See I'm going the other way on this one.

I didn't particularly enjoy it at all. The ship was fantastic, Robert Carlyle as Rush was great, Eli was perfect (Not to mention the fanfiction possibilities it opens up since anyone could take his place. I don't read SG fanfiction, just an obervation.)

But other than Rush and Eli... I really didn't give a shit about any of the characters. The whiny bitch that Eli has a crush on? Fucking annoying, I would have spaced that cunt as soon as I came upon an airlock. The lieutenant? Kind of a pussy, responsibility just happened to fall into his lap. Colonel? Don't care. Asian chick? Annoying in every show I've seen her in.

Yes it felt gritty but still had the SG feel to it, but it was lacking the instant connection to the characters that the other SG series' had.

Frankly it felt like 2 hours went by way too quickly, and I didn't actually learn anything.

 

Well I have mixed feelings about it, some things just felt a little bit to contrived and act of plotish to me. Overall though it was pretty solid. IMO Rush came off really well, they had me alternating my opinion of him the entire episode which is a good thing for me as it keeps me guessing as to whats next. I'll definitely check out next week's episode though.

Edit:

Yea that is true to a certain point, but at the same time it was only the pilot so I'm not gonna judge the majority of the characters until they've gotten a little bit more screen time.

 

Remember it's only 2/3 of the pilot we (you) have seen so far. This is all still setup, we won't really know what the week-to-week episodes will be like for another two or three weeks.

 

I understand that it was only the pilot, and I understand that they're trying to step away from the usual SG formula. But what I've seen so far hasn't really got me saying "Damn, I'm going to like this guy."

Even in Atlantis, it was easy to form a connection to the characters from the very beginning. The first I saw Sheppard I said, "Hmm, I like this character" Many of the characters from the other SG shows are like that.

In SGU though I just haven't felt that yet.

I'll wait to give a definite opinion until the 3rd or 4th episode though.

 

Remember that Hollywood has companies that specialize in writing/directing pilot episodes of new TV series. That's why there is often a major change once the regular crew take over.

We recorded the pilot: I'm going to watch it again. Probably this evening while the boys and I huddle in the kitchen waiting for the carpets to dry.

 

I just saw the Pilot episode, and I'm going to reserve judgment until I've seen a few more.

Current thoughts though, are that I hate Rush (and the douche-bag that plays him). Rush because he comes off an even worse pretentious asshole than McKay from SGA. And the actor because I've never liked any of the movies he's been in.

Edit: Ok, that's not entirely true. I did like "The World is Not Enough" and "28 Weeks Later", but he wasn't a "main" character like in SGU. The Universe revolves around Rush. (Bad pun is bad.) Also, if I remember right, the guy he played in "28 Weeks Later" ended up getting eaten before the end of the movie. Which was :awesome.

Spoiler

I'd have stuck Rush in that shuttle and made him asphyxiate. Bastard.

 

Now you see, I had the opposite reaction to Rush. The guy may not be as naturally brilliant as Eli appears to be, but that still makes him the second smartest guy around. Plus, he has experience and knowlege that makes him too valuable to toss out an airlock.

Personality-wise, he struck me as quite similar to some of the darker fanon interpretations of Dumbledore. He's well intentioned, but manipulative and ruthlessly cold-blooded. He'll do what it takes to ensure the survival of the group, regardless of sentiment or morality.

I find him to be something of a breath of fresh air for the franchise. In SG1 and SGA, it always bugged me that the simple, pragmatic solution to the problem of the day was, without fail, discarded without a second thought for the standard idiotic-but-morally-right plan that usually only worked because Carter pulled her ten-thousandth miracle out of her mary-sue ass. No one ever really had to deal with the tough questions and choices, because just when it looked like they might have to, they'd be saved from their moral dilemma by yet another contrived plot device.

For once, I'd like to see characters actually have to make those hard choices and deal with the consequences. You know, like we do in the real world. So far, it's looking like this version of stargate just might deliver in that department.

 

If such a fanon interpretation of Dumbledore existed, I might agree with you...But most of the manipulative!Dumbledore stories suck ass.

Also, for the record, I don't like reading such stories...Unless, of course, it is realistic.

(Inb4pun.)

I agree. It would be a nice change to have real characters, and not Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus.

You can't deny that Carter is hot, though.

 

I really liked it and am looking forward to seeing more. I haven't seen any of the previous series', so this seems like a great introduction into the fandom.

Eli is my favourite character so far, and the blond medic is probably my least favourite for no reason I can think of.

 

Dr. Strange Lulz Hit the nail with the big Hammer.
I don't care what happens to these folks. Eight deadly words.
Now I will watch a few more shows, but I don't have that desire to watch
like my desire for Bones, or Castle, Or Babylon 5 or DS9.

