Is "pathogen" season 2's "life" episode?

[Shadow_7]

It annoyed me.

Within five minutes, maybe ten at best, I knew that I could turn it off and not be behind on anything for next week. I knew that I wouldn't miss some cool space craft, see the gate flush one more time, or miss anything other than humans talking to humans. I spent most of the episode looking for the fast forward to next week button. And otherwise fell asleep with the tv on, probably before the second airing of it.

Sorry to be the cynical one, but I'm not a fan of the murder she wrote / life of a teen whatevers. If I want that, I can just hang out at the local court house. No need for cable, or even electricity at my house. Or just hang out at the local bar and see the contestants before they go to court (better dress code).

Perhaps it was a gimme with all of the other things on that night. I hope it's the exception, not the rule. But my hopes are rarely met.

[Phenom]

I find this very well said. Pathogen may have been "Life" done right objectively. But that doesn't mean it appeals to people's subjective tastes. And I fear it doesn't for the larger sci fi audience, I've seen people refer to it as a "snooze fest" and I can't blame them too much. I can endure a little bit of this if it lets me enjoy the overall show but enough is enough.

I was so disappointed. I have absolutely loved the past 2 eps, the best in the series for mine, but to come crashing back down to Earth with this was such a shame. I feel that it might have killed the series when you look at the ratings.

[jelgate]

I was so disappointed. I have absolutely loved the past 2 eps, the best in the series for mine, but to come crashing back down to Earth with this was such a shame. I feel that it might have killed the series when you look at the ratings.

The ratings were always doing bad before Pathogen

[Buck32]

So is it? It rode pretty high on the drama llama... I can't seem to remember sci fi related or even much of note other than Rush's scenes and Rush and Chloe's interaction.

It better be like "life" or SGU's life is at an end!!!!

[Wayston]

oi I didn't even check the ratings for this episode when I started the thread... under 1 mil viewers is baaaaaddddd. Somewhat deserved based on the episode alone (which wasn't very interesting) but it's very unfortunate because the show as a whole is pretty great. I had hoped the people in charge would have learned their lesson that while it's hard to please sci fi audiences in general there's no point in adding superfluous drama elements to draw in a broader audience than the sci fi audience because this is simply not going to happen.

[Phenom]

The ratings were always doing bad before Pathogen

But as far as a I know, this ep has been the worst. Call it the first nail in the coffin if it makes you feel better

[jelgate]

But as far as a I know, this ep has been the worst. Call it the first nail in the coffin if it makes you feel better

Barely. Its no more of a decrease then other episodes this season or the 2nd half of S1.

[Wayston]

Barely. Its no more of a decrease then other episodes this season or the 2nd half of S1.

Yes but the viewers being lost are different. The initial drops from 2.3 million on were casual viewers tuning out. They honestly gave the show a shot and decided they didn't like it enough. That is not fun to see as a diehard fan or a show runner, but entirely to be expected in the life of a TV show and one should be glad that these people decided to bother giving the show a chance. The people tuning out below 1.2ish million did like the show enough to keep watching throughout season 1 and they decided to tune out now. That's pretty worrying. The fact that the already low resistance point of 1.1-1.2million viewers has been breached is even more worrying. I'm sure there will be somewhat of a rebound once they put on a good episode again that reminds people stargate is a sci fi show and not some strange fusion of "days of our lives" and "the L-word".

[vszulc]

What bugs me is: Why the focus on Wray's relationship? Besides the love triangle from season 1, it's pretty much the only sexual relationship explored among the crew... Do the writers somehow suffer from the delusion that Wrays snoozefest of domestic issues is somehow anymore interesting than other people's relationships? Is it an attempt to lure in male viewers with a vague promise of lesbian action, or an attempt to be "hip" and "edgy" to focus on a homosexual relationship (multicultural even, oh my!)

