At this point, I’m really starting to find Stargate Universe to be quite frustrating. There is certainly something here. When the show gets it right, it has all the makings of another very good series in the franchise. Unfortunately, with everything that seems right comes something that just makes me scratch my head. That pretty much sums up my reaction to “Sabotage.”
We finally saw a good use of the communication stones, as they brought in Amanda (Kathleen Munroe) to help with the FTL problem. Even better, Amanda had an interesting story of her own. The fact that being on Destiny and actually able to walk around was a dream come true, plus her history with Rush, made it a great guest spot. And I do like that they left it open for her to return some time in the future.
It also made for a nice continuation in the story of how Rush is changing. The scenes between Amanda and Rush were very good. It brought some added weight to Rush’s experience in the chair, and set the tone for where he’s headed as we move forward. I’m also enjoying the slowly evolving relationship between Rush and Young.
On the other hand, the troubles with the FTL get right back to one of the big problems with the show. These people are surviving, all too often, through the luxury of dumb luck. The ship isn’t going to be able to make the journey between galaxies and they’re all going to die unless they do something about it. Then, an explosion they had nothing to do with fixes it. Even better, it was an attack that fixed their problem. As the Guinness guys would say, “Brilliant!”
Continuing with that one, the repair robot is pretty dang cool. But I have to ask the question. How do they have control of it? Is it being to0 picky to think that the security that won’t give them access to bypass the broken drive probably won’t give them access to something that can rip it out? It gives me the feeling that the crew isn’t in the dark about so much of Destiny because they should still be at this point, but because the writers want them to be.
Ah, but maybe there is progress on that front, in the form of Franklin and the chair. The fact that he was able to connect with the ship and gain some sort of control at least puts them closer. Unfortunately, that story also had its own issues. To start, why would Young even be considered to sit in the chair? If it really is a last resort, doesn’t it have to be someone at least familiar with the workings of the ship? Rush, or Eli, you would think. Brody or Volker? But not Young. There are horses for courses, and that just doesn’t play.
I’m torn on the disappearance of Franklin. Did he become part of the ship? Did he ascend? Or is it just another way to kick the Destiny crew out of danger without actually revealing anything to them, or the viewer? I want to think that there is something cool coming when we return to that story. Given the way the Eli, Chloe, and Scott story wrapped up though, I’m half expecting that he’s just around the corner from the door.
Yes … Eli, Chloe, and Scott. They were left behind with no hope of getting them back. Young even went so far as to announce it to the crew. Then, they walk back through the gate. The gate just magically appeared on the dialer, through no action of anyone connected to Destiny. That gave me a McEnroe moment (“You cannot be serious!“). Granted, I was certain they would be back anyway, but to go from a cliffhanger ending like that, to this resolution, just makes me wonder what the hell they’re doing. I’m really not sure of a worse way that could have been handled. Such a missed opportunity.
The one faint hope I have for that story is that somehow the appearance of the blue baddies is going to figure in. Once we know that they were behind enabling the gate, and why they did it, that story will get a lot better. That could just be because my desire to like this show has me grasping at straws.
Am I being too negative? Should I spend less time picking nits and more time just enjoying whatever story they give us? I do really want to like Universe, and on occasion I really do. But dang, they’re making that a hard thing to do.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on May 08, 2010 @ 08:22 EST5EDT
“That gave me a McEnroe moment ‘you cannot be serious!”
I just love that!
Wot about..(1)Franklin is cryo frozen in the chair room (“go”, cold air, ice forms on closed viewing port of door)& then dropped thru the hole in the floor (inscribed circle). Franklin moved below decks with x number of cryo frozen ship’s pilots that used to command Destiny, but eventually deteroriated over x 100,000 years while Destiny tapped their brain?(2) Isn’t destiny just a seed ship. Load her up with people follow the stargates being laid and off load human kind to the stars. Or maybe Destiny was an ark. (3) Any Captain/Engineer/Scientist finding an empty ship, would have secured Engineering, C&C, life support and weapons. Soft story line letting geeks tap away at computer terminals all the time. Get in your space suit & open up the engine room. Power is critical to ever other system. There is always a manual over-ride in engineering.
The Destiny gate re-appeared on the remote because the ship dropped out of FTL while still in range of the gate on the planet. Pay attention.
Now, can we find a fan of the show to do these recaps? Every week it is on and on about how he isn’t sure he likes the show, how it can be so much more, yadda yadda yadda. I’m just tired of hearing that every week.
Quoting alex99a:
“The Destiny gate re-appeared on the remote because the ship dropped out of FTL while still in range of the gate on the planet. Pay attention.”
Pay attention? Really? So despite the fact that Destiny is now somewhere in the abyss between galaxies, they are still somehow close enough to establish a gate connection? Even though they couldn’t connect because of gate distance limitations in the last episode? The writing on this show is is halfassed sometimes it just drives me nuts. If anyone needs to pay attention, it’s you alex.
