Stargate: Universe came out of nowhere for me. Despite being a big Sci-Fi geek, I was never a fan of the previous iterations, be it the movie, or the two other television shows. I’m not saying they weren’t good, because I know they all had a very passionate fan base. Regardless, I’m loving SG:U so far; despite how others feel like it’s been very hit or miss, I’m totally on board.
The one aspect of the show that I really don’t like (or, at least the one aspect not named Rush that I really don’t like) was the communication stones that were heavily featured this week. I liken this show to what Star Trek: Voyager should have been, much more so than Battlestar Galatica that, with which it shares quite a bit tonally, has less in common with than is given credit for. What SG:U doesn’t share with both of the shows, that it should, is the sense of isolation.
When you can schedule trips home for everyone to see their families, when the REMFs can dictate and direct, then our heroes, while in danger, don’t have that Lost in Space feel, which is what I think this show is supposed to be about. What’s the point of being untold millions of light years from Earth if you can still go back home for one last jump with the Mrs.? Or to a party with your friends? Just to realize that you lead a pretty sheltered life before? Yeah, well, so what? I think we knew Chloe was doing some pretty quick crowing up already.
The stones aren’t completely without merit, and there is obviously a certain drama that comes from their use (just wait until Young finds out that Telford just stopped by the Mrs.’ house after their poorly timed switcheroo). I just don’t think that’s the story that they should be telling, because there’s so much more potential in doing it another way.
Other stuff:
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Nov 07, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
The stones are only there to manufacture drama. Just think: without them we’d have two less love triangles in this episode alone. They should be massively useful for the castaways in terms of access to knowledge and expertise, but they’re only being used for shore leave. Thus Young is stuck with only Eli to try to understand the data.
I greatly enjoyed seeing O’Neill and Telford try to railroad Young into agreeing to the experiment so that he could be immediately resistant to the idea before they even explained what it was or what the chances for success were.
This show is not even as good as Voyager thus far, and I never thought I would say that about any show.
It was also lovely to see Chloe continue to latch on to whichever male is closest at the moment.
Carlo Rota is playing a new character, but you should note that the IOA civilian oversight officials are without exception power-hungry, cowardly micromanagers that are always wrong when they interfere with the SGC. Only if they become regulars are they allowed to develop redeeming characteristics.
Telford is an ass, but Greer was only let out of the stockade because Icarus was attacked. Technically, he should still be in space jail.
I don’t like Chloe, Eli or Scott.
I did like how Rush couldn’t keep the insufferably smug, pleased smile off his face when explaining to the assembled crew how he lied to everyone, still pretending that the plan to dial Earth wouldn’t have worked.
I think it’s best to ignore how the host bodies might object to consuming animal products, processed sugar, alcohol, tobacco and recreational drugs, or being exposed to STDs, infidelity or the possibility of pregnancy, otherwise it would be difficult to watch this show.
Well, it was good to see Cosmic Boy again, at least. Maybe Eli can borrow his body all the time.
*POST AUTHOR*
I get where you’re coming from, but I don’t like the drama the drama that’s (obviously) being manufactured here. I think the story of a crew separated completely from Earth and working all with the sole purpose of getting home.
Except Rush, who’s got his own agenda. Which is a pretty cool dynamic, but instead, we’ve got the damn stones.
I disagree, its a lot better than Voyager was, on Voyager’s best day. Its got potential leaking out of its pores, but it just hasn’t figured out its voice yet.
Yeah Starbuck, I mean Greer, should still be in jail, but as you said, Icarus WAS attacked, and the rules, despite O’Niel and Telford’s unwillingness to catch on, have changed. (What did Greer do, anyways? Did I miss that?)
And, considering the Telford/Young/Young’s Wife bit, you really can’t separate the host bodies, can you?
I was just answering your question in the post title. ;P I also dislike the drama being mined from the stones and feel that they’re the worst crutch of all in this series. They only exist to give the writers an out to still tell stories on Earth. I suppose using Earth locations is also cheaper, but they could just as well use the ship sets for bottle shows.