I lost interest in house, battle star, Life, Lie to me. Eureka etc.
the show has two "audience" problems first is the Standard large cast few stars how do you get the audience attached to the characters, but keep the story important enough that they can leave "ah la Babylon five"

The we have the new and different, vs it has been done before.
These folks will have the same problems we have seen before in at least 4 sci fi shows
and even "Lost" and "Gilligans Island" if you really stretch the point.
So what we have is a series of shows that are going to be "fix the ship or die"
Adventure on planet x to find element Z or die, and what can we do the change the ship or stargate to get home. I think the actors where ok in the pilot, but it is going to be a tough job for the writers to keep and grow a viewership.

Does anyone really know why Battle Star was cancelled. And how many more viewers it need to survive?

 

Well the premier got a 1.7 rating on Syfy (what a stupid name, btw, I hadn't really watched the channel since SG-1 ended, so hadn't realized they changed names until SGU). Anyway, that seems a bit low to me, dunno, I'm not an expert on the subject though. But for a series premier I'd have expected it to at least reach 2.0

Still, after the later seasons of SG-1 and Atlantis, can't blame folks for perhaps being somewhat apprehensive about the new show.

On a related note, I've recently rewatched several episodes of SG-1 in the later seasons...really, they should have just killed O'Neill instead of allowing RDA (who seemed like he really couldn't care less to be there) destroy the character. It always seems like he was just going through the lines.

Sad, really.

In other news, I actually think the Ori could have been very interesting if done better. Shame.

 

OK, I've caught SGU now. First thought was holy crap, O'Neill got fat! Second thought was that Rush is going to be a very interesting character. I was expecting him to be a Carter or a Zelenka while Eli ended up as the Jackson / McKay character, but happily I was wrong on both counts. I love that he has a real ruthless streak, the pursuit of knowledge at any cost.

Speaking of Eli, easily my favourite character so far. Which isn't really a surprise to me after SG1 and SGA. I always identify with the 'civilian science guy' the most, unless the guy in question is Jonas Quinn. Thankfully, Eli isn't Jonas Quinn. Having him talk to the floating camera things (Kino?) as a kind of melodramatic reality TV diary thing was fantastic.

I know there's concerns about what these people are going to do every week and how quickly it's going to get old, but I don't think SGU is going to follow the same 'problem of the week' formula that the previous two series did. One thing that kept occurring to me was that if I was watching SG1 then they'd have been on board the Destiny in 10 minutes and have fixed the hull breach within 30. Instead we got a three part pilot with the same action but more character development. Which is nice, because some of them really, really, really need their characters developed.

All in all, I'm pleased and still looking forward to seeing how this show progresses.

 

My assessment of the show is that they will never get back to the Milky Way. This is SO different from the original series, which threw Earth into a war for which it was completely unready. There was a tremendous feeling of urgency, but also a confidence in ourselves and trust in each other.

The Atlantis expedition was carefully screened for personnel and extremely well-equipped. Everyone was intelligent, courageous, and skilled. They knew that everyone in the group were the very best of the best.

Not to mention that everyone in both SG-1 and Atlantis were volunteers. "We come in peace for all mankind." "One giant leap for mankind."

This isn't that show or that mood. These are refugees, and they also realise that they have been victimized by Rush. It's a random group of labcoats and uniforms and way too many tourists. Carter reported 80 people MIA. A sizeable percentage didn't make it to the 'Gate. There are a lot of injuries which would be minor if they could get to a doctor. Supplies are horrifyingly low - that marine who was in the brig is already hoarding food. We might actually be able to *count* how many people came through the gate in the opening scenes. Certainly not enough to establish a colony, or even a strong ethnic group if they try to join a planet.

I can't see any kind of happy ending from here.

Frankly, I have really high hopes. This could be a winner - new and exciting and different.

 

The thing with this show in comparison to the previous Stargate's is that it's deliberately written and produced a different way. Very deliberately. While SG-1 and Atlantis had the 'defend Earth' overreaching purpose and the whole cast being a bunch of superheroes that could solve anything. That's what I like about SGU so far. They give us characters that have a lot of potential to develop instead of fester as the same people for 5+ years.

In the pilot episode of SGU, I loved that they couldn't solve the problem with the air so instantly. Seeing them struggle and actually debate sacrificing someone was great. They didn't build up some false tension and then have the good guys joke about it by the end, everything solved (Of course, there were quite a few exceptions to that in SG1 and Atlantis episodes.). Dark, gritty et cetera... it applies here. That may turn off a lot of old Stargate fans, but I like it.

