Overly simplistic plots (Spoilers S2)

[Stormtrooper]

Take a look at the second season episodes:

Spoiler:

Intervention: solve LA problem and TJ's pregnancy;
Aftermath: kill Riley, get rid of most of the LA invasion force;
Awakening: lose Telford;
Pathogen: hello Super Chloe;
Cloverdale: hello Super Scott.

Is it just me, or SGU is seriously lacking some plot? Which is weird considering how complex the show's set up is.

Thoughts?

[escyos]

Name a "complex" SG-1 or Atlantis episodes?

[jelgate]

Take a look at the second season episodes:

Spoiler:

Intervention: solve LA problem and TJ's pregnancy;
Aftermath: kill Riley, get rid of most of the LA invasion force;
Awakening: lose Telford;
Pathogen: hello Super Chloe;
Cloverdale: hello Super Scott.

Is it just me, or SGU is seriously lacking some plot? Which is weird considering how complex the show's set up is.

Thoughts?

Use 1 sentence to summarize it and any plot will seem simplistic

[Sami_]

Use 1 sentence to summarize it and any plot will seem simplistic

I think the point is that there is no arc.

[jelgate]

I think the point is that there is no arc.

Of course their are plot arcs

Chloe's infection
Rush on the bridge
The Lucian Alliance status on Destiny


to name a few

[Shadow_7]

A fair percentage of them were multiple storylines merging into one related context at the end. We've only got a taste of that with Lost at this point. Otherwise just very mono-ish plots big picture wise. If you need more than five bullet points to summarize important events on an SGU episode you should stop including the redundant things like dialing the gate.

As opposed to the others.
- found lost lab
- got abducted by alients
- other aliens commandeered the 304
- activated device on remote planet
- destroyed multiple hive ships and gates
- 304 destroys device
...
...
...

As opposed to...
- Chloe is infected (which we already assumed / season 2 trailer)
- Eli's mom is sicker (we knew that she was already sick via the pilot)
- Rush is a jerk (that was also established in the pilot)

[chrono trigger]

Take a look at the second season episodes:

Spoiler:

Intervention: solve LA problem and TJ's pregnancy;
Aftermath: kill Riley, get rid of most of the LA invasion force;
Awakening: lose Telford;
Pathogen: hello Super Chloe;
Cloverdale: hello Super Scott.

Is it just me, or SGU is seriously lacking some plot? Which is weird considering how complex the show's set up is.

Thoughts?

i agree with what your saying and i think the problem is that they focus too much on character drama and not enough on making their plot more interesting.

[YoshiKart64]

The way you've explained the plots make them seem simplistic.

For Aftermath: What about the breakdown that Young is facing - we see that gradually grow and manifest itself in new ways each episode. How about the actions of Rush - he's desperately trying to balance his dreams with his morals. How far did the death of his wife change him and how far is he willing to go to get what he wants? Like the best shows the plot is just the backdrop to the characters, it doesn't mean that nothing happened in the episode.

Also I just want to say that while Atlantis doesn't have quite the same depth to its characters; it was was never written to be a character study. It's still a lot more than simple caricatures though - Letters from Pegasus anyone? The show had a lot more going on than perhaps people remember (even myself i must admit). Just my view on the impending Atlantis vs Universe which is more interesting argument that will start or has started.

[General Jumper One]

Stargate without Robert C. Cooper

[Sami_]

Of course their are plot arcs

Chloe's infection
Rush on the bridge
The Lucian Alliance status on Destiny


to name a few

Those are hardly plot arcs worthy of a television show, if those were the kind of arc's we had in SG-1 it would be:

O'Neill's knees are shot
Daniel got a new office
Twitter updates from Teal'c and his life on earth

[jelgate]

Those are hardly plot arcs worthy of a television show, if those were the kind of arc's we had in SG-1 it would be:

O'Neill's knees are shot
Daniel got a new office
Twitter updates from Teal'c and his life on earth

Yes they are. Stories that span multiple episodes are plot arcs.

And its hardly as mundane as you put it. The SG1 ones are everyday activities. The SGU ones are not

[Sami_]

Yes they are. Stories that span multiple episodes are plot arcs.

And its hardly as mundane as you put it. The SG1 ones are everyday activities. The SGU ones are not

If you really think that these are good arcs then you need to watch other sci-fi, including apparently the one in your sig.

[xxxevilgrinxxx]

Take a look at the second season episodes:

Spoiler:

Intervention: solve LA problem and TJ's pregnancy;
Aftermath: kill Riley, get rid of most of the LA invasion force;
Awakening: lose Telford;
Pathogen: hello Super Chloe;
Cloverdale: hello Super Scott.

Is it just me, or SGU is seriously lacking some plot? Which is weird considering how complex the show's set up is.

Thoughts?

If you try to sum up anything in ONE point and less than one sentence, of course it's going to seem simplistic. I have yet to see Cloverdale, but of all the others this season, the plots have been complex with a clear story arc following up from last season. I don't know how else to say it, but the complexity is there, if you're looking.
I suppose the simplicity is also there, if you aren't?

[PeteJ]

Yes they are. Stories that span multiple episodes are plot arcs.

No wonder this show is so boring.

[Stormtrooper]

I think there are definitely story arcs developing at an extremely slow pace in SGU. Problem is, these are the only stories the show delivers. The individual episodes don't have their own plots and when they do, as chrono trigger put it, they are simply ignored for drama's sake.