[Wayston]

What bugs me is: Why the focus on Wray's relationship? Besides the love triangle from season 1, it's pretty much the only sexual relationship explored among the crew... Do the writers somehow suffer from the delusion that Wrays snoozefest of domestic issues is somehow anymore interesting than other people's relationships? Is it an attempt to lure in male viewers with a vague promise of lesbian action, or an attempt to be "hip" and "edgy" to focus on a homosexual relationship (multicultural even, oh my!)

not to mention how on earth they thought this kind of highbrow emo storyline would bring in a younger audience, let alone a bigger audience... or heck even a stargate audience

[jelgate]

Yes but the viewers being lost are different. The initial drops from 2.3 million on were casual viewers tuning out. They honestly gave the show a shot and decided they didn't like it enough. That is not fun to see as a diehard fan or a show runner, but entirely to be expected in the life of a TV show and one should be glad that these people decided to bother giving the show a chance. The people tuning out below 1.2ish million did like the show enough to keep watching throughout season 1 and they decided to tune out now. That's pretty worrying. The fact that the already low resistance point of 1.1-1.2million viewers has been breached is even more worrying. I'm sure there will be somewhat of a rebound once they put on a good episode again that reminds people stargate is a sci fi show and not some strange fusion of "days of our lives" and "the L-word".

I was never disputing the numbers are bad just this sudden belief Pathogen is a significant factor

[zainea13]

I was never disputing the numbers are bad just this sudden belief Pathogen is a significant factor

If any episode contributed to the ratings drop it would be Awakening. It's not like people tune in and then decide they don't want their viewership number to count! They base it off of the last week. Was the last week's episode good enough for me to tune in again and not watch something else? No. That is where the audience goes. Because they thought Awakening wasn't very good

[xxxevilgrinxxx]

What bugs me is: Why the focus on Wray's relationship? Besides the love triangle from season 1, it's pretty much the only sexual relationship explored among the crew... Do the writers somehow suffer from the delusion that Wrays snoozefest of domestic issues is somehow anymore interesting than other people's relationships? Is it an attempt to lure in male viewers with a vague promise of lesbian action, or an attempt to be "hip" and "edgy" to focus on a homosexual relationship (multicultural even, oh my!)

yeah, other than Young and Johansen's, Scott and Chloe's, Park and - well, so many, Park and Greer and who knows who else, Young and Mrs Young, Telford and Mrs Young, Rush and his dead wife, then yeah, they're focusing on Wray and Sharon's relationship
*eyeroll*

[Shadow_7]

Minute for minute of on air time, Scott is a catholic priest relative to Wray. Maybe it's just a contract thing. Someone typo'd a 1% as 10% on the redheads contract. Not that she's not eye candy, but she's on the wrong side of the universe to be of interest. Plus that chair would look swell on Destiny. Rush could make that hallway his living quarters and put that chair right in the middle of it.

[Gollumpus]

Oh for crying out loud...

What's wrong with an episode which builds the back story of some of the primary characters on this show? Anyone recall "Family"? It was a ST:NG episode where Picard goes home on leave after his his troubles with the Borg. That episode was a turning point for that character.

In this episode we see Eli and Wray having to deal with how being away from home (possibly never to return) is affecting their loved ones. Wray gains major sympathy points by helping Eli out, however, are her efforts altruistic or is it something which she sees as being in her own self-interest? And what form does that self-interest take? Is it merely that she sees Eli as being necessary to get herself (and everyone else) back home, or is it part of an on-going campaign to gain more control of Destiny? It would be interesting to see how Wray would have reacted to Airman Redshirt coming to her with the same problem. These events are seeds which will bear fruit in future episodes, and you would be behind if you turned the channel (as Shadow_7 suggests you could).

These "Life" type of episodes are critical to the development of a series. They can be some of the best episodes because they deal with character development. Perhaps it's just that most folks don't care about seeing Eli/Wray going home and dealing with family issues as opposed to Young/Rush doing the same.

I liked the episode. It showed how a family support group will *slowly* develop on Earth. It showed how there could be influence passed around behind other people's backs (Wray influences Eli by mentioning something to Sharon who mentions it to Eli's mom who says something to Eli who feels he owes Camille...).

This was something of a "connective" episode, and I'm okay with that. How often is your life so neatly compartmentalized that only one thing comes down the pipe for you to deal with in any given day? We see the start of the problems of living with the LA and the new developments of what is going on with Chloe and how that is going to affect Rush and his bid to control Destiny. All good stuff.


regards,
G.

PS - for those of you who miss the 'splosions: http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...explosions.jpg