 

Spoiler

Apparently they get back around episode 10.

Anyway, I thought it was okay. A bit dull. The entire 2 hours was spent pretty much telling us what we already knew from reading the 4 line summary of the programme's premise.

Eli is pretty cool. I'm concerned about what possible enemy they can have when they're constantly travelling between galaxies. It'd have to be a different enemy a week, really. Or something on the ship already. I'm also concerned about the show's lasting ability to keep me interested.

People are kept interested in this type of programme by unanswered questions. Stargate kept me interested just as much for info on the Ancients, the original of humanity, Goa'uld society, the Asgard, etc. Most of these questions are now answered or no longer really questions (Asgard are dead).

There are very few questions left for the Stargate mythos to answer for us, and most of them are back in the Milky Way.

Sure, the point of a new show is to present new questions. But given that they're in an Ancient ship, and given that we already know pretty much the outline of Ancient history, there can't really be any big revelations there (Unless of course the Ori and Alterans turn out to be humans who have gone back in time millions of years).

 

Or the ship itself. I don't need to see another Goa'uld, Wraith or Ori who want to subjugate / eat humanity. Watching these people struggle to survive in a ship that's falling apart when they have no training, no supplies, no allies and no hope of rescue... that's more interesting.

Having said that, Destiny has obviously been through some pretty nasty fights since it set off. There's got to be something out there who isn't going to be happy to see that ship again.

 

Like many people apparently, i've got mixed feelings about SGU so far. I'm using spoiler tags where possible but be warned anyone who hasn't seen the pilot yet.



So


I'm trying to be fair to Universe, give it a chance, and not let my annoyance with the end of atlantis colour my opinion, but as much as i loved certain things about of the pilot

Spoiler

such as the cool cgi fight scene between the Lucian Alliance and the BC304 or Icarus Base people or the amazing set designs and model for the Destiny

, other bits of it just seem to clash.

I mean for one thing i have a series of major issues with some of the facts stated in the show. Chief among them the age of the Destiny. According to Rush she was launched from Milky Way Hundreds of Thousands of years ago. Ok... she is an Ancient alteran ship. BUT.... if the SG timeline (admittedly it's rather sparse) is to be believed, some several hundred thousand years ago the Alterans had already long left this galaxy, either dying from the plague, ascending or escaping by ship or atlantis to Pegasus. They are documented to have resided in Pegasus for quite a long time, aprox a million years, before they encountered the wraith ten thousand years pre the present day. So.. who launched the Destiny?


I can buy the ancients launching a ship with her mission in mind. They do seem the type to plan long term and to explore... But i don't buy the show's timeline for when they did it. It sounds to me like they needed the ship to be 'very' old, but thought the idea of her being perhaps over a million years old (actually using the word 'million') would have sounded too implausible to viewers. It does seem a little much even to me, in the sense that (even with ancient science and technology) the ship would probably be completely dead and too old to be spaceworthy anymore. Ok we know the Antartic stargate (from prior to the exodus) worked fine and it is millions of years old but it's actual DHD was completely drained of power after soo long, and a stargate has far less to break than a faster than light capable starship!

Not to mention

Spoiler

how easily the Lucian's supposedly managed to survive a fight with an earth BC304 (which according to Atlantis canon should have Asgard Weaponry capable of taking on Ori i.e. Ancient level shielding) and didn't get utterly blown away. It's not like earth wasn't firing back.

Anyway, why the hell would the Lucians be so utterly suicidal? Their inclusion looks to me simply like a simple get out of choosing the only body (aside from the Jaffa) who still actually have a sizeable fleet. Ok SG canon doesn't have many space faring enemies in Milky Way anymore but... it smacks of laziness to me!

It's like the writers cherry picked useful bits from the previous show, without considering fully the context of all of them.



Still, i'm prepared to overlook these points, which admittedly are a bit quibbly, and see how the show progresses. I do have fears however that the show is inspired by a demand to copy the nitty gritty make life threatening survival decisions genre of nbsg/lost etc.

We shall see.

 

I'm not too informed on the Stargate series. Where does SGU fall with all the other chronology wise?

Is it just a different team doing things in parallel to the team in SG1? Afraid I only saw the first season of the original Stargate series.

That said I did like the premier of the show. Definitely will watch the following few episodes to check out if it will become something I look forward to. Though, so far, no characters have jumped at me as ones I really like; everyone was average.

 

N, from what the makers have said in interviews it's supposed to be a few days after Atlantis ended.

That is one hell of an interesting idea.

 

Crap, so I am missing quite a bit of background then. Meh, I don't have the time to watch all of Atlantis, I'll figure out what is happening as I go with it.