoric and treatment of women little better.

[DavidR]

So from most of the posters here, everyone believes that a ship, the Alterans built it, could enter a sun and recharge it's power source from it? No one disbelieve it?

[PG15]

Ok, I'm gonna comment before I read the thread.

The beginning scene with Chloe and Scott both confused and irritated me. It was always my fear that TPTB might jump into the relationship quickly and forgo any sort of development. For a few minutes after that, it seemed to me that my worst fears were confirmed.

MY WORST FEARS WERE CONFIRMED!!! OH GAWD SGU IS HOOOOORRIBLE!! THAT'S IT MAN, GAME OVER. STARGATE IS DEAD. DEEEEEEEAD!!!

So, MattSilver 3k, am I on the Overdramatization thing yet?

Anyway, the key words here are "for a few minutes after that" - because, a few minutes after those first few minutes, I realized that it made perfect sense.

Here's how I see it. As some have already pointed out, this isn't love; this is about being close. Chloe seems like your typical socialite; from my POV, she's the kind of person who usually hangs out with lots of people. Suddenly, she's all alone on the other side of the Universe and at once faces a terrible personal tragedy. Who offers to be there for her? Well, Scott for one. He was there to comfort her, and in turn she was there to comfort him after the Air III mission. I think there's a good reason why, when we ended that episode, they were still in the same room together. In each other they seemed to have found a kindred spirit.

What Chloe said in this episode was very important. Ok, so at the beginning I thought the "I feel like I'm closer to you than I've been with anyone else" line was a tad cheesy, and it still might be, but it's the truth. Chloe is looking for comfort and someone to cling onto. This isn't a sign of weakness; this is just what being human is about. I know plenty of people who are like this (including girls), and at times I'm one of them. Wanting to be close, physically and emotionally, to someone else is natural at a time like this. Sometimes you just want to be hugged.

Of course, they did more than that, but I thought Brian J. Smith said it pretty well on his twitter. This isn't sex; it's making love. What Scott did with Lt. James is sex; this is more about being close to each other, about having that emotional anchor.

Now, there is also Eli. Considering that he reminds me of me in almost every situation, I completely understand what is happening with him. He is attracted to Chloe, obviously. However, a funny thing with males is, we are attracted to A LOT of women. All at once. I personally have at least 4 girls that I am attracted to right now and many more whom I think are pretty hot. Is that "their fault?" Are they "playing me"? Hell no! I'm just being a guy. This is what we do. And you know what? I get pretty jealous at times when I see these girls talk to other guys and having a good time. It's completely irrational, but hey, it's what I do.

Right now, I see Chloe and Eli as being friends, with Eli possibly frustrated and confused about his feelings. Chloe isn't leading him on or doing anything that a young girl shouldn't be doing, IMHO. Again, I haven't read the thread, but if anyone points to the "head-on-shoulder" thing and the hug thing as evidence that Chloe is being slutty or is playing Eli, then let me just say this: I've been hugged by girls plenty of times (and it wasn't even during a situation where we just cheated death! Imagine that! ), and once, this girl put her head on my shoulder while we were waiting in line to talk to a prof; I didn't even know her name at the time and I don't think we even talked up to that point. Some girls are just more casual about touching and what not.

So yeah, girls are WEIRD. But hey, us guys are lucky to exist among them.

The rest of the episode was freaking awesome. For the first time, I genuinely teared up during the show; it was during the scene where Greer and Young said their goodbyes; I'm a sucker for these kinds of "loyal soldier and commander" moments. Greer is BEYOND AWESOME AT THIS POINT, I BELIEVE.

Also, the entire sequence of the people being picked and the shuttle leaving was enthralling. For whatever reason, my breathing was very shallow during it; it was just tense and emotional at the same time. Of course, OMGAWESOME music helped too. Seeing the Destiny from the outside was an incredible moment, despite the fact that us viewers have now seen her plenty of times.

Also, even though we knew none of them were gonna leave Destiny forever, I just got so engrossed in the scene that I genuinely felt that this was the last time these people are going to see this great ship, and all the people onboard. The acting helped much here as well.

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY RILEY!! I thought that was a great touch.

The incredible music just continues from that point on, really. The Sun Diving scene, the shuttle capturing scene, etc. etc. Joel Goldsmith is a ****ing genius. ****ING GENIUS.

Oh, my goodness, the CGI. It's pretty much Art now. The sequences were excellently rendered and I thought the angles captured were perfect; it made all the shots that much more epic.

I also loved the dialogue-less scenes of the crew as the Destiny headed for the star. See, this is where SGU sets itself aside from the other 2 series. IMHO, whereas the other series would use all of this time to try useless solution after useless solution until finally the last one worked, SGU decided to use this time to showcase how the characters are dealing with death. I loved seeing all of it, and the acting was incredible. From Young taking off his ring, to Greer stripping down and meditating (where's your Angry Black Man stereotype now? GREER ROCKS!!) and leading the prayer session, to Volker and the others cracking jokes and playing cards...these little facets help make these people that much more human.

So yeah, incredible episode. I must admit though, both episodes felt like they were very short. I think they may improve if they were seen together.

Ugh, so many things left unsaid. I can probably go on for 10 pages just about all the subtle moments between characters alone, especially Rush and how many layers he seem to have; thoughout this episode I didn't know what to believe with him. Is he genuine? His wish to get taken off of the lottery list because he wanted to die with the ship was noble and depressing (all he cherishes is the ship, and only 3 days in he will be deprived of it; poor guy), but then at the end...? Oh man, this is the stuff that makes me think.