It’s been pointed out to me that I was wrong above. It’s not love triangles, it’s love quadrangles, just as worked so well on BSG. We have Eli-Chloe-Scott-James and TJ-Young-Young’s wife-Telford.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on Rush.
Yes, there’s no point in keeping Greer locked in his quarters. It is reasonable, though, for Wray and TJ to have been uneasy about him being completely restored to his original authority and position, and Telford had a personal axe to grind. From Young and Greer’s heart-to-heart on walkabout last week, we learned that Greer had laid Telford out on his butt, though we haven’t learned why yet.
Dude, I like Greer a lot better than Starbuck, who reminds me more of Rush with her skills, screaming fits and sense of entitlement. Greer’s cool.
I meant that we can’t even think seriously about mistreatment of host bodies and consent issues, because it’ll just ruin what thus far is soap opera. This isn’t Dollhouse.
To those below: we’re not haters. The haters have already left the building and taken their ratings with them. We’re people who are finding legitimate problems in a show we were predisposed to like, yet are not willing to give up on the show somehow getting better in the future. Personally, I don’t care if SGU isn’t like its predecessors, or is serious, dark or edgy, but I refuse to be satisfied with poor storytelling and characterization, as well as systemic logic issues.
*POST AUTHOR*
A well reasoned response.
Unfortunately, with your apparent Starbuck hatred we can no longer be friends… :)
Sorry, I meant to close off that HTML tag above.
I didn’t like spineless, wishy-washy Lee either, but loved Anders and Dee (and Gaeta). Adama, Roslin and Caprica Six were all good, but my favorites were Racetrack, Tigh and the unmitigated awesome that was Helo/Athena.
*POST AUTHOR*
Wow, aside from the major characters, we pretty much disagree on every point. Well, except for Tigh, but if you don’t like Tigh, then you’re just plan not watching the right show.
But Helo? Seriously? Worst character on the show. So wishy washy, and whiney, and pointless. And don’t get me started on Gaeta (You don’t have to… I’m sure some of my rants are in the comments around here).
I actually liked Lee early on… A bit of a whiner himself, but for a while was a really good foil for Starbuck. By the end of the series, though, I was through.
My favorites: Starbuck, Tigh, and the Chief. And I always loved pre-New Caprica Calley. Anders really grew on me in the fourth season, as well, and in The Plan.
*POST AUTHOR*
And I was VERY surprised how much more I liked Kat when I rewatched the series this past winter in prep for the finale. Didn’t hate her before, but, man was I impressed by how she was played, and the subtleties that I missed the first time around.
Well, we should expect some cognitive dissonance. After all, you’ve enjoyed SGU, Defying Gravity and (I think) Dollhouse, while I’ve found them all wanting.
I liked Tirol, up until he suddenly became the champion of the oppressed working classes against the privileged, elitist Capricans, and when he started hanging with the Baltarites.
Wow, I simply can not fathom how you can call Helo whiny, yet Starbuck not. After all, the latter was all about wallowing in her own issues.
And I liked Gaeta and Racetrack, except for the mutiny, which simply made no sense for me with those two characters (and yes, I watched the webisodes). It felt like those parts of Babylon 5 when characters went against their own natures/interest simply because the grand arc demanded it.
I forgot how great Kat was—that’s another one, although for me part of that was how much I’d rather watch her kick ass than Starbuck.
I still would like to know if the Stargate is in the Pentagon because that seems insane.
The stones should have been great in this episode, but they are just weird. The ex wife having sex with ex husband who is in a different body? What the hell? Just a mess.
I hate the stones for the purpose they are currently being used. If the stones allowed for communication on and off other universes within the starship cast itself, I would be on board. We have so many people on that craft that we don’t need earth. Why not just create interesting people out there for us to explore?
There is potential, but if it keeps going along at this incredibly slow moving pace, I don’t know how much longer I’ll stick around.
The stargate is not in the Pentagon. O’Neill is head of homeworld security or somesuch, and is not at SGC at Cheyenne Mountain anymore.
