Stargate: Universe 1x01 and 1x02 - Air
Oct. 4th, 2009 03:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
castaliaOkay, I'm intrigued. I'm going to keep watching for now and see where they go with it. For now, some thoughts:
The BSG aspirations are pretty obvious so far. Tone, color palette, camera work, even the music. It's not what I look for in my Gateverse, but I'm willing to see how they handle it. Despite all the rumors and joking, it feels not at all like Stargate: 90210, and unless they kill off all the 35+ crowd, it won't be. The plot isn't really all that original, true. BSG did it. Voyager did it. Lots of skiffy has done it. I think it'll fall somewhere in between BSG and Voyager, to be honest. Not as bleak as the former but not as, I dunno, clean and light as Voyager. Unless the Ancient stones become the new holodeck. But it's a decent pilot, even though some of the trademark Wright & Cooper crap is in there. Having the episode broken down into past and present worked for me, and I'm glad these writers have finally stopped putting those annoying "X hours ago" labels on screen and have started trusting that an audience can follow events without such flashcards.
I liked the opening, with how desperate and unorganized it seemed. Very stark contrast to the confidant SG-1 or even the organized, hopeful first expedition to Atlantis we saw in Rising.
It feels like the whole 9th chevron thing was thrown in out of nowhere, but I suppose it was a logical leap to make, since the gate does have 9 chevrons available. Why this gate looks weird compared to Milky Way and Pegasus gates, I dunno, but at least it spins.
Was glad to see Jack, Daniel, and Sam in cameos. It feels right for them to sort of christen each new spin-off, to ground each show in its roots, so to speak. I also love that new recruits have to watch Daniel give them a rapid-fire SGC education on video. It was also nice to see Walter and Dr Lee (hi, Dr Lee, love you, you big dork!) in there. RDA and Shanks are both listed for 4 eps on IMDB, so I guess we'll get to see more of them. Hurrah!
Wasn't buying that it was so unsafe for the Icarus Outpost to dial Earth (and man, I'm sure the writers thought themselves Oh So Clever by having a base called Icarus end in fire, but guys, we fans know mythology too and surely somebody at the SGC would've said oh, hey, might be tempting fate a little there...*sigh*), especially b/c hello, iris! If it can withstand multiple nukes over the course of so many seasons, surely it can survive that as well. If we're meant to know it was BS and that Rush did it on purpose so he wouldn't lose the chance at the 9th Chevron, then...interesting. So far he's rather unlikeable in many ways, and some tears over a photo of a past lover/wife/girlfriend isn't enough to make me like him. Still, I'm intrigued, and it'll be nice to have some ambiguity on the show, so I'll give it a pass. I do like Robert Carlyle.
Since when is there a hand-held version of the Ancient body-swapping device? And since when do they know how to turn it off without destroying the damn thing? Also, does this particular Ancient ship not require the Ancient Gene to work any of its systems? Will they run into that problem later on?
Okay, anyway, on to the other characters.
Eli Wallace: I like him so far. He's the POV character, the geek. A very young Daniel Jackson crossed with McKay, maybe. Or, since they took the idea from The Last Starfighter, with the hidden video game recruiter puzzle, I guess he's a modern version of that guy. Anyway, I adore David Blue, so I'm excited to have him on the show.
Camille Wray: Always glad to see her again, and right now I'm sure she wishes she'd nabbed that Atlantis position after all. Here's hoping she'll have more screen time in the next eps, b/c she was way underused here. We need some female leaders on this show, but so far she's only listed for 10 of the 20 eps on IMDB. That doesn't bode well. And I'm still not looking forward to the body-swapping episode. *sigh*
Lt. Scott: Reminds me of Ford except not quite so happy-go-lucky. I like that he and Eli are proto-buddies already.
Sgt. Greer: This one feels like he has hidden depths, so I'm very interested in getting more backstory. Is he the Starbuck of the group, in the brig for insubordination? For all that they said he had "anger management issues" (and isn't that a stereotype...), he didn't seem all that angry. Intense, perhaps, but I don't remember him shouting. The actor has very expressive eyes which seemed to convey there was more going on than simple anger issues, so I hope that's right and we'll get more story there.