[Abiron]

Thinking more about Destiny being able to fix all of their problems...I think that we saw a perfect example in this episode of how that isn't the case, following directly on from what many may see as proof that it is.

Once Destiny had refueled inside the star, it seemed to have little concern for the errant shuttle. Even if we concede that the activation of the countdown timer was meant to imply that the ship was waiting for the shuttle rather than immediately returning to FTL flight, Destiny continued to accelerate. If Destiny had decelerated instead to facilitate the shuttle's return, that would have been a far more telling indicator that the ship has some sort of awareness of its current passengers. Instead, it was making ready to leave a number of them behind, in a system that its own sensors must have indicated was less than friendly to human life.

I believe that Destiny stopped in Air not because Rush made numerous queries into the database, but because it had a malfunctioning system that needed to be repaired. It stopped and picked a source for the required element, and expected that the "crew" would do their part and get back in time. In this episode, the ship did not even attempt to inform the crew that it was about to perform a refueling...at least not in any way that the crew could understand. Once the refueling was complete, Destiny did inform the crew that they would be moving on via the countdown, but made no other move to facilitate their return. (There seems to be no real reason for this scheduled return to FTL, at least none that we are privy to as yet.)

I think that we will eventually discover that Destiny is currently operating in a very selective self-preservation mode, and perhaps that mode can be "switched off," once our intrepid band learns how. Maybe by finding the "bridge," rather than trying to run things from what seems like an auxiliary control station. In other words, for the forseeable future, the only thing that the crew can rely on Destiny to do is maintain itself, perhaps at the expense of those aboard.

[Jemagu]

Many of us have gripes about the Chloe/Scott scene

I was kind of shocked. I liked the Chloe/Eli interaction last episode in the "shower", and she has even been kind of affectionate towards him. You start to root for Eli to get the girl, since he probably is feeling a little lonely. Chloe just hooking up with Scott like that made her seem like a slut.

[MattSilver 3k]

Ok, I'm gonna comment before I read the thread.

The beginning scene with Chloe and Scott both confused and irritated me. It was always my fear that TPTB might jump into the relationship quickly and forgo any sort of development. For a few minutes after that, it seemed to me that my worst fears were confirmed.

MY WORST FEARS WERE CONFIRMED!!! OH GAWD SGU IS HOOOOORRIBLE!! THAT'S IT MAN, GAME OVER. STARGATE IS DEAD. DEEEEEEEAD!!!

So, MattSilver 3k, am I on the Overdramatization thing yet?

Honourable mention, for sure!

I'll be sure to add a comment about knowing PG-15 back when he was all there, and then lamenting that he's off the deep end now, doomed to watch other shows forever!

[suse]

Not only was the Chloe/Scott hookup out of left field, it was also counter to the relationships they already had been establishing, namely Scott/James and Eli/Chloe.

All this did was make Chloe look like a tramp.

In fact thus far there is a bad problem with the depiction of women on SGU. By showing them basically having sex on a whim rather than in the context of a mature relationship it is demeaning, basically giving women the type of characterization they get in the sort of sleazy porn one gets on late nite cable TV (and tries to avoid).

Did SG-1 and SGA have sex? Yes, but when they did there was history behind it and it fit into the storyline. That is not too much too ask. At this point SGU's treatment of sex has been sophomoric and treatment of women little better.

So Chloe is a tramp for having sex. Yet nothing is said of Scott for having had sex with *two* women in a few days... Wouldn't this make him even more of a tramp than Chloe??

Sorry, these types comments aimed only at a specific gender really honk me off. Not at you. Just in general. What's true for the goose should be true for the gander.

suse

[escyos]

i can't believe people like this show... it completely throws everything sci fi out the window... it's like Days Of our lives on a fricken space ship, and the ship flys in and out of stars without sustaining damage. you guys are pretty easy to please apparently

how can you throw everythign sci-fi out the window...sci-fi was never in the window, thats what sci-fi is , something we can comprehend and is far beyond us.

[Descended]

Okay, I'm really glad they showed the bald military officer taking a pill. Because he is seriously crazy, and one of the few whose position in the team I honestly had to question. He's done so much speaking out of turn, acting really out of character for military. And he doesn't have any of the excuses that Greer has had for his misconduct. So yeah, I really want there to be something up with this guy... beyond the obvious, I mean.

Yea, he is either schizophrenic (or bipolar) - and those are his meds, which is really going to suck when he runs out or he is a jaffa spy and that's his form of tretonin. (just a guess, would be cool though, he's got that big hulking jaffa look)

[Pandora's_Box]

From Young taking off his ring, to Greer stripping down and meditating (where's your Angry Black Man stereotype now? GREER ROCKS!!) and leading the prayer session, to Volker and the others cracking jokes and playing cards...these little facets help make these people that much more human.

Wordy McWorderson.

To everything, but especially this. Why? .... Just....'cause?

Also, Greer set himself apart for me in "Air - Part II" when he totally played Rush like a fiddle.

[Stormtrooper]

Destiny is mother. Destiny is father. Trust Destiny.

Clearly the best episode yet. If only it weren't for these WTF moments that keep plaguing the show and really don't fit with the rest of the story...

I thought this was a very good episode for Rush, Young and Greer. Even Eli had some good moments. The female characters, however, were mundane (Chloe), apathetic (Johansen) and coward (Wray). My favorite female characters as of right now are Lt. James and Dr. Park and they are kind of mute.

Anyway, who will start the "Lt. Scott & the Airlock" thread?

7.5/10