Finally, I wish the SGU haters would go away and stop telling us every week how bad the show is, how much it’s like “Voyager” (and how bad THAT was) and stop making the pompous statements like “I don’t know how much longer I’ll stick around”. We get it, you don’t like it, so why not go find something you DO like and leave us alone to have our fun?
You seem like an ass.
My question was where is the Stargate, not where it is not. So far we have no proof that it isn’t in the Pentagon. The only reason it’s not at SGC in the mountain is because the creators said they had to take the sets down to make the new sets.
And so do you.
Have a nice day!
BTW…
Just because the SGC sets have been struck in the real world does not mean that, in the mythical “Stargate” universe, that the gate still isn’t under Cheyenne Mountain. Learn to separate fantasy from reality, please.
The stones are turning this show into “Defying Gravity.” Instead of being touching character building moments, it’s just turning into who’s sleeping with who.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’d have to disagree… This show doesn’t yet hold a candle to how good Defying Gravity was. For those of you that dismissed it because they didn’t like the personal stories, well, I’m sorry you missed out.
I, politely, don’t understand comments like this…. I from my perception, who’s sleeping with who is character building in and of itself, both in fiction, and in reality.
Oh the stones again! *grabs hair with both hands*
This show does have incredible potential. I’m waiting for a “blow the hatch” moment, so far that hatch is bolted on tight and covered with cement. I’m sticking with it because of a show like Defying Gravity, which started out kinda weak, but by the end was AMAZING.
I would hope at some point the characters will present reasons for us to care about them. I’ve made no secret that Eli annoys me, but Chloe and many of the other characters are not presenting anything to love either.
To answer your question Morris has not been in the show before. So Im wondering if he will be in 24 this year?
Dorv
Your review was right on the money. I think the use of those stones detracts from the show. The show could use ideas in a different direction, but it has potential.
Would you feel differently if they used the stones to slot in Lt. Satterfield from the SGC, who was played by Grace Park? ;)
*POST AUTHOR*
Oh, Ryan, that would change all of the rules :)
Ryan: Grace Park is kryptonite to our Tim-1. He has no power against her and does not want to. Well played.
In that case Ryan, the stones would be the most awesome device ever. I am not going to complain about the stones anymore. If they brought Grace Park to the show, I would hand deliver them to the set.
Agreed about the communication stones. They’re a horrible hold over from SG-1. Being a long time Stargate fan, I had hoped that the writers would have left stuff like that behind. The producers and writers of SG-1/SGA have a reputation for goin over old ground repeatedly and not letting go of things.
I really hope SGU doesn’t go the way of SGA. In SGA the expedition was also stranded at first. In fact, the premise of the two shows is near identical. In SGA they were stranded in another galaxy in an Ancient city (it’s actually a giant city space ship for the uninitiated) accessed only by using the 8th chevron to reach another galaxy. In SGU they’re stranded on an Ancient ship accessed only by using the 9th chevron to reach it. Not to mention the opening scenes of stumbling into a large dark gate-room being very similar. Then there’s the being cut off from the vast majority of the ship/city.
Personally, I just hope that SGU is them trying to do SGA right. It wasn’t long in SGA before they managed to communicate back to Earth, and then travel back periodically. Eventually they were travelling regularly by space ship, and eventually they constructed an inter-galactic Stargate bridge to come and go to Earth through a chain of Stargate’s rather than directly so as to avoid the power requirements of inter-galactic Stargate dialling. The stones provide an unwanted, and uncomfortable reminder of how they ruined the premise of SGA by refusing to stick with the isolation theme. It might sound strange, but with SGU I’m rooting for them never to make it back to Earth rather than the other way around.
*POST AUTHOR*
Wow, I had no idea that the loglines for SGA and SG:U were so similar in the beginning (Probably b/c I found any episode of SGA and/or SG1 completely unwatchable anytime I tried).
You’re right, though… The whole fighting to get home story is completely ruined when ET can just phone home anytime he wants.
