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Stargate: Universe Season 1 (SGU)
Dec. 14th, 2010 05:32 pmSGU S1 is streaming on Netflix, so I watched it. I was a little embarrassed because I was that person who made a face whenever the subject of SGU came up, and was bitter about the cancellation of Stargate: Atlantis (SGA) in favor of SGU. For those who didn't follow that affair, when SGA was cancelled, the producers were real dicks about it, rude to the fans, making patronizing statements. They implied that they were going for a younger cast and audience, and a darker show, which is not flattering to current fans of the franchise. There was also lots of critique written by fans about the creepiness of the body-swap conceit and the disability fail of one episode.
In spite all of this, and to my own surprise, I liked SGU. I still feel that the body-swap episodes are hella creepy and those are my least favorite. The disability-fail episode was indeed pretty bad. The rest of the show I really enjoyed.
I particularly like that there is a large ensemble cast, with a lot of recurring minor characters, and a lot of interesting women. A lot of the early episodes in particular involve survival storylines, reminiscent of early Battlestar: Galactica, which is a theme I am a sucker for. The crew of the Destiny need air, power, water, food, and medicine, in that order, and there is an episode or two devoted to each. Naturally there are matters of internal politics within the crew, particularly between military and non-military personnel. There are strange aliens, of both the sentient and non-sentient kind. There are technological problems with the ship itself. These are all pretty standard and interesting SF fare.
( the creepy body-swap stuff )
One thing that makes this show very different from the other Stargate shows is the moral ambiguity of the characters. Colonel Young, the military commander, is only sometimes a good guy. Dr. Rush, the lead scientist, is driven, difficult, and often unlikeable (but he is growing on me). Camille Wray is the IOA representative, the civilian authority on the ship. I find her hard to like, even though I theoretically agree with a lot of things she says. It is neat that Wray is a lesbian character and that we get to see her relationship with her partner. She is often at odds with the military. Lt. Greer is a fierce, loyal soldier who doesn't hesitate to shoot even his own crew (he's grown on me a lot too).
The rest of the main players:
Lt. Scott looks a lot like Scott Summers from X-Men, and acts like him too: a boy scout. Ostensibly the main character?
Tamara Johansen is a medic, strong and confident. I like her a lot.
Eli Wallace is the Gary Stu, an MIT drop out who got into the Stargate program by solving an online puzzle in the form of a game. *Massive Eyeroll* He's kind of chubby and an SF geek, inventive and funny. He's also the sole comic relief.
Chloe Armstrong is a senator's daughter who is there sort of by accident. She irritated me at first by being useless, and she is still often useless, but sometimes she is kind of awesome. Her friendship with Eli make them seem like the most stable people on the ship.
The other main difference is that there is not a strong feeling of camaraderie and humor the way there was on SGA. It definitely feels influenced by BSG in that things can change very quickly, people can die, alliances can form and dissolve, etc. Even the lighting and set design seem darker.
So anyways! I think this show is actually pretty good. There are a lot of cliffhanger endings which makes it easy to watch very quickly.
In spite all of this, and to my own surprise, I liked SGU. I still feel that the body-swap episodes are hella creepy and those are my least favorite. The disability-fail episode was indeed pretty bad. The rest of the show I really enjoyed.
I particularly like that there is a large ensemble cast, with a lot of recurring minor characters, and a lot of interesting women. A lot of the early episodes in particular involve survival storylines, reminiscent of early Battlestar: Galactica, which is a theme I am a sucker for. The crew of the Destiny need air, power, water, food, and medicine, in that order, and there is an episode or two devoted to each. Naturally there are matters of internal politics within the crew, particularly between military and non-military personnel. There are strange aliens, of both the sentient and non-sentient kind. There are technological problems with the ship itself. These are all pretty standard and interesting SF fare.
( the creepy body-swap stuff )
One thing that makes this show very different from the other Stargate shows is the moral ambiguity of the characters. Colonel Young, the military commander, is only sometimes a good guy. Dr. Rush, the lead scientist, is driven, difficult, and often unlikeable (but he is growing on me). Camille Wray is the IOA representative, the civilian authority on the ship. I find her hard to like, even though I theoretically agree with a lot of things she says. It is neat that Wray is a lesbian character and that we get to see her relationship with her partner. She is often at odds with the military. Lt. Greer is a fierce, loyal soldier who doesn't hesitate to shoot even his own crew (he's grown on me a lot too).
The rest of the main players:
Lt. Scott looks a lot like Scott Summers from X-Men, and acts like him too: a boy scout. Ostensibly the main character?
Tamara Johansen is a medic, strong and confident. I like her a lot.
Eli Wallace is the Gary Stu, an MIT drop out who got into the Stargate program by solving an online puzzle in the form of a game. *Massive Eyeroll* He's kind of chubby and an SF geek, inventive and funny. He's also the sole comic relief.
Chloe Armstrong is a senator's daughter who is there sort of by accident. She irritated me at first by being useless, and she is still often useless, but sometimes she is kind of awesome. Her friendship with Eli make them seem like the most stable people on the ship.
The other main difference is that there is not a strong feeling of camaraderie and humor the way there was on SGA. It definitely feels influenced by BSG in that things can change very quickly, people can die, alliances can form and dissolve, etc. Even the lighting and set design seem darker.
So anyways! I think this show is actually pretty good. There are a lot of cliffhanger endings which makes it easy to watch very quickly.
