I've realized today I have spent a heck of a lot of time defending Stargate Universe, yet haven't expressed my concerns for the show. Mine are relatively simple, and some or all might be opinion based -- so feel free to defend SGU or agree or whatever. ;-) The internet should remain a free place to say what you want, and you wont hurt my feelings either way.
Fear Number One:
A lot of the reason I love the idea of Universe is I think we will learn a lot about the Stargate Universe. We will learn about the 9th Chevron, we will learn more about the ancients. Thats all well and good. But one thing I have always loved about Stargate is the fact it's wrapped up in Earth mythology. To me it's one way to grab ones attention. Take something like the pyramids and make them landing pads for spaceships, that's just wild. But make something like the Crystal Skulls a gift from some spiritual race and thats a whole other thing. It's just....crazy. Makes you kinda wonder about these things.
Now that alone isn't my fear. The reason I love these things is because it keeps you interested in the show. Makes you want to learn more about, say for example, the Furlings. Sure, if they were some random alien we might not care about them. Make them friends with the two most powerful races we know, and yea, we're interested. yet make an episode like Paradise Lost and now we want to know more about them. Did they live on Earth once? Were they connected to the Mayans or Aztec? I mean, who knows! Thats part of the fun, they tease us with little stuff we do know and makes us want to keep watching.
Now that most of that is going to be gone, they have to find something else to fill the gap. That's partly why I am excited for more of a character driven show. Sure, it might turn into a wreck like Battlestar, but it may be just as fun as Lost or Heroes, which are also character driven. However, can the writers write like that? I wouldn't know, honestly, I think they are amazing but character driven plots are entirely different then plot driven or mythology driven. It just is. I'm not entirely sure I could do it, my stories are generally driven by the plot with the characters thrown into some sort of mix. I'm not saying they can't -- but I'm just wondering. And it could end up being a bad thing.
Fear Number Two:
It's ship based. Actually, that is going to be the cool part of this show. I believe we are going to see a lot of old style thinking, because anytime we are in a conflict, we are going to have to think outside the box to actually fight these big bad ships. Sure, Destiny might have weapons, but if we don't control the direction of the ship or what it does, weapons might not be useful if we are sitting ducks. And I have a feeling we are going to face some pretty powerful bad guys.
My fear is that the writers have to deal with the crew trying to fix this. Trying to gain control of the ship. And the characters will find a way, and the writer will have to do it. What I mean? People complain that Atlantis found a way back to Earth. However it's human nature to want to get back. We'll, that human nature of wanting to be home will still be there. The way to do that is to control the ship's navigation. I bet they will find it, the question is when? If they find it by the second or third season, they might be so far away they have no way how to go home. Then it comes to a power source powerful enough to go so far...but even then, could they go back?
But even if they couldn't go back, then we still have control of the ship and that will allow for new story plot devices and allow for some recycled plots. It will also destroy a lot of cool episode ideas. Like an alien ship coming to attack the Destiny, and we have to find something to give us the underhand. With us controlling the ship, we have the ship to move about and could avoid fire while attacking them with whatever weapons we have.
See what I'm getting at? SGU being ship-based is a strength as it is. The writers job is to hinder the characters ability at controlling the ship for as long as possible. Hopefully they can do a better job at this then they did with Atlantis. Which, I'm relatively convinced they can.
And thats really my fears. Stargate Universe greatest strengths can be it's greatest weakness. I think this show, to please the fans, is going to be extremely hard for the writers and if they can manage to get a new audience while keeping the current one happy, it will prove that they can still write a good show. Otherwise, they still have a lot to learn. Oh, and a lot to prove.
With all that said, I still believe even with these fears, and even if they don't do what I want, that the show will be good and I will still watch it every week next summer. ;-) Can't miss my new favorite show, right?
Fear Number One:
A lot of the reason I love the idea of Universe is I think we will learn a lot about the Stargate Universe. We will learn about the 9th Chevron, we will learn more about the ancients. Thats all well and good. But one thing I have always loved about Stargate is the fact it's wrapped up in Earth mythology. To me it's one way to grab ones attention. Take something like the pyramids and make them landing pads for spaceships, that's just wild. But make something like the Crystal Skulls a gift from some spiritual race and thats a whole other thing. It's just....crazy. Makes you kinda wonder about these things.
Now that alone isn't my fear. The reason I love these things is because it keeps you interested in the show. Makes you want to learn more about, say for example, the Furlings. Sure, if they were some random alien we might not care about them. Make them friends with the two most powerful races we know, and yea, we're interested. yet make an episode like Paradise Lost and now we want to know more about them. Did they live on Earth once? Were they connected to the Mayans or Aztec? I mean, who knows! Thats part of the fun, they tease us with little stuff we do know and makes us want to keep watching.
Now that most of that is going to be gone, they have to find something else to fill the gap. That's partly why I am excited for more of a character driven show. Sure, it might turn into a wreck like Battlestar, but it may be just as fun as Lost or Heroes, which are also character driven. However, can the writers write like that? I wouldn't know, honestly, I think they are amazing but character driven plots are entirely different then plot driven or mythology driven. It just is. I'm not entirely sure I could do it, my stories are generally driven by the plot with the characters thrown into some sort of mix. I'm not saying they can't -- but I'm just wondering. And it could end up being a bad thing.
Fear Number Two:
It's ship based. Actually, that is going to be the cool part of this show. I believe we are going to see a lot of old style thinking, because anytime we are in a conflict, we are going to have to think outside the box to actually fight these big bad ships. Sure, Destiny might have weapons, but if we don't control the direction of the ship or what it does, weapons might not be useful if we are sitting ducks. And I have a feeling we are going to face some pretty powerful bad guys.
My fear is that the writers have to deal with the crew trying to fix this. Trying to gain control of the ship. And the characters will find a way, and the writer will have to do it. What I mean? People complain that Atlantis found a way back to Earth. However it's human nature to want to get back. We'll, that human nature of wanting to be home will still be there. The way to do that is to control the ship's navigation. I bet they will find it, the question is when? If they find it by the second or third season, they might be so far away they have no way how to go home. Then it comes to a power source powerful enough to go so far...but even then, could they go back?
But even if they couldn't go back, then we still have control of the ship and that will allow for new story plot devices and allow for some recycled plots. It will also destroy a lot of cool episode ideas. Like an alien ship coming to attack the Destiny, and we have to find something to give us the underhand. With us controlling the ship, we have the ship to move about and could avoid fire while attacking them with whatever weapons we have.
See what I'm getting at? SGU being ship-based is a strength as it is. The writers job is to hinder the characters ability at controlling the ship for as long as possible. Hopefully they can do a better job at this then they did with Atlantis. Which, I'm relatively convinced they can.
And thats really my fears. Stargate Universe greatest strengths can be it's greatest weakness. I think this show, to please the fans, is going to be extremely hard for the writers and if they can manage to get a new audience while keeping the current one happy, it will prove that they can still write a good show. Otherwise, they still have a lot to learn. Oh, and a lot to prove.
With all that said, I still believe even with these fears, and even if they don't do what I want, that the show will be good and I will still watch it every week next summer. ;-) Can't miss my new favorite show, right?
But I'm sure it ain't going to happen.
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