I had no idea either (yikes!).
I really hope the writers are at least taking some of the constructive comments seriously. We really want the show to work.
Dorv and I disagree a bit on this but, I don’t think attacking any of the commenters is a good idea.
*POST AUTHOR*
Yeah, BSG, I have no problem with someone telling people being idiots to stop being idiots :)
Being idiots here is defined by making idiotic comments, being an idiot hypocrite, and/or looking like an idiot.
(Since I fall into the last category, I’ve not yet commented on his site :) )
While Chloe & Eli are clubbing, Riley has sustained a serious head injury. Do they, say, remove Telford from the Destiny (since really, all he’s there to do is boss people around) briefly and actually get an honest-to-god DOCTOR on board to examine Riley? Nah. and whaddya bet he’ll be fine, with no last damage. NOr does Spencer seem to exhibit any signs of a severe concussion, which is what he sustained (if you’re out for nearly seven minutes, you don’t just get up and go “huh?”) Big time FAIL on the medical aspects of the show.
Come on guys (aka TPTB), at least Google some info!
As much as I loved the other Stargate series and hated that stupid soap operay Battlestar Galactica 2.0, nothing can compare to how pathetic this SGU garbage is. The moron who renamed the network to sYfY must be SGUs biggest fan . . . people really are in love with dumb nowadays so I expect this show to at least go on for two seasons, if not longer. One thing that really annoyed me when I actually tried watching this show is…Rush is made out to be this untrustworthy eeeeEEEvil scientest . . . the only problem is that the commanding officer is by far a bigger prick than Rush could ever be, AND he isn’t half as smart.
Hey guys,
i’m really sad what they did with the sg-franchise.
i can assure everyone that millions of sg fans worldwide are furious over this crappy turn syfy has called for.
please come over to https://www.sgusucks.com and express your doubts and your anger. sign our petition, it’s worth it.
thx for reading!!
Do the communication stones on Stargate: Universe detract from the drama?
Not that this show has much interesting drama to detract from, character wise, but the communication stones are the primary reason I have stopped watching the show.
Not because they used them – as someone said above, if they used them just to communicate, or to get in knowledgable people (Like real doctors and Carter/Rodney), they would have been interesting and realistic.
Instead, the military has taken a very strange interest in the social ‘welfare’ of the crew, or something, by letting them make personal visits with them. (I am not sure how there can be that much political pressure for this, since the actual -public- still does not know about the stargate, and anyone worried about the wishes of the people vs security of the program, at least in this instance, would probably be overruled)
Not only does this bring up a can of worms about security clearance that is just glossed over, where the politics of security were a HUGE issue in SG1, it does something far more dangerous:
It treats body’s like props. While it would be understandable if a body was accidentally used in the course of a mishap (Like Rodney and that on Lt. sharing a body), certainly letting someone’s body being grossly mishandled without permission is a far greater issue than them not being able to sleep with the person they want to!
Frankly, if a girl is drugged and raped, it’s still rape even if she isn’t concious, even if she never expressly said ‘no please don’t drug me and rape me’. So how is it NOT rape for Telford or the one ladies body to be used to have sex with a man or woman without their consent?
***
On a more personal level, I am part of a multiple system, and found this mentallity extremly apalling all the moreso. Because I share a body with other people, we all have agreed on a basic system of rules as to how to respect it. If one of us commited suicide or murder, drank heavily, did drugs, slept around with no regard for the others – all those things would have an effect. We thought the Atlantis episode with Rodney and the Lt. sharing a body was good, since it did show a bit of the consequences of not respecting each other and the body. If I recall correctly, she went for a run and Rodney was sore because of it, among other things. THIS is the element Star Gate Universe is ignoring because they want to have ‘gripping’ love triangles and ‘edgy’ sex scenes (like we don’t see those on tv enough already.)!
Although, even without all those problems, the pacing and predictable plots of the show, and failure to live up to the potential, would kill the enjoyment for me. I did like it when the Destiny dove into the sun and filled up on power though, that was a neat scene.