Chloe Armstrong: I like the actress, I liked her beating the crap out of Rush, but I really want to know more. SGU writers, don't let us down here. So far I don't know what this character is bringing to the table, at all. What are her skills? So far she has just reacted to things and it'd be nice to see her be more proactive.
Col. Young: Again, I like, but want to know more. The flashback didn't really tell us much other than he has marital issues (no happily married people in the Gateverse, oh no) and a possible health issue?
"TJ" Johansen: Medic in over her head, has potential. I'd like to know what she wanted to go back to school for (doctor or something else entirely?) and what her issues on base were that Camille was so concerned. I hope it's not an unfortunate love affair with an officer or something.
Vanessa James: "Lt. Scott's love interest" is all we know so far. They really need to tell us more. C'mon, writers. Stop sucking at writing female characters.
Oh yes, and for all the stuff I saw online about the "very graphic sex scene", um...that wasn't that graphic? It was short and they were both enjoying it so IDK, I didn't mind it. Not saying I want to see these characters bumping uglies every episode, but it's gonna happen so they might as well address it.
Col. Telford: Dunno much about him and he didn't leave much of an impression on me other than "oh, it's Lou Diamond Phillips!". He's only listed for 7 episodes, too.
Franklin: He's on the away team, a scientist, but he's only slated for 6 eps so I wonder if he'll be a short-lived character.
Palmer: Female geologist, also on the team. She had pretty much no screen time except for a few lines in the gateroom. It feels weird to have no connection to half the away team yet.
Oh well, here's hoping we'll get to know a lot more about these people soon enough. Fleshing out characters was never the strong suit of this set of writers, though. They've already set it up for exploration, and even with the 12 hour time limit for each excursion, that's a lot of distraction from character stuff. Maybe they won't stop at a planet every episode.
For now, I remain skeptical but intrigued. I'll keep watching.
Anyone who missed the ep, it's available on Hulu for free (US viewers only).
The BSG aspirations are pretty obvious so far. Tone, color palette, camera work, even the music. It's not what I look for in my Gateverse, but I'm willing to see how they handle it. Despite all the rumors and joking, it feels not at all like Stargate: 90210, and unless they kill off all the 35+ crowd, it won't be. The plot isn't really all that original, true. BSG did it. Voyager did it. Lots of skiffy has done it. I think it'll fall somewhere in between BSG and Voyager, to be honest. Not as bleak as the former but not as, I dunno, clean and light as Voyager. Unless the Ancient stones become the new holodeck. But it's a decent pilot, even though some of the trademark Wright & Cooper crap is in there. Having the episode broken down into past and present worked for me, and I'm glad these writers have finally stopped putting those annoying "X hours ago" labels on screen and have started trusting that an audience can follow events without such flashcards.
I liked the opening, with how desperate and unorganized it seemed. Very stark contrast to the confidant SG-1 or even the organized, hopeful first expedition to Atlantis we saw in Rising.
It feels like the whole 9th chevron thing was thrown in out of nowhere, but I suppose it was a logical leap to make, since the gate does have 9 chevrons available. Why this gate looks weird compared to Milky Way and Pegasus gates, I dunno, but at least it spins.
Was glad to see Jack, Daniel, and Sam in cameos. It feels right for them to sort of christen each new spin-off, to ground each show in its roots, so to speak. I also love that new recruits have to watch Daniel give them a rapid-fire SGC education on video. It was also nice to see Walter and Dr Lee (hi, Dr Lee, love you, you big dork!) in there. RDA and Shanks are both listed for 4 eps on IMDB, so I guess we'll get to see more of them. Hurrah!