*POST AUTHOR*
Actually, I think alex99a has that part right. Eli, Chloe, and Scott lost their connection to Destiny at the end of the previous episode because the ship jumped to FTL. When it dropped out, it was apparently still close enough to make a connection.
But the fact that people are confused about how that happened gets back to how poorly much of this was handled. It wasn’t really clear just where the ship was. The return of the team suggests they had not left the galaxy yet, but when they talk about the possibility of attack, Amanda comments on how vast the void is.
Hehe, I do pay attention. That’s why I can explain some of these little plot points and slipups.
Granted tho, that they are oversimplifying things (Matt can fly the shuttle in a space battle…the robot that was in a crate in the hold when last we saw it can now go out and work on the FTL…they can use the chair now without frying Rush’s brain) and solving other dilemmas and corners they paint themselves into with NO drama (oh look Destiny is back on our remote so lets just go home now, and it was ME that did the sabotage, I forgot to mention the blue meanie aliens took me over)in pretty lame ways. This episode really should have been a two-parter so they could have worked up to some of these events with some explanation.
When Rush was kissing Camille’s body, I thought oooooh how angry is Camille gonna be when she finds herself impregnated by Rush? Too bad it never got that far. I guess Chloe is still next to get pregnant.
I agree. This episode was frustrating.
The resolution of Eli, Scott, and Chloe being stranded was not handled well. They made it back because the ship dropped out of FTL and was still within range of the planet’s gate — although the show didn’t explain that to the viewer at all. What’s worse is that they didn’t even show us any of the three characters on the planet, seeing the gate re-appear on the Kino handset and getting excited, or anything. They just randomly walked through the gate like it was nothing and the episode just continued as if they were never stranded at all. It’s bad writing, plain and simple.
Another major issue was the unknown aliens managing to take control of Lt. James and sabotage the ship with the FTL engine explosion. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, it’s that they didn’t show it at all and didn’t properly explain it that is annoying.
Finally there is the chair. Again a lot went unseen and unexplained. I think we were meant to assume that Franklin was in the chair when the explosion happened and that’s why he was acting all brain dead. Of course, they didn’t show that happening. Also, and correct me if I’m wrong, none of the characters mentioned it either. They were just confused about why he was suddenly brain dead, although not especially concerned, and then decided that they should put him in the chair without putting two and two together about what happened to him in the first place.
Amanda’s story was interesting and definitely the redeeming part of the episode. However, it seems as though they were trying to do far too much in one episode so had to skip over a lot of scenes that should have been written and filmed, and a lot of explanation that would have made things a lot clearer. The whole thing just felt half finished.
Quoting…
“Finally there is the chair. Again a lot went unseen and unexplained. I think we were meant to assume that Franklin was in the chair when the explosion happened and that’s why he was acting all brain dead.”
Once again, people aren’t paying attention. I’m not going to take the time to dig back and find the exact episode, but several eps ago, Rush left Franklin alone in the chair room, and he sat in it then. He has been in a catatonic state ever since.
I will agree that the three missing team members getting back to Destiny could have been handled better, tho I understand how it happened. Likewise, the Lt. James situation was also poorly handled. This one really wanted to be a two-parter.
*POST AUTHOR*
It was episode 10 “Justice” where we saw Franklin use the chair the first time.
“I’m not going to take the time to dig back and find the exact episode, but several eps ago, Rush left Franklin alone in the chair room, and he sat in it then. He has been in a catatonic state ever since.”
True. I have to admit I’d forgotten that he was left in that state. It was still never properly explained or recapped in this episode though. It’s unrealistic to expect the viewer to remember an inconsequential event from several episodes ago involving a minor recurring character.
The fact that Franklin was in a coma after what happened in “Justice” WAS recapped in this episode, in the “Previously On…” segment at the beginning.
Is the fact that some people are frustrated by the show because the writers do indeed skip a few too many steps, or is it because they assume the viewers are smart enough to 1). remember the details and 2). make the connections using their own brains, while in actuality they can’t assume all of that at all?
I’ll admit too that the Eli/Scott/Chloe story was wrapped up very quickly after the build-up in the previous episode, and I would’ve liked to see at least one scene of the trio dealing with the fact that they’re now stuck on some alien planet forever, but what happened was ultimately what makes the most sense. All they needed Destiny to do in the last episode was for it to STOP. That’s it. Once it did in this episode, it’s just a matter of walking through the Gate. Anything else would’ve been contrived and/or unnecessary. Now, could they have set things up in the LAST episode so it’s not so easy in this one? Perhaps.
Quoting…
“It’s unrealistic to expect the viewer to remember an inconsequential event from several episodes ago involving a minor recurring character.”