Wasn't buying that it was so unsafe for the Icarus Outpost to dial Earth (and man, I'm sure the writers thought themselves Oh So Clever by having a base called Icarus end in fire, but guys, we fans know mythology too and surely somebody at the SGC would've said oh, hey, might be tempting fate a little there...*sigh*), especially b/c hello, iris! If it can withstand multiple nukes over the course of so many seasons, surely it can survive that as well. If we're meant to know it was BS and that Rush did it on purpose so he wouldn't lose the chance at the 9th Chevron, then...interesting. So far he's rather unlikeable in many ways, and some tears over a photo of a past lover/wife/girlfriend isn't enough to make me like him. Still, I'm intrigued, and it'll be nice to have some ambiguity on the show, so I'll give it a pass. I do like Robert Carlyle.
Since when is there a hand-held version of the Ancient body-swapping device? And since when do they know how to turn it off without destroying the damn thing? Also, does this particular Ancient ship not require the Ancient Gene to work any of its systems? Will they run into that problem later on?
Okay, anyway, on to the other characters.
Eli Wallace: I like him so far. He's the POV character, the geek. A very young Daniel Jackson crossed with McKay, maybe. Or, since they took the idea from The Last Starfighter, with the hidden video game recruiter puzzle, I guess he's a modern version of that guy. Anyway, I adore David Blue, so I'm excited to have him on the show.
Camille Wray: Always glad to see her again, and right now I'm sure she wishes she'd nabbed that Atlantis position after all. Here's hoping she'll have more screen time in the next eps, b/c she was way underused here. We need some female leaders on this show, but so far she's only listed for 10 of the 20 eps on IMDB. That doesn't bode well. And I'm still not looking forward to the body-swapping episode. *sigh*
Lt. Scott: Reminds me of Ford except not quite so happy-go-lucky. I like that he and Eli are proto-buddies already.
Sgt. Greer: This one feels like he has hidden depths, so I'm very interested in getting more backstory. Is he the Starbuck of the group, in the brig for insubordination? For all that they said he had "anger management issues" (and isn't that a stereotype...), he didn't seem all that angry. Intense, perhaps, but I don't remember him shouting. The actor has very expressive eyes which seemed to convey there was more going on than simple anger issues, so I hope that's right and we'll get more story there.
Chloe Armstrong: I like the actress, I liked her beating the crap out of Rush, but I really want to know more. SGU writers, don't let us down here. So far I don't know what this character is bringing to the table, at all. What are her skills? So far she has just reacted to things and it'd be nice to see her be more proactive.
Col. Young: Again, I like, but want to know more. The flashback didn't really tell us much other than he has marital issues (no happily married people in the Gateverse, oh no) and a possible health issue?
"TJ" Johansen: Medic in over her head, has potential. I'd like to know what she wanted to go back to school for (doctor or something else entirely?) and what her issues on base were that Camille was so concerned. I hope it's not an unfortunate love affair with an officer or something.
Vanessa James: "Lt. Scott's love interest" is all we know so far. They really need to tell us more. C'mon, writers. Stop sucking at writing female characters.
Oh yes, and for all the stuff I saw online about the "very graphic sex scene", um...that wasn't that graphic? It was short and they were both enjoying it so IDK, I didn't mind it. Not saying I want to see these characters bumping uglies every episode, but it's gonna happen so they might as well address it.
Col. Telford: Dunno much about him and he didn't leave much of an impression on me other than "oh, it's Lou Diamond Phillips!". He's only listed for 7 episodes, too.
Franklin: He's on the away team, a scientist, but he's only slated for 6 eps so I wonder if he'll be a short-lived character.
Palmer: Female geologist, also on the team. She had pretty much no screen time except for a few lines in the gateroom. It feels weird to have no connection to half the away team yet.
Oh well, here's hoping we'll get to know a lot more about these people soon enough. Fleshing out characters was never the strong suit of this set of writers, though. They've already set it up for exploration, and even with the 12 hour time limit for each excursion, that's a lot of distraction from character stuff. Maybe they won't stop at a planet every episode.
For now, I remain skeptical but intrigued. I'll keep watching.
Anyone who missed the ep, it's available on Hulu for free (US viewers only).