It was hardly an inconsequential event. In fact, I remember it as quite the dramatic moment, when Young confronts Rush, suggested that he manipulated the situation so that Franklin did it, and accused him of being a coward for not trying the chair himself. Not at all unreasonable to expect those following the story to remember things like that… if they are PAYING ATTENTION, that is. :)
“Is the fact that some people are frustrated by the show because the writers do indeed skip a few too many steps, or is it because they assume the viewers are smart enough to 1). remember the details and 2). make the connections using their own brains, while in actuality they can’t assume all of that at all?”
They are skipping steps. Every viewer can not be expected to remember every detail. Memory is selective, and every individuals memory weighs details and events differently. It only takes a couple of sentences of dialogue as a refresher. It happens in most shows, and in natural conversation, without people realising it.
It’s clearly the result of trying to make too many advances in the main story arc in the background of an episode where most of the screen time was being devoted to a side story. There’s nothing wrong with that as such — shows like BSG and Lost did/do it constantly — but the Stargate writers aren’t connecting the threads well enough in my opinion.
Many of us do forget details and need to be reminded. Probably, as several commenters have suggested, the show should have done more to lead into things that aren’t truly out-of-the-blue. To me, the key here is that if you are one who forgets these details, you probably should be a bit more humble when critiquing shows. Instead of flattering yourself by announcing that you have found a plot hole, know your limitations and phrase it as a question: “Someone refresh my memory … how did so-and-so know such-and-such?” If there really was no way, you will get your credit for having spotted the problem. If the real problem was your insufficient recall of prior events, you won’t have made such a boob of yourself.
Great episode over all, but I agree, difficulties are set up, then miraculously solved without always getting into the nitty gritty of how they’re solved. Rush was stranded on a planet, and that should have been explored, rather than being skipped over to the next chapter concerning the aliens. Think of BSG, when Kara is stranded on the planet and has to figure out a way of using the cylon raider as a ship.
Eli, Chloe, and Scott are stranded, and though we saw them gate jumping in the episode before, in this episode, we simply get them stepping through the ship’s gate. No reminder that they’d been gate hopping and going the wrong way initially. There should have been a scene of Eli, Chloe, and Scott, on the last planet they’d gotten to, and suddenly their gate comes back online, with connection to the ship reestablished.
On the positive side though, SGU has quickly become a brilliant series with great characters. One of the things that I love is a relatively confined space, such as a ship, or a prison, that forces people to interract. In a city people can simply walk away from one another, which can defuse the tension. In things like Oz, Red Dwarf, BSG, The Shield (city yes, but also centred on a work place) Rescue Me, Lost, and other shows, characters can’t so easily walk away from one another. Even if they hate one another, they’re forced to interact with one another, and the conflict makes for great drama.
This episode did many great things. There were interesting implications to the technology, one of the first really interesting people to come to the ship with the communication stones, and the return of our blue enemies.
However, the episode was really clunky and there were things that needed to be shown to the viewer. I’m not exactly a casual viewer, but remembering that Franklin (a D-list character) was in a catatonic state from use of the chair is incredibly difficult. It should have been mentioned in episode or in a “Previously in” montage. The resolution of the team on the planet was very lame and should have been a bigger deal. While the ship had it’s own crisis to take care of, those characters were considering to have to stay on the planet for the rest of their lives and the writers dropped the ball on some interesting character moments.
About the show itself, I wish that the premise was more interesting. I’ve come to enjoy coming to SGU and it’s characters every week, but the show is just so boring. If it wasn’t a part of the Stargate franchise, I wouldn’t have come back as many times I did after giving up on the show. BSG and Lost have similar character focused elements, but were simply more interesting from day one. When future writers consider doing a similar spin-off, they should capitalize on more of the moments that make these shows great. Character is great and very important, but without any sense of who these characters, how can you care about them?
After this episode I did not quite know what to think of it. Some of my own nit-picks have already been covered (very well) in these comments. The return of Eli and party, as we all know, was bound to happen but was so disapointingly convenient. Now I understand that the very complexity of a drama/sc-fi show of only forty-plus minutes just simply cannot adequately explain every facet of the story….especially the technical parts. So we have to lend the writers some slack in that regard. But as other commenters point out, Eli’s return should have been a little more dramatic.
An interesting plot-device, as bsgfan2003 mentioned, is the interaction with people during use of the stones. This episode brought some (VERY) interesting possibilities on the social level. Now I’m not going to pick on Rush this week, but couldn’t you imagine the beautiful, classy, lady coming back and finding out her body has mated with some slob? Imagine her getting little winks from said slob when she returned? Heaven forbid! I don’t mind the “stones” plot device as much anymore, but I do think it is the most unrealistic part of the series. I don’t mind the crew not having total control of the Destiny either, only for the reason it won’t become another Star Trek (although I loved ST).
In this episode I thought the sum was better than the parts.
I have to agree that this was a little bit too simple of a fix to what could have been a major opportunity. You are left wondering what is going to happen to either get them back on the ship, or otherwize and the problem just magicly fixes itself, I hope that all of this is building up to something soon or I am going to loose interest. I was a huge fan of sg 1 and atlantis, so I desperately want this show to get more interesting, and soon